Bimmersport Race Car Number 2

[Grant 4]

Nice work Ollie - well done on taking the time to everything properly. Will be more than worth it in the long run.

[Creaver 55]

Looking good man, when does the race series start? Has it already started?

[M3 Cab 0]

Ollie where are the detailed shots? like the painted peddles

[OLLIE 26]

Ollie where are the detailed shots? like the painted peddles

still to come, I have to touch them up because they missed a bit of the brake pedal

[OLLIE 26]

So it's been a long while since i have updated this, i have been too busy getting the car going for next weekends racing, have also been busy Christmas and work.

I started the engine for the first time yesterday and took the car for a short drive.

Today I had my new exhaust fitted and it sounds TOUGH!

I still have a few bits and bobs to sort out but hopefully will be at practice next friday and competitive over the course of the weekend.

photos and full article still to come.

Ollie

[greenday-rulz21 4]

So it's been a long while since i have updated this, i have been too busy getting the car going for next weekends racing, have also been busy Christmas and work.

I started the engine for the first time yesterday and took the car for a short drive.

Today I had my new exhaust fitted and it sounds TOUGH!

I still have a few bits and bobs to sort out but hopefully will be at practice next friday and competitive over the course of the weekend.

photos and full article still to come.

Ollie

Well Done Ollie, Can't wait to see it in action!

[hybrid 1039]

fantastic work dude!

[PBOY23 0]

lookin gud bro

[OLLIE 26]

here is a sneak preview for ya.

[Cale 36]

Ooooh how exciting. Looking good.

Haha no. 536, the prefix for my hometown, Beachlands.

[3series 0]

looks great Ollie.

[OLLIE 26]

Ooooh how exciting. Looking good.

Haha no. 536, the prefix for my hometown, Beachlands.

536 = JDM on a telephone keypad. haha

[Silver Fox 43]

536=lem, as in short for lemon ?

[OLLIE 26]

536=lem, as in short for lemon ?

haha we'll see how much of a lemon she is next weekend .... i hope she's not too slow.

[M325is 0]

It looks HOT!

[bumpstop325 0]

Looks flasher than daves old car. Top Effort

[Silver Fox 43]

Don't tell me it looks better than this?

[will 169]

Don't tell me it looks better than this?

That's a smart looking mobility scooter...

[Nobimmer 694]

Looks good man

Thought you had different wheels on it? Some lightweight ones?

[OLLIE 26]

When the time came to build the exhaust system for the Bimmersport E30 series race car I met John at Pitstop Albany. I'd heard good things about his work and it was convenient that pitstop was right next door to where i weas working at the time. John has many years experience building exhaust systems and had worked on plenty of road going E30's and a couple of the E30 race series cars before I met him ...

He even made a side exit exhaust for a 318 to test on the dyno, it turned out the straight pipe was better but this kind of development was what i wanted to see.

From the get go I was confident I had found the right person for the job. So .... The plan

The plan was for a 2 1/4 inch pipe from the manifold with a small coby halfway and a vortex muffler at the back, All mandrel bends to ensure consistent inner diameter for improved flow and finished with a Polished SS tip of course.

I drove the car in one saturday, the drive there was an event itself with no exhaust on the car sounded grouse but damn it was slow without the backpressure. We chucked her up on the hoist and i watched as the new exhaust was created in 1 and a half hours.

/images/DSCN0445.JPG
The end of the pre facelift 320 exhaust manifold

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The 2 - 1 pipe we made using part of the original exaust

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Flange to attach the exhaust system to, makes for easy removal.

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Cutting the mandrel bends ready to weld together

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Some quality spot welding with his eyes shut

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Ready to put that middle coby on ... but which way round?

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A few more bends and straight pipes

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Attaching the Vortex muffler

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and finally the Stainless Steel tip.

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This should give you an idea of what the finished result looks like, a quick spray to prevent rust and it's done!

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The exhaust produces a great tone, especially at peak revs (4,500 rpm) and it the car has been consistantly powerful throughout the 2008-09 season. I never managed to dyno test it properly but will be doing some comparissons between this and a new exhaust system before the 2009-10 season to see if we can get some more torque early in the revs and the goal will be to produce 2 systems to use for different tracks, hampton downs will be especially interesting and I can't wait for the next season to begin.

Thank you John and the guys at Pitstop Albany.

Pop in and see John, mention you saw this article on bimmersport.co.nz and he will look after you. You won't be dissappointed.

Pitstop Albany
2 Volkner Place
Albany
Auckland
P 09 448 2009
F 09 448 2026
Driving Directions
albany@pitstop.co.nz

/images/albany.jpg

 

[OLLIE 26]

I know i finished the car a long time ago now and many of you have seen it in the flesh, on TV or at least photos of it. Nonetheless i feel i should update this thread so you can take a small step back in time and see how it all came together.

So my last update other than that exhaust write up was about painting inside the car, reconditioning the head and assembling the suspension components.

After the inside of the car had dried i began to fit all the race bits such as seat brackets, gauges, harnesses aluminium floor plates etc...

Doug gave me endless sh*t for my white pedals - but why bother masking them?

harness shoulder straps - have since had aluminium brackets made to keep the from sliding sideways.

Dashboard back in (what a mission) great fun with the saber saw though. and gauge panel fitted and wired so that they light up when the lights are turned on. I still need to fit them to the senders.

Driver adjustable seat rail and brackets fitted. Crotch harness attached notice the tidy cable conduit.

And putting all the front suspension in - not a very difficult job really

The rear suspension - fully installed

In the meantime i was working on re-assembling the cylinder head ready to put back on and i made the decision to remove the rest of the motor and gearbox and clean up the engine bay and block.

Out it all came

Mandatory bimmersport engine bay dragon

Whilst the engine bay was empty i got in there and fixed a couple of small bits of rust, cleaned up all the steering rack and subframe, painted the subframe and the engine bay and got it all ready to drop the motor back in 2 weeks after we'd taken it out.

[DRTDVL 0]

That alloy plate will be very slippery when it's raining and your shoes are wet...

[OLLIE 26]

The pressure was on, with not long before the next race (my deadline) it turned into a bit of a rush and this is where the photos thin out a bit. I have a few though.

The engine bay half way through cleaning it up, I am so glad i spent the time doing this, it makes the car so much better to work on with a clean engine bay

Brand spanking supersize SA radiator and new hoses

While all this was happening i was sorting out the paperwork too, logbook, roll cage homologation papers, roll cage padding, car club membership etc...

using CAD, laser cutting and NC controlled sheet metal bending machines i fabricated myself a cold airbox.

I don't have any photos of me reassembling the head or the motor and no it's not because i cheated it's because my camera broke.

And that my friends is pretty much it. Once the motor was in, i had the exhaust built, i gave it an oil service and ran in the head gasket. Then i took it into Gavin at Hi Velicity for a dyno tune and after a bit of trouble and a new dizzy rotor we had it running well and putting out 117 HP.

2 days later I went racing at the Tasman Grand Prix at Pukekohe - it was January 2008, I finished practice and after fixing a broken steering universal joint i completed all three races and didn't even come last at all. Infact i think by the end of the weekend i had knocked 4 seconds off my practice time and was lapping at 1.21's or thereabouts.

A year down the track now, i have ironed out all the little problems and have a safe and reliable race car that is competitive mid pack and I hope to finish in the top 25 for this season just finished.

Looking forward to next season i have a couple of developments to do and some driver training so I hope to move further up the grid.

[OLLIE 26]

That alloy plate will be very slippery when it's raining and your shoes are wet...

I don't make a habit of racing with wet shoes and prefer the solid surface.

That plate in the photo however was just sitting there and since has had holes punched in it to lighten it as was originally intended.

[OLLIE 26]

I need to get some photos up of all the completed aluminium fab work i did. Floor plates, battery bracket, radiator cover, cold air box, door panels.

I'm bringing the car along to the anzac meet for those of you who haven't seen it to check it out. Also I have a passenger seat if anyone wants a ride on the day.