Road Legal Track Car on a Budget

[Forrest 35]

Owned a bog standard Facelift e30 316i sedan for two years, me and my dad looking for a project. So far decided on possible e36 318i (1.9L) M42 conversion, 325i rear end and disc conversion, 325i struts, e30 race series spec shocks, springs, rear seat and boot interior strip, rear sway bar etc etc. Will use this as a sounding board and to post progress.

Not looking for too much in the way of performance just something that doesn't handle like a barge haha. Anything else people would recommend I do/have missed?

Me and Dad ain't qualified mechanics, Dad built and owns a Fraser Clubman (Lotus 7 Replica) so thats about the limit of our mechanical knowledge.

Will post progress here and use as a sounding board for advice and any things that may need help/advice on.

Cheers, Nathan

Edited August 20, 2008 by Forrest

[Guest Simon*]

Hey welcome along

Sounds like a good project and you've come to the right place to ask for help and support for what you're doing. There are a fair few E30 racecar builders/drivers here who I'm sure would be willing to pass on their knowledge.

Cheers and good luck

[CamB 48]

Don't forget brake pads/fluid/braided lines, and suitable bushings (especially the M3 style caster bushings).

[tire 10]

Hey there welcome.

You are lucky to have a father who is helpful!

Put your location in and come to a meet.

[JiB 0]

I'm doing the same...except mine isn't cheap any more. Brake pads, discs, lines, fluid will cost $500-700 ish to do everything properly. And E30 brakes are poo, so you really do want to upgrade them. I am using EBC Yellows all around with Znoelli S12's up front and braided lines. They work reasonably well

I can vouch for M3 offset castor bushes as they have helped quite a bit. If you can't afford the $$$ that genuine is go for the noltec ones from BnT or Repco - heaps cheaper. May not last as long though.

Then you'd want good rubber for track use. Unfortunately this is $$$. I would go for tyres over suspension.

The above is what I'd consider to be essential. The following I would highly recommend thinking about.

The steering in E30's is also poos, as you have many many turns from lock to lock. I'm running a looped manual rack for the time being, it's heavy but does tell you what is going on with the steering wheels. Very useful in the wet. Will be going to E36 rack when money/time allows. Should be $150 ish.

Seat is also fairly important imho, as the standard ones, even the motorsport ones aren't flash if you're throwing the car around. The best bang for buck is the Jamex fibreglass fixed and side mount seats. Was only $150 ish including universal rail. This should hold you in place. And if you can get a cheap FIA approved harness then do it, but you'll have to install a mount on the trans tunnel. Including Authority Card and mount the total would be $300+. Be prepared for LOTS of dicking around though.

Otherwise go for some Recaro's out of a Type R or a Evo because they work a damned sight better than the motorsport E30 seats. IIRC Recaro rails are mostly universal so should be able to bolt into the e30 fairly easily. And you shouldn't need the Authority card or harness.

Also think about nicking a whole heap of gear from 325/323 like the disc rear end, and the sway bars. Struts, etc.

And if your motor mounts are knackered either go for Ireland Engineering ones (Mine were landed $300 - for gearbox and motor mounts) or replace them. Your motor will have your hoses for lunch otherwise. If you do go for Ireland engineering ones, they make the throttle response and shift feel a WHOLE lot better.

That's my 2c if you're modding it. Otherwise I'd say start with a 325i that's in reasonable nick. LSD may need different springs/setup at the rear so it's quite an expensive exercise. Might save you some money? Even a motorsport if in the $5,000 range because an LSD is already close to $1,000.

If you want rear/disc + swaybars let me know. They're yours for $150ono. includes medium case 3.6x open diff.

Edited August 21, 2008 by JiB

[Gus 5]

you will find the m42 gutless....put an m50 in it and work around the slight front heaviness.

much easier to start witha 325i IMO, each to their own

[Forrest 35]

you will find the m42 gutless....put an m50 in it and work around the slight front heaviness.

much easier to start witha 325i IMO, each to their own

Haha Im sure anything will be better than the m40 I got in it atm, being a uni student I cant really afford to go too extravagant, would have loved a 325i but I think insurance would be quite high considering it would be and is my daily driver, but yeah as I said in OP looking for more handling than outright power, as it is on a very small budget, thanks for your comments, have also looked into a m50 as an option.

[antony 0]

Build it to the e30 race series specification. Because I'm sure eventually you'll want to race against others.

[Forrest 35]

Build it to the e30 race series specification. Because I'm sure eventually you'll want to race against others.

Yeap thats virtually what we are doing, e30 series springs, shocks, tyres and most of the other rules minus getting a roll cage and a motor thats within the rules, that means it becomes something that can be evolved as dads wallet allows haha

[JiB 0]

I see you're in wellington. I recommend having a look at sydways_e30's disc rear end. It's a deal for $100.

[Forrest 35]

Thought I would do a bump on my progress:

Have been pretty busy working on it during uni holidays, getting the majority on non mechanical work done before we start on the serious stuff.

-Installed fire extinguisher in the passenger footwell

-Full boot and rear seat strip

-New ariel

-Repainted black stone chip seal

-Repaired and painted front and rear bumpers

-Painted the tow eyes red 'for the racer look' lol

-Made a custom fog light cover/air intake

-Made a custom alloy gauge holder out of alloy oven tray lol to sit in the center console

-Repaired spare wheel holder

-Stole some optioned floor mats at the wreckers for the front seats

Next is to finish my upgrade intake project involving a custom fog light cover, intake piping and a plastic stone sheild undertray...

Will have some pics when the typical wellington weather stops raining

Cheers guys

[tire 10]

Its not raining and hasnt all weekend! I'd know because my E30 leaks.

What wreckers did you go to and how much E30 stuff did they have?

[Forrest 35]

Its not raining and hasnt all weekend! I'd know because my E30 leaks.

What wreckers did you go to and how much E30 stuff did they have?

It was spitting a bit in the night, had to dry my car of before stone chip it this morning, um atm i regulary go to 'pick a part' in avalon, there are 2 facelift e30s with quite alot in them, 1 pre facelift thats pretty much stripped and 2 e36's a 325i and a 318i

[Forrest 35]

Bump for have some q's somebody should be able to answer..

1. Since its a four door does anybody know if I can get a warrent if I take the rear seatbelts off?

2. If yes to #1 can I use the holes left behind to mount a four point harness for a cert?

3. I assume 325 discs would still fit inside 14 inch alloys?

4. For a track/daily driver is it worth taking all the carpet out, in regards to still being livable to drive everyday with? atm from the center pillar south is completely stripped.

Any help would be appreciated, there is no rush with this project I just want to make sure I cover everything right the first time.

Cheers, Nathan

[hotwire 352]

Bump for have some q's somebody should be able to answer..

1. Since its a four door does anybody know if I can get a warrent if I take the rear seatbelts off?

2. If yes to #1 can I use the holes left behind to mount a four point harness for a cert?

3. I assume 325 discs would still fit inside 14 inch alloys?

4. For a track/daily driver is it worth taking all the carpet out, in regards to still being livable to drive everyday with? atm from the center pillar south is completely stripped.

Any help would be appreciated, there is no rush with this project I just want to make sure I cover everything right the first time.

Cheers, Nathan

Nathan,

May need to check but if you take out the rear seat then you shouldn't need rear belts. There are a few 4 door E30s in the series which obviously wont have rear seats/belts.

The harness normally attach to the cage

Yes 325 brakes fit with 14"alloys

Remove carpet - not necessarily, I know of at least one series car still with carpet in

[CamB 48]

Yes to the first three - you can register it as a 2 seater, some of the belt mounts are suitable (although you'll need to buy something for the inner lap belt one - JiB found some place that had the correct size nut attached to the correct thickness plate with another same-size plate to sandwich it with (read the Motorsport NZ rules to see what I mean).

Carpet is personal preference. Without it, it is much noisier and the floor (and thus interior) gets surprisingly hot.

[Forrest 35]

Thanks alot guys, appreciate your help. Atm starting to collect parts for the interior, so if anyone has a cheap drivers bucket, momo steering wheel and or boss kit and some rails for a bucket pm me. Then get onto the fun stuff ie engine transplant.

Might pop some pics up this weekend so everyone can see what im working with.

Cheers,

Nathan

[JiB 0]

Jamex do very cheap FRP fixed back seats, includes rails. IIRC Silverfox and i are using them.

The floor gets very very warm without carpet, very comfortable when the outside temp is 10-15' but fairly brutal in summer. Perhaps i'm a bit of a wuss, but if i were you i'd cut the carpet at the b pillar and keep some in the front..the carpet's incredibly heavy so lose as much of it as practical!

i'm not sure how different the belt mounts are in a sedan, in my coupe we used all the factory ones apart from the tunnel side. I got the sandwich plates from a belt shop. Check with your certifier for the measurements. Beware that technically these have to be certified as they are not covered by the authority card - because it isn't attached to a cage.

Edited September 11, 2008 by JiB

[Forrest 35]

Jamex do very cheap FRP fixed back seats, includes rails. IIRC Silverfox and i are using them.

The floor gets very very warm without carpet, very comfortable when the outside temp is 10-15' but fairly brutal in summer. Perhaps i'm a bit of a wuss, but if i were you i'd cut the carpet at the b pillar and keep some in the front..the carpet's incredibly heavy so lose as much of it as practical!

i'm not sure how different the belt mounts are in a sedan, in my coupe we used all the factory ones apart from the tunnel side. I got the sandwich plates from a belt shop. Check with your certifier for the measurements. Beware that technically these have to be certified as they are not covered by the authority card - because it isn't attached to a cage.

Sweet thanks. Where abouts did you get your seats from?? / www link?

Cheers

[CamB 48]

jamex.co.nz

[zenetti 0]

jamex.co.nz

Jamex rents part of our building - pm me with what you are after, also has 6 point FIA belts in stock

[Forrest 35]

Have had a chat with my father and have come to the conclusion that its not worth doing alot of the things I listed in the OP.

So pretty much here is where my car stands atm, cant justify putting $2k ish into shocks, springs, tyres and wheels also engine conversion looks too costly to be worthwile.

Atm Im just gona keep the engine standard with just cold air box and exhaust. Interior is the same as I listed before, sourcing a rear disc end atm also so that looks to be a goer. Just going to replace the shocks with original or similar items (if anyone has any for sale in new to near new cond pm me) also on the lookout for some lowering springs.

So in summarisation, car will be built to have a bit of fun at a few track days/gymkanas etc and be my trusty daily driver, on the bright side dad is looking into possible 325i track weapon project so we can start with something a little more capable from standard rather than starting with the bottom i.e my 100hp beast that drives like a boat.

Update on the lookout for bits: (pm me if you have any of these for sale)

Rear sway bar (dont know fitment on these, one size fit all?)

Lowering springs

New or near new e30 shocks/set of new shocks in general

Bucket seat with rails (jamex or similar)

Will put some pics up in the next few days so everyone can see what Im working with

Cheers,

Nathan

[Forrest 35]

Small Update with pictures on what should be the coolest 316i facelift on earth lol when its done.

- Fitted fog light cover intake

- Redded gauge needles

- More interior strip

- Fixed central locking (finally !)

- Standard bimmersport sticker sticked lol

- Shadowlined one side of the car

- Blacked kidney grill

- Fitted short shift kit and new gear knob

Next jobs on the list:

- Fit disc rear end (thanks sydways)

- Fit rear bumper

- Finish intake

- Fit set of bottlecaps

- Fit blisteins (hopefully)

- Shadowline passenger side of car

[tire 10]

Bigger pics? That colour looks rare

[Forrest 35]

Bigger pics? That colour looks rare

Its calypso red, dont see many around in it these days, will get some bigger pics up when ive finished shadowlining and its had a wash