RedRocketTi 131 Report post Posted August 14, 2016 (edited) So today is a sad day... Yesterday I took the Ti to Ruapuna, this may have been the start of the final nail in the coffin for the engine. At the start of the day it was bucketing down, large amounts of standing water on the track making it hard to get traction. Took the wee beast out for the sighting lap, spun on castrol when I hit a massive puddle at 50kph. No big deal. Also noticed serious miss firing. Time for session 1, 15 mins long. Notice more miss firing. Come in after 10 mins. We decided to check the MAF, seemed like water in maf and possibly wet coils, left running for a while at idle to dry out. Next session comes along, miss fires gone! Yay! black plumes of black smoke following me. Come in early again. Decided the MAF is causing the ecu to overfuel, so running rich. Decide once again it shouldnt be too much of an issue. Third session, head out and all seems to be good, track starting to dry slightly, able to finaly get more and more heat into the tires and begin to get a little more grip. Black clouds getting pretty bad. Come in after the session, check oil. Oil is on the bottom of the dipstick, go to fill it up, take 2.5L and only just makes it over the minimum fill line. Also noticed tappet noises. Call it quits for the day. So today took it out to a meet, checked oil before leaving home and it was just below full, checked coolant and no oil in coolant, heater still works, and oil cap looks good, not milky. Still notice some smoke but not near as much as yesterday. Go to start the car to leave the meet, blue plume of smoke and white smoke. Sooooo..... This may be the end of the road for the engine that is currently in there. It appears like it could be either valve stem seals or rings. I will compression test later this week to try figure it out. I have found a good long block replacement for it, however I am not sure whether I go with another M52B28, or go to an M50B25 for the cast iron block. I will also have to do gearbox at the same time as my syncros in 3rd have gone on me. Anyway here are some near misses and moments from throughout the day, note the E36 Vert with woodgrain wheel has an M50B25 in it. Edited August 14, 2016 by RedRocketTi Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RedRocketTi 131 Report post Posted August 28, 2016 Compression tested my engine.... Shes long gone.... but the Ti will live again! I have found another 2.8, but wouldnt mind an s50/52 to chuck in her, also will be needing a new gearbox too.... Cylinder #5 I couldnt see the spark plug due to the amount of oil in there.... I got: 220psi, 120psi, 200psi, 180psi, unreadable, 80psi Currently Im having to daily my 2nd Ti, nicknamed 'The Nugget', I bought originally to restore up, take all the goodies from it and swap onto the good one and then flick it for a profit. I have had ideas on what to do next tho... Felony Form Ti kits I think look pretty amazing, it would be a great way to get them AC rims under the guards. Having the Msport Ti I will be taking a lot of the goodies and putting them onto this one, things such as the clear indicator tail lights, M trim and front and rear bumpers. I dad is pretty handy with creating things out of fibreglass so we may make an attempt at our own felony form style kit, also I have been thinking about creating a custom rear diffuser and front splitter for under the Msport front bumper. Here is a pic of the final run about Ruapuna, cant see the black clouds and it looks kinda good... also some pics of the crashed one I managed to pick up. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RedRocketTi 131 Report post Posted September 28, 2016 So after a few weeks of sitting on the side of the road she lives again!!! This time around a full M52B28 factory engine has been dropped in running the m52 loom, dme and intake manifold. I am still facing an issue with the battery not charging so will replace the alternator. This one feels about as quick if not quicker than the last engine and defiantly has some pull to it! Here are a few pics of the swap process! Also added some Bilstein Sport front shocks with Eibach springs so hopefully I can go around corners far better! There was one issue when we pulled the engine out and we accidentally snapped the shift mechanism... After managing to get it welded and gusseted up on a Sunday we were able to put the whole lot back together! Learnt that I am running a single mass flywheel and 328 clutch and pressure plate while swapping the clutch and flywheel over. Didnt take a pic of the clutch alignment tool we made but it worked a treat, doing it by eye the first time we couldn't get the box to go in at all, after using the tool it was perfect. We made one out of a socket, extension and some tape and now I wish I had a picture of it! While the engine was out I gave the whole engine bay a good scrub and waterblast! So after all that the engine was able to be slotted into place and bolted up! After plugging it all in and once again missing the same wire we were able to test fire it and get it all fired up! So more to still come in the future for the little Ti!!!! Having all that power back is amazing! Still daily driving my other Ti until I can get a bit of spare time to swap the alternators over and hopefully that solves the charging issues! 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zero 1162 Report post Posted September 28, 2016 Are you still running the getrag 220 box? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RedRocketTi 131 Report post Posted September 28, 2016 Yeah still running the 220 that is screwed, hopefully will have some more money around Xmas and will do a new clutch plate and box, along with diff/LSD. Plans to do a wide body like the felony form are also possible to run my wide Ac schnitzer rims. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zero 1162 Report post Posted September 29, 2016 The zf box would be the way to go, but you will need to get your driveshaft shortened. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RedRocketTi 131 Report post Posted September 29, 2016 Yeah if I was going to run a zf box I would get the correct front half of the driveshaft rather than cut and mix and match. I do know where 1 or 2 are at the moment but the poor student budget won't allow me just yet to buy one Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RedRocketTi 131 Report post Posted January 3, 2017 Okay so a bit of stuff has a happened with the little Ti since my last update! I did my headlights French style with yellow high beams, love the look they give! Also Christmas came a day early for the wee red beast with the new getrag box going in along with a 3.64 medium case E30 diff. The E30 diff was a direct bolt in pretty much, all that was required was swapping the output shafts over so that I could keep my original half shafts. Swapping the output flanges just involved popping them out with a pry bar, easily enough done! Also the speedo sensor for the e30 diff had a different plug on the end so I swapped over the original Ti one and it seems to work perfectly! The new box going in! Old box out and ready for the new one to go in! So the next thing to do was to make it look a bit better! The front bumper needed the massive crack fixed up along with a respray. First the bumper was prepped Once some base coat was put down Finally after the clear was added it it was all fitted up! Here you can also see the french headlights too! I need to get some new brackets so that I can mount up my yellow fog lights. I also gave my spare FL Grill surrounds a coat of satin black, I think it makes it look a bit meaner than the chrome! Also to tackle the rear end! My 2nd Ti had a towbar and msport rear bumper, so I thought it would be handy to have a towbar and possibly may later in the year get a little jetski to tow behind it. It was pretty quick and easy to fit it all up! And all done! That all that has been done so far! However i still have to take some glamour shots of her! There is also these genuine 4 door m3 mirrors and here is a little preview with some base coat on them. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
eliongater 718 Report post Posted January 3, 2017 Did you actually paint your bumper on the bonnet of an e30 with pinstriping? Surely there are cheaper work benches to be found Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olaf 3317 Report post Posted January 3, 2017 great progress! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Herbmiester 925 Report post Posted January 3, 2017 Well done, keep it coming. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RedRocketTi 131 Report post Posted January 10, 2017 On 1/3/2017 at 10:35 PM, eliongater said: Did you actually paint your bumper on the bonnet of an e30 with pinstriping? Surely there are cheaper work benches to be found Yep sure did lol, its a PFL 320i sedan we picked up cheap but it had a uncracked dash that was quickly swapped into my little bros E30 coupe, also got an e21 323i 5 speed coupe in the same deal lol. Also cheers for the support guys, managed to get a couple of shots of it the other day Also my dad is going to test fit some different sized tires on the AC Schnitzer mags to see if he can get the under the guards, if anyone knows what size tires will fit nicely with 17x8.5 et13 please let me know! I was thinking of going for something like a 205/45/17 or similar to get a little bit of the stretched look while also being functional to fit under the guards. This would also mean that I am no longer daily driving on semis lol. 2000km done already on the new box and diff and its running mint, so much better with the ratios! Anyways here is some pics of the wee red beast! 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
qube 3570 Report post Posted January 10, 2017 really like the last photo. there is no "sensible" tyre option that would make that offset work on an e36. but best would be 205 40 17. 45 sidewall is too high. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mr Vapour 76 Report post Posted January 10, 2017 Pics of the e21? Please Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RedRocketTi 131 Report post Posted February 7, 2017 So today I transformed the look of my baby once again! Failed a WOF on Saturday on worn out rear tires.... semi slicks only lasted about 5 months! They are still perfectly fine for track use but no longer upto mr wof mans standards! So it forced my hand into having to buy new tires.... Decided to run My AC Schnitzer rims for once! So a full brand new set of rubber on all 4 rims and I think it looks amazing! (Maybe need more low in the front end) 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RedRocketTi 131 Report post Posted February 19, 2017 So another update of whats happened so far! The first thing that has happened since fitting the rims, is the fitment of some sedan/coupe projector headlights, and since swapping over I have all of a sudden realized how terrible the stock Ti ones really were!!!! My M3 sedan mirrors finally got clear coated and fitted up, I'm in love with the look and also the addition of the lower front lip from the dealership earlier this week really helps to make the car look the little bit more aggressive from the front! So yesterday I took the wee red beast along to a dyno day! All that has been done to the engine is a K&N panel filter and different muffler, so wasn't expecting anything silly just trying to figure out how healthy the engine was. Well it shocked me that it managed to come out at 128.5 kw at the rear wheels!!! Dyno sheet is attached, that means it hasn't lost any of its horses over its lifetime and it definitely feels like it hasn't! Now whats left on the list of things to do/wishlist? Well at the meet I did see a nice Honda Integra with a b18c with a centrifugal supercharger setup off where the ac pump used to be, running an intercooler and then up to the throttle body, that kind of setup is what I have had in mind for the way things would be laid out to do it to the Ti, however the cost involved is a slippery slope for that, I think the power bug has bitten.... I also need to go lower on the front so looking at going to some fully adjustable suspension, or potentially some Eibach lowering springs, something to make it sit slightly lower. Bucket seats or Vaders, something that will hold me in better than whats currently in there but is still comfy AC Schnitzer rear lip LSD Currently daily driving it and doing well over 500km a week, $135 a week in gas is gettting costly.... kinda thinking of getting a cheap daily that uses no fuel, that way more silly things can be done to this one 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RedRocketTi 131 Report post Posted March 20, 2017 So I have finally managed to get some adjustable suspension!!!! I am running with the XYZ SuperSport suspension, that have been setup with custom spring rates to suit the Ti from BC Direct here in Chch (Kit built up by SpeedFactor). What can I say.... out of the box I kinda guessed a height to set them at and decided to go low for that stance look! I will be jacking the front end up again tomorrow to a reasonable height as rubbing on every single speed bump sucks! Anyways here are some pictures of the beast sitting pretty! Also handles like a dream, such an upgrade especially in the rear with what I wouldn't be surprised if they were the original shocks with 260,000km on them! Pizza was needed half way through! Then for the final result!!!! 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Blackie 510 Report post Posted April 22, 2017 (edited) Nice car and great read Chris. I'm going to go a similar route in the not too far distant future. :-) Edited April 22, 2017 by Blackie Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RedRocketTi 131 Report post Posted April 25, 2017 On 4/22/2017 at 4:47 PM, Blackie said: Nice car and great read Chris. I'm going to go a similar route in the not too far distant future. :-) Thanks man, the 6 banger in the Ti chassis is just awesome to drive, fantastic in the twisties and gives it a decent amount of grunt, they should have produced them from the factory like this! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RedRocketTi 131 Report post Posted April 25, 2017 Okay so another update to the money pit..... Pre cert stuff done and dusted: Failed VTNZ WOF ( they even tried to put the 100mm brick under the car I think Im sitting about 70mm to side skirt and the gearbox x-member is the lowest point) Wheel alignment done (lots of poke up front with the camber removed) I went in for cert and failed.... Failed on no driveshaft hoops (thought I could get away by confroming with 2.5(9) of the LVVTA standard, but couldnt confirm the part #'s). Failed on tires to small for rim...... this is a bit silly.... I had 215/45 and 205/40 tires on 8.5" rims..... so now am running legal sizing of 195/40 and 215/40. - Yes that is correct, 195/40 and 215/40 are legal but for some reason 205/40/17 is illegal on a 8.5" rim, so now I have a hell of a lot more stretch up front!!! Final part I failed on was the rear springs are too big at the top and are not located perfectly by the rubber locating spike so will need to make up a little spacer/bush to make sure it sits tight in there. So for the driveshaft hoops I was able to get a pair custom made up, here are some pics as it seems I struggled to find any decent pictures of driveshaft safety loops for an E36! Front hoop: Rear hoop: Internal mounting plates with the 8.8 bolts: These are awesome quality and fit perfectly! JB Fabrication down here in Christchurch was able to do them up for me, on a Saturday too!!!! I will get something fabricated up this week to locate the springs nice and snug and will then take it back for its recheck next week! As always will finish off with more beauty shots after I cleaned it the other day 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RedRocketTi 131 Report post Posted June 21, 2017 (edited) So I guess I haven't really posted up much about what has happened in the past few months! A lot of the small annoying things have been fixed up (Passengers door car clips.... 4 weekends in a row trying to get it perfect, now the drivers door is starting to come off slightly.........) I decided I wanted to actually use some of the audio gear I had lying about from when I was in high school and thought better than gathering dust why not install it into my car again, however this time in a much more professional and clean way. I had already put in a JVC Bluetooth head-unit and 6" speakers up front long ago, and I had 6" round speakers in the parcel tray. I thought I can do better than that.... So I had a Blaupunkt 500w amp, a sony 350w amp, Carbon cone Kenwood 1400w Shallow mount sub-woofer and a pair of sony 6x9's. I decided to go full out and install some pioneer 4" speakers into the rear factory mounts so I can still have 4 speakers should I ever take my parcel tray out! I wanted to still have usable space in the boot so a standard sub box wasn't going to cut it for me, so I decided to make a custom sub box that would mount into the side where the wheel arch was. I started by making up a MDF front and top to mount the sub into and amps onto, this was then wrapped in some carpet that was lying around. Next up was the ugly task of molding the back to sit in with the car. I removed the carpet from the side of the boot (Luckily it holds its shape extremely well and is quite rigid. I then used a sheet of plastic to cover it in and then proceeded to fiberglass the shape of the carpet, using the plastic as a mold release. As you can see from the photos it fits in well and means that the usable space within the boot isnt compromised as much as a normal sub box! I also used molex connectors for the 6x9's so that I can quickly unplug them if I want to remove the parcel tray for any reason! This week a special shipment also arrived from Europe! My high rise LTW wing! I am extremly impressed with the quality of the wing and cant wait to finally fit it to the car! I test fitted it as a high rise and as a low rise, I think I prefer the high rise look over the low rise option at the moment! The wing does need a little trimming down to fit around the rear window but it isnt a huge amount of work. Fitting the bolts and finding where they will pop through when drilling through the boot might be a little more problematic however. From the pic below you can see how it will need trimmed down. The back of the wing however fits perfectly with the curve in the boot. Also while running with the spacers the wing will clear the rear wiper so no need to delete it! I actually like having it because its handy when reversing if there is water all over the rear window (that is if I will be able to see out the rear window much now )! This weekend I have a track day on Saturday so that should be good fun, first time out with the new engine, suspension, gearbox and diff since the last track day! While away boat racing last weekend I thought the LTW didnt quite add enough downforce to the rear of the Ti so decided to add the boat on the back too! Who said adding a tow bar was a bad idea! My daily driver also got a fresh coat of paint so its no longer multi coloured! It will also be getting some new wheels in a weeks time when the semi slick tires get taken off the Style 97's. I should have my LTW back from being painted in about a weeks time so I will try to post a small update with some pictures of the fitment and how I bolted it all down when I get it all on! Edited June 21, 2017 by RedRocketTi 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zero 1162 Report post Posted June 22, 2017 That paint job came out good. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tawa 150 Report post Posted June 22, 2017 That's some good work progress! Wing looks good either way, more subtle down low, but more wing wang goodness when high. I was going to suggest getting rid of the tow bar since it is a bit visually jarring, but it's clearly there for a good cause. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RedRocketTi 131 Report post Posted June 24, 2017 On 6/22/2017 at 1:19 PM, zero said: That paint job came out good. Thanks, my Dad does not too bad of a job considering it was done in a cold Invercargill garage back home On 6/22/2017 at 7:27 PM, tawa said: That's some good work progress! Wing looks good either way, more subtle down low, but more wing wang goodness when high. I was going to suggest getting rid of the tow bar since it is a bit visually jarring, but it's clearly there for a good cause. Yeah I see what you mean about the Tow Bar, but its just so handy! I kinda want to fit a FancyWide style rear diffuser to the rear end too Took the Ti to the track today too! Only one spin, was going a bit hot in one of the sessions during my first lap out, cold tires and over estimated my grip levels. Other than that the car ran flawlessly all day! New pads went in after session 2, just before the lunch break and it all went well! Now I just need to get better at driving the thing! Might keep adding more stiffness into the front as its got plenty of grip up front but is getting a bit tail happy still, New PB around Ruapuna today too 1:51.126 and was consistently in the low 1:51's throughout the day. Apart from peeling the inside wheel when trying to floor it out of corners in 3rd she performed great! LSD is very tempting now, but I cant justify the costs just yet... Removing all the boot carpets allowed a lot more road and exhaust noise becauseracecar I will post another update when my big wang arrives back from being painted, and show how its all going to be mounted up. I will also track down the gopro footage from a mates gopro I borrowed for a session, my one is currently at the bottom of Lake Waihola after falling off the race boat last year. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RedRocketTi 131 Report post Posted July 5, 2017 So here is the footage from Ruapuna! First lap out was taking it a little easy to get the tires warm, still have a lot of improvements I can make with my lines and some setup things. Mainly ride height is needed as you can hear a little rubbing! All good fun and cant wait until next time out! The LTW is being bought up by my father after painting on the 15th so fingers crossed I can get it fitted with no issues! I am also planning on redoing my headlining shortly to finally fix the sagging that has been there for years! Going to go Black this time too! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
