E36 M42 Build
Posted by Garrett Griffith
Garrett Griffith Senior Moderator Location: Dallas, Tx Join Date: 04/14/2016 Age: Settling Down Posts: 20 Rally Car: BMW E36 318i |
*Clears throat* Hello, My name is Garrett! There, now that my formal introduction is out of the way...
ANYWAYS, I decided it was time for me to rally. With that being said, my weapon of choice is a 1995 BMW E36 318i 4 door m42 1.8l $600. I am trying to do the minimum required to get my first rally under my belt, but there are so many "What ifs" to cover. The car initially didn't move due to a messed up clutch and blown tranny. Got it to the shop after being towed through Dallas traffic.  Sadly, I do not have a lot of handy fabrication tools at my disposal, so cleaver ways have/had to be improvised. This is also a very large learning project for myself and co-driver. Starting, we just knew the basics of a car and had no idea how things actually worked. Over the past winter is when a lot of the repair work was done.
***GOAL: Show-Me 16 Rally Oct. 1st*** Here is a list if crap that needs to be done AND what has been done: DONE list:
NOT DONE list:
I will update this list every so often. Okay so I'll catch you up on my little adventure once I figure out how to document with pictures instead of attachments. ha.  <-these are neat but might get old fast.
But for now, here is an attached picture of my car in the early days. "Cut the don'ts" - Garrett Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/2016 03:36AM by Garrett Griffith. |
Garrett Griffith Senior Moderator Location: Dallas, Tx Join Date: 04/14/2016 Age: Settling Down Posts: 20 Rally Car: BMW E36 318i |
HA I FIGURED IT OUT! MUAHAHAHAHAHA
mmmmmmmkay. So this is Evangeline. She was broken. First order of business was to get the car just driving. 
The reason the car didn't move was a limp clutch pedal. So initial culprit was the slave cylinder. That didn't work. The pedal was firm now, but still wouldn't engage the pressure plate. (again I had no idea how any of this worked). So at this point it was time to get the car on jack stands and start learning out to take the transmission off. A long time later...and Its off. seized throw-out bearing, worn clutch disk, and a stupid heavy dual-mass flywheel that didn't even "reduce vibrations" as the springs were shot. So after researching and finding out that this car can really benefit from a light weight fly wheel. I bought one. At $630 and more than the car, this piece of aluminium is very nice!  
And not really knowing much or anyone that knew much about clutches, I bought an overkill stage 3 or 4 (can't remember) South Bend clutch. It said it was built for hard racing and rally so I was sold. This flywheel/clutch combo cost roughly 1k.  But they look nice for the whole lot of nobody to see! (except you guys  )
After this, Reassembly process begun. After THAT it was time to fix the leaky bits. At first I thought it was the oil pan gasket, but later found out the oil filter housing gasket likes to leak after 21 years. So I replaced it. 
And now to figure out why the power steering didn't work. (once again, I had no idea how any of this worked) So after a while just observing how things worked, I add fluid to see if anything happened. Well, to my surprise, something did! A huge puddle formed, ha. The fluid was just pouring out of the pump near the pulley. Took the pump off and apart to see what what happened. 
I suspect the pump ran dry and the pump destroyed its self due to no lubrication... 
So, got a new pump. But now to solve why the pump went dry...hmmm...Well, gotta check the hoses I suppose. Turns out, the feeder hose and return both were leaking near the reservoir. It was due to these stupid crimp clamps the BMW decided was a great idea because who wants to tighten these things? Well, I did. I was a painful and messy project. BUT it work. At this point I was pretty happy. Everything deemed broken had been fixed. SO TEST DRIVE BABY! or ride, cuz I didnt know how to drive a manual  annnnd 1st and 3rd gear are broken....great. Back up on the jacks. New tranny and I also ordered the bucket seats/brackets/and harnesses because I need to stare at race parts to stay sane.
Upon reassembly of the new tranny, I found a chunk of cast iron. That cant be good. Nope, it wasnt. The starter flange broke off. This actually didn't bother me because it finally gave me an reason to *removed edited rage* get a threaded starter and not have to deal with the retarded nuts on impossible to reach, let alone get a wrench up there, up end of the attached transmission. Phew. Car is back together with a new battery and IT STARTS!
With the continuation of stripping, the hood latches were in bad shape and I read I need hood pins anyways, so I got some. 
Dash came out to expose super happy fun time wires! 
*It has been cleaned up a bit and reassembled for driving purposes* It had also crossed my mind that I am going to need more than 4 wheels/tires. So I hoped on craigslist and this dude 2 hours away was selling 15" bottle cap wheels for $10 each  swagalicious of a deal.
Still continuing stripping 
After looking for a long good while for cage builder, I found Rally Ready driving school in Austin, Tx. I figured if they have a fleet of rally cars, they must cage cars. They do! They install cages from Custom Cages This is an online model they have: 
This is pretty much what I had in mind except I would like more rear strut tower reinforcements as I've heard these cars are really weak in that region. Especially since I am going to run all coilovers JVABs (Hi John) So I finally had time to learn to drive this puppy! I knew Evangeline was just waitin' to purr. The reason I had to learn was to get this car inspected, and effectively registered meaning its street legal. 
It only took me about 5 miles worth of driving a manual before I aced it. It helps to have repaired the clutch and understand how it works when it came time to use it. I did notice however, When approaching speeds around 55mph, the steering wheel shakes pretty bad. I suspect bad control arm bushings. Also when letting off the gas at high speeds, It sounds like a jake brake (goes away under 50mph). To be honest, I am a little scared. I could just be over reacting due to 1.) Not driven a manual. 2.) driving a car without sound deadening. 3.) and not driving this particular car in general. I do know the suspension could use an entire refresh of bushing and what not (coming soon) and the front dampers are practically non-existing. So this is pretty much where I am today. I am waiting on Rally Ready to contact me when they do a bulk buy from custom cages. And also waiting and working in conjunction with John to see if we can fit some JVABs on Evangeline. Still gotta do a lot, and some fab work needs to be done. BUT hopefully most critical repairs have been completed. Also must additional things to come are simply bolt on items. Easy peasy. I am all ears with suggestions and advice as this whole project and step in my life is a learning experience. "Cut the don'ts" - Garrett Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/21/2016 03:33AM by Garrett Griffith. |
Ryan Dunham Infallible Moderator Location: Hurst, TX Join Date: 09/17/2015 Age: Settling Down Posts: 158 Rally Car: 1989 Merkur XR4Ti |
Grant Hughes Super Moderator Location: Whitefish, MT Join Date: 01/11/2006 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 6,818 Rally Car: BMW |
Nice choice!
A few things of note: You will not find any BMW 15" wheel that is decent that is less than 7" width. This means we are stuck using 195 or 205 tires instead of a more power appropriate 185. We are working on building a rally spec 15x6.5 wheel for the BMWs, mostly getting interest at this point as we need to get 20 wheels to justify the tooling. For the Subaru buy we did last year we actually subsidized the group buy and the wheels were all under our cost which we will probably end up doing again. I think we aimed around $150 a wheel, retail is $220 a wheel. Start keeping your eye out for a Z3 steering rack. They are a constant rate as opposed to progressive, 2.6 or so lock to lock I think. Didn't realize Custom Cages did an updated spec E36 cage. They only had old spec last I had looked. That is cool, their cages can be nice. I personally leave the BMW wiring as alone as possible. I've watched Dave Kern spend too much time trying to resolve electrical issues. We reuse the moonroof casing and just fill the gaps with silicone. Tabs in the corner to hold it in place and give you something to weld to. We sell skid plate, fuel line protection, soon will have diff plates, spill kits, med kits, and more. Check out the site, http://rally.build JVAB or Reiger is the only thing to consider for suspension. The Reiger budget stuff is over $4k though and JVAB stuff is quite good. John and Dave Kern spent some good time developing it and getting stuff like lengths, valving, and spring rates worked out. I haven't had the time to pull apart the rear of the multi-link setup to see if there is really any room for improvement going to a turret. I do know that I have never seen a rally car redo the rear in the multi-link setup. In the Compact doing so is easy and gains a ton of travel. Not sure if the newer rear suspension has any benefit. I'll be putting my sedan up on stands in driveway this week to prep while the kids play, I'll try and find time to pull springs and do some measuring. What is wrong with front windows? Usual drop when rolling down? That's just these dumb plastic clip things that wear over time. We are building an oven for molding Lexan. High on the summer projects list, BMW windows are already sitting ready to mold.  Grant Hughes |
Garrett Griffith Senior Moderator Location: Dallas, Tx Join Date: 04/14/2016 Age: Settling Down Posts: 20 Rally Car: BMW E36 318i |
Hey Ryan, Thanks for the greeting. Yeah we should get together sometime and have a good ol chat and slap stuff with a hammer. I called John and talked with him for a good bit already, So hopefully that part is set in motion. The reason I am hesitant about RX is because the front dampers are in such horrible condition. Its basically riding on just springs and with a good bump, Id bottom out  "Cut the don'ts" - Garrett |
Garrett Griffith Senior Moderator Location: Dallas, Tx Join Date: 04/14/2016 Age: Settling Down Posts: 20 Rally Car: BMW E36 318i |
For now I will just use these bottle cap wheels I found as I haven't budgeted for a proper set of wheels. Hopefully soon though! I am not a fan that bmw is an odd 120x5 lug pattern which takes a lot of wheels out of the question. New hubs might be in store when its time for proper wheels. I have read that the Z3 rack is indeed shorter lock-to-lock and constant. Id either do that, or get a steering ratio adapter. So my current thought process on the wires is they really need to be out of the way for caging and painting the inside. Upon re-installation, why not just disconnect what isn't needed anymore. I still don't know if this is going to be a good idea or just too much trouble in general. More input is needed! "We reuse the moonroof casing and just fill the gaps with silicone. Tabs in the corner to hold it in place and give you something to weld to." This was in the same ball park as my other plan. Either this or just rivet thin metal over the gap. As for Rally.Build, I was looking at the skid plate you guys offer. I was think that, but I will still have to find someone to weld on the brace. At this point I was thinking I can get a 2'x4' 3/16" inch 6061 aluminium for $185 shipped. Then my plan was to bend it with a 10degree slope at the front. Bend some piping and weld some M12 nuts to it. Construct a something similar for mounting the pipe to the body (so I can take the brace off). Then drill holes in the aluminium and bolt it to the pipe brace. BUT THEN I thought those bolts are hungry for some rocks! so I thought of making a way to have recessed bolts but are still accessible with a socket. If we can make a deal with your skid plate, diff plate, and kits. I might be in! For fuel protection, I was looking at getting a roll of this. It should be plenty to make some mud flaps, under armor protection, and cover the fuel/brake lines. What do you think? I hope that all made sense. Both front windows are not working. Driver side is in the up position but the motor is not functioning. I have yet to zap it with an external battery to see if its just the connections. The passenger side windows is currently down inside the door. We have taken off the regulator and motor as it wasn't attached to the window to begin with. Why they had to rivet on the regulator, I have no idea. My co-driver and I are trying to figure out a way to either to manually crank the windows or just go Lexan. I value your input! "Cut the don'ts" - Garrett |
edward mucklow Senior Moderator Location: charleston,wv Join Date: 05/31/2011 Age: Possibly Wise Posts: 763 Rally Car: ford mustang LX 5.0, 1973 VW Beetle |
John Vanlandingham Elite Moderator Location: Ford Asylum, Sleezattle, WA Join Date: 12/20/2005 Age: Fossilized Posts: 14,152 Rally Car: Saab 96 V4 |
Garrett Griffith Senior Moderator Location: Dallas, Tx Join Date: 04/14/2016 Age: Settling Down Posts: 20 Rally Car: BMW E36 318i |
Garrett Griffith Senior Moderator Location: Dallas, Tx Join Date: 04/14/2016 Age: Settling Down Posts: 20 Rally Car: BMW E36 318i |
Here, I made this quick mock-up of the skid plate I had in mind. Thoughts? "Cut the don'ts" - Garrett |
Andrew Frick Super Moderator Location: Greenville, SC Join Date: 05/18/2007 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 684 Rally Car: Rally Spec Ford Focus |
Garrett Griffith Senior Moderator Location: Dallas, Tx Join Date: 04/14/2016 Age: Settling Down Posts: 20 Rally Car: BMW E36 318i |
Grant Hughes Super Moderator Location: Whitefish, MT Join Date: 01/11/2006 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 6,818 Rally Car: BMW |
Grant Hughes Super Moderator Location: Whitefish, MT Join Date: 01/11/2006 Age: Midlife Crisis Posts: 6,818 Rally Car: BMW |
John Vanlandingham Elite Moderator Location: Ford Asylum, Sleezattle, WA Join Date: 12/20/2005 Age: Fossilized Posts: 14,152 Rally Car: Saab 96 V4 |
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