BMW Compact Build

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mothra
The car looks great but I really hate this thread....It makes me want to build a new shell for the XR and do it ALL right.

LOL - Don't bother till you wad it up, or start a new one but continue to race the current one. Every time I go out and work on the car I think "if I were doing it properly I'd have done X Y Z, etc. different." I'm convinced that other than maybe factory cars (and that beautiful escort somebody posted up on here a few months back), there are very few "ALL right" cars out there.

Dave

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mothra
The car looks great but I really hate this thread....It makes me want to build a new shell for the XR and do it ALL right.

Matt, you car is allright, and it meats the real measure: its 'pretty darn good'.

That's the goal.
The whole idea is that "pretty darn good" is a hellava lot better than BAD.
And for 99% of us "pretty darn good" is good enough for who we are.

You are right, secondf and third time doing something is generally a lot cleaner and nicer, and you learn things but chip away at your spare shell but abopve all:
DRIVE YOU CAR!
Go play trackie/dorift-o, secret play in them hollers day. I always thought the Xratty should fly at Sandie Blatz, why no dooooo eeeeeet?


(wait isn't Blatz a famous brand?

The most fun I have had was at Rally Tennessee on Tarmac. Sandblast is fun but each time I ahve been there was with an open diff. (so a full day of wheel spin). With the economy finally starting to improve I am shooting for the Hyperfest rally sprint and hopefully rally west virginia this year. Hopefully add Sandblast or rally tennessee in 2012.

what I really need is someone interested in codriving on a regular basis to nudge me along and get me to committ to events.

There are some nice dirt roads with plenty of curves near home so the car gets regular exercise. Also talking to a lcal ATV/MX park that has some roads that would work for rally practice. $60 and I can have the place to my self for the day.


John, I owe you a check so you can send me some goodies.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/07/2011 12:29PM by mothra.

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mothra
The most fun I have had was at Rally Tennessee on Tarmac. Sandblast is fun but each time I ahve been there was with an open diff. (so a full day of wheel spin). With the economy finally starting to improve I am shooting for the Hyperfest rally sprint and hopefully rally west virginia this year. Hopefully add Sandblast or rally tennessee in 2012.

what I really need is someone interested in codriving on a regular basis to nudge me along and get me to committ to events.

There are some nice dirt roads with plenty of curves near home so the car gets regular exercise. Also talking to a lcal ATV/MX park that has some roads that would work for rally practice. $60 and I can have the place to my self for the day.


John, I owe you a check so you can send me some goodies.

Hey let's cure the open diff problem.

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john vanlandingham
Hey let's cure the open diff problem.

I am going to try a welded diff first and when that fails to cure things or blows up them I will be ready for the proper cure.

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mothra

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john vanlandingham
Hey let's cure the open diff problem.

I am going to try a welded diff first and when that fails to cure things or blows up them I will be ready for the proper cure.

Yeah that OUGHT to do except the gearing thing, 4.3 sound like a whole lotta fun

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john vanlandingham

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mothra

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john vanlandingham
Hey let's cure the open diff problem.

I am going to try a welded diff first and when that fails to cure things or blows up them I will be ready for the proper cure.

Yeah that OUGHT to do except the gearing thing, 4.3 sound like a whole lotta fun

What and miss out on the joy of ALWAYS being in the wrong gear.

Little more progress:





Dave

Good stuff! Keep going......

Dave,

Really cool project, that thing is going to be max fun to drive and most likely cost 1/4 of what it would to run the evo.


Two years ago there was a 95 M3 for sale down the street from my shop for $3500.00, I looked at it on a lift and it was pretty hammered everywhere so I let it go, been kicking my self in the ass since.


Peter

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Gravel Spray
Really cool project, that thing is going to be max fun to drive and most likely cost 1/4 of what it would to run the evo.

Two years ago there was a 95 M3 for sale down the street from my shop for $3500.00, I looked at it on a lift and it was pretty hammered everywhere so I let it go, been kicking my self in the ass since.

I can't quit searching for 318ti's. Dave's car can be built by privateers for under $15k. It's sitting ten feet in front of me and looks beautiful. Though I think it'd really benefit from a Escort Cossie like whale tail in the looks department. Hmmm. I have my RS500 whale tail sitting over there... I wonder......

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Gravel Spray
Really cool project, that thing is going to be max fun to drive and most likely cost 1/4 of what it would to run the evo.

Looking at the Evo and knowing what hillclimb costs were, I was calculating ~$10k to run a rally. Not sure how realistic these expeses are for a full blown Open Class Evo, but here was my guestimates:

$4k fresh tires (set at each service?)
$1k brake pads/rotors
$1.5k turbo (assuming antilag will kill turbos often)
$1.5k entry fee & notes
$1-2k travel expenses

That assumes a volunteer crew that pays for their own hotel and that the car stays on the road...both of which are terrible assumptions. This realization (unfortunately after I built the car) is what prompted me to start looking for a cheaper way to play in the woods. For the first few years we simply stayed in Colorado and ran hillclimbs, but the last year at Rally Colorado the wife got the itch to go rally.

On the BMW, since it won't have a turbo, I'll see less heat, use the brakes less, consume fewer tires, and run a stock 240hp motor. I was guessing that I'd be lucky to see costs ~50% less, but if I can come in at even less than that, maybe I'll get to run an extra event. Two rounds of MaxAttack! are the goal for 2011...and making it to the summit at Pikes Peak with the Evo fully functional.

Dave

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NoCoast
I can't quit searching for 318ti's. Dave's car can be built by privateers for under $15k. It's sitting ten feet in front of me and looks beautiful. Though I think it'd really benefit from a Escort Cossie like whale tail in the looks department. Hmmm. I have my RS500 whale tail sitting over there... I wonder......

Don't scratch the paint! The Evo wing actually fits on the car and looks pretty good...though the top of the wing is almost level with the roof line.

I was talking with Grant about the build last night. To get one on the road for less, there's alot of stuff you could skip. I was missing a clutch pedal, so when a set of fancy floor mounted Tiltons got posted up on a forum...I thought why the hell not. Bunch of places to save some coin on a build like this:

-$3000 M3 swap
-$1000 floor mounted pedals
-$1000 compomotives
-$ 300 kevlar underbody
-$ 500 Supra rear diff swap
-$ 500 custom driveshaft needed
-$ 500 quick rack from Z3

I paid just $1100 for my donor car and sold ~$600 worth of parts from it. So, from the looks of it, for ~$10k you could have one on the road built up from scratch with a set of JVAB suspenders and the right parts of the car strengthened. Or, for $12,500 you could have one with that bad-ass Compact Cup body kit....damn, I want that. LOL

Dave

Are the 318ti's the same wheelbase as the M3/E36??


edit, I remember seeing the one DC speaks of in 96 or so. There are quite a few 318ti's running around the Seattle area with the M3 motor, Hmm...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/21/2011 05:45PM by Gravel Spray.

Oh my god Dave! You are the new $500 craigslist BMW! Somebody call Jalopnik! And Dave's car doesn't look like it's been cobbled together and Dave's already fast in gravel! We could have this car ready for WRC Mexico easily. All we need is $10k to run the event. Anyone want to sponsor it? Did we mention that Dave's hot wife Allison is his codriver too? Chicks in cars always draw a crowd especially ones like Allison that don't really seem to be able to not be smiling.