I've autocrossed, TSD rallied, hill climbed, and driven on race tracks in HPDE's and driving schools. I've become competent and reasonably quick in the equipment I've used. However, I've reached the point where the car I've been driving simply can't go any faster, and it's not worth dumping more money into it. I have essentially two choices, as I see it, if I want to continue driving on the track:
1) Buy a faster car. Since I spend most of my time on the track in the higher run groups I'm in waving Mustangs, Evos and Corvettes past me, I can employ the "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em" ranks and buy a Mustang or something. However, the only V-8 car I can afford and remotely like is a Fox chassis Mustang, which are probably one of the worst chassis ever created. While they can be 'fixed', it costs thousands of dollars. I don't like Mustangs that much. Not to mention the cost of running a faster car in terms of tires, fuel, brakes etc is significantly more.
2) Run a car with similar speed capabilities, but in a 'spec' class where the cars are essentially all the same. If I'm pointing people by, it's because I'm a crappy driver, not because the car sucks. That means getting an actual racing car, and not using some street/track compromise that I've already determined really doesn't work for me. Hmmmm. Spec Miata? Nope, cars cost too much for what they are in my opinion, and while I like the Miata as a street car, I just can't think of it as a track car. Not to mention most SM races look like demo derbies. Spec Neon? No way you'll get me in a freaking Neon. Spec Focus? Nope, too new.
Spec E30! The E30 chassis BMW has always been one of my favorite Bimmers. To me, it was just the right size. The 325i has a sweet little inline six engine, it's German quality, and E30 parts are surprisingly affordable.
Well, with some discussion with the other 'mongrel' Scott, it came to light that he too was considering going to a dedicated track car and wasn't comfortable with the tight confines of the Miata. So we hatched a plan to build a 2 car 'team' and invade the Spec E30 world.
Thus begins the saga of the '87 325i 4 door donor car that follows.
Sexy, ain't it?
The donor is a 170,000 mile car that has been off the road for about 3 years, about half that time indoors. Though the photo looks pretty good, it was actually pretty disgusting...black with dirt on the outside, and a decided funk odor inside that was a combination of degrading German leather, vinyl, plastic and mouse-pee carpeting. The oddball fenders are a result of a minor front end hit, but the structural parts of the car are square and untouched. All the holes still line up.
The interior is gutted, and I'm chipping the tar off the floor (which is going pretty well). The a/c has been removed, and I'm assessing the brakes and driveline for maintenance items.
8/15/06 This is what the interior looks like. All the floor 'tar', carpet, padding, headliner and seats have been removed. The front seats will have to go back in temporarily. I had to patch a rust hole on the passenger floor, but otherwise the body is very solid. Presently awaiting the arrival of suspension and brake parts.
10/09/06 As of today, the car is together and I've been driving it on the street. I'm amazed just how fast these things are. I should have sold my Audi long ago, I guess. Doing some street 'testing' was wise, as it turned out the car had a bum alternator and a few other annoyances that I was able to correct before heading to the track. The cam seal leaks, which is annoying and smelly, but it will have to wait. After a track day or maybe two, I'll probably remove the engine to replace some seals and install the crank scraper in the oil pan. I still have some rear suspension bushings to deal with and a catalytic converter that needs to become a non-catalyst, along with replacing the shift lever and driveshaft guibo. Add painting it something other than it's present hideous two tone silver and I'll be busy thru spring.
I'm only guesstimating right now, but this car should be ready to legally race for about $6000-$7000. Most of the expenses are in and I don't have near that in it, but some of the items (like my race seat) I already had, so to be fair the 'real' build cost would be higher.
10/14/06
Track debut: still needs the roll cage installed, which also holds off installing the race seat and harness. I was very impressed with the car overall. Much, much faster than my Audi and still easy to drive. Only failures were the heater core which began leaking on my foot during the 2nd session and a recurring problem keeping the alternator belt tight. For some reason my brackets don't angle the same as on Scott's car, though they otherwise look correct. Need to do a bit more research into the problem.
Back into the garage until Feb '07 and a trip to VIR.
The car is currently apart for installation of the roll cage. The basic cage is welded up and being made one with the floor. Door bars and footwell braces still need completion. After that, seat installation and then back to some maintenance issues (leaky gearbox, suspension work, electrical drain). The car did well at VIR in February, aside from a few more teething problems. After the 6-ish hour drive there in it without a radio, I'm thinking towing it may come sooner rather than later!
6/07
Here is the nightmare that is my dashboard. The front bar of the cage is in place and will be hidden under the dash. I need to make brackets or alter the old ones to hold the computers for the engine and ABS.
This is the back half of the cage. The rear bulkhead needs to be cut open to allow the rear bars to pass through. I'm going to make panels to cover the holes now that everything is installed. A bracket needs to be made for the 3rd brake light since the package shelf that holds it is gone. One option is to use a bracket from a newer E30. I left the sound deadener that was under the back seat in place, as I don't want to take out too much and be under weight, and having weight there is better than some other places. If I'm still over minimum weight I'll take it out later.
10/2007
With the interior finally finished, I couldn't stand to look at the outside any longer. I sanded the entire car down with the DA sander in preparation for something I wanted to try: a roller paint job! While the body was mostly straight (or so I thought), I did fix some of the larger dents. I'm also pretty particular about removing as much trim as possible as I absolutely hate seeing tape lines.
Here is the finished paint job before graphics. 4 coats of each color rolled on, using a total of 2 quarts of paint with some left over for repairs. I used Brightside boat paint made by Interlux. It comes out with an extremely high gloss which I didn't want to disturb. You can see some brush/roller marks in the paint, but if it were for a 'serious' car that needed to look good from more than 3 feet away I could sand it with 1500 or 2000 grit and buff it with a machine. I don't doubt it would look as good as anything Maaco cranks out on a regular basis, but for about half the price of their single stage paint job.
I masked off the two tone with blue 3M painter's tape. The only problem I had was, during wet sanding, you need to be very sure the tape is fully sealed from water or replace it. If water gets under the tape it can cause the paint not to adhere properly and it may pull off with the tape. This happened to me on 3 of the panels. Learn from my mistakes!
Want to learn more about the roller paint job phenomenon? Here are some links:
Hot Rod Magazine story with photos as they try the Rustoleum method, the origin of which came from the Moparts message board. The Moparts thread is a huge, multi-part read but filled with information and examples of jobs often done by skeptics themselves. There is also the Wiki of the Brightside boat paint summarized from the Moparts pages. And some other basic information can be found here and here.
Update May 2008
My original intent was to get my competition license the beginning of 2008. A few things conspired to prevent this, among them the elimination of my job thanks to a corporate merger. While I was able to get another good job pretty quickly, the period of not knowing what was going to happen placed a hold on all spending. By the time everything got settled, the comp licensing schools had passed. So, we look forward to 2009.
With thanks to my good friend Jamie Redcay, the car now sports a reasonably complete set of graphics. There are a few spots still open for 'required' decals as well as paying sponsors...not that I have any real hopes of snagging one, but you never know. At this point, the car is pretty much complete and ready to race. I still have a few suspension bushings to replace, and am waiting for the spec exhaust to arrive, but that's it.
The BMW at BeaveRun near Pittsburgh, 2009 for practice.
