Red E36 Touring

[BenKoflach]

Been wanting to save fuel so I decided to put my standard airbox back in - the noise the aFe makes is too good to not be tempted to floor it everywhere. Pulled out the baffles on the airbox and in the process had a closer look at the filter - turns out it's a pretty new K&N by the look of things. Don't know why I've never taken it apart before! Doh!

Just need to fix the brackets and get new bolts and the installation's a good 'un!





Then spent essentially the whole of yesterday detailing my mate's Herald, then did a quick shoot.



What that meant though, is that I only had time to give mine a quick wash and dry - still, after all the Autoglym goodness it came up nice. By the time I came to shoot it though, it was pretty damn dark. Forgot my numberplate blanking strip too. Bummer.

Anyway, here's my selection of mediocre shots of it sitting (pretty?) on Rotas.





























Token lows shot - small McDonalds coffee cup pinched under the spitter.





Also managed to get a socket machined down for the input flange of my diff, as I've got an M3 3.0-litre LSD to go in, but you have to swap the input flanges and the hole is very tight



Gonna chuck the Contours back on for the Stanceworks meet on Sunday though. Busy busy busy!

[BenKoflach]

Just a few shots from the Ace the other night - thanks to those that took them, wasn't expecting it!















And finally, this appeared on the coverage - pretty chuffed.

http://www.stanceworks.com/2011/10/stanceworksuk-year-gathering/

[Jacko_162]

Looking awsome i must say, them rota's tho are droolworthy im after a set for the E46.

[BenKoflach]

'because racecar'

Fitted my 3-litre M3 diff at the weekend and managed to get my UUC tranny mounts fitted too, but ran out of time to do the engine mounts. I also put some lovely Royal Purple oil in the diff while I was at it. Well, I say me, but I left that bit to Morley Auto Services, where I spend most weekends borrowing a ramp and tools They also helped me swap the diff flanges, heroes!

Unfortunately what I thought was a noisy diff has turned out to not be the whole problem - with the new diff in the humming is still there, so I'm going to have to get some wheel bearings for the rear. Has anyone on here ever done it DIY? Apparently it's a bugger of a job, but I feel like having a go if it's not too bad.

Aside from my slight clutch/flywheel vibration/imbalance now being more noticeable, the tranny mounts are surprisingly refined - there is of course some extra vibration and noise but it's really not too bad considering they're 'race' items. And the diff seems fun - I'm taking it easy because of the wheel bearings, but as far as I can tell I've picked up a good 'un.

[stinkinrich]

Nice work man, just a heads up on the back end humming noise, have you checked the prop shaft UJ's? Had to replace the whole thing on my old 36 for a good second hand unit, used to vibrate at a certain road speed and turned out to be the hardey spicer bearing in the UJ. A common problem apparently.

[BenKoflach]

Nice work man, just a heads up on the back end humming noise, have you checked the prop shaft UJ's? Had to replace the whole thing on my old 36 for a good second hand unit, used to vibrate at a certain road speed and turned out to be the hardey spicer bearing in the UJ. A common problem apparently.

Ah, cheers - do you mean the coupling up the front? Or the driveshaft UJs? Thanks for the pointer, will be worth me checking when I've next got it in the air. It's definitely the wheel bearings that are the main issue though, as it varies when cornering and I don't reckon the prop or anything would do that - I half suspected the diff wasn't the only issue either, but the diff was knackered so I'm glad I've replaced it.

[stinkinrich]

No the coupling up front is just rubber, they tend to last a lifetime. Sorry i meant propshaft UJ's, the one nearest the diff was the one that failed on mine. All i did was just held it and rocked the car, you should feel the play if any in your grip.

[BenKoflach]

Gonna get a thread up next week, but Contours for sale! £680, PM me for details or await the proper thread! Kthanxbai!

[BenKoflach]

Today was a sad day... I've had to say goodbye to my trusty touring for a few weeks!

It's for good reason though - it's been booked in for a respray at Brentford's RT Performance with a few other bits planned while it's there too...





As you can see there's lots to tidy up!

Front bumper scuffs (hit and run, grr!):


Deep key scratch all the way down the passenger side (front indicator to rear indicator):





Rear bumper poorly aligned:


Rear arches mullered:


This will soon be gone, and the holes smoothed properly:




And quite a few tasty dents:



When the guys there first had a look at my car at the end of last year they spotted that it had obviously been partly resprayed in the past, as I suspected, and due to red's tendency to fade, there was nothing for it but to go all out and have the whole exterior painted.

I also need to order a new front splitter and sort something out with the various missing bits behind the front bumper. I can't wait to see what the guys can do!

And that's before I drop in there that they also specialist in carbon fibre production check out the website here: www.rt-performance.com

[stinkinrich]

[Jorge]

Wahey, should be good! What is in store in the shoes dept?

[BenKoflach]

Wahey, should be good! What is in store in the shoes dept?

Not 100% yet... got some deciding to do!

[BenKoflach]

The guys at RT don't hang about!

They sent me these images on Tuesday night - the very same day I dropped it off!

[stinkinrich]

Wicked progress man, looking forward to this indeed!

[Jorge]

Awesome! Hope you get some poilsh on those tips afterwards

Any bodywork being carried out or just spraying (minus roof)