Round 3....another M3 build

[TechnoV]

battle 2 minthinrich
BATTLE 1 minthinrich

uuhhhhmmmmm....... why is your wing on backwards

[skurvybstard]

I dig those RD's, not very common. I have a gold set on my G37.

[hinrichs]

Ended up getting new OMP side mounts since I couldnt stand trying to deal with the VAC anymore, which is good since I am up slightly higher, and I have room to go down. The VAC mounts I honestly had no adjustability whatsoever which was annoying. I am using them for the passenger seat however.

Got the seat mounted up last night....which I need to try and tweak a little since its kinda angled (Dont think I can fix this). Also got my new Schroth harness fitted up. Havent decided what I will run on the passenger side yet.

seat 1 by minthinrich, on Flickr
seat 2 by minthinrich, on Flickr


Totally forgot I never put a picture up for this, which I know is super exciting....Deleted the heater core and plumbing which was a pain to do honestly. The thing weighs probably 25-30 pounds. I do plan to eventually add a small electric heater back into the mix just incase. Also need to read up on getting rid of the extra wiring, but I am nervous about it. Super awesome dumb cf vinyl for the win. I covered the bolt heads since they are welded on. It kinda looks dumb....but hell I saved myself $70 and already had the material sitting around.

heater delete by minthinrich, on Flickr

[Benwalsh91]

BATTLE 1 by minthinrich, on Flickr

E36 tool kit... big fucking hammer.

[hinrichs]

Should have some better pics this weekend after I get my new side mounts for the seat, and finish up the install of my passenger seat.

Untill then here is the wing, which showed up yesterday. Debating on ordering the taller risers for it but I will see what I think after a few days.

battle 2 by minthinrich, on Flickr
BATTLE 1 by minthinrich, on Flickr

[Benwalsh91]

Damn those RD's look good!!

edit.... did they used to be on an e9X M3?

[hinrichs]

Rear aero ordered

I am keeping these safe for now, sadly they are 19x11 and 19x12......so I dont think I will even humor myself of trying them on the car. They are for sale tho if anyone is interested.

racing dynamics by minthinrich, on Flickr

Also here are the gauges starting up.

[hinrichs]

please get two, it really upsets me OCD when i see people with mismatched front seats

I plan to, but might get a slight reclining omp but havent decided yet. Either way itll be the same brand at least....hell might even get a halo for me lol.

[Benwalsh91]

please get two, it really upsets me OCD when i see people with mismatched front seats

[hinrichs]

Pulled the dash on friday, was really surprised how easy that was compared to some other cars. Went ahead and installed the Mkah gauge panel which fits really well. I will get some real pics once the dash is back in. I am having a hell of a time getting the gauges wires into the engine bay since they are not very long. I tried to go from the typical spot with the battery cables and no dice, then tried from the ecu bin and well yeah its still too short. Ideally I would pull the heater core...which might still happen but I plan to keep that for now and the hvac control will be in the glove box. I am a little too worried about the windows fogging up.

dash out by minthinrich, on Flickr
mkah gauge panel by minthinrich, on Flickr

Took me a little while to figure out the bimmerworld gauge block which made me feel really dumb, also had to move over the coolant adapter piece. My car had the tb hose one hole over, so the adapter didnt work on the blank plugged space that was already there, so I ended up just plugging the tb coolant hose return. Need to order a new oil separator hose as well as mine finally split and I dont see how the silicone one that comes in the kit can work since it doesnt fit over the stock fittings.

gauge adapters by minthinrich, on Flickr

I did however take a trip to Stable Energies in Nj to pick out a new seat. I took along my recaro to verify if it was real since its missing the FIA tag, but it is a real seat just sort of a blemish. I know all the older pole positions are not FIA anyway after the major recall. Ended up sitting in all the seats which I really wanted a halo, but seeing as I will drive the car on the street often I pushed that style back and went with the OMP First-R which is the "budget" of the WRC-R. It has a different cushion, fully upholstered which is kinda weird but whatever, and non finished fiberglass. $550 out the door with a FIA seat that fits me great.....yeah I am happy. I can basically get 2 if I want a passenger to match for the price of most of what I was looking at. I will need new side mounts I think however since the VAC are kinda low and I have no real adjustment whatsoever with them other than the top holes and its as high as I can get it with no real room to get the bolts into the bottom mounts.

omp seat by minthinrich, on Flickr

[Benwalsh91]

good progress is good! looking forward to seeing the new parts installed.

[hinrichs]

Well the "big item that would make this an interesting build"....yeah I decided to not get it after a lot of research and debating with friends. I did plan on going RHD with this one....but its not for the faint of heart on an E36 which I guess is why I couldnt find anyone else who had done the swap. I was going to get a very cheap clip which had everything I needed, but I wasnt really into cutting this car up to make it work.

anyway.....


So I am basically done stripping the sound deadening from the inside finally. Need to work on cleaning off the goo and hopefully I can get some of the stain out of the paint from the adhesive. Almost filled up a 5 gal bucket with it all. I might paint the inside someday if I fully strip everything out. Should have the rest of my gauges this week so I can keep going with getting the senders mounted up and figure out where to run the wires inside. I went with the MKAH 4 gauge center panel and also the center console delete.

interior stripped 2 by minthinrich, on Flickr

As you can kinda see, there is some surface rust as well on the drivers side from wet carpet which I will also be cleaning up. Then I can make some floor panels like I did for my last car once I hit the scrap yard for some alum.

interior stripped by minthinrich, on Flickr

[hinrichs]

Guess I cant forget my name anymore, pre installed picture, works perfectly and you cant see the wires anymore

kill switch by minthinrich, on Flickr

[Benwalsh91]

welcome to the dark side.

[hinrichs]

Well Ben knows what I am getting tomorrow, but I think it should make this car interesting and really turn it more into a "build"