Round 3....another M3 build

[hinrichs]

Spent my friday night working on the control arms since the GF was working her closing shift at the vet. Figured it would take a lot longer but it went really well surprisingly.

Wanted to stick with the control lolipops, but switched to bimmerworld offering since they had a package and I was told it would work. I think all I really needed was the mounts, but I got new german made arms as well. I hope I can sell them to recoup a little money. Condor are rusty mainly due to install mistakes the first time around. I plan to blast them if they sell so someone can paint them. Pulled the arms out, compared them, and installed the new ones back in.

IMG_5695 by minthinrich, on Flickr
IMG_5699 by minthinrich, on Flickr
IMG_5696 by minthinrich, on Flickr

I should really get swaybar bushings, since its still on the stock ones which have 165k on them, but that I will do over winter. Kinda was just laying there looking at things to eventually fix....which will be a lot.

Woke up early saturday morning, and headed up to the hill for cleanup. We will do this again friday morning as well. Walked most of the course a few times while weed whacking all morning

IMG_5707 by minthinrich, on Flickr

[hinrichs]

Spent my friday night working on the control arms since the GF was working her closing shift at the vet. Figured it would take a lot longer but it went really well surprisingly.

Wanted to stick with the control lolipops, but switched to bimmerworld offering since they had a package and I was told it would work. I think all I really needed was the mounts, but I got new german made arms as well. I hope I can sell them to recoup a little money. Condor are rusty mainly due to install mistakes the first time around. I plan to blast them if they sell so someone can paint them. Pulled the arms out, compared them, and installed the new ones back in.

IMG_5695 by minthinrich, on Flickr
IMG_5699 by minthinrich, on Flickr
IMG_5696 by minthinrich, on Flickr

I should really get swaybar bushings, since its still on the stock ones which have 165k on them, but that I will do over winter. Kinda was just laying there looking at things to eventually fix....which will be a lot.

[hinrichs]

Test fit the new OMP wheel.....lets just say its the exact same shape and all as the momo it replaced. Only thing is its suede instead of vinyl or whatever the street version is. I left the momo button simply because that wheel is back in untill the car is aligned. Dont want my new suede wheel to get dirty at the shop.

IMG_5674 by minthinrich, on Flickr

New control arms and offset mounts show up tonight so I will be swapping them out. Hopefully they are easy to pull.

[hinrichs]

That much difference from one side to the other is really weird, was the car in an accident before?

No accidents that I am aware of or can tell. I just sent you a message on insta about it. I went super cheap on control arms, and I think that mixed with centered lolipops is my issue. Trying to decide now if I should just order new arms/mounts or wait. I do have another alignment setup for next thursday however at another shop.

[Fruttolo]

That much difference from one side to the other is really weird, was the car in an accident before?

[Miroteknik]

Tow setup is nice, car is looking good!

[hinrichs]

At the alignment shop. Learned a few things and will be back for sure. Mike was an awesome guy and really knows his car setups. He and his friend Co-drive an old 1977 honda civic. I went to grab the car when he was working on the back, nothing strange other than he had to heat up my rear camber arms. I will end up changing those this winter when I do all the subframe bushings. They are ebay specials anyway. I am not happy with the rear height, but I put the adjusters back in the car after some spring slop I wasnt happy with either. Might try some 4" height springs and see what happens since I have a lot of adjustment in the perches.

Ended on -2 camber and 1/8 total toe in, or a hair more.

IMG_5656 by minthinrich, on Flickr

Then we made it up front. Well that was an interesting one. Camber plates maxed out, driver side was at -4 camber 2.9 caster, passenger side -2.7 camber .8 caster. The camber didnt make sense but it is what it is. We adjusted both sides to be -2.7 which really isnt enough but oh well. I will get the slr upper plates over winter (wanted them but kept pushing it off). The caster however, I am not sure what I will do yet on that one. I have an idea I might try to. I do want to get new lower control arms from bimmerworld since I think my amazon specials are part of the problem.

Settled on -2.7 camber 0 total toe

IMG_5657 by minthinrich, on Flickr

Then I got home and noticed that my driver side tire sticks out a lot more than the passenger. I am running 5mm spacers but that is just to clear the strut on both sides. Eventually I feel I will be dropping to a 275 slick since these 285s are wide and hard to fit. Thinking its the control arms here again. Terrible pictures to try and show it.

IMG_5659 by minthinrich, on Flickr
IMG_5660 by minthinrich, on Flickr

[hinrichs]

Off to get an alignment this morning

58194565912__4930FEF5-55D4-46BC-A10E-F6F4086097AA (1) by minthinrich, on Flickr

[hinrichs]

Kinda kicking myself for not getting an enclosed trailer to begin with, but I feel that is down the road. If I didnt have a jeep that needs a trailer, I would have went that way. I do have side windows for towing which really helps, but I didnt have the rear vented windows last year.

I think im going with -3 to -3.5 camber, 0 toe front, -1.5 to -2 rear camber and .20/1.8 total rear toe. My friend runs a lot of toe in up front I think, or out I forget which. I am gonna try and pick his brain this weekend when I see him. The alignment guy I am sure will set it up well for me. He did say toe in up front for autocross but thats not good for high speed. I will let you know however what I end up with.

[Fruttolo]

Thats a good question, havent ever really looked. I think they are relatively flat, but not 100% sure. I am not really that low. I did get an alignment appointment for Tuesday tho, and its gonna rain, and he said it should be on my race tires so I will be trailering the car out to the shop. Need to seal up the sunroof so my front seats dont get soaked again.

You may need an outdoor cover to put on it when it rains...or an enclosed trailer
Post your alignment specs when you are done, I am always curious about that aspect in relation to different modified cars and subsequent handling changes

[hinrichs]

I love seeing an in-depth grip racecar build too
Speaking of control arms ball joints, how are you setup with control arm angle? Is it low enough to have them pointed up like mine are or are they still sitting flat at ride height?

Thats a good question, havent ever really looked. I think they are relatively flat, but not 100% sure. I am not really that low. I did get an alignment appointment for Tuesday tho, and its gonna rain, and he said it should be on my race tires so I will be trailering the car out to the shop. Need to seal up the sunroof so my front seats dont get soaked again.

[Fruttolo]

I love seeing an in-depth grip racecar build too
Speaking of control arms ball joints, how are you setup with control arm angle? Is it low enough to have them pointed up like mine are or are they still sitting flat at ride height?

[hinrichs]

Did you ever get your steering rack/power steering issue figured out? Love that you went full out race car on this!

Ended up getting a new rack last year, rebuilt the pump and all seems to be good on that end. Eventually want to redo the lines just for peace of mind. The main issue I think all along was completely blown out ball joints on the front control arms. I went super cheap from amazon just to see and that made everything good again. I have been looking into a better solution just not sure which way I want to go yet.

My favorite grip e36 build for sure! Keep up the good work

Thanks man !

Really hope you get to enjoy this for the amount of work you're doing on it. Don't know much about grip but always watch your updates lol

If I didnt decide to buy a new house, I would be enjoying it more this year. Only will be making it to 2 or 3 races but thats enough to keep me happy. I have a lot of work to get done on it over winter which will be nice I will finally have the space to do the maintenance this car needs. Mainly bushings and all that but I have a drive-line vibration/noise on decel that I need to figure out. My SCCA region did host an autocross early this year, or last year or whenever it was....but sadly we wont be doing that again unless we find another parking lot. One of these days I should try and do an actual track day.



Got a little more tubing work done last night. finally got the under hood nozzles connected up to the rest of the system. Wanted a little race car bling so half ass polished up the tubing. Also ditched the zip ties for safety wire on the injector nozzle. Tonight I will tackle the dash nozzles and then I can throw the seat back in and start packing up the garage.

IMG_5613 by minthinrich, on Flickr

[Miroteknik]

Really hope you get to enjoy this for the amount of work you're doing on it. Don't know much about grip but always watch your updates lol

[xxcody2130xx]

My favorite grip e36 build for sure! Keep up the good work