BMW's galore!

[Mark]

Jan 20, 2011 22:37:26 GMT vectrolosys said:

I am really beginning to warm to these E21's.

I'd suggest anyone grabs one while they have the chance and while they're still affordable! Prices of all e21's are slowly climbing but especially the 323i's. When you compare e21's to other shark-front BMW's they're an absolute bargain with MOT'd cars available for just a few hundred quid. A grand will get you a nice 4 pot car and upwards of £1500 for a six pot. They're pretty reliable too! Rust is the only real issue to watch out for. I do a minimum of 10 000 miles a year in mine and drive it every day! I loves it! ;D

[e21meister]

I virtually use mine as daily; gets used for shopping, taking curse word down the recycling centre, all sorts. It helps that it's garaged at night so that it's out of the elements, but I know enough E21 owners who have to park them on the street but as long as the rust prevention/undersealing/various rubber seals is up to scratch it's not an issue.
Get one while they're hot, that's why I've now got two!

[Mark]

I've decided that I need a bit of e21 motorsport in my life so this should be arriving on the back of a lorry next week sometime.







It's had a few bits done.

LSD,
Racing dog leg gearbox,
Leda coil overs,
2.7 with triple 45's (webbers),
shrick cam,
Lightened fly wheel,
210 brake horse power plus,
New cobra seats and harnesses,
New exhaust (ashley competition),
OMP Roll cage,
Newly refurbed BBS 15" alloys,
Toyo R888's,
New facet pump,
Strut Braces

I just need to get an MOT on it too.

[tonybmw]

Very nice

[Mark]

I'm on the hunt for longer trumpets for those Webers!

[Mark]

850+ miles in a weekend that included some of the UK's best roads. N Wales was epic and screaming through mountain passes with a straight six @ 7000rpm was great fun. Well I had to let the ramblers know I was coming!

Head is coming off later this week so that I can have the valve guides done, new valve stem oil seals and a Schrick camshaft slotted in. I also need to fit the Engellman door mirrors.























I must have turned round and done this stretch over & again about 3 times. A470. Awesome road!

[Mark]

[teaboy]

Feb 1, 2011 8:10:08 GMT Mark said:

850+ miles in a weekend that included some of the UK's best roads.

Sounds like a great weekend.
Looks like it was a bit parky to start off. Brrrr.

[tonybmw]

Feb 1, 2011 19:33:23 GMT Mark said:

Nice rear end Mark ;D ;D

[Mark]

I've been working out.

[teaboy]

Feb 1, 2011 20:07:47 GMT tonybmw said:

Feb 1, 2011 19:33:23 GMT Mark said:

Nice rear end Mark ;D ;D

Missmatched tyres though

Doesn't stop me lusting after your car. ;D

[Mark]

I got a puncture and had to settle for what was on the shelf while I wait for another Toyo.

Just heard that the race car should arrive on Saturday afternoon!

[Mark]

Well after Wales the engine in MIB started to sound a little tappety so I figured now was a good time to get the new Schrick cam fitted. My usual guy was busy so he booked it in with Eta Motorsport down near Brands Hatch. I first went to these guys about 17 years ago! Anyway, I dropped the car off last week and today I got the call to go pick it up. The head had to have a full rebuild as the exhaust valves & seats were all shot. New valves, stem seals etc, slot the new cam in and Roberts ya Dads brother. As soon as I started the car the difference was obvious. It was so much quieter and really smooth, as a BMW 6 pot should be. I gave it a few miles to warm through properly before giving it the berries and seeing what difference the cam swap had made? Well there's definately a wad more torque and it comes on cam a bit sooner than it did too. It's got a much more of a snarl going on through the 6 branch too! I figured it would sound the same but I guess where she's breathing better, the old girl has more to get rid of? Anyway, she sounds freakin awesome! I'm guessing that I must have around 200bhp with torque closer to 220 / 230ft/lbs! I guess a dyno stop is in order?

The bad news is that a slight knock and a bit of play in the steering is a shot TCA! You've gotta love old cars. So, onto the next job I guess? Hopefully a pair of TCA's will be the last expense for a while?

The race car is tucked up in the workshop too so hopefully this weekend will give me a chance to get some fettling done? I was going to start an e21 racer thread but as I'm already blogging the restoration of my ex TWR car, maybe I should combine all 3 into a single E21 BMW's thread instead?

[sumpcracker]

I do ot loud "wow"s when I look at your car. Awsome doesn't cover it.

Track car looks a beauty too, how about some ex works/80s touring car colours??

You must have the nicest collection of E21s in the world.

[Mark]

Cheers bud. Thanks for the comments. I do love an e21!

Well I took the orange car out today and found some nice quiet roads ( private ones obviously ) and gave it a good spanking! The new cam has made such a difference to the way the power is delivered. It's almost a bit like a 2 stroke when they hit the power band! ( I'm remembering people asking where they could get ''power bands'' for their fizzy? - Man I'm old!) The power comes in a lot harder and about 500 rpm lower in the range. It's got a proper hard ''touring car'' engine sound & exhaust note too. The whole package just feels much quicker. Hopefully I can strap it on the dyno next week and get some numbers?

I'm moving the track car up to my workshop tomorrow so that I can start work on the list of jobs I need to complete. I know the starter motor needs looking at as the solenoid is sticking so that'll be first. I also need to whip the seats out and clean / re-paint part of the floor. I might not be very talented at driving but I can make it look pretty! I also have some go faster carbon fibre door cards to fit and I can replace the old ''washer bottle catch tank'' with the shiny alloy one. I also need to get a wider drivers seat as I've got way too fat since my accident.

I've been thinking about copying a period livery and I really would like to make it a replica of a County Championship Race car. I have the front spoiler but the rear is a modified one from a 3 litre CSL and even a copy is over £800! I'm thinking I might try and make my own but that will have to wait for now. I think the best thing is just to do whatever costs the absolute minimum of cash and just get out there and enjoy myself in it. This has always been about fun as opposed to competition and I don't want to lose sight of that. The only thing the track car actually NEEDS is the starter motor to be sorted. The rest can wait or be done at my leisure. I've posted off my entrance fee & form for Crystal Palace so now I just have to sit and wait to see if I get selected?? Fingers crossed!!

Carbon fibre door cards that I bought way before I even got the car - just in case!



Good-bye old washer bottle catch tank and hello trick looking alloy instead!



I also got a call from Dave @ M-tech in sunny Bilericay, Essex today and the head for the TWR is back from the engineering shop. As well as all new valves, rockers, Schrick cam etc they added a whole heap of flow work into the mix. The inlet valves are massive! I'll upload a few piccies later on. We have pretty much everything now to complete the build so next job is to strip the shell right back and rust proof & underseal it. Once the shell is fully protected we can put it all back together, cleaning & polishing as we go. There's a fair bit to do but so long as we are methodical and take our time, it should all be pretty straightforward. I say should..... The interior I am going to leave to a trimming company as I want it to be right and the fitting of a brand new headlining isn't a job I fancy tackling myself. I also want to fit all the period ICE before the trim and carpet goes in so that all the wiring is hidden properly. I want to get the head unit fitted with an i-pod jack too so if anyone knows where to go??

Tomorrow its all about fitting new TCA's on the orange car.

[Mark]

Fitted new TCA's from C3 BMW in Crystal Palace at £108 the pair. Well worth the effort though and the steering / handling is back to what it should be. I just need to sort the rear seat back out now which means some fun with the grinder. I need to chop out the wire frame so the seat will be flush at the top corners. I also need to wire up the auxiliary gauges although the senders are already in place.



I also managed to fire up the race car today after wiring in a new fuel pump.



Hopefully I can find time to get stuck into the jobs list next week. I need to mount the drivers seat and fit my steering wheel.

[Mark]

Picked out a few action shots of the race car 3 wheeling around.

[Mark]

Finally got round to finishing the mods to my e30 rear seat back.

Chopped out the wire frame so that it can be pushed back to sit flush with the parcel shelf.





Still not 100% happy but will get a better fit once finished re-painting the parcel shelf.

[Colonelk]

that track car is pretty awesome

[Mark]

Feb 17, 2011 18:17:30 GMT Colonelk said:

that track car is pretty awesome

Thanks. I'm really looking forward to the hillclimb at Crystal Palace in May. It sounds awesome with the Webers.

I had to strip the headlight out of the orange car today after a stone shattered the offside headlamp lens. It's pretty straight-forward but the problem is going to be finding a replacement as they're NLA. Luckily another e21 owner is going to loan me a light from his project car so I've got a 100 mile round trip to go fetch it tomorrow.

I've also got to take it down to Eta Motorsport to have the valve clearances checked now I have racked up a few hundred miles on the new camshaft. I'm at Brands Hatch on Wednesday anyway, as I'm going to be writing this years race reports for the HERITIGE GRAND TOURING CAR CHALLENGE. Hopefully Eta can sort my car while I'm at the media event. I'll take my camera too as there are some fantastic cars entered this year.