BMW's galore!

[darrenh]

thanks for the info mark quizzing because I have a single skin carbon fibre version and was thinking of using a perimeter of aero catches like you have. either that or was going to use the standard bonnet's metal strengtheners as GRP moulds. worried about it bowing up with a bit of neg pressure at speed

p.s did you make the cage gussets yourself, strips of steel and flaring tool ?

[Mark]

Could you bond some aluminium strengtheners to the c/f bonnet? I think the aero catches should be enough though. Yes, the gussets were home made.

Been finishing the boot floor and rear firewall in aluminium.





12 litre tank and swirl pot are ready to go in too.



Once everything is in we can finally finish paint.

[Mark]

Mick and www.pristinebodyworks.co.uk are moving workshops but his brother has been working through some of the jobs needing to be finished on MIB. All the brake lines - solid and braided flexi - have been changed. The servo has been mounted in its final spot and the wiring has been worked through. The fuse box was replaced with a blade type fuse box and it's now inside the glove box. In fact, there is pretty much no wiring under the engine bay now. The ECU is going to Lukaz at BMW-ECU-Tuning and he's removing EWS and installing his 243bhp map. I've spoken to a couple of people who've used his services and they were all happy but I'll still have it mapped live - eventually.

Mick is going to get the arches shaped and crack on with the paintwork next.

The race car is also still being painted. It's being done in sections, so that the cage etc is all covered properly. I did think about leaving the new rear firewall in plain aluminium (it does look pretty!) but I figured it might glare on sunny days? Anyway, I opted to paint the whole car white, inside and out.

I'm still trying to find some wheels for the race car too. Ideally I want a 15'' crosspoke in staggered 9 & 10J with a 0 offset. In fact, staggered 8 & 9J would probably be better, as getting the rims on and off can be a real PITA with the Group 2 arches in the way. You have to slide them up from beneath the arch lip. Using wheel bolts makes this a little easier although I would usually prefer to convert to studs. The other solution would be using removable fasteners to mount the arches, but I'm not sure just how feasible that really is?

Next time I post it'll be with pics of the painted race car.

[welshpug]

have more suspension droop/higher ride height? guess a group 2 arch is meant for rally use and hence not floor scraping ride heights...

[Mark]

I think there were more circuit raced E21 when the kit was developed, than rally cars. Eggenberger certainly did well enough although there were never the same numbers or successes of the Group 5 cars. I'd like a Group 5 replica but building one wouldn't be cheap. Just the arch kit alone is £3.5k and you'd need to semi spaceframe the shell. It'd be a PITA taking it anywhere too, as they're so w-i-d-e.

[stevietuck]

Coming along nicely mark.

[Mark]

Cheers mate.

2 more days. You know when you were a kid and you'd get properly excited about Christmas being just around the corner? The race car has run a bit over the initial deadline but it's due back Saturday, in time for taking down to Cornwall and Rally Prep.

MIB is still coming along but there has been a lot of other stuff getting in the way. I can't believe I've owned it for over a year but still haven't driven it!

Anyway, hope to have some photos later today

[Mark]

Well the final paint is underway on the race car.







The final few gussets are welded in place.



Steering column braced to cross bar.



Final paint tomorrow.

[stevietuck]

Bet you cant wait till Saturday! This may be a stupid question but I'll ask it anyway... will you be able to drive it on Saturday? I cant remember if it even has an engine in it lol!

[Mark]

I knew I should have kept my mouth shut. I got a text at 8am saying the power is off at their workshop and it's not looking like being ready after all. Just waiting on progress report.

Was going to get an E23 today but they've now changed their mind about selling. If only they hadn't waited till I'd paid insurance and sold stuff to raise funds! What a terrific day today is turning out to be.

[Mark]

More delays due to poor quality of the arch kit from Pesch Motorsport in Poland. There are just so many repairs needed but hopefully they're nearly all done now and the final paint can be done.

Hopefully I've found some staggered crosspoke design alloys in 8 & 9J x 15 with a suitable offset. I quite like the Minilites but the crosspoke look more period. I've been thinking of using an E46 M3 engine, instead of the 2.3 on triple carbs. A reliable 320+bhp would make this a seriously quick car but I would also need to upgrade the E21 LSD to an E12 sideloader so it could cope with the extra grunt. In an ideal world I'd fit an s14 but they're just way too expensive now.

I'm hoping tomorrow will finally see the car in paint at last.

[PureSilver]

Woah, what the hell's happened there? Delamination of the gelcoat from the sheet? How's MIB doing these days?

[Mark]

Looks that way, or something similar. I've got some replacements coming from a UK supplier but I'd expected more of these. I'm replacing the bonnet too. I know they're only for race cars but some folk seem to think race car = poor quality! I've noticed a lot of rusty cars being advertised as 'ideal drift or track car'. Surely if you're going to be driving any car flat out, for most of the time, you'd want the best example you could get? Especially when you consider the cost and amount of work involved in fitting a decent cage!

MIB is taking longer than I'd hoped. There have been a lot of delays but hopefully it'll be in for final paint soon. Hopefully! Mick @ Pristine has done a massive amount of custom work and totally re-designed the braking system. The whole shell was stripped and fully sealed etc etc. He also made sure the new engine was fitted perfectly, on custom mounts. I know it's going to be well worth the wait. Mind you, with winter coming I'm not sure how keen I'll be to use it as my daily driver?!

[PureSilver]

Yeah, I can see the relationship between race car and not putting in the final 1% cosmetically, but that's way beyond cosmetic - a scrutineer would have some misgivings over those! And my daily a few winters back was a '68 4.2L E-type Roadster - harden up!

[Mark]

It's the fact I don't want it covered in salt and crud that's making me think twice about having it as a daily. My current daily is a 42 year old 2002, so looks likely to be sticking around on daily duties for a while longer.



I just want my dish of the day back though.

[PhoenixCapri]

This is starting to look very very cool - can't wait to see the finished article

[Mark]

Me too!

Well the poor quality arches have finally been repaired. We threw the fibreglass wings in the bin though, as they were just rubbish and wouldn't have coped with the arches being hung on them. A couple of used steel wings courtesy of eBay have been chopped out and repaired instead. It's coming along.

Have had to reconsider the engine choice. I had agreed to buy an m20/2.3 with triple carbs but the seller now ignores my calls, texts and emails. That's his choice obviously, but being a dick about it isn't what I expect from supposed 'professionals'. I thought he had a better reputation than that, but obviously I was wrong. I try and treat people decently and fairly so expect the same in return. Rant over!

[stevietuck]

Why do people do that? what is so difficult in replying to an email... sorry iv changed my mind or whatever, the time you spend chasing them up could be spent looking for other options! Anyway good progress mate. cheers steve.

[Mark]

Just painted the boot and mounting fuel cell and swirl pot. It's only a 12L tank (with a 2L swirl) but I'm keeping weight to a minimum and sprints and hillclimb aren't too long generally.







Am thinking of just going with a 2.5 from an E30. The 170 brake should still be enough to make this fun.

[Mark]

Landed some Dellorto 40's for the 2002.