Every car has its quirks. Some cars are plagued by electrical gremlins. Some cars eat up consumables like tires and brakes. Some cars do weird things when driven at the limit on track. Once we start beating on production vehicles in a track setting, we start discovering that many of these quirks turn out to be weak points. No car is going to be perfect, and the E36 chassis BMW certainly is not.
The list of "known weaknesses" with these cars has gotten fairly lengthy...not surprising when considering that then chassis has been in use for more than 18 years now. Weak front subframe mounts, weak rear subframe mounts, weak front lower control arm ball joints, weak rear sway mounts, fuel starvation at lower fuel levels, weak window track mounts, trunk wiring fatigue, leaking DME housing, and leaking power steering hoses are justt some of the items owners of these cars are typically forced to deal with at some point during their ownership. One more item to add to this list is weak valve retainers. Evidently these bad retainers only came in early-production engines in the M3 line. I had heard about this issue before, but never actually had any decent evidence that the problem really existed. I hadn't known anyone to have any problems and even my online research didn't lead me to much. All that didn't matter as I began disassembling the top end of my engine last week. Only one intake valve and one piston were damaged. The reason was quickly and obviously evident...failed valve retainer. This little thing that looks like not much more than a washer has caused me quite a headache and made my wallet a little lighter.
This is the pieces of the retainer and keeper
Here's the damaged valves, spring, lifter, etc.
The damaged intake valve before removal
It should really come as no surprise since this hobby of mine is pretty tough on equipment, but every now and then, things are going to break. This past weekend I got to experience my first ever engine failure. Maybe that isn't such a bad record over 7+ years of doing this.
Tarheel Sports Car Club and the Triangle Z Club had their finale at Carolina Motorsports Park. It was also the final Time Trial event of the THSCC season. I hadn't been to the October event at CMP in years, and most of the events I do at CMP are during the summer, so I usually associate CMP with weather in the 90's and extreme humidity. Instead were were welcomed with lows in the 40's, highs in the 70's, and not a cloud in the sky all weekend. It was, without question, the best track event weather in recent memory.
I only drove two sessions during Saturday's school sessions. The brakes were spongy enough that they didn't give me much confidence, and I had quite bit of rust to knock off, so I was not driving very well. Fortunately, both of my students were doing great which always makes for a rewarding event.
I "qualified" 5th for the Time Trial with a time about equal to my fastest lap during the June event. Since I knew I had been driving poorly and staying conservative, I felt confident that I could knock some more time off during the Time Trial. The green flag dropped and I immediately started driving sloppy again. I just couldn't put together a decent lap. After a few useless laps sliding around, I took a deep breath and slowed my mind down. I told myself that all I needed to do was exactly what I tell my students...be smooth with my inputs and consistently put the car where it needs to be. Next thing I know, I'm closing in on the 4th place car. A perfect example of having to slow down to go faster. I was on the second of two great laps when it all went away.
I went through turn 8, a fast, on camber right hander, as normal. I shifted to 4th and gently went through turn 9, a flat out bend which isn't much of a corner. Somewhere between turn and 10, I heard a pop. Not a loud bang, but a noise that was very obviously not good. The engine started running rough right away. I thought maybe a vacuum hose had popped off or that the throttle position sensor had worked itself loose. I decided to try to limp it into the pits in hopes of a quick fix and another lap or two during the Time Trial. As I rounded turn 13 the engine died. I pulled in behind the corner worker station and parked the car. I had to sit in the car until the Time Trial session finished. It was quite painful sitting there in a dead car watching my competition go by over and over, knowing there was nothing I could do. Eventually, after the second Time Trial session was completed and the track was cold, I was towed back to the pits. Sunday morning I drove the car one more time...for about 15 feet from the paddock onto my trailer. Weekend over. Insult added to injury: I finished second in the Time Trial, meaning I'd finished second in the yearly points championship as well. Wonderful.
After a couple days of mourning, I decided to look more into the problem. Everything pointed to something in the valve train so I went there first. So far I have discovered what is likely a broken valve retainer for the rear intake valve in cylinder 4. I will have to remove the cylinder head to make the repairs, and doing so will allow me to look for any more damage. My fingers are crossed that the damage is limited to the top end. I've also never ventured down the road of internal engine repairs, so I'm hoping I can pull off these repairs successfully.
This is not how I wanted my 2010 track season to end, but this sport can be cruel sometimes. I still love it, however. That's why I'm looking forward to this winter's repairs and upgrades. We've got to pay to play, right?
First off...I HATE painting. Especially automotive painting. I just don't have the patience for all the prep work that is involved. With that being said, I dove into painting the new roll cage last night with much excitement.
Since the car was out of my hands for so long, and work has had me very busy lately, I haven't really worked on the car in months. This fact left me with quite an itch to scratch. Since the cage needed paint before anything else could happen to the car, this project was a no-brainer.
My first decision was color. I decided to stay with gloss black for now. I considered going to something like white or gray, but any major color change like that was going to require a repaint of the entire interior. Staying with black will allow me to get the job done much quicker and move my time and attention to more important aspects of getting the car ready.
My second decision was paint type. I chose Rustoleum Oil-Based Enamel. I've used this paint before and have been happy with its results and strength. It is also readily available at most hardware stores. This will make touchups very easy.
Finally, an application process had to be chosen. There are three main types here: brush/roller, rattle can, and spray gun. I settled on the brush/roller method because of its ease of use. Since both other methods produce plenty of clouding and overspray, extensive masking would have to be done and serious air handling issues would have to be dealt with. Manual application allows for a much cleaner process and hopefully a result that is just as good. Also, at less than $9/quart, the price is very attractive.
I spent a couple hours last night weaved in and around the cage painting all of the welded nodes and hard to reach places. With a little luck I should be able to finish the rest of the first coat on the cage tonight.
The cage is complete and the car is back in my shop!
I picked the car up from Competition Cages this past Saturday and could not be more pleased. I had seen Chris's work in the past and knew that he did great work, but there is something even better about it when you are the customer rather than just a casual observer. I have to remind myself that it is actually my car when I look at it now.
The cage is a "typical" 6 point cage; two mounting points in the footwells, two behind the front seats, and two at the rear of the passenger compartment. We made some additions to improve strength and functionality as well. The main hoop is fairly normal with a single diagonal bar and harness bars inside it. Moving forward from the main hoop we decided to use A-pillar hoops on each side and connect them together with a bar across the top of the windshield and another bar on a diagonal from the main hoop on the driver's side to the A-pillar hoop at the windshield on the passenger's side. Foot protection bars and plates were added in each footwell.
As you will see, we decided on NASCAR-style door bars for the driver's side. This allowed us to gut the driver's door and push the bars out, creating more space around the driver's seat. Additionally, it gave us a place to anchor the vertical support bar coming down from the top of the A-pillar bar. A standard X-bar was used at the passenger's door opening.
In the rear we decided to run the rear downtubes to large mounting plates on the rear bulkhead. This area is much stiffer than the area of the wheel wells the old cage was connected to and should provide an nice increase in overall chassis stiffness and safety. From there we added something a little unconventional in the sports car cage world...a horizontal X connecting the downtube bases to the main hoop at the same node as the harness bar and door bars. A couple extra support bars above the seats and the cage was complete.
I think everything came out great. Chris executed the designs we discussed perfectly. The cage should make the car better dynamically and will certainly be safer. Hopefully I never get to find out how much safer it is. While the cage is certainly a very important part of a race car build, it is one you never want to use.
On to the pictures:
Driver's side NASCAR-style door bars
Passenger side X bar
A look inside
Another interior shot showing structure and horizontal X
Mmmm...pretty welds
Picking the car up from Competition Cages today. I'm so excited I can't stand it. An update with new cage photos will follow shortly.
Posting from the road today. Sitting in a parking lot waiting on a client. I got here early and he is late, so I have some free time on my hands.
Talked with Chris again yesterday afternoon. The cage is nearing completion, with all the major components in. All that is left are some extra structural support bars and the center net connection. He should be finished this weekend. Unfortunately I won't be in town to pick up the car. That will have to wait until the second weekend of September, thereby basically guaranteeing I won't be able to drive at the Asphalt Ventures event.
I'm really starting to chomp at the bit for some track time. The summer break always gets to me in that respect, but the fact that the car is being "improved" and my excitement about racing next year have me more impatient than ever.
My saving grace is that I know when the car gets done and I get to find out what this door to door stuff is all about it is going to be worth the wait.
A couple weeks into this little project and only on post number three. Amazingly enough, real life doesn't always lend itself to constant blog maintenance. Surprising, right?
I talked to Chris, my cage builder, this morning and it helped reignite the fire a little bit. He has the main hoop and rear downtubes done. We finalized a couple different items with the rear X and the door bars. When I dropped the car off with him, he estimated he'd have it finished by the end of August. Sounds like he is right on schedule for that. *knock on wood* If he can get it back to me in time, my next driving event will be the Asphalt Ventures event at NCCAR the third weekend of September. Even if I can't get the car ready in time, I'll be instructing at the event. I'm excited to get to check out the new facility and NC's newest road course.
Here are a couple laps of the place:
http://vimeo.com/10837572
This is my first attempt at posting to the blog from my phone. Hopefully I can make this work well as it gives me the opportunity to post whatever, whenever from wherever.
Since the car is at the cage builder, I can't work on it and use up the energy I tend to store up between track events. I feel much more wound up than usual as the anticipation of going racing is really getting to me. Therefore I am spending inordinate amounts of time on the web researching driver's suits, seats, window nets, etc. While I am holding off on purchases until the cage work is done, that certainly isn't stopping me from double and triple checking my various options.
I have also been watching lots of GTS-2 racing videos to begin to research the performance levels and race craft of those I will be competing with next year. Based on times alone I feel like I will be able to compete well. Since my home region of NASA will be the Southeast Region, there will be a couple of tracks on the schedule (Lowes and Road Atlanta) I haven't been to before and one (Roebling Road) I haven't been to in years. Hopefully doing my homework with these videos will help make my learning curve a little less steep.
It's Friday the 13th and it has been quite a day. Time to settle down for the weekend and focus in on where I go from here.
So I decided to start a blog about my plans to go racing next year...and here it is. I'm currently not sure what direction this is going to take, but some things work out better without anything written in stone at the beginning. Or so I hope.
As many of you know, I have spent the last 7 years getting to know the hobby of "high performance driving" inside and out. From my first track event as a wide-eyed rookie in my brand new Nissan 350Z to my current status as a grizzled instructor, I have loved every minute of it. While I continued to hone my talents (and those of my students) of making a car go around track as quickly as possible, I always knew that there was another step to take. And that brings us to today.
My own desires, a bunch of peer pressure, and the all-important encouragement from my lovely wife have led me to make the decision to go wheel-to-wheel racing next year. My plan is to campaign my car in the German Touring Series (GTS) in the National Auto Sport Association (NASA). The GTS category is made up of 6 classes based solely on horsepower-to-weight ratio. My current plan is to race my car in the GTS-2 class, which is made up of cars with hp/wt ratios of 18.49 to 14.50. With a little ballast, the car should be right at the top end of the class ratio.
Speaking of my car, here she is in all her "glory":
A 1993 BMW 325is with the engine from a 1995 BMW M3
She may not be much to look at, but she has it where it counts. She is currently over at Competition Cages getting a new, improved, NASA-legal cage installed. I hope to have her back by the end of the month so that I can continue her transformation from a "track car" to a "race car".
I don't know where this little journey of mine is going to take me, but I'm quite certain it is going to be a blast getting there.
