Project ’Weight Loss’ M3 Part 2

The car has now been stripped and all that remains inside is the dash and headliner, soon to come out. I have removed the sound deadening with a heat gun and scrapper and found it quite easy, apart from toasted fingers!

I have the seats, harnesses and brackets ready to put in. I need to weld in the harness fixing points before being able to used the car as the M3 seats have the seatbelt fixing integrated. The shoulder fixing will be temporary as i will have these fixed to the cage eventually.

The wheels have been sourced, but may take 3 months to be made due to production. I have chosen Tean Dynamics Pro Racer 1.2 in 17*8" so i can fit 235/40's all round. I'm getting 2 sets, so one can have R888's and the other a grippy road set for the Ring trip and wet trackdays.

I have chosen the larger wheel so 6 pots can be fitted underneath. I also plan to follow Ian in his footsteps of a high output 2.5L, eventually.

A new T45 cage will be welded in and am hopefully seeing a chap next week to discuss what pattern of tubing and cost.

CF airbox and A-N will also be added and have also managed to get a set of 48 TB's off ebay for £200.

All parts of the interior are for sale and have managed to sell the gear lever gator and knob and the handbrake cover(which are items i didn't think would sell, but help with the budgeting). The seats will be available soon.





The car came with neg top mounts, lowered eibach springs with koni shocks and a 2 piece exhasut manifold.

The rear bushed have been replaced with polyflex versions and a 1.9 Z3 lever has been fitted with all new bushes.

Next task is the seats and harnesses. Then the cage. Once this has been completed, the TB's Airbox fitting and A-N will be worked on. Once the wheels arrive the brakes can be sorted.

Got my work cut out until the Easter Ring trip.

Edited by 215m3

an update........... drivers seat is in. Harness fixings points have been welded in. The 2 rear ones are temporary as they will be attached to the cage, when fitted. The seat brackets work fine, but only give the seat one upright position and will need to fab it. The front of the bracket needed to be sawn down as it would not let the seat lower that much.






The last weight with the bolted cage and both front leather recaro seats and sound deadening the car weighed 1140kg. With one sparco seat and harness, sound deadening removed it weighed the same. It maybe the fuel as i has a 1/4 of a tank that made it weigh 1140kg, which is exactly the same. I does, however feel so much quicker. Picks up quicker acrass the whole rev range and zips round to the redline faster as well.

I've found that. I was out about 4 and it was wet and becuase it's lighter the car seemed to break away sooner.

I've enjoyed doing what i have done so far. It's slow work when other commitments take priority.

stephenperry wrote: have you got any pics of your nova?  i havent seen an sr in years!

I'll pm u a pic, it is a 1983 A reg, one owner from new(my grandpa's) 72k miles and unmolested, in pastal yellow. conditon is 85%

Update on the project.

The headliner is out and passenger seat in., sparco suade steering wheel, elec window switchs relocated to centre of dash.

WB02 has arrived from oz...


Brakes arrived from Ian, cheers



Pads are from Endless

The head is off and on it's way to be ported on the inlet side. It has been pressure tested and was fine. The inlet side was extremely clean. The head will be away for about 2 weeks.

change of manufacturer

Nova pics, for those who asked





More pics here

Edited by 215m3

I had mine off as well and note what you mean. as and when funds allow i may get the lighter ones.

Dave

Colour will remain diamant schwarz at the mo. I bet you got some looks in your trackcar, the noise as well as the decals.

The garage that offered to do the work have taken the head off and is mid frieght to Moufang to work his magic on the inlet side. No larger valves as this would mean shorter valves and it all gets messy regarding cams, shims etc, i'll wait and get the full MS works done when i can afford it. I have the brakes but when Kevin, the garage owner, said i could bring my car over i took it to his old garage where i am not allowed to work on it due to insurance probs, but could if i had taken it to his new garage. Anyway will get there eventually and Colin, aka 2002evo, is going to help get the a-n set up and wired it in as he is comfortable with this as he has just do his 2002.

Just need to find a set of 17's as i have a set of tyres for them and think the M5 wheels will jut out past the arches. Fancy another set of Compo TH2's in white.

Think you should go to the Ring at Easter and in June!!!

 

Alan,

I just think its to early with the weather, and being the first open day if open will be very busy.

I would prefer to go later in the year if their is an S14 meet again. Its one place you need to give respect. Get it wrong big time and the pine box becons.

Anyway nice to hear from you again.

Toby, don`t rush your car, take your time.

Grow with the car as you do your mod`s.

Dave.

This looks like a really interesting project.  Am I right in saying that you're going to be looking at a power to weight bhp ratio of about 209 bhp per tonne?

Thats a mere 9 less than an E46 M3 - it's going to be a seriously fast E30! 

Building a track car is something I have always wanted to do but my mechanical skills start and stop with lifting the bonnet and checking the oil - so its highly inpractical for me to try it!

What do you think your total outlay will have been by the time you've finished (including the car)? 

Coasting....I can do a little of the work, but have found a garage keen on my project and we have struck a little deal. The total cost so far including the purchase of the car, sale of it's unwanted parts and items purchased is £7,900. This should be about it to get it onto the track, apart from a few odds and sods, head gasket and bolts.

Brian... no pics for a while as the heads in germany, once it's back i will post a few more. The discs are 325x28mm. Monoblock calipers.

Edited by 215m3