Here's some teaser pics from my E36 CM winter makover.
Many thanks to J.P., Brian, Jeff and all the guys at Fall Line for a fantastic job.

The goal was to make this car into a modern, competitive CM car. In the course of the makeover we;
Swapped out the CSS S52 for a CSS S54 with,
Motec engine management.
Dry Sump
Electric power steering pump
CSL airbox
6 speed e46 m3 trans
4:10 diff
E46 M3 ABS with the option of adding the Motorsport unit in the future
Supersprint stepped headers with Fall Line custom ss exhaust.
AIM dash
Rebuild of the rear half of the roll cage
Gusset A and B pillars
And...
M.A. Shaw PTG Widebody kit...

Still to come - Forgeline wheels..

So, here it is, without wheels and CR decals..

very nice, i like the clean interior

To Continue,
We should get on the track this weekend at Autobahn for the first shakedown. First race will be the CCA Mid Ohio event.

Still looks really nice, Steve... The widebody sure did turn out really well, it definately was worth the wait. Love the FLMS Blue Skirting...

Looks like you might be testing with a little moisture on the ground... let me know if you need your Hoosier Rains Back!!

Be Fast and Safe with your new toy :)

Still looks really nice, Steve... The widebody sure did turn out really well, it definately was worth the wait. Love the FLMS Blue Skirting...

Looks like you might be testing with a little moisture on the ground... let me know if you need your Hoosier Rains Back!!

Be Fast and Safe with your new toy :)

I'm hoping for some dry weather sat - sun, will be back for a car and kart day wed 21, then off to Mid Ohio.
Wanna come with to MO Chris?

And yes, thanks I'm so happy with the way the paint came out...

Steve E.

thanks for the pics

The car is looking great Steve. I'm looking forward to seeing it in person soon!

Beautiful!!

What size wheels and tires are you going to run? Remember, PTG ran a tall rear tire - if you don't you might lower the rear significantly such that the rear upper control arm hits the frame. Not a good outcome.

Any pictures of the cage?

Awesome makeover man. Keep up the good work.

I am working on getting a E30 track/race car here soon. :)

Nice work, hopefully this will be my next winter project S54 with Motec in my 330i CM

really beautiful!

Now it's time to have fun!

Beautiful!!

What size wheels and tires are you going to run? Remember, PTG ran a tall rear tire - if you don't you might lower the rear significantly such that the rear upper control arm hits the frame. Not a good outcome.

you're telling me! Man knows his stuff, listen to him (unlike me)
That looks puuuuurty! Can't wait to lose to ya!

you're telling me! Man knows his stuff, listen to him (unlike me)
That looks puuuuurty! Can't wait to lose to ya!


Thanks to all for the kind words..
Fall Line has done a couple of these widebodies now, I think mine is the third one. I don't know the specifics on the tire sizing other than 280 F and 305 R, probably Pirelli slicks. J.P. has my tires in, the wheels should be here anyday now.

Will get more pics this weekend and video too. Now let's hope for some nice weather!

A little background history on the car. It's a 98 M3 that has lived it's entire life as a racecar. First campaigned as a SCCA T2 car, latter in CCA as an IP then partly brought up to CM. It was in it's CM "lite" configuration when I bought the car in the winter of 07. I added the Shaw hood and lexan windows at that time. The cage is Fall Line #6. We saved the tag when it was updated. Last year I ran the car at Autobahn, did some inter club racing there and did the CCA Race School at Gateway. Ralph Warren rode along with me at Gateway and observed how much the body was flexing in relation to the roll cage... It was his nudge that pushed me over the edge......

Jon, thanks, will keep an eye on the rear suspension. Front too....
Phil, buy my S52! :devillook Free Delivery to Mid Ohio next week!


Steve E.

Now you tell me?! I was gonna tell you I had $1000 gift certificate to forgeline...

Now you tell me?! I was gonna tell you I had $1000 gift certificate to forgeline...

lol :D See ya Friday.. ...cougars beware...

That air box is HUGE.

lol :D See ya Friday.. ...cougars beware...

oh yeeeeeeeah, its cougar killin time! can't wait to see it in person, we're all gonna have fun

Jon, thanks, will keep an eye on the rear suspension. Front too....
Phil, buy my S52! :devillook Free Delivery to Mid Ohio next week!


Steve E.

You are welcome.

Just remember, PTG ran a 680 to 690 tall rear tire. 280/640/18 Front and 285/680/18 Rear Dunlop Slick. The 680 rear slick is what prevents the suspension from bottoming out as the tire will hit the top of the wheel well before the upper control arm hits the frame. My setup reached coilbind before the upper control arm hit the frame and just after the tire hit the top of the fender well. In other words, it all worked together - and hardly ever "bottomed out".

Looking great by the way!!

Beautiful! Just Beautiful. I can't wait to see her in action.:lol

Quick update, wheels arrived from Forgeline today. Will be finished with the last little details and tested tomorrow at Autobahn. Then I'm off to Mid Ohio...:alright

I'll try to post more pics tomorrow.

Steve E.

We got the car on track for the first time today at Autobahn. Car felt good right away, driver was, umm rusty :confused.

Started to feel at home after 4 or 5 laps, then the electrical gremins came out to play. End of session, back to the shop for a early morning thrash. Still hope to make it to Mid Ohio tomorrow...

Anyhow, the pics..

Just remember, PTG ran a 680 to 690 tall rear tire. 280/640/18 Front and 285/680/18 Rear Dunlop Slick. The 680 rear slick is what prevents the suspension from bottoming out as the tire will hit the top of the wheel well before the upper control arm hits the frame.

Perhaps it's not what you're implying, but I don't think PTG ran a taller rear tire in order to prevent suspension bottoming, even though it may have helped to prevent as much with your car. IIRC, PTG had partially tubbed the rear to get more tire clearance due to the very low ride height they were able to run with their subframe and changed suspension geometry. The taller rear tire, if anything, was probably used in order to balance tire wear over longer stints so that the car remained as neutral as possible as the tires wore.

[QUOTE=saem3;13100864]
Started to feel at home after 4 or 5 laps, then the electrical gremins came out to play. End of session, back to the shop for a early morning thrash. Still hope to make it to Mid Ohio tomorrow...
[\QUOTE]

Motec-Gremins or hard-wire gremlins?

Well, while the FLMS boys are working on things, you could start gettin' on getting your stickers on the car! Hopefully they figure things out for you... Otherwise you can stop by and pick up my 'beast' to take down with ya... :embarrasm

Good Luck Steve, hope to hear good things.

[quote=saem3;13100864]
Started to feel at home after 4 or 5 laps, then the electrical gremins came out to play. End of session, back to the shop for a early morning thrash. Still hope to make it to Mid Ohio tomorrow...
[QUOTE]

Motec-Gremins or hard-wire gremlins?

Well, while the FLMS boys are working on things, you could start gettin' on getting your stickers on the car! Hopefully they figure things out for you... Otherwise you can stop by and pick up my 'beast' to take down with ya... :embarrasm

Good Luck Steve, hope to hear good things.

Hehe great minds think alike... yup I'm on sticker detail... and stay out of Brian's way..
Alternator pooped out. :shifty

Thanks
Steve E.

Perhaps it's not what you're implying, but I don't think PTG ran a taller rear tire in order to prevent suspension bottoming, even though it may have helped to prevent as much with your car. IIRC, PTG had partially tubbed the rear to get more tire clearance due to the very low ride height they were able to run with their subframe and changed suspension geometry. The taller rear tire, if anything, was probably used in order to balance tire wear over longer stints so that the car remained as neutral as possible as the tires wore.

Yes, you are correct. I meant in my case, the tall tire served the dual purpose of preventing bottomoing and equalizing tire wear. PTG's clearance and suspension was different than mine front and rear.

You ever take that on any sweet jumps?

Great Looking car! Have you scaled it since you got it back from Fall Line? Dyno results?

Jon,
I see now with the proper wheels installed, how one would be tempted to further lower the car. There is a ton of room left in the wheel arches. Well, I have to leave some projects for the future winter makeovers..... cf doors and rear deck, better wing, and now suspension work,,,,,,,,,:rolleyes

We gotta get this puppy running right so I can race this weekend...

Nate,
Yes it's been weighed and yes it's been on the dyno. Don't know the weight , it was 2600ish before the makeover, my guess is it will be a bit heavier with the bigger wheels & tires, additional roll cage members, 6speed trans, all of the dry sump plumbing and the e46 diff. Lost some with the complete removal of the wire harness, head lights, LTW splitter and bumpercover. Dyno numbers...390 at the wheels.

Steve E.

Jon,
I see now with the proper wheels installed, how one would be tempted to further lower the car. There is a ton of room left in the wheel arches. .

Yeah, that MA Shaw kit is a compromise of the PTG molds. It allows a club racer to get the ability to run wider wheels and tires, but you don't have to do the tubbing that PTG did to get it to look right - you just have to run wheels/tires that fill the wheel wells.


Here's how my car was introduced - this was with 250/640/18 front and 280/650/18 rear tires. Also, I was running it very soft and had hug gap.
242699


Here is how the car ultimately looked - 280/650/18 fronts and 280/680/18 rear
242700

We didn't tub the front or cut the rear so we could get the car ULTRA low. He did run it stiff, cause it wouldn't work the tires otherwise - couldn't get any heat in them and that was running the soft compound Yok's.

Now, if you tub the front, and cut the rear (like Phil has done) then you can run 280/650/680 all the way around and run the car lower that I did.

After a long day, the car has been sorted out, the electrical gremlin was a faulty ground at the alternator. Oil changed, trans fuild checked, brakes bled and tech sheet filled out ( oops, window net was out of date - quickly changed). I did the sticker detail with some able asistance from Mark while Brian did the mechanical work.

Load that sucker on the trailer and 7 hours later I'm posting this from beautiful Mansfield. Ready for practice tomorrow at Mid Ohio.

Jon, thanks for the advice and history, it will be fun to see it in person tomorrow.

Steve E.

Steve,

How is the clutch situation working out? Was it a new clutch to begin with? Not enough clamp-load???

It is a brand new Sachs HD with an alloy flywheel. Standard Fall Line set up, has worked perfectly on my E46 for some time now.

It's been a bit of a mystery to the FLMS crew, but it seems to be an issue with the hydraulics, hope to get it out to the track this weekend....

Steve E.

No Mosport Steve?? I'm out, need to save some loot. My car looked good back in the day!

No Mosport Steve?? I'm out, need to save some loot. My car looked good back in the day!

No... gotta get it sorted before I go hauling all over the country... or out of the country for that matter. Likewise on saving some $$... don't want a repeat of Mid Ohio.

I did just register for OFest!! ;)

Steve E.

Well the clutch issues have been delt with, turns out to be an issue with a brand new piece...
Got two days at Autobahn with no problems..... oops, now I've hexed myself.
Between tornadoes and thunderstorms and high heat and humidity ( St.L guys - you don't have a monopoly on the weather! ) I was finally able to give the car a bit of a workout.
We have a bit more to do in regards to the front splitter.. the Shaw piece is just cosmetic.. gonna get serious now..
Then - off to Putnam. Cool shirts are starting to look real nice about now ...

Steve E.

Definitely take advantage of the rules (4" allowed as viewed from above), and definitely see if you can work in the splitter diffusers in front of the front wheels.

Do you have a rear diffuser?

Looks like a rear diffuser, new wing and new splitter are in your near future :)

Definitely take advantage of the rules (4" allowed as viewed from above), and definitely see if you can work in the splitter diffusers in front of the front wheels.

Do you have a rear diffuser?

Looks like a rear diffuser, new wing and new splitter are in your near future :)

I had to leave something to do for next winter's project! :rolleyes
But I do have to address the splitter now as the Shaw bumpercover/splitter is flapping about.

Steve E.

Steve E,

How'd you get the E46 M3 ABS system to work in your car? (And I'm hoping the answer is NOT the ridiculously expensive setup that turner sells).

Turner sells the Harness, thats the only way to do it with the OEM setup. Unless you run the entire factory ecu setup, you are stuck with that configuration.

Steve E,

How'd you get the E46 M3 ABS system to work in your car? (And I'm hoping the answer is NOT the ridiculously expensive setup that turner sells).

The ABS unit was a matter of nesscesity with the use of the Motec ecu, which came from an E46 Grand Am car. The programming and set up were already done for the E46, which was a huge savings to me.The E46 ABS (only) harness was used in conjunction with the custom wiring for the Motec. So as far as the Motec knows, it was plugged back into an E46 M3.

Yes, it was expensive. It is worth it.
The engine has been running flawlessly.

Steve E.

Fantastic looking car!

Fantastic looking car!

Thank you

Steve E.

We had a fun day out at Autobahn last Thurs. (see my post Ooh look what i found). Still have some issues to work out regarding the alternator getting too hot and the splitter still needs to be finished up.

Still with old dead tires, I posted my fastest lap time on the South Track to date. And had alot of fun with my buds..

Warptkid sent me this pic

Which alternator are you using?

With that build from Fall line...time for some sticker tires :)

Which alternator are you using?

With that build from Fall line...time for some sticker tires :)

Stock alternator mounted down low under the headers ala PTG. Seems that it's getting too hot there so we'll run a duct to it for some cooling .

Steve E.

Any reason you did not run it in the stock location?

Is the CoG the only reason you moved it?

Any reason you did not run it in the stock location?

Is the CoG the only reason you moved it?

The oil pump and all the plumbing, oil filter and abs are located on the lower left side of the engine.

Sorry for the crappy cell phone pic.

Steve E.

One more view.

So you have the dry sump pump in the old alternator location. I run my dry sump pump on the passenger side below the turbo header. And since heat rises and we have a number of vents in the hood along with a manifold shield, we don't get much heat build-up on the pump.

Along with venting to the alternator, you might look at an inconel header shield. Evosport has these (or can have them made) and they are amazing!! Maybe a bit of both, a vent and a header shield.

I like the build - thanks for sharing it!

Evosport makes a similar adapter, but you can keep your alternator in the stock position, but i guess your dry sump is in the way.

What was the last configuration PTG run though, on the drivers or passenger side? I thought I saw them running the drysump pump under the headers in their most recent motors...i'll have to dig through some pics and dates.

http://www.evosport.com/product/proddetail.aspx?partnum=EVO.ENG.BXX.OFB

http://www.evosport.com/images/product/engine/evosport/evosport_oilhousingblock_large.jpg

Oh, wait, it looks like you DON'T have a dry sump pump????

If not, then I would put the alternator BACK in the stock location and use the evosport adapter.

Oh, wait, it looks like you DON'T have a dry sump pump????

If not, then I would put the alternator BACK in the stock location and use the evosport adapter.

The dry sump pump doesn't show well in the pics, but it's down there.
A heat sheild will prolly be in order as well as the cooling duct. The alternator will work ok for the first two sessions, then gets progressively worse in terms of output as the heat soaks in.

Steve E.

The inconel shields Evosport has are pretty trick.

Just make sure you don't keep the heat in...you have to get air in and OUT of it to keep it cool[er].

Check Ebay for Nascar stuff, they have some trick carbon ducting that sells cheap "used."

The inconel shields Evosport has are pretty trick.

Just make sure you don't keep the heat in...you have to get air in and OUT of it to keep it cool[er].

Check Ebay for Nascar stuff, they have some trick carbon ducting that sells cheap "used."

Thanks for all the input guys, we will route another hose from the right brake duct - easy enough with minimal work and cost. We will try a different, although still stock alternator as well.

Steve E.

Bosch motorsport has some nice alternatives :)

Bosch motorsport has some nice alternatives :)

Yup, that would be the next step if we can't make a oem part work.

Steve E.

I bet one of those Evosport inconel shields made to fit would protect it enough from the header heat.

Hey Steve!

I haven't been browsing the track car builds forum in a while, and just happened across this today. I knew you were going to be doing some upgrades... but holy wow! Very nice!

Hey Steve!

I haven't been browsing the track car builds forum in a while, and just happened across this today. I knew you were going to be doing some upgrades... but holy wow! Very nice!

Thanks Julian, it's been a fun adventure. We are still working out some bugs, but by and large it's been better than I ever dreamed...

How's your track car project coming along ?

Are you coming to Putnam over the July 4th weekend?

Steve E.

Thanks Julian, it's been a fun adventure. We are still working out some bugs, but by and large it's been better than I ever dreamed...

How's your track car project coming along ?

Are you coming to Putnam over the July 4th weekend?

Steve E.

Hey Steve,

The racecar is coming along... slowly. I decided to build an ITS/ITR car, since I'll primarily run at Gateway, and SCCA has the most events there. Plus there are excellent crossover opportunities with JP and GTS2. After the cage build, I'm doing most of the work myself. While that affords a fantastic learning experience, it's just taking a little longer than I had expected. :D I should have listened when everybody told my to buy one instead of building.

I won't be making it to Putnam, unfortunately... big family stuff going on over the 4th.

Can't wait to see this CM monster in person someday!

Hey Steve,

The racecar is coming along... slowly. I decided to build an ITS/ITR car, since I'll primarily run at Gateway, and SCCA has the most events there. Plus there are excellent crossover opportunities with JP and GTS2. After the cage build, I'm doing most of the work myself. While that affords a fantastic learning experience, it's just taking a little longer than I had expected. :D I should have listened when everybody told my to buy one instead of building.

I won't be making it to Putnam, unfortunately... big family stuff going on over the 4th.

Can't wait to see this CM monster in person someday!

We'll hook up soon, let me know if any of your plans involve coming up to Autobahn.

Ain't it the truth, it always takes longer and costs more than you originally thought!

Steve E.

Well we have been chasing alternator issues here for a bit, seems that the poor thing is getting a little roasted tucked down under the headers. So J.P. and the gang at Fall Line cut another hole in the right brake duct and routed a hose to the alternator. Problem solved, got full voltage over the last 2 days at Autobahn.

I've also attached some FLMS eye candy.. Joe K's e46 v8 wide body was out today.

Steve E.

Nice, glad to hear there was an easy solution.

How is the E46 V8 doing? Its got a straight cut box in there now, right? Or did he go sequential?

Also, just curious, any reason you did not go the extra step for the Moton Motorsports instead of the clubsports?

Nice, glad to hear there was an easy solution.

How is the E46 V8 doing? Its got a straight cut box in there now, right? Or did he go sequential?

Also, just curious, any reason you did not go the extra step for the Moton Motorsports instead of the clubsports?

The e46 has an Xtrac sequential. The motor is fairly stock save for a dry sump and Motec. Don't worry, Joe will tune up the motor this winter, it's already sick, sick fast... The results for this car have been impressive, it should have won in it's first outing at the NASA enduro at Mid O, if not for an unjust penalty ( still was 2nd after a 5min penalty ), it did win the NASA enduro at Grattan a couple of weeks ago by a substantial margin. Came in second today at the ABCC members race.

When I bought the car, it had the clubsports, so it was an easy decision. I'll stick with this for now, the additional adjustments would only lead me into trouble!

Steve E.

Came in second today at the ABCC members race.


Second to... 'lander's vette??

Second to... 'lander's vette??

Steve Jenkins won in his GT3 Cup, the vette doesn't see wheel to wheel action. We didn't see any of the Autobahn Garage boys Sat. or Sun. Rumours of a Fri night poker game that stretched into the wee hours....

Steve E.