95 M3 restoration/street/hillclimb build

[bimmerbumm193]

Hello bimmerforums my name is Kendrick and this is my build thread. I have been on the forum and had a few e36s over the last 10 years and have finally been able to get into an M3. My goal is to build a three season daily driver that is track capable. I will be running it in the Pennsylvania Hillclimb Series this year, so it needs to be ready for level 4 time trials by May 26th 2012. I have been hillclimbing and road racing an ITA 95 Neon ACR for the last few years, so I am very excited for a rear wheel drive car! I will still use the neon for road racing (can you say cheap maintenance!) and use the M for the hillclimbs.



The goal for the car is to balance street drivability and track capability. I understand this is going to be somewhat futile, but whats the worst that can happen, my date bitches about it being too stiff. Because I will be keeping a full interior and running just the basic bolt-ons, the car best fits in the B street prepared class in our SCCA hillclimbs. My goal is not to build a competitive BSP car as I don’t really autox much and I may encounter just 3 or 4 BSP competitors hilllclimbing.

I am always a proponent of buying a car already setup, because everyone knows it’s cheaper that way. Well I didn’t follow this common bit of knowledge and bought a, clean titled, hi mileage, two owner, bone stock 95 M3. I was able to get the car for 3800 with receipts since the day it left the dealer. Overall it is in great shape, clean, paint is decent, and most importantly, no corrosion.
Any comments or criticisms are welcome. Here are the pics.
















The first step to any major work is removing the exhaust and adding Euro clears.



I decided to start by replacing the stock clutch that had 212k miles!



Although this picture is out of focus and almost worthless i tried showing the clutch material is worn down to the point the rivets were just starting to touch the pressure plate.



Transmission Detent job







"Hydraulic" pilot bearing extracting method

[bimmerbumm193]

At this point I figured I would save a few bucks and make my own camber arm reinforcment plates out of a piece of scrap that was laying around.







I was experimenting with a lightweight version, but I figured it was unnecessary.







New bearings and bushings - that was some interesting press time





Pretty clean for spending 212k miles in PA. The more I work on this car, the happier I am that I was able to get one that isnt all rusty. I contemplated long and hard about powder coating everything, but after I cleaned everything I figured it looked good enough.



So this was as unexpected as a teen pregnancy. After many dollars into the build I wasnt counting on spending money on a new diff. All of the bolts were loose, and 4 out of 8 holes were cracked. I have heard of the bolts coming loose, but not the cracked cover. So I traded some parts and a few bucks to get a used 3.23 to replace this one.



Finally going back together!

[Bjkearns]

I like where this is headed
continue on

[18rabbit]

We need an update!

[bimmerbumm193]

Caliper rebuilding




Front overhaul time



This is how we get it done in Pennsyltucky.




Accessing the rod bearings and oil pump nut.




Replacing more parts unnecessarily,the old rod bearings looked pretty good.

















Used baffled oil pan purchased locally, we thought it was a S50 pan but the dipstick hole was larger so it must be a OBD II pan. We had to get creative here and make a bushing for the dipstick tube.





Reinforced!!


Purchased a lower-than-my-cars-mileage- 95 rack because mine had some play on center. Swapping all the parts over, dont mind the mess.



So I have all the reciepts from the car since 1995 and there were no reciepts for the control arms or CAB, can they possibly be original?!


Using the drill-jigsaw-hacksaw method I had both of the old bushings removed from the lollipops in less than 10 minutes.








bimmerworld front end kit




You know what these are



ALmost done!!

[Bjkearns]

Well done sir
carry on the good work

[DEATH2000]

Excellent build so far. Should be a blast when done.

[murphy659]

Don't forget the power steering hoses, trombone and inspect the nipple on the bottom of the resevoir for cripming/crushing. Replace hoses and trombone... a known and fatal flaw at speed in a left hander.

[jayjaya29]

What kind of FCABs are those? They look like Powerflex, but what is that extra material outside of the lollipop for?

Also where are there hillclimb events? I'm in central NY and would LOOOVVVEEE to do some hill climb.

[bimmerbumm193]

Don't forget the power steering hoses, trombone and inspect the nipple on the bottom of the resevoir for cripming/crushing. Replace hoses and trombone... a known and fatal flaw at speed in a left hander.

Power steering hoses were replaced a few years ago according to documents and they look pretty good and dont leak. The ps nipple also looked good. But which part is this so called "trombone".

What kind of FCABs are those? They look like Powerflex, but what is that extra material outside of the lollipop for?

Also where are there hillclimb events? I'm in central NY and would LOOOVVVEEE to do some hill climb.

The FCAB are powerflex. I had actually never seen PF bushings before so when they arrived I was a little taken back by their design. But, they fit and work even though they look so weird.

Our hillclimb events are located in Reading, PA , Hazelton, PA (Weatherly Hill Climb), Wilkes Barre (Giants Despair HC) and Flinestone, MD. Wilkes Barre is the closest to you. Hillclimbing got me into racing and it is still my favorite form of racing. If you are running a street car with full interior then you can run an AutoX street prepared class meaning you only need a rollbar, fire extinguisher, arm restraints and firesuit. If you have any questions shoot me a PM, we would love to have more racers!!

http://pahillclimb.net/about/schedule-results/

[jayjaya29]

So I need a cage/rollbar to participate. Hmmmmm, decisions decisions.
I may come down to check out an event...

[eye145]

But which part is this so called "trombone".

The curved metal power steering tube that is attached to the front side of the rack and pinion is the "trombone"

Nice looking build you got going, alot of work but it will be worth it!

[Tom R]

I plan to attend a few hillclimbs this year with PA. Should be fun. What class do you plan to run in?

So I need a cage/rollbar to participate. Hmmmmm, decisions decisions.
I may come down to check out an event...

The New England hillclimb association may be a better fit for you since the events are closer to Ithaca. Their class structure is not very favorable to the e36. A BSP m3 is placed into the fastest RWD class with cars way over 3.XL.

[jayjaya29]

The New England hillclimb association may be a better fit for you since the events are closer to Ithaca. Their class structure is not very favorable to the e36. A BSP m3 is placed into the fastest RWD class with cars way over 3.XL.

Got a link to a schedule/website?

2012 SCCA classing would put me in CSP, damn subies got too quick.

[Spec3HOR]

I plan to attend a few hillclimbs this year with PA. Should be fun. What class do you plan to run in?
.

I plan to be at a few as well. If you see my car (in the signature) please say Hi. And also post up which ones you are going to!

[stealthbeam]

Coming along! well done

[JSA]

Great work man! Looks like a blast!

I love your poor man's camber arm reinforcements!

[Tom R]

Sounds good! Will post up my schedule as soon as the car is off the jack stands

I plan to be at a few as well. If you see my car (in the signature) please say Hi. And also post up which ones you are going to!

[Brent]

Updates?

[bimmerbumm193]

Well I have been meaning to update, but I have misplaced the remainder or the pictures, doh. I have actually been driving the car for the last 2 months and it is driving great! I took it to two autoXs so far and it handles very well, good enough for FTD at the second one (we dont need to say how many people were there). Since the last post I finished reassembly, got an alignment and new Continental DWs - 225/45/17 on the stock DS1s for my street tires.
After driving it as a DD for two months and Autocrossing it a few times here are a few things I noticed about it.

1. The AST 4100 are great. There is a big difference between soft and hard settings which is great for a double duty car. The 650/550 rates feel fine on highways and smooth roads, but on these pot-hole filled PA back roads the ride is pretty rough and it if you arent diligent about dodging bad spots the bumps are actually fairly violent and loud.

2. The transmission shifts smoothly and it is a pleasure to drive in all situations. The only thing I noticed is there is a lot of driveline backlash due to either the hi-mileage DM flywheel, driveshaft or axles or a combination of all three.
3. During the AutoX the car hooked up great and was very nuetral. The car was aligned with a street setup of -2 camber in the front so I just slid the plates over a bit to get about -3.2ish. At autoX speeds the car handles awesome and my only complaint is the lack of torque.

4. I have noticed at higher speeds though there is too much body roll in the rear. I thought I could get away without sway bars, but i guess not. Any suggestions?

5. The 214k motor pulls pretty well, as long as you keep the revs up. It did tick after flogging it after the autocrosses.
6. After rebuilding the calipers, the brake pedal has a long stroke UNLESS you hit it once first and then it is nice and firm. This is my biggest complaint. I bleed the system while activating the ABS pump and it did get better, but the pedal is still not as firm as it was before I rebuilt the calipers.

So as of now I need to do the following.
1. Install TC Kline rollbar
2. Buy and install seat mount, install harnesses
3. Install wheel studs
4. Buy wheels and tires (thinking Kosei 17x8.5s with 245/40/17 hankook Z214s)
5. Buy brake pads and dedicated rotors (what pads are good for autox=hillclimbing and some track days –probably none, haha) (As of now I have almost new OEM pads and rotors I will keep for street duty)
Stuff I would like to do, but not necessary
1. Oil pressure gauge
2. Lightweight Pulleys
3. Exhaust
4. Sway bars
5. oh man, this list can go on and on.

[RallyChamp]

nice build so far

[bimmerbumm193]

I have a few questions for the board.


Which track pads are a compromise between autoX(hillclimbing=short runs) and track. I have been hillclimbing with my road race neon which has DTC-60s, I just drag the brakes in the pits for a little before I get in line.

Which sway bars should I get?

I would prefer not to do any fender rolling, but is it necessary for Kosei 17x8.5 with 245/40/17 hankooks? 10mm Spacer up front though, right?

[Inv3ctiv3]

I never had to roll my fenders with my 17x8.5 kosei's but I wasn't running hancooks but was running 245's. The GC sway bars are the best but I like the UUC swaybarbarians for the price and the PFC06 and 01 compound pads are great.

[Brent]

Talk to Eric at brakeswap.com, he is on BFs too. I am running PFCs but for track so maybe diff?

Also I am running UUC bars as well, definitely happy with them

[DoormanMN]

Watching this build for sure, just got an M3 myself and going to "build as I can". Auto-X and HPDE's are on the list and MAN do I wish we had Hillclimbs around here!