M Coupe LTW build

[Michael9218]

Originally Posted by 2skiddy

Hi Mike, IIRC, I swapped round the starter motor bolt, as it would be quite inaccessible. All the other bolts I could just reach with the correct tools. I fitted a thread insert into the bell housing and drilled out the starter to take the bolt. I know I am stating the obvious, and you probably have done this already, but thought I would mention it......
Cheers

Actually, one of the many reasons I limited the movement to 3.25" was just what you mention. I will have no problem removing the starter if needed. I can access the torx bolts with a box end torx wrench. I may look for an offset one for even better access.

[2skiddy]

Good call there Mike, mine is another 3/4" back, so no chance of getting the wrench on it! I have 10mm engine clearance, front and rear, that's it! Keep up the good work.
Cheers

[Vanne]

Originally Posted by Michael9218

Mick, how hard was it to get the dash out mate? and do you remember any of the stuff you removed from there? and ofcourse, how hard was it to get it back in there properly?


cheers man, loving your build mate..

[Michael9218]

Originally Posted by Vanne

Mick, how hard was it to get the dash out mate? and do you remember any of the stuff you removed from there? and ofcourse, how hard was it to get it back in there properly?


cheers man, loving your build mate..

It's a true labor of love, glad you're enjoying it as well...

How hard is a matter of perspective. I've disassembled about everything on this car. I've had the motor and trans in and out of the chassis 5 times. Dropping the front clip and removing the motor is an afternoon effort...

I don't recall the dash being difficult, but by the time I was there, all other interior bits were out. When I put it back in, there was little behind it. So I'm probably not a good source of knowledge on that procedure.

As I posted on your build thread, I don't believe you'll be able to remove heat without AC.

[Michael9218]

Minor update. After confirming the motor fitment, I then obsessively measured everything up. Five measurements to make sure all is well. Centered in engine bay, height, roll, pitch, and yaw. I needed to make sure these were all correct before fabricating the trans mount, since I did this mount in place. All measurements were spot on except roll. For some reason, the exhaust side was 7/16" too low causing a little too much slant in the ole slant six. So I modified my exhaust side mount and all is now well. Not pretty, but functional.



With that done, I fabricated the trans mount.



Now to start on the plumbing changes. Coolant return pipe, power steering reservoir and lines, radiator hoses, and of course, the new oil system.



Now the motor is back out and on the stand. Time to paint the new mounts, remove the oil pump chain (point of no return there...), and final oil pan install. Then I wait for the 3 stage oil pump so I can modify the mount and begin work on the plumbing.

I dropped off the center exhaust section to a local shop for shortening.

The big wait is for the trans. But I do have a big white box from Geoff Steel looking for some attention. Plenty to do...

[Vanne]

Those SLR roll center correcting control arms, how are you finding them? Probably looking at those for my next mod.

Thanks for the heads up on the dash Mick, really enjoying what you've done with your car mate, big respect.

[Michael9218]

Originally Posted by Vanne

Those SLR roll center correcting control arms, how are you finding them?

They seem to be holding up well. I don't have a side by side comparison, but the car handles very well. Static front camber is very low at -2.8 to get even tire temps. Less is good as it gives more straight line grip.

I was concerned about the faster steering, but I have to say I really didn't notice. It just feels right.

Only complaint is the nuts seem to back out, so I jam nutted all of the threaded studs and put marker paint on them. Fortunately they're a little long and so there was enough thread for a thin jam nut.

Hope that helps.

[Michael9218]

Couple of minor modifications while I wait for parts.

Decided to move the Canton power steering reservoir to the frame rail. I didn't like how it would fit on the new motor mounts. Came out very clean and solid.





Also needed to address the damage the center bearing did to the mount. When it let go at 100 mph shit got ugly quick! Even though the bearing carrier is weak cast aluminum designed to break away (which it did), it still managed to mangle the sheet metal and the threaded inserts. They were definitely compromised so I decided to weld a couple pieces of 16 gauge to beef it up. Should be stronger now than ever. With the motor drop it makes sense to drop the center bearing 1/16". Or maybe I should say it can't hurt...

Spot welded the shit out of it.


Dressed up the spot welds. Doesn't need to be pretty.


Painted up like it never happened.


For perspective.

[earthandsea]

Impressive and extensive work. Inspirational for those watching or thinking about doing.

[Michael9218]

Some updates.

Went ahead and switched to a Tilton clutch kit in place of the wearing Bimmerworld strapless kit. The Tilton is a couple pounds lighter and has a lower moment of inertia with the smaller diameter clutch and pressure plate. This one is also a dual clutch. With that installed, the tranny was reintroduced to the motor and all was lowered back in the car.

[Michael9218]

Couple of shots of the power steering setup and also the custom return hoses for the overflow tank. Stock hose would no longer work due to the motor sitting 3.25" back.

[Michael9218]

Dry sump oil tank and breather tank mounting studs. Doesn't look like much, but it took a lot of work to figure out placement and then weld in those brackets. The studs are actually bolts welded on the backside of the bracket.



Also welded on brackets for the remote oil filter.



Tanks fit like they were meant to be there...



And the remote filter mount with oil primer feature.

[Michael9218]

Final positioning of the 3 stage pump. I custom fitted the pump. I wanted it tucked up and in more than the Achilles mount had, so Mino (he's been great to work with, btw) sent me a blank and I marked the mount holes and had my local guy drill and tap the mount. Came out nice!



And there here's some shots of the hoses. AN 10 for pump to motor, AN 12 for scavenge, oil tank to pump, and tank to breather, and massive AN 16 for the pump to tank return. Those big hoses are a bit of a pain to assemble. I've ordered a pressure test kit to make sure they're all solid. I have to admit, I'm a bit nervous about hose fitting failure on the initial shakedown. Pressure testing will give me peace of mind.

Update: Pressure tested all the hose assemblies to 200 psi.

In this shot you can see the heat shield I fabricated:

[Michael9218]

Also replaced the roof steel panel with a Geoff Steel carbon fiber panel. I used Pliogrip epoxy adhesive. Supposedly what BMW used for their carbon fiber roofs. I can say this, there's no removing the roof now. This stuff sets up hard and there is no way that roof is coming off, planned or otherwise. Strong ass stuff!

Removing the roof was pretty straight forward when you have no interior in the way. I bought a windshield removal abrasive wire and T handle. Used a drill to start a hole and sawed my way around. Getting around the corners was the only tricky part.



The GS roof looked pretty good. Some have complained of blemishes. Mine is show quality. Ironic given that on this car it really didn't matter. As long as it looks good from 10 feet I'm happy...


Steel roof weight:


CF roof a bit heavier than claimed:


Also realized I never posted a picture of the Plastics 4 Performance rear lexan window. Fit very well and shaved 10 pounds.

[mattfwalters]

Phwoar. Fantastic stuff, man.

[Vanne]

Sweet window mate. Love your design work.
Can't wait to see this in action.

[2skiddy]

Looking good Mike, lots of hard work! BTW the rear window fits nicely from P4P, the biggest headache is where to drill the holes, it took me ages with my OCD!!!
Cheers

[Michael9218]

The project is complete! Looks very clean like it was meant to be that way.

I've run the car a couple times up to temp and no leaks or issues. Fingers crossed that it stays that way.

Now to corner balance the car today or tomorrow and then the plan is to run it at a wet Road Atlanta Chin event this next Sunday. I'm ok with it being wet as I'm not expecting to get comparative lap times this first time out. My objective is to just make sure all systems are a go. Well, ok I'm hoping the handling is noticeably improved.



Cooling end of things.


Decided to add some heat shielding for the lines near the number 1 cylinder header.

[Azeka1]

Amazing work, looking forward to seeing the results!

[Vanne]

[lmc1978]

Hey Mike,
You are a fabricatin' fool, for sure. Gonna take hours to go through all this. Kudos X1000.
You mention Pliogrip epoxy adhesive when you changed roofs. Pliogrip makes a number of different epoxy products, usually a number ID for the specific one. Which one did you use for the roof, and have you used any of the others? Thanks, Larry

[Michael9218]

A man's got to have a hobby...

I used Pliogrip 60 Panel Bond.