A purists nightmare - E46 drift build

[Tkuhn]

UPDATE!

Finished up the charger to oil filter housing bracket mods.

Then painted it along with the power steering resiviour bracket.

Also got in the upper radiator hose adapter from ICT billet.

and installed.

I also got in my clamps, the manifold vacuum fitting, the line for those fittings, and a section of 3/8 silicone hose plus my German Auto Solutions coolant cap came in.

Drilled and tapped the manifold for this DOT push loc fitting and then routed the hose from the recirc valve to the manifold.

Really excited for how this worked out, too bad no one will see it hahahha.

I then cut the section of 3/8 silicone into sections to act as couplers with the hardline I bent up for the vacuum to the booster. Just waiting on some more clamps to come in, because you know I forgot to get these ones lol.

Next I wanted to see how the HELL the headlight was supposed to fit with the intake. The way the kit came had a 45" coupler off the main intake and then the maf attached to that followed by a plastic piece that went from the maf to the filter. 

I dont have pictures but theres no way I was jamming that behind the headlight and pinching and pushing things around. Not to mention I have Xenon headlights so the ballast would need to be "moved". I have a solution for that once the parts come I will.share that!

So here is what I came up with for the intake.

I stepped the main intake tube down to a 3" then used a aluminum 45° to get past the back of the headlight. Then stepped back from 3" to 3.5" to the MAF and then the MAF straight to the filter.

I have a sock for the filter to keep water off as well as I made this splash sheild.

Started as a good ole CAD template.

Then cut it out of some plastic sheet.

Once I formed it to the corner to mount it I added some supports of aluminum.

Pretty happy with the outcome especially considering I used what I had. We will see how well it performs.

And finally I got everything in to add my under hood lights.

I wrapped all the wiring in the same flexo stuff I use on the engine and chassis harness, and then routed it through the ribs on the hood.

I added a switch similar to the switch for the tire sprayer but it is an on/off rather than a momentary switch.

And here it is all lit up! Really hyped to see it once it's on the ground with the underglow on too

Thats about it for now, waiting on a few more parts. (Seems to be the usual latley lol)

More updates as parts roll in!

[SteelBlue]

That coolant cap is sick.

Also, tire sprayer? Does it spray water or some solution onto the tires before a run so you don't have to get out of the car? I remember the guys at Auto-X would mist a bit of water on the tires before a run.

[Tkuhn]

SteelBlue said:

That coolant cap is sick.

Also, tire sprayer? Does it spray water or some solution onto the tires before a run so you don't have to get out of the car? I remember the guys at Auto-X would mist a bit of water on the tires before a run.

I installed the sprayer awhile ago but the idea is to spray down the tires after a run to cool them. The cooler the tires stay the longer they last.

[Tkuhn]

Small update with a few random things.

Got the parts in to remove the oem headlight ballast and igniter. 

On the left is the new ballast and igniter, on the right is the oem ballast and igniter.

I was able to mount the entire set up in the headlight housing which saves alot of room!

And then I added a plug which comes out of the headlight and plugs into the original chassis harness.

I also ordered a 3d printer and started teaching myself to draw things, which has always been a struggle for me to wrap.my head around. But! Slowly I am teaching myself and learning.

I drew up and printed these plugs to replace the ones that I filled with silicone since the spots that previously had things passing through them are not in use anymore.

All these white ones were some of the first test prints and black ones are incoming!

Here's another pic of the one that plugs the harness hole.

and the other 2 installed here.

I also got my new EMP Stewart water pump and installed it.

This thing is beefy and really excited to see how it performs. While I was replacing the pump I noticed that the front main seal was starting to leak ever so slightly. So I have a new seal on order.

I went to order the install tool since it was fairly cheap and I like to do things right and I found that it was no longer available.

I decided to draw up and print one!

Here is how it came out.

We will see how it works but I am confident and excited. 

Hopefully more updates at the end of the weekend!

[Bassboy3313]

I do the same thing with my 3d printer. Its definitely satisfying and addicting when things you create/draw yourself actually end up working like they should, lol.

[Tkuhn]

Update

The 3D printed front main installation tool worked!

Lined up to be pulled in.

Pulled into place. All I used was a ratchet and slowly tightened the bolt. Super pumped that worked out!

And here is photos of the 3 block off plugs I made for the original engine harness pass through, original booster vacuum pass through and one more that I forget what it did haha.

Now with the front main reinstalled I put the cooling system together for the final time, bolted up the bash bar and radiator support and sucked some coolant into it.

It feels good to be close to first start up.

I also went ahead and drew and printed some block offs for the original chassis harness pass through areas. I didnt shave that when we did the bay because they are in way to tight of an area to weld, grind, and sand properly. These came put pretty nice and I am pretty happy with the results.

My fuel pump and install kit came in too as well as my wrap! 

I have a few more fluids to replace as well as spark plugs and the fuel pump and we should be close to startup!

[Tkuhn]

Short update.

Still trying to find time to get the fuel pump and fluids in the car for start up.

But I have made some more progress.

One of my pairs of lips came in so I split and replaced the lips on some of my Weds Kranze Cerebus 2s. 

They went from 18x8 to 18x10.5. My plan is to make all the rears 10.5s.

I also got my rear bumper and the right side fender back from being repaired.

And finally something I have been working on that I am really excited about, I did not think I'd be drawing and printing this so soon but here is the custom gauge pod that I created to house the new wideband and also the PBM digital multi gauge I previously had in the center console.

I used a lightbar mount to mount it to the roll cage. 

And here is is mounted!

Some adjusting needs to be done yet but I am excited with the result for now!

Hopefully I will get time to install the new fuel pump and get the first start up out of the way this weekend!

[Tkuhn]

UPDATE

Got the fuel pump hanger out of the car and replaced the stock fuel pump.

Original.

And here is the DW200 mounted with the rally road fuel pump sleeve. The install kit and sleeve made for a really nice install.

I also was able to get my steering tires swapped to the new steering wheels along with some tires mounted for the rears.

New rear fitment is exciting as well haha

AND FINALLY!

I changed the oil and filter, filled up the power steering and then went for first start up!

Everything seems to be working as it should although the belt jumped inward one rib on the charger pulley. I believe there is a spacer that I can take out even though it looks lined up. Still need to do some digging there but it fired up and idled well with good AFRs.

Snapchat-500913376.mp4

[YoungCR]

Congrats!

[Tkuhn]

Small UPDATE

The whole no dome light thing has been bothering me ever since the first attempt at Sam designing and 3D printing a housing didn't work out and fell to the wayside respectively.

So now that I have my own printer I recreated the housing and added some holes for threaded inserts to be able to use some roll bar mounts. 

Here it is with the mounts bolted up. It's not super great looking but it works. Definitely could stand to have some fine tuning done.

And here it is mounted in the car. I have some ideas on how to improve it but for now this works.

And rewrapping the car has also begun!

I am very excited to see this thing in all fresh white again! 

Thats about it for now!

[m42b32]

That print quality looks really nice, what printer do you have?

[Rekpoint]

m42b32 said:

That print quality looks really nice, what printer do you have? 

Bump for this, I have a creality ender 3 but I have no clue how to dial in settings LOL.

[Jdesign]

You are really cranking away on this. Its looking great! that gauge pod is awesome.

[Tkuhn]

Rekpoint said:

Bump for this, I have a creality ender 3 but I have no clue how to dial in settings LOL.

@m42b32 @Rekpoint

Its a ender 3 pro. Honestly I just watched some YouTube videos, read some stuff online and ayed with quick prints to see how they changed. I am still really trying to dial in what I'm doing, and it is with PLA. Hoping to eventually start trying my had at ABS once I get the car done for the season.

[Tkuhn]

Jdesign said:

You are really cranking away on this. Its looking great! that gauge pod is awesome.

Thanks Jason! Honestly not exactly what I originally had planned but it definitely came into its own and has room for improvement too haha

[Tkuhn]

UPDATE.

Sorry for the lack of updates. This last 2 weeks have been a super hard push to get the car done for an event on the 30th for testing.

That being said there is a long story to get into about the tune, but first... I finished wrapping everything but the modded rear diffuser along with spending a Saturday morning putting down some gtequnick HALO ceramic coat for wrap.

Super hyped on the way this thing is looking with bigger lips and all one color!

I also forgot to mention that I had the trunk worked on, a friend was able to make it ALOT nicer than it was with lots of sanding and a re-clear. Not perfect but its alot better looking! 

I also installed the aero wolf mirror visors I have been hoarding for a year.

And here is the engine bay with all the body panels surrounding it.

I also got another pair of lips in so I mounted those up on another pair of weds kranze Cerebus 2s.

I ordered and mounted a fire extinguisher bracket FINALLY. I always had the extinguisher but since putting in the cage and interior I needed a bracket.

Just need to get a pull keychain.

I also drew up and printed some inserts for the rear bumper slides to take care of the M3 bumper sag issue.

They aren't perfect and need some work but they will work for now and creating an entire bumper slide bracket is out of the question time wise right now lol

Before.

After.

NOW. 

ALOT of shit has happened with the tuning/troubleshooting but this is the best I can type it out.

The original tune with the supercharger came from Classic Daily (CD). It barely started the car on cold starts and took atleast 4 tries and the car ran like absolute shit. The throttle response was super lazy but I was able to drive the car but there were some spots that it was sluggish and leaned way out.

Talking to the tuner from CD we did all kinds of diagnostics including smoking for vacuum leaks, checking fuel pressure and even bypassing the charger by putting the maf straight off the throttle body.

Nothing really solved the problem and showed a definite smoking gun. 

The only thing that made me 100% sure of the tune being the problem was I could take my old DME with the n/a m54b30 with b30 manifold tune plug it in and the car would start, run and respond better to throttle LMAO

So I hit the internet searching for the best options and the quickest as there is essentially less than 2 weeks before the first event I will be driving.

I found a tuner that has good reviews, is communicating super well and we began communicating/sending tunes on Wednesday the 19th. Today is Saturday the 22nd and I already have been sent a new basemap, taken some data logs of driving and idling and sent them off for revisions.

Now that that's out of the way the final update goes along with the tuning.

The injectors I got with the kit are green seimens deka of some sort. All we can find online is that they are from a Mercedes. No part number on the injectors. SO I got a set of maroon? Seimens dekas from a friend they are still 440cc injectors but they have part numbers and good info on dead times online.

Swapped them out on Friday along with uploaded the first base map then drove and data logged today! (Saturday)

Now we wait for the map revisions and hope the remote process continues as smoothly as it has so far!

[SteelBlue]

Remote tuning is really the true win from the internet age.

[Tkuhn]

SteelBlue said:

Remote tuning is really the true win from the internet age.

It is wild thats for sure. When I was into Hondas Street tuning was never the answer it seemed like, but I'm super pleased so far with the way this is going.

Will update everyone once it's complete!

[Tkuhn]

Its time for an UPDATE!

Holy shit has the past month been a stressful but rewarding in the end, so thats why I have been slacking on updates here haha

For starters the street tuning went well. There's still some touch ups the tuner wants to make which I'm fine with but the car rips pretty well!

20210526_200253.mp4

Here is the completed version for now. I made some delete panels for the rear diffuser, it turned out good enough lol.

And with the tune being safe to drift on that meant it was time for some testing at DD80 at USAIR.

The car did well, stayed cool the whole day even though it was not super hot out. The power difference is definitely noticeable although I still can't run 3rd. (Might have to consider playing with a different diff, but it does not hinder driving at all)

20210530_161118.mp4

The bumper fell off and got scratched to shit so that's lame but oh well lol.

The biggest issue that arose was the clutch was slipping once the car cooled down at the end of the day, not surprised that it glazed over lol. The current clutch was a FX "HD" kit with a single mass flywheel.

Now began the headaches....

We unloaded the car on Thursday and put it on the lift. Pulled the trans and installed a brand new FX stage 2 kit (e36 style without the self adjusting pressure plate).

While that went smoothly and the car was back on the ground and driving that Thursday night there was a vibration between 2k and up in almost every gear.

I ended up bringing the car home from the shop anyways. I then decided I was not okay with that vibration, so I jacked the car up and pulled the trans out on the following Saturday. 

I replaced the pilot bearing as I was ignorant and didn't do it the first time at the shop. I checked and retorqued everything without finding any true smoking guns.

I drove the car Saturday and Sunday and the vibrations still persisted. So Monday night I went back up to the shop and snagged Sam's old FX stage 4 kit since we know it is tried and true. 

Then on Tuesday I pulled the trans again and threw in the stage 4 kit. At this point I'm getting way to fast at this job lol had everything taken apart and back together in about 3 hours and 15 min hahaha

I then test drove the car on Wednesday and the vibrations were gone thankfully! I also should have mentioned that the vibrations happened when free revving so thats how I knew it was clucth/flywheel related.

Now the reason there was such a big rush to get this clutch situation solved is because we had a big event coming up at the Milwaukee Mile hosted by Track Day Direct.

In final preparations for the Milwaukee Mile event I added some seems legit garage axle spacers.

Now on to the fun!

We made it! 

The track was FAST and took quite a few runs to get the balls up to really send it. This was my first time drifting using 3rd gear and eventually I figured out how to set myself up to get back into second for the final turn, she didn't seem to have enough to let it eat in 3rd on the last turn but I would like to try again next time we are here.

Here are some photos! There was a night session as well and I will share a few photos when they become available!

Here's an in car. I really struggled on turn 1 and had to straighten and re-initiate into turn to but when I did that she absolutely ATEEE and thats where the speed came in! Super fun!

received_499992047905259.mp4 received_499992047905259.mp4

received_318451406669939.mp4

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And here is proably my favorite clip I have seen so far.

VID_23610504_061746_537.mp4

All in all it was a great event. I learned alot and was able to put on a show too. 

I do have a few things I want to address before the next event hopefully. But summer and this season is off to a hell of a fun start!