Build Thread?

[GunMetalGrey]

suspenceful said:

I like your new signature.

Thanks, I quite enjoy it as well. The last one was a bit outdated. 
I was looking through all of the pictures that you have taken of my car, they are all excellent.

[straight6pwr]

yeah great photo. i particularly like the reasonable ride height.

[GunMetalGrey]

Shock suggestions?

I found that this thing squats hard under accel, and I know the spring rates are very reasonable for what I do with the car.

I am currently running H&R Race springs with Bilstein sport shocks/struts. 

I know that the shocks/struts are not new by any means, but I know that Dan said he was much more satisfied with other solutions.

So what should I look into? Koni SA? I see that most distributors are having a sale on Konis, so I am tempted to grab a pair of rears to get started....

[KaiserRolls]

Are you trying to avoid coilovers?

[GunMetalGrey]

KaiserRolls said:

Are you trying to avoid coilovers?

I'm trying to avoid dropping ~$1,000 on a set of coilovers yes. 

The main reason for that is the fact that I am entirely happy with my current ride height, and my spring rates are in line with what I would probably get in coilovers.

[straight6pwr]

1)koni SA are way better than bilstein sports, for both the adjustability and ride comfort.

2)since you are doing rear shocks only, you could just pick up the rear shocks from a one of the coilover kits. you'll probably end up paying the same as a pair of konis, but you'll get better damper control with external adjustment knobs and a better top mount.

3)still thinking along the 'rears only' line of thought, alternatively you could just order the rear springs/adjusters from a set of coilovers with higher rates than you have now. For instance, from BC racing, the rear springs are $50/each and rear adjusters are $45/each and they carry up to 14kg spring rates

[KaiserRolls]

^just make sure your rates are matched with the dampener

[GunMetalGrey]

I'm already on ~10k rear springs (570lb/in) so I don't think I really need to go higher in spring rate.
The only site I have found at this point that sells rear shocks separately is BC, and their rear spring rate is 8k.

I only need the rear shocks, as I already have upgraded rear shock mounts from IE. 

In the long run I would also upgrade the fronts, but I am now realizing that it may create a weird situation... 

Edit: Is buying just front coilovers a thing?

[Earl]

Email them and find out=)

[HipMF]

As I've said, be wary of adjusters. thery're better for matching shocks on a dyno than they are for tuning... and you don't have a shock dyno...

http://farnorthracing.com/autocross_secrets18.html

[KaiserRolls]

GunMetalGrey said:

I'm already on ~10k rear springs (570lb/in) so I don't think I really need to go higher in spring rate.

The only site I have found at this point that sells rear shocks separately is BC, and their rear spring rate is 8k.

I only need the rear shocks, as I already have upgraded rear shock mounts from IE. 

In the long run I would also upgrade the fronts, but I am now realizing that it may create a weird situation... 

Edit: Is buying just front coilovers a thing?

If we are both 10K in the rear, your shocks must be very worn (thinking back to the autox when we were comparing car setups)

Could also contact ground control for some front only or rear only setups????

[GunMetalGrey]

Yeah, that comparison is more or less what has brought all of this up.

[GunMetalGrey]

One of my black friday purchases, that wasn't even on sale!
 

I went with an OEM+ e36 radiator for the car, we will see if it has the cooling capacity required and if not I will go with something larger. This should be a large improvement over my m42 rad. 
I plan on relocating the oil cooler as well, and should finally have room to put a 16" pusher fan on the rad!

I also ordered a set of subframe riser bushings, that still have not shown up.

[GunMetalGrey]

Storage mode engaged. 

[GunMetalGrey]

Going to drain the coolant out of this and start taking the top end apart so I can replace the head gasket.
That's right, the head gasket. 

FMHG 

Will pull the whole motor on this one though. I don't remember why, but I'm going to.

[GunMetalGrey]

I made forward progress on this! 
I took the radiator out! Even if it was only to put it in another car, it was still one step in the right direction. At least that's what I'll keep telling myself!

[GunMetalGrey]

M42 radiator was removed to make way for the OEM + E36/E30 radiator. This will require me to relocate my oil cooler lines as they had been running under the expansion tank of the m42 radiator. I am looking forward to the increased cooling capacity of this radiator, and relocating the oil cooler to allow me space for a 16" spal pusher. 

Rear subframe was dropped in preparation for 12mm riser bushings. My camber was at a touch over 2.5 degrees as it sat before and I hope to reduce that slightly so when the car squats under power from the reworked power plant I don't lose all of my traction! 
 

I have also been working quite a bit on cleaning and rearranging the shop. It's quite nice!

[Jdesign]

GunMetalGrey said:

I have also been working quite a bit on cleaning and rearranging the shop. It's quite nice!

This is a key requirement to efficiency. Once I mastered it I became 50% faster fixin stuffs.

[HipMF]

The key to efficiency is to never set anything down. Once I set something down there's going to be 5 minutes of me walking around the shop looking everywhere for it...

[patsbimmer1]

I've got a wooden cart on casters that my grandpa built decades ago that I use as an operating tray to hold the tools I need for the job and nuts and bolts I remove.  It's saved me a ton of time searching for tools!