A purists nightmare - E46 drift build

[Tkuhn]

B C said:

Going to daily drive it this summer?

I wouldnt go so far as to say daily drive. But I do want to drive it more this summer than I did last summer. I do drive to the track, thrash for one or 2 days straight then drive it home Haha. So its 100% not a track only car.

[Jdesign]

you need to get some LED's in there.

[Tkuhn]

UPDATE.

yes @Jdesign I ended up putting in some LEDs for the brake and running lights. I'll be getting some stealth blinker bulbs as well. I dont have photos of the new LEDs yet, also need to get on the closing band wagon so they dont flicker and throw a code.

Secondly I went up to Sam's shop with the car and modified my street faction bash bar with a Jack point

Turned out pretty well.

then on Sunday I slapped some paint on it.

[Tkuhn]

Had a low beam go out on me yesterday right when I got in my driveway. Pulled it apart and found that where the igniter plugs into the bulb melted itself. Pretty sure the clips were wore out and it caused the poor connection. 

Luckily I had one spare one left. So I pulled out the headlight, disassembled it and swapped out the igniter with harness. 

ALSO luckily I had a spare xenon bulb.

Was a pretty easy job since everything was clean.

That's about it for the excitement lately. Put a few hundred miles on the car over the past 2 weekends as well and everything seems to be good.

[Tkuhn]

Update.

In preparation for automotion this weekend I washed the car and used my new wrap detailer on the car and wow it looks even better after a proper wash and seal. Although pics are hard to tell. We have a tent at the BOTI show on Saturday so we had make the drift cars ready for show hahah

Also got a new set of drift spares. Wheels I only dreamed of owning and finally have a set! 

Weds kranze cerberus 2

Made it to automotion with the boys and it was a great weekend!

First time Sam and I have had our cars together since the color change and man... HYPED on how these two look together.

Unfortunately late Saturday night after we went to bed something happened. Woke up to a officer's card on my car and also found a dent on the passenger door. It's quite the story that the officer told me but long story short a good cemaritin called in the person who hit my can and 3 others. They were arrested for hit and run and resisting arrest. The car was not owned by the driver but the vehicles owner had already been contacted and does have insurance so things sound like they will pan out okay.

I am grateful for the kind person who called it in since I was in bed and I am also grateful that there isnt much damage.

When more photos roll in I'll share a couple from the weekend!

[patsbimmer1]

Those hotel parking lots at automotion are a shit show.  Id never park a car I cared about anywhere other than a condo in the dells during automotion.  You are lucky there was a good samaritan!

[Rekpoint]

Thats crazy! Good to know there are still people around who would report something like that.

[B C]

Always wondered how insurance claims work with situations involving custom work like the wrap. Sorry to hear about the bump though. This is exactly why @Earl hasnt finished his black ti yet, because he knows the first time he brings it out to a show, someone will bump into him because they were distracted by a totally cute apron on pinterest.

[Tkuhn]

To all 3 of you Haha yes I am very happy there was a good samaritan and honestly it could be sooo much worse. I'll keep everyone updated of course. And in all honesty I've been going for 8 years now and staying at a hotel on the strip every time and this is the first time anything has happened to any cars in our group. It is what it is and it can be fixed! Working on a quote now. Luckily I have a friend that works at a body shop

[Tkuhn]

Been a hot minuate. Still waiting on insurance stuff but dd101 was so much fun! Killed pleanty of tires and fun was had

delaminated a tire pretty good and she marked up the side of the car, but no worries it comes off pretty well. Will post pictures once it's all off

VID_19731006_182251_775.mp4

VID_19980705_003039_654.mp4

[Jdesign]

Looks like an epic good time. I need to make it out there again soon!

[Tkuhn]

Update on the rubber covered quarter panel.

She cleaned up quite well! Some denatured alcohol to get most of it off then some light rubbing compound to get the deeper shadows out. Pretty pleased with it. 

Note: wheels are extremely dirty and need to be polished I know lol

[B C]

Would waxing it help prevent future rubber stains?

[Tkuhn]

B C said:

Would waxing it help prevent future rubber stains?

I'm not sure about how well wax reacts with wrap but I was able to get the stains out. Aside from the fact that the white starts to yellow due to the heat of the tire smoke just behind the wheels. I think white paint would do the same. I have been looking into the ceramic coat that they make for wrap though.

[Jdesign]

Maybe try a silica spray after a nice wash?

[Rekpoint]

Tkuhn said:

I'm not sure about how well wax reacts with wrap but I was able to get the stains out. Aside from the fact that the white starts to yellow due to the heat of the tire smoke just behind the wheels. I think white paint would do the same. I have been looking into the ceramic coat that they make for wrap though.

Correct me if Im wrong. But I dont think there shouldn't be a difference between ceramic coating for paint or wraps.

[Tkuhn]

Rekpoint said:

Correct me if Im wrong. But I dont think there shouldn't be a difference between ceramic coating for paint or wraps.

I dont know if you're wrong or right Haha I just know there is "wrap ceramic coat". Indont know enough to say if its actually different or not hahah I do have a spray detailer for wrap that is supposed to keep the wrap from drying out and it seals it. Not like ceramic coat but I can feel a difference in coated vs non coated areas after a wash.

[Tkuhn]

Jdesign said:

Maybe try a silica spray after a nice wash?

‍️‍️‍️

[Tkuhn]

Soooo first for the pre-drift day update I did then I will follow with the carnage from drift day lol.

Sam and I decided to add tire sprayers to out cars. In an attempt to cool down tires after each run to prolong their lives. 

Ordered a $18 amazon universal windshield washer kit to get started.

Mounted the tank first.

Sorry to disappoint but I didnt go crazy with wiring until I decide if this is worth it for sure.

Then I made some brackets and mounted the sprayer nozzles.

Both are mounted behind the tires level with the bumper slides which I had off for the install.

Then came the switch, which is a bit cheap but works for now.

Now unfortunately the weather on Saturday was short of pleasant. Rain for all but 2 hours of driving meant there wasnt much need for testing the tire sprayers so this is to be determined. Also we both decided that some new sprayer nozzles that spread out the path of the water over the entire tire would be more beneficial.

Now sunday brought some beautiful weather. I started the day out on the intermediate track and got about 4 runs in. On my fifth time around I clutch kicked in a spot that I normally do and heard an odd noise, then kicked it again because I was still trying to party lmao. And the second kick she cracked harder and straightened out. This was then followed by a rotational clunking noise so I headed for the pits.

Assuming that I snapped and axle or broke the diff. 

And I was kinda right...

As you can see the the stub snapped. Driver side. 

Luckily I had a spare diff in Sam's trailer, unfortunately it was a 2.93 and the one that was now rendered useless for now was a 3.46. The next issue was that I needed a stub. I also lucked out and another e46 friend at the track that had an auto 330 stub and an auto 330 axle. So I had to swap in a new axle as well since the auto 330 stubs are different. 

Got everything swapped back in the car and took it for a lap. Which proved to be very difficult with the 2.93 along with 3 piece 18" wheels. It required alot more clutch kicking and high high rpms, the clutch stunk a little after that run. So I decided to throw in the towel for the day in hopes to not damage more of the car including the borrowed parts. 

I must say the drive home with the 2.93 was alot more comfortable though

Soooo now that I have talked to a few people and done some research the plan is to convert to auto 330 stubs with auto 330 axles. I found stubs on ebay for 50 bucks and a passenger side axle for 33 bucks lol. Now all I need is a driver side axle unless I can get my buddy to sell me this one along with another 3.46 diff.

[B C]

Better to toast a diff than to find out the noise is a cracked floorpan