A purists nightmare - E46 drift build

[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

[Tkuhn]

B C said:

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

If my subframe mounts crack we got big problems lmao. Shouldn't happen if you saw what was done to brace the rear end earlier in this thread haha

[B C]

Tkuhn said:

If my subframe mounts crack we got big problems lmao. Shouldn't happen if you saw what was done to brace the rear end earlier in this thread haha

How do you like the chassis mounted shifter? What engine mounts do you have?

[Tkuhn]

B C said:

How do you like the chassis mounted shifter? What engine mounts do you have?

I like it alot more than stock. Although I do wish I would have saved up for one with reverse lock out as I've tried shifting from 3rd to second on track and I cant seem to find it very well. But for $130 this shifter is awesome. And I have condor engine and trans mounts which I really like. Some do like them and some dont.

[Tkuhn]

Got some parts in to repair the rear end situation. My auto 330 diff stubs along with both the axles I found in ebay showed up. 

Unfortunately the driver side one (which has proven to be more difficult to find) isnt in the greatest of shape, it has some play but I guess we will she if she decides to leave the party at any point. 

Going down to gurnee this weekend to pick up a 3.38 diff which should be fine although I would like to find another 3.46 as well. And I'll also be snagging another set of axles while i am down there as well.

Also have one more set of axles on the hook once i hear back about shipping from the guy

NO MORE BEING UN PREPARED!

In the mean time heres a few photos from in the rain at DD75 

[straight6pwr]

oooh tire sprayers. there were a lot of dirty windshields among the fwd crowd in high school.

looks like youre having a lot of fun, i love it!

[Tkuhn]

straight6pwr said:

oooh tire sprayers. there were a lot of dirty windshields among the fwd crowd in high school.

looks like youre having a lot of fun, i love it!

Hahahah yes but these are not to help with burnouts or easier sliding lol just to help conserve tire life

[Tkuhn]

UPDATE

Picked up the new diff last night along with some more auto 330 axles. The diff I picked up is a 3.38. 

Unfortunately I found out that the threads on the axles are messed up and I cant for the life of me fix them and I've unfucked things like this before. I dont have a photo but it is what it is I suppose.

I was able to get the diff welded by a friend today as well and when I went to install one of the other spare axles I have I found out that the left wheel bearing is clapped out. So that needs to be replaced. Sucks because it was brand new when I built the car a year and a half ago but that's drifting! Haha

[Tkuhn]

Heres a video of the wheel bearing. I'm really surprised I never heard any noises that indicated a bad bearing.

20190803_192926.mp4

[B C]

Always wondered how frequent whee bearing replacements would be with frequent track use. So far from those I have talked to its not frequent at all.

Skid Racing is a whole different story though im guessing

[Tkuhn]

B C said:

Always wondered how frequent whee bearing replacements would be with frequent track use. So far from those I have talked to its not frequent at all.

Skid Racing is a whole different story though im guessing

I dont think it's super common but who knows for sure haha I'm just glad I found it now rather than at the next event.

[Jdesign]

Thats bad. glad you caught it. sheesh.

[Tkuhn]

Jdesign said:

Thats bad. glad you caught it. sheesh. 

Yea, I just dont understand how it wasmt making any noise.

[Tkuhn]

Dropped the diff and got the manual 330 passenger axle out. Then cleaned everything up since the diff was out.

Then tossed the new 3.38 in along with passenger side 330 axle in.

Now just waiting for the new wheel bearing to come in and then the car will finally be back and road worthy.

[Tkuhn]

update.

Some good news and some bad news.

Starting with the bad news, apparently I'm a dumbass and did a poor job dealing the new diff cover. Sooo out it needs to come again and be re-sealed.

The good news is my die came in to hopefully fix those 2 lower mileage axles that had fucked up threads. 

AND IT WAS A SUCCESS

[Jdesign]

Thats a huge die LOL

[Tkuhn]

Jdesign said:

Thats a huge die LOL

was actually pretty cheap too haha. I did have to use a pipe wrench to turn it though I didn my have anything that went large enough at home.

[Tkuhn]

UPDATE.

Pulled both axles and the diff out last night. Which I'm starting to dislike how fast I can do it lmao. 15 minutes and all three parts were out, aside from jacking up the car.

So there are a few reasons for pulling all those out. Number 1 being that the diff needs to be resealed. Number 2 is that after I had gotten it up on stands again I was checking all the suspension and found that all 4 of the inner heims joints on my rear arms were worn and causing alot of play. So I ordered some new cheomoly ones from McMaster-carr. I also got those installed last night. 

Now to add to the bad news, I originally put the car up on all 4 jackstands to solve the drivetrain clunking noise. And I found it.... the u joint has alot of play. Luckily I have a friend getting rid of a 330 driveshaft for cheap and it has a good u joint. While the rest of that driveshaft needs parts (csb and rear cv) I plan to swap the front half from the new driveshaft to my existing driveshaft which has a new csb from not long ago and a good rear cv. 

Hopefully my plan works out....

[Tkuhn]

Update.

Pulled apart 2 of my weds cerebus 2's to re lip them. I wish I could fit bigger lips but 1) I dont have the fender space and 2) I'd like to stay under a 10" wide wheel. So that being said I went from the original 2 inch lips to a 3 inch lip. What really kills me is the 6.5 inch barrels.

New on the left and original on the right.

And here's both completed.

Also pulled out my driveshaft.

My original one on the left and the one I picked up on the right.

The new to me driveshaft seems to have a better front half than my current one so my hope is that it will atleast last me for the rest of the season. The u-joint on my old one was really starting to make some noise.

And here is the 2 shafts made into one. I kept my original rear portion because the cv and the csb are still good.

Now I should be able to start putting the car back togeather!