A purists nightmare - E46 drift build

[Tkuhn]

Continued update!

Busted out the brake lines for in the bay. Obviously the abs/dsc has been deleted. SO with that being said I used a custom kit that Chase at ChaseBays got me hooked up with. Everything was done with 3/16" nickle copper brake line. I love the way this stuff shines up. All the photos are of before polishing.  I was able to hide the brakeline that runs from the master to the right front and keep it out of the engine bay, I was also able to get the left front line to stay inside of the compartment on the driver side rather than run out of the compartment and through the fender well.

And then the lines were ran from the bulkheads to the original mounting spots where the softlines will connect. Also made sure to route them so that the added angle of the MG Solutions maxx angle kit doesnt hit them. Oh and i previously cleaned out the wheel wells and sprayed in some new 3m rubberized undercoating.

Now that the rear end is all reinforced and braced I was able to get the subframe cleaned up, old bushings out and installed the new condor subframe bushings and diff bushings.

Also got some fun parts in for the rear end.

MG Solutions upper and lower rear arms.

Stance XR1 rear true coils (also have XR1s for the front)

Ill save the boring photos but the front knuckles are cleaned up and re-sprayed black along with starting to clean up and re-paint the used MG Solutions maxx angle steering kit that i pulled off my 330i. Lots of parts came in including motorsports hardware stud conversion for the car, m54 fuel filter, upper and lower bushings for the rear trailing arms, new wheel bearings for all 4 corners. Fuel lines to replace the m54tu ones (completely different), oil adapter fitting for the oil filter housing to put a gauge into the system, Parts Shop Maxx engine vitals gauge (coolant temp and oil pressure configuration), some split loom for the interior harnesses, CSF aluminum radiator, and a few other odds and ends.

So i mocked up the new radiator and front end to fab up a bit of protection for the radiator.

Also cut the stock tow hook thread mounts off the front and rear bumper mounts with plans to weld them up to the bash bars using the stock locations (still needs to be done)

Ordered N54 exhaust studs and new oem exhaust manifold nuts and got them installed as well.

And last weekend was able to drop in the engine and trans! Before popping the trans on I threw in a new clutch fork and throwout bearing. Last year when i put this engine and trans into the 330i I had replaced the fork pivot pin with the stainless steel one from condor as well as replaced the clutch. The flywheel was just machined when i installed those parts last summer. The clutch and flywheel looked great still so no need to replace them. While i was at the trans i replaced the whopped out shift carrier bushing with a new condor one and then installed a new turner motorsport rear shift bushing.

More progress to come! its crunch time and I am hoping to have the car done by the end of April with a few weeks to get some miles on it before Automotion.

[B C]

You guys are experts. I want to throw my car away after visiting this thread

[Tkuhn]

snap said:

You guys are experts. I want to throw my car away after visiting this thread

Hahahaha were no experts. Honestly im just putting alot of the things I learned from building my civic over the past 8 years into this car. Like keeping in mind to do things right the first time so theres no reason for me to redo things over and over haha. And im not even going as in depth with everything that I would like, but id rather have the car done to drive, enjoy and get some more seat time. Its extremely hard for me to not touch everything and make it over perfect in my eyes lol, in time the car will become more is my hopes!

[Jdesign]

Looking killer man!! Those brake lines are nice!!! What is the reason behind using the copper nickle lines and not steel?

[Tkuhn]

Jdesign said:

Looking killer man!! Those brake lines are nice!!! What is the reason behind using the copper nickle lines and not steel?

Thanks!! And honestly they are easier to work with. But they also hand polish really well.

[patsbimmer1]

Jdesign said:

Looking killer man!! Those brake lines are nice!!! What is the reason behind using the copper nickle lines and not steel?

The big upside is that it won't rust and fail catastrophically like steel lines will.  Not to be confused with straight copper lines which can't stand up to automotive brake pressures.  NiCopp is pretty neat stuff!

[jc43089]

Sometimes it's called "Cunifer" it is excellent to work with, won't corrode, and is only marginally more expensive.  I think Volvo has been using it since the 70's.  Try it once and you will never use steel again.

[straight6pwr]

mmm wire tuck! looks great.

[Jdesign]

Tkuhn said:

Thanks!! And honestly they are easier to work with. But they also hand polish really well.

patsbimmer1 said:

The big upside is that it won't rust and fail catastrophically like steel lines will.  Not to be confused with straight copper lines which can't stand up to automotive brake pressures.  NiCopp is pretty neat stuff!

jc43089 said:

Sometimes it's called "Cunifer" it is excellent to work with, won't corrode, and is only marginally more expensive.  I think Volvo has been using it since the 70's.  Try it once and you will never use steel again.

Well I know what Im using when I redo my brakes!

[YoungCR]

Buy what you need on amazon, it’s $25 for 25ft vs $48 at the parts stores. Nickel Copper is great to work with.

[AsparagusMike]

Copper nickel... Great!

I did however have a challenge with them once in a while going crooked on me when I was making a flare just because they are quite a bit softer then steel. Although, when they are tightened down they slightly crush to make a good seal so I'm not really sure how big of a deal it is if the hole is slightly not centered.

Beautiful engine bay by the way, Cars looking great!

[jc43089]

Hey I just realized you are using -AN bulkheads etc.  What 37 degree flare tool are you using and do you like it?  I'm looking to get one for doing the same thing, I am making a fuel return line for my van because it doesn't have one among other things.

[Tkuhn]

jc43089 said:

Hey I just realized you are using -AN bulkheads etc.  What 37 degree flare tool are you using and do you like it?  I'm looking to get one for doing the same thing, I am making a fuel return line for my van because it doesn't have one among other things.

I have the rigid one. You can get it through home depo online, it's awesome. I use it on brake lines, fuel lines, and all the air ride set ups I've done. Haven't done stainless yet tho.

[Jdesign]

This guy?

[Tkuhn]

@Jdesign yep that's the one!

[Tkuhn]

UPDATE 

Taped off and painted the subframe/strut bracing. Man was it a pain in the ass and Im not completely happy with it but it will do for now. Mostly not happy with how there is no way to match the barely painted interior where I sprayed it silver.

Also got the dash skin installed with the steering column. I need to wait on fully finishing the dash as I have some wiring and other modifications to take care of yet. But its starting to look more like a car with the dash in! Also worth noting that this car came with grey interior and this dash is the one from my 330i. Really need (want) to find some black door panels but holy shit does everyone want an arm and left nut for them.

The rear trailing arms are completely finished as well. 

Hubs were redrilled to 5x114.3, hoping to have the wheels done soon to show you all! Brand new upper ball joints and lower bushings were installed along with new wheel bearings. Had both arms powdercoated satin black and topped them off with 90mm motorsport hardware studs (might have been a little excessive on the length lol) and the final tough was some syncro design works RTABS. (such a quality looking and feeling product, super hyped on those!)

Also I cant take credit for the second caliper bracket install but they are weld on tabs, previous owner of my 330i did them. These are the rear arms from the 330, and it will also be getting the front knuckles and brakes from the 330.

Andd got the rear trailing arms, upper and lower rear arms along with the new Stance true rear coilovers.

Fabbed up this harness bar as well with the help of @SamHolzmann and @WildBill burned in the brackets that I made for the support rods. The support rods are from a nrg harness bar. Reason for making one is NO ONE offers a reasonably priced harness bar and the end goal for this car will be a caged (down the road of course) so this will do for now for sure!

Sam painted all of my calipers and brackets in the same color as the engine bay (we used a high heat primer) then I Drilled out the new rear rotors to fit the new lug pattern and got the rear calipers installed. I used the condor speed shop rear stainless brake lines, just need to run the other stainless lines for the standalone master on the ASD handbrake that i have from the 330.

And finally I was able to throw some of the left front suspension togeather. I repainted the MG Solutions angle kit, also repainted the knuckles. Still waiting on new hub bearings for the fronts and they will need to be redrilled to 5x114 as well. Needed to get this all togeather to see if I needed extended brake lines or if the stock length condor ones would fit (as i was informed they would with the angle kit and the 330i had stock lines). Well just as my luck goes they wont work. So those are in the process of being exchanged for the lengthened ones.

[jc43089]

Noice!!!!!

[wasnt m3]

I'm impressed with the progress of this. You should splurge on some new anti rattle clips for those calipers, everything else looks so nice!

[Tkuhn]

wasnt m3 said:

I'm impressed with the progress of this. You should splurge on some new anti rattle clips for those calipers, everything else looks so nice!

Thanks! And I totally forgot about them until I put the brakes togeather lol, so it may happen. So much more to do yet!

[suspenceful]

Agreed, awesome progress on this. Can't wait to see it on the road!