Round 3....another M3 build

[Benwalsh91]

Don't loose the love for this. I bloody love it and I want to have a go when I am over next year!

[slamitall]

stoked the new seats are in and look so good, huge step up from the vaders

[kittenpuncher]

Good attention to detail, and choice modifications. Keep it up!

[hinrichs]

Slight update....got my garage cleaned up partially. Still working on the "shop" side but its getting there. Moved the center bench over to the other side which really gave me a lot of room. I need a shed...which I have been way to anal about for 5 years now. I just cant make up my mind or find the right spot in my yard.

garage clean 3 by minthinrich, on Flickr
garage clean 1 by minthinrich, on Flickr

Depending on which way and angle I go with, It actually does give me a lot more room than I ever had to work on it.

garage clean 2 by minthinrich, on Flickr

I have been busy driving it a little, but once again the power steering is fighting me and its really frustrating. I rebuilt the pump once so far, and I have been filling and swapping the fluid over the last week. Had to order more crush washers, which took over a week but I am in no rush. So got that box today finally. Also added a magnetic drain plug and rear strut reinforcement plates...(both on sale).

ecs parts by minthinrich, on Flickr

[hinrichs]

Well, finally test drove the car.......yeah pump is whining like never before so guess its toast. Prolly gonna just get one of those delete plates for now and rebuild the pump again or something. Not really sure what I want to do. a "rebuilt" pump is over 450 so not really looking to go that route.

All the threads I can find, everyone says dont delete it....so there isnt much to read up on the E36 chassis and the delete working well. Everyone who seems to do it, is running an e36 rack in an E30

[Benwalsh91]

Well, finally test drove the car.......yeah pump is whining like never before so guess its toast. Prolly gonna just get one of those delete plates for now and rebuild the pump again or something. Not really sure what I want to do. a "rebuilt" pump is over 450 so not really looking to go that route.

All the threads I can find, everyone says dont delete it....so there isnt much to read up on the E36 chassis and the delete working well. Everyone who seems to do it, is running an e36 rack in an E30

Power steering pump needs replacing is this what your saying?

[mgpdoc]

I love this thing man

[hinrichs]

Got the ps delete installed. Wasnt too bad honestly. Worst part was pulling off my front splitter. I am starting to redo the mounts, but I am not sure how I will be making them yet. I really like how the hardmotorsport one mounts, and I could just buy their kit....but I think I can save $160 and do it myself. I have a few ideas, or maybe ill just sell this one and run something different. I am on the fence on selling the car as well tho cuz I really want another E46

ps delete by minthinrich, on Flickr

Spent the rest of the weekend building this which was a lot of fun. My garage is kinda heated but with it being real cold here, its been a little colder than I would like to be out there in.

porsche lego by minthinrich, on Flickr

[hinrichs]

Still no real updates, but I bought a small heater since its been very cold in the garage giving me no motivation to do anything out there. Need to get it mounted and wired up tho which I hope I can manage to get done tonight.

heater by minthinrich, on Flickr

I did however finally order some parts for the car as I got my motivation back to try and race this year....all depending on what the car is going to need to get race legal...SCCA has tough rules for sure.

I will have to pull the seat once again which I really dont want to do, but went with the VAC anti sub harness mount, and also their lap belt kit.

vac lap belt by minthinrich, on Flickr
vac anti sub by minthinrich, on Flickr

Undecided on what harness I will be running. I am leaning towards the racequip ones since they are cheap and I know I shouldnt skimp out on saftey items, but in the chance I dont actually race again, I dont want to drop 350+ on a harness when I can get a SFI rated one for around $90

[hinrichs]

Made a decision over the weekend

Ignore the surface rust, carpet was wet which is prolly from my junk door seals which are half gone

INTERRIOR GUTTING by minthinrich, on Flickr

[hinrichs]

Well Ben knows what I am getting tomorrow, but I think it should make this car interesting and really turn it more into a "build"

[Benwalsh91]

welcome to the dark side.

[hinrichs]

Guess I cant forget my name anymore, pre installed picture, works perfectly and you cant see the wires anymore

kill switch by minthinrich, on Flickr

[hinrichs]

Well the "big item that would make this an interesting build"....yeah I decided to not get it after a lot of research and debating with friends. I did plan on going RHD with this one....but its not for the faint of heart on an E36 which I guess is why I couldnt find anyone else who had done the swap. I was going to get a very cheap clip which had everything I needed, but I wasnt really into cutting this car up to make it work.

anyway.....


So I am basically done stripping the sound deadening from the inside finally. Need to work on cleaning off the goo and hopefully I can get some of the stain out of the paint from the adhesive. Almost filled up a 5 gal bucket with it all. I might paint the inside someday if I fully strip everything out. Should have the rest of my gauges this week so I can keep going with getting the senders mounted up and figure out where to run the wires inside. I went with the MKAH 4 gauge center panel and also the center console delete.

interior stripped 2 by minthinrich, on Flickr

As you can kinda see, there is some surface rust as well on the drivers side from wet carpet which I will also be cleaning up. Then I can make some floor panels like I did for my last car once I hit the scrap yard for some alum.

interior stripped by minthinrich, on Flickr

[Benwalsh91]

good progress is good! looking forward to seeing the new parts installed.