Stick a fork in it...

#1

It’s been a long time coming, but I think we can safely say that our spec e30 is DONE!
:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

A few photos to share:

#2

And now because I can’t figure out how to get more than one photo in a post…

#3

Another…

#4

Okay, last one :stuck_out_tongue:

Anyone want to play “name that track map?”

#5

Wow, car looks great! So your going to be able to race this weekend at Roebling Road in the IFU2 right? :slight_smile:

#6

:woohoo:

So did that steering column/lock mechanism work out ok?

-Dave

#7

a good old white black car…

looking very good. when do you guys plant to come race with us? there might be a few spots open in the IFU,

Who did you graphics? They look top notch.

#8

Like a charm. No issues. Thanks for having it here in time for last weekend’s garage fun. That and stickers were all that was left - both are done now.

Thanks for that!

#9

Jones wrote:

I wish! :frowning:
We had intended to come up to RRR and run in the DE to get a little more experience there, but when I went to sign up (quite some time ago!!!) both the DE 3 & 4 groups were full, as well as instructors. Oh well. We thought it might be close to insane to run out rookie race in the IFU2 :silly:

#10

scottmc wrote:

[quote]a good old white black car…

looking very good. when do you guys plant to come race with us? there might be a few spots open in the IFU,

Who did you graphics? They look top notch.[/quote]

I did the design/graphics work and sent the files to Rodney Mitchell at Revolution Decal. They produced the vinyl for me and shipped it down to FL. I did the install. There were a few tense hours in the garage, but I think it looks pretty darn good for my first large-scale vinyl application. B)

I think our first race will be the Sebring event in June, and unless I’m mistaken, it should be the first spec e30 to actually compete with NASA FL. I know we’ll be racing against, well, only ourselves… but you’ve got to get it started sometime!

#11

looks awesome!

#12

Really great looking car, congratulations. Is the interior as clean as the outside?

#13

Age wrote:

Thanks!
Generally yes… after a weekend at the track I do try to at least get most of the dirt and grass out. Some days I question the wisdom of painting the inside white. :huh: Especially when I’m cleaning in my sweaty FL garage! But it just looks too damn good that way to complain too much, and it would have looked odd in its original sirrusblau paint.

You can see the inside here (it’s the photo-diary of our build):
http://web.mac.com/natblack/Black_Site/The_Race_Car.html

#14

Looks great! Almost too nice to race.

#15

I agree. Start building another, rattier one that you actually take on-track! Looks awesome, and I’m jealous of your white interior.

Sasha

#16

Well there should be at least 2 Spec E30’s at Sebring. I think my car should be done by then. We are very close!

#17

I know that you have worked hard on this car and it has been a long road of progression, set-back, and finality, but if you have the chance, please consider beefing up that cage significantly (more door bars, foot protection, x brace in the rear, etc) and please reconsider the direction of the fire nozzle for the driver. It is currently pointed at your head which means that in the event you ever have to pull it, you may be partially blinded by the spray while trying to exit the car as quickly as possible. Most likely a fire would come from the direction of the engine bay, so it is very common to point the nozzle in the direction of the driver’s footwell where flames would be most likely to appear first.

Again, very nice job on the car’s appearance and documenting the build.

Enjoy the racing especially with the SE crowd and beware the addiction.

#18

Looks good! Did you strip the paint in the interior or just scuff/primer/paint over the factory paint.

#19

speedblind wrote:

Wow - does it look that good? LOL

Up close, it looks great. It involved my wife, aluminum foil and about 12 cans of rustoleum gloss white. No prep, other than wiping it down with with paint thinner to get the residue from the sound deadening up. No scuff, no primer - just cheap paint. Looks pretty good, and easy to touch-up. Only place where it gets beat on is the driver’s side floor - and after 6 track days, it still looks fine.

Whoever put the note about foil and wiring on here - the tip was a huge time saver!

#20

jonmca wrote:

[quote]I know that you have worked hard on this car and it has been a long road of progression, set-back, and finality, but if you have the chance, please consider beefing up that cage significantly (more door bars, foot protection, x brace in the rear, etc) and please reconsider the direction of the fire nozzle for the driver. It is currently pointed at your head which means that in the event you ever have to pull it, you may be partially blinded by the spray while trying to exit the car as quickly as possible. Most likely a fire would come from the direction of the engine bay, so it is very common to point the nozzle in the direction of the driver’s footwell where flames would be most likely to appear first.

Again, very nice job on the car’s appearance and documenting the build.

Enjoy the racing especially with the SE crowd and beware the addiction.[/quote]

Thanks for your comments… :slight_smile:

The track addiction hit hard at our house long ago!

You might be interested to know that this cage does in fact contain foot protection and has already had an additional door bar added to the driver’s side.(I need to add some updated photos to the site!) I’m very comfortable with this cage. It was built by a highly reputable cage builder while we still lived in Ohio to BMW CCA CR stock class rules. We have since added to it to meet the updated NASA requirements to receive a logbook.
Personally, I sometimes think people add bars to a cage just for the sake of adding more bars (No, I’m not implying that you’re in this particular camp of thinking :slight_smile: ) without really knowing the purpose/benefit. The rear cross brace isn’t necessarily out of the question for a future addition.
We’ll have to see.

The driver fire nozzle is mounted fairly far forward, not under the dash (but not far from it), and angled forward a bit. I’ll double check it when I hop in the car the next time, but I don’t think it’s truly pointed at my head. We preferred this location to the one recommended in the directions that came with the system - they wanted us to plumb it up the roll cage onto the front crossbar and point the nozzle down at the driver. I’m sure that would have guaranteed a face-full in case of emergency. :S We asked around for the most popular placement options and went with the recommendations of others that had “been there, done that” over at bimmerforums (http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=926237&highlight=fire+system). This thread even includes a lovely shot of Craig Geigers driver footwell after his system accidentally went off at Roebling last year.

We’re really looking forward to getting out there and mixing it up with the SE guys and helping to get the ball rolling for Spec E30 in the FL region.
Hey, it’s only a ton of time and money right!? :silly: