E30 buyer question

Good info on the LSD. I figured as much, but it's good to know I can tap into your experiences to do this stuff. I can't recall, but I think I met Mike (Olsen) at Speedware last year when he gave a talk about PRO3 and even had a car there to look at. Was that you Mike? If so, it's your fault I'm being drawn into this money pit. LOL

I'm over here on the west side of WA. I live in Lake Stevens and work in Mountlake Terrace so should be easy to hook up with some of you guys I'm sure. I've tracked my Mini at Spokane, Pacific Raceways and took it down to Thunderhill last summer for a couple of days with the Golden Gate BMW club. That track was a hoot! I also autocross over in Bremerton as well. On the return trip from Thunderhill my buddy and I drove through Grass Valley and jumped the fence at ORP to check out the new track. We walked the entire track. Funny thing is that as we were walking the back section we saw a pickup truck coming with 3 guys in the back "Uh oh!". First thought was to run for it, but since my car was parked right outside the gate I figured we were not fooling anybody. When they approached us the told us we didn't belong there and they made it clear we should leave. LOL. It looked like a pretty sweet track though. Anybody had a chance to drive it yet?
 
You met one of the crack dealers...uh, I mean, "Hill Brothers" that day. Although I was there, I wasn't giving the presentation. I think that was Ken Hill presenting their work on the Tic-Tac car (Dan Rogers -owner, up in CanAlaska territory, near Russia).

We'll get you hooked up with someone though. I'm south in Gig Harbor, so not the easiest of drives from Lake Stevens.

Quite a number of Conference folks and BMWCCA guys have tested on ORP; I'll bet there's a thread in the archives about it. There are three scheduled races for this year at ORP.
 
mikeolsen said:
You met one of the crack dealers...uh, I mean, "Hill Brothers" that day. Although I was there, I wasn't giving the presentation. I think that was Ken Hill presenting their work on the Tic-Tac car (Dan Rogers -owner, up in CanAlaska territory, near Russia).

We'll get you hooked up with someone though. I'm south in Gig Harbor, so not the easiest of drives from Lake Stevens.

Quite a number of Conference folks and BMWCCA guys have tested on ORP; I'll bet there's a thread in the archives about it. There are three scheduled races for this year at ORP.
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The "other " crack dealer (Hill brother) Ken is up in that area. Ken and Wes have a "habit" of adopting Pro3 newbies, but I thought I had cured them of that. He may also have a car for sale, I hear.

Dan
(and no, I can't see Russia from my house...)
 
I actually have talked with Ken quite a bit...but not regarding Pro3. He was the one that guided me through the whole repair process recently when my car was getting fixed up at Huary's in Lake City.
 
badsmini said:
Has anybody purchased/installed the E30 cage from TC Motorsports? Thoughts?
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Disclaimer: TCMoto is one of my performance partners and I run their logo on the car (so I'm biased)

The cage in my car was built by different race shop here locally and they did a good job with the fabrication, but the design leaves me wanting for something better. (My own fault for having an NHRA gent do the work)

Having personally viewed the TC cages up close and with a critical eye, I think it's a excellent cage that is well designed to protect the driver as well as accomodate quick ingress/egress from the car (good for enduros!)

Don't take my word for it, swing by the shop and see the work for yourself. They have two examples of their cage in Pro3 cars in the shop now.
 
Thanks Mike. I plan on heading down there and checking out their stuff. Good way to pass the time on a rainy day.
 
Hey guys,

I'm checking out a potential car this weekend. It's a 1990 but the owner says the motor was replaced. What's the best way to confirm it's the correct motor for Pro3 (the M20) that they replaced it with?

Thanks!
 
I assume you guys use 1.5" x .095 wall 4130 for an ultra-light cage installation?
Lawrence
 
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badsmini said:
Hey guys,

I'm checking out a potential car this weekend. It's a 1990 but the owner says the motor was replaced. What's the best way to confirm it's the correct motor for Pro3 (the M20) that they replaced it with?

Thanks!
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I don't think you could really put anything but an M20 back into a 1990 without a bunch of rewiring.
 
True that! Unless the owner put some trick cam into it, or got some storker motor in there, I'll bet you're safe. Especially if it's just a daily commuter.
 
Cool. Thanks guys and yes it's never been modified..just a commuter car. Oh and Mike..you'll be happy to know it's a 4-door. LOL I'll let you know how things go. Checking it out Saturday morning.
 
badsmini said:
Cool. Thanks guys and yes it's never been modified..just a commuter car. Oh and Mike..you'll be happy to know it's a 4-door. LOL I'll let you know how things go. Checking it out Saturday morning.
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Actually, Lance is the 4-door leader for this group. He's a real trend setter in that regard. Well, that, and his black socks with shorts and Sambas...
 
Well guys. I found my new project car to build into a Pro3 racer. Good news is I was able to drive it all the way home through seattle and tacoma traffic without any issues other than a known heater core leak into the footwell. LOL I ended up with a 1990 325i with the optional LSD. It's a 4-door in Alpine White. Everything on the car works but it does have a rough idle which I think is a pretty easy fix. Once you get on the gas it takes off and has really good power. The car has absolutely no rust and doesn't appear to every have been hit (all paint and panels are original) and surprisingly only has 1 or two small dings...pretty darn straight car. Everything works in the car electrically and there doesn't appear to be any mouse-trap wiring done other than an aftermarket stereo. I think I did pretty well for $800 bucks. Now the work begins. I of course am going to go through the car system by system and inspect, clean everything and replace any worn parts. Can somebody direct me to good checklist or write-up so I can make sure I hit everything? I have a Haines manual that came with the car, but I'll probably look for a Bentely manual as well unless you know of any better sources. Thanks in advance for your help! Martin
 
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Good deal Martin! Sounds like you made the right deal there. Get yourself a Bently manual. Better yet, go to www.unofficalbmw.com and then follow the link from that site to buy the manual. That site is owned and operated by Dale Beuning, Pro3 champ and e30 guru. He gets a little spiff from sales of the Bentley manual sold via his site.

First thing, change that timing belt!

Secondly, head on over to www.pro3-racing.com. I think we have some goods on there about building a car. Get signed up on the yahoo site (email me about that). Then, make arrangements to visit an existing Pro3 car and take note of the items removed and what hasn't been removed (comparing it to the rules of course!).

You're going to have many of the same questions we all did when building the car; don't be shy about asking...but be sure to ask as there are many tricks to certain steps that can be real time savers (hint: use dry ice to remove the sound insulation.)

We want to see you on track, not in the garage, so help will be easy to come by...well, at least opinions are easy to come by!
 
Went down to TCMotorsports yesterday to look around. Nice shop and nice guys. Met with John and he showed me all around their two E30 racers and shared with me all of their goodies and various modifications. Got to sit in one of the cars and look at the other one on the lift. Great guy and he never rushed me out of there. Also met Carlos and talked to him and about their upcoming Daytona race. Can't wait to get going on mine!
 
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