I'm taking my inspiration for my "engine bay cage" from one of the cars from the guys from http://www.skidmarkracing.net

here is his tube design/engine bay.

http://www.skidmarkracing.net/photos/Engine%20Bay%2001.jpg.medium
Here is my version of his concept....

I did not like the way he just "seamwelded" the tubing to the 'shock tower'. I thought I could improve on his idea. This is and old car running really STIFF springs supported by 39 year old spot welds and rusty sheetmetal.

So I decided to construct a 'strut tower' reinforcement box.

Both to strengthen the strut mounting area and to transfer some of the load into the roll cage.

I also would like to raise the strut tower abit to gain suspension travel. But that is also prohibited.

So it is merely a mounting point for the tubes and a reinforcement for the area.

Basically this is version 1.0 of my idea

in the pictures below you can see more detailed view of the reinforcement box/tube mounting... the black circle represents where the tube will be welded to the 'box'

also in the picture below you can see, A side view of the design. The most forward tube will reach down and be welded to the frame rail. The 2 triagulated tubes will reach thru the dash and attach to the top dash tube.

I will also weld a "taco gusset" with a nice dimple die to this connection.
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68' 1602
98' ///M3 Sedan

88' ///M3 Sold *
06' ///M3 Competition Pkg Sold *

http://www.bmw1602.com/

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Last edited by bmw1602.com on 5-12-08 09:48; edited 1 time in total

was working the stealthauto booth at bimmerfest this weekend and unfortunately did not get a good chance to look around.

I did stop by the Ireland Engineering booth and picked up some camber and toe rear adjustable weld on kit.

SO back home on sunday I got back to work on the car abit....

Here is the Camber kit

First I clamped a piece of flat stock to serve as a backer so I may take my big F'ing hammer and make the small turned out lips flat.


Marking where to cut so that with the plate on now we have a slot so the eccentric adjuster may move back and forth....

On the Semi-trailign arm design of the 2002 (also e30 and mcoupe). The more you lower the car or basically move th arm further up into it's travel, you gain toe-in and the tire gains negative camber. So usually a 2002 at race ride height will have too much camber and too much toe-in. This kit will allow you to dial some of that out.

Also if you ever plan on running bias ply slicks, you will want close to 0 camber so these become even more important.

Toe will move back and forth on the outermost trailing arm mount on a horizontal plane. This will give you the ability to adjust toe.

The innermost trailing arm mount (closest to the diff) will be cut so we may move the arm on a vertical plane. As we move the eccentric down we get more negative camber and more we move it up we reduce the amount of negative camber.
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68' 1602
98' ///M3 Sedan

88' ///M3 Sold *
06' ///M3 Competition Pkg Sold *

http://www.bmw1602.com/

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weekend started by going to pickup some 1.5" x.95 DOM tubing for the roll cage modifications.

the workers at the metal yard looked at me funny when I pointed to my lowered M3 and said "put it on the roof!"

They were like are you sure? It's 60 odd pounds of tubing that 20ft. long!

I told'em....."It's okay this is how we do it in Brazil all the time!" they all had a laugh...

I didn't break any speed limits but I got home just fine....

According to my receipt I got 2 pieces 18'.3" long. = $35.59 each ! I believe that is a smoking deal!

The M3 makes a great hauler......
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68' 1602
98' ///M3 Sedan

88' ///M3 Sold *
06' ///M3 Competition Pkg Sold *

http://www.bmw1602.com/

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Alot of time was spent talking and discussing about the engine bay cage design......

In my previous post you saw my version 1.0........I'm calling this V.2.0

Soon into discussion we realized we needed to have the engine in place with the head and most importantly the DISTRIBUTOR......

Luckily I had a "spare" empty block and my old head gasket etc...


within 15 mins. we had it all together.....here is version 2.0

The Engine bay tubes will be 1"-1/4" x .120 wall

This design clears the distributor, the carburetor etc....

The green things are "taco" gussets with dimple dies.....
_________________
68' 1602
98' ///M3 Sedan

88' ///M3 Sold *
06' ///M3 Competition Pkg Sold *

http://www.bmw1602.com/

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after pretty much settling with the V.2.0 design....I continued my work with the sub frame adjusters.....

Make sure everything is clean and secure before welding....


Measure with calipers to insure that both plates are in exactly the same place. BEFORE welding
_________________
68' 1602
98' ///M3 Sedan

88' ///M3 Sold *
06' ///M3 Competition Pkg Sold *

http://www.bmw1602.com/

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I removed the forum on my website... nobody was ever on it and I had tons of spammers attacking it all the time.....I replaced it with a blog......

So it's basically has all the posts from this blog plus my own thoughts on stuff every now and again.....

click here for my new blog......

http://bmw1602.blogspot.com/
_________________
68' 1602
98' ///M3 Sedan

88' ///M3 Sold *
06' ///M3 Competition Pkg Sold *

http://www.bmw1602.com/

I like your ver 2.0. It's quite close to mine. I don't think you gain anything with those gussets (the green things) as the tube lenghts are so short. Also it would close your access to engine and make things more difficult.

What I think would help much more is to triangulate the upper pipes to a bottom of a pillar like here. Think about the force upwards from strut when going over bump.

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/component/option,com_forum/Itemid,50/page,download/id,1982/

I just noticed that it's difficult to see my construction from any of tens of the pictures I've posted.

It is quite a lot work and difficult to access for welding to realize that kind of design. I think you'll have to put the upper pipes below inner fender like I did to be able to close the hood and make it look nice. Here you can see how the inner fender was opened to put the piece of pipe inside.

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/components/com_forum/files/thumbs/t_pict0033_707.jpg
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Racing is Life - everything before and after is just waiting!

Thx tommy I should be able to start fabrication on the cage really soon.....Im still evaluating many ideas...

My moms garage is in the valley and boy was it a sauna in there.....! I managed to get alot done and only sweat out a few buckets!

I finish grinding off all the 5 layers of paint in the engine bay and frame rails. Luckily no serious rust to report....

So now Im ready to start on the cage work....

you might notice I cut out the passenger firewall "foot bulge". This is to make it easier to install and removal the headers....might seam silly but why not! I like making my life easier...

Also finally finished welding on the subframe adjusters. Then I used the air grinder to finish cutting out the adjustment slots. The "eccentrics" required some grinding filing to ensure proper smooth operation....basically it all took some fine tunning to get just right.....

Not bad welds eh? I'm pretty proud of myself.

You can see the completed subframe & trailing arms. Outermost pickup point adjust toe and inside (vertical slots) adjusts camber.
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68' 1602
98' ///M3 Sedan

88' ///M3 Sold *
06' ///M3 Competition Pkg Sold *

http://www.bmw1602.com/

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here is a set of camber plates a buddy of mine did for his 510. I don't know if the design will work for the 02 but he has incorporated some extras into these that you don't see it anyone else's plates.

pedro your work is ridiculously amazing i'm so jealous of your welding skills. Can't wait to see your engine cage

Tristan
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1970-resto/mod =money drain
1973 Charmonix, mhh clean

GO COUGS

Thank for all the compliments guys, my welding has definately improved. The real challenge will be welding the cage tubing since I will be in odd positions....I will probably use my mig welder for certain welds.

WOW that adjuster looks insane! Very nice. Looks lasercut and well designed. I have seen a similar "cage"style adjuster on JRKesler '02 race car. His build thread is in this forum. It came on a race car he bought and he has no idea where it came from.....

very cool stuff.....
_________________
68' 1602
98' ///M3 Sedan

88' ///M3 Sold *
06' ///M3 Competition Pkg Sold *

http://www.bmw1602.com/

Thx for all the comments!

finally got around to buying some POR-15. This stuff is great! It's like the poor man's powder coat! Aparently it has serious anti-rust agents in it and the can even says it can be painted directly over rust! It is very toxic and I was told to use a mask, gloves etc...It dries to a hard finish and make sure to put a piece of plastic when you close the can or the paint will be weld the can shut! Don't get this paint on your skin you will have a hell of a time getting it off!

It brushes on and then melts so you can't see any brush strokes. I will be painting the engine bay with this.....

I decided to bolt everything up so I can put the car on the ground and rolling so I could take it to my friends shop to start working on the cage.....he has a notcher there so I will be fitting and tacking everything in there then bringing it back to do final welding here in the garage. I don't have a floor mount drill press here so It's easier just to do all the tube cutting/ffitting and tacking there then bring it back.....

Used new SKF bearings packed them up with lots of Mobil1 synthetic bearing grease......

Assembled adjuster with Ireland poly bushings.....


All done and ready to roll! Rolling chassis Time !

see all the pictures here
http://bmw1602.lostbrazilian.com/v1/viewer.php?album=albums/Gallery/Suspension/Suspension%20Restoration%2008&pn=1
_________________
68' 1602
98' ///M3 Sedan

88' ///M3 Sold *
06' ///M3 Competition Pkg Sold *

http://www.bmw1602.com/

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Last edited by bmw1602.com on 6-9-08 09:04; edited 3 times in total

Thx for all the comments!

finally got around to buying some POR-15. This stuff is great! It's like the poor man's powder coat! Aparently it has serious anti-rust agents in it and the can even says it can be painted directly over rust! It is very toxic and I was told to use a mask, gloves etc...It dries to a hard finish and make sure to put a piece of plastic when you close the can or the paint will be weld the can shut! Don't get this paint on your skin you will have a hell of a time getting it off!

It brushes on and then melts so you can't see any brush strokes. I will be painting the engine bay with this.....

I decided to bolt everything up so I can put the car on the ground and rolling so I could take it to my friends shop to start working on the cage.....he has a notcher there so I will be fitting and tacking everything in there then bringing it back to do final welding here in the garage. I don't have a floor mount drill press here so It's easier just to do all the tube cutting/ffitting and tacking there then bring it back.....

Used new SKF bearings packed them up with lots of Mobil1 sythetic bearing grease......

Assembled adjuster with Ireland poly bushings.....


All done and ready to roll! Rolling chassis Time !

[IMG]http://bmw1602.lostbrazilian.com/v1/get_thumbs_on_fly.php?imgid=7231&nw=361&nh=480[/IMG]
_________________
68' 1602
98' ///M3 Sedan

88' ///M3 Sold *
06' ///M3 Competition Pkg Sold *

http://www.bmw1602.com/

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Looking good Pedro. Just a tip about Por15, the normal stuff doesn't have any UV protection in it, so if you are painting your engine bay you may want to put a topcoat using another POR product or clear of some type. I did my engine bay in grey, and where the sun shines through (ie, the rear vents) the paint dulls and eventually peels. And my car is rarely left outside. Sooner or later I'll paint the engine bay the same color as the car, so all I do is keep applying new coats of POR for now :)

Can't wait to see how the cage goes

Matt

Thanks for the important tip! I think I have some clear coat left over so I guess I'll spray some of that.....
_________________
68' 1602
98' ///M3 Sedan

88' ///M3 Sold *
06' ///M3 Competition Pkg Sold *

http://www.bmw1602.com/

Not much work done this weekend in-between me taking break all the time to watch the LeMans race.....I still can't get over how beautiful those Peugeot's are....

Put the car on it's wheels and rolled it out of the garage for the first time in over a year...wow time flies.

Got the car ready to take to over to the official bmw1602.com shop.....

http://www.bmwmbenz.com/

It a great little independent BMW & Mercedes repair shop where my good friend Dimitri works. Luckily the owner likes me and has allowed us to work on our race cars after hours and on weekends when the shop is closed. This is invaluable as it gives me access to lifts, factory tools, etc..... So I'm now thankfully listing them as one of my sponsors.

So next week the car goes over there so I can start work on the cage (he has a shear and a drill press with a notcher etc... I will probably tack weld the cage together over there then take it back to my garage for final welding.

Meanwhile I happily removed ALL of the pre-historic wiring from the car. Thankfully since the car is ancient there is not much to get rid of. I will be rewiring everything to a new fresh switch panel with circuit breakers and switches.

Oh yeah.....after a quick week of unemployment I now have a new job.....(unfortunately no increase in pay)

Pre-historic wiring ....OUT WITH THE OLD.......maybe a good 5lbs. too! .....
_________________
68' 1602
98' ///M3 Sedan

88' ///M3 Sold *
06' ///M3 Competition Pkg Sold *

http://www.bmw1602.com/

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Very nice work Pedro. you are blessed with your skills. When are you going to make Clutch,Brake and Gas pedals for the 02's?
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73 Tii. My Daily driver
Volvo V70 Turbo,Wagon

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