M2 madness

[M3M3]

heater valve swapped today.

 

broken one i took out had the classic broken plastic bits from the brass innards being gunked up and jamming it.

 

this is critical tool for doing this job..flex extention for 1/4in drive..

makes reaching the backside easy.

 

old one out...yes, my heater box has the usual broken mount.

 

new one in..metal reinforcement plate to strengthen broken mount.

 

done.  temp slider is super smooth and can be moved easily with one finger.  if your temp control is stiff at all, time to rebuild the heater valve before it breaks....

Edited January 13, 2014 by mlytle

[M3M3]

swapped out the AllStar stock car rear ride height adjusters for some GC ones today.

 

adjustable spring perches are a threaded tube that fits over the existing upper spring mount and has a upper spring perch that screws on the tube to vary the height of the car.

 

the adjust-ability was nice, as i do actually corner weight the car regularly and raise and lower car from track to street config and back.  i found the allstar adjusters hard to turn due to lack of anything to grip short of a strap wrench and the shape of the perch  did not fit perfectly into the spring.  decided to try the offering from Ground-Control which became available a few years ago.

http://www.ground-control-store.com/products/description.php/II=942/CA=281

 

 

so, what is the difference between the two solutions?

 

 

well, the GC's sure are prettier!

and, they have a rubber upper perch that fits perfectly over the spring, a notch adjuster that uses a suspension wrench to turn, a lock screw to keep the adjuster set, and a wider upper base.

 

installation was easy.  

unbolt the lower shock on both sides

lower trailing arm

remove spring

use puller to slide the allstart adjusters off the stock perch 

 

i had used liberal amount of anti-seize under them and they came right off

 

slide the GC adjuster on

 

note if it does not stay on, just bend the perch side out a touch to creat tension.

 

place spring back in and bolt up lower shock.

 

the only potential downside to the GC version is that the perch is fatter so that the amount I can lower the car will be less than with the allstars.  won't know if this is a problem until Spring when the car gets back on the ground.

[Cupid]

Maybe it's me, but it seems the the upper and lower spring perches are not aligned.  Is that by design?  I would think under compression that the perches would follow the same path/axis.

 

Okay, obviously it works...just wondering why it looks that way in the picture.

[M3M3]

correct. they are not aligned...from the bmw factory. under compression the TA swings up and they line up very closely.

i have toyed with drilling out the spot welds on the lower perch and moving it forward a half inch.

[M3M3]

next project...rear sway bar.  going with stiff springs/soft bar in rear to try to keep inside rear wheel on ground in turns.  going to modify a stock rear sway bar to be adjustable even softer.

 

but...stock rear sway bar links are a limiting factor.  they are ok for street, but they are not adjustable to dial out preload.  the links that come with the IE rear bar are better but still use of the urethane bushings on top.  adjusting the bar results in an off-center load on the bushing and they are not very adjustable for preload.

 

enter mcmaster-carr.  got a parts box in today from them with new upper rod ends, some threaded studs, spacers and bolts.  these will replace the upper half of some IE front bar links.  dug in my spare parts bin and pulled out some old E30 rear upper sway bar brackets.

 

left to right....e30 link, modified link i will use, IE front link and stock 2002 link

 

new link will allow freedom of adjustment and ability to easily dial out preload.  more to follow on the modifications to the ends of a stock sway bar.

Edited February 13, 2014 by mlytle

[M3M3]

hacked off the stock sway bar ends and got some angle iron cut for the extensions

 

drilled some adjustment holes.  two stiffer than stock location, three softer

 

cleaned up and ready to weld

 

some cheesy welding in the dark outside....and i have an adjustable sway bar.

 

 

painting the ends now.  the "splatter paint" theme on the rest of the bar is from the bar's racing provenance....it was donated by williamgruff and was used on the Lemon's 2002 he raced.  Splatter paint was a theme on the car.

Edited February 16, 2014 by mlytle

[Ian]

Nice job on the bar ends! I always appreciate creative uses of angle

Edited February 16, 2014 by Ian

[OriginalOwner]

personally, I'd add another welding pass or two over what you have, that close-up cheese looked pretty rough in terms of good penetration for full strength.  Or maybe there is not that much loading and it's plenty strong for that application ??

 

Cheers,

 

Carl

[M3M3]

personally, I'd add another welding pass or two over what you have, that close-up cheese looked pretty rough in terms of good penetration for full strength.  Or maybe there is not that much loading and it's plenty strong for that application ??

 

Cheers,

 

Carl

yes, i may do that.  i was literally doing that in the dark outside my shop  not a solid bead. probably enough to hold for the soft bar, but....

[M3M3]

and by the light of day, hated the weld.  ground off and tried again today..this should hold better...

 

 

then made some plates for the trailing arms.  since the bolt for the e30 bracket is much smaller than the urethane bushings on stock bar, had to reduce.  the turn down tabs keep the plate from moving.  not welding them on because the normal 02 trailing arms I have on the car will be replaced by tii arms soon.  (used the tii arms for templates)

 

 

 

this is why i am going to the E30 brackets.  if you try to adjust the IE bar with the urethane bushings on top,  the angle gets wrong.

 

Edited February 16, 2014 by mlytle

[M3M3]

comparison of IE and stock bars for reference

 

and the adjustable stock bar is installed

 

 

MUCH simpler to adjust than the poly bushing style and easy to zero out the preload.

lower bolt not tight yet..

 

 

of course, it may or may not be the right stiffness for the track...will find out in a month!

Edited February 17, 2014 by mlytle

[2590402]

Mlytle,

 

What were you impressions of the Condor bushings? Are they too harsh for the street.

 

Andrew

[M3M3]

I can't tell on my car.  my car is so far into track car range that everything is harsh.  it is brutal on the street with IE poly or condor bushings.

 

if i was to do a street only car, it would have stock rubber bushings everywhere except the sway bars.  just like jgerock's car.

[OriginalOwner]

 oh yeh, I'm feeling much better now.

 

Cheers,

 

Carl

[M3M3]

whew!  i was hoping you would approve Carl! 

 

I promise never to weld in the dark again....