M2 madness

[jgerock]

Welding in tie down anchors too?

[ray_]

Welding in tie down anchors too?

 

Required. Otherwise with the cf pieces the car would float away!

 

[M3M3]

going a different route with the tie downs.  going to weld some turner tie down eyes meant for shock bolts to the bottom of the diff carrier.  the same eyes that i have on the front bumper.

[Fatandre]

How do you like the Bilsteins?

[M3M3]

i don't use bilstiens.  i have koni's.

[M3M3]

finished up the modifications to the rear subframe today.

 

got the adjuster brackets welded on.

i beveled the corners to allow more surface to weld.

 

then, measure 4000 times, weld once..

it was a beautiful day for working outside.

 

outer toe adjusters

 

inner camber

 

 

then worked on the trailer tie down points.  using two tie down eyes from Turner Motorsport that are designed for use on E30 and E36 rear shock mounts.  mounting them with bolts to the bottom of the diff carrier.  

 

one test fit.  using 12x1.5 bolts.  yes, there is room inside to get a nut on the bolt, and a 19mm open end wrench will fit in the slot from the rear.

 

 

after i get the car in the trailer and strap it down, i will mark the resulting angle of the eye and possible weld them to subframe.  for now the bolt will allow me to "adjust" them.

 

after wire wheeling the loose rust spots and welding lag, sanded with 220, washed with acetone and got out the paint

 

two coats later

 

now....some assembly required.  have to put bearings in the trailing arms, assemble subframe, then remove the current subframe, put this one in, and do an alignment.   hmmmm. not quite done yet.

[adawil2002]

Very nice looking welds Marshall.

[ray_]

He welded in daylight

[M3M3]

Very nice looking welds Marshall.

 

thanks...still working on consistency.

He welded in daylight

      yes, i do learn sometimes....

[M3M3]

Jim picked up the tii trailing arms from the powder coaters...they look way better that the subframe..

 

installed the new stock rubber bushings with the press

 

then test fit on subframe.  whoooops.  so much for the nice powder coat.  the adjuster for camber is too tall and square, preventing the TA from swinging very far before hitting.  definitely not enough range for actual use.  scratched the heck out of the TA powder coat.  had to get out the grinder again and mess up the subframe finish.  argh.

 

[jgerock]

WTH!?!   Two weeks wait time and now they are already scratched the same day you pick them up. 

[M3M3]

loaded up the trailing arms with bearings and grease and started taking apart the subframe on the car..

 

with e-brake on, was able to break free the hub nuts.  then used puller to draw the hubs off.

 

a great use of a cheap spare half inch socket extension...pushing out the stub axles.

 

ooops!  looks like my trailing arm exploded!

 

sorry for blurry cell phone pics...had grease on everything, maybe the lense too.  

[M3M3]

back at it today....after making sure the heat was on in the shop!

 

got the tie downs mounted to bottom of subframe

 

pinched off the rear brake fluid feed to cut down on the draining when the subframe is dropped.

 

lines disconnected

 

calipers off

 

where did the subframe go?

 

there it is!

 

started assembly of new subframe.  DS TA on, stub axles and hub attached.

 

carefully measured the adjusters to get them in equal and "neutral" positions.  marked with hack saw for reference point.

 

 

hope to finish assembly and install tomorrow.

[M3M3]

subframe reassembled

 

these are the GC bottom perches i will be using.  note the more forward spring perch location.

 

subframe raised into position

 

here is one change IE should make to the kit.  the bolts need to be a few mm shorter.  hard to see in this pic, but the end of the bolt is about 2mm from car body.   the bolt length is also an issue with the inner side of the DS TA.  the bolt will be very close to the exhaust.  I may have to take the bolt back out and grind it down a bit.

 

tie down eyes

 

shot of the spring perch alignment. much better with lower moved forward a bit.

 

one of the diffs goes back in next, and I will replace all the cv joints on the halfshafts.

[Swiftus]

here is one change IE should make to the kit.  the bolts need to be a few mm shorter.  hard to see in this pic, but the end of the bolt is about 2mm from car body.   the bolt length is also an issue with the inner side of the DS TA.  the bolt will be very close to the exhaust.  I may have to take the bolt back out and grind it down a bit.

 Where does the shoulder end / the threads start on the provided bolt? They may have been trying to get a full bolt diameter through the entire assembly and use an off-the-shelf bolt.