FB73tii

Thanks for posting the images. Looks the outer heim joint replaces the ball joint for the type of struts you are using.--Fred

Having bought a 2002 race car of that vintage a few years ago (SCCA logbook from the Southern U.S in the '80s), my best advice is to take the car completely apart and then rebuild it from ground up with all new wiring and plumbing. A huge project, but when you buy a used race car that is what you get--something used (up). I did not do that and instead have worked on it continuously trying to get it up to snuff. I found all kinds of weird things, like drive shaft bolts that were finger tight, completely compromised fuel cell, 40 year-old wiring and switches that were failing, completely substandard seat mounting, etc. And it had a seat much like yours, original and cracked. I can't believe people were still driving the car. My other suggestion is to pay close attention to the seat mounting and beef it up. Just over a decade ago I built my first 2002 race car from a bare shell, did everything right and it came out great. I cut out the stock seat mounting sheet metal and welded in my own, fabricated from 3/16 steel, with heavy cross bars to tie it all together. The best thing is to connect the seat structure to the cage, if you get hit hard you want the seat to stay with the cage, not have the cage move and the seat stay in place. So when I got the used race car more recently, the first thing I did was build new heavy-duty seat mounts on both the driver and passenger side. When I designed my cage and seat mounts, I thought about what it would be like to roll end over end at 100 MPH. I might not survive, but I sure don't want it to be because the seat broke loose. Like Marshall, Toby, and others, I have been doing this for 20 years and instructing for 15. Best of luck resurrecting this race car, we look forward to your progress and questions. Best regards, Fred

Welcome and nice engine pics. I have it in the back of my mind to do a turbo build for one of my track cars someday. What throttle bodies do you have there? I've also been thinking about going full heim joint throughout and fabricating the front control arms as you have. Would love to see a photo of the detail. Is that a cam sensor on the front timing cover? I will be running a sensor on my slide throttle engine for full sequential injection. The plan is to finally have that on track this year. Best regards, Fred

Thanks for all the responses and to Marshall for an off-line lead. I guess I am lucky the broken strap did not cut my trans apart. The strap did minor damage before it broke off completely, but not too bad. I have a Tilton 5.5" for my other track car but have not installed it yet. Now I know to check the straps for buckling--did not realize that was an issue. Thank again--Fred

It did let go on track--symptom was would not go into gear. The pressure plate is contained within the clutch housing and there is no where for it to go unless the entire housing fails. There is very little room for the plate to move, it is just slightly off-center with broken straps. If a rebuilder can inspect it and determine the components are fine, all it needs is those drive straps replaced. Thx--Fred UPDATE: I just spoke with Andrew at IE and he said they have been seeing more drive strap failures in recent years on high-powered 2002's using the E30 Sport pressure plates. Will likely source one through them, but still interested in rebuilding.

I had a component failure of the E30 M3 Sport (HD) clutch pressure plate (Sachs MF228, BMW 883082999618) and am looking for leads on reputable companies that can disassemble, inspect, and replace the damaged components. Three flat spring-steel torque drive straps connect the pressure ring to the clutch cover. One strap is gone, one is bent, and one is intact. Photo below shows the type of strap I am talking about. While I can replace it with new for about $400, or with an IE equivalent for $245, I'd like to see if I can get it repaired for less. It was otherwise working fine, and does not appear to have been damaged by the failure. It is used with an IE solid puck racing clutch disc, somewhere between 100 - 200 track days on the pressure plate. If your your experience says don't bother with rebuild, let me know... BTW, has anyone here purchased parts from www.performance-kupplung.de? I can get a new MF228 pressure plate there for about $330 shipped. Thanks, Fred

Thanks to all that replied. Talked to James Posig, he is focused on newer BMW's at this point and did not have a radiator. By the time I talked to Al Taylor it became apparent that the issue was deeper than the radiator. At first we thought is was just a weak radiator (not a 2002 radiator, but an aluminum core with plastic side tanks that came with an old tube-frame 2002 race car my friend bought 15 years ago), but now I think there was an issue causing the engine to run hot in the first place. The engine had just had the bottom end redone, but the head was not checked for straight. After finding a radiator that fit but really was way too small (very thin core), the car overheated within 1/2 a lap (1.5 miles). By the time the driver noticed it was over 250°F, which as you know means the head almost certainly warped. A larger radiator was sourced and we spent until midnight making space for it (major nose panel surgery with a cutoff wheel and hammer). It's a track car and pretty "used", so purists need not be concerned about us fitting a non-stock radiator. (On my track car I have a removable front clip so I can run whatever cooling system I want.) We had started the car after being towed in and there was no white smoke, so we thought we had dodged the bullet. Unfortunately examination of the oil Sunday morning when we were going to hook up the oil cooler confirmed a blown head gasket, so I was calling Al about a head gasket to try to salvage a session or two before rebuilding the engine. Unfortunately his 4-cylinder parts were not near him, and parts stores in that region do not tend to stock head gaskets for a 45-year old BMW. So, my friend got about 2.5 laps total for all his efforts. At least he did get a ride with Phil Ackley in his heavily modified (full heim joint suspension) E21 320i race car (triple Webers) on Hoosiers, which was really great. I got to take my student for a ride in his own car, so I did get a few laps in for the end of the season. Now focus is on prep for next year, planning to finally install the slide throttle and Haltech ECU. Thanks--Fred

Marshall--thanks for James contact info. Called him earlier but could not get in touch. Weather is surprisingly good this weekend, not as cold as expected. --Fred

I am at Virginia International Raceway today and tomorrow (Sat/Sun) and am looking for a replacement radiator for a '73 2002. It is a track car with no fan so any radiator that will fit will work. Eg, 320i, pinto, etc. If you have one or know of someone who does within a 1-2 hour drive of the track please contact me at the e-mail below. I am also looking for contact information for the following folks that might be able to help--Billy Revis, Bob Breed, Perry Genova, April Curtis, and Paul Tillery. Please e-mail me contact info if you have it. This for my friend John who drove from upsatet New York to be here. I am hoping we can get him back on track.Many thanks--Fred e-mail to fabeck at gmail dot com

Just a brass drift and hammer to tap the bearing races out of the hub. A big screwdriver or cold chisel can be instead of a drift, but you have to be very careful not to mar/nick the hub or you will have trouble tapping the new races into place.

Build a dolly. A bit of wood, a few bolts, and four casters. Best to get castors with large wheels, they roll much better and won't get stuck in cracks etc.

I like the factory hammer clipped in at the front of the engine! For the knock-off hubs, I suppose. Or for day of race fender flare adjustments Great stuff here!

+1^^ The bracket keeps the hard line from vibrating, weakening, and then snapping off from the caliper. If you had flexible lines all the way to the caliper then they would not be needed, but you'd want something to keep the lines from flopping around too much anyway.

Wow, that was one of my first thoughts when I read your post--but I thought "that can't be". So sorry to hear about this. You'd be surprised how resilient the M10 cranks are--you might be able to get away with just changing the rod and main bearings since the engine never seized. Let us know how this turns out. --Fred

I've been re-using crush washers for years and have never had an issue with leaks or loosening plugs. I do replace them every so often--when they look all squished and beat-up. I torque the plug to "that feels about right" lb-ft. That is tighter than "fairly tight", but not so tight as "I think the threads are about to strip tight." Now that I said that my plug will probably fall out at the next track event (LOL!). Might be time for some safety wire --Fred

Hmmm, not sure how a "muffed clamp" would work with a butt joint. Remember, a butt joint connects two tubes of equal O.D. Other methods of joining are adding flanges of some sort, like a V-band clamp. I am not familiar with the header being used here--is is perhaps a lap joint instead? I.e., one tube fits inside the other. In that case, slotting the outer tube will allow it to crush a bit more under clamping. Here's an image of a butt-joint welding jig:

I thought about a shim but it would have to be very thin and match the thickness difference very closely. Hobby shops carry very thin brass sheet. My clamps are different than the ones in the linked thread, they are about 5" long and have two bolts. I tried modifying it for more clamping force but no go.

Picture would help. Is this a butt joint with a band clamp? if so, the OD's of the header end and the other pipe are just slightly different, enough so that the band clamp only tightens fully on the larger OD. Had this issue with my truck--3" cat back, 3" pipe from cat to cat back, band clamp tightened but cat back will rotate end eventually come out. MIG solved this one. But, the exact same band clamp works fine on my Stahl header with 3" collector and the same 3" OD straight pipe. Go figure. Edit, and the band clamp also works with my 3" IE header collector on my other car! --Fred

Glad to hear BMW is finally trying to make good one this! Thanks for following up and sharing the information with us. I've always had metal runners ('73) so never had to deal with this. But my intake manifold (where the KF injectors are mounted) finally broke after all these years. It cracked diagonally by the #1 port, and just fell apart when I removed it. Talk about a vacuum leak! --Fred

Bill--good to see you got another 2002. I have not been in touch since I met your son in July 2012 but perhaps I will follow up with you offline. I do think you have one too many cars in your sig line, though. Best, Fred

Yeah, I use the Bav Auto quilted 4-layer "Evolution 4" cover. Fits fine, even though no mirror pockets. I bought something very similar through Greenfield Imported Car Parts (anyone still use them?) almost 25 years ago. That cover included sew-on mirror pocket so they could be custom fit, never did install them though. --Fred

Why is this? I run E21 front hubs on both my 2002's, they are set up with 3" studs. I have never used hub-centric spacers and have never had an issue with the wheel centering when torqued, either with or without spacers. Thanks--Fred

J - Ah, now I understand. One could control the cold start injector with an aftermarket PCM and add extra fuel as needed. It would not be sequential and close the the intake valve head (like the mechanical injectors are), but it is potentially a way to correct a lean condition. Bill - great photos, had not seen those ones before. The idea of modifying the KF to in some way be externally controlled by a PCM is interesting. A hybrid electro-mechanical injection system! BTW, I say PCM (powertrain control module) as I am currently learning to tune my GM TBI truck with real-time emulation. For the KF is would be an ECU, or perhaps just an FCU (fuel control unit).......

Not clear what you mean by "warm up" injector. There is only the cold start injector which is electronically operated and the four KF injectors which are mechanically operated. The KF warm-up regulator acts directly on the KF pump and increases flow through the 4 main KF injectors.

A cam is not a bad idea with a stock KF, it just can't be too aggressive. The issue is as has been stated above--it will run lean at high RPM--not good. Some tii's have done fine with a 284, other seem to be a little lean. A 292 is likely too big. There is a pump linkage modification some have used to address the lean issue--seems results are mixed. I ran a cam very similar to a Schrick 284, the Norris model 301. It is not 301 duration, that is just the model number. That and 9.5:1 pistons and it ran great for years. 126 HP at the rear wheels, which is close to 150 HP at the crank. No other mods, stock tii exhaust. Not saying you should go this direction, but for me it worked for over 15 years and a couple hundred track days. BTW, aluminum flywheel is fine, just depends on how much money you want to spend on this project. And why not mess with the diff? I think that needs a 4.10 So what ever happened to the turbo project?