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#1. Re: Under-belly cardboard shroud - from Stan.Shaw@Excell.Net
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Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 10:52:41 -0400 From: <Stan.Shaw@Excell.Net> Subject: Re: Under-belly cardboard shroud I have had the JTD undertray in my car for a couple of years, and am very happy with it. I also have the cooling duct setup from JTD. The JTD undertray did a nice job in protecting the underside of my car from a debris hit on the highway, and since it is aluminum, I simply bent it back in shape. Regards, Stan Shaw Excell.Net Phone: (413) 599-0399 Fax: (413) 599-0421 Stan.Shaw@Excell.Net http://www.excell.net/ "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin
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#2. [E36M3] More about Earl - from twisty M3
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Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 09:03:54 -0700 From: "twisty M3" <twistym3@hotmail.com> Subject: [E36M3] More about Earl So, in preparation for the next series of track events, and seeing as it's about time for an earl change anyway, I went through some old digest archives and I'm pretty sure that I'll be switching over to Mobil 1 15w50 for the "season." I wanted to verify my choice by doing some reasearch on the Mobil 1 site and came across this: http://www.mobil1.com/supersyn/index.jsp Not sure how long it's had this new "Super Syn," or if it's maybe just marketing hype, but still curious as to whether or not anyone has been using the newly labeled stuff. It does come in 15w50 for "high-performance" applications, so I'm pretty much sold (though I did notice that they have a 0w30 they recommend for newer European cars). Just wondering if this new stuff is what's out everywhere, or if it'll take some searching (been a while since I bought oil in a store rather than getting my good-guy discount at the local BMW dealer). As a side note, who's signed up for Willow Springs next week and/or Buttonwillow on July 14? Let me know, or I'll just see you there! ;) Jonathan L. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp.
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#3. RE: [E36M3] More about Earl - from Johnny Lee
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Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 12:33:09 -0400 From: Johnny Lee <mclee@ieee.org> Subject: RE: [E36M3] More about Earl I think it is the stuff out there for Mobile 1. I bought the 15-50W from my local Walmart. It is cheaper than Pep Boys. -Johnny --------------- 0w30 they recommend for newer European cars). Just wondering if this new stuff is what's out everywhere, or if it'll take some searching (been a while since I bought oil in a store rather than getting my good-guy discount at the local BMW dealer).
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#4. Cams or SC? - from Dorffer, Rich
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Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 12:52:35 -0400 From: "Dorffer, Rich" <RDORFFER@CleIndians.com> Subject: Cams or SC? I plan to do the cams some day as I am a fan of normal aspiration, particularly with the E36 M3. I have seen and heard of way too many problems with superchargers and turbo systems for our cars and I am just not that interested in all the extra headaches/costs they seem to bring (heat soak, blown head gaskets, DME control problems, water injection, etc.). I know Matt said he only paid $5k for his turbo (I don't know if this is an all in cost or just for the kit) but this seems awfully cheap. Most people that go the turbo route spend anywhere from $8k to $15k by the time they are done and supercharges cost anywhere from $6k to $10k all in before it is all said and done. Even then, there are reliability issues as the systems don't always play nice with our cars and turbos and superchargers are much harder on our drivetrains than what they are designed for. Considering I can upgrade to the Eurosport cams/injectors/chip (from my Euro HFM, JC Chip and JC Intake) for $1,499 plus installation costs, it seems to be a no-brainer for me ;-) I do agree though with one thing, if you aren't going to be happy with ~300 hp going the cams route, don't bother and go directly to the turbo/supercharger route. Later, Rich 95 M3
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#5. [E36M3] Gee, that helps! - from twisty M3
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Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 09:55:24 -0700 From: "twisty M3" <twistym3@hotmail.com> Subject: [E36M3] Gee, that helps! I sent an inquiry to Mobil 1 to see what they had to say about using the 15w50 in my application. This was the response I got: <<Mobil would recommend the same grade that is called for in your owner's manual, the engineers that developed that vehicle is always going to have the best recommendations. >> Exactly the answer I was looking for. hehe! Jonathan L. _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp.
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#6. Re: Wheel suggestions - from Dan S
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Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 10:01:37 -0700 From: "Dan S" <m3ltw@msn.com> Subject: Re: Wheel suggestions > From: "Andrew I. Kalman" <aek@pumpkininc.com> > Subject: Re: [E36M3] Wheel suggestions > > Re: > > > >BBS RK (17x8 - $288) > >Borbet Type T (17x8 - $159) > >Kosei K1 Racing (17X8.5 - $169) > >SSR Integral (17x8 - $279) > > > I have no complaints with my 17x8 SSR Integrals. > > Well, except for the fact they they didn't relieve the mounting face > to drain off any water that accumulates in that area (i.e. "behind" > the center caps, that I don't use anyway) ... not much of an issue > for a track car, but annoying nonetheless. I have the Kosei K1 on my race car, although they are 15x7. For the money, they are a very good deal and seem to do their job effectively and are light. I know some people think the SSR's are stronger (and lighter) and less likely to get bent, but obviously cost more. In racing, I consider wheels a wear item, so I can get twice as many Kosei's for the cost of either BBS or SSRs. My only complaint (may only be with 15" wheels) is that you have to run with 17mm nuts (vs 19mm) because the holes are too tight for a bigger socket. I have run into this with many lightweight 15" wheels, so it's no big deal (just that you have to replace the nuts frequently--before they fail). Dan
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#7. Under-belly cardboard shroud - from Dorffer, Rich
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Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 13:31:39 -0400 From: "Dorffer, Rich" <RDORFFER@CleIndians.com> Subject: Under-belly cardboard shroud Hmmm...this looks pretty familiar as I did just this thing (well, close to it) and did post pictures and a narrative to the digest. Here is a snippet of my post back in the summer of 2001: > Anyway, I beefed up the mounting areas of the new underpanel with some > aluminum and pop rivets. I bent the aluminum over to form a U shaped piece > of metal over the stock attachment point and used pop rivets to attach them > as follows: > /----------- <-------This being the metal piece I attached via > | -----------| pop rivets > \----------- | <-------This being the stock under panel attachment > | point (four locations) > | | I can send the pictures to anyone that needs them. I thought about wrapping down along the sides of the underpanel but the primary problem was the tearing out of the holes on the 1" wide strip at the top of the underpanel. I think my reinforcement effectively eliminates the holes being torn out. Failure is likely to result somewhere else at this point. Neil Maller, as previously stated, has done a lot of good work in this area and was my inspiration for my modifications. Best regards, Rich > Hi Joe, > > When I bought my car, it had no undertray. I replaced > it with an OEM piece, and it tore out again. > > Well, I didn't want to buy another OEM piece, and I > didn't want to spend money for the aluminum JTD panel > (I'm cheap). So, I decided to go ahead and truly > reinforce the panel (not just big washers). > > The plan was to wrap a thin sheet of aluminum on both > sides of each hole in the panel. Sorry, I don't know a > good way to explain it. Maybe this will help: > > > ---------- > | ------- | > ------- | | > | | | > | | | > | | | <- aluminum sheet metal > | > | <- plastic undertray > > So, in my crude picture above, I bent 4 strips of > ~1.5" wide sheet of aluminum into the above shape > around the panel at each slot. I then drilled a couple > holes and slotted the top of the above reinforcement > to line up with the slot in the panel. Next, I drilled > a couple holes on the vertical plane and added rivets. > > This design so far has held up on my car. The aluminum > distributes the stresses over a much larger area, and > should keep the panel from tearing out. > > I probably should have taken some pictures, but my > workmanship was not very good. > > Bob
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#8. spal fan wiring - from kitwetzler@mindspring.com
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Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 13:42:11 -0400 From: "kitwetzler@mindspring.com" <kitwetzler@mindspring.com> Subject: spal fan wiring > For those that have aux SPAL fans: do you have it just hooked up to a > manual switch or do you have it hooked in to the temp switch somehow? > If the later, do anyone have instructions/tips for that? I'm one of the people with a spal fan. Many like to have it triggered by the low speed fan current. I think this is too high a temperature, I saw extremely elevated underhood temps. (50-60 degrees on my thermocouple, at idle) The radiator stays cool by itself... I had to sit and idle with the hood closed for about 10 minutes before the fan came on, meanwhile the underhood temperatures went waaay up. I didn't like that. Right now, mine is on a manual switch. This weekend's project is to allow the relay that powers the spal (USE A RELAY! electric fans draw quite a load on initial startup...) to be triggered by three things. First, I want the spal to run whenever the engine is running. The stock fan turns at all times, worse thing that can happen is that it will slow warmup times a bit. I will wire in an override switch for this, for cold mornings, so the car gets up to temp. Second, it has to be triggered by the low speed fan switch kicking on, but stay on when the highspeed line goes on. Third, it has to run when I click the switch inside the cabin, so I can cool the car at track events, etc. You need some diodes to do this. You can't tap into the temp switch directly, the relays I used had too high a trigger current for this. You need to tap into the power that goes from the fan relay to the fan. You can do this either at the fuse box or near the fan. Get a bentley and look at the electrical diagrams. I'll have some pics and a write-up pretty soon, just hang on. :) -kit -------------------------------------------------------------------- mail2web - Check your email from the web at http://mail2web.com/ .
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#9. General Maintenance - from Mark Greer
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Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 13:48:29 -0400 (EDT) From: "Mark Greer" <mark.greer@excite.com> Subject: General Maintenance Since my car is approaching 90K and 4 years, I decided to begin some of the less frequently done maintenance. Did the spark plugs last night. Sure they were worn, but white and clean; pretty impressive. When I restarted the car it had trouble seeking an idle until hot, but I can already tell a positive difference. Today I did belts and fuel filter. In case you haven't done it, the fuel filter is not nearly as easy to change as the manual indicates. Finally, I took my summer tires to have them road force balanced because I was getting a 'shimmy' at 65 last fall. The shop called to have me pick them up and mentioned that one of them couldn't be force balanced. They had to use 2 oz to spin balance; OUCH. Anyway, I'm going to put them on and see what happens. FYI, these are Kumos with <10K miles. I know they are a bargain price tire, but OUCH! I imagine I'm going to be tire shopping again... Mark Greer 97 M3/4 ------------------------------------------------ Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com The most personalized portal on the Web!
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#10. Re: [E36M3] Wheel suggestions - Thanks! - from Jim Bassett
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Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 11:55:14 -0700 From: Jim Bassett <jimbassett@attbi.com> Subject: Re: [E36M3] Wheel suggestions - Thanks! Thanks for all the responses. A quick recap, from here & other lists: The BBSs, SSRs, and Kosei's seemed to all get favorable responses. According to a friend who called Tire Rack, the Kosei's are discontinued and they only had 2 left. There was an issue with log bolt hole size in the 15" size according to one response - doesn't accommodate 19mm nuts. The SSRs have small lug bolt holes, tight fit for a 17mm socket. The race car has wheel studs and 19mm nuts, so mounting them on the car would be a problem. The BBSs seemed to have the most favorable responses, and apparently none of the fit issues above. Thanks again, Jim Bassett 1998 M3/4 - stock wheels 1993 325is #44 KP - new wheels soon? (I said I wasn't spending any money on upgrades this year; how many of you actually believed THAT? <g>)
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#11. $6 inspection II - from Jonathan Evans
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Date: Fri, 17 May 2002 14:55:35 -0400 From: "Jonathan Evans" <jonathanevans@hotmail.com> Subject: $6 inspection II My 95's been hesitating the last few weeks and feeling a bit sluggish in the mid range. Last few times I left the car for a few days, it started VERY roughly. So, decided to get all the parts together for a homebrewed Inspection II (mostly plugs, fuel filter, belts, air filter). But, while I was filling up, thought I'd give a bottle of fuel injector cleaner a try on the last tank of gas. STP Concentrated Fuel Injector Cleaner (around $6) Wow, what a difference! No more hesitation, smoother acceleration. I know this sounds like an ad, but it was a reminder to chuck a bottle of the good stuff (I'm sure any brand will do) injector cleaner in there every so often. I only run 92 or 93 octane BP or Texaco in the car, but looks like something was building up gook in there. Wee! Jonathan 95 M3