1998 BMW E36 M3 Dakar Track Car
I beat the crap out of it. Before I owned it I was into drag racing (300-600whp Hondas). One of the Hondas was a GSR; the one with 300 hp. I got hooked on mountain driving so when I bought the type R, I knew I had to get it on a road course. I have remained hooked ever since. Well, That's putting it mildly. It's pretty much consumed my life.
I got a lot of **** for buying a $6k car and then dumping $10k into it just to track it. Why not just find one already done for $10k?
I guess I like
A. doing it right the first time
and
B. knowing it was done right and that no corners were cut
and
C. doing it my way
Either way, it's fun. It's part of the hobby for me. Researching the platform, reading about weaknesses, fixing them and then beating the **** out of the car (and ideally driving it home at the end of the day)
I guess I like
A. doing it right the first time
and
B. knowing it was done right and that no corners were cut
and
C. doing it my way
Either way, it's fun. It's part of the hobby for me. Researching the platform, reading about weaknesses, fixing them and then beating the **** out of the car (and ideally driving it home at the end of the day)
I don't mind working on cars; I actually really enjoy installing parts that increase/restore performance. General maintenance and repair can get monotous, but it brings in a decent amount of money...lol.
Where you clearly spent a metric **** ton of time on polishing, cleaning, painting, rust removal, etc, I would have just bought new parts. Like the brake calipers, sway bar mounts, steering rack, etc...lol. Well, maybe not the calipers and little bracket type things, I would've just tossed a lot of stuff in the bead blaster and made quick work of that type of stuff. But the rack, which obviously can't go in a blasting cabinet, not a chance in hell I would spend 8hrs cleaning something like that. Or the engine block, I probably would have just left that alone...
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 3,619
Likes: 29
From: @ a track near you
Where you clearly spent a metric **** ton of time on polishing, cleaning, painting, rust removal, etc, I would have just bought new parts. Like the brake calipers, sway bar mounts, steering rack, etc...lol. Well, maybe not the calipers and little bracket type things, I would've just tossed a lot of stuff in the bead blaster and made quick work of that type of stuff. But the rack, which obviously can't go in a blasting cabinet, not a chance in hell I would spend 8hrs cleaning something like that. Or the engine block, I probably would have just left that alone...
I did buy a **** load of new parts, especially any part that might create an unsafe condition if it failed. So all the steering stuff was replaced with new. LCAs, tie rods, etc those were all ditched and replaced with high quality OE aftermarket.
Most of my cleaning and painting wasn't too much work, it was just A LOT of stuff in total.
I did spend a lot of time on that Z3 rack though. It was covered in dirt, grime and was in need of a bath. It has more nooks and crannies than an English muffin, so getting into all those tight spots to prep it for paint was fairly time consuming. I just worked on it a little at a time over a few days and viola!
The engine block ended up only getting some surface rust scraped off of it. I didn't want to touch any of the severely rusted bolts and nuts near it to make enough room to paint it. It's too risky! If I break one of those bolts/nuts there, I'm probably going to have to pull the motor to repair it.
**** that!
Brings in money? You work on other people's cars? I wanted to do that, but I'm too worried about liability.
Well, this car had a lot of rust. If the rust was actually changing the integrity or geometry of a part, it was replaced. If it was just some pitting or surface, the part was prepped and re-used.
I did buy a **** load of new parts, especially any part that might create an unsafe condition if it failed. So all the steering stuff was replaced with new. LCAs, tie rods, etc those were all ditched and replaced with high quality OE aftermarket.
Most of my cleaning and painting wasn't too much work, it was just A LOT of stuff in total.
I did spend a lot of time on that Z3 rack though. It was covered in dirt, grime and was in need of a bath. It has more nooks and crannies than an English muffin, so getting into all those tight spots to prep it for paint was fairly time consuming. I just worked on it a little at a time over a few days and viola!
The engine block ended up only getting some surface rust scraped off of it. I didn't want to touch any of the severely rusted bolts and nuts near it to make enough room to paint it. It's too risky! If I break one of those bolts/nuts there, I'm probably going to have to pull the motor to repair it.
**** that!
Well, this car had a lot of rust. If the rust was actually changing the integrity or geometry of a part, it was replaced. If it was just some pitting or surface, the part was prepped and re-used.
I did buy a **** load of new parts, especially any part that might create an unsafe condition if it failed. So all the steering stuff was replaced with new. LCAs, tie rods, etc those were all ditched and replaced with high quality OE aftermarket.
Most of my cleaning and painting wasn't too much work, it was just A LOT of stuff in total.
I did spend a lot of time on that Z3 rack though. It was covered in dirt, grime and was in need of a bath. It has more nooks and crannies than an English muffin, so getting into all those tight spots to prep it for paint was fairly time consuming. I just worked on it a little at a time over a few days and viola!
The engine block ended up only getting some surface rust scraped off of it. I didn't want to touch any of the severely rusted bolts and nuts near it to make enough room to paint it. It's too risky! If I break one of those bolts/nuts there, I'm probably going to have to pull the motor to repair it.
**** that!
Yeah, I work on Evo's, that's pretty much it. Not too worried about liability.
I think if I picked up something like one of these for a track car, I would find a west coast, low rust example LOL.
Owning a performance shop is where it's at... but that's a tough way to make a living.
It's not that bad. You fix stuff, it's done. There are the occasional defective parts to deal with, which you eat the cost of labor and have to deal with vendors.. but that's pretty rare. If you think routine maintenance on your own car is boring, though... imagine doing it 40hrs per week and then having to come home to do it on your own
Owning a performance shop is where it's at... but that's a tough way to make a living.
Owning a performance shop is where it's at... but that's a tough way to make a living.
I did have someone try to tell me I blew up their tcase by underfilling it. Had them bring the car over, and had them video me pulling the fill plug out and having fluid dribble out, indicating proper fill. Get bent, sir.
I do neither, it's all "side" work. Also, I tell people up front, if you're supplying the parts, there is no warranty on labor.
I did have someone try to tell me I blew up their tcase by underfilling it. Had them bring the car over, and had them video me pulling the fill plug out and having fluid dribble out, indicating proper fill. Get bent, sir.
I did have someone try to tell me I blew up their tcase by underfilling it. Had them bring the car over, and had them video me pulling the fill plug out and having fluid dribble out, indicating proper fill. Get bent, sir.
Originally Posted by kaj
I was at a shop, so we had additional responsibilities. COULD tell customers to kick rocks, but bad for business. Not that we didn't want to LOL. We never installed customer-supplied parts, though. Privately, yes, but not there. Can o' worms.
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 3,619
Likes: 29
From: @ a track near you
Love the thread. My father had a 97 E36 M3 that I drove quite a bit when I was in high school in the late 90's. He would let me drive it anytime I wanted and we did a couple BMW driving events together. The linear power band of that engine is amazing. Such a smooth torque curve and amazing suspension balance.
Thread Starter
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 3,619
Likes: 29
From: @ a track near you
