Collecting Engine Parts

I've started collecting the engine parts I'm going to need to build up our new track motor. So far, I have the new double valve springs, valve retainers and valves. The valves are 1 mm oversize, so should provide a bit better breathing ability.

I've also got new pistons, clutch, aluminium flywheel, camshaft and sump baffle on order. Should be about 5 weeks plus shipping to Australia from California. The pistons are custom 11.7:1 JE pistons designed to suit the cam, the e21 1.8i head and are 2 mm oversize. The cam is a Top End Performance grind with 316 degrees duration and 11.5 mm lift. I decided to go even bigger than the 304 to make the most of the other mods and to keep the current engine running by not having to take parts out to re-use. By the time we port and polish the head, the engine should breathe a lot better. We're looking for around 180-190 bhp which should give the e12 the power to weight similar to an e30 M3!

Expansion into American "Muscle"


Team Orange has expanded into American Muscle... well it looks like American Muscle, but it's only got the 6 cylinder. Dad decided he needed a Mustang and he found this one in Colorado for a steal. She needs a bit of work (failed the safety inspection mainly because of the brakes), but she is plenty cool.

The USA Adventure Begins

A big change has come across at Team Orange. We've moved to Salt Lake City in sunny Utah! It's been a big process and quite difficult. Perhaps the hardest part was leaving the e12 in Dad's shed. While I thought it would just sit there under the car cover, Dad has had her out twice to Wakefield Park. Couple of good runs although the first was wet and rainy. Second time out showed some big improvements and the times are getting competitive.

No opportunity to invest in a new e12 in the US of A yet. There are a couple for sale in California, but they are both too far away and too automatic. I'm waiting for that pristine 528i 5 speed to appear before I jump in. Oh yeah, it would be nice if they have already done a euro bumper conversion too!

Team Orange transport consists of the work Ford Explorer at the moment although Belinda has gotten into a nice little Mazda MX5. She's a great little goer (the MX5 that is) and I can't wait for summer to get the top down and hit some of those winding canyon roads.

Odd Tyre Discovery

In the process of packing up the e12 to be stored while I'm in the US, I removed the wheels to clean out all the rubbish. In doing so, I noticed a strange wear pattern on the fronts. They are worn about 2/3 of the at out to the outside of the car in a distinct "valley". I'm not sure how this came to be. Maybe it was too high air pressure? It also happens to be about the same point as the edge of contact due to the amount of camber we run. Intriguing!

While I was in the shed, I took the opportunity to pull the motor, gearbox and diff out of the old wrecks I had lying around. Dad's new hoist paid for itself the first day. It made life so much easier.

Final Run for the E12

As Bel and I are moving to the US early in 2010, the October round of the BMWDCNSW championship was the last round I would get to run in for quite some time. I decided to take the e12 out as it was a special day and I wanted my special car for this one!

There'd been some upgrades with a new camshaft installed (a Schrick 304) and I had hopes for big things. It had been quite a while since I'd been out, so the start was pretty slow. I began with 2:07 which was slower than last time I'd been there. Not looking so good for a car with (a little) more power (the camshaft was too big, so we had about 5kW more, but under 4000rpm was pretty sad). I also cut a power steering hose as it was rubbing on the body, so that slowed me down for a session while we fixed it (thanks Peak Performance for their help!).

Things started to get moving in the afternoon session and the times started to come down. First to 2:05, then 2:04, high 2:03 and then 2:03.1 on the last lap of the day. I think that shows there was still some more pace to be found. At that point of the day, everything was a bit overheated and could do with a rest! Still, 2.5 seconds under the personal best and a new club record for Class B was a great result.

Fathers' Day Out

Team Orange headed to Oran Park to celebrate Fathers' day in September. Bel's step-dad Wayne went out in the e21 and my Dad headed out in our trusty Ford Laser. It was a beautiful day but very sad as it was the last time the BMW club would drive there before the track was demolished to build more houses. It is a terrible waste and a horrible end for one of our finest motor sport venues!

The day itself went well with both Dads getting into it and having a great time. The e21 ran without a problem for the whole day while the Laser was fine except for a small coolant leak at the inlet manifold that was solved with some judicious cutting and extra hose clamps.





Andrew was also there in the MX5 and had a great day mixing it up with the bigger cars. The reward for his efforts was race rubber stuck to his road tyres that refuses to come off!

Must send out special thanks to Tom and Robbo for being the trainers for the guys.

The Number Plate Fiasco!

We spent an incredibly frustrating 1.5 days changing the front number plate on the e21 over the weekend. I actually went to fix a rattle in the front driver's side strut. That took all of 5 seconds (it was a loose nut on top), so I thought I'd put on the new Historic Plates. Turns out the old plates were pop-riveted on to the fibreglass Alpina bumper/spoiler. We drilled those out and figured we'd just put some small bolts through. First problem - new plates are smaller and there is an ugly section where the old plates were. Easy - we'll attach a piece of aluminium to the bumper then the plate to the aluminium. Next problem - there was no way to get my hand behind the bumper to put the nuts on. This was obviously why the old ones were riveted. Next solution - loosen the bumper to allow hand in there to do the bolts up. No good - The grill is in the way so it won't rotate far enough. So ti was time to take the grills off. Once the grills were off, I took the bumper off completely as it was already disconnected. The actual attaching of the plate was about 10 minutes. Then we could start re-attaching things. The bumper was a bit of a pain. It wouldn't line up properly and the attaching screws were embarrassing - most were wood screws! Finally got the bumper in about the right spot just in time to tidy up as it was getting dark.

Got back into re-assembly next morning. I decided to use some better grills and blinkers off the wreck out the back as the old ones were all cracked and the attachment points broken. They looked good after a tidy up. The next problem was that the driver's side blinker wouldn't line up. It turned out to be the grill not lining up as the blinker is mounted through the grill - thank you BMW :( . This was because the headlights were in the wrong spot, forcing the grill towards the centre of the car. Some inspection showed that there had obviously been an accident at some point and the front of the car was badly repaired. I knew this when I bought it, but had no idea it was this bad.

The light mount was still pushed in about 10 mm. So we took the headlight assembly out and fixed it as best we could, then elongated the mounting holes to get it in the right spot. Now the grill fitted nicely. The other grill was less of the same and we managed to get it in with less swearing. I also took the chance to fix the broken passenger side blinker while I was there. Finally got the centre (kidney) grill on again and added all the missing screws that the dodgy repairer hadn't bothered with. Also put some grill clips from the later e21 just to be sure. Gave her a wash and she looks exactly the same! Luckily, I know how much better it is underneath.

Some "Infrastructure" Work


We're busy helping Dad build the new headquarters for Team Orange, otherwise known as his new shed in the backyard. This is no ordinary shed though. It's 20m x 10m x 3.1 sidewall. The 3.1m sidewall is high enough to allow installation of the car hoist he has put a deposit on. There's room for 11 cars (as long as they are Escorts or BMW and not another Prado) with still enough space for a 6m x 10m workshop. He's already purchased a lathe, pedestal drill, band saw, benches and loads of other miscellaneous tools. It promises to be a real heaven for petrol heads.

This photo is just the first section of the slab. There's another 4m to go on the left hand side yet!

Great Debut for Matt at Wakefield

We headed down to Wakefield on Sunday for the 4th round of the BMW Drivers Club NSW Supersprint Championship. Matt was making his "debut" in Bel's e21 323i so there was plenty of excitement in the lead up. The e21 was primed with a rebuilt front shock, new rear Konis, modified rear springs and the experimental double sway bar set up front and rear.

Matt had a great start getting the car and himself through practice with no dramas and some solid times. Rough hand timing had him at about 1:25. The afternoon kicked off nicely with times straight down to high 1:23s. More time came off in the second session with some really consistent runs culminating in a 1:23.0. Sadly, the same front shock started to play up with some (as yet) undiagnosed rattles!

Matt stuck with it until the end and, quite literally, drove it until it stopped; with the e21 running out of fuel in the last session of the day! It was a great result as it is the quickest time for the e21 ever around Wakefield. Matt had a great day and we all enjoyed his spirited driving.

Suspension work for the e21

I've been using the time off from track days to get some work done on the e21. The front driver's side shock was rattling, so that's out to be replaced. Turns out it was from a 2002, but it is also a Bilstein sport, so better to fix that replace. As with all things Team Orange, it turned out to be much more complicated that it should have been. Luckily, some help from Herbert at Bavaricars saw me fixed for no cost! Just needs to be re-fitted and we're good to go. My wife's, sister's partner is coming down in 2 weeks to drive the e21 at Wakefield, so it needs to be in top condition.

Since I had the opportunity, I've made some adjustable coilovers for the rear of the e21. If I'd known it was that simple, I'd have done it years ago. Doesn't really help with the ride height yet, at the springs are still stock(ish), but is all ready to use the Eibachs when I upgrade the ones in the e12.

Now I've got all the bits, I just need to get them back into the car!

For those that are interested, I've detailed out what I did to make the coilovers:

1. Buy car that happens to have a spare set of Koni adjustable shocks left in the boot with some aftermarket springs! Alternatively, you can buy them. Most Konis are rebuildable, so a decent second hand set will do for starters. Bilsteins have a similar mounting system, but are more expensive. Depends on you wallet and your needs.

2. Measure up outside of shock - these Konis are 42.4 mm.

3. Purchase threaded collars with ID to suit OD measured in step 2. Make sure you also buy spring seats and locking rings. I bought mine from Fulcrum and they were $120 for the two sets delivered to work.

4. Remove existing struts from spares car (or from original car if you're brave enough)

5. Remove lower spring seat. On the Boges, it was just pressed on, so some good solid hits with the hammer got it off.

6. Cut out the centre section to suit the spring seats. In this case, mine are to suit 60 mm ID springs. I cut it out by drilling a series of holes and using a jigsaw.

7. Apply electrical tape to take up 0.5 mm gap between shock and threaded collar.

8. Fit collars and seats to shocks.

9. I trimmed the springs by a couple of mm to remove any preload. I didn't want any, but this is up to personal preference, requirements and springs.

10. Trial fit to make sure it all works.

11. Paint the bits you worked on and put it all together.

One set of coilovers complete. There won't be any downwards adjustment unless you buy a set of superlow springs. Then you could adjust them up for daily driving and down for track or show.

Big BMW Nationals





We got very lucky with the weather at the BMW Club Nationals over Easter with almost no rain during the events and a completely fine day at Oran Park. The e12 was at the Show of Excellence although it's there to fly the e12 flag, not to be judged. We also entered the Supersprint at Oran Park. The e12 was first in class B at the supersprint with a time of 1:30.79. Not bad for a tired old four cylinder!

Ready for the Nationals

The e12 is finally ready for the Nationals. I painted up and installed the front and rear strut tower braces and gave the old girl her annual wash and polish. Not bad for a track car.

More Work in Progress

The last two months have seen very slow progress on the e12. Since the last post, I've pretty much only done the two strut tower braces. I did manage to get the all the lights back in and working and re-install the grill. The strut tower braces took many long hours with the drill, file and hacksaw, but it was a learning experience and beat just buying one!

Rear strut brace mock up

Front Strut Brace Mock up

Grills cleaned and re-fitted

Parts Going Back In


Started getting some of the e12 back together at last. The front paint work is "done". There's still more work to be done, but I've got to stop somewhere or I'd be repainting the entire car! The radiator looks a lot better with some new paint, but the inside was amazingly clean. There was no gunk in there at all! While the radiator was out, I took the chance to remove the fan (there's a thermo fan in there as well) and tidied up some of the hoses.











The headlights were in a shocking condition. One was rusted through to the inside reflective surface and one has cracked glass. I wasn't able to get new ones easily, so the old ones copped a bit of paint and went back in until I can get the new ones. The headlight mounting bracket was very rusty, so this got a good scrub with the wire brush and some new black rust guard paint. Looks much better. Some idiot replaced one lamp with a non standard one and got rid of the nice neat electrical mount, so I'll need to do a search for one of them too.

Still plenty of work to do, but it's finally coming together.

Repair Progress

The going has been slow, but I've made some progress with the repairs to the e12. I finished off putting the battery in the boot. It looks quite neat, just needs the spare wheel well cleaned up. I'll get on to that once I've finished the front end.

I removed all the bad paint and surface rust from the front of the car. Turned out to be a much bigger job then expected. Especially when my Dremel died half way through and I had to remove the little fiddly bits of paint by hand! I got the undercoat done last week and got some orange on over the weekend. There's some little tidy up bits to go, but it's looking much better.

Next up is the radiator, windscreen wipers and strut brace. Lucky I've got until Easter!

Some Repairs for e12 (at last)

Now that the season is over and there might be some rest for the e12, I thought it would be good to get to some of those little jobs we never seem to have time for. I've got the old girl in the garage for the next couple of months, so I'm hoping to get some good time at it. The plan is:

• Relocate the battery to the boot (partially complete now)
• Fabricate a front strut brace
• Paint the area in front of the radiator under the bonnet
• Paint the repaired bonnet hinge (it's only been 14 years!)
• Fix the passenger door lock that was broken by an attempted thief (this one's been 11 years)
• Remove the rust from the passenger side rear door
• Cover the holes left by all the speakers that have now been removed
• Remove the rust under the driver's side tail light
• Install larger diameter brake cooling ducts
• Fix the leak in the power steering system
• Paint the windscreen wipers
  

So far, I've moved the battery to the boot and run the new cable. Very hard to do as it is so thick and didn't want to bend around corners. It all works now and just needs a new earth cable in the boot (mainly because the blue one looks dagy).

I've taken the bonnet hinge off and underneath looks pretty ugly. Not all that rusty, but the paint is shot and needs to come off. The hinge itself should be pretty easy to paint though. It all looks in good nick and just needs a rub back and a new coat.

Beautiful End to a Great Season

It was a wonderful end to the season at Oran Park over the weekend. The driving rain from Saturday disappeared for Sunday and it was clear and sunny.

We skipped the skills section in the morning on the basis that the e12 could do without the wear and tear but ended up running one of the skills tests.

The afternoon saw the track a little more slippery than last time from all the rain. The pace was still good and the e12 dropped 2 tenths off the best time to a 1:32.4. Some fiddling with tyre pressures improved the front end grip but, by that stage, the brakes were past their best and times didn't improve. At the end of the day it was a win in class B for the day which meant an overall championship win in Class B for the year. A great result for such an underrated car.

Many thanks to Dad for his tireless help during the year. We couldn't have done it without him.

BMW Beats Porsche - Finally!

After four years of trying, the BMW Drivers Club NSW finally beat the Porsche Owners Club in the annual BMW-Porsche Challenge at Oran Park. The times were incredibly close all day. The event was invite only and there was some serious machinery on show. The Team Orange e12 ran faultlessly all day. Although it recorded the second slowest time of the day, it was still valuable points for the team in our speed class. It was also an improvement of four seconds over our previous best time.

Day in the Sun

We had both cars out at the BMW Drivers Club NSW Show of Excellence on the 21st. It was a beautiful day and a well attended event. There were over 80 cars ranging from an Isetta to the latest X6.

No prizes for the e12 (it was entered in Track class) but the e21 took home best late 70's. Sadly, it was the only entry! We scored far more points for the e21 this year (82 vs 19!) with a proper wash, polish and under bonnet preparation. Next year I'll tackle the built up grime behind the engine and try and crack into the hundreds.

EFI Trouble Strikes



There was huge anticipation for the Wakefield Park Round of the BMWDCNSW supersprint championship after the upgrade to Microtech EFI and having some new brakes installed. Sadly, there was no time for testing, so the car went straight on to the trailer at Bavaricars and next came off at the track. She sounded sick from the start and was hard to get going. Things didn't improve during the day and power was down enormously.



Much fiddling brought zero result, the program seemed perfect and nothing obvious was broken or worn. Times were down an amazing 10 seconds on expectations! The only good news was that the bigger (3.0CSi) brakes were fantastic!



Fearing the worst, we returned the car to the shop and starting compression testing. It was then that Herbert started getting some shocks from the spark plug leads. Turns out they were no good. Replacement brought instant gratification! We'll have to wait until November for the next round, but we're hopeful that the problems will be solved.