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E46 M3 T2 Car build up
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cagedruss



Joined: 08 Sep 2004
Posts: 83
Location: Portland, Oregon

PostPosted: Thu Nov 02, 2006 4:27 pm    Post subject: E46 M3 T2 Car build up Reply with quote

Hey everyone. I am working on a E46 M3 T2 car here at the shop. I will post updates and a build sheet for the project for anybody interested in seeing.

All suspension work is complete and is from Turner Motorsports as per GCR.

All fab work will be done by us here at the shop.

Congrats to all if the Pro 3 cars finishing the 8hr. Nice to see a good turn out of E30's
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Keith M



Joined: 23 Dec 2004
Posts: 216
Location: West Linn, OR

PostPosted: Sat Nov 04, 2006 10:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Look forward to seeing it come together. T2 is just safety equipment, bolt in roll cage, full interior limited suspension and brakes, right?

Keith
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cagedruss



Joined: 08 Sep 2004
Posts: 83
Location: Portland, Oregon

PostPosted: Sat Nov 04, 2006 1:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Open Struts, Open Brake pads, limited everything else I think. Need to open the book. We are using Koni adjust ables and the required Turner Parts for the suspension. Still deciding on Brake pads and rotors.

Cage is Custom Fabbed, I am allowed to build a cage and just remove enough interior to make it fit. Even have to run the carpet, ?. Dash is coming out today and I will start fabbing the cage on Monday.
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Keith M



Joined: 23 Dec 2004
Posts: 216
Location: West Linn, OR

PostPosted: Sun Nov 05, 2006 11:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Have fun with the dash (I sure there are several thousand miles of wire to deal with)
The enduro was a lot of fun. I crewed on the # 17 Green Dot Pro 3 car.
2nd Pro 3, 4th P2, 9th overall I believe.
Next year they are running the enduro's in March at Portland (track is getting a re-pave in Sept) then Sept/Oct at Pacific Raceways.

Keith
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Keith M



Joined: 23 Dec 2004
Posts: 216
Location: West Linn, OR

PostPosted: Sun Nov 05, 2006 11:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

BTW Russ, The photobucket link below your sig doesn't open.

Keith
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cagedruss



Joined: 08 Sep 2004
Posts: 83
Location: Portland, Oregon

PostPosted: Mon Nov 06, 2006 9:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Spent the last few days in bed sick and finally getting back to work. Dash is pulled today and Tuesday is prep day for pads and cage bending. What an absolute pleasure working on this car so far. Dash is well designed and came apart smoothly. German's really thought this one out.

Only problem I am having with this build is the Touring Rules on keeping all of the interior, what ever!

Time to go home back to bed, still a little under the weather!
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cagedruss



Joined: 08 Sep 2004
Posts: 83
Location: Portland, Oregon

PostPosted: Mon Nov 13, 2006 9:34 pm    Post subject: Update Reply with quote

Sorry its been so long, been a little under the weather and I am working on 3 cars. Here is a little update. Main hoop, rear supports, shock support, Rear "X" and A-pillars are all fitted. Some trimming required to get perfect fit.

Working around the head liner a big pain in the butt. Had to trim a little where the the air bags in the a-pillars were. There was to much head liner in the way. Cuts were minimal and look fine when the bars are in place.

Rear supports for cage are a little box. After looking at everything I decided it would be a simple way to reinforce the area while providing a sound mounting perch for all of the bars and shock area. One of many different ways!

A-pillars fit reasonably well, keeping in mind the head liner is still in the car. Where the wind shield area meets the bar I have it resting on the Metal inner roof structure.

I have about 6 hours removing all of the interior including 6 air bags. Not sure about total hours yet on the cage. Hard part is done except for forward plates for a-pillars. No rocker to speak of so I will have to graft the bars into the flat side of the rockers and plate the floor.

I used 1.75"x.125" DOM for the cage.











I will post more when I get a chance. Feel free to express your views, I have a thick skin! Take care!
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Last edited by cagedruss on Fri Dec 01, 2006 8:27 pm; edited 1 time in total
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cagedruss



Joined: 08 Sep 2004
Posts: 83
Location: Portland, Oregon

PostPosted: Wed Nov 15, 2006 9:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well today I spent a couple of hours with the driver, I fitted the seat and fabbed up some seat brackets for him. I decided to make my own so I could get the seat as low as possible for head room.



I came up with these, simple but effective. I ran 2 - 1.25"x.250" straps from front to rear utilizing the factory seat bolt locations. I then stuck the seat in and had the driver sit in the car to determine placement of the seat. Then mocked up some side mounts using .125" steel plate, could have used Aluminum but decided to use the steel. Located the side mount bolt holes and transferred to the steel plate. Cut out and drilled the holes and broke the right angle. Bolted to seat and placed the seat in the car along with the drive. Position seat to the desired location and then tack welded the side brackets to the straps. Removed the seat and the brackets from the seat and marked the seat brackets for 3 adjustments holes and 4 threaded holes in the straps. Drilled and champfered all of the holes and re-assembled to test fit. Success! Send off to powder coating Thursday.

Spent 2.5 hours plus material and powder coating, will cost customer about $200 to fit his seat. Seat sits about .5" from the floor with some adjustment for forward and tilt.



Customer is very happy and I feel pretty good, got his head away from the roof and a-pillar bars and got the weight down low.

Tomorrow will be final welding day and fabbing of door bars. We also scraped out about 25 pounds of under coated tar material from throughout the interior.

Off to the gun Range now. I will report tomorrows results then!

Take care!
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cagedruss



Joined: 08 Sep 2004
Posts: 83
Location: Portland, Oregon

PostPosted: Mon Nov 20, 2006 3:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote



Seat installed



Low Seat profile



Shot of upper Diag from main hoop to forward Cross Bar.



Same bar shown to front cross bar. Stupid sun roof and headliner still in car. Gusset yet to be added!



A-pillar bar.

Car is being prepped for paint. I will post the finished shot of cage and door bars tonight. Also will publish time and materials list also.
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Keith M



Joined: 23 Dec 2004
Posts: 216
Location: West Linn, OR

PostPosted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 10:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

That looks nice. So how do you weld around the top of the cage when it is in the car, especially one with an interior? I see lots and lots of masking in your future to paint it too.
So, do you also build roll bars for street/track cars? My wife would like to get one for her e36 (instructor at 3 different tracks/15 days a year) The interior has been removed except for the dash and center consul.

Keith
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cagedruss



Joined: 08 Sep 2004
Posts: 83
Location: Portland, Oregon

PostPosted: Tue Nov 21, 2006 1:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well, sitting at the Airport in Portland waiting for my flight to SanDiego. 3 hour delay thanks to the weather conditions in Seattle.

Thanks, Cage turned out really nice. There are ways to weld around the top of the A-pillar and main hoop with out burning the headliner. I have been fabbing roll cages now professionally for about 10 years. I have learned and am still learning "how to's" in Race Car prep and Fab.

Fortuneately, customer is helping tape and paint cage at the shop. All should be done this weekend. I will be back Friday to the shop and we will get it all prepped an painted.

I would like to wish all of you and Happy and Safe Thanksgiving!

Russell
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cagedruss



Joined: 08 Sep 2004
Posts: 83
Location: Portland, Oregon

PostPosted: Fri Dec 01, 2006 2:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sorry, been really busy. Cage is done. Paint is Friday and interior install is Saturday.

Here are a few images of the hand made A-pillar gussets similar to the Factory type. Gusset is legal and is only attached to the roll cage, not the A-pillars like to factory. Customer and I agreed the car needed them for looks and does provide good level roll over protection. Gussets are hand formed from 16 gauge steel, 2 halves formed over a solid core plywood wood buck. I was able to use the same template for the driver's side and passenger side by keeping the A-pillars and door bars the same measurements.



Here is the form with 16 gauge Sheet steel sandwiched between the buck and the top piece of plywood. The top piece is used to secure the sheet steel while I am hammering my leather faced mallet. All 3 pieces must be secured tightly to the table to keep it from moving about.



A close up of the Sheet Steel formed over the wood buck



This is both halves tack welded together and is ready to be test fit before final welding and sanding.



A bad picture of the gusset fitted to the cage. Good fit and is ready for final welding. It does not limit the Driver from the mirror. He does have some obstruction though from the head restraint on the seat.

I have not had a chance yet to transfer the final images from the camera to my laptop. I will do it tomorrow.

I have the final numbers and hours figured out also. Will post Saturday.
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cagedruss



Joined: 08 Sep 2004
Posts: 83
Location: Portland, Oregon

PostPosted: Fri Dec 01, 2006 8:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here is some better picture of the Cage front.






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Keith M



Joined: 23 Dec 2004
Posts: 216
Location: West Linn, OR

PostPosted: Sat Dec 02, 2006 11:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I thought I was the only one who had to make bucks (I restore pre-war british cars). Looks very nice and professional.
So, the a pillar is still DOM with the new piece in for looks? Another question: I have seen that design on the factory cars. Does it take place of the tubing on the a pillar and what is the purpose? More strength or....?

Keith
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cagedruss



Joined: 08 Sep 2004
Posts: 83
Location: Portland, Oregon

PostPosted: Sat Dec 02, 2006 1:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks,

You are referring to this?



For stiffening the chassis, its lightweight. Weighs about 2-3 pounds each, Spreads the loads to a larger surface in case of frontal or roll over impact, Still has main A-pillar bar.

I hammer form a lot. All of my wheel tubs are hammer formed, I do not like the industrial lock form used on the industry standard Wheel tubs for drag cars. I also have been playing with my English Wheel and small Shrink-er/Stretcher.

Trying to compete with the larger shops up North. Not many people have heard of my shop, Was even flamed from a local 1 man shop here in Oregon that thinks he is the greatest. Said some rather bad things about me talent wise. Been doing this over 8 years full time and a few years before that for my self, built many Race cars from the ground up. Really enjoy playing with the metal. Wish I had more fun projects like this car.

Keith or anybody, Stop by sometime. Shop is usually busy. I am starting on a Mitsu Evo SPM SCCA car then I have an Pro3 325IS and then a New Mustang A Sedan/G.A.C. car to do plus the misc. cage projects. Even have a RX7 rally team to maintain for coming in for next season. Hopefully I can pull a few more cars from up North!!
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