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E36 M3 Suspension in a 240z


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Peej,

 

You were right, pulling the numbers from a fully assembled car is a little challenging.

 

I took the measurement as follows:

 

Point A... At the front mount of the sub-frame at the bottom of the cars structure.

Point B... At the bottom side of the RTAB cradle. There are too many layers of metal to get a good measurement at the mounting surface of the cradle without taking things apart. Aside from the bolt heads, the bottom is flat and ‘clean’.

 

The result is: Point B is 15/16” lower than point A, +/- 1/8”

 

M3RearSubframe.png

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Peej,

 

You were right, pulling the numbers from a fully assembled car is a little challenging.

 

I took the measurement as follows:

 

Point A... At the front mount of the sub-frame at the bottom of the cars structure.

Point B... At the bottom side of the RTAB cradle. There are too many layers of metal to get a good measurement at the mounting surface of the cradle without taking things apart. Aside from the bolt heads, the bottom is flat and ‘clean’.

 

The result is: Point B is 15/16†lower than point A, +/- 1/8â€

 

M3RearSubframe.png

 

 

Thank you so very much. You have actually made my day. I am within 10mm of where they should be ideally. Meaning that currently i have more antisquat which i wanted.

 

I ordered a pair of magnaflows to quiet it down a bit.

 

Next issue is fuel cell. Do i save and wait for an ATL cell or build a custom cell out of aluminum? Likely wont be doing anything crazier than a hillclimb or time attack event...

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  • 1 month later...

Hey Peej could I get your number? I bought the entire front end suspension & power steering assembly off a 1997 BMW E36 M3 for wicked cheap. I could definitely use your expertise as I install it. I'm sure I can do like 90% of the work but it would be cool to just be able to call or text somebody instead of having to wait several hours for the hybridz response. Thanks brother! YOUR CAR IS ******* AMAZING!

Edited by MazerRackham
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Quick updates!

 

7063290227_954a12a931.jpg

Untitled by peej410, on Flickr

 

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Untitled by peej410, on Flickr

 

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Untitled by peej410, on Flickr

 

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Untitled by peej410, on Flickr

 

Some shots of the control arms and the rear cheapy ZG flares.

I am half way done plumbing the brakes. Purchased and installed the one inch Wilwood Master. (if ya need one pm me)

and had a new driveshaft made! I have a friend bending me up a sheetmetal gas tank for now and hopefully It will make noise in the next week or so!

Edited by peej410
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  • 2 months later...

I apologize for the lack of updates but.. I DROVE IT LAST NIGHT. Pictures now, tech if someones interested.

 

7541296586_c456e82d80.jpg

Untitled by peej410, on Flickr

 

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image10 by peej410, on Flickr

 

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photo 1 by peej410, on Flickr

 

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photo 4 by peej410, on Flickr

 

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image3 by peej410, on Flickr

 

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photo 2 by peej410, on Flickr

 

This is prior to boxing top and bottom.

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photo 3 by peej410, on Flickr

 

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photo 5 by peej410, on Flickr

 

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image7 by peej410, on Flickr

 

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zoey15 by peej410, on Flickr

 

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Untitled by peej410, on Flickr

 

 

 

Some of the photos are out of order but you get the point.

Let me know what ya'll think. Also its still to forkin loud.

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Nice job indeed! I'm particularly amazed by the similarity in weight between the two suspensions.

 

Tangential and embarrassingly elementary question: how well do the stock E36 M3 wheels (17x8 front, 17x9 rear) fit the stock-suspension S30 (no coilovers, stock or slightly above-stock ride height)? Hopefully soon I'll be answering my own question, as I have a 1978 Z and a 1996 M3. The idea would be to use Modern Motorsports 5-lug conversion spindles (front) and stub axles (rear), with brakes TBD (probably Silvermine).

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Well the front width is 68.5 inches. Rear is 67 i doubt you could get stock wheels to fit in there in the back under the stock fenders. The strut in the rear keeps ya from getting the real wheels anywhere close to the inner fender.

 

The rear i set up so that it has more antidive but raised the subframe in the car so i can run it low. In the front i did make it fully adjustable.

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  • 5 weeks later...

I posted an update on corner-carvers so I figures I should update this as well. I have put nearly 300 miles on it and three dyno runs, here is the feedback so far....

 

It is an unholy beast. I took my machinist for a ride, he said that I am insane. (teehee)

Granted there are much faster cars out there but it is pretty raw and frightening.

 

It only made 370hp at the rear wheels.

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pjhptq by peej410, on Flickr

 

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pjhptqaf by peej410, on Flickr

More on that later.

 

I am scaling it today to find out where she ended up with all the new hardware. (not corner balance just weight as I dont have a level pad)

 

First driving impressions.

 

It likes to turn. It does not like to go straight. In the front I need to work out bump-steer issues. I ordered a bumpsteer kit from HRP World for an extremely reasonable price. It should arrive monday. I need to upgrade to monoballs for the RTABS. I am tempted to steal them from my M3 as I would like to make it more street friendly again.

 

Also, the 450F and 400R spring rate split does not work. The front does not body roll brake dive or anything and I havent yet installed the front sway bar. I am going to drop to a 6" 350lb spring and see if it wakes up a little bit.

 

I set the front toe to 1/8in total and the rear 1/8in total. I get the sensation that I have a bit of rear steer under accel. I talked to Terry Fair and he agreed that monoballs are likely the ticket.

 

Heres the scale numbers 7993076936_342fe5f533.jpg

Untitled by peej410, on Flickr

 

Picked up 115lbs total. So, Bigger brakes, hubs, calipers, wheel bearings. Stronger CV shafts, LSD, longer drive shaft, 18 x 10s (up from 14 x 6) two additional mufflers and a fuel cell. Still all glass steel and stock seats!

 

Onto the horespower shortage...

 

Troy Patterson built my carb. It is a 1000HP body Annular booster 1:1 ratio Holley. Troy thinks that my air cleaner is actually the culprit.

 

7993097114_cc0c16d53e.jpg

Untitled by peej410, on Flickr

 

I measured the space between the lid and the base at the carb throat and it is only 1.5 inches. Troy has used these before and has seen them hurt power with a 3" element, a new 14 x 4 K&N is on the way for this upcoming week so I get to try to fit it under the hood!

 

I have to ask though... what kind of CFM could a 1.5in tall 6in diameter space support?

 

Out for another drive soon. Added a few more lbs of sound deadening to try to make it more bearable!

 

I will try to get some videos soon, my camera mount decided to give up the ghost so I need to rig something new up.

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  • 1 month later...

240z Autocross

 

Finally got her out to shake down the suspension. On the right hand side (in the vid) of the course, I was pretty crossed up and missed the gate.

 

The car stops well and turns better. I need to update the rest of the bushings because the rear end isnt anywhere near as planted as the front. More updates to follow! (gopro bat was dead, sorry for no in car!)

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  • 3 weeks later...

Great job on the suspension swap!

 

"Picked up 115lbs total. So, Bigger brakes, hubs, calipers, wheel bearings. Stronger CV shafts, LSD, longer drive shaft, 18 x 10s (up from 14 x 6) two additional mufflers and a fuel cell. Still all glass steel and stock seats! "

 

I love this quote :)

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  • 2 months later...
So, I got bored and decided to build some headers and go full 3" dual till the back of the car. (then reuse the 2.5 Magnaflows) 

 

8376985598_03f1331ea9.jpg

Untitled by peej410, on Flickr

 

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Untitled by peej410, on Flickr

 

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Header stub shafts. by peej410, on Flickr

 

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Header stub shafts. by peej410, on Flickr

 

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Header stub shafts. by peej410, on Flickr

 

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Untitled by peej410, on Flickr

 

8375955691_e1e3a1cd45.jpg

Untitled by peej410, on Flickr

 

8375754142_b6a55c9ba9.jpg

Header stub shafts. by peej410, on Flickr

 

More photos soon!  
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Thanks! It helped a lot. I am now working on the primaries. The passenger side is so tight, Between my gigantic TC buckets and a custom really low motor setup The collectors are going to end up 2inches lower than the subframe. 

 

On a side note. Should I ask to have this thread moved? It has gone beyond just suspension, Or start a new thread about headers? 

Edited by peej410
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