So as it turns out, I’m not dead. The project has just been on hold for quite a while. It was a miserably hot summer and Jolene had, until quite recently, been living at the shop where I work. Lacking motivation to stay after hours in the sweltering heat to work on it, she suffered from serious neglect. Not to mention that all available attention and funding have been focused on my Miata drift/track beater (running) project. But it’s nearing completion, and I’ve been researching and slowly accumulating parts for the E30 on the side. But by slowly, unfortunately I mean verrrryyyyy slowly.
Due to a seriously bullshit situation at the shop, I decided to move the project home. Now I’ll be able to work on it on the weekends and at night.
Since the last update, I got a more finalized transmission mount figured out. Just haven’t welded it together yet. Got the driveline angle sorted, clearanced the shift hole for the Hurst to have a little room to move. Got my rollcage, got my Wilwood clutch and brake pedal set, Ford Motorsport valve covers, March pulleys, a huge box of Holley 4 barrel carbs and parts for $100, and most importantly, a Moroso 3 stage dry sump pump.
Yep, we’re going dry sump. Canton has a pan that’s 4.5 inches deep from the pan rail to the bottom surface. Sadly, that’s almost the exact distance from the block’s pan rail to the steering rack mounting tabs. So it’s either going to require modifying the pan, or moving the tabs and/or rack. More to follow soon…
This is the final iteration of the transmission crossmember:
Tons of support. .200 thick mild steel.
Ended up using angle iron welded to the tabs off of the tailhousing instead of 1in. square tubing as I had originally intended. This was the rough draft. Current pics to follow.
I know, I know it’s a Chevy manifold. All I had handy at the shop at the time. :P
I just realized that my page is linked on Matt’s E30V8 site, and that I’ve been pretty lax about updating it. So in the event that anyone out there visits this page, I’m going to be doing a better job of documenting things. :)
Gotten quite a bit done as time has allowed. I ordered my 6 point cage from Kirk Racing three weeks ago. It should be ready to pick up pretty soon. I’ve gotten a transmission mount worked out, and gotten my shifter clearanced. Next on the to-order list is a Wilwood pedal setup, suspension (Bilsteins/GC coilovers/Ireland sways), Painless wiring harness, and all of the rest of my engine parts. Still trying to find an aftermarket oil pan solution that will work without modifying, but so far have been painfully unsuccessful. Moroso sells a pan kit to put gates and baffles in the sump of a stock oil pan to avoid starvation, so that may end up being the way to go.
My ATL SP115 fuel cell arrived. Broke out the magic spot weld cutter and started destroying.
