$500 LeMons Endurance Racer Build-Up

[gielamonster]

Hi everyone. First post here, I've only been reading threads since the forums came back up a few days ago. But my post activity should pick up, seeing as I'm the new half-owner of a 744ti. Black on tan, 5 speed, 200k+ miles. Its in surprisingly good shape. Almost blemish free body, no rust, even runs and drives nicely.

http://evilengineering.com/gallery/d/5576-2/IMG_2176.jpg (http://evilengineering.com/gallery/v/gielamonster/oVlov/vOlvo/IMG_2176.jpg.html)

Came with bilstein coilovers, ipd front & rear sways, and the ipd lower chassis brace. Even clear corners and 760 tails.

http://evilengineering.com/gallery/d/5657-2/IMG_2203.jpg (http://evilengineering.com/gallery/v/gielamonster/oVlov/vOlvo/IMG_2203.jpg.html)

A lot of the interior was missing, which helped our sale price a lot, but it still had a sparco steering wheel... score!

http://evilengineering.com/gallery/d/5648-2/IMG_2200.jpg (http://evilengineering.com/gallery/v/gielamonster/oVlov/vOlvo/IMG_2200.jpg.html)

It's an '85, but someone swapped in the watercooled mitsu turbo somewhere along the line...

http://evilengineering.com/gallery/d/5696-2/IMG_2216.jpg (http://evilengineering.com/gallery/v/gielamonster/oVlov/vOlvo/IMG_2216.jpg.html)

My teammate and I picked out this 740 to be our victim... er I mean entry in the $500 24 Hours of LeMons race this July...

http://24hoursoflemons.com/

We were both crew members on this past October's Black Iron Racing team, winners of the people's choice award.

http://evilengineering.com/lemons/images/img_1096.jpg (http://evilengineering.com/lemons/)

Google Video Link (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5803009999296283047)

It was an absolute blast, and we both knew we'd have to field a car of our own in '07. We brainstormed some suitable platforms, and to be honest, the RWD turbo Volvos never made the list. We were thinking MR2/Fiero, maybe even a small FWD turbo hatch. But last week I decided to browse the craigslist "under $500" offerings and came across this Volvo. It didn't take much imagination to see it being competitive so we checked it out the next day at lunch and signed the paperwork after work. Under 24 hours from the first time we actually looked for any car to the time we were driving it home.

It didn't take us long to get things going with the build. This past weekend, we stripped the entire interior and pulled the engine/trans in two days. Our plan is to drop the car down to minimum race weight. Dry ice & chisels on the undercoating. Cutting off any unneeded brackets or panels. Full roll cage, race seat, 5 point harness. Under the hood, we'll keep it mostly stock. A thrice hand-me-downed original Megasquirt (v1.01 pcb) will handle fuel, spark, and boost control (MSnS-E). If we can find one of the cheap cam upgrades, we'll toss that in, and just up the boost & timing with race gas to get a decent amount of power for minimum (nearly zero) dollars in hardware.

Here are a couple shots from the demolition work...

http://evilengineering.com/gallery/d/6105-2/IMG_2219.jpg (http://evilengineering.com/gallery/v/gielamonster/oVlov/dEmolition/IMG_2219.jpg.html)

http://evilengineering.com/gallery/d/6151-2/IMG_2234.jpg (http://evilengineering.com/gallery/v/gielamonster/oVlov/dEmolition/IMG_2234.jpg.html)

http://evilengineering.com/gallery/d/6163-2/IMG_2238.jpg (http://evilengineering.com/gallery/v/gielamonster/oVlov/dEmolition/IMG_2238.jpg.html)

The under-dash wiring harness weighed 30 lbs if it was an ounce.

http://evilengineering.com/gallery/d/6115-2/IMG_2222.jpg (http://evilengineering.com/gallery/v/gielamonster/oVlov/dEmolition/IMG_2222.jpg.html)

We can definitely use this forum's advice, either powertrain or chassis, or whatever. After reading some of the threads on here, we haven't built much confidence in the stock manual transmission. Our Black Iron Racing buddies in the 535i had really good results using an ***automatic*** (gasp!) and we're actually considering the AW71 to be a very decent choice. 13 hours of racing, with at least 1 up/down shift every lap (30 second laps) equals about 3000 shifts at 10/10ths. A T5 swap seems like it would be up for the task, but our budget is nil so we have to be able to make an even trade for the parts. Finding an auto owner looking for a manual seems a lot more likely than finding a T5 swap owner looking to swap back to a stock setup.

I've megasquirted 2 different cars at this point, I have a pretty good grasp of whats going on there. We'll run just a standard MSnS-E setup, with a wheel decoder and external IGBTs firing junkyard coilpacks. I do have one question that my searches haven't answered yet. Is there a stock crank position sensor on the '85(+) B230F's? Also, what are the power limits of the stock air/fuel systems? How many hp can the stock fuel pump support? And does anyone have any base fuel/spark maps I can reference when I'm setting up the initial tune?

We absolutely must replace the stock open diff with a limiter of some kind. While welding the diff is certainly a cost-friendly option, I'd much prefer to have a solution that still allowed for the inner and outer wheels to turn at different speeds around some of the tight turns in the race. We'll also be looking for 2-3 sets of spare wheels to race on. We'll likely run one brand new set of r-compounds, and then the spares will be used r-comp takeoffs. Any suggestions for the best/cheapest wheels? Any 15x8's out there? 16x8's? 13x8's? :cool:

Let me know what you think of the project. Definitely feel free to toss up links to any road racing related threads, or any info you think might help. I look forward to joining this community, I'm already really impressed with the knowledge base you have built up here.

:cheers:

[suterman]

looks like fun, it should do you proud! (hopefully):-P

[PetesDustyVolvo]

you punk bastard I wanted to buy that car but didn't have the cash on hand

two days later it was gone....

[stylngle2003]

you can get custom 15x8 steelies made up by just about any steel wheel maker. i'm getting some from marsh racing (www.mrt-wheels.com). i'm gonna go for the Ultra Stars with a D window center. should be less than 100 per wheel, i think

13s won't fit up front

[volvogeek]

The wheels on there are the lightest stock 15" volvo-made alloy. Sirius (or Nova, depending on who you ask). A little on the narrow side, to be sure, but light.

Other than that, I don't have a whole lot of experience with the 700 series, so I'll leave the others who do to it. Good luck, and keep us in the loop!

[oldschoolvolvo]

cool project!

[Hank Scorpio]

Read the ems forum lots of ms's stuff there. Honestly you can use the dizzy hall sensor and the bosch ignition module for ms's with good (and cheap) results.

Keep the tuning good and the boost resonable and that motor should do ok.

If your staying manual a k cam (and switching to a block mounted 240 dizzy) would be a good choice. The m46 will hold as much power as that motor will make (unless you swap to a 90+ motor) if you shift kindly.

[PRVersion]

if not i have a good aw71 i'd be willing to trade...

[WheyDey]

http://evilengineering.com/gallery/d/6151-2/IMG_2234.jpg

that is the greatest picture ever taken

[adrianpike]

Wait came with bilstien coilovers?

o rly?

[gielamonster]

turboluv, where do you live? Local to socal?

I agree, that picture is pretty sweet. Although the work thus far really hasn't been frustrating at all. Taking stuff apart, especially interior parts that you're going to throw away, is really easy. Hacksawing the dash apart instead of removing every single thing for it to come off "nice" was a relief. As was cutting most of the interior/door wiring instead of trying to feed it all back through the tiny access holes with the connectors still attached.

Thanks for the comments guys. We're pumped to get this thing built and out for some track time early in '07.

[Greenchunks]

Lookin' good so far man. Like I was telling you before, not sure if it made it in the conversations, but many of the 90+ 740 turbos came with a factory locker. Maybe scourge the junkyards around there for one. Look for 'linuxman' on here about MS info and maps. And for the people wondering about the bilstein coilovers, I think its jsut bilstein shocks, Kirk, are they yellow/blue or are they black? yellow/blue are the better bilstein HD's, while the black is just the bilstein Touring class (slightly stiffer than stock, but mostly OEM replacement).

[PRVersion]

socal, eh? that's not close lol. i live in portland oregon ;-)

[Tom Wiley]

Look for a K cam. There was one on here for $50 shipped.

[klr142]

Ouch. Seems like it's too good of an example to get beat to heck compared to some of the models out there... Maybe swap out those tails and corner lenses with someone who has crappy original ones? Or something.

Anywho, I was just reading about this competition in some magazine. I do believe you guys'll kick some ass! Go for it! 8)

[igor]

Agreed on the tail-light thing. You should swap for engine stuff + some worse-off tails.
Looks like that event's a great excuse to strip down a car and have some fun on a track!

[gielamonster]

Yeah, the tails and corners will be long gone before the smash'em up race. We're also hoping to get the car out to a few track days and maybe even a race school before the "final showdown".

Please point me toward any $50 K cams that you see. Slot or no slot, we'll be running wasted spark or coil-per-plug off a crank trigger.

[klr142]

Please point me toward any $50 K cams that you see.
Contact Dale (245gti is his TB username), he sells them.

[Delfosse]

thats going to be cool!

[blkaplan]

If you go auto make sure to install a mega tranny cooler.....

if you can keep fluid temps undercontrol the aw71 might standup to the job.... although I would think a manual would be much more reliable.

[tjts1]

Swap in jumbo rotors and calipers from a 940. You'll need them.

[EvilGenius]

We were going to race in this race last year, but prep for the NASA 25hr used up all my time, we WILL be racing in it this year! I'm looking around for my car now, if you're racing a 7 series, maybe I'll look for one as well, we can share knowhow and spares...

-John

[shaved240]

hit up the yards in socal and you'll be bound to find the g80 locker.

[gielamonster]

Sounds good John! We can't wait to get this car back together and out for some trackdays. Its going to be a hoot to drive.

DvC, is there anyway to identify the no-slip diffs by looking at them? Markings or numbers somewhere?

[Mrpoo]

I read about the 24 hours of LeMons in Sportcompactcar and Car and Driver. Rock on man!

[shaved240]

Sounds good John! We can't wait to get this car back together and out for some trackdays. Its going to be a hoot to drive.

DvC, is there anyway to identify the no-slip diffs by looking at them? Markings or numbers somewhere?

just check on the 90+ turbo cars..you can also take off the diff cover and be able to identify them that way too

[kahluaTDI]

badass... i wish i could get a 500 dollar car that pwns

[Greenchunks]

Bump....got that locker yet?

[gielamonster]

No. No responses on the forum and we haven't been out to the boneyard yet. But the car is coming along, should be driving it in full gutted form pretty soon.

[gielamonster]

We made the list. The Team Mooseknuckle/eVileNgineering.com 744ti will be trading paint with as many as 91 other cars come July 7-8. Its going to be CROWDED on that track.

[Crazychopstick]

Rock on. I wanna see pics come track day.

[Ruben]

I think the often flamed ZF 4hp22 is stronger than the AW, you only have to upgrade to BMW clutchpack, because that is the weak spot. Building a highrevving engine is not the best thing for your tranny though......

[crandandall]

It's cool that safety equipment doesn't count and that tires, brakes, seats, etc. are counted as safety equipment. I'm gonna try to go see this, sounds like an awesome time.

[Brickster151]

We made the list. The Team Mooseknuckle/eVileNgineering.com 744ti will be trading paint with as many as 91 other cars come July 7-8. Its going to be CROWDED on that track.

It's gonna be damn fun though, I'll see you out there. I'll be driving a Tercel for Team Pirate Ninjas with Lasers.

[Ghaurok]

http://24hoursoflemons.com/id2.html

Haha, check out the pic on that page.

Goodluck with getting everything together.

[Delfosse]

http://24hoursoflemons.com/id2.html

Haha, check out the pic on that page.

Goodluck with getting everything together.

:rofl::rofl::rofl::rofl:

[stylngle2003]

mooseknuckle :rofl:

[RockVegas]

One thing you're gonna need is an official turbobricks.com sticker! (available in the store)

[gielamonster]

It's gonna be damn fun though, I'll see you out there. I'll be driving a Tercel for Team Pirate Ninjas with Lasers.

Yeah, I've been posting in the FocalJet forums a bit since the last race, same username as here. I'm pumped you guys are bringing that warrior back for more this July.

[tjts1]

I am so going to that in July.

[phillazenby740t]

I am so going to that in July.

A stripped down mk2 gti would fare well in that comp i reckon

[don hodgdon]

Have you decided what you want to do about wheels? I have a set of Dracos in the garage that I would be willing to donate to the cause if you choose to stick with 15s.

Don

[gielamonster]

I bought a set of wheel adapters to fit 5x114.3 wheels, I'm a sneaky b-stard and I'm counting the adapters as part of the wheels. Technically I could pay obnoxious amounts of money for custom race wheels instead of these cheap adapters and much cheaper common size wheels, since wheels aren't included in the budget.

Car will have the cage in it by the end of this weekend, should be running/driving again by the end of next. Still looking for a cheap LSD, I'll be hitting the jyard up this weekend with that on the list.

[gielamonster]

Made some good progress on the car today. Cage should be done in the next 2-3 days. Wiring done by the end of the week.

http://www.evilengineering.com/gallery/d/10112-2/IMG_2763.jpg

http://www.evilengineering.com/gallery/d/10118-2/IMG_2768.jpg

http://www.evilengineering.com/gallery/d/10121-2/IMG_2769.jpg

http://www.evilengineering.com/gallery/d/10115-2/IMG_2766.jpg

Here's some goodies I grabbed at the j-yard...

http://www.evilengineering.com/gallery/d/10157-2/IMG_2782.jpg

42lb CFI injectors, neon 420a coilpack, 8.6mm plug wires, and the old block mounted distributor incase my 60-2 flywheel sensor plan doesn't work out.

[adrianpike]

sweet!

Have you figured out a solid method for testing plug wires yet?

[faster4_tec]

t's kinda like a loud, hot, noisy version of driving to work.


yeah, they got that right:-P

[oldschoolvolvo]

http://www.evilengineering.com/gallery/d/10121-2/IMG_2769.jpg
john deere!!

[gielamonster]

That's the "heart of the lemon" right there. But yeah, strong JD visual as well.

[gielamonster]

sweet!

Have you figured out a solid method for testing plug wires yet?

IR gun on the exhaust runners? Nope, I just looked for some wires that appeared newer and in good shape. The connectors still had good snap to them and no corrosion. Should be decent, getting the spark through the wire is easy, its getting it across the plug gap that's hard.

[tjts1]

Are you going to print up some shirts for the crowd to cheer you on? I'll be there. I bet we could get enough people together for a TB meet at the track.

[DaytonAE86]

For cheap wheels check out www.diamondracingwheels.com I ordered 4 15x10s and it was 413 (shipping and all).....

For a set of 15/8s, itd be under 400.

[gielamonster]

Car is nearing driveable stage, probably get there this weekend. Cage got some more tubes welded in tonight.

http://evilengineering.com/gallery/d/10403-2/IMG_2833.jpg

http://evilengineering.com/gallery/d/10394-2/IMG_2830.jpg

http://evilengineering.com/gallery/d/10391-2/IMG_2829.jpg

I'm almost finished with the MS wiring. I'm recycling the stock harness wire and reusing all of the stock sensors/components except for the coil, crank pos sensor, TPS and IAT. I picked all those bad boys up at the 50% off day at the Pick-A-Part. The MS was free from one on my old FSAE teams, it had burnt traces and they were going to toss it. I repaired it with snipped leads, good as new. The MAP sensor also broke a few leads, so I had to solder it with a bit of a pigtail instead. Check it out, this puppy is an original PCB V1.0!

http://evilengineering.com/gallery/d/10379-2/IMG_2825.jpg

You don't wanna mess with this!

http://evilengineering.com/gallery/d/10412-2/IMG_2836.jpg

http://evilengineering.com/gallery/d/10433-2/IMG_2843.jpg

[klr142]

Haha, the flames are sweet! Awesome progress guys!

[gielamonster]

Cage is done. Still working on "exoskeleton" and now we're 100% into the motor/MS prep. I'm begging for a stock flywheel sensor/bracket (link, help a brudda out! (http://forums.turbobricks.com/showthread.php?t=101731)) but I'll either make what I have work, order a new sensor and fab my own bracket, or just sell out and use the block mounted distributor instead of the sweet 60-2 thats already built into the motor.

Here's some shots of our cage:

http://www.evilengineering.com/gallery/d/15083-2/IMG_3995.jpg

http://www.evilengineering.com/gallery/d/15092-2/IMG_3998.jpg

http://www.evilengineering.com/gallery/d/15107-2/IMG_4003.jpg

[242turbo9]

nice work

[RvolvoR]

I think imma go to the JY soon, ill take a look for ya mang

[gielamonster]

Thanks guys. I got two PMs already, and one told me what cars to search in the JY (89+ non-turbos, 90+ turbos). Plus I went back through all the measurements today and found an error that fixes my clearance problems with my sensor. So the plan is to try and use mine now, with a quick JY trip or paypal transaction as backup if I have trouble. Thanks again for the help everyone.

[944kid]

Ouch. Seems like it's too good of an example to get beat to heck compared to some of the models out there... Maybe swap out those tails and corner lenses with someone who has crappy original ones? Or something.

Anywho, I was just reading about this competition in some magazine. I do believe you guys'll kick some ass! Go for it! 8)

Good luck going up against the beige Porsche 944 entry. Beat the piss out of it (the Porsche) I wanna see those guys bring home some great photos lol. Just not too much, cause I want them to do well too!

Hmm, makes me want to save up and do this one day. Give em hell, gents. :-D I expect nothing less then sheer brilliance from you!

[gielamonster]

Ian, the one from Rennlist? I'm "DanG" on that board, I've already posted in their thread. They'll definitely be in the sights, but with approx the same weight and an extra 100+hp, I don't think we'll have much trouble getting around them. Gotta love behind-the-back smack talking.

[944kid]

Ian, the one from Rennlist? I'm "DanG" on that board, I've already posted in their thread. They'll definitely be in the sights, but with approx the same weight and an extra 100+hp, I don't think we'll have much trouble getting around them. Gotta love behind-the-back smack talking.

Well, it's not behind the back smack talking, I want them to give you all equal hell, I just haven't said it 'cause I didn't know I'd see another entry. :-D

Ian from Rennlist, yup! Hi Dan!

[gielamonster]

Car could've started tonight, but we had a fuel leak at the injectors. We'll have it fixed and fired up on Tues (need a break after working 7 days strait!). RPMs were being picked up beautifully and we had spark, but weren't able to test combustion yet. Pics and videos in another few days.

[gielamonster]

Something is off in my spark settings or maybe my wiring. I'm cooking my VB921s when cranking, no start up yet. I can only crank for 3-4 seconds before the drivers get very hot (current limiting mode). My feeling is that the MS is telling them to run with excessive dwell, possibly ignoring my settings due to goofy settings I have somewhere else.

Anyone want to take a look at my .msq and see if you can spot anything?

http://msefi.com/viewtopic.php?p=171878#171878

[socalsean]

Did you pick up some Supra wheels from a guy in Santa Ana?

[gielamonster]

Yup that was us. Apparently we missed you, I got lost trying to find the place again in the dark without any directions beyond "take the Euclid exit and go strait" (ended up on Newhope).

The wheels looked sweet, but unfortunately didn't fit. We need some low positive offset wheels up front, even with the ~inch thick adapters to clear the struts.

[socalsean]

Yup that was us. Apparently we missed you, I got lost trying to find the place again in the dark without any directions beyond "take the Euclid exit and go strait" (ended up on Newhope).

The wheels looked sweet, but unfortunately didn't fit. We need some low positive offset wheels up front, even with the ~inch thick adapters to clear the struts.

Haha! Nice. If you guys ever need any help let me know. I work with Alex.

[m4ff3w]

Bumping because I just read the thread over at GRM.

[volvotron]

http://evilengineering.com/gallery/d/6151-2/IMG_2234.jpg

that is the greatest picture ever taken

i totaly agree. thats somthing i would have done. good times.

[gielamonster]

BTW, 1st place in the race gets $1500 (paid in nickles). Second place gets ZERO. But the "People's Choice" gets $1000. So I'll just be real subtle about it and say come out to watch, and VOTE FOR US! Thanks guys.

[igor]

Does it run yet?

[gielamonster]

Yup, running like a champ. Neon 420a coil driven by dual VB921s. GM hall sensor sniffing the stock 60-2 flywheel in the stock location. EBC, WBO2, and knocksense (I'll pull the WBO2 & KS after tuning and before the race so they don't count towards the budget). Actually runs really smooth using some of the fuel and spark maps others have posted up on this board as a starting point.

[igor]

Nice! Why was the thread in the Events section locked?

[gielamonster]

I dunno. Hopefully they don't lock this one too. Might have to pull the tbricks stickers off the car in protest! Just kidding you guys helped out with lots of info and parts, we're definitely grateful. I guess we can just use this thread to see who's interested. Feel free to post here if you plan on coming.

[Altered_Carbon]

Hay guys nice to see some of the entrants. Last year I was on the Saab team as pit crew, they will be back again with another Saab 900 turbo. I may try to get there on sunday but unfortunately I'm moving that weekend. I'd really like to see the battle of the swedes.

[gielamonster]

Battle of the Swedes will be fun. You guys were quick last year, I'm sure the competition will be on a new level this year. I was a crew member for the Black Iron Racing BMW last year. I knew I needed to build my own car as soon as I heard about the race. They're punking out from this July race but will be back in another 535 this October. Hopefully this car survives well enough that we can be back for that race as well!

[gielamonster]

The car is running like a champ! Started datalogging a few 7-8 psi runs on a base map I snagged from a few different posts on here. Its running really smooth, no funny hiccups anywhere.

Only issue right now is intermittent communication on the serial line. I haven't convinced myself whether its the actual cable itself (wiggles do seem to change its behavior) and/or noise. Its not getting any resets whatsoever, but the coms break up a few times a second to only once every few seconds. First step will be a different cable, and I need to add those recommended noise suppressing caps across the 12V and 5V lines.

[gielamonster]

Car is running GREAT now. Really pumping us up for the big show. Its "put the stickers on" day too, so lots of fun. This thing is light and quick.

[spruill242]

stickers add 15-20 hp in my experience. just playin. i love stickers. i have stickers on my racecar that have nothing to do with anything.

[gielamonster]

I forgot to post, the comm issue was just the cable. No comm problems since.

Anybody getting excited yet? You'll notice GRM has picked us up on their project car pages...

here (http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/news/category/project-cars/other-cool-cars-hanging-around-the-grm-world-headquarters/24-hours-of-lemons-volvo/)

Still needs some tuning, but the car is running/driving/handling great. Feels very quick. One tire fire through 3rd gear pretty easily. Thats at 8psi, we'll run about 14 in the race if I can get it tuned well enough. Might need to rig up a "push to pass" though, as the car has plenty of nuts to power out of the corners right now.

Latests photos from before this weekend...

http://evilengineering.com/gallery/d/18366-2/IMG_4807.jpg
http://evilengineering.com/gallery/d/18372-2/IMG_4809.jpg

We're keeping the final pre-race photos under wraps until after the race, don't want to blow all the suprises.

If you're at all close to Tracy CA and free this weekend, you owe it to yourself to come watch the most spectacular, horrific, action packed racing you've seen in a while. Just repeat this out loud to let it sink in "A 13 hour car crash." Thats the long and short of it. If you make it out come swing by our pit and say hi. GRM will be there with us, they'll have swag too. Come root us on and stuff the ballot box in our favor for the People's Choice award.

[igor]

Wow, that exhaust!

Looking great. Can't wait to hear how you guys go.

[HonestJhon]

i went to a subaru meet at YIMI Motorsports in santa clarita on saturday.
they are building a car for this race.

is an NA legacy wagon i believe. mid 90's.

they put the exhaust coming out the rear where the tailgate was.

i think they got the thing running some decet quarter miles.
they did a few things that were pretty funny/ingenious.

[klr142]

No welded diff? I'd think it'd be useful... :) And that exhaust is AWESOME!!! Hahaha, good luck guys!

[gielamonster]

Actually with the rear bar removed and the super-stiff IPD front bar, the car puts the power down surprisingly well. Very controllable throttle steering. I'd still like an LSD, but we'll pass on the welded diff, there are going to be some seriously sharp turns in the race. Off course excursions would likely be the only place that a welded diff would outshine our open one.

Video from this past Sunday night, before I fixed some goofy PWM settings that really woke the car up...

<embed style="width:400px; height:326px;" id="VideoPlayback" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docId=4872976557460358897&hl=en" flashvars=""> </embed>

[Greenchunks]

glad to see its working out well, I should be out there with keats this weekend

[stray]

how'd it go, guys? any post-race updates?

[Snipe656]

I heard you guys ran into some technical difficulties? How bad is tech at those races, I am surprised some of these builds pass off as $500 cars.

[gielamonster]

There's some post-race info up here:

http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/news/category/project-cars/other-cool-cars-hanging-around-the-grm-world-headquarters/24-hours-of-lemons-volvo/

The car was very quick, but we had some electrical problems. It seemed to be a mix of a cold/loose joint(s?) somewhere in the harness, a poor ground that I fixed before day 2, and possibly a toasted injector driver inside the MS to end our racing for good. I haven't fired anything up since the race to test for problems, but I threw up the flag at the race after the injectors wouldn't fire on either of the injector bank leads.

I was running the stock low impedance injectors and diagnosed 2 of them not firing before the race, so I ran all four in parallel off one driver. This was on a V3.0 board with the enhanced flyback circuit, and I did go through the PWM tweak process.

We ended up selling our car after the event, so I won't have the chance (or the chore) to find out what really went wrong beyond possible trouble inside the MS box. When it was running, the car was as fast or faster than anything out there. You'll hear every team claim that, but we literally blew by every car on the track. It had great potential, just couldn't get or keep it running long enough. The new owners are going to swap the stock engine management back in and hopefully race it in the October race. I think they'll do really well, I'm looking forward to seeing how it will finish.

[igor]

That's a real shame. Keep us updated with how it goes. It's a pity the new owners wont exploit its potential with MS or similar.

[Duder]

Not that anyone cares, but this very 744ti did finally win at a Lemons race...Organizer's Choice at this year's Buttonwillow full 24-hour race. As a birthday cake!

http://blog.caranddriver.com/lemons-arse-sweat-a-palooza-winners/

http://blog.caranddriver.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/LBW12-Winners-OrgChoice-626x426.jpg

I wasn't on the original build team for this car, but I have raced Lemons with these same guys (in other cars) many times. We just thought it was hilarious to see this same old Volvo finally running reliably and in such a subtle disguise!

[doucheNozzle]

Was wondering if this was the same car!

[Duder]

It didn't even occur to me until Gielamonster (who is on our current team) pointed out that it was "his old car" under the cake. I don't remember if it was fast or not, but do remember having trouble seeing around it...between the cake and the Titanic limo, the track felt pretty crowded at times.

I was amazed at how the average pace slowed down so much at night. 4x HIDs gave us plenty of light and made me wonder why it was so easy to pass in the dark. That night stint from 2AM to 4AM was the most fun I'd ever had in a car, period.

[klr142]

I was amazed at how the average pace slowed down so much at night. 4x HIDs gave us plenty of light and made me wonder why it was so easy to pass in the dark. That night stint from 2AM to 4AM was the most fun I'd ever had in a car, period.What housings are you using?

[Duder]

For the 325i we had some cheap aftermarket E36 replacement assemblies fitted with cheap HIDs for the low beams, and some Pro Comp baja pencil-beam spots. We swapped the E36 headlight assemblies side to side, so it looked wall-eyed but gave us 45 degree apex lights at either side. The pencil beam spots were mounted above them, closer to the center, aimed straight ahead. Never used the stock non-HID high beams but we wired them up as backups.

The 1982 Chrysler 5th Avenue headlight surrounds may look ornamental but they are worth +5hp each.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-hw791rQ73cU/T_NprpgLrDI/AAAAAAAAAkg/_lJT_blfEps/s1024/051-UG-Butt12.jpg


We had a minor contact incident near the end and lost the passenger's side assembly - luckily it was daytime by that point.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-DjcjBk5VDTc/T_zTnswoAwI/AAAAAAAABK4/B08jeyYmptc/s1202/DSC_0631.JPG


Gratuitous shot of the Birthday Cake putting two wheels off going into the esses:

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1y1bmZG8AEI/T_N5OIplfWI/AAAAAAAAAoc/GZAZuaqF8wc/s1195/IMG6158-X3.jpg

[klr142]

CHEATER! E36s are cheaters!!! Jk. :)

[Gregerivn]

I'd like to see some pics of this car's dash setup.

[Duder]

CHEATER! E36s are cheaters!!! Jk. :)

This one's debatable :neener: It's got over 200k miles on the original drivetrain, is a base model 325i, and is seriously the rustiest car I have ever worked on, or even looked at. The entire trunk is about to fall out of the car (some of it already has) and the left rear unitbody framerail is more of a suggestion than a piece of metal. But I hear what you're saying...and it does drive really nice. It was the perfect Lemons candidate. Couldn't turn it down.

I'd like to see some pics of this car's dash setup.

Do you mean the 744ti birthday cake, or the E36 Brougham d'Bavaria? If you mean the E36, then here you go:

http://blog.caranddriver.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/10-BMW-E36-Brougham-at-24-Hours-of-LeMons-Arse-Freeze-a-Palooza-626x426.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/--3LJW1hSQnQ/T_zRmRWM6UI/AAAAAAAAAvw/nkyAb-5I6_M/s967/DSC_0416.JPG

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-ZU23E6DL0AY/T_zRsOyvapI/AAAAAAAAAxA/ajR4P4ULUZw/s967/DSC_0426.JPG

I think the word "setup" would be generous to describe the dash - it's just the stock instrument cluster zip tied & liquid nails'd to the dash bar of the cage, with Coroplast zip tied over the instruments as a sun shield. Plus the genuine aluminum/linoleum fake wood gauge panel with some ghetto fab sheetmetal brackets. And yes, that is penguin duct tape.

[Duder]

Forgive me, I was just corrected by a teammate that the dash "setup" consists of "composite PMMA single use fasteners and acrylic resin bonded aluminum."

[Gregerivn]

I was talking about the 744
This one's debatable :neener: It's got over 200k miles on the original drivetrain, is a base model 325i, and is seriously the rustiest car I have ever worked on, or even looked at. The entire trunk is about to fall out of the car (some of it already has) and the left rear unitbody framerail is more of a suggestion than a piece of metal. But I hear what you're saying...and it does drive really nice. It was the perfect Lemons candidate. Couldn't turn it down.



Do you mean the 744ti birthday cake, or the E36 Brougham d'Bavaria? If you mean the E36, then here you go:

http://blog.caranddriver.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/10-BMW-E36-Brougham-at-24-Hours-of-LeMons-Arse-Freeze-a-Palooza-626x426.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/--3LJW1hSQnQ/T_zRmRWM6UI/AAAAAAAAAvw/nkyAb-5I6_M/s967/DSC_0416.JPG

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-ZU23E6DL0AY/T_zRsOyvapI/AAAAAAAAAxA/ajR4P4ULUZw/s967/DSC_0426.JPG

I think the word "setup" would be generous to describe the dash - it's just the stock instrument cluster zip tied & liquid nails'd to the dash bar of the cage, with Coroplast zip tied over the instruments as a sun shield. Plus the genuine aluminum/linoleum fake wood gauge panel with some ghetto fab sheetmetal brackets. And yes, that is penguin duct tape.

[Duder]

Oh. Sorry, can't help you there! I'm not even sure who the guys are who own it now, except the team name is "Too Stupid to Know Better" and they are in Oakland, CA.

[Duder]

In these shots from Buttonwillow it's easier to tell that there's a 740 under the cake! Looks like it's still wearing its circa-2007 flame job too...

http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/561400_10150958572859495_353645381_n.jpg

http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/406277_10150958576559495_1780185195_n.jpg

from the official Lemons album: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150958571114495.429534.36766739494&type=1