1987 245 daily driver... taking my time

[The Full Banana]

Most recent picture:



Current setup:

Engine
95 b230ft - stock longblock resealed
16t w/ T3 wastegate actuator @ 9.5psi
240 turbo intercooler & piping
850 turbo orangetop injectors
240 turbo oil cooler setup
RSI Stage II turbo cam
RSI polyurethane motor mounts
940 efan controlled by 87/92c switch in lower rad hose
lh2.2 w/ EZK ignition
3" SS downpipe reduced to 240 turbo rear exhaust

Driveline
m47
clutchnet yellow pressure plate
clutchnet full-face carbon clutch disc
cravingboost short-shifter
RSI polyurethane trans mount
3.73 open diff

Suspension
Front
DIY Short Strut Coilovers - 240 strut tubes sectioned 2.25" shorter
Kaplhenke coilover sleeves & adjusters
Kaplhenke spring hats
336lb x 8" springs
~100lb x 4" tender springs
RSI bilstein HD short struts
scottyd camber plates
ipd 25mm swaybar
SuperPro polyurethane bushings all over
ipd lower chassis brace
GT firewall bars

Rear
DIY adjustable 2.5" spring perches (ebay accord coil-over kit with custom machined retainer)
250lb x 8" main springs
~100lb x 4" tender springs
Suburban Bilstein HD shocks
no rear swaybar
iPd adjustable torque rods
iPd adjustable panhard bar
SuperPro polyurethane bushings all over

Brakes
RX7 calipers
740 "big" rotors
yoshifab rx7 conversion brake lines
yoshifab rx7 caliper adapters
iPd stainless rear brake lines
ATE super blue fluid
Stoptech Street Performance front pads
OE Volvo rear pads

Wheel/Tires
motorsporttech 5x120>5x108 adapters (38mm front, 32mm rear)

Winter Wheels:
BMW Steelies 17x7 et4x
Crappy Continental snow tires 205/50r17

Summer Wheels:
BMW CSL Replicas 18x8.5 et40
Sumitomo HTR ZIII 235/40r18

BMW Contour Replicas 17x7.5 et40
Michelin Pilot Sport 235/40r17

Interior
Recaro Trophy seats from mkII VW

Exterior
DJauto 86+ ecodes w/ ebay bi-xenon HID
ipd sidemarkers
US 86+ turn signals w/o amber reflectors
86+ flathood eggcrate grille modified

------------

I figured I might as well start up a project thread to document everything and keep track of what's going on. Hopefully this way I'll also be more motivated to keep working.

Anyways, the car is my daily driver. I traded a 745T with an SE kit for it. The PO put a ton of money into the thing, he bought it from Portland and had iPD install just about everything they make for it, and then sent it to RSI to get a cam and some other bits... I have about $8k in receipts from the past 3 years in work done on the car...

Here's a list of all the goodies that were in it when I picked it up, so far as I remember...

ipd lowering springs
ipd 25mm swaybars F/R
ipd polyurethane swaybar endlink bushings
ipd polyurethane control arm bushings
ipd adjustable panhard bar
ipd adjustable torque rods
ipd stainless steel braided brake lines
ipd sport freeflow catback exhaust
ipd aluminum skidplate
ipd window scrapers
ipd dash carpet
ipd adjustable wiper relay
RSI window scrapers
trailer hitch
zimmerman brake rotors
truetrac LSD
cravingboost short shifter
gt strut tower reinforcement plates
gt firewall braces
strut tower brace
bilstein HD struts and shocks
rsi NA cam
rsi adjustable cam gear
rsi polyurethane stage 1 motor mounts
rsi polyurethane stage 1 trans mount
k&n air filter
OE tachometer
OE oil pressure gauge
OE voltmeter

there's more, but I can't remember it all. anyways, it was pretty well endowed.

here's what it looked like when I picked it up. pretty vanilla.




...but I wanted more.

my goals are simple:

- MORE POWER (enough to get out of my own way and play with some of the bavarian cousins; ~220-250rwhp should be plenty)
- STIFFER SUSPENSION (it turned okay with the ipd stuff, but its pretty soft and grandpa-ish for my tastes)
- DEBATABLE GOOD LOOKS (go lower, but still be plenty driveable and have the car look somewhat presentable)

[The Full Banana]

Drove the car as it was for a while, then fitted up a set of 17" BMW steelies with 32mm adapters. I also converted to adjustable coilovers up front using coleman threaded sleeves and some other bits I had laying about. The rear was fitted with adjustable perches using an ebay honda coilover kit and some aluminum retainers that a friend machined for me.




specifications...

front
-stock 240 strut tubes with coleman 2.08"ID x 5" long sleeves sitting on the remnants of the stock spring perches
-QA1 300lb x 7" 2.5" springs from Summit (too short, need 8")
-standard fitment bilstein HD struts (underdamped, too long to go as low as I would like)

rear
-ebay honda coilover kit adjustable sleeves with custom bottom mount
-Eibach 250lb x 8" 2.5" springs from Summit
-standard fitment bilstein HD shocks (way underdamped; will be swapping for suburban HD's)

some pictures...







o yeah, and the driver-side mirror was broken off the first night I had the car, presumably by some deranged college kid. I picked up a pair of early mirrors, but I need the mounting plates for them...


then I installed a 960 efan that I had laying around, cut a hole in the timing cover for convenient access to the timing gear, and played with the cam timing.

[The Full Banana]

to quote myself...

Originally Posted by The Full Banana

My goals are simple:

- MORE POWER (enough to get out of my own way and play with some of the bavarian cousins; ~220-250rwhp should be plenty)
- STIFFER SUSPENSION (it turned okay with the ipd stuff, but its pretty soft and grandpa-ish for my tastes)
- DEBATABLE GOOD LOOKS (go lower, but still be plenty driveable and have the car look somewhat presentable)

First thing to get sorted out is the suspension... the car is a lot stiffer and turns pretty well with the coilover setup I hastily put in, but there are issues that need to be sorted out.

It needs shorter, stiffer struts and shocks. I am ordering RSI's offering of short, revalved bilstein HD's for the front, and I have a set of suburban shocks to put in the rear.

The front springs are too short. I am experiencing what seems to be coil-bind in the front (better than bottoming out the struts I guess?) I ordered a pair of 336lb x 8" springs off ebay that should take care of this problem...

The rear springs can come loose at full droop, and the upper spring seat (exhaust tube) can strike the aluminum adjuster if the cars hits a bump too hard. This is the most concerning of the issues...


Does anyone have suggestions for a good top spring seat solution that won't hit the aluminum adjusters and destroy them? The exhaust tube seat is already cut pretty short, and I don't want to cut it shorter for fear of springs coming free.

I know putting in the suburban HD's should help a bit as they will limit droop a tad more than stock, but it won't solve the problem.

[hackster]

Car looks perfect!!!! Love the wheels (Like I said before)

So just what car did the wheels come from?

[The Full Banana]

thanks! that means a lot coming from you... both of your 240s are incredible inspiration!

The wheels were winter wheels for an e46 323i

[The Full Banana]

well look what I found at a garage sale... no bends or curbing, all for scrap price. don't mind the shirts everywhere... its all I had in the car to stop the wheels from hitting eachother.



They are BMW lightweight wheels from an e36 M3. 17x7.5 ET42

I have a nice staggered set of Eagle GT's that will be mounted up on these. They need a new coat of clear, and then they will go on the car once it is lower. The clearcoat is peeling... any suggestions for how I can get the clearcoat off so that i can respray clear?

[spourcyrous]

nice lt-dubs!
Love your wagon.

[The Full Banana]

ordered a pair of scottyd camber plates tonight!

...now hopefully RSI gets back to me tomorrow so I can go through with the order and get short struts

[The Full Banana]

RSI short struts and gland nuts have been ordered...

[The Full Banana]

240 steering angle makes for some excellent parallel parking.

should I paint my chrome trim black? also spray the rest of the black trim on the car? I'm undecided.

[The Full Banana]

So I've done a little bit more to the car, improving it bit by bit.

RSI struts are still sitting on the shelf waiting for me to get the tubes sectioned for them to take up residence in.

I installed scottyD camberplates which made a HUGE difference in handling, especially turn in. At the same time I also put in some tender springs with the goal of spring preload for the front. This also helped a LOT.

Sadly, my garage was broken into and my BMW LTW wheels that I showed earlier were stolen, but I managed to pick up a different set of wheels this afternoon.

Here's how the car sits currently:




With suspension being closer and closer to the point of satisfaction, I am thinking more and more about step 3: POWER.

I'd considered a +T to this car, but for various reasons I think I would rather swap a motor into it, ready to go. Just need to coerce *someone* to hook me up.


I should really type up an itemized mod list for the car so I can keep track of things.... soon. not like anyone reads this thread anyway

[ncbrock]

trhat thing sits so perfect.

[The Full Banana]

front needs to go a little bit lower, which will happen soon when i finish up the short strut coilovers

[smith_t240]

Looking good. Not my wheel choice but I like it.

You ARE going to +T this thing this year or you will be left behind!

[The Full Banana]

Originally Posted by smith_t240

Looking good. Not my wheel choice but I like it.

You ARE going to +T this thing this year or you will be left behind!

Did you miss this part, Smith?

"...I would rather swap a motor into it, ready to go. Just need to coerce *someone* to hook me up."


that's YOU!

[smith_t240]

Ohhh really?!?!

[The Full Banana]

yes, but i suppose that's a conversation for the future. the truetrac will be waiting...

[slow240]

car looks awesome, i need to sort my coilovers as well, i went with stock (30 year old) decarbons and 220lb springs, which promptly blew out my decarbons

how much did that honda coilover kit cost you and is there any way i could con your friend into making me a set of retainers?

[The Full Banana]

Originally Posted by slow240

car looks awesome, i need to sort my coilovers as well, i went with stock (30 year old) decarbons and 220lb springs, which promptly blew out my decarbons

how much did that honda coilover kit cost you and is there any way i could con your friend into making me a set of retainers?

thanks man, i've watched your 242 build, looks like a lot of fun.

the honda coilover kits are dirt cheap on ebay. I don't remember exactly what it came to but im pretty sure it was around $50 after shipping.... I didn't use the springs it came with, just a pair of the adjusters and sleeves, because I wanted a much lower rate than the springs included.

I doubt my friend would be interested in making more of those pressed-in retainers. The way to go is to probably just have someone local make something simple, unless you have access to a welder and the skillset to match. There's a thread about it with some examples in it.

I'm also toying with the idea of switching to 5" diameter springs in the rear, so I may be ditching the 2.5" setup.

[The Full Banana]

might as well drop this here. cant wait for short struts, ugh.

[spourcyrous]

Haha, love bimmer pattern! Contours, steelies, ltws, you can use em all.

Now if I could only go 5x120 on my own Bimmer...

[The Full Banana]

Originally Posted by spourcyrous

Haha, love bimmer pattern! Contours, steelies, ltws, you can use em all.

Now if I could only go 5x120 on my own Bimmer...

it's the way to go! such an abundance of decent looking, cheap wheels!

you have an e30? here's my old one...

[harribert]

Love those steelies. Mine ended up looking like dog turds.

[The Full Banana]

Originally Posted by harribert

Love those steelies. Mine ended up looking like dog turds.

you need BIGGGGGER steelies.

my steelies will be serving as winter wheels from here on out

[The Full Banana]

thought i would update with some pictures from autocross this past sunday...

car did pretty well, but it did have a tendency to push a bit in some corners. granted there's a good chance that's entirely my driving... i have a lot to learn

i need to open up the strut towers so i can get some more camber. hoping that will help.

anyways, a couple random pictures. a go-pro would be nice next time...






car doesn't seem to be rolling much at all. from the pictures my buddy took, this is the most lean i saw: