1 Series (E87) Tarmac rally car build by Mefmotorsport

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Re: 1 Series (E87) Tarmac rally car build by Mefmotorsport

Postby mef » Mon Oct 12, 2015 9:06 pm

Well the progress over the weekend was the removal of the sump to allow me to replace the chain as soon as I get time! (yesterday was taken up running the rally at 3 Sisters)

The terrible news of Andy Morts death on Mull came through during saturday afternoon and obviously stopped any further progress being made that day.

The teeth on the sprocket seem to be in reasonable condition, as do the ones on the crankshaft so I'm not sure whats happened except that mark on the pickup pipe was there when I inspected the oil pump before I refitted it (although much smaller).

Once I get the chain off I will compare its length with the new one which will be interesting.

Martin
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Re: 1 Series (E87) Tarmac rally car build by Mefmotorsport

Postby mef » Sun Oct 18, 2015 10:20 pm

I'm completely baffled!

The new chain is exactly the same length as the old one. When its fitted its just as loose.

I've cross checked all part numbers and the crank sprocket, oil pump sprocket and the chain are all the same from S50B30 1992 through to S54B32 to 2008.

The only way I can get some tension in the chain is by shimming the oil pump down on its mounting legs by around 2mm.

What do you think? maybe there is general wear on the oil pump and crankshaft sprockets but I never saw this problem on the S50 engine?

Martin
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Re: 1 Series (E87) Tarmac rally car build by Mefmotorsport

Postby Overthelimit » Mon Oct 19, 2015 11:46 am

If the root of the teeth is worn it might lessen the effective diameter. Could be worth trying some new sprockets.
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Re: 1 Series (E87) Tarmac rally car build by Mefmotorsport

Postby mef » Mon Oct 19, 2015 12:21 pm

Overthelimit wrote:If the root of the teeth is worn it might lessen the effective diameter. Could be worth trying some new sprockets.


Yes, I can see that this could be the cause. It's difficult to tell how much they're worn, they dont look worn but could be. The crankshaft sprocket is very expensive since it also has the dual cam chain on it.

Martin
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Re: 1 Series (E87) Tarmac rally car build by Mefmotorsport

Postby is-si » Mon Oct 19, 2015 7:58 pm

The sprockets don't look bad, is it not the case that actually nothing wrong is with the sprockets or the chain.
2 Q's>
Is metal tensioner spring new?
Has the metal spring relaxed slightly allowing a bit more whip in the chain?

Apparently the nick in the oil pump is pretty common to used engines
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Re: 1 Series (E87) Tarmac rally car build by Mefmotorsport

Postby mef » Mon Oct 19, 2015 8:07 pm

The Spring came with the new tensioner, in fact I noticed there are actually 2 steel Spring strips together. Any amount of extra pressure on the tensioner would not increase the tension in the chan as its already pressing as hard as it can against the chain, the tensioner pad shape is quite long which means it can't do any more tensioning doe to the relatively short gap between the sprockets. Maybe I'm chasing a problem that doesn't actually exist or even matter? I can see that more tensioner Spring pressure would keep the chain from whipping and loosing tension, thus allowing it to chatter against the pickup pipe.
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Re: 1 Series (E87) Tarmac rally car build by Mefmotorsport

Postby is-si » Mon Oct 19, 2015 8:16 pm

If the tensioner is new and it is installed correctly, we have run out options :|
Was the nick in the pump already there?
As you say it could be time to put it back together 8)
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Re: 1 Series (E87) Tarmac rally car build by Mefmotorsport

Postby mef » Mon Oct 19, 2015 8:35 pm

Yes, the Nick in the pickup pipe was there when I inspected the pump before assembly but it was smaller, it's definitely become worse since rebuilding it and with the mileage during mapping and just 6 stages on the promenade rally. I might give jc racing a ring for some advice, they are usually very helpful.

Martin
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Re: 1 Series (E87) Tarmac rally car build by Mefmotorsport

Postby mef » Mon Nov 02, 2015 3:06 pm

A few upgrades now completed in readiness for the neil Howard stages rally at Oulton Park this coming weekend.

Installed a BMW M3 E46 engine driven hydraulic power steering pump and hydraulic E90 M3 steering rack since I wasnt 100% happy with the Corsa electric column.

Installed a Kubota miniature 60A alternator instead of the massively heavy BMW one.

Bought and fitted a very expensive harmonic crankshaft damper/trigger wheel from VAC motorsports to get away from future failures of the BMW rubber unit.

Fitted a Davies Craig Alloy 115Litres/min electric water pump and done away with the standard mechanical pump, its just a water housing now.

Fitted a new electric fan on the outside of the radiator as a pusher, so as to make moor room in the engine bay at the front, better access to belt etc...

Fitted a DC-DC converter on the X Dash to eliminate the display going off and rebooting during cranking.

Hopefully it will be all finished by Friday afternoon to go to scrutineering!

Martin
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Re: 1 Series (E87) Tarmac rally car build by Mefmotorsport

Postby Garry.M » Mon Nov 02, 2015 4:34 pm

You have been busy!,,,, what did Jc say about your chain tension issue.?
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Re: 1 Series (E87) Tarmac rally car build by Mefmotorsport

Postby mef » Mon Nov 02, 2015 4:45 pm

I never got around to ringing JC. I fitted 3 x 2mm alloy sheet spacers on the oil pump mounting legs which allowed sufficient tensioning of the chain to allow the tensioner to work properly. It seems to be OK now and no chance of it cutting the oil pickup casting.

I also noticed that the cam timing chain has been rubbing/slapping against a sort of alloy peg that sticks out of the front cover just above the crank oil seal, I couldn't see that it did anything useful so I cut it off! I'm wondering about the hydraulic chain tensioner working properly ?

I put it all back together and also fitted a new front cover crank oil seal as it wasnt in straight and was weeping. I've only run it up briefly but noticed that the "clacking" noise I was hearing and worrying about were still there, maybe it is "piston slap" as suggested by others ?

Oh well, we'll see how it goes next Saturday morning, got to beat Adge in his new WRC Scooby!

Martin
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Re: 1 Series (E87) Tarmac rally car build by Mefmotorsport

Postby bruvs1 » Mon Nov 02, 2015 8:50 pm

Strange about the noise, just seen adges new machine, very tidy car. Fair play to him for living the dream! 8)
http://www.bruvsmotorworks.co.uk 320is, 330is rallying!
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Re: 1 Series (E87) Tarmac rally car build by Mefmotorsport

Postby mef » Fri Feb 03, 2017 8:23 am

Hi all, I just realised it's been well over a year since I posted on here! Various reasons which I will explain later! I finally managed to get logged in after getting my password reset as i lost the details when I bought a new PC in early 2016 !
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Re: 1 Series (E87) Tarmac rally car build by Mefmotorsport

Postby mef » Fri Feb 03, 2017 8:55 am

I'll try and bring this thread up to date since the last one of October 2015 !

Having put the engine back together we went back to do the Neil Howard rally at photon park in November 2015. It was a very wet and slippy day. We were going well, engine pulling strong, hit a barrel on stage 3 which I took flat (but it wasn't) and broke nearside tension strut and tca, lost a lot of time with wheel back in bulkhead catching on a sharp seam which ruined the tyre, nearside wing and headlamp bladdered!

Fixed that and continued, going well again, stages started drying out then on stage 5 coming off the track towards the end of the stage we understeered on mud on the bend into the pit lane and slammed into the Armco very hard. That was the end of the rally for us. I was going much too fast, there was no grip, nothing I could do, the car stopped dead from maybe 60mph, a very hard impact. We were eventually dragged back to the sea vice area, the car looking very sad, and we managed to replace some mechanical parts and drive the car onto the trailer.

Once back at home we weighed up the damage. Apart from the expected damage to the tension strut, tca, steering arm, wheel and superficial body panel damage (offside wing headlight, front panel, bumper etc) the worst damage was where the wheel had gone back into the drivers footwell/bulkhead and forced the bulkhead up against the pedals!

Pics to follow!
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Re: 1 Series (E87) Tarmac rally car build by Mefmotorsport

Postby mef » Fri Feb 03, 2017 10:42 am

Having got the car back home I immediately got to work investigating the damage then started chopping out the damaged panels. I was unable to pull and of the damaged footwell out as theres a big cross brace girder built into it and its all double skinned so I had to chop it out so I could weld in the replacement sections. It seemed a big job and after working on it for a few days I got a bit dis-alusioned with it and left it aside. I decided to leave it until the Xmas holiday period and get on with it then.

But Xmas 2015 came and went and I made no attempt to do the repairs! In fact I spent the time starting to build a Lupo rally car for my nieces boyfriend, welded a custom cages cage in. It wasnt until March that I finally got my finger out and made the repairs as pictured below, ready for the Monteberg rallyspring which was to be at the end of April 2016.

scene of crash

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damage to bulkhead once worst bits chopped out, very hard to fix!
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repair piece for £50 off ebay, only needed a small pice of bulkhead and front end/corner of inner wing!
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repair section tacked in place after lots of cutting and alignment:
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repaired, in the end it all went well, repaired nicely, double skinned so inside too plus theres a girder between the 2 skins, no wonder they are so heavy!
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