N54/E90 6MT Daily Turned Dedicated Drag Build

[SJ_1989]

Dropped the car off at the shop yesterday. It will be there for a month getting a few things done. Below is Phase 1 of the build. The goal for this year is to get a solid foundation to work off of for next year. Get the car running and make a few passes down the strip and tackle a few other things this year like the suspension.

• 10 point NHRA approved cage
• Custom aluminum dash using a tablet running MHD as the gauge cluster instead of the OEM
• Aluminum control panel for various switches
• Front fender work to fit Hoosier 27.5" x 4.5" tires
• Hood exhaust
• Custom chargepipe with Turbosmart BOV since AC and power steering is deleted
• Custom cold side intercooler pipe
• Custom hot side intercooler pipe
• Walnut blast
• Oil cooler delete
• Install AeroCatch hood pins
• Install hydrobrake
• Install parachute handle and cable
• Install window net
• Install fire extinguisher
• Headlight delete
• Drive shaft loop

If anyone follows the other forum or daft335 on Instagram, then you know this time attack car that's on the lift. If not, definitely look him up. I chose this shop because of the quality of work put into this car, and after seeing it in person, regret nothing.

 

[sirdaft1]

*I apologize for some of the pics being rotated. All taken with my cell phone and for whatever reason keep rotating when uploading*

Dropped the car off at the shop yesterday. It will be there for a month getting a few things done. Below is Phase 1 of the build. The goal for this year is to get a solid foundation to work off of for next year. Get the car running and make a few passes down the strip and tackle a few other things this year like the suspension.

• 10 point NHRA approved cage
• Custom aluminum dash using a tablet running MHD as the gauge cluster instead of the OEM
• Aluminum control panel for various switches
• Front fender work to fit Hoosier 27.5" x 4.5" tires
• Hood exhaust
• Custom chargepipe with Turbosmart BOV since AC and power steering is deleted
• Custom cold side intercooler pipe
• Custom hot side intercooler pipe
• Walnut blast
• Oil cooler delete
• Install AeroCatch hood pins
• Install hydrobrake
• Install parachute handle and cable
• Install window net
• Install fire extinguisher
• Headlight delete
• Drive shaft loop

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If anyone follows the other forum or daft335 on Instagram, then you know this time attack car that's on the lift. If not, definitely look him up. I chose this shop because of the quality of work put into this car, and after seeing it in person, regret nothing.

View attachment 25310

Ha! I was going to say... that shop and the 335 on the lift look awefully familiar (that’s my 335)!! Excellent choice. Eric does great work.

 

[SJ_1989]

Ha! I was going to say... that shop and the 335 on the lift look awefully familiar (that’s my 335)!! Excellent choice. Eric does great work.

Your car is coming along nicely! I kept going over and looking at it while planning my build with Eric. He told me to stop because I started to want more things done haha

 

[Davidwarren]

Before you deleted PS, did you have a belt size for just A/C delete?

 

[SJ_1989]

Before you deleted PS, did you have a belt size for just A/C delete?

No I don't since I deleted both at the same time.

 

[SJ_1989]

So went to the shop today to get fitted for the cage and figure out placement of the hydro-brake, parachute handle, steering column, seat, and gauge cluster. Must say, much better than getting fitted for a tux! Super excited for this build. Shop will start Tuesday with the cage so more pictures to come! Only got one pic for now....too caught up in chatting and planning next steps to remember to take more pics until I finished the 3 hour drive back home

Note....the VAC seat brackets don't work with Series 55 Kirkey seats. They interfere with the harness opening on the sides (area with black trim) so purchased specific Kirkey brackets as seen below. We bought both driver and passenger VAC seat floor mounts (they are slightly different) and using one piece from each kit for the drivers seat if that makes sense. By doing this it allows the driver seat to be shifted towards the trans tunnel more in order to make more room for the door bars. It's barely even noticeable.

 

[Rcboosted2007]

Looking good. Has anyone talked about tube chassis conversions yet?

 

[SJ_1989]

Yea but not interested in that, at least not yet lol. The shop and I want to push the BMW chassis and drivetrain as far as it will go first before going too crazy. At the end of the day my goal is to get more people into drag racing and show what's possible with the proper setup.

 

[Rcboosted2007]

Yeah, its been quite a go to get this car onto another level

 

[SJ_1989]

It's been a hot minute since an update. As we are doing the cage we decided to do a few things as well (more info to come later) so that slowed progress a bit until we figured it out. Part of the cage tacked in. Missing door bars, sill bar, dash bar, harness bar, and window bar but those should be installed this week.

For your viewing pleasure.

 

[Davidwarren]

Before you deleted PS, did you have a belt size for just A/C delete?

Just for reference, I used a 7 rib 67.5 inch belt and replaced the lower idler pulley with an 80mm (part number 11287556251) rather than the 90mm to delete the A/C compressor.

 

[SJ_1989]

Just for reference, I used a 7 rib 67.5 inch belt and replaced the lower idler pulley with an 80mm (part number 11287556251) rather than the 90mm to delete the A/C compressor.

Good to know. I ended up using a Gates GAT-K070443 belt since I deleted the A/C and power steering.

 

[SJ_1989]

How do you look at this and not get a slight chub. Cage near completion.

 

[SJ_1989]

Photo dump! Took a trip up to the shop yesterday to check out the car and shoot the shit for a bit. Just a few welds to finish up but the cage is basically done! Turned out better than I imagined it would and it fits TIGHT. My plan is to use VHT roll bar and chassis paint in flat black and just spray everything inside the same color. I thought about making the cage a different color than the car to make it stand out but 1) I can't decide on a color and 2) it's just a pain in the ass to mask off. Plus, the cage will get hacked up in the future anyway as the car goes through phases so I'm not going to drop $$$ on a professional paint job either. Now we can move on to all the little things.

Here's what's left that needs done BEFORE she comes home:

• Cutout trunk floor and fabricate panel to support future fuel cell and water tank
• Fabricate rear firewall to separate cabin and trunk to support future fuel cell (NHRA rule)
• Plug all holes in the firewall and cabin
• Remove brake booster and ABS valve and mount pedal box
• Install line locks and new brake and clutch lines
• Mount steering column to dash bar
• Fabricate dash
• 3D print tablet holder and mount to steering column
• Mount hydro-brake and plumb lines
• Mount parachute handle
• Mount window net
• Fabricate hood exhaust
• Install AeroCatch hood pins
• Fabricate intercooler piping
• Trim front inner fenders to fit 28" skinnies
• Fabricate drive shaft loop
• Install carbon fiber sunroof panel
• Mount fire extinguisher
• Walnut blast

Here's what's left that needs done AFTER she comes home:

• Paint cage and cabin
• Install wiring harness and modules
• Install windshield
• Wire line locks
• Wire master disconnect
• Install Precision stage 3+ LPFP
• Install Helix pump drive
• Plumb cooling system
• Break in clutch and diff
• Tune on C16
• Pray things work...

Top was sprayed flat black already as it was easier to spray when the cage was lowered through the floor prior to it being raised and welded in place.

 

[SJ_1989]

Here's @sirdaft1's car chilling on the lift getting some work done. He's got such an awesome build going on.

 

[SJ_1989]

Steering column mounted up and ready to go. Eventually I'll get an aftermarket steering column but this will be just fine for now. We are going to 3D print a tablet holder and mount it to where the position sensor bolts up to on the column. OEM cluster will be tucked under the dash out of the way until I go standalone next year, maybe....

Fuel tank is out of the car because of the cage, so I took this opportunity to bring it back home and remove the year old pump 93 and upgrade to Precision stage 3+ LPFP's.

I had purchased a PI and flex fuel kit over a year ago because I wanted to run 100% E85. My direction has changed a bit and I want to keep this car as simple as possible so sold all that stuff. The last thing I want to do is fight stupid issues at the track. Since I'll be running the Helix I decided to run C16. Should have no issues with fueling. O2 sensors on the other hand....I'll find out. Here's what $19/gal looks like.

 

[Davidwarren]

W

Steering column mounted up and ready to go. Eventually I'll get an aftermarket steering column but this will be just fine for now. We are going to 3D print a tablet holder and mount it to where the position sensor bolts up to on the column. OEM cluster will be tucked under the dash out of the way until I go standalone next year, maybe....

View attachment 28588

Fuel tank is out of the car because of the cage, so I took this opportunity to bring it back home and remove the year old pump 93 and upgrade to Precision stage 3+ LPFP's.

View attachment 28589

I had purchased a PI and flex fuel kit over a year ago because I wanted to run 100% E85. My direction has changed a bit and I want to keep this car as simple as possible so sold all that stuff. The last thing I want to do is fight stupid issues at the track. Since I'll be running the Helix I decided to run C16. Should have no issues with fueling. O2 sensors on the other hand....I'll find out. Here's what $19/gal looks like.

View attachment 28590

Using the torquebyte pump driver?

 

[SJ_1989]

Using the torquebyte pump driver?

No, not yet anyway. Going to see how the car responds without it this year and go from there. Also, may go standalone next year so I'd rather put money towards that setup instead.

 

[SJ_1989]

Posted a teaser on Instagram but thought I'd share the unblurred pic with my peeps. Shop started on the rear firewall the other day. When complete, this will completely seal off the passenger compartment with the trunk. Why am I doing this you ask? Well the plan is to go with a 5 gallon external fuel cell next year and NHRA rules say if there is an external fuel cell and/or a relocated battery in the trunk then there must be a firewall. Since I have no rear seats a firewall needed to be fabricated. You can see a lot of material has been removed and reinforced with a bar between the rear shock towers. This is turning out to be more of a pain than we originally expected.

I'm a fan of doing things right the first time where I can. As stated my plan is to go external fuel cell next year. Also in future plan is a water tank for an air-to-water setup. Since we are doing all this fab work now it make sense to prep the trunk for the tanks before I paint the interior of the car. Took the opportunity to cut out the trunk floor, brace it underneath, and add the sheet metal flooring.

 

[SJ_1989]

Bump for another update. Rear firewall is basically complete. I'm so glad I decided to do this now vs later down the road. I'll likely need this sooner rather than later anyway