N54/E90 6MT Daily Turned Dedicated Drag Build
- Thread starter SJ_1989
- Start date
I'll be playing around with different fuels. I purchased C16 prior to having the opportunity to get the Helix. Going to push it as far as I can to try and break into the 9's with a stock motor.
Went up to the shop this weekend and hung out for a bit to confirm placement of the steering wheel, parachute handle, hydro-brake, and gauge cluster.
One thing I noticed while sitting in the driver's seat is the steering wheel makes it difficult to see the gauge cluster. Not that I'll be watching it much to begin with other than the shift light, but we decided it makes more sense to place it slightly to the right of the steering wheel were the Idrive was installed.
Obviously not exactly where my head is placed in relation to the steering wheel but visibility to the gauge cluster will be limited.
Also snapped a few pics of the VTT 15" rear brake conversion I got from @Chris@VargasTurboTech. Very nice kit. I for one need the extra brake capacity in the rear because I have a 4.5" front tire (i.e. I need a higher brake bias in the rear). This will accompanied by a bias adjuster. At some point in the future the front brakes will be replaced with a pieced together Wilwood kit as well.
Last but not least, here is a pic of how the car stands at this point.
One thing I noticed while sitting in the driver's seat is the steering wheel makes it difficult to see the gauge cluster. Not that I'll be watching it much to begin with other than the shift light, but we decided it makes more sense to place it slightly to the right of the steering wheel were the Idrive was installed.
Obviously not exactly where my head is placed in relation to the steering wheel but visibility to the gauge cluster will be limited.
Also snapped a few pics of the VTT 15" rear brake conversion I got from @Chris@VargasTurboTech. Very nice kit. I for one need the extra brake capacity in the rear because I have a 4.5" front tire (i.e. I need a higher brake bias in the rear). This will accompanied by a bias adjuster. At some point in the future the front brakes will be replaced with a pieced together Wilwood kit as well.
Last but not least, here is a pic of how the car stands at this point.
this thing is gonna be nasty when it goes down the track! when do you plan on having it done and making some shakedown passes?
Sounds like I should be able to bring the car home end of Aug. All the major fab work is done now, it's just all the million and one little things. When I bring it home I'll put the body harness back in and figure out what I'm going to do with the modules since we cut off most of the mounting locations (standalone in the future), paint the interior and cage, then let her rip! Realistically, October lol.
There's also something in the works that may change this schedule all together. More on that later....
What are your thoughts on a one-piece fiberglass front end? Seems to me that it would be a “simple” way to lose 40 lbs off of the front end of the car?
My thought was that you could buy off the shelf fiberglass hood, bumper, fenders, cut out any unnecessary support structure from the hood, then essentially bond it all together and make some hold down pin locations
My thought was that you could buy off the shelf fiberglass hood, bumper, fenders, cut out any unnecessary support structure from the hood, then essentially bond it all together and make some hold down pin locations
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Haha, fair enough... I saw that the AC and the ps were out, so I thought we were already at the extreme level!That's getting into the area of extreme weight reduction, which I'm not against. Who knows where this project will go in the future. Scope has already increased significantly....started out as just a single turbo build
Getting about time to paint the roll cage! Follow this link to the thread where you can vote what color you want to see!
Well, ABS is gone. Tilton pedal box and all new clutch and brake lines going in soon!
Engine bay looks so much cleaner stripped down. Now if I can just get rid of that DME and fugly coolant reservoir....
Engine bay looks so much cleaner stripped down. Now if I can just get rid of that DME and fugly coolant reservoir....
After a slight hiatus, we're back at it. Got some interesting things coming up, but until then, here's a few teaser pics.
Enjoy!
Aluminum dash. Simple, weighs less, and looks better than a cut up and empty OEM dash.
And yea, this is happening. Rhodes Race Cars 3 gal fuel cell with -10 and -12 suction ports going in the trunk. Remember, this is a purpose built drag car...a 3 gal is even too much but wanted some freedom for "limited" driving on the street.
Enjoy!
Aluminum dash. Simple, weighs less, and looks better than a cut up and empty OEM dash.
And yea, this is happening. Rhodes Race Cars 3 gal fuel cell with -10 and -12 suction ports going in the trunk. Remember, this is a purpose built drag car...a 3 gal is even too much but wanted some freedom for "limited" driving on the street.
Yes sir. Plan is to install it over the winter. Standalone, PDM, display, and CAN keypad.
Well, one downside of eliminating the ABS and OEM master cylinder is the ugly holes left in the firewall 
At this point we might as well plug up the holes and make it look nice at least. I'm not wanting the car to be a show car by any means but don't want it to look like garbage either. So, dropped the engine and began plugging holes and hacking away at all the unnecessary mounting points. Here's an engine bay view of the drivers side.
Here's a cabin view of the drivers side.
Then this happened in preparation for what's to come
.
At the very least, when all said and done, I can say I have the cleanest engine bay on the platform.
At this point we might as well plug up the holes and make it look nice at least. I'm not wanting the car to be a show car by any means but don't want it to look like garbage either. So, dropped the engine and began plugging holes and hacking away at all the unnecessary mounting points. Here's an engine bay view of the drivers side.
Here's a cabin view of the drivers side.
Then this happened in preparation for what's to come
.At the very least, when all said and done, I can say I have the cleanest engine bay on the platform
.
Here's a better look at where I think we'll place the fuel cell. As always with my visits to the shop, I forget to take more pics because I'm too excited about checking out progress on the car and BS'ing with the owner. Anyway....it's difficult to tell but the tank is only a couple of inches rearward of the horizontal brace between the strut towers, so pretty far back. Far enough back where you won't be able to peak and see the fuel level. Undesirable yes, but I feel it's a better option than placing the tank all the way at the back of the car. Heaven forbid I get in a wreck and the rear hits the wall, punctures a hole in the tank, and the car catches fire. I'll still be able to fill with a VP jug, just need to be cautious not to overfill it I guess.
It's going to be biased to the passenger side to offset driver weight and to make up for when I go to a lightweight battery. I mean it's not like the tank and fuel will weigh a lot, tank is stupid light and 3 gal of fuel is 20 lbs, just taking a SWAG (Scientific Wild Ass Guess) on where we think it should be. If the weight isn't where we want it left to right on the rear we'll place the ice box accordingly.
And this is by far my favorite part of the build believe it or not. Tilton 800 Series pedal box. I don't know why, maybe because to me this makes it a true race car. As far as I know, outside of professional motorsports, I'm the only one that's done this to an E9X. I'll get better pics when I get the car back, but you'll see the pedals are shifted slightly to the left more than OEM. That's because it interferes with the OEM steering column. Had to draw the line somewhere so I'll use the OEM steering column for now and upgrade later (famous last words). Sitting in the car, to me, the pedal location feels fine.
If you look closely, right behind the clutch pedal, is the line AR line lock. Only using one because with ABS removed only need one. This is common in the drag racing world with ABS deletes.
And here's where the reservoir is mounted. Clean and simple. Looks so good.
Latest engine bay shot. Hood exhaust is in progress.
It's going to be biased to the passenger side to offset driver weight and to make up for when I go to a lightweight battery. I mean it's not like the tank and fuel will weigh a lot, tank is stupid light and 3 gal of fuel is 20 lbs, just taking a SWAG (Scientific Wild Ass Guess) on where we think it should be. If the weight isn't where we want it left to right on the rear we'll place the ice box accordingly.
And this is by far my favorite part of the build believe it or not. Tilton 800 Series pedal box. I don't know why, maybe because to me this makes it a true race car. As far as I know, outside of professional motorsports, I'm the only one that's done this to an E9X. I'll get better pics when I get the car back, but you'll see the pedals are shifted slightly to the left more than OEM. That's because it interferes with the OEM steering column. Had to draw the line somewhere so I'll use the OEM steering column for now and upgrade later (famous last words). Sitting in the car, to me, the pedal location feels fine.
If you look closely, right behind the clutch pedal, is the line AR line lock. Only using one because with ABS removed only need one. This is common in the drag racing world with ABS deletes.
And here's where the reservoir is mounted. Clean and simple. Looks so good.
Latest engine bay shot. Hood exhaust is in progress.
Are you planning a radiator delete and just trailer, or not there yet
For now sticking with the stock radiator and trailer. The plan is after a year of working out the bugs with the current setup then redo the front end. Going to go to a smaller rad, air to water cooler, and relocate the turbo to a front mount vs top mount.
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