kolosy build / track journal-ish

[omgzirra_exe]

Originally Posted by kolosy

Any other "while you're in there" bits? I'll do the m-porium vanos cups since the engine will need retiming anyway, too...

spend the money it's worth it. WPC treat the mains and the rod bearings (if they aren't already coated)

[kolosy]

Originally Posted by omgzirra_exe

spend the money it's worth it. WPC treat the mains and the rod bearings (if they aren't already coated)

Does BE sell wpc coated bearings? Or do you recommend ACL instead because of that?

[omgzirra_exe]

Originally Posted by kolosy

Does BE sell wpc coated bearings? Or do you recommend ACL instead because of that?

I think Mporium already WPC treats their ACL bearings so that should be fine.

I think most people aren't regularly replacing main bearings and kept in stock so you'd probably have to get those WPC treated separately.

I've also been hearing bad things about BE bearings recently, but that's within my circle, it had do with double checking their measurements.. not a big deal but the extra clearance ones have been on for ever backorder anyways.

[tdott]

Originally Posted by omgzirra_exe

the extra clearance ones have been on for ever backorder anyways.

I don't think they have been on backorder for a while now, while they do occasionally do run out between shipments, it's not "Forever".

I've placed orders in Sept, Oct and Dec, and they've been in stock and shipped quickly.

I've had no issues with BEs, aside from them sometimes being out of stock a few times in the past. But I always recommend people place orders in advance and not wait last minute to order.

[jmeenach]

Originally Posted by omgzirra_exe

I've also been hearing bad things about BE bearings recently, but that's within my circle, it had do with double checking their measurements.. not a big deal but the extra clearance ones have been on for ever backorder anyways.

How recent is recent? I had coated BE bearings installed almost 3 years ago, around 11k miles on the car since install. I was going to replace again in 50k miles (so 39k from now) for peace of mind, do I need to be concerned?

[kolosy]

what do people think about engine mounts? since the motor's going to be pulled it's a good time to do them (and while i don't think i'm on the original ones, the rod bearings were 40k ago so they aren't new anyway).

i was thinking going with solid mounts, but found older threads that say you then need solid trans mounts and to reinforce the front subframe.. is that right? should i go with poly then?

[bigjae1976]

Originally Posted by kolosy

what do people think about engine mounts? since the motor's going to be pulled it's a good time to do them (and while i don't think i'm on the original ones, the rod bearings were 40k ago so they aren't new anyway).

i was thinking going with solid mounts, but found older threads that say you then need solid trans mounts and to reinforce the front subframe.. is that right? should i go with poly then?

You at least need fresh OEM trans mounts with solid engine mounts. But you do want both to be solid.

The subframe is aluminum which is relatively soft. I would eventually reinforce the mounting areas if using solid mounts.

Poly is garbage...100% of the time. Just stick with OEM or go solid.

[tsk94]

Personally, I'd do the Bimmerworld Group N style engine mounts + Revshift 80 or 95A trans mounts. I had this combo on my manual E92 race car, and it worked well. Before upgrading both, I have occasional issues with grinding with a chassis mounted shifter. No issues after.
I also run these BW engine mounts on my E36 race car now.

https://www.bimmerworld.com/BimmerWo...Mount-Set.html

Solid sucks imo, even on a full on track/race car... So much extra and unnecessary vibration. Certain cars have less harmonics and are more tolerable with solid mounts, but still. I strongly believe some type of vibration absorption in the mounts is a good thing for longevity. I ran solid engine and trans on my E36 for 1 event this past summer. It was terrible. They was so much excessive NVH that I was genuinely worried about it causing premature wear and tear/failure of other components. It vibrated so bad that my headlights would disconnect mid session, as the plug rattled it's way loose

[GeorgeH]

Not S65 data, but with the S54 endurance race car we found the best option for engine mounts was rubber. IMO solid just sends unnecessary vibration into to the chassis and is really hard on parts.

We run the Rogue transmission mounts as they seem to last longer, but they are easy to replace and stock are cheap if you are ok with changing them out more frequently.

[omgzirra_exe]

Originally Posted by jmeenach

How recent is recent? I had coated BE bearings installed almost 3 years ago, around 11k miles on the car since install. I was going to replace again in 50k miles (so 39k from now) for peace of mind, do I need to be concerned?

probably not, this was more pre-install issue than it was post. you're fine.

[omgzirra_exe]

Originally Posted by kolosy

what do people think about engine mounts? since the motor's going to be pulled it's a good time to do them (and while i don't think i'm on the original ones, the rod bearings were 40k ago so they aren't new anyway).

i was thinking going with solid mounts, but found older threads that say you then need solid trans mounts and to reinforce the front subframe.. is that right? should i go with poly then?

I gave up after blowing through two Corteco mounts from frequent track days and just switched to RevShift 95A green poly mounts. Then I said whatever and threw in the green trans mount too. I just bumped my idle a bit to tame the extra vibration.

The car already rattles, so at this point I don’t care.

RevShift makes a black 80A poly engine mount now, which should have noticeably less vibration than the green 95A if someone wants something a little more livable.

[former 240 s14]

I've been happy with my Vibra-technics on my track car. Just make sure the bolts are tight, they like to Vibra(te) loose lol.

Rubin

[jmeenach]

Originally Posted by omgzirra_exe

I gave up after blowing through two Corteco mounts from frequent track days and just switched to RevShift 95A green poly mounts. Then I said whatever and threw in the green trans mount too. I just bumped my idle a bit to tame the extra vibration.

The car already rattles, so at this point I don’t care.

RevShift makes a black 80A poly engine mount now, which should have noticeably less vibration than the green 95A if someone wants something a little more livable.

I put in 95A trans mounts when I installed the BW engine mounts, and the vibration was so aggressive I nicknamed my car the taint tickler. The 80A was much better lol

[kolosy]

had an interesting conversation with Claude about my wing failure, and general oscillation I was seeing. I thought I was being clever with creating my own mounting plates out of bent aluminum. I guess not (with the standard caveat of it may have hallucinated the entire answer but it sounds plausible)...

I think I'm going to try to go to Zeb-style plates to the hinge strut mounts.

i have a large swan neck spoiler mounted on tall (12") uprights. the uprights are attached to the trunk with L brackets that were bent to shape, and it oscillates side to side. is there something inherently unstable in this design vs a bolt through the trunk directly into the upright?

Yes, there's a fundamental structural difference that explains the oscillation.

The core issue: moment arms and lever flexibility

When you bolt an upright directly through the trunk lid, the fastener axis is aligned with (or very close to) the upright itself. Lateral loads from the spoiler (crosswinds, aero turbulence, vibration) are resisted in shear directly through the bolt and the trunk skin — it's a relatively stiff load path.

With an L-bracket, you've introduced a couple of problems:

1. The bend is a compliance point. No matter how thick the material, a bent bracket acts like a spring. Sheet metal or plate bent into an L has significantly less stiffness against lateral loads than a straight member in the same direction. The bend wants to flex, and under cyclic aero loading it will oscillate. This gets worse the taller the upright — your 12" height creates a long moment arm that multiplies small forces at the spoiler into large moments at the bracket bend.

2. Eccentricity / offset loading. The L-bracket moves the attachment point away from the centerline of the upright. Lateral forces on the spoiler don't just create shear at the bolt — they create a twisting moment on the bracket. A direct-mount bolt resists this in pure shear; the L-bracket has to resist it in bending, which it's much weaker at.

3. Two joints instead of one. You have the bracket-to-trunk fasteners *and* the bracket-to-upright fasteners. Each joint has some play or compliance, and they compound. A direct through-bolt has one joint.

Fixes, in order of effectiveness:

- Triangulate. Add a diagonal gusset or brace from partway up each upright back down to the trunk surface. This converts the lateral load from a bending problem into a tension/compression problem, which is dramatically stiffer. Even a thin steel cable or rod as a diagonal brace would help a lot.

- Stiffen the bracket. Weld or bolt a gusset plate into the inside corner of each L-bracket, turning it from an L into a triangle. This resists the bending at the bend point.

- Switch to a direct through-mount with a backing plate under the trunk lid. This is the most common approach for tall uprights for exactly the reasons you're experiencing.

- Add a cross-brace between the two uprights (behind or under the spoiler wing) to make them work as a frame rather than two independent cantilevers.

The triangulation approach is the key insight — tall uprights with no diagonal bracing are cantilever beams, and cantilevers are inherently flexible at the tip. That's true whether they're L-bracketed or direct-bolted, but the L-bracket makes it much worse.

[kolosy]

Sheeee’s baaaack!

Decided to hold on the rebuild for the time being and jumped on a set of MCS 3 ways that popped up on FS (and turned out they were from someone I knew locally).

So now she’s on those freshly rebuilt 3 ways (true rear coilover), 800 front / 700 rear springs and I rounded the suspension rebuild out with full SPL kinematics in the front. Can’t wait to get out on track and try it out.

Was relieved that I’m able to fit a 295/30 tire in the front (at least in Hoosier track attack pro sizing) on my 18x11 et30 rims with a 15mm spacer. I had picked up a few sets over the winter aiming at the gts, but now they’ll go here.

Let’s go!

Also — those of you running remotes, how did you mount the front canisters? The shop stuck them in those spots by the drains, but they’re relatively loose there. Any other suggestions?

[omgzirra_exe]

engine cowl is best spot.

[kolosy]

Originally Posted by omgzirra_exe

engine cowl is best spot.

Meaning where they put it? Do you do anything to secure them further? They’re just sitting there.

[DrFerry]

Originally Posted by former 240 s14

I've been happy with my Vibra-technics on my track car. Just make sure the bolts are tight, they like to Vibra(te) loose lol.

Rubin

And they like to fail prematurely too.
https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1794884

[former 240 s14]

Originally Posted by DrFerry

And they like to fail prematurely too.
https://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1794884

GOOD to know....annoying to know lol!

Rubin

[omgzirra_exe]

Originally Posted by kolosy

Meaning where they put it? Do you do anything to secure them further? They’re just sitting there.

You'll probably have to use a p-clamp to the diameter of the canister. Or use something like this

https://walshmo.com/products/jrz-coi...cgJFycgSfvhyPk

The one showing them installed is using MCS reservoir mounts from Buildjournal.

[kolosy]

Originally Posted by omgzirra_exe

You'll probably have to use a p-clamp to the diameter of the canister. Or use something like this

https://walshmo.com/products/jrz-coi...cgJFycgSfvhyPk

The one showing them installed is using MCS reservoir mounts from Buildjournal.

3d printing time!

[omgzirra_exe]

Originally Posted by kolosy

3d printing time!

Yeah, it doesn't seem too difficult to mock up on cad.

Get the diameter of the reservoir, set the ID to match the reservoir, set the OD thickness, and figure out where you want the mounting point to be.