Opinions on 2002 track car

[greateratlanta]

Ok guys,

I figured most of the true 2002 buffs on DTM would be lurking around here. I found this add while surfing and thought the price seemed like a great deal. The guy is asking $3000 without motor and $5000 with. Here are a few pics from the site and the url to go there:




http://home.san.rr.com/mmoble/racecarforsale.html

From what I can tell, the motor is missing carbs, radiator, and distrubutor. Can anyone else tell anything from the add/photos?

[OldSkoolBmw]

Ok mr greater atlanta lemme break it down for ya...

I purchased a fresh motor which has about 4 hours on it (this happens all the time.. people drive race engines for 4 hours and shut them off and sell them because they're so fast) , here are the stats for the motor:


~200hp at 8000 rpm (*cough bull$hit cough try 180HP*)
1.8 liter (2002's are 2L this is a late 320i motor)
Forged 12.5:1 compression race pistons
320 cam (must be alpina cam quite rare)
Fully ported and polished head
Oversized valves
Lightened and balanced bottom end

No mention of forged connecting rods.. you need them to do 8000rpm... race preped stock rods will not last for very long at that RPM... notice the redline on the tach is 7500rpm... No ignition system?... no engine wireing harness... no oil cooler.. no rear diff cooler... The nose on the car is a "late" 74-76 while the rear of the car is a "early" 68-73... someone needs to break out some wireloom.... the flares are schnitzer. Don't expect a huge weight savings with them. Stock steel is Light!... hood in fiberglass will knock about 35lbs off the car. No vehicle weight is listed... no differential is listed.. need a 3.91 for fast open tracks and a 4.11 for some of the tight ones.. they even sell a 4.50 rear gear as well.. LSD rears MUST!! have a diff cooler.... This isn't an option as they will use/ruin the diff fluid in one 30 minute race.. It will be cooked... the other option is to go quaife ($1000) or welded/locked ($20 but not as good handling) the getrag 265 is useless unless you want to break out a torch and refab the whole tranny tunnel. IT will NOT fit without major tunnel mods. You need a getrag 245 from a '80-83 e21 320i. along with that you will need a 5 spd conversion kit available from 2002haus.com to bolt that in... and a drive shaft from ardvark (sp?) racing.. the car does not look low... it maybe on coilovers but if they didn't do the VW rabbit strut cartridge modification then you can't get the car lower than 5" from the ground... no mention on wheels... they look like 14" steelies from a VW.. "Fully adjustable race suspension" make sure it has coilovers in the back.. that's a very expensive conversion due to the layout of the trailing arms.. most just put in ireland engineering rear race 5" springs which can't be jacked... no mention if the race suspension includes either solid or urethane bushings... MUST HAVE THESE!! I have video of my front tire moving back and forth 2" with stock rubber bushings in a corner.. check the fuel cell.. looks like a RCI cell which might not be legal for your racing... Also see how old it is... the bladder in those needs to be changed out yearly to biyearly.. the holley fuel pump is so overkill for two DCOE's that it will need a FPR and a return line plumbed in... the roll cage... what is it made out of?? Must now have DOM tubing cages... unless it has an issued logbook... does it have a log book?? that car is about 3k from being complete... hell man it doesn't even look like it has brake lines... unless those half bent by hand squiggly things are brake lines and I'd pull those out anyway... the gauges are like the cheapest stuff you can buy... that is a certified low budget "project"...

honest IMHO advice
buy someones ex IT racer for like $6500 and drive that... then when you want a fast motor... call me up and for $3000 we can build you a 220HP real race engine... the orange car in my sig would beat that car all day long... the grey one would pwn it...

[greateratlanta]

OldSkoolBmw,

Thanks for all of the great info you gave me in your post. After reading what you said, I had some other thoughts about the car. Obviously, the drivetrain is the biggest issue with this car. You mentioned that the getrag 265 would require major modification to the transmission tunnel. The seller mentions that he bought the car from a guy who had an s14 in it. The 265 is the tranny that would have to of been used with this motor, so I am wondering if the tunnel has already been modified. Either that or the seller is lying. Would I also be able to install the original getrag 232 4-speed, or the 242 5-speed. I am also baffled that the seller failed to mention what diff is installed. Getting one good LSD (I'd opt for the 4:10) and a diff cooler is BIGGGGGGG money..I think diff coolers are around $1,000 by themselves. Is it even possible to find used LSD's from a 320is (like a 3:90) or would I have to buy a brand new one from some place like diffsonline?? About the suspension........I imagine just the front has coilovers as the add only mentioned the front. Urethane bushings for trailing arms and differential mount wouldn't be too much hassle to install but just extra work plus coilovers. What is this VW rabbit strut cartridge modification????? Anyway, like you said the car is far from finished and needs money to be finished properly plus dealing with all the other issues of the cage not conforming to rules, engine wiring harness, ignition etc. I basically want a good DE car that I could later use from BMW CCA racing. The 2002 seems to be the most DIY friendly and fun car to drive/work on. That said, I also have a limited budget of about $5,000 for getting a car in working order. I realize this is not a cheap sport but I need to save enough money to use for maintenance, repairs, and entrance fees. Do you think the shell of the car is worth buying for say $2,500 or would I be better off just buying a IT project car like you mentioned? Please let me know and drop me a line about any cars you come across.

Thanks,
-Clayton

[cartooner_1337]

The 2002 on the site is not worth the amount of money that the guy is asking for it with or without moter. You could get yourself a 2002 from ebay for anywhere around $1500-$2500. Then have the other half of the $5000 to get it race ready (cage and other such things). From what I hear it dosn't take too much to get a m10 moter up to race spec.

[greateratlanta]

Thanks for the info and suggestions guys, looks like the search will have to continue.