Liam's Z4C race car project

brillomaster · Post by **brillomaster** » Mon May 18, 2020 8:32 am

that is ginormous! but super cool... because racecar. looking forward to seeing the first shakedown!

Vanne · Post by **Vanne** » Wed May 20, 2020 4:56 am

Nice work Liam, that will provide some much needed downforce.

Liam22 · Post by **Liam22** » Thu May 21, 2020 10:43 pm

Z4C_er wrote: ↑Sun May 17, 2020 10:14 pm That is huge!!! Do you have any adjust-ability?

Yes, the wing is adjustable, but I think I need to drill a few more holes so I can take some more rake off it.

Last of the big jobs was to make a replacement dash panel and fit all the necessary bits and bobs. Took a good few hours to trim it neatly to match the curves of the dash.

After realising I was going to need to keep the heater controls (to bleed water pump) I wanted to hide it, so extended the dash panel down to the transmission tunnel. This turned out to be a convenient place to mount the DSC and Sport buttons.

With the fire extinguisher, battery isolator, and necessary stickers, it now looks like a race car inside and out!

: 20200517_165539.jpg (235.96 KiB) Viewed 1270 times

A race car is never "finished" but at this stage we can call it 'ready'

Also seems that I've stretched it out just as the circuits are reopening. Got a test day booked for Snetterton next Thursday!

lucasxdiniz · Post by **lucasxdiniz** » Thu May 21, 2020 11:15 pm

Liam22 wrote: ↑Thu May 21, 2020 10:43 pm
A race car is never "finished" but at this stage we can call it 'ready'

Also seems that I've stretched it out just as the circuits are reopening. Got a test day booked for Snetterton next Thursday!

Looking very nice! Enjoy the test day

Any plans for the shifter?

enuff_zed · Post by **enuff_zed** » Fri May 22, 2020 7:59 am

Liam22 wrote: ↑Thu May 21, 2020 10:43 pm
Z4C_er wrote: ↑Sun May 17, 2020 10:14 pm That is huge!!! Do you have any adjust-ability?
Yes, the wing is adjustable, but I think I need to drill a few more holes so I can take some more rake off it.

Last of the big jobs was to make a replacement dash panel and fit all the necessary bits and bobs. Took a good few hours to trim it neatly to match the curves of the dash.

After realising I was going to need to keep the heater controls (to bleed water pump) I wanted to hide it, so extended the dash panel down to the transmission tunnel. This turned out to be a convenient place to mount the DSC and Sport buttons.

With the fire extinguisher, battery isolator, and necessary stickers, it now looks like a race car inside and out!

20200517_165539.jpg

A race car is never "finished" but at this stage we can call it 'ready'

Also seems that I've stretched it out just as the circuits are reopening. Got a test day booked for Snetterton next Thursday!

That's interesting? 3 miles from me! Working from home but could possibly sneak out.
Do you know if they will let others in, just to watch?

MrPT · Post by **MrPT** » Fri May 22, 2020 8:29 am

lucasxdiniz wrote: ↑Thu May 21, 2020 11:15 pm
Any plans for the shifter?

What he said. Or are you keeping it as a monument to the car it used to be?

Looks bloody awesome - hope the test goes well.

Liam22 · Post by **Liam22** » Fri May 22, 2020 11:45 am

I quite like the OEM shift knob, but it does look a bit pedestrian!

I'm open to suggestions, provided that they use the OEM fitting (no grub screws) and don't add weight.

Had wondered if the BMW Mini (F55) shifter would be a straight swap...

enuff_zed · Post by **enuff_zed** » Fri May 22, 2020 4:05 pm

enuff_zed wrote: ↑Fri May 22, 2020 7:59 am
Liam22 wrote: ↑Thu May 21, 2020 10:43 pm
Z4C_er wrote: ↑Sun May 17, 2020 10:14 pm That is huge!!! Do you have any adjust-ability?
Yes, the wing is adjustable, but I think I need to drill a few more holes so I can take some more rake off it.

Last of the big jobs was to make a replacement dash panel and fit all the necessary bits and bobs. Took a good few hours to trim it neatly to match the curves of the dash.

After realising I was going to need to keep the heater controls (to bleed water pump) I wanted to hide it, so extended the dash panel down to the transmission tunnel. This turned out to be a convenient place to mount the DSC and Sport buttons.

With the fire extinguisher, battery isolator, and necessary stickers, it now looks like a race car inside and out!

20200517_165539.jpg

A race car is never "finished" but at this stage we can call it 'ready'

Also seems that I've stretched it out just as the circuits are reopening. Got a test day booked for Snetterton next Thursday!
That's interesting? 3 miles from me! Working from home but could possibly sneak out.
Do you know if they will let others in, just to watch?

Bugger!

INFORMATION
PLEASE NOTE SPECTATORS ARE NOT PERMITTED DUE TO COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS

That's a no then.
Oh well, hope it all goes well for you anyway.

GAZA62 · Post by **GAZA62** » Fri May 22, 2020 5:21 pm

That's interesting? 3 miles from me! Working from home but could possibly sneak out.
Do you know if they will let others in, just to watch?
[/quote]

Bugger!

INFORMATION
PLEASE NOTE SPECTATORS ARE NOT PERMITTED DUE TO COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS

That's a no then.
Oh well, hope it all goes well for you anyway.
[/quote]

Had the same thought in the week when I saw test days running as I am only 15 mins from Brands

Vanne · Post by **Vanne** » Tue May 26, 2020 9:36 am

Dash panel looks really good Liam, and sturdy as hell too i bet. Is it just plate alu? effective and light. nice job

Pics and vids of the shakedown, or it never happened

safe drive mate!

Liam22 · Post by **Liam22** » Tue May 26, 2020 9:49 am

Vanne wrote: ↑Tue May 26, 2020 9:36 am Dash panel looks really good Liam, and sturdy as hell too i bet. Is it just plate alu?

It's aluminium composite sheet (3mm thick). Same stuff as I used for the door cards.

It's a sandwich of polyethylene between two faces of super-thin, 0.3mm aluminium. Stiff, light, and easy to work with. Much nicer to cut than regular aluminium sheet. Comes as one side gloss, one side matt.

Liam22 · Post by **Liam22** » Sat May 30, 2020 5:35 pm

Felt great to be out on track again

Started off with an installation lap just to check for vibrations, wing flex, strange noises. All good. Also got the rear brakes bedded in.

After a few laps the lap times started falling but the car has some turn-in understeer that it never had before. Must be down to the LSD. Added rear wing angle and it didn't get worse, so the aero is working. And the LSD is awesome. My biggest worry was that I had bollocksed up the rebuild and it would explode. The traction out of the hairpins is amazing, and when it breaks loose you can still accelerate with power oversteer - lovely.

Spanner check during the lunchbreak found both rear lower control arms loose at the adjuster. Otherwise good. Apart from the exhaust is melting the rear bumper!

: 20200528_125714.jpg (326.75 KiB) Viewed 1092 times

After lunch the lap times started getting slower so I changed the wheels for a set with fresh tyres. Switching from Federal 595RSR 225/44R17 square to Nangkang AR1 staggered with 245/40R17 on the rear.

: 20200528_150742.jpg (265.25 KiB) Viewed 1092 times

What a difference! Now I can apply full throttle out of the turn 2 hairpin (2nd gear) without any wheelspin.

Finished the day with a 2:11.35

Very chuffed with that - should be competitive - but there are a few issues to sort out.

1. Steering angle sensor not reading any right hand inputs. Not really an issue as that just cancels DSC but keeps ABS (perfect), but the lights are annoying.

2. Radiator light comes and goes, combined with 2E83 code means I probably have some air in the cooling system.

3. Vanos exhaust solenoid fault code (2A87), and a noticeable loss of power in the afternoon. Top speed on the back straight dropped from 126 to 123mph (GPS speed).

4. Unable to read oil level with the digital dipstick. Just sits there reading but never finishes. However, I noticed that my Creator C310+ scanner shows the oil level with engine off so I'll do an oil change and take a reading with the correct fill volume.

: 20200530_111455.jpg (210.52 KiB) Viewed 1092 times

Any suggested fixes for the above would be most welcome, but I think I can resolve them one way or another!

Now I just need for racing to resume. Fingers crossed for July...

Liam22 · Post by **Liam22** » Sat May 30, 2020 9:48 pm

My camera died but got a few early laps recorded. Here's one

lucasxdiniz · Post by **lucasxdiniz** » Sat May 30, 2020 10:09 pm

Liam22 wrote: ↑Sat May 30, 2020 9:48 pm My camera died but got a few early laps recorded. Here's one
[youtube]https://youtu.be/toSvQeIOPQ4[/youtube]

Great posts as usual! I was hoping to see footage of a lap - it's insane how much crispier your turn-ins are compared to the other Z4s I've driven/watched videos of.

And as for embedded YT links you only need the part after the equals sign or slash - "toSvQeIOPQ4". Then it works properly.

Ed Doe · Post by **Ed Doe** » Sat May 30, 2020 10:42 pm

Liam22 wrote: ↑Fri May 22, 2020 11:45 am I quite like the OEM shift knob, but it does look a bit pedestrian!

I'm open to suggestions, provided that they use the OEM fitting (no grub screws) and don't add weight.

Had wondered if the BMW Mini (F55) shifter would be a straight swap...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/184305765877

I have this shifter in my M - cracking bit of kit imo

Just about to watch your videos, looking forward to it

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