Ready to Race
Our BMW 325i aka E30 is actually ready to hit the track. Today I finished the last few items and loaded up the car so I have nothing to do on Friday except connect the truck and hit the road.
Old Fuel Pump
After realizing the old pump on the right side of tank wasn’t working I had to order a new one and replace it. That was the first task of the day.
Old broke on the right, new hotness on the left.
Testing to Confirm Dead
Since I have the tools to do it, I figured why not. And yep it’s dead Jim. Pulled around 13 amperes when connected and no movement or noise. Clearly seized, I suspect from running it dry way too often during cornering starvation.
Oh well, just tossing in a new one for mechanical suffering. This one ran for 4-5 years and that is way longer than any other part of the car with its current lifestyle.
After pulling off the old pump I ran into some headaches with the new one. Different connectors that were not interchangeable.
Time to test a new technique for pulling off crimped terminals (trying to save wire length and avoid soldering on a new piece). Ended up using my awl and a hammer to spread the crimped portion out, then slowly prying it apart with plyers. From there it was easy peezy to crimp on the new ones and fight the pump to get everything together.
Skittles… Blue Camaro, Red LS Miata, Orange Cremesicle, Green E30, White 240SX
Quick Testing
I took it around the block a few times to make sure there weren’t any major rattles or issues.
Brakes felts solid, engine running smoothly, gearbox whining like normal, few loose rattles in the rear but I still had a few parts in the trunk. Overall ready for the track. Took it to the nearby gas station to top off the tank and fill up four fuel jugs. Really nothing left to do. Even the tires are set to 30 psi on all corners.
It also passed the most important test of them all. The wing can hold my beer. Check.
We shall see all the crazy racing nuts at the track on Friday afternoon!
