A race bmw 316, m10, s14, m20, turbo, na, its been the lot!

[Graham]

Re: worlds most powerfull bmw 316?

cheers gary

beemer was going well wasn't it, lots more to come too, i wasn't pushing the chassis or brakes hard, im amazed how well it all coped with the power, it could get very interesting as number crunching shows i've matched Rods car on the power to weight ratio front.

mending that F***** alfa is getting to be something of a habit, its owner pays a fortune to his engine/car builder, who takes for ever, charges a fortune and send back a car more unreliable than the whole 1970's 80's british leyland range of cars put together, it regulary breaks due to bad prep, and the builder charges to put the mistakes in prep right

i cannot understand why the cars owner keeps going back to be ripped off, but as he's a friend i just pick the pieces up at the events where i can.

[Graham]

Re: worlds most powerfull bmw 316?

it would seem that the prop coupling is struggling to cope with the power!

for a few laps at lydden i had Bill richards on my bumper in his BDA engined metro, apparenty every gear change i lit the rear end and laid some rubber down even going into 5th!

so i guess its quite good at absorbing the shock loadings on the transmission and probably saving me from breaking other bits of transmission i shall stick to using std ones

[Retromotorsport]

Re: worlds most powerfull bmw 316?

Things to do between race's

1 check fluids
2 check fixings
3 check tyres
4 replace prop doughnut




Nice to have a link thats a swap out acting as a trans saver though

[Graham]

combe update

bit of another disaster actually, 2nd lap of practise oil filter housing gasket let go! which is something that never happens, but it did. anyway i borrowed? some gasket paper and made a new one, starting race 1 at the back of the grid, which was a major handy cap, my only experience of combe is a couple of sprints 6 years ago and a track day 12 years ago before the place even had chicanes in a std renault 18!

anyway even without a clue as to braking points let alone turning points, not getting a practise i haddn't realised just how bumpy combe is, and the dampers were way too soft but even so, i worked my way up from 30th to 15th, towards the end of the race the water temp was getting rather high , so i backed off for the last few laps and just held position.

back in the paddock gave the shocks a couple of clicks, only to realise later on they needed a couple more still, i also spotted a crack in the exhaust manifold, oh dear, fingers were crossed that it would stop at a crack, it didn't, the engine went like a rocket for a few laps, before the crack became a huge split and full boost became a mere 0.2 bar, i tried really hard, and made the beemer very wide, but lack of track time, not enough damping and sod all power ment i finished but down in 19th slot, still at least i finished twice, and was lucky to still have a turbo attached to the engine at all

[david_white]

Re: worlds most powerfull bmw 316?

Unlucky Graham, but I'm sure you will run out of things to break soon and podium finishes are on the cards Sounds like you did your best though and i have to admit my knowledge of castle gloom is a bit on the vague side too now

Does your engine move too much on the mounts do you think, cos it seams to break whatever you bolt to it?
Maybe a better mounting system for the engine over the winter might help?

Hopefully you'll get the beast sorted enough for Brands and we'll see both TS cars in contention for class wins pray:

[Graham]

Re: worlds most powerfull bmw 316?

maybe thats the problem, i'm only ever due one podium and i've already had it, first race of the year,

the engine doesn't move around to much, its farly stiffly mounted, in fact engine mounts are HD RS2000.

i think the earlier oil line fractures were down to vibration, its well known that m10's S14's aren't the smoothest things around, especially with the long stroke 2.5 crank and the heavy forged V6 ford pistons, the fact that the same parts didn't break last year on a very similar m10 bottom end is probably down to RPM, i use 1000-1500rpm more than with the m10.

i think the gasket failure was just bad luck, although i've never had one fail before the origonal bmw design is'nt brilliant as it has a long unsupported section of gasket at a point where the gasket itself is quite slender.

over the years i've got used to bits dropping off engines unless very well attached, main battery feed starter cables for one, i used to break no end of the crimped on terminals until i switched to a bolt togther design intended for marine use.

as for the manifold, to be honest it was to be expected at some time, turbo manifolds often crack let alone DIY fabrcated ones, i do need to think about how i might improve it, idealy have one made, but its about £1500 to get it done in the right material niconel i believe is the material to use for its low expansion and ability to withstand enormous heat.

for the moment i shall just weld the manifold back up and hope that its worked out its stresses so its the shape it wants to be and wont crack again

[david_white]

Re: worlds most powerfull bmw 316?

the engine doesn't move around to much, its farly stiffly mounted, in fact engine mounts are HD RS2000.

i think the earlier oil line fractures were down to vibration, its well known that m10's S14's aren't the smoothest things around, especially with the long stroke 2.5 crank and the heavy forged V6 ford pistons,

i see, so your blaming the Ford parts then are you, the RS mounts and V6 pistons

[Graham]

Re: worlds most powerfull bmw 316?

gotta be the ford bits breaking it, the turbos is mainly ford, coil and leads zetec/cvh, crank trigger fiesta hcs and the intercooler is RS 500 its also got a mk2 esc pedal box in there as well so that will help break it all the more


might as well lay some blame on the ecotec crank pulley and alfa romeo header tank while were at it cos bmw parts dont break

actually with the exception of the pistons its built out of what was laying around, so those ford bits are doing a pretty good job :tumblewee

[david_white]

Re: worlds most powerfull bmw 316?

LOL Graham Funny enough my V6 cosworth engine has absolutely no BMW parts in it whatsoever
Still probably has just as many German parts in it though

Getting back to the topic, do you have any pics of your turbo manifold?

[mk1 gaz]

Re: worlds most powerfull bmw 316?

a wise man once said " to win a race , you have to finish a race " so turn the boost down first and uprate everything before turning it back up again .

[Graham]

Re: worlds most powerfull bmw 316?

a wise man once said " to win a race , you have to finish a race " so turn the boost down first and uprate everything before turning it back up again .

very true, although the engine only ever runs quite low boost, it only needs a 16psi to produce its max power.

it doesn't help that i'm doing things the hardway by developing a turbo motor that basically no one turbos, if i ran a cossy all the info as to what needs doing is already out there, i've got to find out the hard way.

still it puts a big grin on my face when others are cranking silly boost figs into ther Yb's and i just sail past

[david_white]

Re: worlds most powerfull bmw 316?

it doesn't help that i'm doing things the hardway by developing a turbo motor that basically no one turbos, if i ran a cossy all the info as to what needs doing is already out there, i've got to find out the hard way.

still it puts a big grin on my face when others are cranking silly boost figs into ther Yb's and i just sail past

[mk1 gaz]

Re: worlds most powerfull bmw 316?

i know what you mean about the big boost used by many which is not needed . My 1.4 litre pushrod renault 5 gordini turbo is making 190 bhp on 15 psi of boost using a only tiny carb . God knows what it would produce with decent parts bolted to it . I hope you solve the breakages soon

[Graham]

Re: worlds most powerfull bmw 316?

heres some cracked manifold pics

[david_white]

Re: worlds most powerfull bmw 316?

Just spotted these pics Graham, must say it doesn't fill me with confidence about mounting my turbos


Could you have something cast rather than welded tubes. This should be a bit stronger and more flexible. My manifolds are cast and look really strong, the problem is though I haven't got a TVR or sierra width engine bay, so the turbos dont go straight on