Huge Forum Update for E36 Project #Hellrotten

The 2nd installment in our very detailed Forum Build Thread for this 1995 M3 shows work we have done from July into December 2024 on this barn find E36 we call Project #Hellrotten – both from the “Hellrot” factory color as well as the fact that it needed a good bit of restoration to make it into the Vorshlag team of track cars. Hundreds of pictures and videos are linked within this latest post. Vorshlag co-owner Amy will pilot this car next season in SCCA Time Trial competition, so we had a lot of work to do this Fall to get her ride reliable and fast. We have already put this car through two track tests and have another lined up in just a matter of days, to get ready for the 2025 season.

In this linked installment we show the restoration and race prep we performed over a 5 month period. This included a complete cooling system upgrade, with Mishimoto radiator, electric fan, radiator hoses, reservoir, a new water pump, and more. We also chased vacuum leaks in various forms, replaced an injector, added Vorshlag engine and transmission mounts, and so many other little repairs to get this 2.99L S50 BMW engine running strong and reliably. Of course we added an oil pump shaft/sprocket upgrade as well as an oil pan baffle kit from Achilles Motorsports, to keep this inline 6 supplied with oil when pushing hard on track. A good bit of detail time was spent underhood making this M3 look better than the day when it was new.

The suspension upgrades made to this car were extensive and included Motion Control Suspension “RR2” remote reservoir double adjustables, with Vorshlag camber plates and shock mounts. SPL Parts rear arms and sphericals, the entire Powerflex catalog of poly bushings, Whiteline adjustable swaybars, and even some elusive Hotchkis rear end links. The venerable RTAB bushing was replaced with sealed spherical Moog parts, and a Vorshlag welded RTAB pocket reinforcement keeps all of that squared away. We completely rebuilt the entire rear subframe assembly and detailed everything we touched along the way.

The interior needed a major clean up, but it turned out nice with Sparco EVO QRT racing buckets, MOMO Montecarlo 350mm Alcantera steering wheel, and an NRG QR hub – with a working horn button. We cover the development of new Vorshlag E36 seat bracket base mounts, which evolved over several weeks in this car. This E36 also got a custom mount for the Garmin Catalyst lap timer, USB ports, a modified 4-point roll bar, Sparco 6-point harnesses, and a custom rear bulkhead panel to separate the passenger cabin from the trunk. You can read the huge 5-part forum entry starting here. Thanks for following along and encouraging us with this 30 year old race car build – we’ve had fun developing new parts for the E36 chassis, which is as popular now as it ever was!

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