Murran's E21 325i

Murran is one of the charcters of TD - an MOT tester with a penchant for painting things red - he seems to think it'll make it go faster. He also seems to like Transformers, but the less said about that the better. He and his mate Tom have been playing with this thing for ages, and the results are clear.

Bought as a standard (and very rusty) 320, this car has had a proper 'drift spec' restoration. When originally bought, it was good for nothing but scrap - and now it's one of the most beauiful cars to grace the pages of TD. The progress from a nasty, standard 320 to the gleaming drift machine it is now follows, taken from Murran's project thread.

Spec includes:
2.5 engine conversion
Old 320 flywheel used as its considerably lighter with the 2.5 clutch.
5 speed gearbox
Strut brace (home-made from a weight lifting bar and a big nut and bolt - necessitated the use of a Fiat Seicento scrapyard find coolant reservoir)
Whiteline bolt on anti roll bar kit
Aerocatch bonnet pins (Cyruz provided the inspiration)
Correct offset Mims for e21s - £50!
Tatty inner wings painted, ridiculous brake linkage stripped and painted.
E30 headlights for added seeings at dark o'clock
323i front brakes
Welded 3.46-1 ratio diff. The original is a 3.64.
Hardcore sump guard
'Wild' ECU chip
Spax dampers and -60mm (ish) lowering springs
Solid bushes

Here is how the old girl looked when Murran and Tom bought her... (click for bigger images):

At least no-one could say the car was ruined by drifting - saved to be abused!

With the power output of a 320, it was only a matter of time before the 2.0 was removed to make way for 325i power!

Murran:

Words cannot describe how much faster this car is. It's not silly quick, but it still surprises me how it just lights tyres up in 3rd when you pass 4500rpm with no clutch kick!!

Officially - faster than Murran's friend's V-TEC Jordan Civic - that apparently has an Integra engine in it.

Not that it matters 'cos his Civic is a horrid gay yellow colour and fwd.

But still! Hahaha!

Eventually, after quite a few drift days, some decent smoket pics were taken!

Oh, the redness. As we all know, red 'uns go faster.

Sump guard y0!

Already klonked on the floor coming off a speed hump, so its sporting some scratches! But at least they're not staring at the oil light afterwards thinking the worst anymore!

Having fitted the 'wild' chip, the difference wasn't earth shattering, seeming to run better but with less urgency. There was a step in the power delivery before which has now gone. The chip seemed to make it sound very harsh too, exhaust is more barky, like its chucking fuel in. It's not nice and crisp like it was.

It'll be run with it in for now, but removal is on the cards!

Update - the chip seems to have settled down somewhat. It's going like shit off a shovel!!! Comes on cam at 4k in 3rd and the rear wheels just give up their traction in the wet! Struggles for grip in 2nd in the dry.... Brawdy where are you?????

Spax's interpretation of -60mm seems to be different to Murran's...

Minus 60mm my ass! I can see the angle grinder coming out! But I'm gonna get the fronts on first and see how it feels. At the end of the day it's not how low it looks, but how well it drives!!

Pics of shinyness!

I love my Mims - although there's only one of them you could call round and true. 2 of them are true but not round. The other is definatly not round and rather wonky. This is after more twatting with a chuck of wood and a club hammer than can be healthy!

The most bent ones are on the back though, and you cant tell.

The new super duper 5 speeder:

More interestingly, solid bushes back from the chap on the E21 forum:

He's melted all the rubber out of them, set the outer bit and middle bit up on a rig to hold them in the right place and then hes filled them with poly stuff. All for £30!

They're all fitted now, and wow what a difference! Feels much more planted and solid and responsive and stuff etc etc.