Schaut Speed Racing Blog

One of the philosophies (er, crazy ideas?) of Chump racing is that all the cars are to run with whatever stock, used parts are on the car.  And if something breaks, it gets replaced with similar old, used, dirty parts…

So in the best interest of following this rule (after all, we don’t want any penalty laps) and knowing that some spare parts were going to be necessary (like those RR dampers and mounts, other suspension bits) I went searching for a suitable lot of spare parts.  And since these cars in semi-drivable condition are so inexpensive, the best way to do this was to simply get a whole other car.

What I picked up was an 1997 325 IS, automatic.  Being the same year and another 2-door, (even the same base color), the ‘is’ has almost the same wiring, same basically everything else expect for the engine (the i cars had a chunk more power than the e).  A bit pricier at $500, but some good usable parts for us, and other parts to sell and fund the project.

The bad - it doesn’t like to run past idle (I’m expecting an issue with the automatic trans), it has some rust (like the large rust hole in the passenger footwell area) and one gawd awful paint job.

The good - That awful pain scheme would actually be good for Chump…  There is usable suspension bits and other usable spares.  There are even a few good tires on it (along with 2 very odd and large tires…) And we will most likely take the engine out of this car, along with the entire rear sub-frame (”i” cars also have a better gear ratio) and convert the ‘es’ to an ‘is’.

Or maybe we will just put the manual trans from the es car into this one…  I guess it all depends on which one has a more robust chassis.  Both have rust.  We will find out soon-ish.   Either way, Schaut Speed Racing will be fielding a ‘87 325 IS.

And so now we have 2, practically twins.  Such a pair.  Evokes memories of famous female duos.  And considering the past and original intentions of these cars, along with what future plans Schaut Speed Racing has in store for these two, it seems to me that “Thelma and Louise” is the best fit.

So, without further ado, let me introduce:

Thelma is the ‘driver’ es, the better looking of the 2 and destined to grow for the bubbly/fun but standard housewife(’s car) into a spirited troublemaker.

Thelma - '87 325 ES

Louise is the ‘donor’ “is”; complete with the unknown, troubled past, but with a good heart and potential (especially to help Thelma come out of her skin).

Louise - '87 325 IS

Time will tell which one will be chosen to become the SSM steed, tearing up the tracks.  But do not dispair, since the 2 will eventually become 1, both Thelma and Louise will carry on in spirit and heart.

Winter has arrived here in Michigan, and there may be a good amount of snow and ice covering most of the ground, but luckily, I was able to get out for that first test drive well before summer turned straight into winter…

And great news!  Both driver and car survived its first trip, unscathed and happy!

The good: Bliss!   Everything works!

OK, that was an outright fabrication.  Most stuff works.  Well, at least most of the important stuff anyway…. OK, most of the important stuff mostly works.  Or will shortly… um, perhaps I should label this part ‘the bad’…

Lets put it another way.  I have a great base to build a fun Chump car and will have the opportunity to learn all the mechanical bits there are to know about an E30!  Its all in the way you say it, right?  Heck, I was already planning on going through everything already anyway…. (dang it, I’m running out of space on my project board….)

Here she is, in good company in the Schaut Speed garage, awaiting the initial pre-test drive work.

Seriously though, there was some good from that initial assessment run.  A few trips around the neighborhood revealed that the engine appears to be healthy, the clutch is in good condition, the brakes work great (at least now they do!), suspension isn’t as bad as I thought it would be and the car feels fairly solid.

As can be expected from a $250 car, there are some issues.  Most notable fix it issues are:

• The meter gauges are wacked out - RPMs read, sometimes.   Fuel gauge fluctuates randomly.  As does the coolant temp.  At least the speedometer and odometer seem to be working.  Dash lights are not.  So, that’s what those blue LEDs were for….
• Rear suspension is shot.  At the very least, the top mounts are destroyed.  Although I knew this from simply looking in the trunk and seeing top rubber damper mount split, allowing the rear springs to basically do whatever they want, and the damper shaft banging and clunking around.    This is a common failure and will be replaced, with some reinforcements added when the cage is installed.


Dirty, dirty suspension... Check the top of the damper - its not supposed to be loose.

• Steering.   Not sure where to start with this one.   I feel like I’m trying to control a sleigh through a boulder field… varying light/very high efforts, and some weird delay feelings. Hopefully this is simply a fluid issue.  Which could partially explain why there were a few bottles of power steering fluid left in the engine bay…
• Drivers seatbelt.. broken.  Held together with a few of those pink zip ties…

Oh boy...

• Tires are barely good enough to hold the car up.  Not a real concern since we will be putting some new rubber onto new wheels for track duty.  But still, when the metal cords are starting to wear away, its time to replace the tire….  Out of the 5 received, there are 3 different brands and really only 3 tires with usable tread left.

Those little metal bits help with traction, right?

But overall, not terrible.  And now that I know what we have to start with, the project can begin!

The next step is to get some of that basic maintenence done, some extra cleaning and fix the big issues.  Then it’ll be time to get some base-line performance numbers!

Random stuff.

Anyone who has ever bought a used car has most likely come across some items left behind by the previous owner.  Thelma is not an exception to that rule.  Here’s a collection of some of the extras and weird stuff in the car.

• Socks and roll of duct tape.  Both of which were soaked in a rusty mess.  both of which had been used to “hold” the battery in place….
• Bunch of small pink zip ties.  Used for various things throughout the car - including the driver seatbelt…  I think I’ll keep these and make sure they get used on the final Chump build.
• Funnel, a few bottles of power steering fluid (uh oh… is this a sign of a problem?), a few bottles of brake fluid, a can of WD40 and some rags.  All left in the engine compartment.
• A few nice/new screw drivers (WIN!!!)
• A Techno CD - mixed by the kid himself  (favorite song on the album goes something like “Do it, do it, do it now”.  And repeat).
• These cool blue LED lights (not sure what exactly for yet…)
• 6 or 7 writing utensils
• An unidentified electrical device.  It plugs into something.  What, I don’t know.

With all the fun stuff I found, combined with the handful of change, value of car is now down to about $240.  Bonus!

OK, clean-up done.   And now back to your regular scheduled program.

I’ve had a few months now with the Chumpster - about time for an update, eh?

Well, the car made it home and was unloaded into the garage without any interesting adventures (the uphill driveway and wheel chocks in the garage helped on that, since the brakes did not magically start working on the drive home).

The car has had some work done (Like a bath.  And BRAKES!), and I’ve been ‘testing’ it as much as I can.  And by ‘testing’ I mean driving back and forth from work.  Seems to be working fine for the most part and I’ve even put about 400 miles on her.  Yup, she got a name as well.  Thelma.  As in Thelma and Louise.  More on that later….  But for now, a bit of a summary of the fun activities I’ve been working on and a basic initial assesement.

First things first - its rather amazing how much better a car looks simiply by washing it…  I’m not sure if the previous owner ever did that, or anything maintenence related….   So here’s Thelma, as received and waiting, no BEGGING, for some TLC!

I may have bought the car for $250, but I think after some soap, water and a vacuum, I might have doubled the value of the car!  (OK, not yet…  still cant stop the thing… maybe we will stick with $10 more value).

So, let me re-introduce Thelma.  All cleaned up and ready to go get some new shoes!    (If only those Extreme Makeover TV shows were this cool…)

She’s really not in that bad of shape.  A few spots I thought were rust was really just caked on mud.  A few surface scratches and dents, but overall not too shabby.  Nothing on the exterior popped up as a big issue.  No huge rust spots discovered with the clean up (at least on the body).  There are some leaks to fix (trunk and tail-lights get water in them), and some bare metal to cover up.  Interior cleaned up quite nice as well - maybe too nice for a chump?  Of course!  But all of that will be removed, and what can be sold will be to help fund the project.  The rear seat even looks in great condition.  As a treasure-chest bonus find, the previous owner left $1.88 in change throughout the car and this sweet CD in the player….  perhaps the “Do it” song will become the Schaut Speed Racing Chump anthem???

The obvious next step was to address the brake issue.  I really couldn’t do ANYTHING else with the car until that was taken care of.   The whole brakes situation is a story in itself, so there will be another post about that later, but for now a simple ‘picture is worth a thousand words’ will suffice.  The car did come with all the required brake parts, just not all in the correct places!  (no, I did not receive any extra brake parts with the car…)

But I digress… brake issue is fixed.  While the car was up on jack-stands, it also received an oil change; what was in there was NASTY - the filter housing was even rusted!  Remember how I said the p.o. didn’t appear to do maintenence???

And now the real adventure begins.  With working brakes, a good cleaning, fresh oil and a few other simpe maintenence items done, it was time for the first drive….