I drained and cracked open the diff assembly… sure enough – shattered ring and pinion. The KAAZ looks/seems fine… both output flanges still lock when turned. One of the carrier bearings looks like it could be replaced. The ring gear is consistently shattered all the way around.I managed to fish out a solid bit of metal chunks, slivers, and shavings from the pumpkin.
Have I ever mentioned how bad differential gear oil smells? rnSeriously. DISGUSTING.
Charlie turned me onto a killer bit of software that I’ve been tinkering with. Here are some screen caps using a clip that Will shot last November. If I can get this to do what I waaaant it to do… it will open a new door to create some killer work.
Rod asked me if I would like to write a ‘Guest Blog’ on Speedhunters, which is now live on the site! Carlos “Panda” Richard and Cody “Coco” Wellons helped me immensely with the photography for the feature. We shot the car inside the walls of Oakland Cemetary, which is as visually stunning as it is historically significant.Big thanks to Carlos and Cody for the snaps, and to Rod for the opportunity!
I got underneath the car this evening, and with the help of David Jones… we got the diff assemble pulled from the rear-subframe. I can’t find my drain pan anywhere to relieve the pumpkin of its gear oil… so I will have to wait to crack the diff cover off and see what kind of carnage awaits inside. From the sounds of it… I don’t think it will be very pretty.
During the big standing burnout finale at the Motorsport Nationals Drift Demo, the car had a catastrophic mechanical failure. It sounded like I shattered the ring and pinion. The car wouldn’t drive under its own power, and had to be pushed off track. I finally got the car off the trailer yesterday, and pushed into the garage where I promptly put it on jackstands. The driveshaft spins when the car is in gear… so it isn’t the transmission. I have to get the diff cover off to be 100% sure… but it does look like it is the ring and pinion.I just pray it isn’t the KAAZ!
[fingers crossed]
I had the opportunity to design all of the ‘Hero Cards’ for the Motorsport Nationals autograph sessions. I put a lot of time into these cards, and wanted them all to be slightly different… while maintaining a cohesive feel that I developed for the flyer. Like the flyer, I wanted the design to feel vibrant with energy to help reflect the chaotic nature of the sport.
Big thanks to Cody for taking the profile pictures, and to Panda and Alex for coming through with action shots of the cars!
We will be down at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend for a drift demolition at the Motorsport Nationals. If you’re in or around the Atlanta-area… come on out and watch us destroy our Yokohama ADVAN Tires!I had the honour of wrenching on most of the print-collateral for the drifting portion of this event, and I think it turned out killer! I wanted the flyer to be packed with energy, and be something nobody in their right mind would throw away.
I met Byron and Alex down at Atlanta Motor Speedway to help promote the Motorsport Nationals at the ‘Friday Night Drags’. This was my first time at the weekly drag event… and it is safe to say that it will not be my last. There were a TON of people… and a lot of cool cars!We got to run a few ‘parade laps’ around the speedway which is ALWAYS fun. The embankment, especially between turn 3 and 4 is so intense! After the cruise laps, everyone just parks along the front straight and gets out… turning the track into a parking lot of cars to check out.
Alex rolled out in his killer s13 hatch.
The pictures don’t do it justice… but a lot of people come out for this every week. It was raining earlier in the day, so I can’t imagine how many people normally attend.
As we were getting ready to leave… Alex snapped this shot of our cars. Looks like something that should be on the cover of Rock Band.
I picked up some $20 smoked corners off eBay to get a matching set back on the car after my collision with Austin. Pictured here with the OEM corner… these aren’t too much darker – but just about right. I got the strobe lights installed easy… and they look pretty sick on the car!
Still on the hunt to resolve my hydro e-brake/ABS/limp-mode issue in the e46… I took some advice given to me on ZipTied… and found a local shop that had an Autologic. I was told that using Autologic, you can hand program the ABS out of the DME without tripping faults. A quick Google search led me to Munich Motorsport.
They had to download the software from my car, and send it to Autologic UK to have the programming done. Unfortunately for myself… keying out the ABS cannot actually be done without tripping faults and throwing the car into limp-mode. Why is this so damn hard to do? I need a functioning hydraulic e-brake… without freaking out my computer OR aggravating the ABS pumps. UGH.The good news (and the real reason for this post) is… the crew over at Munich Motorsport are SUPER nice, and extremely accommodating. I really have to recommend them to anyone with a BMW or Volvo that needs work done. They really went out of their way to help me… and even though we weren’t successful – Matt had some suggestions on how to disable the ABS without freaking the car into another seizure.
I found this old news clip while digging through some old files. A pretty cool Fox News feature from the Hyperfest event at Summit Point Raceway in West Virginia. My buddy Tony Schulz gets a spotlight, and I’m in the video for a split-second around the 2 minute mark. A pretty cool find from way back. These were fun times for sure.
This kit was super-easy to install, thanks to a detailed walk-through from FastM.com. I should have put these on the car years ago.Pull the sidemarkers and trim from the headlights out. Then remove the clear lenses.
You’re left with a wide-eyed looking headlight.
Clip the angel eyes to the headlight.
Make sure it is hella flush approved.
(Not pictured) pull the wiring through the rubber boot in the back of the headlight housing and wire up accordingly.
Searchlights aren’t this bright.
Both sides wired up.
All the lenses and trim buttoned back up and ready to go. My driver-side headlight was shattered where Austin and I collided… so this was a good time to epoxy it back together.
My point-and-shoot does these things ZERO justice. They look awesome, and they are SUPER bright.
A box arrived today from Umnitza. I can’t wait to get these on the car.
