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JTE
08-09-2002, 12:43 PM
I recently purchsed a 1979 BMW 320i. It's in very good condition and relatively low miles.I hope to turn it into a ITB class car. I'm looking for opinions and suggestions.

I would really like to do this so my hope is I won't be shot down

itb320i65
08-21-2002, 04:21 PM
Originally posted by JTE:
I recently purchsed a 1979 BMW 320i. It's in very good condition and relatively low miles.I hope to turn it into a ITB class car. I'm looking for opinions and suggestions.

I would really like to do this so my hope is I won't be shot down

I think you should build it. We are building 2 320i's right now. There are a lot of them out there so replacement parts are cheap.

Good luck, Douglas

lilwillie
08-29-2002, 09:50 AM
Go for it. Sounds like a fun idea.

I also have a 320i, one thing, anyone ever see a Roll cage available for these anywhere? I've checked all the popular sources but have yet to find a bolt in cage.

poller
08-30-2002, 05:53 PM
IO Port Racing (www.ioportracing.com) has a u-weld-it cage for the '77-83 320. Please call Ken Myers at:

Order phone: 1-800-949-5712
Technical Support: 1-925-254-RACE (7223)

He'd be more than happy to discuss this with you, and to help you acquire a cage.

Tell him I sent you.

Jack
[email protected]

lilwillie
09-03-2002, 12:27 PM
Thanks Jack, I will call him. Great info. Thanks again http://Forums.ImprovedTouring.com/it/smile.gif

nasa
09-03-2002, 09:06 PM
Nothing about this car would be legal for IT but it sure is inspiring if your talking 320's. This car is sweeeeeeeeeet!

http://www.davidmcintyre.org/the320.html

JTE
09-04-2002, 08:28 AM
nasa, what do you mean by nothing would be leagal? as long as we adhere to the GRCs the skys the limit. if you know of something specific please share that with us.



Originally posted by nasa:
Nothing about this car would be legal for IT but it sure is inspiring if your talking 320's. This car is sweeeeeeeeeet!

http://www.davidmcintyre.org/the320.html

lilwillie
09-04-2002, 08:35 AM
I am also curious as to why it would'nt be legal. In the GCR they list the 80-83 1.8l 320i as ITB. And also the 77-79 2.0l for ITB.

My car in paticular is a 82 1.8l. Makes it legal as far as I can tell.

JTE
09-04-2002, 08:53 AM
I'm going off of memory but i recall 77-79 320i listed under IT (B) also. I would not have purchased the car and spent as much time and money on it as I have without checking into it first.


Originally posted by lilwillie:
I am also curious as to why it would'nt be legal. In the GCR they list the 80-83 1.8l 320i as ITB. And also the 77-79 2.0l for ITB.

My car in paticular is a 82 1.8l. Makes it legal as far as I can tell.

Knestis
09-04-2002, 09:58 AM
I think nasa was talking about the winged beast in the pic at the link he posted.

Kirk

lilwillie
09-04-2002, 05:03 PM
Ahhh, now it makes sense, excuse me while I bang my head off the wall http://Forums.ImprovedTouring.com/it/smile.gif

nasa
09-04-2002, 06:35 PM
That particular car is not legal, it is prepared far beyond ITB allowances. In general I would say 320's are an excellent choice, they are cheap and available, and they are BMWs, nuff said.

JTE
09-05-2002, 07:37 AM
does anyone know what the minimum weight of a 320i is? does that include the driver?



Originally posted by JTE:
I recently purchsed a 1979 BMW 320i. It's in very good condition and relatively low miles.I hope to turn it into a ITB class car. I'm looking for opinions and suggestions.

I would really like to do this so my hope is I won't be shot down

Knestis
09-05-2002, 08:55 AM
Have we had the GCR talk yet? If you are spending ANY money on this project and don't have the GCR in hand yet, you are begging for your first event to be a painful experience. It is very easy to do something that will be illegal and expensive to undo...

Spec weight is 2510# with driver. But how do you know that I'm not confused? If you show up underweight and plead that some faceless entity on the 'net told you what to weigh, the tech folks will get a huge laugh at your expense. http://Forums.ImprovedTouring.com/it/smile.gif

Kirk

JTE
09-05-2002, 09:10 AM
I do have a 2001 GCR and you are correct it tells me 2510#. I was a little confused because Car and Driver report from 1979 tells me that curb weight on the car is 2480#s. I just wasn't sure about the driver. Thanks


Originally posted by Knestis:
Have we had the GCR talk yet? If you are spending ANY money on this project and don't have the GCR in hand yet, you are begging for your first event to be a painful experience. It is very easy to do something that will be illegal and expensive to undo...

Spec weight is 2510# with driver. But how do you know that I'm not confused? If you show up underweight and plead that some faceless entity on the 'net told you what to weigh, the tech folks will get a huge laugh at your expense. http://Forums.ImprovedTouring.com/it/smile.gif

Kirk

Craig_S
10-11-2002, 12:22 PM
I'm also planning on possibly getting into ITB with a 320i. Like everyone has pointed out they are relatively cheap AND common.

Another option is Pro3, though the cars in that class tend to be quite a bit more pricey.

Is there a preferred year for the 320s? In other words, do the 2.0s do better than the 1.8s, or vice versa? In my internet searching I've only come across 318i and 325i/e information, the 320i seems to be absent.

Thanks.


------------------
-Craig

[This message has been edited by Craig_S (edited October 11, 2002).]

WannaBITB
10-12-2002, 07:10 PM
This is good info! I just picked up an 83 320i for a song, and I'm giving up on my Golf. FWD sucks. What parts/mods, etc. will make this car competitive? What's a good source for parts? What are some of the problems associated with the 320? Keep the info coming!

[This message has been edited by WannaBITB (edited October 12, 2002).]

lilwillie
10-14-2002, 09:08 AM
WannabeITB,

Check out www.bmw320i.com (http://www.bmw320i.com), or www.kormanfastbmw.com (http://www.kormanfastbmw.com).

Those seem to be the sites I'm in the most when I'm dreaming bimmer thoughts.

I'm up to 2 320i's now for less money than the price of a 12 pack of German beer. Working on getting a third for favors owed. All of them needed about 20 minutes of work to get running again.

I just wish I could find a website with build pics or even better detailed pics of the 80-83 320i's.

I do know from looking at the GCR that you need to have the 1.8l in the 80-83 320i and the 2.0 for the 77-79. Make sure what ya got http://Forums.ImprovedTouring.com/it/smile.gif

I think one of the problems with the popularity of the 320i was the 325's and 318's where a little wider, so handling was much better, also the 320's where a little down in the horse dept. around 100hp if memeory serves me correct. I don't see any of these to be a good reason not to build one. Our plans are for a season of solo2 to shake down the car and get some wheel time then move into ITB. I would like to find a ITB legal 320i to buy, hint hint, then I could run that while building one in my spare time. So many ideas, so little room in the shop http://Forums.ImprovedTouring.com/it/wink.gif

nasa
10-14-2002, 07:55 PM
http://www.davidmcintyre.org/the320.html

this guy takes pics of everything from the parts in the box, the broken part and the new one installed. Sweeeeeeeeeet!!

lilwillie
10-15-2002, 08:12 AM
Nasa,

Dave's car is the bomb. I've gone over his site so many times I should owe him for admission. Very well documented and he does'nt BS you on what it will cost to do.

I think I got a line on a 320i that's around 75% complete. But missing motor and tranny, excatly what I'm looking for. Could you still call a car 75% complete without the motor and trans? I guess if your talking about ready to race stuff but we will see. Hopefully when we go to look at it before buying it's everything the pictures show.

All I know is I finally got my brother, the co-driver, to get some time away from work and we went down to Blackhawk Farms and he was drooling like a kid in a candy store over the cars.

And the people there where the best, many congrats to Chicago Region SCCA, that's the second time I've been treated like a king when I've shown up to spectate.

nasa
10-15-2002, 10:01 PM
I have found the people to be a tremendous part of racing, next to driving, the best part. Possibly the best part, the last race I was at my car would not start 20 minutes before the race, the guys paddocked next to me came over to give me a hand. Had those guys not helped I might have missed the race, while we tried to find the problem I figured I was done but did not mind too much because I felt so glad to have these eager generous people helping me out. It meant ALOT to me and hopefully they got my appreciation, to them it was just another day at the races. Ha! I love this sport. I could give many more examples. I guess with anything it is the people who make it great. Good luck and enjoy!!

WannaBITB
10-16-2002, 01:46 AM
lilwillie, where are you located? I'm about 20 minutes from BFR in WI.

lilwillie
10-16-2002, 08:00 AM
WannabeITB, I'm in Mazomanie, 20 miles west of Madison on Highway 14. We are only famous for one thing in Mazo, our nude beach on the Wisconsin River http://Forums.ImprovedTouring.com/it/smile.gif

We have a independent auto repair facility located just on the edge of town, Willies Repair, my father and I are the owners/operators.

If your 20 miles on the WI side from Blackhawk you must be a little north of Beloit?

WannaBITB
10-16-2002, 10:53 AM
Janesville, actually, but good guess! My brother owns a small construction co. in Mazo. I'll have to come up and check out your shop, especially if you have 320's lying around. I work in Madison, on the east side.

On a sad note, the 320 deal I thought I was getting fell through. The guy found something he traded for. Dammit.

Robb

[This message has been edited by WannaBITB (edited October 16, 2002).]

rbreed
10-16-2002, 02:37 PM
Concerning the 320i. The 77-79 model is heavier, has a 2 liter and a 4 speed tranny. The 80-83 is several hundred pounds lighter, has a 1.8 liter and a 5 speed. As a result, they produce very similar results.

lilwillie
10-16-2002, 02:58 PM
WannaBITB, what's the construction companies name, I'll bet I will know them if they are in Mazo.

I have family in Janesville, small world huh? If where this close I'm sure we will bump into each other sometime.

If I keep piling the 320s' into the back lot there's gonna be no room for all the other projects on the backburner.

JTE
10-16-2002, 03:01 PM
The curb weight is 2480lbs. The GCRs state that weight needs to be 2510lbs.


Originally posted by rbreed:
Concerning the 320i. The 77-79 model is heavier, has a 2 liter and a 4 speed tranny. The 80-83 is several hundred pounds lighter, has a 1.8 liter and a 5 speed. As a result, they produce very similar results.

WannaBITB
10-20-2002, 11:27 AM
Ok, I found another one, but the guys says the shifter bushings are shot, and it won't go into gear properly. Does that sound like a common problem, and how hard is it to fix? I will have to go quite a way to get this thing sight-unseen, and don't want to have it undriveable when I get there. Will I be able to fix it on the spot, or will that require a extensive tear-down to get at the problem area? The guy says he has all the fix-it parts. TIA!

Robb

lilwillie
10-21-2002, 09:00 AM
WannaBIT,

I would suggest getting a tow dolly or a trailer. Shifter problems you'll want to get the driveshaft out of the way to repair properly. Not something you want to do laying in someones driveway.

Plus if it's a long drive the likelyhood of a breakdown is high (Murphys Law).

The time it would take to repair on site compared to renting a truck trailer from U-haul would ake me want to rent.

Where abouts do you have to go? Don't worry, I won't buy it out form you, I've got to many projects going right now. If it's close maybe we can figure something out.

WannaBITB
10-21-2002, 06:45 PM
In springfield, Oh. About 8-9 hours from us. Any suggestions?

lilwillie
10-21-2002, 07:29 PM
That far, definetaly rent a truck or trailer if you don't have any available. No use driving that far and have to work on it to get it home. If anything, take a buddy with, and make sure the local U-haul has a trailer available if you have a truck to pull it with. Or just rent a truck and trailer. Well worth it for such a long drive to check out a vehicle.

I'm going to go look at a car this weekend. If it's worth buying I've got a trailer lined up only 2 blocks from the address it's at. Rental dolly from a U-haul. If I don't buy no big deal, I'm not out anything, just cancel the trailer.

Good luck, wish it was closer, if you are ever in the area look me up.