John Allen Special USFail1 Race Team Build

[dinanm3atl]

Fanpage - Bringing F1 to the USA!
https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/John-Allen-Special-USFail1-ChumpCar-Team/301938023172698

The time has come for my friends and I to follow through with something we have been discussing for a few years. We want to run a ChumpCar race. We do a weekly "Wrench Night" under the shop name of Lost Souls Racing. We do track days, Auto-X and wrench. Our current team consist of track guys, mechanics, photographers, logistics manager, Grand-Am/IMSA GT3 mechanic and an IT Guy. Looking forward to the build and our fun theme. On top of the excite two Road Atlanta events are slated for 2012. Doubt we will make the first event in February but we can always hope!


Car - 1986 325/e
5sp Manual
Blue w/ Rust

Currently it has bent rear trailing arm, the driveshaft/csb/guibo is shot, the shifter hangs on the driveshaft while driving(you have to pick up the shifter to shit, it randomly will not start and leaves you stranded. It's rusting in spots. Interior is in rough condition. It needs a thermostat. It needs maintenance. It's rough to say the least but we cannot wait to work on it!

We are going to strip the vehicle and rebuild most of it for the sake of reliability. Obvious running 200,000 plus(unknown mileage) parts is not going to work. Want to make it safe and reliable. Timing Belt. Rebuild the cooling system. Brakes. Etc.

Theme - Our team name and theme is a play off a couple different F1 related teams. John Allen Special is a play off of John Player Special. A car everyone knows. The past owner's name is John Allen and we have always called this E30 "The Special". It is 'special' in ever sense of the word and somehow just will not completely break down. USFail1 is pretty obvious... so we will be black and gold. We plan to have a quick change front wing and working DRS(for passing of course!).


We will document the build here with either my photos, cell phone pictures and other potentially terrible photos! To get the ball rolling here is what we are starting with...


http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6091/6354949403_5d6823acf5_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6354949403/)
John Allen Special BMW USFail 1 Reveal 1 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6354949403/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6041/6354951219_d8a084f386_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6354951219/)
John Allen Special BMW USFail 1 Reveal 2 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6354951219/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6101/6354953637_90794fa851_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6354953637/)
John Allen Special BMW USFail 1 Reveal 3 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6354953637/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6100/6354955727_f31d1715e0_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6354955727/)
John Allen Special BMW USFail 1 Reveal 4 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6354955727/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6116/6354957879_1e3160ba3e_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6354957879/)
John Allen Special BMW USFail 1 Reveal 5 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6354957879/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6038/6354960189_cc53e9eb7f_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6354960189/)
John Allen Special BMW USFail 1 Reveal 6 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6354960189/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6228/6354962815_d9065e7cdd_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6354962815/)
John Allen Special BMW USFail 1 Reveal 7 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6354962815/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6051/6354965133_a8518b83ea_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6354965133/)
John Allen Special BMW USFail 1 Reveal 8 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6354965133/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6096/6354967175_74c4812b0f_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6354967175/)
John Allen Special BMW USFail 1 Reveal 9 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6354967175/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr



Initial Planning meeting on Tuesday. First workday Saturday!


http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l227/mdywglr4x4/JAS_logo_v1.jpg

[dinanm3atl]

Build Day 1 - Cleaning, Parts List and some Fixes


So the time has come to get started. We are probably way early but we as a team decided it would be better to have the car done and ready to go early then try to wait it out. With that in mind we took the JAS out to the build location. One of our members is letting us use his basement garage which is the perfect location since the build will mostly happen during the winter!

The day started off nicely. Since part of the team was en route we decided to get out to the car and get it started. Dead... jump it with an E30... well that didn't really all that great. Battery is REALLY dead. Put it on my battery charger. No go... Finally 24V E30 arrives with a larger and more robust alternator and after a little coaxing it fires up! We are off! Good way to start...

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7001/6450281439_6b21986d7f_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6450281439/)
John Allen Special BMW USFail1 1st Work Day 1 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6450281439/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7028/6450284411_71a5731ff9_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6450284411/)
John Allen Special BMW USFail1 1st Work Day 2 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6450284411/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7026/6450287923_9301d37079_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6450287923/)
John Allen Special BMW USFail1 1st Work Day 3 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6450287923/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


Car was pulled in and we quickly got it up into the air. Some members got into the interior and others under the car. We figured out and confirmed the list of parts while the interior/trunk were removed. We also spent some time removing the remnants of a sound system.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7034/6450290957_81b69c8a17_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6450290957/)
John Allen Special BMW USFail1 1st Work Day 4 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6450290957/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


Cleaning brought out some laughs. We found all kinds of fun stuff like the pre-delivery inspection paperwork from 1986. Various maintenance records some of which we could not read. Some google translator found out it appears to be a CSB, Diff Bushing, Labor and an oil change.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7033/6450293717_067d2b916b_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6450293717/)
John Allen Special BMW USFail1 1st Work Day 5 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6450293717/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7167/6450296513_cd999b0322_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6450296513/)
John Allen Special BMW USFail1 1st Work Day 6 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6450296513/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7164/6450299723_e746b71abf_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6450299723/)
John Allen Special BMW USFail1 1st Work Day 7 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6450299723/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr



Interior work was done...

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7028/6450302415_b728f9e603_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6450302415/)
John Allen Special BMW USFail1 1st Work Day 8 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6450302415/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7167/6450305009_1250c03e20_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6450305009/)
John Allen Special BMW USFail1 1st Work Day 9 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6450305009/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7011/6450307655_80a5db85ab_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6450307655/)
John Allen Special BMW USFail1 1st Work Day 10 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6450307655/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7166/6450310153_c5eda779f7_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6450310153/)
John Allen Special BMW USFail1 1st Work Day 11 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6450310153/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


Rich got to work on the first issue of a surging idle. The MAF was extremely gunked up. This cleaning plus some vacuum line replacement on the FPS fixed the issue.


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7146/6450316961_13302f845a_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6450316961/)
John Allen Special BMW USFail1 1st Work Day 14 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6450316961/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


Issues Resolved:

-Surging Idle
-Steering Wheel Looseness Resolved
-Power Steering Fixed - No more arm work!



Test Drive!


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7027/6450312821_ded21c01ac_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6450312821/)
John Allen Special BMW USFail1 1st Work Day 12 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6450312821/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7010/6450314817_387f0aee8b_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6450314817/)
John Allen Special BMW USFail1 1st Work Day 13 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6450314817/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr



More to come... Going to do some heavy maintenance on the front end. Replace rear end bushings. Engine will be removed to be cleaned and resealed. Trans will be serviced. New Clutch installed. Driveshaft Serviced. Diff Serviced. And more!

[dinanm3atl]

Back at it prepping for and building for our first race. We have some parts in process to rebuild the front end. Deposit for first event will be handled in the next two weeks. Coming along nicely and honestly based on our schedule we are ahead of schedule! A good thing to say the least.

Our local friend who goes to school in Texas was home and he wanted to do something and that was paint. Time to mold the car to look like the original design! First we sand and clean...


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7011/6579161423_dd66368b82_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579161423/)
John Allen Special Paint Cleaning 1 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579161423/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7147/6579162203_dabd11373a_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579162203/)
John Allen Special Paint Cleaning 2 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579162203/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7160/6579163453_b6784ca262_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579163453/)
John Allen Special Paint Masking 1 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579163453/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


Then time to start laying down the paint... from a can of course! Like any decent ChumpCar team... I mean F1 team would do!


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7144/6579169947_ff9e5e8ba3_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579169947/)
John Allen Special Paint Masking 2 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579169947/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


Everyone pick their panel... and note to the team. Alex is not allowed to paint anymore with spray paint. Just hold the button down and lay it on right Alex?


Check out JAS USFail1 mechanic Josh... double canning it!


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7028/6579171321_cf7906decc_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579171321/)
John Allen Special Paint Masking 3 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579171321/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


Starting to look like it should!


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7153/6579172739_893bdb1e7c_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579172739/)
John Allen Special Black Paint 1 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579172739/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


Time for gold accents!


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7167/6579165305_35e3908e1e_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579165305/)
John Allen Special Gold Grills 1 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579165305/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


Hang the parts on trees of course!


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7163/6579167417_ce0decbbc0_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579167417/)
John Allen Special Gold Paint 1 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579167417/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7017/6579168553_8cc46766d4_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579168553/)
John Allen Special Gold Paint 2 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579168553/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


Prepping the grills!


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7034/6579180035_f16569cf61_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579180035/)
John Allen Special Gold Grills 2 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579180035/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


All cars need gold wheels...


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7029/6579174225_bf0f139a79_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579174225/)
John Allen Special Gold Wheels 1 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579174225/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7155/6579175637_32f093be3c_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579175637/)
John Allen Special Gold Wheels 2 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579175637/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7175/6579177125_f4e33cbb3a_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579177125/)
John Allen Special Gold Wheels 3 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579177125/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7026/6579178803_b02cfc3f8b_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579178803/)
John Allen Special Gold Wheels 4 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579178803/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


Touching up the paint as best we can.


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7156/6579181107_a484f31ce3_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579181107/)
John Allen Special Hood Painting 1 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579181107/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7144/6579182897_74b508ae5c_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579182897/)
John Allen Special Black Paint 2 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579182897/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7142/6579184637_9e8489a058_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579184637/)
John Allen Specials Black Paint 3 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579184637/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


Group shot! Missing two members... lazy bums! Wasting some paint!


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7015/6579186395_cb151a7166_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579186395/)
John Allen Special Wasting Paint (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579186395/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


Let's check out our work!


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7142/6579187967_26183c50f6_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579187967/)
John Allen Special Masking 4 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579187967/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7157/6579189253_b583358034_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579189253/)
John Allen Specials Gold Grills 3 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579189253/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr




And finished product... so far. Needs some stickers now to look proper! Looks like a ChumpCar to me... I mean a Formula1 car!


http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7020/6579192179_eabbd7681e_b.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579192179/)
John Allen Special Paint Scheme 1 (http://www.flickr.com/photos/dinanm3atl/6579192179/) by MotorSportMedia - www.racemsm.com (http://www.flickr.com/people/dinanm3atl/), on Flickr






More to come soon!

[C Withers Media]

I spy with my little eye. Nice work with Halston.

[dinanm3atl]

I spy with my little eye. Nice work with Halston.

My bulging biceps? Glad you noticed... been hitting the gym harder than normal. Really look good under your shirt. All the girlies like it.

[Hermes]

Love the idea, can't wait to see the result. Are you planning on entering the 24 hours of LeMons?

[dinanm3atl]

Love the idea, can't wait to see the result. Are you planning on entering the 24 hours of LeMons?


Not running LeMons. Prefer the more serious ChumpCar.

We will be running the 24 Hours of VIR(True 24 Hour Race). 14 Hours of Memphis and Double 7 at Road Atlanta.

[Hermes]

so of course I love your idea since Senna (my fav) drove the JPS Renault back in 1985...

http://www.farzadsf1gallery.com/image_upload/Ayrton.jpg


and I was looking at pictures of Senna's car when I somehow ran across the following:

http://www.nogripracing.com/files/screens/2010/02/full/67719.jpg

http://www.nogripracing.com/files/screens/2010/02/full/67720.jpg

http://www.nogripracing.com/files/screens/2010/02/full/67721.jpg

http://www.nogripracing.com/files/screens/2010/02/full/67722.jpg

http://www.nogripracing.com/files/screens/2010/02/full/67723.jpg

http://www.nogripracing.com/files/screens/2010/02/full/67724.jpg

I know it's just computer graphics but my reaction was :jawdrop - it must be a sign

[az3579]

Okay, sounds like someone is getting sneaky.
What I want to know is, if it was purchased in the shape it was in, clearly it wasn't taken care of. So where the heck did the previous owner find the desire to put a euro bumper on the rear??? Those are soooooooooo hard to come by... I was deliberately looking for one when I had my E30 and got super lucky by finding a set...

[zj96sc]

Hell of a transformation - screw racing, you guys should get into flipping E30s. Pretty impressive rattle can job too.

Looking forward to more updates.

[C Withers Media]

Okay, sounds like someone is getting sneaky.
What I want to know is, if it was purchased in the shape it was in, clearly it wasn't taken care of. So where the heck did the previous owner find the desire to put a euro bumper on the rear??? Those are soooooooooo hard to come by... I was deliberately looking for one when I had my E30 and got super lucky by finding a set...

Halston has like 10 of them, in his X5.

[dinanm3atl]

Okay, sounds like someone is getting sneaky.
What I want to know is, if it was purchased in the shape it was in, clearly it wasn't taken care of. So where the heck did the previous owner find the desire to put a euro bumper on the rear??? Those are soooooooooo hard to come by... I was deliberately looking for one when I had my E30 and got super lucky by finding a set...

The previous owner has friends in Europe. Owns a RHD true Mini Cooper. He owns 2 actual grey market E30s. So in his travels and business he just collects the parts. This car had a euro front bumper too but he moved it to his DD. He is taking the rear bumper back for that DD as well.

And he has a couple sets of quality euro bumpers in his basement :)



Hell of a transformation - screw racing, you guys should get into flipping E30s. Pretty impressive rattle can job too.

Looking forward to more updates.

Thanks :) More to come shortly...

I already do that for random E30s ;)

Halston has like 10 of them, in his X5.

lulz