[Shotimes] M3 vs. GSX part 2 (long)

Wed, 7 May 2003 00:48:43 -0500

Hmmmmmm, I happen to have one motor that needs to be torn down anyway and
another as spare.  If only I had the time.  :(

Paul Nimz
'97 TR SHO
'93 EG mtx SHO

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ron Porter" <ronporter@prodigy.net>
To: "'Paul Nimz'" <pmnimz@V8SHO.com>; "'SHOTimes'" <shotimes@autox.team.net>
Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2003 12:43 AM
Subject: RE: [Shotimes] M3 vs. GSX part 2 (long)

> Absolutely.....unless it shakes itself apart if you don't get it
balanced!!
>
> When you are running balance shafts at 2x crank speed, you bet they suck
up
> power!!
>
> Ron Porter
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: shotimes-admin@autox.team.net [mailto:shotimes-admin@autox.team.net]
> On Behalf Of Paul Nimz
> Sent: Wednesday, May 07, 2003 1:14 AM
> To: Bill Murray; SHOTimes
> Subject: Re: [Shotimes] M3 vs. GSX part 2 (long)
>
>
> You mean if I remove the balance shaft from my '97 I can gain HP???????
>
> Paul Nimz
> '97 TR SHO
> '93 EG mtx SHO
>
>
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Bill Murray" <fordsho@cloud9grafx.com>
> To: "'Randy Smith'" <RandyMTU98@comcast.net>; "SHOTimes"
> <shotimes@autox.team.net>
> Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2003 6:47 PM
> Subject: RE: [Shotimes] M3 vs. GSX part 2 (long)
>
>
> > Just on observation on his accout...  One of the common first mods on a
> > DSM is to remove the balance shafts, I've heard gain of 20 or more hp is
> > not unreasonable.  If hes push 450 at the crank, why does he still have
> > the balance shafts, seems a little strange to me.
> >
> > Bill Murray
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: shotimes-admin@autox.team.net
> > [mailto:shotimes-admin@autox.team.net] On Behalf Of Randy Smith
> > Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2003 6:58 PM
> > To: shotimes@autox.team.net
> > Subject: Re: [Shotimes] M3 vs. GSX part 2 (long)
> >
> > > Wow, great video of lunched parts.  Better his car than mine...these
> > are
> > > way worse than any pix of blower SHO engines that got trashed.  I
> > wonder
> > > how much boost he was running?
> >
> > We discussed this today on another forum I'm on.  Someone claims (I
> > can't
> > back it up, but it's pretty long if it is just BS) this was on another
> > forum
> > and it's the driver describing what happened and what not...
> >
> > I was headed to work yesterday morning with my friend Brian. We spotted
> > a
> > new E46 M3 up ahead on the highway. He was turning right at a stoplight,
> > so
> > we decided to take a detour.
> >
> > As we followed suit, I gunned it and got up next to him in the left
> > lane. I
> > paced him for a couple seconds and gave him a big smile. Just then a
> > stoplight turned red in front of us and we slowed to a stop. I looked
> > over
> > at the M3 owner and pointed forward. He acknowledged with a head nod so
> > I
> > knew it was on.
> >
> > Brian had grabbed the video camera minutes before and had been taping
> > the
> > entire event. He kept the camera low so the driver wouldn't see it. We
> > didn't want to spook the guy out of the race. M3 owners never seem to
> > race
> > me up here in Northern VA.
> >
> > The traffic signal for the opposing turn lane turned yellow, then red. I
> > pressed the accelerator to the floor and my launch limiter kept the revs
> > at
> > a very noisy 5500 RPMs. I wasn't looking at the M3 owner's face at this
> > point, but I'm assuming he was getting a bit nervous.
> >
> > The light turns green and I let the clutch up quickly. I didn't sidestep
> > it,
> > as I was still worried about my new transmission (I had just shattered
> > my
> > center differential two weeks before). The clutch slipped ever so
> > slightly,
> > all four tires gripped the pavement, and I was off with zero wheelspin
> > from
> > my brand new 225/45ZR17 Kumho Ecsta Supra tires.
> >
> > The M3 driver was just as alert. He had been inching forward the entire
> > time
> > and actually began accelerating a fraction of a second before me. This
> > didn't help him much though. By the end of first gear, which winds out
> > almost immediately, the M3 was just behind my front bumper.
> >
> > After a loud backfire (running rich as hell) I granny shifted into 2nd
> > (still babying the tranny) and wound out 2nd gear. The M3 was falling
> > back
> > fast and was about two cars behind at this point. Third gear was coming
> > up
> > and I was excited, because it is definitely my power gear. I found 3rd
> > and
> > began to pull away even harder, and then it happened.
> >
> > Screws were thrown into my exhaust pipe. At least that's what it sounded
> > like. My heart sunk to the bottom of my chest. I knew what the horrible
> > sound really was. My completely stock shortblock with 78,000 miles
> > finally
> > gave out.
> >
> > I hadn't gotten my car to the dyno yet, but conservative estimates were
> > somewhere just above 450 bhp at the flywheel, untuned. That's about 112
> > hp
> > per piston/rod. If you have any doubts about these numbers, just watch
> > the
> > video of the destruction.
> >
> > I knew it was going to happen sometime, but I sure didn't expect it at
> > that
> > moment. I had tuned the car conservatively and was running rich. My EGTs
> > had
> > only peaked at about 880 deg C, I had no detonation, I was running only
> > 18
> > psi, and I had not even added any additional spark timing advance. I
> > guess
> > 78,000 miles of hard driving, 50 or so clutch dumps, around 10 drag
> > strip
> > runs, a few road racing events, ten or so autocrosses did it in.
> >
> > I limped over to the side of the road as the M3 driver passed me by
> > (laugh
> > it up guys!!!! ) with an astonished look on his face. I got out of the
> > car
> > and sat on the grass for a few minutes, contemplating what had just
> > happened. In retrospect, that was a good thing to do. I didn't need
> > dents in
> > the side of my door, and I definitely didn't need a broken foot.
> >
> > So the flatbed came and towed the car back to my house. The beast had
> > left a
> > lake coolant and oil where she rested. Brian and I went back to the
> > scene of
> > the disaster later in the day and discovered the bottom portion of a
> > connecting rod and a thumb-size chunk of iron block. These two pieces
> > were
> > only a small hint of the destruction we would uncover later in the day
> > after
> > we removed the cylinder head.
> >
> > Once we got home from work, we removed the head in just over an hour.
> > What
> > we uncovered was easily the worst carnage we had ever seen as a result
> > of a
> > bent connecting rod. The entire engine block and all its internal
> > components
> > literally disintegraed.
> >
> > Schrapnel from exploding pistons and bearings was shot out the back of
> > the
> > iron block into the firewall (which was the loud sound we heard inside
> > the
> > car). The balance shaft was smashed through the rear of the block,
> > creating
> > a hand-size hole through which the crankshaft was easily visible.
> > Multiple
> > connecting rods were bent, twisted, melted, etc. Pistons were completely
> > mangled and cylinder two had a silver-dollar size hole in the cylinder
> > wall.
> >
> > All in all, it could have been much worse (really!), as the damage was
> > localized to the short block. Surprisingly, the cylinder head was
> > untouched,
> > except two very small nicks on the exhaust valves of the number one
> > cylinder. No significant metal fragments exited my exhaust, as my
> > exhaust
> > turbine fins were untouched.
> >
> > In goes the race block w/ forged internals. This sure was a learning
> > experience. I was hoping the stock block would hold up for a bit longer,
> > but
> > oh well.
> >
> > If you got this far, thanks for reading. Please do not start saying
> > anything
> > about the validity of any of my comments. Everything happened as I
> > stated it
> > (to the best of my recollection), and the M3 driver was definitely
> > racing
> > me. I'm sorry if you don't believe me for some reason.
> >
> > Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed that! I will post again when we get the
> > block
> > out of the car and we can remove more pistons/rods/bearings from the oil
> > pan! Yay!!! I will also post the install of my new motor if anyone is
> > interested. Let me know if you all have any problems downloading or
> > viewing
> > the videos. I will be posting them in different resolutions and formats
> > (hopefully MPG) tomorrow, along with pics of the carnage.
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