E30 M3 brake duct plates - NEW DESIGN

[James Clay <jclay@xxxxxx>]

My buddy is making these and they seem to work very well.  I already
have an old set on that I had to pull the bearing to install - major
PITA.  Respond to him if interested.


Update: (Thursday june 10)

        This message is for those of you who missed my first mail and to
update
those who have read it. There is absolutley no problem with using these
backings on a track/street car combo.  When you jack the car up to put
on
your R compound tires, install the hose from the bumper duct to the
backing
plate.  It took me about 2 minutes to do per side.  Then when you put
your
street tires back on at the end, remove the tube.  Very simple.  Anyway,

the materials to make my brake backing plates out of stainless steel are
on
the way.  They will be here next week.  I "should" be able to start
getting
them made as soon as the material comes in the door.  As I stated before
I
will give more details (pictures, directions, price) once I take care of
a
few things. Be on the lookout for them sometime next week!  I will keep
you
posted.

Cheers to all

First mail: (Tuesday june 8)

         As most of us know, if you track your car, you pretty much need
to vent
>your rotors.  The old trick is to hose clamp a hose coming from a duct
in
>your bumper to the strut tube. This works fairly well but the problem
with
>this is the fact that a lot of the air gets directed onto the inside
brake
>surface. Cooling the inside surface and outside surface differently can

>cause warping.  What you want to do is direct "ALL" of the air into the

>center of the disc through the cooling veins to cool the surfaces
evenly
>and efficiently.
>
>       Well, I set out to make some backing plates of my own.  I took a
spare
>strut and disc, measured all necessary points, and designed myself a
set.
>I drew the parts on CAD, had them laser cut from the CAD drawing, had
the
>curved parts rolled on a sheet metal rolling machine, then had them TIG

>welded together.  The inlet tube to clamp the hose to is 3" in
diameter.
>This is to make sure that as much air as possible can get to the disc.
>
>       So I made two sets, one for me and one for Adam Roy.  We both
used them at
>the track this past weekend (Summit Point) and they worked perfectly.
My
>car is somewhat modified and Adams car is bone stock w/street tires.
The
>temperature was 95+ deg outside so it was darn hot, unideal for brakes.

>Neither of us had any problems with our brakes.  Actually we did, we
both
>have non track pads so we used up a lot of the pad.  (thats a different

>issue) Even with crappy pads, our brakes worked to perfection as we had
no
>fade, no warping of the rotors, no soft pedals, nothing.  We used super

>blue and ducts in the front bumper of course.
>
>       A few points about these backing plates: Once again they are CAD
drawn,
>laser cut, and TIG welded.  They have a 3" inlet tube for 3" hose or
>greater.  They can be made out of stainless or mild steel, whichever
you
>prefer.  Here is the ultimate part, YOU DO NOT NEED TO PULL THE WHEEL
>BEARINGS OFF TO INSTALL THESE!  All you need to do is take the disc off
and
>bolt them on.  They bolt on where the splash guards bolted on.  If you
>happen to have your origional splash guards still on your car, it is
very
>easy to cut them off with a dremel or metal snips.  With this concept,
you
>do not have the added cost of pulling off and pressing on your wheel
>bearings at a shop.  You can install these yourself at home.  It took
"ME"
>about 1 hour to do, in an outside driveway, at night with a flash
light.

Barry Battle

BMW e30 ///M3
4/87 #318
lachsilber

Virginia Tech
Industrial Design
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