E86 Front Triangulation Braces Retrofit

[heinzboehmer]

heinzboehmer

THANK YOU SIR! I got the box, haven't opened it yet. I need to catch up on some other projects and its peak track season in TX.

One more favor - could you measure the length of the OEM stud that goes into the plates for the center bar? I want to test my forged carbon plates this weekend and the car is at the track.

Overall length is 32mm and has an unthreaded portion that measures 2mm right in the middle. So, 15mm of threads, 2mm unthreaded, then another 15mm of threads.

[bigjae46]

heinzboehmer

THANK YOU SIR! I got the box, haven't opened it yet. I need to catch up on some other projects and its peak track season in TX.

One more favor - could you measure the length of the OEM stud that goes into the plates for the center bar? I want to test my forged carbon plates this weekend and the car is at the track.

[heinzboehmer]

This looks very interesting. Unfortunately I cannot seem to download the documentation from Google drive on my tablet. I can see the index but I get error in file error.

Does this project depend on obtaining oem e85/86 strut braces or does it include cutting templates for them. Finding oem braces is almost impossible. I want one for my e85 and have been looking for two years.

Nope, this keeps the stock E46 M3 brace middle section, replaces the strut tower brackets and adds a custom mount under the windshield. The stock E86 triangulation braces are then used to tie the strut towers to the base of the windshield.

I've noticed issues with the doc on mobile as well. Maybe it's too long/picture heavy? Seems to work alright on desktop.

[Sajk]

This looks very interesting. Unfortunately I cannot seem to download the documentation from Google drive on my tablet. I can see the index but I get error in file error.

Does this project depend on obtaining oem e85/86 strut braces or does it include cutting templates for them. Finding oem braces is almost impossible. I want one for my e85 and have been looking for two years.

[karter16]

They look gorgeous

Yeah I'm super excited about these - loving that I'm going to be able to keep the original M caps as well!


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[maupineda]

They look gorgeous

[heinzboehmer]

Sneak peek from the manufacturer of the 3D printed strut tower brackets:



Should have them in my hands within a week or so.

[heinzboehmer]

Yeaaah, I lied.

More discussion in my build thread, but basically, I remembered I really hate painting. So instead of trying to make the existing sheet metal strut tower brackets pretty, I scanned the stock brackets, recreated them in CAD and then modified them to work with the E86 braces.

Here's the (almost) final design:




I also modeled a version with stock-like bosses on the underside, for compatibility with early cars. Still need to test fit these on a real car, but confident they'll work:




(bavarian3, you've got no more excuses! )

And here's an earlier plastic prototype installed on the car:



Looks sooo much better than the sheet metal version!

Plan is to get these 3D printed out of aluminum and powder coated/painted to match the stock parts. Am very excited for how these are gonna turn out.

Where's the “buy now” button?

I think the new strut tower brackets will make this as close to a real product as possible!

Basically just CNC the windshield mount, print the strut tower brackets, print the cabin air filter housing plastics, trim the E86 braces and install.

I'll report back with how the Aluminum prints turn out.

[YoitsTmac]

Where's the “buy now” button?

[karter16]

Alright I'm calling this project (including documentation!) 99.9% done.

[heinzboehmer]

Alright I'm calling this project (including documentation!) 99.9% done. Just have two small TODOs to get through before I can call it 100%:

1. Weigh the modified cabin air filter housing/firewall plug + a stock cabin air filter housing and add to documentation.
2. Sand and paint the strut tower brackets.

Documentation and files in the drive are up to date. Most changes revolve around the cabin air filter housing/firewall plug, as those weren't fully finished last time around.

Feel free to read through and provide feedback!

Couple pics of the newly finished parts:

[bigjae46]

Hopefully I get this all made and installed before the end of the decade...

First CF strut tower plate attempt. Went better than expected!





To my credit it looks like a strut tower brace. The spot where the triangle brace bolts to...I wasn't thinking and the threaded insert was too deep so that prevented complete closure of the mold. Then I use unchopped carbon tows and it was totally monstrous to work with. There were some details to the part that made it hard to get the carbon into place. The underside of the part is missing some details.

This part seems to be plenty strong and sturdy enough. I'm thinking I need to build up with regular cloth and then top it off with some chopped carbon.

Hope to get the firewall mount bonded in this weekend.

[bigjae46]

Word is that Slon tested this part on his chassis rig and it made near as no difference. If it does make a difference I’d bet it would be on cars with big front sway bars. Like lowered cars with destroyed front suspension geometry

That wouldn't surprise me. The upper half is riveted to a steel bracket which is riveted to the lower half. If anything, I think it would sense to tie into the lower part or the frame rail or make the entire frontend clip much beefier.

[___LUNK]

How about tying to the engine block and making it a stressed member of the chassis F1 style

[Bry5on]

Word is that Slon tested this part on his chassis rig and it made near as no difference. If it does make a difference I’d bet it would be on cars with big front sway bars. Like lowered cars with destroyed front suspension geometry