I have always yearned to drive a well sorted E30, so I'm taking it upon myself to do cobble one together. My plan is simple, has a well proven track record of success, and a great deal of documentation both in print and on the forums to provide support: swap an S52 into a E30 coupe.
Step one of ten thousand was to source an S52:
Engine Pic 1
Engine Pic 2
I found this one on Kijiji sitting in a VERY derilict E36 M3. She's got 300,000km on the clock, but she runs, doesn't hunt for idle, and doesn't blow much smoke from the tail pipes (at least not more than you'd expect from a car this age). It does leak oil onto the exhaust manifolds which smokes once it's at temp - nothing that can be resolved. Also comes with everything you see here, except the gauge cluster.
I'll bring it home on Saturday, mount it on the engine stand, and start tearing it down gradually to assess what needs to be done.
Some of the highlights I'm planning:
- Block cleaned, fluxed/inspected, align-honed, cylinders bored, flatness check;
- Full head job: cleaned, fluxed/inspected, 3-angle valve grind, new Supertech springs, new valve seals, flatness check;
- Polish the damaged camshaft journals, trays and caps;
- Balance the rotating assembly;
- New main and rod bearings;
- New Mahle oversized pistons;
- APR rod bolts (Edit 14DEC2016: No longer going with ARP stud kits for main bearings or heads);
- New timing chains and guides;
- Refurbish oil pump with drilled/tied nut;
- New water pump;
- Seals/gaskets all around.
Stuff that's undecided:
- OBD-I or II (leaning towards II);
- New cams or not (Edit 13APR2016: Have decided to do this later);
- New valves/guides ( Edit 14DEC2016: Have decided not to replace these);
- Eagle rods (Edit 13APR2016: Have decided not to go this route, existing rods are forged and this isn't a race engine)
Once the engine is done, it's time to find an E30..
Below is a tentative list of kit I need to start getting my hands on:
> Head gasket kit ;
> Bottom end gasket/seal kit;
> Rear main crankshaft seal kit;
> EMP/Stewart water pump and composite pulley;
> ECS timing chain kit (includes guides/chains/tensioners/gaskets);
> ARP rod bolt kit;
> Air pump and EGR blanking plates;
> Oversized pistons;
> King Racing main bearings;
> King Racing rod bearings;
> Valve seals;
> Valve Springs;
If anyone reading this has a suggestion, please feel free to chime in.
18APR2016 - First Weekend Home
Extraction went without a hitch, took us longer than expected (neither one of us had pulled an engine before). I left behind the electrics because we're going to need to split the harness so he can keep his accessory wiring and I take the sensor and engine wiring. A photos:
Idle Regulating Valve, Air Oil Separator, Fuel Rail, Throttle Body, MAF.
Secondary Air Pump.
Intake Manifold.
Coil Packs.
Coolant Thermostat Housing.
Gratuitous Instagram of Engine on Stand.
20APR2016 - Locking the Crank Without a Flywheel
The engine stand mount required me to remove the flywheel from the motor, so I didn't have an easy way to lock the crankshaft. I did some hunting around online and wasn't able to find any posts in the forums of people having done so successfully, so I took matters into my own hands. I bought a 36" length of 3/4" square steel tube and a few M12 washers. I drilled a 1/2" hole in the middle of the bar, filed any burs off the face, and the slid the bar between the mount and the flywheel hub.
I snuck one of the flywheel bolts (M12x1.5x50) in through the barrel of the engine stand mount with enough washers to only show 15mm of threads out the back of the bar, then tightened it up. Once I started spinning the crankshaft pulley bolt eventually the bar caught the engine stand mount and that allowed a breaker bar and cheater pipe to spin the bolt free. Not bad a bad system for $15.
PARKING LOT
> S54 oil filter housing to add cooling;
> Cut ring vs. cometic head gasket;
Step one of ten thousand was to source an S52:
Engine Pic 1
Engine Pic 2
I found this one on Kijiji sitting in a VERY derilict E36 M3. She's got 300,000km on the clock, but she runs, doesn't hunt for idle, and doesn't blow much smoke from the tail pipes (at least not more than you'd expect from a car this age). It does leak oil onto the exhaust manifolds which smokes once it's at temp - nothing that can be resolved. Also comes with everything you see here, except the gauge cluster.
I'll bring it home on Saturday, mount it on the engine stand, and start tearing it down gradually to assess what needs to be done.
Some of the highlights I'm planning:
- Block cleaned, fluxed/inspected, align-honed, cylinders bored, flatness check;
- Full head job: cleaned, fluxed/inspected, 3-angle valve grind, new Supertech springs, new valve seals, flatness check;
- Polish the damaged camshaft journals, trays and caps;
- Balance the rotating assembly;
- New main and rod bearings;
- New Mahle oversized pistons;
- APR rod bolts (Edit 14DEC2016: No longer going with ARP stud kits for main bearings or heads);
- New timing chains and guides;
- Refurbish oil pump with drilled/tied nut;
- New water pump;
- Seals/gaskets all around.
Stuff that's undecided:
- OBD-I or II (leaning towards II);
- New cams or not (Edit 13APR2016: Have decided to do this later);
- New valves/guides ( Edit 14DEC2016: Have decided not to replace these);
- Eagle rods (Edit 13APR2016: Have decided not to go this route, existing rods are forged and this isn't a race engine)
Once the engine is done, it's time to find an E30..
Below is a tentative list of kit I need to start getting my hands on:
> Head gasket kit ;
> Bottom end gasket/seal kit;
> Rear main crankshaft seal kit;
> EMP/Stewart water pump and composite pulley;
> ECS timing chain kit (includes guides/chains/tensioners/gaskets);
> ARP rod bolt kit;
> Air pump and EGR blanking plates;
> Oversized pistons;
> King Racing main bearings;
> King Racing rod bearings;
> Valve seals;
> Valve Springs;
If anyone reading this has a suggestion, please feel free to chime in.
18APR2016 - First Weekend Home
Extraction went without a hitch, took us longer than expected (neither one of us had pulled an engine before). I left behind the electrics because we're going to need to split the harness so he can keep his accessory wiring and I take the sensor and engine wiring. A photos:
Idle Regulating Valve, Air Oil Separator, Fuel Rail, Throttle Body, MAF.
Secondary Air Pump.
Intake Manifold.
Coil Packs.
Coolant Thermostat Housing.
Gratuitous Instagram of Engine on Stand.
20APR2016 - Locking the Crank Without a Flywheel
The engine stand mount required me to remove the flywheel from the motor, so I didn't have an easy way to lock the crankshaft. I did some hunting around online and wasn't able to find any posts in the forums of people having done so successfully, so I took matters into my own hands. I bought a 36" length of 3/4" square steel tube and a few M12 washers. I drilled a 1/2" hole in the middle of the bar, filed any burs off the face, and the slid the bar between the mount and the flywheel hub.
I snuck one of the flywheel bolts (M12x1.5x50) in through the barrel of the engine stand mount with enough washers to only show 15mm of threads out the back of the bar, then tightened it up. Once I started spinning the crankshaft pulley bolt eventually the bar caught the engine stand mount and that allowed a breaker bar and cheater pipe to spin the bolt free. Not bad a bad system for $15.
PARKING LOT
> S54 oil filter housing to add cooling;
> Cut ring vs. cometic head gasket;
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