Alive, Well, and Turbo'd in NY

[16v_e30]

??? Hide and seek?


There you are! Sneaky m42.....


Transmission, Clutch, Pressure plate removed


Clutch. Holds strong, but I will be replacing it anyway. Recommendations?


Unfortunately I misjudged the necessary chain link for the proper engine angle by a little. So instead of backtracking, I chose the "f*ck it" method of destroying everything in the way of the engine. Even ended up lifting the whole car up a bit by the motor and tranny combo when it was wedged between against the grill and tranny tunnel. I wish I backtracked, but oh well. Damage:



The cherry picker also rubbed an unsightly "dent" on the underside of my bumper. More care will be used upon installation....

[F34R]

Drilled holes in the air box is a mod?

[getouth]

^^ Where do people come up with this stuff????

[Tom.]

Drilled holes in the air box is a mod?

because a modified air box isn't modified, right?

[16v_e30]

Ripped through the engine, sent the head, VC, and intake manifold off to be degreased. I just got it back yesterday but have yet to snap any pics. I ordered a new Goetze headgasket, and all other necessary gaskets, being careful to avoid Victor Reinz. Maybe some of their gaskets are okay, but from the reviews, I'd rather not chance it. Where I couldn't source non VR gaskets, I went to the stealer and picked them up.

I also bought a Stage 2 Spec Clutch to maintain the stock titanic flywheel. All 28.2 pounds of it. Reason? My tranny chatters more than I like now, so I'm not about to increase that with a lighter flywheel. Simple enough to change if I ever change my mind. I went with Stage 2 (vs 3) on the clutch because I wanted minimal drivetrain strain. I've gone back and forth on this and really hope it holds. 272 tq rating. Getrag 240 can only hold ~300 tq anyway. Fingers crossed!

Mounted the intercooler in the meantime. Pretty simple install until I got to cutting the valence. I used a rented sawzall from Home Depot to do the big cutting. Didn't like that at all as it did some paint damage, and who likes cutting their car up anyway?? So for the rest of the cutting I used my tiny little dremel and cutoff wheels. Lots and lots of cutoff wheels. The battery for the dremel didn't hold much juice so this put a huge delay in the cutting process, having to constantly wait for it to charge. Oh well. The valence is on now, but needs a few more cuts as it is hitting the intercooler a bit. Fixing that one tonight.

Don't put an oil pan on your 3-legged engine stand


Nasty.


Head off




This is supposedly the source of my oil leak. Infamous profile gasket


Intercooler installed


Block after some cleaning.

[16v_e30]

I had the flywheel resurfaced with no issues. It was a little tough to find a place that could do it, but it looks beautiful now.

Also got my ARP headstuds in and began reassembling my engine

Head cleaned


Decided to paint VC and IM a high temp flat black. I don't have high hopes for its longevity, as they didn't have high temp primer (go figure...)


Block before assembly


Goetze headgasket and ARP studs (head cannot be installed this way how I did it)


Head on


Quick snap of the valence after cutting was completed (went through a sawzall rental, and like 30 cutoff wheels for my pistol dremel to get it like that)


LSD getting fluids before going in. I had a hell of a time aligning it while squeezed under the car. Overall easily one of the most irritating parts of the project so far. Maybe even tops scrubbing the block. But it's done. Just awaiting proper torque




And finally, as she sits now




Finishing final engine prep work, torqueing the diff down, and switching the jacks. Then the little M42 is going back to its home. WOOOO


Also.......wanted to replace my truck with a reliable, conservative, yet mildly fun car with good fuel economy that won't tempt me to modify it..... sooooo I bought a very modified Subaru WRX wagon. :nice: bahaha I'm a sucker for fast. More details later

[Andy.B]

Looking good.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

Great work! I'm diggin the wheel setup.

[16v_e30]

Borrowed an engine leveler from a local shop to throw the engine back in without causing damage this time. The clock was ticking, I needed to give it back to them tomorrow. So I rushed and finished up the diff, threw some oil in the engine, gave it a few turns to triple check the timing, pulled the turbo and valve cover to quadruple check the timing again (and I still feel worried about it), and put it all back together again.

The oil sending line for the turbo uses an adapter to the back of the m42, which, of course, had the wrong thread pitch. No big deal, Jake's sending me a new one. Throwing the engine in anyway. Attached flywheel (I used a hex key to lock the flywheel).

Open up clutch and pressure plate, install TO bearing in tranny (looks like they included an ISB as well for some reason....). Put clutch on, put pressure plate on..........WTF??

[16v_e30]

So that blew my night up. That's not even close.....Took weeks to get it in the first place because they had to MAKE it. Now I gotta wait all over again....

So I put the engine on the ground as best I could, removed engine leveler, re-attached engine to cherry picker with just the chain, and put some oil on the flywheel again.... UGH! :curse:

[nando]

I bet that PP was made for a single mass flywheel. why would you keep that 50lb hunk of steel anyway?

[16v_e30]

I bet that PP was made for a single mass flywheel. why would you keep that 50lb hunk of steel anyway?

woah woah, it's only a measley 28.2 pounds. AND that was before it was resurfaced! Must weigh 3 pounds or so now...

I didn't want to rid of it because the gearbox chatters more than I like already. Putting a lighter flywheel in will only increase that. So for less money and less embarrassing tranny chatter, I kept the stock DM. Yes, I lose out on some acceleration and blah blah, but (unlike many, I know) I believe, for me, that the negatives outweigh the positives. At least for now. Simple enough to put in a lightweight one down the road if I ever want to do it.

[16v_e30]

FINALLY got the new pressure plate.

Boom, clutch on, tranny on, engine leveler on, cherry picker on, over the engine bay... ran out of time.





Next day, lowered in, secured down. BAM e30 disco potato.

[Andy.B]

Lookin good.

[16v_e30]

I connected all the sensors back up, bolted all the accessories back on, took the turbo off to check the timing for the millionth time and applied some assembly lube to the cams. I reconnected the turbo, and set about working on the charge piping. Huge pain as it turned out. I had issues clearing the Volvo fan conversion with the elbow coming off the turbo inlet. I cut the turbo-side of the 90 degree elbow down a bit to help reduce the kinking. The end result:


It's not perfect, but it's a tight fit. The bypass valve is even worse. This is the best I could get it. I have a hose clamp there to help keep the hose from kinking.




I installed JakeB's chip in the stock Motronic ECU, buttoned that all back up, and that should be it besides the gauges and the exhaust! I opted not to start the car without the full exhaust, so I had it towed to a shop I always use for everything, but it wasn't simple enough for them (not an exhaust shop), so I had it towed again to an exhaust shop. MufflerMan. Awesome shop, great guys. I had them just lop the front off my stock exhaust, and weld in some stainless pipe to connect to the downpipe. No pics though.... Ready to start???