stroking my m20 to 2.7i... day-by-day pics

[PУCCKAЯ_e30ka]

how much did you get your pistons done for? what are the specs on your pistons? I know you'll get the 10.9CR

[MrK]

These pistons were a TOTAL steal. A guy had them custom made for his own m20, but then he got a job overseas, and had to sell the car. These pistons had been lying around greased up and in plastic for 2 years (!!!). Dude was nice enough to give them to me for $350.

Anyways, on to day three... Just a single pic this time, there wasn't much to snap today:


The block is back in the engine bay, with a new clutch-bearing (it was rattling, so I had it changed), and new engine mounts (the header-side one was beginning to sag badly).

Please note all the STOCK PIECES in the engine bay!!! I'm sure you've never seen anything like them before! And please accept my sincere apologies for not being able to include my not-very-clean totally stock air-box in this picture.

If you didn't get the previous statement, just pretend it doesn't exist LOL.

[etxxz]

very cool, ty for posting up!! i'm very much new to the bmw/e30 community and been doing some reading on m20 stroker engines...i've never teared apart an engine but seems to me the m20 will be my first

:ohsnap:

[Jordan]

Why are you using a M30 coil?

[MrK]

Why are you using a M30 coil?

Sharp eye Jordan, I'm impressed. It was just a silly idea my mechanic came up with. my coil broke (mishandling) and he had this one on the shelf, so he put it in instead. No biggie.

[MrK]

For today's update, work is coming along at a nice pace, actually faster than I had imagined. Which means the bottleneck will move to the delivery of the adjustable cam gear... oh well. Here's pics:


The head was off, and I didn't like the look of my 130,000+ miles valves, so I got new ones instead. Call it insurance.


The head is now back in the bay, and I'm waiting on the adjustable cam gear to get things rolling. shaving the block made it a necessity.

I also figured I'd get some custom-machined 12mm aluminum spacers for my ET35 wheels, since the front tires were rubbing on the strut ever so slightly. I was also able to get rid of the centering ring this way.

More updates will continue on Monday or Tuesday...

[EtaSport]

How much did you take off the block? Let us know how it is tuning with that cam gear.

[MrK]

I think about 2 mils was taken off the block... I'll get you an accurate figure when I can. And FO SHO I will let you know about the adjustable cam gear adventures, I'm eager to try after I heard it's 'near impossible' (don't think so)

[silversleeper]

any idea on how much it would cost to have the crank knife edged?

[MrK]

any idea on how much it would cost to have the crank knife edged?

Umm, I guess I could tell you, but how exactly would the cost of knife-edging a crank in LEBANON do you much good? :D

Updates:

AFPR received from Bavauto today, and the engine is running (even though RICHHHH is an understatement).

STILL waiting on the darn cam gear, and also waiting on an SMT-6 from Gunni (GSTuning) so that I can tune the a/f, ignition retard, and stick a MAF in there.

[EtaSport]

How does it run with the stock cam gear and timing? Im assuming it is now retarded due to the lowered deck height.

[arsevader]

The head is now back in the bay, and I'm waiting on the adjustable cam gear to get things rolling. shaving the block made it a necessity....

Please tell me you aren't doing all this work and then going to reuse that scabby old timing belt. :)

[MrK]

How does it run with the stock cam gear and timing? Im assuming it is now retarded due to the lowered deck height.

Hey, watch the language! Let's say it's a little 'mentally challenged' now (instead of retarded LOL). Nothing too major, since the sick cam and high compression before the deck-chop made the ignition too far advanced. So you can say it's a little better now. I may end up getting the cam gear and leaving it at the stock position, who knows.

And arsevader, no, I'm not going to use the same crappy cam belt after all this. I'm gonna use a crappier used Taiwanese one instead, cuz it's blue.:rofl:

I also upgraded my SMT-6 order with Gunni to an SMT-7. What the hell. The technology's there, why not use it.

[MrK]

Ok, so it's wednesday, and the car is back together now. I drove it home, and BOY does it suck. Rough idle, a touch lean, and it stutters above 3k rpm. This is expected though, since the adjustable cam gear isn't in there yet (still waiting for it to arrive), and the SMT-7 (to fix up the air/fuel and put in the MAF) also hasn't arrived yet.

So I'm pretty much riding it out in a horrible state of tune till the stuff arrives next week.

1.8 mils were taken off the block, for those who asked, and the cam timing is now WAY off, due to the additive effect of the 304 cam and the shaved block. And now I see what you guys mean about the narrow-band O2 gauge being useless. The thing just full-sweeps from lean to rich the whole time. Pretty lights though :D

Will continue updating you once the cam gear etc get here and I install them.

[AndrewBird]

You might check this out if you want a dash mount, wideband O2 gauge.

http://www.streetrays.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/22_233/products_id/8933