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Amoehlau M20 Turbo Build

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    Amoehlau M20 Turbo Build

    Well I've been tearing down my E30 for a short while and now that I'm finally starting to make a little bit of forward progress I figured it would be a good time to start a build thread.

    I previously built a turbo swapped wrx with a 20G turbo and all the bolt-ons which is now my daily driver. The Subaru is a blast and I love it but the whole build was "take off stock part, bolt on bigger part" and I'm looking for more of a challenge/learning experience with this build.

    I'm not trying to make some awesome 500hp monster (yet) but I'm also not a guy who wants a turbo setup for under $1500. So here is my effort at a somewhere in the middle, hopefully not so generic turbo build haha. Enough talk, onto some pics.

    The day I brought it home


    The first thing I started on was my manifold. Im not a fan of the ebay turbo manifold and I wanted to learn how to tig weld so what better opportunity?

    The design



    The latest picture I have of it. The turbo flange is now attached.



    The turbo is a Borg Warner S251 that I got through AGP. It has a billet wheel and AGP .63 AR ceramic coated turbine housing. AGP was awesome to work with and really helped me make my decision. I know many of you will probably say that's too small but I disagree. After building my Subaru I always wished that I had gone a hair smaller on the turbo so I'm giving it a shot this time. Sure 400 awhp is a blast but for this car I want it to be a lot more responsive and more linear broad power band.




    Anyways, once the manifold was finished and test fitted I began ripping the car apart.
    Before



    After




    Then I spread the engine all over the basement haha



    I don't have any crazy plans with the engine just giving everything a nice refresh, new gaskets and seals everywhere, ARP head studs, Goetze head gasket and a few other things. I wanted to have the block dipped and also wanted to check out all the bearings in the bottom end to make sure I wasn't doomed from the start. Everything in the bottom end looks pretty good I'm having it checked over by a local engine builder who my uncle knows just to be positive. He will also shave the head for the new head gasket, dip the block, and resurface my flywheel for new clutch.

    While the engine is being checked out I decided to pop out the front subframe and freshen that up a little bit. I ordered the subframe reinforcement kit from Harrison motorsports. I know theres tons of different reinforcement kits but I was already ordering the e36 steering rack spacers through them so I just threw the reinforcements in the cart too.

    Engine mounts before




    And after... the fit on these wasn't so great but it was good enough after a little tweaking. I'm assuming these would be much better when installed with a mig welder but I'm on a tig welding kick so I did my best and just left some gaps. I'm sure it is plenty strong and I'm not worried at all.




    And finally the disgrace of a sway bar mount



    Last edited by Amoehlau; 02-26-2015, 10:01 PM.

    #2
    Excited to see how that BW does on the m20.
    Was it possible to make your wastegate sit at more of an angle? Hell of a job on your first attempt btw! :p

    1991 325iS turbo

    Comment


      #3
      Thanks, I was thinking about branching the wastegate further down the collector and then angling it up a little bit but I was worried about it favoring the two closer cylinders and I was also thinking that I don't want to pull the exhaust off to change springs so instead I just made sure that it was well up into the "collected area"

      Comment


        #4
        Wow nice work so far!
        BimmerHeads
        Classic BMW Specialists
        Santa Clarita, CA

        www.BimmerHeads.com

        Comment


          #5
          Props for learning tig on this project!
          • 85 325e Project
          • 2010 Subaru STi hatch
          • 01 e39 M5 (sold) :down:
          • 00' E39 540ia (sold)
          • 89' 325is (sold)
          • 97' Ram 2500 12v Cummins
          • 2006 KTM 950 Adventure
          • 2006 Yamaha YZ450F

          Comment


            #6
            Cool! sub'd

            Comment


              #7
              Yeah, another m20 turbo thread :)

              Good luck,


              M20B28 Turbo

              My Build Thread

              http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=255839

              Comment


                #8
                A shot down the collector. Not such a great picture but its all I have. I was pretty happy with how this turned out. Hopefully this week I'll have the subframe back in the car and start assembling the engine.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Last week I sold my wrx and bought a 2015 to replace it so I have been a bit distracted from the build but I have made a little bit of progress.

                  Got the oil return in the oil pan real quick. Also put in an IE oil pan baffle but I guess I didn't get a picture of that.



                  I received some head parts! Valve springs, rocker arms, and dual pattern 280/274 cam from BimmerHeads! Also some oversized (.524 OD) valve guides from VAC motorsports.



                  Also got some new journals for the intermediate shaft and I'm having the shaft polished up since mine were pretty scoured, which I guess was a pretty common issue so those are being installed while my block is at the machine shop.

                  This week my block was honed and dipped, and got all new soft plugs so I should have that back as soon as the new intermediate shaft bearings are installed. Then the head is being planed, valve job, boring for oversized valve guides, and HD valve springs will be installed. Then when I get that back ill throw in my new cam and rocker arms and start reassembling the engine.

                  For now I've been working on some little stuff like painting the valve cover and intake manifold, and putting new ball joints in the front control arms and things like that. Hopefully things will start moving a little bit quicker in the near future.

                  Comment


                    #10
                    This week I got my engine parts back from the machine shop. Everything looks pretty good and I'm happy with how it came out.

                    The block is nice and clean, new soft plugs, nicely coated black, and honed.



                    The head looks about new. Had a valve job done which I didn't get a picture of, new valve guides and seals, and he put in my new valve springs for me while he was at it. When I got it home I put in my new cam shaft and rockers and did a valve adjustment. I adjusted the valves to 0.010" please correct me if that's wrong.





                    I didn't have any port work done but just from the wash they look good as new.

                    Comment


                      #11




                      The timing looks like its off a tick in this pic but its just the angle of the camera







                      Got the new injectors in, Deka 60#



                      The spec clutch that I picked up from a member, s14brent, thanks again!



                      Nice and shiny stock flywheel



                      Installed



                      Just about ready to drop back in!




                      Next I've got to install the e36 steering rack which I got from another member on here, totheredline (thanks again!), and then I want to spend a day with a tooth brush scrubbing down the engine bay so that its nice and clean. I've debated respraying the engine bay while its empty but I decided not to because I'm too anxious to get the car driving again.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Looks like an awesome build so far man, can't wait to see the finished product. Sub'ed.
                        #CaptainSlow
                        1986 E30 327I Stroker RIP
                        1994 E34 530I
                        SF Bay Area

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                          #13
                          Cool build

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Whoa, great work in a short time!

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Well, the engine is finally back in its place.





                              I ordered my intercooler and the pieces to make my piping so hopefully things will keep moving along.

                              Major things left on the list are: line up a megasquirt setup, setup for wasted spark ignition, and build an exhaust.

                              Starting to get excited :D

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