N52 Swap Discussion

[Motheye99]

Im 99% sure you don’t have a hobby laser sintering machine :) They are starting to make more affordable printers so its possible to have one at home. Definitely not the run of the mill 3D printer!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sele...aser_sintering

Its only a matter of time before we get a DIY SLS solution. Filament based printers have plateaued.

Defiantly a ways to go before i can make my own intake!
https://reprap.org/wiki/OpenSLS

[Motheye99]

I'm interested in the material to. The complicated part is adding metal inserts for the mounting bolts to stop relaxation.

I've used these before. They would even somewhat replicate the OE plastic intake manifold. Of course i'd have to heat them up a bit more for the filament I plan to use.

[nando]

I was going to say - that looks cool, but sounds expensive.

[wazzu70]

That would certainly work. I don't think I print that material. I really need to buy a s54 TB and get to work on this.

Im 99% sure you don’t have a hobby laser sintering machine :) They are starting to make more affordable printers so its possible to have one at home. Definitely not the run of the mill 3D printer!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sele...aser_sintering

[Northern]

What was the material? I built my own printers and while they're not close to commercial printers. THey've got the capabilities for 400+c° prints.

Our team has no documentation to go with it. There was a team reboot in 2015, and 99% of what came before that is gone.

Here is their materials page: https://realizeinc.com/materials/

I think they mostly did SLA in that era, but I don't know what resin. I think there has been some evolution in 3d printing since this was made too

[Motheye99]

Material: http://www.windform.com/ Example: https://www.crptechnology.com/intake...-xt-vm-motori/

That would certainly work. I don't think I print that material. I really need to buy a s54 TB and get to work on this.

[wazzu70]

Material: http://www.windform.com/


Example: https://www.crptechnology.com/intake...-xt-vm-motori/

[nando]

Why an adapter? It bolts up, why not port out the N52 head to match the throttles? The ports and, I @$$ume, the valves are smaller than S54's, but we don't yet know if the N52 head can be improved to perform closer to an S54 head. I suspect that someone looking to swap on S54 throttles could afford a head/throttle package.

because a spacer (about 1" thick) is needed anyway in order for it to clear the OFH.

[digger]

We had a full (ie. from behind single throttle body to port) single-piece 3d printed intake for a CBR600RR in an old iteration of our FSAE car, probably ~2012ish. I think it survived 3-4 engines (~1 engine per year... lol) and seems to be in good shape after being thrown around the past 4 shops we've had. Seems at least as robust as an e36 intake. It was a sponsored part made by Realize Inc. I think they're super common now in FSAE. Sure it's not the same as 200k+ on a production engine, but I think there's a reasonable possibility it would last.

I 100% agree that it's not economical though.

I'm interested in the material to. The complicated part is adding metal inserts for the mounting bolts to stop relaxation.

[Motheye99]

We had a full (ie. from behind single throttle body to port) single-piece 3d printed intake for a CBR600RR in an old iteration of our FSAE car, probably ~2012ish. I think it survived 3-4 engines (~1 engine per year... lol) and seems to be in good shape after being thrown around the past 4 shops we've had. Seems at least as robust as an e36 intake. It was a sponsored part made by Realize Inc. I think they're super common now in FSAE. Sure it's not the same as 200k+ on a production engine, but I think there's a reasonable possibility it would last. I 100% agree that it's not economical though.

What was the material? I built my own printers and while they're not close to commercial printers. THey've got the capabilities for 400+c° prints.

[Northern]

It's still not very economical to 3D print a manifold that will actually last long term . Some of the less critical areas of the manifold would work fine. Bolting to the head no way. A Cnc or cast adapter is the way to go IMO depending on quantity

We had a full (ie. from behind single throttle body to port) single-piece 3d printed intake for a CBR600RR in an old iteration of our FSAE car, probably ~2012ish. I think it survived 3-4 engines (~1 engine per year... lol) and seems to be in good shape after being thrown around the past 4 shops we've had. Seems at least as robust as an e36 intake. It was a sponsored part made by Realize Inc. I think they're super common now in FSAE. Sure it's not the same as 200k+ on a production engine, but I think there's a reasonable possibility it would last.

I 100% agree that it's not economical though.

[The Dark Side of Will]

A very slightly tapered adapter would be needed.

Why an adapter? It bolts up, why not port out the N52 head to match the throttles? The ports and, I @$$ume, the valves are smaller than S54's, but we don't yet know if the N52 head can be improved to perform closer to an S54 head. I suspect that someone looking to swap on S54 throttles could afford a head/throttle package.

[nando]

With no space to work on it I'm not sure how you would make it work. Paying a shop to do this swap would cost an astronomical amount of money, unfortunately.

The primary fabrication is the oil pan/subframe and mount arms. Everything else for the most part is like any other swap.

[Bored]

Still looking at this swap as a viable option as I just got my first E30. '91 kaschmirbeige 325 auto coupe. Wasn't tickled about the automatic, but the car is in really nice shape otherwise...

I'm loathe to take the car apart at this point, plus I live in an apartment complex so there is nowhere to really tinker with things or store 'em.

Still running ideas through my head on how to fit this to work. One of my neighbors works at an auto shop (race cars, custom cars, etc) and he has some skills in fabrication... might see what he can do with it.

[digger]

It's still not very economical to 3D print a manifold that will actually last long term . Some of the less critical areas of the manifold would work fine. Bolting to the head no way. A Cnc or cast adapter is the way to go IMO depending on quantity