My Budget S51.5 Swap. w000t

[mpowerful]

I shoulda kept up with the money better as it was a budget build. Truth be known if I included the price off all the parts I didnt pay for the final tally would probably be about 1000 total. Out of pocket expense ended up being around 700. Now this includes everything including the setup to run the 3.5" maf and headers and basically extra shit. If I would have skipped all the extra and just got the car running as it was from the junkyard the out of pocket expense would have easily been below 500. In fact I could have made this motor run in my e30 for probably around 300-400. I mean ignore the go fast parts, ignore the maintenance items that could have not been changed (tensioners, water pump, etc were all fine), ignore the cams, ignore the euro fan and just run stock aux fan, and the cost quickly go down.

Also I should add that while collect junkyard parts for this car I struck gold numerous times and actually made a shit ton of money. So lets break that down too.

Miata Hardtop - paid 60 - sold 650
e39 m5 - motor went to my friend brian, I bought the diff, driveshaft, some trim, and brakes for around 150. Sold diff for 800, brakes for 400, and trim for 80. I have some other misc I still have to sell off of it too. Oh I forgot i sold the abs unit off of it (paid 72, sold 150).
A bunch of other small stuff. Probably no joke total of around 300-400 in small items.
And I have a buyer for my m20 package at 500 bucks.

Anyway here is a breakdown.

Out of pocket expenses. (PAP = Pull a part)
M52B28 from PAP with accessories – 182$
Flywheel machined at Lee Machine down to 15lbs – 40$
AFM from PAP – 20$
ECU from PAP – 30$
Euro diesel clutch fan – 65$
24lb injectors – 60$
Power distro block – 15$
Harness from PAP – 16$
Shift carrier broke so had to have it welded – 25$
Delrin shift carrier bushings – 30$
Bearings for UUC short shifter – 10$
IACV PAP – 15$
SS replica headers – 104$
Air dryer catch can setup – 12 $
3.5” maf – 26$
3.5” maf silicone boot DIY – 20$
Custom A/C lines - 75$

None out of pocket expenses (These were things I got trading labor and/or parts or that already had in spare parts inventory)
S50b30 cams
VC gasket set
E34 oil pan
Oil pan gasket
OBD1 Knock sensors
M50 intake mani and tb
Intake mani gaskets
OBD1 Cam Sensor
CPS
Throttle and cruise cable
Various seals (rear main, shift selector, vanos and prob more im forgetting)
Motul 8100 5w-40 and mann filter
E30 318 harness cover
New Parallel flow condenser (broke mine getting it out)
UUC short shifter (I believe it is a gen 1. Uses ball bearing rather than bushings)
IACV hoses
New 540 fan clutch
e34 cylinder motor mounts
Water pump, Thermostat, New Hoses
All new belts and idlers/tensioners
Tune for 3.5” maf
Red46 skidplate for 24v swap
I reused the existing G260. It had a really great condition Luk clutch and pressure plate in it so I reused those and just deglazed the PP with a prep disc.
Reused stock exhaust fitted to the new header.

[E30stan]

interesting read, nice swap!

[iliad]

Sweeet sauce frank!
Now we need to find a blower for under $500 ;)

[Mesarina]

Nice project, keep the pics coming!

[mpowerful]

Im currently on a bus in baton rouge on my way back to nola from houston. I was dropping off my dads truck to my brother so no e30. Anyway i have an sssquid tune waiting on me at home. If i feel up to it im gonna install the 24lb injectors and throw on the 3.5hfm and tune. Cant wait. Will review when i put some miles on it. The only bolt ons i really lack are proper cold air setup, and big bore tb. I plan on eventually getting the riot racing tb at some point. I am mulling over ideas for the cai intake now.

[AlpineEdirty]

Can give more detailed info on you fan set up?
Part #s or what model and year?

Thank you

[mpowerful]

11522243303 is the pn. You can use basically any of the three bolt clutches (e30, e36, e38, e39). Im using an e39 540 one.

[Gooch]

11522243303 is the pn. You can use basically any of the three bolt clutches (e30, e36, e38, e39). Im using an e39 540 one.

Do you know if the 540i fan clutch is thinner than the others? I bought a brand new e36 3-bolt but it still doesn't fit with my M42 radiator, but the 540i fan clutch has a different part number.

Unfortunately I'm home from break and can't measure mine but if you/someone has some measurements handy I'd really appreciate it.

[mpowerful]

They are all same size. You mean that the euro fan wont fir with your radiator? What type of engine mounts are you using? My engine seems to sit a hair high in the front although generally this should make a difference. Do you mean you just cant get it onto the clutch? You might have to take your radiator out to get it started onto the clutch. There might not be enough clearance with it in the way.

Oh and I put a new goodie on my car yesterday :)

[Gooch]

Not enough clearance between the fan/clutch and the rad is what I mean by not fitting (even with taking the rad out). I have revshift blue mounts (not really by choice, but they work). Your picture of the overall width of the euro fan/clutch combo looks much thinner than when I tried my euro fan and e36 clutch.

I ended up buying an eBay aluminum e36 radiator and late model coolant tank, but since I have a 318is I don't have any of the mounting provisions for the expansion tank and I'd rather not start drilling holes if I can use an off-the-shelf clutch/fan combo considering I already have the euro fan.

I'm currently running the backwards Audi fan (which also requires removal of the rad to install/remove) and want to get a permanent solution.

[mpowerful]

Are you sure you had the fan mounted in the right direction? It will mount either way and one way it sticks farther out.

[Gooch]

Yup.

[mpowerful]

Is it possible your core support has been replaced or hit at some point?

[mpowerful]

Before the power block stuff.....Here is a video of my car headed through the tunnel in mobile. Fun stuff. Car sounds fantastic. Oh if I sound weird I wasnt drunk. I just came from vacation at the beach so I was sunburnt and exhausted hahaha. Skip to about 1:08 for the good part.

Link since my embedded videos never work: S51.5 Through the Mobile Tunnel




So I mentioned in another thread that I would give details on my power distribution block. So basically the vert doesnt have the same power distribution block that a coupe/sedan has because in a vert the battery is in the engine bay. The result is that the positive terminal on the vert basically has everything strapped to it. It works fine but it kind of looks like crap to have several wires coming off of it. Anyway so to change this I decided to add a block. I used a stinger block that I ordered off ebay.



I made a new positive battery cable using some 2 gauge wire I had and crimped on new terminal. I ran that down to the stinger block right next to the battery. I bolted the block down onto the battery tray. I then ran everything off the block. It has multiple large gauge inputs/outputs as well as a few smaller in/outs. Easy breezy. Now all the power wires hide behind the 318 cover. Unfortunately I dont have any good pics of what it looked like before I did this. If you watch some of the videos youll prob see the before. Anyway here is the after.

[mpowerful]

Oh and review on SSSquid tune. Ok so in the beginning there was some communication issue. I ordered the tune through someone who apparently represents Jesse. I dont really know what that situation is but I was offered a discount for a tune for my setup. To skip all the detail I was sent the wrong tune because the order was placed wrong through this third party. The tune ran fan in my car but the CEL was on, and if you look in the video above you can see it. Shortly after I installed the tune I got Jesses number and he, as promised, sent me the correct tune while I was gone to florida. I drove about 500 miles on the other tune and it was pretty good. I got about 25mpg with A/C on and the car loaded down doing 80. Not bad. The tune seems a bit on the rich side. The power on top end is fantastic. Anyway I just installed the other tune yesterday when I got back. I havent put a whole lot of miles on it just yet but it seems to be running pretty good. Makes good power on bottom and top. Waiting to see how fuel economy is going to be as well. I will report back when I get a few more miles on it. I would like to say that in the beginning I was skeptical because of the week of back and forth with the third party but Jesse has been nothing but helpful.