My Budget S51.5 Swap. w000t

[iliad]

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

[E30stan]

interesting read, nice swap!

[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.

[jwiles]

I freaking LOVE IT!!!!!!!! What was the final budget number.

[mpowerful]

Pic from a local meet yesterday. I have been driving it for last few days. Put probably 150-200 miles on the swap. Loving it.

[mpowerful]

Pretty much finished it off last night. Wired the aux fan back in (in moment of frustration I just cut it.) Put knee bolster in. Got glovebox put back together with 318 ecu bracket. I attached the a/c lines. Pulled vacuum for about an hour while i finished some other shit then charged it using 825grams of r134. Anyway this picture speaks for itself. This was taken at idle, with the fan in position 2, after the car had idled in the shop for atleast 45 mins so the underhood temps were pretty damned hot.



Anyway I got the shift carrier and shifter back in with all the delrin and UUC shifter. Got to drive it last night. Man. All smiles here. Runs fantastic. No more surge or anything. Currently running stock s50 m3 tune. After driving a while I installed the red46 skid plate. This took a little bit of fiddling because the way the plate is made it does not take into account if you move your rack to the rear rack holes in the subframe for oil pan clearance. The plate is made to fit the front two holes. Anyway rather than moving the rack, since I used washers as spacers, I used a die grinder and notched the holes back quarter of an inch. This worked great.





Also I ended up spacing the drivers side of the motor up with 4 washers. The m50 mani was still hitting the booster and it was pretty bad when driving. Spacing it up basically a cm made for about 2-3mm clearance at the booster. Really not ideal but its better than none. Also done like that I put spacers under teh motor mount but it was late and I was tired. Maybe Ill change it later.

[mpowerful]

Now a proper update. As mentioned started friday at 4 or so. The m20 came out fast. Easiest part of the whole swap. I really didnt hit any big snags until i tried to take the a/c lines loose to change those in before putting motor in. That weak old OE condensor just could not hold the torque with the two wrenches on it and the tubes broke right off on both connectors. Thankfully worldpac had an OE fit parallel flow condensor listed so I ordered it up. Damn cheap too. The list is ridiculous. Anyway I am putting up a pic for people interested in parallel flow. This thing is a perfect fit.

Anyway everything went ok getting the motor in but we did break the shift carrier setting the body down on the motor. Got to close and thought it had clearance. Anyway after a feverish local search I finally just took it to a local welder who tig welded it up for 25 bucks. Anyway I need to put it in but I am taking the night off.

Also had a problem with the chip I had. It was a used turner for 3.5afm. I put in two 413s and nothing. No fuel no spark. I thought the wiring was jacked for some reason. Then i stuck a stock 413 chip back in and it started on first try. I currently have a stock s50 m3 tune in 413 on it now. I will run this with regular boot and AFM till i get another 3.5maf tune. (Maf, afm, hfm, you get my drift).

The car runs a bit shitty. My guess is the IACV is weak. I mean I did get it off a non wrecked bmw at the junkyard. Hhahaha. Anyway after running it last night for a few hours it did get better but on recrank later it almost surged out then finally smoothed to perfect. I will probably take it off and clean it up really good. I think i should be able to go on test drive tomorrow when I get shifter back in.

Things I learned:

Fitment is tight everywhere. Expected this. The porsche booster is still about 1mm from touching even with fins ground off of the intake manifold.

The 318 harness cover will not fit 100% and had to be trimmed to clear the intake manifold. Part of this may be due to the e34 motor mounts which seem to set the motor high. As a result though I had no clearance issues with the SS headers. They are tight on the firewall so I drifted the floor a bit but they clear the subframe, CABs, and swaybar fine.

The side 318 harness cover doesnt work with a vert. Cant believe I didnt see that coming. I will have to trim the hell out of it to get it right, but itll be worth it.

The e34 throttle cables are a bit wonky. I had to adjust them all the way down on the stops to get them to get the throttle blade to close. Not ideal but it is working.

Even with the euro diesel fan that is super slim and low profile the fan is still only about 4-5mm from radiator at the very top edge. Its farther from the actual radiator fins, but still damn close. Dont know what I expected here. Not sure how anyone would ever get any other of the BMW fans in there.

We made the stock exhaust work with the headers. I already had muffler delete pipes coming off of stock cats. I retained the cats. Mainly because I really dont think they will be that restrictive and this is a budget build so I dont wanna blow 300 bucks on a full exhaust. What we did was cut the stock midpipe right where the H pipe parts ends on cat side. Welded 6 inch straight extensions to that. On the header I cut off the 1.75 inch side right where it starts to narrow. This allowed me to slip the midpipe into the headers. I then modified the shitty collars that came with the header to act as clamps. The exhaust now sits a bit more toward the passenger side of the car but its mounted solid as hell and has a good inch clearance. I am not gonna run the heat shields. The result. My exhaust tips are exactly in the same place but moved in toward the front of the car one inch. Thanks to e30bulldog for welding and fitment of pipes.

Final note. I am just happy that this motor is good. I bought this motor for 182 bucks from the junkyard and that is always a crap shoot. True I did a compression tests there but there are things you can see on compression tests. This is proof of concept. i did a lot of extras just because but fact is that I could have dropped this thing in with nearly all junkyard parts and it would have run fine. It definitely would have been under 500 bucks too.

Parallel flow condensor in OE fitment.





Exhaust



The two best e30 friends a person could have. Iliad and e30bulldog doing work on exhaust pipes. Without these two this swap would not have happened. I am gonna get em back. Next is a cammed up m50 in e30bulldogs car, and s62 in Iliads e30. We arent messing around down on the bayou hahaha.



And by by to my old m20. It was a perfect motor but on to new things. Think i already found her a local home.

[mpowerful]

Iacv seems a bit sluggish but i let it idle for about 3 hrs last night and it got much better. I got the shift carrier welded so that should go in later tonight or in the morning. Cant wait for the first drive.

[mpowerful]

http://youtu.be/ojYeEVRGpIY

I dont know why my videos will never embed. If there is a mod around id be grateful for a fix. Thanks.

[e30camb]

That is sexy! Good job bro.

[mpowerful]

Sneak preview. Got a couple of wrinkles to iron out. Mainly Broke the damn shift selector not paying attention when lowering the car back on the body. Anyway otherwise things are going well.

[Nitro Nick]

Looks like you are having some fun. Keep it up

[Mistawall]

Looking forward to more progressss


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[mpowerful]

The time is almost upon us. Gonna start teardown friday afternoon. Members Iliad and e30bulldog are gonna be on deck to make things easier (see below). Hopefully if all goes according to plan will be making 11s by sunday evening. Kinda sucks since I nearly chopped my thumb off at the junkyard (not every day you stumble on an s62 3 hours before they close, guess I got a bit hurried).

Anyway finished a couple of small things up to get ready. Prepared the harness to be covered with the 318 cover. Made an intake boot that will work for 3.5" maf by siliconing in the bung for the IACV hose. Test fitted that too and looks good. Prepped the rear shifter carrier bushing holder thing for the delrin one from garagistic. Test fit some bushings I ordered for the old UUC shifter that iliad gave to me. Anyway cant wait to get started.



I know this is wrong side on shift rod. See the shifter is an old UUC and they stopped carrying bearings for it a long time ago. Anyway I basically miced it and ordered replacements. I was just testing to make sure they fit in the end of the shifter and onto the rod perfectly. Looks like my ten dollar harbor freight caliper is damned accurate.

[mpowerful]

Its been a minute but I have been busy. I have kind of been in a waiting on parts phase. Well really just the flywheel and last couple of things I need to get done ordered. Bushings from garagistic. Have a/c lines made. All that is done now. I am gonna try and do the swap in 2 weeks. I am gonna do it at the shop over the weekend to keep from possibly tieing up a lift during the week.
Anyway some budgetary shit.

Flywheel cost me 40 dollars to have machined and basically turned it down to the boss before the ring gear (1mm off gear) and that brought it down to about 16lbs. I dont think I have any pics of it. Its an m20 flywheel. blah.

The A/C lines I had made at a place a few blocks from my house that specializes in hydraulic and pressure hoses. It was 78 bucks to have the lines made. They let me clock the fittings how I wanted. They used new pressure hose to same length as stock e30 length. They cut and brazed the oem fittings for both sides to new barb ends and crimped the fittings onto the hoses. Damn good work.

If you have wondered if I am over or under budget, and I am definitely not over. I could have skipped a/c and skipped machining flywheel in lieu of just grinding oil pan bosses. I coulda skipped the garagistic delrin and other shifter stuff as honestly my shifter is currently without issue but might as well. I paid for some of the extras with this. I went to the junkyard friday to check out a new e38 and e36 that had just gotten there. Right next to the e36 (damn 318 sedan) was a miata with a damn hardtop. I stopped what I was doing and just took the hardtop. Needless to say I sold it for pretty damn good money within 24hrs and it cost me basically nothing at the junkyard. One in a million score. Pretty much funded the entire swap then some.

Pics.

Oh and that morning i figured i would just be going to scout the new bmws at the yard not actually get anything big so I left my 3/4 ton chevy at home and took the e30. Hahha. That hardtop barely fit and it was a good 15 mile drive home. Needless to say my top speed was about 45. I didnt even have straps so I tied it down with the rear seatbelts.





This really is astoundingly good work for what I paid for these lines. Its hot here. Screw going without a/c.