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Finally got S52 swap on the road

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    Finally got S52 swap on the road

    Yesterday I finally was able to at least drive the car down to the local corner gas station and put in some fuel. Almost 1 year from the day I pulled the M20 out of the car.

    Exhaust has the cat on there and nothing else so it was pretty loud but at least tolerable. I'm off to the local parts store for a piece of 2.5" pipe to put on the front muffler, just after the cat. Still need to bleed the brakes again and put in a little more power steering fluid, but the engine seems to run fine, got it up to temp and no problems so far. Didn't jump on it for fear of the noise and I still have the stock bottlecaps and 185/60 tires on it, and I'm sure it would light those up pretty fast.

    It 's been an interesting year learning all the tricks and lessons in doing this swap.

    I've swapped well over 20 engines in everything from old Datsuns to Mopar musclecars to having the first K series engine powered Honda Civic on the planet, and this was by far the most complicated, at least in terms of gathering the info and parts. It's been by far the most expensive too, mainly since I wanted to put the best I could afford into this swap, as I don't plan on parting with it unless something drastic happens.

    Sometimes it was frustrating finding the info on a question, other times it was nice to be able to tap into the knowledge of the E30 enthusiasts on this board.

    Here's the specs on the 320,000 mile Bronzit 1988 325is:

    1997 S52 w/57K miles, OBDI conversion w/ E34 harness, Ebay Supersprint knockoff headers, 540I MAF w/Bimmerworld silicone elbow, 4" K&N filter
    1995 325is trans (getrag 250)
    3.25 gears with OBX LSD
    Front engine cradle engine mount reinforcements
    IE poly trans mounts (a little buzzy)
    M5 green engine mounts
    320i Brake booster
    custom box to hold DME in engine compartment
    IE radiator

    I plan on hooking up the AC once I find some lines, but with Fall here and temps dropping below 100 next week I might wait till Spring.

    Still need to get some 15" wheels so I can put on my 11.75" 4 piston brake kit, then I'll work on a rear 2 or 4 pot kit for the stock rear rotor, or maybe see if I can adapt something larger on there...

    #2
    Congrats! I know all too well the feeling of when a long-term project finally gets on the road. Relief, excitement, and satsifaction when you park the car for the night and you look one last time before you shut off the lights in the garage.

    Originally posted by whysimon
    WTF is hello Kitty (I'm 28 with no kids and I don't have cable)

    Comment


      #3
      Congrats on seeing it through. I know you'll spend a lot of time now working out the details.

      For the AC you have a great supplier close to you for fabbing the lines ackits.com , although I don't think you'll have a problem finding support for that in Phoenix.

      Comment


        #4
        awesome, congratulations!

        Comment


          #5
          welcome to the club

          www.gutenparts.com
          One stop shopping for NEW, USED and EURO PARTS!

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by bwh13 View Post
            I've swapped well over 20 engines in everything from old Datsuns to Mopar musclecars to having the first K series engine powered Honda Civic on the planet, and this was by far the most complicated, at least in terms of gathering the info and parts. It's been by far the most expensive too, mainly since I wanted to put the best I could afford into this swap, as I don't plan on parting with it unless something drastic happens.
            If you don't mind saying, what did everything cost all-in?
            M119 M42 M62 S52 S62

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by bwh13 View Post
              IE poly trans mounts (a little buzzy)
              I assume this means that the mounts are a little stiff for your liking?

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by e30s52 View Post
                welcome to the club
                x2
                Check out Undr8d Empire on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Undr8dEmpireLlc

                INSTAGRAM: @UNDR8D_EMPIRE

                Scarlet V2 - #Project333Ti by @castromotorsport, @kingsautobodyshop, @bimmerheads, @hardmotorsport, @excel_motorsports & @mateomotorsports - http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=371356

                Your signature picture has been removed since it contained the Photobucket "upgrade your account" image.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Welcome to the club...I'm a new member too :)

                  Now post up some pics!
                  IG: deniso_nsi Leave me feedback here

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Since I've only driven it maybe 5 miles since I got it running (with only the convertor and no muffler) I can't really say the IE trans mounts are too stiff. They might soften a little and that would OK, I just noticed a little more buzzing than I expected.

                    I'll have probably 12K in the entire project, including the price of the car, spread out over 2 years. I still need wheels and tires (15" for my BBK) so figure another 600-700.

                    After that there really isn't anything else to do, except the paint if I want the plastic bumpers to look decent. The rest of the paint is pretty good for a 322K car that's been in SoCal and AZ it's whole life...

                    I don't know how to post pics...

                    Comment


                      #11
                      sweet. i was thinkin of starting one of these next fall. would you be so kind and list all the parts you needed? so i can start collecting:D

                      Comment


                        #12
                        click the insert image button and enter the URL of a picture. You have to put the pictures on photobucket or something like that first.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by bignate948 View Post
                          sweet. i was thinkin of starting one of these next fall. would you be so kind and list all the parts you needed? so i can start collecting:D
                          search is your friend

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Originally posted by dpgrand View Post
                            search is your friend

                            yea i figured lol

                            Comment


                              #15
                              what are you running for suspension?

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