I can has M50?

[daniel]

i really enjoy the way you describe your story and your thought processes. it is quite entertaining. have you ever considered writing articles of some kind?

[Keanan]

I got the block, head pistons and crank back from the machine shop. Everything looks really nice. It is cool to see everything really clean, the downside is that it will eventually get dirty. I have had my E30 for about 4 years now and I drive it a little over 20,000 a year. I am assuming this engine will get a decent bit of mileage on it pretty quickly which only means the engine will get dirty quickly. Cleaning stuff of makes for better pictures though.

I have ordered all of the parts that I need for the engine. I am waiting on freeze plugs and Ireland Engineering headers. Both of those should be here by the end of the week.

The things I have ordered and received are:
Upper and Lower gasket sets
Piston rings
Main and rod bearings
Belts, tensioners and tensioner pulleys
Flux capacitor
Water pump
Thermostat
Head bolts
Spark plugs
Valve cover rubber grommets
and other things I can't remember off of the top of my head.
I will try to get a complete list together soon.

I ordered a Z3 rack, it should be here soon. I am looking forward to running it. I have run my E30 without power steering for the last 3 years and have really liked it but I think a different ratio rack will be cool.

I thought about painting the block a different color but I figured flat black would be a good color. I don't really want to paint it pink or yellow.

Now as promised here are the pictures:





















I hope you enjoy the pictures. Tomorrow I will get a couple more of the painted block and the assembly process.

[Kerrath]

What's the PN# on the Flux Capacitor? I can't find it anywhere and mine stopped charging about a week ago.

Great pictures and good writing. Everything looks great so far and that ozzy thing is badass. Expensive, but badass.

[Keanan]

I ordered the Flux Capacitor from Kale Co Auto. http://kalecoauto.com/index.php?main...products_id=28

They have some really good deals on lowering kits and AWD conversion kits. I was thinking of going AWD after the engine swap.

http://kalecoauto.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=6

[Keanan]

I put the new piston wrist pins in today. I was hoping to do a lot more on the engine today but ended up spending to much time trying to get things set up.
One thing I don't like about machining things is that it usually takes a long time to get things set up and organized. Once it is all set up and you are ready to go things go quickly. I spent an hour finding the right size reamer, then looking for the right size collet, only to not find the correct sized collet. I then decided to just put it in the three jaw chuck (which is what I wanted to do in the first place but I figured a collet would work better). Once everything was set up I was able to machine the insides of the bushings in a little over the amount of time it took me to set everything up.
It was frustrating because I wanted it done NOW! I was impatient, but it was cool to play around and make the pins fit in the bushings.








The headers came in the mail today. I ordered them from Ireland Engineering. They don't look anything like what I thought I was getting. I thought I ordered Ireland M50 headers but I ended up getting Schmiedmann headers. They still look cool but they needed a bit of cleaning up. The welds looked like they were done on a Monday morning. I will see how they will fit. They are not what I ordered at all. I would consider returning them but I think they will work just fine. At least they look cool.
Has anyone used these before? What did you think of them? How do they hold up? I will get some other pictures of the headers up tomorrow.

Thought I was getting this:

http://store.nexternal.com/shared/StoreFront/default.asp?CS=ireland&StoreType=BtoC&Count1=85216701&Count2=2357125&CategoryID=7&Target=products.asp

But instead I received this:

http://www.schmiedmann.com/271/produkt/SCM3436.htm

The Schmiedmann headers are short so maybe they will allow more room near the control arm bushings. I don't know, we will see.

Stay tuned for more updates tomorrow.

[lifeiskaos]

i personally would be happy if i accidentally received the ones you got. i've seen a couple people use them. they look badass

[logger]

The Schmiedmann headers do look badass. Is that a adjustible ream or lapping? Do you not think it is risky holding on to that while machining?

[Keanan]

The Schmiedmann headers do look badass. Is that a adjustible ream or lapping? Do you not think it is risky holding on to that while machining?

I used an adjustable reamer on the lathe, turning as slowly as it could. At first I thought "uh holding it by hand could be dangerous and it might be totally inaccurate too." But then I thought "Well how am I ever going to find out? Let's do it." It turned out just fine, it didn't want to spin because I was shaving off such a small amount at a time.


Tonight I installed the crankshaft and pistons. Then I got excited and put a couple other parts on just to see what it will look like. I really want to run this thing on the dyno when it is dark just cause I want to see those headers glowing nice and orange.








I went snowboarding again today and as I was walking back to the car I saw something funny on top of a truck. I don't know how it got there or why it is there, a friend said it was in the truck earlier.

[ethirtydavid]

"i think he used the money to buy drugs" ahahhahha

I look forward to your swap. have fun with it
+1 for blizzaks

[SiGmA_X]

Looking good. You didn't actually put the head on yet did you? I didn't see an oil non-return valve in your parts list, and you want to replace it for sure.

[Keanan]

"i think he used the money to buy drugs" ahahhahha

I look forward to your swap. have fun with it
+1 for blizzaks

The funny thing about that was one day he was like "dude you wanna buy my sub for like $70 bucks" and I said "no way. maybe for 20 bucks." he was like "aw forget it" and then a couple days later he come up to me and says "ok I'll take $20 for it." So I bought it from him the next day.

[Keanan]

Looking good. You didn't actually put the head on yet did you? I didn't see an oil non-return valve in your parts list, and you want to replace it for sure.

I just set the head on the block so I could see what the headers would look like on the engine.

Does anyone have a part number for the oil non-return valve? I haven't seen this on any parts diagrams.




I'm still working on the wiring harness modifications. Instead of splicing two connectors together to make an adapter I will use an extra E30 C101 and put the M50 pins into the correct spots. That way it will look exactly like it does now. So far it is pretty easy. I'll try to get pictures of it tomorrow.

[Keanan]

I have been busy working on my car and goofing off, so quickly here is a a list of things I have done in the last few days and a bunch of pictures.
The engine should be in the car and running within a week, or maybe 10 days

Finished wiring harness: I just replaced the engine harness plug. I didn't want to mess with making adapter when I could just change the plug on the engine side. Plus it will look cleaner than an adapter.

Resurfaced my flywheel and shaved 4 cm off the back of it so it doesn't rub against the oil pan.

I painted my starter green.

Glued the plastic cap on my water pump because I am not running a mechanical fan and I didn't want to pay for a cap nut to cover the threads. Plastic cap does the same job and doesn't waste gas monies.

I boiled the temp sensors to make sure they were closing at the proper temps. I will have the electric fan turning on low speed in run or start and at temps above 82c it will run at high speed.

I yanked my M20 out of my car last Monday. It took 4 hours from when I pulled into the garage until it was out and on the floor. Not to bad really.

Pressure washed the trans and replaced input seal. The transmission looks brand new now.

After removing the engine I pressure washed the engine bay and cleaned everything up inside there.

I have the Z3 rack and new tie rods, waiting and ready to go in.

Enjoy the pictures,

Keanan

[lifeiskaos]

4cm!? lol jk i think you meant 4mm. looking forward to more updates!

[ansonivan]

Great build.

I have a hefty case of machine shop envy, do you have free access to all the equipment pictured?