Simple_Smith's 2.7i eventual turbo build

[Simple_Smith]

Alright to start things off, i bought my first e30 (87 325e) right about a year ago and i was hooked. Soon i found out the motor in my car was already a stroker but running on motronic 1.0 wtf? So swapped in motronic 1.3, I intake, 19# injectors, timing belt, water pump, Power steering and A/C delete, plugs, wires, cap and rotor. I like the power but i want more. i want boost.

So with $450 dollars in my pocket, i start collecting engines.
First, 2 eta engines. One complete, the other just the block and rotating assembly along with two engine stands for 300
Next, a complete I with auto trans from an m-tech vert with only 130k on it for 150 bucks. Oh and the guy also had two super clean m-tech 2 alpineweiss verts. so jealous.

Anyways, the plan is just a basic rebuild and prep for boost as of right now. I am reading Maximum Boost by Corkey Bell at the moment so as i am building the engine i will be choosing the right parts for everything to work in harmony.

As of right now, the plan is:
eta crank
eta rods
I pistons
balance rotating assembly
new rings, bearings, and seals
clean up the block/head surfaces
O-ring block
30# injectors
PnP megasquirt
and a few other misc things before the full turbo setup is figured out

Here are a few pics of my setup right now

[acolella76]

You know you will have to deck the block around 2mm for those pistons to work, right?

[KenC]

I think you're confused.

It's running motronic 1.1 because it's an eta engine. You shouldn't rev that head over 5k.

[Simple_Smith]

its an 885 head on it already. thought i mentioned that. my bad.
kind of a long story but when i bought my car a year ago, i got it for 850 bucks with a bad water pump. got it home, did the water pump, timing belt. summer comes and i go to the junkyard, pull an 885 head and intake (and all the stuff for 1.3) pull the intake manifold off my car and it has an 885 head already and the block has 26 05 88 on it. my car confuses me lol. i hate not knowing exactly whats in it.

Acolella, thanks for the info on that. that was one of the things i was wondering about.

[The Humjet]

You know you will have to deck the block around 2mm for those pistons to work, right?

2mm that's a lot of cuts on the mill. What deck height will that result in? Zero?

[acolella76]

2mm that's a lot of cuts on the mill. What deck height will that result in? Zero?

Can't remember. I am going to be taking my block to a machine shop today for the same setup, going to tell them I want the pistons to sit 0.5mm below the deck like my late 2.8 motor. I will report back with how much they took off.. which should be 2mm i think

[Simple_Smith]

Alright sounds good. Another think I'm wondering about is if I will need to have the piston skirts machined at all. I know that can be an issue with the m52 crank

[acolella76]

Simple math tells me that the piston will sit 2.5mm lower (5mm shorter rods) below the deck, so to get it to sit 0.5mm the block has to be cut 2.00mm. Machine shop confirmed this.

Alright sounds good. Another think I'm wondering about is if I will need to have the piston skirts machined at all. I know that can be an issue with the m52 crank

Nope you will be fine!

[Simple_Smith]

Alright coolio. The one thing I couldn't find was specs for was deck height. Maybe I wasn't looking hard enough, but if you have a link to all the specific block info that would be awesome.

[acolella76]

All M20 blocks are the same. The only differences are the E34 M20 block has the dipstick in the oil pan rather than the side of the block, and I believe the iX block is iX specific as well.

Most other info can be found here:

http://www.e30tech.com/forum/showthread.php?t=52085

[Simple_Smith]

I read somewhere that the eta and I blocks were like .5mm deck height difference. But as it being the Internet, you have to take everything with a grain of salt. Also something about the eta blocks having an extra oil drain galley. I dunno. Doubt it would make much of a difference anyway.

[acolella76]

I read that somewhere as well, but I haven't noticed a difference so I am going to say it's false. Also forgot to mention that there is a difference between late model and early model block bearings. I mix up which blocks have what bearings, but just make sure to order bearings for your specific block date.

[Simple_Smith]

Gotcha. And the block date is right on the side of the block next the the part number, right? So that would make the engine in my car a seta... Very interesting...