Das Beast: My E30 track / street build

[dvallis]

Original piston assembly weight 256.4g



New piston assembly weight 200.7g. Looks like we're saving about 0.75 lb on the rotating mass.



Rod bearing shells are the right size. Unlike the 1st build :-)



We dorked around forever installing the first set of rod pin clips. You know the drill: sore thumbs, clips flying across the room, crawling around the floor looking for lost clips. So, we made a tool that does it in 10 seconds.

Get a thin wall tube about 0.85" in diameter
Cut it off about 4" long
Get a solid plunger that fits inside the tube
Insert ring in tube a shown



Insert wrist pin temporarily. It gives the clip a surface to push against.



Put tube perpendicular to piston with gap up



Insert plunger. Press down with smooth firm motion. Ring will click when it seats



Voila



Slightly remove pin. Insert rod. Repeat on opposite side.



More next time

[Digitalwave]

Keep 'em coming!

[dvallis]

Lord Of the Rings

Feeler gauges organized. I hate dicking around with all of them on a key ring.



Insert ring



Seat with handy ring tool



Check the gap



Grind, just a bit. Drill turns toward INSIDE of ring



Measure again. Repeat until within spec. We used 0.022" for the 2nd ring per Total Seal.



Ring set installed on piston. Tops are "gapless" which is really two rings with big gaps, but they overlap and interlock. 2nd ring seated correctly with notch inside and down. Bottom is a 3 ring sandwich.



Ubiquitous blue tape holds clocked rings in place.



Repeat 6 times. Done.

[Elysian]

Love the 3d printed ring tool.

[dvallis]

Heliwhat?

Did some prep on the bottom end. Block threads for the oil pan bolts got a good cleaning out (gunk removal) and checked with an m6x1 tap. Two of the damn holes in those aluminum bearing carriers front and back were wonky. Par for the course on M20s I suspose.

Bolts in photo are just to keep dirt out. M6x25 are too long and will bottom out. We've got a new set of M6x20 on the way. Will give max thread with our crank scraper plus oil pan stack.



Decided to helicoil them both



Drill out the hole. Screw in helicoil. Knock out the tang & extract from hole. Both hold torque now.

[McGyver]

Nice printed tool!

I made a similar thing using scrap plastic on a lathe at work. I'm stoked to try it out some day

[dvallis]

Timing Is Everything

Finally got down to business building the bottom end, now that all the prep work is done. Today we're checking valve clearance.

All the parts ready to go. Black timing belt has one extra tooth. We had issues with belt tension so I bought it to try.



All parts get generously coated with assembly lube..



This ring compression tool is SO much better than "juice can with giant clamp". Highly recommended.



Add rod cap and light torque. Repeat six times.



Add 1/16" clay worms to valve pockets, set bottom end timing so piston 1 is at top, install old head studs and spare gasket



Torque down head. 25 ft-lbs on all bolts per ARP pattern, then 50. This is only for clearance so no need to go to 75 ft-lbs



Install all the running gear on the front of the block. Careful not to jack the seals or lose the tiny springs inside them.



Before timing belt install.



Timing belt installed easily. Tension is perfect.. I'm sure the previous issue was our 0.120" head gasket had the head separated from the block by just a bit too much. Caused huge tension issues. This build uses custom JE pistons machined for a stock 0.070" head gasket but with 10:1 CR and much deeper valve pockets. We're running a 284/272 cam and apparently the pockets can handle an even bigger one.



Moment of truth. Turn the crank clockwise 4 times, back to TDC. Remove flywheel, covers, timing belt and head.

All of our 1/16" worms were undisturbed. So we've got at least .0625" clearance in all valve pockets. Success!!

Do I want to add more clay and see exactly HOW much clearance? No, it's enough and I didn't want to stress the valves with a bunch of clay.



Called it a day and planned for the next session. I need a couple of random gaskets.

[ForcedFirebird]

Too late now, but could have run the clay over the squish band to measure piston to head clearance while at it :/

[dvallis]

Not too late. Just gotta do it all again. : - )

[dvallis]

We're Back

Finally back at it. Rob was off on vacation for a few weeks. Ready to finish this rebuild now.

Thinking of going another direction. Lee says he'll let me have this engine for $3K.





Just kidding. Had to post it since that thing looks like it fell off the space shuttle. On to business.

Got our awesome Ishihara-Johnson crank scraper in place. We used permatex this time. Finger tight temporary bolts, let cure one hour, torque to spec.



High capacity trap door oil pan bolted on. M20 looks pretty small compared to that lump at Lee's shop.





ARP studs and 0.070 head gasket.



Lower end timing set to TDC



Head timed. White paint dot for "USE THIS MARK." No bending valves this time.



Head torqued on to 70 ft-lb, 25-25-20



Belt check. Timing belt went on very easily now that we don't have a 0.120" head gasket. That extra 0.50" made all the difference. Belt is snug, tensioner works properly. Turned it over several times, no bent valves. : - )



Took off the alternator since we have other things to address.



The Garrett 3076R is a ball bearing oil/water cooled variant, so we have plumbing work to do. Its WAY easier on the stand.



Turbo water supply from water jacket drain. M14x1.5 to 4AN fitting.



Turbo water return to top of thermostat housing. Same M14x1.5 fitting. Rad hose in place for fitting check.



Turbo center cartridge gets clocked 20 degrees. Garrett has a big write-up on why. TLDR: Clock 20 degrees either way, inlet low, outlet high, when engine is off heat evaporates water in center cartridge, pulls water through. Decreases cartridge temp by ~90F.

The 90 degree 10AN hose end is getting replaced by a straight one.

Notice the downpipe splice. We had to replace the PTE flange with a Garrett.



New turbo oil plumbing next time.

[McGyver]

Looking great! I'm bummed that my turbo build is delayed a year or two, but I'm stoked to follow yours and learn!

Are you going to time the cam?

[dvallis]

Our tuner likes everything TDC as a baseline. Once he gets the tune dialed in, he'll have a feel for whether we get more out of the engine with mechanical advance or retard. Got the Nuke cam gear there in any case.

[Digitalwave]

Glad to see the beast coming back together.

[ADEN]

Clean build...
Subscribed

[digger]

I’d put the rotor adapter on the cam gear it’s not great have a high grade bolt on aluminium without a washer of sorts