Das Beast: My E30 track / street build

[Elysian]

Awesome!

[dvallis]

Getting Close

Getting near putting the engine back in. Finishing off the plumbing today.

Had Ernie's Welding make this for us. 1.5" aluminum joiner with 4AN weld bung. This is the return for turbo water supply.



It routes to the water pump intake. Used a couple of off the shelf Conti formed hoses (62116 and 60663) to finish it off. Perfect fit.



Rebuilding the waste gate. One of the hose fittings penetrated too far and punctured the diaphragm.





New diaphragm attaches to the valve shaft with grub screws. Don't forget the loctite.



Pre-turbo oil filter. Just a bit of insurance.



Here's the final plumbing. Water supply from the water jacket drain with M14x1.5 to 4AN fitting, to turbo then to water pump intake. Oil from sandwich plate, to filter, then 40 psi oil pressure regulator (return to pan), then to turbo and drain to pan. It's cleaner than the last design since everything is engine mounted. Still looks like an octopus mating with the M20.



Intake manifold, old gaskets and test plate bolted on.



SMOKE TEST! We're just looking for any obvious leaks. (i.e. oil pan)



Yes. There is smoke in there.



It took 60 psi of compressed air and we didn't see a single leak.

Next time we'll strip everything off, rebuild with proper torque and final gaskets. Then it's going back in.

[dvallis]

#7. It's long gone. : - ) Washer it is.

[digger]

Digger, I don't remember ever seeing a rotor adapter. Whats it look like? Maybe just add a washer?

Suitable sized Washer will do, rotor adapter is the 3 pointed thing the rotor button bolts to.

[dvallis]

Digger, I don't remember ever seeing a rotor adapter. Whats it look like? Maybe just add a washer?

[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

[ADEN]

Clean build...
Subscribed

[Digitalwave]

Glad to see the beast coming back together.

[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.

[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]

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.

[dvallis]

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

[ForcedFirebird]

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

[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.

[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