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Das Beast: My E30 track / street build

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    Nice work so far bud!!!

    I try to tell my wife the same thing about stuff in the car........

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      Ouch

      When I was living in Philadelphia I was also a victim of a smash grab with the family minivan... except they stole the whole damn thing! Showed up 4 months later trashed

      I feel your pain! Glad to hear you had everything backed up at least.

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        My frigging key is gone!

        So, the thieves got my only E30 key during the snatch and grab. Oh, well. This accelerates the "track car locking system upgrade". I plan on making my own keyless push button ignition with a mechanical and electronic lockout. First step is removing the steering wheel lock to meet racing regulations.

        Insert Master Key


        Remove lock cylinder


        Amputate wheel lock assembly


        You are now legal for racing. :devil:
        "And then we broke the car. Again." Mark Donohue, "The Unfair Advantage"

        1987 E30 3L Turbo Stroker Das Beast
        2002 E39 M5

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          Fuel Cell O'Rama

          Time to bite the bullet. I'm going fuel cell. Let's get that gas tank out from under my car. It's not working right anyway.

          Car ready to work on


          Sizing up what has to come out


          Definitely don't need this crap


          Temporarily removing drive shaft while car goes to fabricator


          Drain fuel tank first


          Remove the bolts, hoses etc.


          Tank drops right out


          Nasty lump removed. Quantity one. It's really heavy.


          Get rid of the stock fuel lines while we're at it.


          Wow. Look at all that empty space under there! I need to make an aerodynamic insert. Will be part of the diffuser.


          So now the car is REALLY light. You can literally roll it back and forth with 2 fingers. That's even without the fiberglass body or polycarb windows. Will be really interesting to see what it really weighs at the fab shop. They have scales. I'm guessing around 1000 lbs. :devil:
          "And then we broke the car. Again." Mark Donohue, "The Unfair Advantage"

          1987 E30 3L Turbo Stroker Das Beast
          2002 E39 M5

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            Wasted Spark

            I thought you might find this useful, here is a good amount of information regarding wasted spark. The installation was performed on an M30 engine, but the concept is still there.


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              On The Road Again

              Das Beast loaded on a tow dolly. Headed for my garage until it goes to the roll cage fabricator.



              Pit stop at a car wash to power wash the engine bay. Turned out pretty good. This is just an intermediate step to get all the most nasty stuff off before prep for paint.



              Dropping the engine off at a machine shop to be cleaned in their parts washer. Shops don't use hot tanks any more due to EPA. They really have "industrial dish washers" now with really hot water and soap.

              "And then we broke the car. Again." Mark Donohue, "The Unfair Advantage"

              1987 E30 3L Turbo Stroker Das Beast
              2002 E39 M5

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                Engine Geek

                Here's a "before" shot of the M20B25 pistons. Pretty nasty. I'm cleaning them with Berryman Chem-Dip. This stuff is highly toxic, absorbed through skin, eyeballs and lungs. I wore a full hazmat respirator, glasses and gloves to work with it. Does a great job removing carbon build up though. :devil: Notice how much the piston tops are caked with carbon.



                Now the after shot. Soaked the pistons for a day and they just wiped clean. Pretty awesome. This is before polishing or anything. I also started weighing engine internals with my new scale. It handles up to 3000g and is accurate to 0.1g. Notice how much the pistons are out of balance. They range from 399.9g to 406.3g. Once the skirts are trimmed flat for weight saving and 130mm rod clearance, I'll balance them to within 0.1g.

                Note the "Metric Mechanic M20 Engine Series" PDF lists M20 stock piston weight at 385g, versus my measured 399.9g to 406.3g. They might have measured flat bottom B25 pistons.

                The M20B27 rods are actually in pretty well matched. Will still balance the large ends by taking material off the rod bolt housing, then match the total rod weights by taking material off the small rod ends. Nothing serious. Just a quick shot on a belt sander is all it takes.

                I was surprised the ring sets were out of balance. Nothing to do for that though.

                "And then we broke the car. Again." Mark Donohue, "The Unfair Advantage"

                1987 E30 3L Turbo Stroker Das Beast
                2002 E39 M5

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                  Machine Shop. Sort Of.

                  Found an automotive machine shop to clean the engine. I wasn't all that confident in their capabilities given the state of the shop ... basically a ton of engine parts laying around in piles with no discernible organization. They have an industrial washer, said they could do it. Call it a "competence check".

                  Went back this week to pick up my engine and here's what I got. Yes. That black stuff is grease. There's no way I can paint the block in this state. Paid my $100, collected my engine parts and got the hell out of there.



                  The other parts are Ok but not great. Still lots of grease.





                  The head was not atrocious.



                  Going to finish the job properly by soda blasting everything myself.
                  "And then we broke the car. Again." Mark Donohue, "The Unfair Advantage"

                  1987 E30 3L Turbo Stroker Das Beast
                  2002 E39 M5

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                    Apparently Austin TX is the wasteland of automotive machining and engine building. There's one guy specializing in American Iron and one respected BMW machinist who doesn't take new jobs. Ugh.

                    Followed a lead from my daily driver shop and FINALLY found a machinist who speaks engine. Compression ratio, bearings, crank tolerances. Even makes his own pistons. He's working on trimming the M20 pistons to clear the M52 crank, measuring the crank journals and fabricating a crank spacer.

                    Progress!

                    "And then we broke the car. Again." Mark Donohue, "The Unfair Advantage"

                    1987 E30 3L Turbo Stroker Das Beast
                    2002 E39 M5

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                      Bearing University

                      Here's a comparison of the bearings that came out of the M20 and M52 block. Looks like standard "Red" bearings 59.980 - 59.990.

                      M52 bearings are ...... unidentifiable. Google's not nothing on them. Fortunately both cranks have the same journal diameters so Bentleys E30 data applies to both.

                      Waiting for crank measurements from the machinist to order bearings.

                      Last edited by dvallis; 04-17-2016, 05:48 PM.
                      "And then we broke the car. Again." Mark Donohue, "The Unfair Advantage"

                      1987 E30 3L Turbo Stroker Das Beast
                      2002 E39 M5

                      Comment


                        nice to see this moving along. FYI a lot of racers dont use fuel cells if they can avoid it. It adds a lot more work than the benefits it gives. but to each his own...
                        Simon
                        Current Cars:
                        -1999 996.1 911 4/98 3.8L 6-Speed, 21st Century Beetle

                        Make R3V Great Again -2020

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                          Well, the fuel tank was shot anyway. Had lots of crap blocking the connector tube etc. It will be easier to replace with a fuel cell and run my own lines. Lighter, safer and no racing series issues. (SVRA requires a cell).

                          Big update coming this weekend ... engine block painting.
                          "And then we broke the car. Again." Mark Donohue, "The Unfair Advantage"

                          1987 E30 3L Turbo Stroker Das Beast
                          2002 E39 M5

                          Comment


                            Originally posted by dvallis View Post
                            Well, the fuel tank was shot anyway. Had lots of crap blocking the connector tube etc. It will be easier to replace with a fuel cell and run my own lines. Lighter, safer and no racing series issues. (SVRA requires a cell).

                            Big update coming this weekend ... engine block painting.
                            You can find a reman fuel tank for $300-$400, throw a pump in it and your golden. Saves tons of money and time. And a cell can just be a hassle.

                            Sent from my HTC One A9 using Tapatalk
                            Originally posted by flyboyx
                            how about if i yank the anal beads out of your ass like i'm trying to pull start a chain saw?
                            Originally posted by Northern
                            beer is my new liver cleanse.

                            Henna - '84 Hennarot 325e
                            Lola - '89 Schwarz 325is - being saved
                            Christine - '88 Schwarz 325is - Spec E30 Racecar
                            '01 White F150 Lariat 4x4 Supercrew - Daily
                            Dad's '05 Interlagosblau M3

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                              I'm going to run in a couple of race series that require a fuel cell, so will have to do it anyway.
                              "And then we broke the car. Again." Mark Donohue, "The Unfair Advantage"

                              1987 E30 3L Turbo Stroker Das Beast
                              2002 E39 M5

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                                Engine Block Painting

                                So here's the block how I got it back from the machine shop. Total crap. But at least I got my parts back.



                                First step was trying media blasting. Baking soda is recommended due to water solubility. Man it makes a mess.



                                In fact, it was such as mess that we needed to build a temporary media blasting cabinet. Air and media hoses in the back. Top window, access port in the front.





                                View through the window is not bad.



                                Here's a shot of the gun at work



                                End result. Not so bad, but not clean enough to paint.



                                This is a look at the other side of the block. Cast iron block really holds on to the grease. Especially 30 years worth of buildup.



                                Hit it with a gas powered power washer. Nothing resists that. Except 30 year old grease.



                                Get at it with a powered wire brush and brake cleaning solvent.



                                Power wash again.

                                And repeat .....
                                And repeat ....
                                And repeat ....

                                And here's the end result. Now THAT's clean! Ready to paint.





                                Next steps: Hammer in all the freeze plugs, tape off everything and do three coats of high temp engine primer. VHT SP148 Two light coats, ten minutes between each then one medium coat. Then wait 30 minutes.



                                Time for the color enamel. VHT SP121 bright red. Two light coats, one medium coat, one heavy "wet" coat. Wait ten minutes between each coat. Then wait 30 minutes after final coat.

                                THEN do the clear coat. VHT SP145. Same three coat process as the primer.

                                Here's the end result. It turned out pretty damn good. Once this cures hard with a couple of engine heat cycles you'll be able to bounce a wrench off it an not chip the paint.



                                "And then we broke the car. Again." Mark Donohue, "The Unfair Advantage"

                                1987 E30 3L Turbo Stroker Das Beast
                                2002 E39 M5

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