What's up with SSSquid?

[Northern]

To be fair, no individual aspect of a standalone is "worth the effort" if you break it down far enough. It's the cumulative effect on the end result.

This is completely arbitrary, but if I'm going through the effort of installing a standalone, I'm going to wire and configure things like COP, sequential injection, etc. assuming they're supported, regardless of whether it makes a noticeable impact on Power/MPG/idle quality/etc.

I also don't think the inability to spray the entire required quantity of fuel while the valve is open negates the benefits of sequential injection. I think there were other limitations at play for M1.3 and earlier, either IO, processing power, or cost.

[digger]

To be fair, no individual aspect of a standalone is "worth the effort" if you break it down far enough. It's the cumulative effect on the end result.

This is completely arbitrary, but if I'm going through the effort of installing a standalone, I'm going to wire and configure things like COP, sequential injection, etc. assuming they're supported, regardless of whether it makes a noticeable impact on Power/MPG/idle quality/etc.

I also don't think the inability to spray the entire required quantity of fuel while the valve is open negates the benefits of sequential injection. I think there were other limitations at play for M1.3 and earlier, either IO, processing power, or cost.

On a bone stock engine sure it is not worth the effort as the stock ecu is perfectly capable, but when the factory ECU cant run the modified engine properly and hinders performance due to various reasons then i would say it is worth the admission.

Yeah sure if you want all these features that's fine but the added time, cost and complexity needs to be factored in and is a barrier for many especially non DIY types.

[TobyB]

my conclusion is that fully sequential fuel is not worth the effort nor is waste spark for a typical NA street build as you don’t see enough tangible benefits to drivability, economy or performance to justify for the average user.

Funny- that jives with my recollection-
OEMs back in the later 90s did it more for emissions and emissions systems warranties (a distributor cap is part of the emission system)
than for all out performance. Plus, half an MPG doesn't matter to you or me, but for CAFE, it's worth spending a few million in R&D-
especially if it eventually saves you a few DM per unit in parts or assembly labor.

On top of all that, BMW was (and still is) a small volume car manufacturer. As such, the cost of ANY redesign is
significant, and the cost of a recall is even worse. So they tended to be far more conservative than (for example)
Ford, who had the sheer coroporate mass to absorb a few hundred cruise control harness fires, and could issue a wire with a fuse
in it as a 'field repair'....
Thus, Ford was using MAFs and sequential fuel injection far before BMW, simply because the R&D costs and the
'gamble' in new technology was far outweighed by the fleet gains... and the technological advances paid for themselves in the aggregate.

t
never had a 1986 Mustang...

[Maybe Magpie]

On a bone stock engine sure it is not worth the effort as the stock ecu is perfectly capable, but when the factory ECU cant run the modified engine properly and hinders performance due to various reasons then i would say it is worth the admission.

Yeah sure if you want all these features that's fine but the added time, cost and complexity needs to be factored in and is a barrier for many especially non DIY types.

That's exactly what I'm kinda getting at - I plan on being a pretty light touch with my motor and I daily the thing and I'm not going after huge power, which is why that pretty straightforward MAF conversion appealed to me. Some concessions to performance would be neat, but like... some greentop E36 injectors (the ones that are like, a couple PSI more when run at the E30's lower fuel pressure), a chip, the MAF conversion with the stock ECU, maybe a 272 cam and some headers, and I'd probably leave it at that (until I needed to crack the bottom end open for whatever reason, and that's a bridge I'll shovel money off of when I get to it). Still involved, sure, but it's a notably more modest undertaking than a standalone beefed-up turbo build on ethanol fuel with custom bore and pistons or a high-compression stroker with ITBs or whatever. I like the idea of being able to easily put it back to stock, this is my forever car but peace of mind is something I appreciate.

[TobyB]

That's a fair point- when I messed with the Miller MAF on a friend's car, he was doing
it because ALL of our mutual 'spare' AFM's were crap. His car ran well on my
(only good, primary) AFM, so he tried the Miller, for about the cost of an AFM back then.
The rest was... well, frustrating.

It's STILL frustrating- in THEORY the Ford MAF sensor should just need a simple
(arduino- esque) transfer function to mirror the AFM's airflow behavior, and then off
you go. Except that none of us have done it. Me, I blame typical R3v problems
(age, family, pope, pizza) in not getting 'around to it' but honestly, by the time
I start fussing with that, I'd grab that old VEMS I found in the junkyard and try that instead.
because... easily distracted by- SQUIRRELLLLLLLL!!!!!
(they're nesting in our eaves, and it's driving the (dumb, sweet) dog crazy)

again, the digital AFM from Panzer isn't cheap, but is reputed to be durable...

t

has indeed seen a squirrel in his MAF
but does not oscillate at 4500...

[Maybe Magpie]

That's a fair point- when I messed with the Miller MAF on a friend's car, he was doing
it because ALL of our mutual 'spare' AFM's were crap. His car ran well on my
(only good, primary) AFM, so he tried the Miller, for about the cost of an AFM back then.
The rest was... well, frustrating.

It's STILL frustrating- in THEORY the Ford MAF sensor should just need a simple
(arduino- esque) transfer function to mirror the AFM's airflow behavior, and then off
you go. Except that none of us have done it. Me, I blame typical R3v problems
(age, family, pope, pizza) in not getting 'around to it' but honestly, by the time
I start fussing with that, I'd grab that old VEMS I found in the junkyard and try that instead.
because... easily distracted by- SQUIRRELLLLLLLL!!!!!
(they're nesting in our eaves, and it's driving the (dumb, sweet) dog crazy)

again, the digital AFM from Panzer isn't cheap, but is reputed to be durable...

t

has indeed seen a squirrel in his MAF
but does not oscillate at 4500...

Yep! Part of the reason I was interested in the SSSquid SSSICK is that, even with the price of a new compatible MAF in the equation, the total cost of getting the setup was significantly less than a refurbed original or Panzer, also gives marginally better induction/air flow, and on top of that it seemed to have less of the issues that plague the Miller version, plus is easy to revert. I'm not at all well versed in electrical matters, and while I have a relative who is he's totally unfamiliar with the finer points of cars and a busy fella sadly. I do hope we see a return of SSSquid someday sooner rather than later, as I've heard only good things about his chips even if he got swamped. I gotta wonder the reason why he didn't hire a couple support staff to help spread the burden out, but eh, fingers crossed and best wishes for him. For what it's worth, if anyone takes up the MAF-ification torch, I'm interested in hearing about it and I'd be a willing guinea pig with my currently-stock M20.

In the meantime, does anybody know of other reputable chippers that are with us in the current year? I know there's Conforti and D'Sylva and Turner chips and all, and plenty of standalone wizzes, but part of what made me want a SSSquid chip as well as the SSSICK was that he was actually here with us in the 21st century and was shaking things up a little as well as doing tunes tailored to your build without needing a whole standalone setup and the costs and headaches it can entail sometimes.

[AWDBOB]

Yep! Part of the reason I was interested in the SSSquid SSSICK is that, even with the price of a new compatible MAF in the equation, the total cost of getting the setup was significantly less than a refurbed original or Panzer, also gives marginally better induction/air flow, and on top of that it seemed to have less of the issues that plague the Miller version, plus is easy to revert. I'm not at all well versed in electrical matters, and while I have a relative who is he's totally unfamiliar with the finer points of cars and a busy fella sadly. I do hope we see a return of SSSquid someday sooner rather than later, as I've heard only good things about his chips even if he got swamped. I gotta wonder the reason why he didn't hire a couple support staff to help spread the burden out, but eh, fingers crossed and best wishes for him. For what it's worth, if anyone takes up the MAF-ification torch, I'm interested in hearing about it and I'd be a willing guinea pig with my currently-stock M20.

In the meantime, does anybody know of other reputable chippers that are with us in the current year? I know there's Conforti and D'Sylva and Turner chips and all, and plenty of standalone wizzes, but part of what made me want a SSSquid chip as well as the SSSICK was that he was actually here with us in the 21st century and was shaking things up a little as well as doing tunes tailored to your build without needing a whole standalone setup and the costs and headaches it can entail sometimes.

MarkD is great and while not making fancy new maf stuff like the squiddy, he has been around forever, logged/tuned so many cars, dialing in his offerings.

Without data, what are you really refining on a stock m20? Couple degrees of timing and some fuel trims. My experience in using squid for many years and recently switching to MarkD recently for custom and stock m20 stock ECU stuff has been great/indifferent from my great experience with squid over the years.

Also if you get a wideband that you can log with, Mark will write a chip tune based on your logs, although this is pointless on a mostly stock M20.

Best case scenario even a full AFM delete with standalone on a mostly stock m20 is worth like 7hp, so I’m not sure the maf conversion would’ve been a huge increase over a well written m20 chip tune.

[82eye]

That's exactly what I'm kinda getting at - I plan on being a pretty light touch with my motor and I daily the thing and I'm not going after huge power, which is why that pretty straightforward MAF conversion appealed to me. Some concessions to performance would be neat, but like... some greentop E36 injectors (the ones that are like, a couple PSI more when run at the E30's lower fuel pressure), a chip, the MAF conversion with the stock ECU, maybe a 272 cam and some headers, and I'd probably leave it at that (until I needed to crack the bottom end open for whatever reason, and that's a bridge I'll shovel money off of when I get to it). Still involved, sure, but it's a notably more modest undertaking than a standalone beefed-up turbo build on ethanol fuel with custom bore and pistons or a high-compression stroker with ITBs or whatever. I like the idea of being able to easily put it back to stock, this is my forever car but peace of mind is something I appreciate.

you pretty much described my car minus the maf conversion. i've got a lightweight flywheel and full exhaust with header on top. the chip alone handles it.

[Maybe Magpie]

MarkD is great and while not making fancy new maf stuff like the squiddy, he has been around forever, logged/tuned so many cars, dialing in his offerings.

Without data, what are you really refining on a stock m20? Couple degrees of timing and some fuel trims. My experience in using squid for many years and recently switching to MarkD recently for custom and stock m20 stock ECU stuff has been great/indifferent from my great experience with squid over the years.

Also if you get a wideband that you can log with, Mark will write a chip tune based on your logs, although this is pointless on a mostly stock M20.

Best case scenario even a full AFM delete with standalone on a mostly stock m20 is worth like 7hp, so I’m not sure the maf conversion would’ve been a huge increase over a well written m20 chip tune.

you pretty much described my car minus the maf conversion. i've got a lightweight flywheel and full exhaust with header on top. the chip alone handles it.

Yeah, that's another part of it - I need to replace my injectors because they lose pressure overnight when the car sits because they're old, and if I'm doing that I have to take a bunch of crap out anyway, so the while-you're-in-there devil strikes. I was planning those light mods and the conversion and a chip all in concert with each other. It won't make it a world-beater but if I'm lucky might net me what, twenty, thirty horsepower? Something like that, maybe a bit less? Most of this stuff save the MAF I need to tackle anyway or will eventually. That sort of power is fine with me, anything more is gravy, and it's fairly simple to do versus a more involved build where I'd have to get the motor torn open or fuck around with boost or whatever. I was generally working off the assumption that intake restriction reduction plus injectors plus tune meant to take advantage of both plus cam and/or headers would combine to get me a respectable little daily with some extra pep with less headache and cost than a fancier build.

[82eye]

Yeah, that's another part of it - I need to replace my injectors because they lose pressure overnight when the car sits because they're old,

i went with a modern open 4-pintle design. it smooths the idle a hair and is light years more efficient. the injector tech on these cars is from the stone age. you'll notice a difference with an updated version. better choice than mustang or e36 injectors which are not piles better than the e30.

I was planning those light mods and the conversion and a chip all in concert with each other. It won't make it a world-beater but if I'm lucky might net me what, twenty, thirty horsepower? Something like that, maybe a bit less?

that's super iffy without getting into the bottom end, bumping compression, or adding turbo.

Most of this stuff save the MAF I need to tackle anyway or will eventually. That sort of power is fine with me, anything more is gravy, and it's fairly simple to do versus a more involved build where I'd have to get the motor torn open or fuck around with boost or whatever. I was generally working off the assumption that intake restriction reduction plus injectors plus tune meant to take advantage of both plus cam and/or headers would combine to get me a respectable little daily with some extra pep with less headache and cost than a fancier build.

for comparison i will bore you with the details of my mild build.

new rings / bearings on stock bottom.
valve regrind and minor head work. hd rockers.
272 regrind cam from colt
crank scraper and pan baffle
rhd lightweight flywheel. stock clutch stack.
ie longtube header. custom mid with cat delete, 02 sensor in old cat position.
stromung catback exhaust
3.73 ls. pulled ls from a 4.10, rebuilt and installed it into an open 3.73.
15 inch ronals with 205/50/15 nitto tires
4-pintle injectors
sssquid stage 1.5 chip
aae z3 clone rack
new oe bushings/rubber everywhere

for all that i'd doubt if i'm making much above stock. a lot of what i did was upgrade stuff that needed looking at or replacing anyway. i just went in and did it all at once rather than stretch it out.

what i got from the build was a quick, not fast, car that handles like a banshee and sounds the part. the scraper and flywheel allows the car to spin up or roll down really fast, and it can breathe real well with the header and exhaust. it doesn't have big power, but the power it does have is immediately available and pulls right to the redline. it over drives my brakes right now, i really need to dig into that and upgrade the brakes. i need to watch i don't get into scary stuff with it right now.

note the sssquid chip is not that extreme. it's matched to the build. they were very helpful with the choice and also sourced the injectors. there was a lot of communication.

[digger]

i went with a modern open 4-pintle design. it smooths the idle a hair and is light years more efficient. the injector tech on these cars is from the stone age. you'll notice a difference with an updated version. better choice than mustang or e36 injectors which are not piles better than the e30.



that's super iffy without getting into the bottom end, bumping compression, or adding turbo.




for comparison i will bore you with the details of my mild build.

new rings / bearings on stock bottom.
valve regrind and minor head work. hd rockers.
272 regrind cam from colt
crank scraper and pan baffle
rhd lightweight flywheel. stock clutch stack.
ie longtube header. custom mid with cat delete, 02 sensor in old cat position.
stromung catback exhaust
3.73 ls. pulled ls from a 4.10, rebuilt and installed it into an open 3.73.
15 inch ronals with 205/50/15 nitto tires
4-pintle injectors
sssquid stage 1.5 chip
aae z3 clone rack
new oe bushings/rubber everywhere

for all that i'd doubt if i'm making much above stock. a lot of what i did was upgrade stuff that needed looking at or replacing anyway. i just went in and did it all at once rather than stretch it out.

what i got from the build was a quick, not fast, car that handles like a banshee and sounds the part. the scraper and flywheel allows the car to spin up or roll down really fast, and it can breathe real well with the header and exhaust. it doesn't have big power, but the power it does have is immediately available and pulls right to the redline. it over drives my brakes right now, i really need to dig into that and upgrade the brakes. i need to watch i don't get into scary stuff with it right now.

note the sssquid chip is not that extreme. it's matched to the build. they were very helpful with the choice and also sourced the injectors. there was a lot of communication.

i think you mean single pintle 4 holes not 4 pintles

[Maybe Magpie]

i went with a modern open 4-pintle design. it smooths the idle a hair and is light years more efficient. the injector tech on these cars is from the stone age. you'll notice a difference with an updated version. better choice than mustang or e36 injectors which are not piles better than the e30.

Which ones? If there's an improved equivalent I might be interested, but AFAIK the ones I have on hand for a rebuild and flow test are already four-hole from the factory (Bosch 0280150415 / BMW 13641730060).

that's super iffy without getting into the bottom end, bumping compression, or adding turbo.

Iffy as in reaching that, or iffy as in would need other changes? My bottom end is strong and healthy, the head was skimmed flat when I got the headgasket replaced, compression is excellent, oiling hatching is good, no excess particulate in my magnetic oil drain plug. The car has under 125k still (just barely) and I've put a hair under 5k on it. I was under the impression that together they'd add up, realistically less but still probably low double digits. In honesty I haven't bothered to dyno my car yet.

for comparison i will bore you with the details of my mild build.

new rings / bearings on stock bottom.
valve regrind and minor head work. hd rockers.
272 regrind cam from colt
crank scraper and pan baffle
rhd lightweight flywheel. stock clutch stack.
ie longtube header. custom mid with cat delete, 02 sensor in old cat position.
stromung catback exhaust
3.73 ls. pulled ls from a 4.10, rebuilt and installed it into an open 3.73.
15 inch ronals with 205/50/15 nitto tires
4-pintle injectors
sssquid stage 1.5 chip
aae z3 clone rack
new oe bushings/rubber everywhere

for all that i'd doubt if i'm making much above stock. a lot of what i did was upgrade stuff that needed looking at or replacing anyway. i just went in and did it all at once rather than stretch it out.

what i got from the build was a quick, not fast, car that handles like a banshee and sounds the part. the scraper and flywheel allows the car to spin up or roll down really fast, and it can breathe real well with the header and exhaust. it doesn't have big power, but the power it does have is immediately available and pulls right to the redline. it over drives my brakes right now, i really need to dig into that and upgrade the brakes. i need to watch i don't get into scary stuff with it right now.

note the sssquid chip is not that extreme. it's matched to the build. they were very helpful with the choice and also sourced the injectors. there was a lot of communication.

Yeah, that's more or less my approach as well and the fact SSSquid custom matches your chips to your specs was another big appeal of his stuff to me. Here, I'll outbore you with what I've done or had done that's primarily motor related and and what I plan on, skimming over some of the maintenance and ancillary stuff not too relevant.

DONE:
- Water pump and timing belt (Prev owner did this just before purchase)
- Head resurface and head gasket
- Valve stem seals
- Fan clutch replaced as well as drive belts for it
- Coolant/water temperature sensor (Blue plug)
- New fuel lines and some vacuum hoses, a ton of rubber and boots
- Fuel filter
- Fuel pump
- CPS, TPS
- New ignition hardware (spark leads, distributor cap)
- Stromung exhaust to replace decaying OEM
- Thermostat replaced (twice, because the first replacement was a dud)
- Oil pan gasket (nasty leak)
- Valve adjustment (one was slightly out of spec, fixed)
- Valve cover gasket
- New ignition switch (old one died)
- New TPS (old one oil soaked)
- Coolant flush
- New starter motor (old one went bad)
- exhaust manifold gaskets replaced (old ones sprang exhaust leaks)
- Engine electrical ground cable and valve cover ground
- Rear main seal (during 5-speed swap)
- Stock clutch kit
- Resurfaced stock flywheel (again, daily and I was and am new to stick and it already revs pretty good)
- Serviceable u-joint new driveshaft
- 5-speed swap, G260 resealed and given fresh Redline
- Garagistic adjustable SSK, DSSR, bushings
- Rogue Engineering transmission mounts
- AGM batt
- Stainless brake lines
- Upgraded ground cables, engine bay and valve cover and hood


TO-DO - Granted some of this I should've done back at the time of some of the maintenance but I didn't know nearly as much as I do know when I first got the car back in 2020:
- WP/TB again (starting to close in on the interval and I have a Gates belt and new WP on hand, and a PPF billet tensioner)
- Rad hoses (old ones are crusty, gonna do at the same time as WP/TB) and rad mount rubber
- Throttle body housing spline bearings (Oil vapor leaky onto TPS, I have new improved INA double cup bearings like Practical Enthusiast used on the same job)
- ICV and TB elbows replacement (RTS has CNC aftermarket ones but they're a bit pricey for me - investigating 3d print version with CF-PET and viton o-rings)
- Suspension refresh ( E36 M3 offset FCABs, E30 M3 endlink conversion, Koni yellows, fresh stock IS-spec hardware bump stops, bushings, strut tower bearings, etc - keeping stock IS springs)
- Purpletag rack swap
- Exhaust header of some kind, eventually (Probably a used set of something or supersprint? I've heard not-great things about the IE Racing Dynamics copies)
- 173 ECU swap, chiptune - I know I need them together
- MAF conv
- Injectors (as mentioned)
- 272 cam
- Port and polish next time the head comes off
- Possibly fancier rockers and springs?
- Crank scraper and oil pan baffle next time the pan comes off
- Z3M or similar rad if the stock one needs to go at some point

I have the parts for a some of these on hand already (most of the suspension aside from the shocks proper and steering). There's other stuff I've done and plan to do ranging from wheels/tires and better period style head unit, headlight upgrade, Vorshlag brake deflectors and steering shaft doohickey, etc but that's the big stuff. It already has a stock 3.73 LSD, my car is an IS.

[82eye]

i think you mean single pintle 4 holes not 4 pintles

yes one hole 4 squirters ... maybe ya don't wanna know that girl lol ..

[82eye]

Which ones? If there's an improved equivalent I might be interested, but AFAIK the ones I have on hand for a rebuild and flow test are already four-hole from the factory (Bosch 0280150415 / BMW 13641730060).

if you look in the end of them and see 4 holes they are lol.
i got mine a phone book worth of receipts ago.... :-/ if i find the correct bosch number i'll post it. they are yellow body injectors.

Iffy as in reaching that, or iffy as in would need other changes?

iffy as in it won't make that much of a bump in power.

My bottom end is strong and healthy, the head was skimmed flat when I got the headgasket replaced, compression is excellent, oiling hatching is good, no excess particulate in my magnetic oil drain plug. The car has under 125k still (just barely) and I've put a hair under 5k on it. I was under the impression that together they'd add up, realistically less but still probably low double digits. In honesty I haven't bothered to dyno my car yet.

i wouldn't bother to dyno either. you've got more of a fun build going on over a power build. save the dyno for turbos etc.

Yeah, that's more or less my approach as well and the fact SSSquid custom matches your chips to your specs was another big appeal of his stuff to me. Here, I'll outbore you with what I've done or had done that's primarily motor related and and what I plan on, skimming over some of the maintenance and ancillary stuff not too relevant.

we've pretty much got the same build going. there's not a lot in that list i haven't touched.

- New TPS (old one oil soaked)

common on older cars. some guys drill a small 1/8 inch hole to let it drain.

- Resurfaced stock flywheel (again, daily and I was and am new to stick and it already revs pretty good)

one of them most fun things you can do is a lightweight flywheel. really wakes the car up

- Serviceable u-joint new driveshaft

let us know how it holds over time.

- Garagistic adjustable SSK, DSSR, bushings

good idea. i rebuilt my stock shifter 100% everything. i would never do it again and would swap in a dssr in an instant.

- Rogue Engineering transmission mounts

i avoid poly and other hard mounts like the plague on a street car. can't do the nvh.

- Stainless brake lines

i still wind up over driving my brakes with them. it's probably just my car, but the brakes are really disappointing.

- WP/TB again (starting to close in on the interval and I have a Gates belt and new WP on hand, and a PPF billet tensioner)

i'm running the gates kit with a blue. it's probably fine with a conti though.

- Suspension refresh ( E36 M3 offset FCABs, E30 M3 endlink conversion, Koni yellows, fresh stock IS-spec hardware bump stops, bushings, strut tower bearings, etc - keeping stock IS springs)

i'm running a classic billie and h&r set up, you'll like the konis more.

- Exhaust header of some kind, eventually (Probably a used set of something or supersprint? I've heard not-great things about the IE Racing Dynamics copies)

i love the old school long tube. it throws a lot of heat though. a wrap might be an idea.

- MAF conv

it's just no longer an option with stock ecu.

- Port and polish next time the head comes off

they don't need much. the m20 head is pretty well maxed already for flow until turbo. we street polished my head, but didn't go too deep as no one really had a lot of experience with the heads here. it's not that hard to screw them up.

- Possibly fancier rockers and springs?

hd rockers are no longer. sucks but the stockies are fine for most builds. i grabbed a set as it's insurance at high rpm, but i don't run up there for long ever.

- Crank scraper and oil pan baffle next time the pan comes off

both are easier out of the car. my scraper was hand filed ml by ml and refitted loads of times til we got it set. they don't come exact, you have to spend the time and fine tune it. my pan baffle also needed some work to get installed, we test fitted about a half dozen times.

-
- Z3M or similar rad if the stock one needs to go at some point

approve of this. i need to swap in a new radiator. by next year there will not be single thing in the cooling system i haven't replaced. shoulda just done it all. at once.

-
It already has a stock 3.73 LSD, my car is an IS.

check the breakaway point. the ls itself is not hard to rebuild, and most units are slipping by this age. i rebuilt mine since i was swapping it into another case anyway and didn't want the shorter gearing.

[Maybe Magpie]

if you look in the end of them and see 4 holes they are lol.
i got mine a phone book worth of receipts ago.... :-/ if i find the correct bosch number i'll post it. they are yellow body injectors.

I think they are, yeah.

iffy as in it won't make that much of a bump in power. i wouldn't bother to dyno either. you've got more of a fun build going on over a power build. save the dyno for turbos etc.

I kind of want to but more out of curiosity and to compare how healthy I can get the car rather than hunting big number.



What would you say is more likely, 10, 15? I've seen dynos showing headers alone can do that, but fair enough. still is something!

we've pretty much got the same build going. there's not a lot in that list i haven't touched.

somethingsomething great minds?

common on older cars. some guys drill a small 1/8 inch hole to let it drain.

Yeah, I'll likely do that on top of the bearings, if I'm taking the throttle housing out for the injector job anyway I might as well do both.

one of them most fun things you can do is a lightweight flywheel. really wakes the car up

I don't doubt it but honestly I've got just a hair under a thousand miles driving stick (the 5-speed was my trial by fire) and I'm just starting to really get the hang of it, maybe next time the clutch needs a replacement or I gotta take the motor out for whatever reason. For now the stock works for me, I daily as said so harder to stall is a plus for me.

let us know how it holds over time.

can-do.

good idea. i rebuilt my stock shifter 100% everything. i would never do it again and would swap in a dssr in an instant.

Yeah, the E34 transmission I got with the larger guibo required a bend to clear in my DSSR but that was easy with a guy I know who's a welding genius. I went with the garagistic SSK and DSSR because the classic Z3M shifter OE route is actually more expensive these days, no real reason to unless I was going for a true time capsule car from-dealership, which I'm not - I'm doing OEM+, trying to beat the beancounters from back in the day while keepin' her in the same spirit.

i avoid poly and other hard mounts like the plague on a street car. can't do the nvh.

That's why I went with Rogue, they're actually technically E46 mounts but damn near identically the same in dimensions to E30 and E36 ones — and most crucially they're rubber, just a bit firmer than stock while still being softer and less NVHy than poly or whatever. they're similar to the non-group-A motorsport ones, I forget which touring car group was closest to stock, but that one. Link for you.

i still wind up over driving my brakes with them. it's probably just my car, but the brakes are really disappointing.

My limiting factor is more tires than the brakes, but I haven't really had a proper track session, just a little smidgen of autocross. At some point if I ever 5-lug swap I'll do the ersatz-M setup of E28 rotors and calipers, probably.

i'm running the gates kit with a blue. it's probably fine with a conti though. i'm running a classic billie and h&r set up, you'll like the konis more.

Yeah, I figured if there was any one place to do overkill it's the timing belt and tensioner. I'm sure an OEM one would be fine but I got it on sale.

i love the old school long tube. it throws a lot of heat though. a wrap might be an idea.

I'd love to do RD equal lengths or a copy that didn't have backpurging issues cough cough irecoughlandcough engicoughneeringcough but phew, deep pockets required. All the other old school used headers I've found are nearly as much as a set of supersprints even when in rough shape, annoyingly.

it's just no longer an option with stock ecu.

I have a line on a SSSICK, so it sorta is, sorta isn't. We'll see, I guess. I might have to bite the bullet and go standalone if nobody ever takes up the torch on chips and MAF doohickies that SSSquid had.

they don't need much. the m20 head is pretty well maxed already for flow until turbo. we street polished my head, but didn't go too deep as no one really had a lot of experience with the heads here. it's not that hard to screw them up.

Yeah, I know you don't need to go too crazy, but the welding genius I mentioned is an old bimmer expert and he knows what he's doing and would be able to hook me up there I think. If the head's off and we're putting in a cam, might as well if budget permits.

hd rockers are no longer. sucks but the stockies are fine for most builds. i grabbed a set as it's insurance at high rpm, but i don't run up there for long ever.

Nobody makes good ones anymore? Bummer. The roller rocker conversions are cool as hell but again, out of my price range and not really needed for me.

both are easier out of the car. my scraper was hand filed ml by ml and refitted loads of times til we got it set. they don't come exact, you have to spend the time and fine tune it. my pan baffle also needed some work to get installed, we test fitted about a half dozen times.

That tracks, though I hear the teflon ones are a lot more forgiving there. Again the guy I know has done a bunch of pan-baffles for M10s and M20s so I have no sweat on that front.

approve of this. i need to swap in a new radiator. by next year there will not be single thing in the cooling system i haven't replaced. shoulda just done it all. at once.

My radiator is still fine, no cracks or leaks, but I do need to replace the hoses and I'd rather put the money towards other components - but if it goes, a Z3M one is going to get plopped in there because it's not that much pricier than the E30 spec and is drop-in if you have a late car like I do with the late hose routing.

check the breakaway point. the ls itself is not hard to rebuild, and most units are slipping by this age. i rebuilt mine since i was swapping it into another case anyway and didn't want the shorter gearing.

Already on the plan list for next time I jack her up and have the rear wheels off, but I haven't noticed any issues with mine - car's just shy of 120k. I do plan on changing the fluid sometime soon-ish too, I have that on hand.