E30Rossi's Full Build - Overhaul - 5 Lug - Bay Shave - M54 Swap (Pic Heavy)

[E30Rossi]

So glad I got all the wiring harness covers! This will complete the engine bay soooo much


Starting to see the vision come together



Decided on a spot for the catch can, which requires some cutting of the headlight cover to mount to the rad support


Looks like it was meant to be there. Inserted 2 rivnuts under rad support to hold the catch can


First line passed. Looking good

[E30Rossi]

Time to wire up the headlights! Had to order new connectors and wire leads from dealer $$$


Love the look of these, and the light output is sooo much better than sealed beam lights!
LED bulbs were Auxito brand from Amazon. We'll see how they do! they seem like decent quality


Starting to look complete with the valence and grilles


Side markers don't match anymore, Amber LEDs ordered!

[E30Rossi]

Wow a lot of progress since I last checked in!
Good work.

Too late now, but I think if you rotate that SPAL fan 90° then no trimming is required. There are flats on the top and bottom to add clearance.

I've been slacking on updating, the car is completed and back home now! I will add the rest of the photos!
I think if I would've rotated it , the brackets wouldn't work. Anyways, as you said, too late now

[Panici]

Wow a lot of progress since I last checked in!
Good work.

Too late now, but I think if you rotate that SPAL fan 90° then no trimming is required. There are flats on the top and bottom to add clearance.

[E30Rossi]

New OEM speed sensor, bracket, bolts, drain plugs and re-installed poly diff bushing from my old diff


Forgot to order the 2 long bolts, but this diff is a temporary solution either way


Retapped all the threads before installation


Ready to go


Got the diff back in and installed axles and driveshaft!

[E30Rossi]

My next project was refreshing the 2.93 diff I bought
This thing was so gross and rusty, took a lotttt of wire brusing to get it decent
I'm still hunting for a better ratio (3.25) but have had no luck finding one anywhere near here


Fresh coat of rust paint


Took at least an hour of banging and swearing to get the bushing out


Quick coat of paint on the rear cover


Cleaned the inside of the diff, ready to assemble

[E30Rossi]

Next up, finishing the driveline!
I bought a rebalanced driveshaft with new CSB but went to install it and the CSB was too tall and too wide
not sure if this is meant for an early model since that's what it came off of, but ordered the correct one


New CSB


Installed and lined up driveshaft


First time seeing the full exhaust layed out on the floor in one piece and all I can say is WOW
this thing is a pure work of art!


Those pie-cuts and tig welds are so pretty

[E30Rossi]

These small details will bring the whole engine bay together at the end


Tried to fit the pedal bracket but it was way too far off so I removed the top bracket to move it


Epoxied the bracket 1/2" over left


Needs a good cleanup but pedal installed!

[E30Rossi]

Coolant system wrapped up


First time trying on the DEPO smoked projector headlights and I LOVE how these look!
Changes the whole front of the car. Can't wait to see it all together!!


FINALLY looking more like a car again!! Progress feels great!


Bought the headlight cover new because this side was missing
Had to trim the bottom to fit because of the welded plates at the bottom
New OEM clips to hold them in
Need to find a solution to hold the bottom in place


Same thing for passenger side
I used black wrap where the rad support slides on to not scratch the paint

[E30Rossi]

Fan fitted with lots of room to install and remove it


Bottom coolant hose installed. I used Gates 21900 and cut to size as the internet suggested


318 radiator fits nice with the integrated overflow, but the "bung" is not at the best place vs. the thermostat


Not the ideal but until I find a better suitable hose, this will have to do.
I don't think the flow will be a problem


Rethreaded the RaceGerman coolant sensor adapter to M14x1.5 to fit the E30 sensor for the cluster

[E30Rossi]

Finally got to fit the rad support back on, First time since it was painted because I was too nervous about scratching it


Test fit radiator


Tried fitting the SPAL electric fan...


Almost fits but not so lucky


Grinder came out, no going back
Seam sealed and bent the edge over it so no chance of rust

[E30Rossi]

Time for wiring!


Started wrapping each connector wiring, and joined them until the harness


New hood release cable since the old one broke off


New coilpacks because why not at this point


Started routing heater hoses

[E30Rossi]

Some black powdercoat to go with the theme


Powdercoated the hood hinges while I was there with some dress-up bolts
So fed up of the dust in the shop!


Got around to installing the ChaseBays universal ground wire kit but the terminals are a little small for the E30 chassis ground studs so I soldered on some bigger terminals


Added a second ground on the other side because 2>1
You can see why I wrapped the header here, there's barely any space between the arm


Going to have fun fitting all this through the firewall!

[E30Rossi]

Pretty happy to see that after all the modifications to the oil pan, the capacity remains exactly as OEM from dry! So I can still rely on my dipstick


Time to tackle this mess next


Got some heat wrap for the headers since they pass very close to the engine mount arm, subframe and swaybar
Did this to help with heat transfer but still wanted to leave the top expose since they're beautiful headers
I know I know, would be more beneficial to wrap them all the way but oh well!



Ran out of wrap for the second one, but happy with my choice of the black wrap!


P/S reservoir no longer fits in its place with the M50 manifold so had to make a custom bracket to hold it

[E30Rossi]

Love the custom oil pan. Even on my M52 it's the lowest point under the car.
Would like to change it in the future.

It took some time to figure out but will definitely be worth it not having to worry anymore!