The 15 Y/O Turbo M42 Build Thread (Now Holley EFI Terminator X Controlled)

[Dj Buttchug]

thanks for the comments guys

Looking good man, you got anything to hold the head on that gasket? I ended up going with ARP's and a Cometic MLS.

Im running arp hardware as well. Stock head gasket tho. the only reason Im replacing it is because ive got seep coming out the sides. oil on the exhaust side and coolant under the intake side... I dont know why but it really sucks.

[jdvorwe]

I love this car. I've always said I wanted to paint my wheels pink, never had the balls to actually follow though.

[Dj Buttchug]

More pics up. first step turbo off

drain shitty coolant.

removing throttle body

nice and clean

ground wire I made to help ground the head

crank sensor off. you can see my huge oil drain :)

cam sensor out

more brackets to remove

so clean

tig welded oil shield i made

TDC on cams

TDC on crank

upper front cover off. timing chain tensioner out

remove cam gears and chain. you cant see the screen but the head bolt order for removing is there.

after a light wipe down

fuk you victor. I hate you

before I cleaned and prepped for new gasket

keep your shit clean and organized homies

head

:( my exhaust cam got scored somehow. WTF. this engine has 100 miles on it. its cool. I have another cam and cap. small piece of dirt or dust must have got in there. Its hard to tell. All the rest look great

new gasket on

skip a few steps cause my camera died and boom. done son.... well almost

heres my hot side just chillin, yes shitty ass boost controller i know. i have a better one so dont worry

shot of exhaust mani all wrapped

now for the stupid shit. wire in LC1

and waiting for gauge placement and more wiring. I bought a center vent gauge thing so im waiting on that as well. thats it for now. more to come

[trackjunkie21]

Sweet man, Looks awesome! If you need any m42 parts, let me know. I still have my old motor.

[Anguz]

quality e30

now hurry the fuck up and come to SD meets ;)

[abefroman]

I like. Rims are different but I like it. Props on the engine work.

[Massimo]

Man what a pain in the ass. Looks like you made quick work of it though well done. With your HG write up I have a heap of pictures if you need on my photobucket feel free to use if need be, can't wait to see your MS write up.

[Dj Buttchug]

Man what a pain in the ass. Looks like you made quick work of it though well done. With your HG write up I have a heap of pictures if you need on my photobucket feel free to use if need be, can't wait to see your MS write up.

Yep finished the whole job in bout 8 full hours haha. I see your avatar, that must be my old head :) :up:

quality e30

now hurry the fuck up and come to SD meets ;)

seriously. I hate missing meets. I want to drive this car so bad.

[Massimo]

Yep finished the whole job in bout 8 full hours haha. I see your avatar, that must be my old head :) :up:

Yep sure is after a dunk in a bath and radius valve seats and back cut valves :mrgreen:

[Lof8]

I hope to build a turbo M42 someday. Yours looks like a quality build. Nice job. Did the HG blow in 100 miles?

[e30guydownunder]

It's all a bit late now. Have you had the head and block skimmed? Did you check the head and block were true?

If the head and block have been skimmed enough and the dowels haven't been modified the dowels will hold the head up off the gasket and it will never seal properly. I hope for your sake it was just a shitty gasket.

[Dj Buttchug]

I hope to build a turbo M42 someday. Yours looks like a quality build. Nice job. Did the HG blow in 100 miles?

The car ran fine so the hg didnt really fail, I just had small amounts of seep coming from the sides of the gasket. It could be that it was a shitty gasket or it could also be that my studs got loose. A few were only finger tight when I removed them. To fix the issue I used locktite to secure them better into the block

It's all a bit late now. Have you had the head and block skimmed? Did you check the head and block were true?

If the head and block have been skimmed enough and the dowels haven't been modified the dowels will hold the head up off the gasket and it will never seal properly. I hope for your sake it was just a shitty gasket.

everything checks out just fine :up: It was just a bad gasket, or possibly operator error on install the first time.

we should be up and running soon as long as i dont run into any other major issues

[Simon S]

Very nice.
Last time I checked this thread – you were still sorting things.

Good to see the progress.

Damn – that head is clean. Wow.
Mad props on incorporating the turbo.

Thanks for posting up a pic of your head ground* – I was gonna ask you about that..


*learned about electrolysis causing pitting in aluminum – which my m42 had in spades.

[Balleristic31]

I can't wait for my m42 turbo this summer. :D ur build is an inspiration!

[rightcoastbias]

I'll just say it. I want to do what you do.