Project: Spielereien. AKA "The dumpster fire"

[delamaize]

Another small update, mostly cosmetic stuff. I picked up some Smileys, which I rebuilt the adjusters on, and got them installed, and made some adapters for the wiring, I am not a fan of cutting the original harness, the city lights are powered by using the old side front marker lights. Everything works, and it looks sweet. Although the right smiley has a leak and I got moisture in it. I'm not worrying about it for now, I plan on pulling them completely apart in the near future, and "black" them out. The car is originally Cirrusblau Metallic, my plan is to paint the inside of the smileys, and cross hairs for the highs this color, given the car will be repainted back to the original color eventually. It's one of those little details, that most will not notice, but I'll know it there.

Also in my quest to un-Americanize this beast, I've got a euro-spec front bumper for it (I got the missing trim piece now),



and like I mentioned before, I got a euro clock for the inside. In addition, the drivers seat outside bolster has been broke and loose since I got the car. I pulled the drivers seat.



and re-welded a broken bolster frame,



then welded it some more, because I am a fat ass, and I don't want it to break again.



Then reinstalled a screw that attaches the back to the base. Then I oiled everything up and freed up some formally frozen seat functions. It's nice to have a fully functioning seat now.

Been doing a little more research on the suspension and drivetrain also, I think I have settled on H&R Super Sport springs, E90 drop hats, and bilstins, along with replacing all the rubber bushings with new, solid rubber ones. I want a little stiffer ride that the stock bushings, but not quite "because race car." In addition, I think I'm going to go with the convertible sway bars front and back. from what I have been reading they, are a little stiffer than stock coupe ones, but not quite "race car." I'm ok with the brakes for now, althouth cross drilled and slotted rotors, and better pads are in the future.

As for the drive train, I decided against the M50nvB25 I had found earlier in a 5 series, it had low compression across the board, tranny had a whine in 1st and 2nd, and to add insult to injury, the oil pan was cracked. so I backed out.

I'm still thinking swap, but I'm going Full retard. I'm shooting for about 250hp to the ground, so I figure I need to make around 275 at the flywheel. I'm still kinda undecided on the motor, I am going back and forth between the S52 (if I can find one that isn't going to kill my bank account), or a M54. I wont go into motor details, because I am still undecided, But I will explain why I am going Full Retard.........

ITB......Individual Throttle Bodies. I have seen a few different M20s, M/S5Xs, and M54s with ITBs, they sounds awesome, and it seems like you get a pretty significant gain in flow and power over stock setup. So......Yeah.....

[delamaize]

Long time no update. Seta+Eta fuel system is in the car, and running well now, I have a hesitation between 2k and 3k, but it's driving. Some pictures of the install are attached.

Today, I installed new lower front suspension arms. I needed both inner and outer ball joints on both sides of the front. so rather than fighting with pressing old ones out and putting new ones in, I just replaced the whole arms. I also replaced the bushings in my lollipops. Eventually, I am going to go with the treehouse ones. but for now, new oem ones make a difference.

also, on the motor front, I have lined up a 1991 525i to use as a donor car for a M50 swap. it's got a M50nv, and a ZF trans, Not sure which one though, Fairly low miles, around 150k. I'm going to drive the donor car before pulling the trigger, but I think this is where I am going M50.....

[delamaize]

Major update:
SETA with ETA fuel system in the car and running. Car is driving now. More details later.....

[jalopi]

No, not really. It's just that, for instance, when I was building my 302 the front main bearing was kinda worn, but the others looked OK. Didn't care since I was gonna buy bearings... bearings are also very cheap for american v8's, not sure about m20s. In any case, I'd replace the bearings just because - I mean, it's easy and reasonably cheap, right?

Also, it's one of those things I'd end up kicking myself for if the engine started knocking a few months after getting it running. I hate pulling engines.

[delamaize]

Uuhh.... I'd pull the caps on all the rods/mains and at least make sure all of them look good... I mean, minus well do simple (while removed) stuff like that while it's out of the car.

good point, I'm still kinda new to the M20, I know quite a bit about the M42, just learning the M20. will check them all, is their any particular bearing that wears more than the others, or any big look out things?

[jalopi]

Uuhh.... I'd pull the caps on all the rods/mains and at least make sure all of them look good... I mean, minus well do simple (while removed) stuff like that while it's out of the car.

[delamaize]

Small update, I had some time to get all the engine parts moved to my shop (aka storage unit) and got the Seta short block on the engine stand. I checked the block out, everything looks good, cross hatching in the cylinders looks almost new, everything feels good, I popped the bearing cap on the 2nd main and 3rd cylinder connecting rod, no wear at all. I replaced and retorqued them. Needless to say, I'm leaving the bottom end alone. Why screw with something that looks good. Started stripping the front of the block, like the pullers and water pump, etc. gotta a bit of carbon build up on the pistons to take care of, and I gotta clean and paint the entire block still. Not to mention hot tanking the oil pan, and head cover.

Made a decision on my head, I'm going to ship my 885 off to bimmerheads as a core exchange, and get one of their performance built heads instead. Going to go with the 280/274 cam and beehive springs. Given I have never build a head before, and I have heard good things about their head, I'm going to just let the pros handle it.

Also I hopefully will be going to pick up a 153 ecu and harness tomorrow.

Hopefully I will get some pictures taken the next few days.

[delamaize]

So, some history, I took a almost 4 year break away from the BMW scene, In 2009 I bought a euro 316i E30, when I was in Germany with my ex-wife, and fell in love with E30's. My ex wife didn't understand that if a car has a temp gauge, it probably isn't going to have a dummy light. Needless to say, she overheated it, and popped the head gasket. I did a motor swap, and not long after that, ex wife made me sell it. Then about 2 years later, divorce, and sent back to the states.



Edited sections are in grey. final changes in red. 11/22/2016 updates in blue

I picked up a 1987 325e, with the motor and tranny pulled from the car. motor is stripped to a bare block and bare head. the guy I bought it from included everything I need, except crank bearings and bottom end seal kit, to rebuild the motor, all new BMW parts. In addition, I recently picked up a Seta short block and a Seta 885 head.

Motor: All bets are off now! I managed to find a M60B40 for next to nothing. so needless to say, that's the swap I am doing now. Swap started 2/2016, first start 5/23/2016, first drive 06/01/2016, 06/07/2016 first longer drive, first run to full operating temp The plan for now has some of the details up in the air, I figure since I have all the stuff to rebuild the M20, that's what I am going to do. Obviously, I'm going to use the Seta short block and 885 head. I am undecided on what cam I want to use, but it isn't going to be a stock i cam, I want to go hotter than that, but I don't want to go too hot. I'm planning on doing as much of the simple, inexpensive things I can, Stuff to make it flow better. Little things like port matching, larger injectors, i ECM, and probably chip it also. I'm shooting for around 250 hp, which from what I have read is pretty doable without getting crazy.
Once I get the Seta motor up and running, I'm planning on building a mild turbo motor with the other block. Needless to say, I have not even started planning that one yet.

Transmission and diff With the M60, I decided to go with a Getreg 420g 6 speed. I'd like to go with a light single mass flywheel, but with how much they are running, I will ultimately probably stay with a stock flywheel and clutch. Pretty much stock Getrag 260, and a 3.73 LDS. I have a brand new eta clutch, and the stock, never resurfaced flywheel.

ExaustPlan here isn't changing much, I will probably have to build my own headers to get what I want though. Ended up using the Garagistic modified X5 headers, and running dual 2.5" with a X pipe and a FLowmaster 40 out back. planning on using some kind of long header, a high flow cat, and the magneflow cat-back system. I really like the sound of the Magneflow system, not to "ricey."

Suspension and brakes H&R cup kit will probably be the direction I head with springs and shocks. I'd like to go coilovers, but I can't see spending that kind of money, when I can get what I want with one on the cup kits. The exact manufacture of the components is still up in the air, but I'm planning on doing some kind of coil-overs or other adjustable suspension. and of course beef up all the bushings, e36 steering rack, ended up with a E46 330i rack and all the other standard "upgrades." Camber plates already installed up front, and welded in adjustable subframe for the rear. From what I have read, the brakes on the E30 are really not bad, so my plan for that is to rebuild or replace the calipers, and replace the rotors with cross drilled and slotted ones. in addition, I am planning on replacing the soft lines with nice braided ones.

Interior gonna stay stock for now,Still staying stock, I might replace the front seats, again, still up in the air on that. once I start prepping for the turbo'd motor, I will probably do a mild cage and different seats. That is Years down the line though...

Body Eventually I'm going to go back to the stock Cirrusblau Metallic, but right now it has a shitty dark blue respray. Until I am in a position to have it stripped and repainted, I'm debating plasti-diping it flat black. I'm going to go with euro bumpers and smileys. And of course, I'm going to drop it about 1"-2" other than that I'm going to stay pretty stock looking on the outside.I'm not repainting it anytime soon. kinda like the shitty paint look.I do have some rust I need to address, mostly in the battery tray. decisions were made, it's not ever getting painted.

Wheels what can I say, I'm a sucker for bottle caps. so that's the plan, going to find some larger bottle caps to fit it, and stay with that. I would love to be able to do BMW Style 4, Style 61, or some type of Alpina-style wheel. probably 17". It has become really REALLY obvious now, I NEED to go with wider, For traction reasons.

That is all I can think of for now, a lot of the details are still up in the air, and as I nail down details, I'll update here. I have a daily driver, and I have a back up to my daily, so this is nothing more than a toy. I'm shooting for a car that is fun to drive on twisty roads, and occasionally on the track, but still be able to drive it to work if I feel the need. and of course, I'm open for any information and suggestions that the community might have for me.

EDIT:
Also, after doing some research on the history of the car, I have found a few things, It has a branded title, and I knew this when I bought it. some more details have come out with it, the body is a '87, the rear right corner is from a '86. hood and and trunk lid is from a '88, rear parcel tray (I think thats what it's called, the panel in the back window where the speakers sit) it's a 1990, the front seats are from an '88. the tranny is original to the car, and of course the motor is a '88 SETA with the '87 ETA fuel management system. All in all, this car is kind of a Shit Show, hence the thread name change.

[delamaize]

Ok, so I originally started a build thread here:

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=305957

This is when I was really undecided about the direction I wanted to go with my Pile. I'm not going to retype everything there to here, although I will continue to update both as I make progress.

One day, while looking for something else at a junk yard I found this:






Anyways, I got a screaming deal, Only paid $180 after I took in a blown M20 for a core, that pretty much locked in what swap I was going to do. After about 2 hours, my partner in crime, Maston, and I got the motor out, and separated it from it's autotragic prison. We were able to get the engine, harness, alternator, PS pump, Exhaust manifolds....pretty much everything except the ECU, which was already gone. This lead to a few problems, One is I don't know what the mileage is, and I was not able to do a compression test, or leakdown. But at the price, I decided to take the gamble.


Once I got it on the engine stand at home, I was able to do a little more evaluation. I got the down pipes seperated from the manifolds, and stored away until I need them. I also found a little damage from the removal process:

So needless to say, I have to replace that plug. Also, the MAF is shot, I have the sensor, but the housing was completely shattered. other than that, I have not found any other damage. I was able to crank over the engine by hand, and it feels like it has good compression.

I don't have pictures of it, but 2 days later I decided, I wanted to do the remote booster, so I went back and got the full setup off the same donor.

I still have a LONG ways to go. I still need to track down a 404 DME, transmission, clutch, flywheel, driveshaft, and other odds and ends. I'm planning on using garagistic's engine mounts, transmission mounts, and signal splitter for the tach. I don't want to run subframe spacers, so I will have to pan notched.

I'm getting the impression that a manual tranny is going to be a BITCH to find, so I am open to suggestions on donor sources.

Also, I need to find somewhere between a 2.93 and 3.30 LDS for the new subframe I'm putting together right now. I have to order one more set of camber/caster adjusters before I can start burning out old bushings and rebuilding.

This will be a long term project, especially because I don't have a garage of my own to work in. I have access to a shop, but I can't occupy it for more than 24 hours at a time. So bare with me, and stay tuned!