Bringing my dad's car back to its former glory and beyond

[325isman]

Great story,very nice car and I know your father would be proud.

[dadsbmw]

Thanks man, very kind of you to say! We ALWAYS talked about things that should be done to the car, but I don't think he ever really had any intention to spend money on aftermarket parts. Pretty sure it's way beyond anything he ever imagined it would be, but also very much in line with the spirit of what he loved so much about the car. It will definitely be in my family forever.

[dadsbmw]

The rest of the parts finally came and I got back to work tonight. Ended up with more questions than answers though!
First of all, what am I missing on this oil filter housing? There are two holes (the large ones) there that are usually blocked, but that are open on mine. When checking realoem they don't list any parts that should be there? Thoughts?


Second is around timing. I decided to be a bit more precise and use a dial indicator to find actual TDC for piston 1, mainly because of another thread saying theirs was a bit off.


Well sure enough, it actually was off by about half a degree


Putting the crank and true cylinder 1 TDC however, results in exhaust cam timing being slightly off


Any thoughts? It seems like this will end up with basically a net 0 effect, as there's just not enough resolution in the timing system to make up for that half degree.

[dadsbmw]

Keep on keeping on...

Continued with the timing install and also bolted on the Stewart water pump


Upper timing belt, Vanos, and underdrive/lightened water pump pulley, 76*C thermostat (deleting mechanical fan), gaskets, and thermostat housing


All the powder coated parts came that way from the PO.. looks pretty good all coming together!


Did some research on the gaping holes in the OFH. Turns out some are filled with a plug that screws in with an allen key, others with an o-ring, block off plate, and circlip. More info can be had here, along with the type of oring needed: http://m3pink.blogspot.com/2010/05/o...placement.html
Ended up pulling them from another housing I had, but unfortunately only one of them actually had the oring. I'll be buying new orings this weekend to install. Also decided to order a viton OFH gasket, as apparently these bad boys leak frequently and its a PITA to replace when in the car. Better safe than sorry!


Installed a few sensors and things: ECU coolant temp, rethreaded e30 coolant temp sensor for the gauge cluster, cam position sensor, crank position sensor, coolant rear outlet


When doing the research for the e30 cluster temp sensor the usual method seemed to be drilling and tapping the head for the e30 sensor. This is something I honestly just didn't want to do. A quick search revealed that Race German makes the rethreaded sensor for $38.50. Great price, shipping was fast, and they even included a little warhead candy in there and a hand written note wishing me luck with my swap. I've gotta say, I love shit like that! Shout out to Race German! https://www.racegerman.com/product-p...coolant-sensor


Still doing some more research on parts I'm missing. The motor is pretty well spoken for, but there are other ancillary parts that should be replaced at the same time. Still not 100% on the shifter assembly I'll be using. The M50 manifold I have came with a somewhat rare 540 3.5" TB on it.


It also came with a 3.5" HFM, but it's OBD1 and I'm going OBD2. Still trying to figure out which OBD2 3.5" HFM will be the best purchase. Also need to do some research to figure out if I should do single 16" fan or dual 9" fans, and if I should set it up in a puller or pusher arrangement? I was planning on puller, as that should be most efficient, but what I've read so far is that pusher is by far more common for this swap, and has the best results.

Super weird question... why doesn't my valve cover have a groove for the gasket to sit in? This does not seem normal...

[mjweimer]

Super weird question... why doesn't my valve cover have a groove for the gasket to sit in? This does not seem normal...

Great progress on the engine build - looking good.

Sorry to say that you seem to have a M50 valve cover and a M52 valve cover gasket set (metal v. plastic). You need to source the proper VC gasket set or swap over to a later valve cover.


MJ

[dadsbmw]

Thanks for the response MJ! I ended up asking this question on a facebook group last night and came to the same conclusion. Cant bring myself to replace this valve cover with an s52, as it's powder coated to match the rest of the motor, so I'll be purchasing the m50/s50 gasket today. Hope that the performance ignition coils that came with this motor are s50 as well, so I wont have to replace/modify them.

[dadsbmw]

Back at it again this afternoon!

Decided to get the new passenger and rear seats in this morning. I'd been waiting on a few things to come via Amazon before I started. Was considering getting a hand held carpet cleaner, but decided against it, in lieu of using a spray hose and my shop vac. I did however, order a spray bottle of fabric cleaner and a fabric UV protection spray.

Took the seats out into the sun this morning and started the "deep cleaning". Started with the passenger seat, as it's in immaculate condition.






I sprayed it down with fabric cleaner and used a brush to lift any stains. I then sprayed it down with the hose set to "mist" and vacuum the water out. I did this all with the grain of the fabric and all went well. I then tried to do it against the grain and immediately realized this was a task best left to much newer and heartier cloth! Deep cleaning is out!

This realization went double for the rear seat back. While the rear seats were in great condition with no tears, you can see that the top of the seat back has been sun ravaged over the past 30ish years, and likely would not take kindly to rough handling. At that moment, I decided the rear seats would officially be off limits. Sorry folks, this car is officially a 2 seater!


The passenger seat won't be going in, as it's going to need a bit of reupholstering. Thankfully I now have a bunch of extra matching cloth to utilize!


After getting these bad boys cleaned up I went to pull the current comfort passenger seat and temporary vinyl rear seats. They're in great condition, just not quite what I want... the goal is OEM+ after all!








Stock 30 year old door cards... pretty great condition for a 400k mile car!




Carpet was pretty dirty upon pulling the passenger seat, so that was taken care of.




It was at this point I decided I definitely wanted a full fledged carpet cleaner. Looks like I've got some craigslist hunting to do!
Comfort vs Sport. They just look better, not to mention the bolsters.


And installed




Rear seat bottom is currently in place, but waiting on until the fabric UV protection spray dries before installing the rear seat back. This may also force me to start on another project earlier than anticipated... electric rear sun screen!

Anyways, off to buy some all red tails, s50 engine cover, and s50 VCG, see you all later!

[rzerob]

Why are you running a colder thermostat?

[2mAn]

Love seeing the updates, keep it up.

[dadsbmw]

rzerob- Mechanical fan delete kits come with a colder thermostat. I'm assuming to kick on a bit earlier to avoid any risk of overheating.

Thanks 2mAn! Appreciate the encouragement!

[rzerob]

rzerob- Mechanical fan delete kits come with a colder thermostat. I'm assuming to kick on a bit earlier to avoid any risk of overheating.

Thanks 2mAn! Appreciate the encouragement!

Unless your kit comes with a colder temp sensor then the fan won't kick on any sooner than the stock sensor temp. And there is no point in changing the stock hi/low speed sensor because if done right the swap won't effect the need to change the cooling operation. I have deleted my mechanical fan and added an additional spal fan more than 5 years ago on my s50 swapped E30 with A/C and never had an issue with over heating running a stock thermostat. Running a colder thermostat doesn't let the engine warm up to recommended operating temp. And on a stock build that is not a racecar gives you no benefits. If you plan on a crazy forced induction build or beating the hell out of the car on the track where the car is constantly being pushed and running hot, ok. But if this is just a daily/weekend racer then you should run a stock thermostat.

Also make sure your valve cover is flat and not warped. I have been chasing a small vacuum leak and found out it was due to a warped valve cover that was powder coated. Keep up the good work and take my advice if you want.

[dadsbmw]

Appreciate the input. The kit does come with a colder temp sensor as well. We'll see how she does.

Few more things this morning. Picked up all red tails last night. Thought I'd like it more than the stock orange turn signals, and boy do I! Before:


After:




Just finished up giving her a bath and reinstalling the wheel center caps, so I'll have a few more pics of her later today.

Also installed the rear seat, as it had finished drying. Looking grand if I do say so myself


And with the passenger sport seat in the mix


Lastly, purchased an S50 engine cover last night as well, so even though I'm still waiting on the new valve cover gasket to come in, thought Id lay the valve cover, engine cover, and new oil fill cap on to see what it'll look like

[dadsbmw]

In our last installment I had just purchased the S50 engine cover and placed the VC and engine cover on the motor, to see how it would look. Unfortunately I was still waiting on the VCG, so I prepared for other projects.
Installed the 24lb injectors into the M50 IM using an M50 fuel rail with integrated FPR.


Not sure if all I need to do is seat the injectors in the fuel rail and then bolt onto the IM? I did discover clips to hold the injectors in the fuel rails, which I'm installing. The Bimmerworld M50 to S52 swap kit came as well. Frankly I'm not super enthused with it. Although it's black on the website, which is what I wanted, it came with 2 randomly blue lines? The larger line seems decent quality, but the smaller vacuum hose is very cheap and WAY thicker than it needs to be. The install instructions are also pretty bad, and the mounting seems a bit suspect to me. They should really step into the present and provide youtube video instructions. I'm more than willing to custom mount this stuff, which is what I'm pretty sure I'll end up doing, but when I've paid $150+ for a solution, I'd really hope that it's better than this.


Also pulled out the ZF trans to get it ready. Already have the detent kit and just purchased a bunch of maintenance items for it like new shift fork, TOB guide tube, MTL/ATF trans oil, brass clutch pivot pin, and ss clutch line. Already have a new pilot bearing, TOB, lightened flywheel, clutch.


Also received the x3 booster and MC I bought on ebay. This kit came with an 944 booster, but after doing some reading I'm going to try out the x3 setup.


Eventually the VCG came and I got that in place




Next were injectors and then coil packs. I quickly realized, however, that I didnt have the 2 VC bolts to mount the grounding straps. I found 1 on the spare M50 motor and got that installed, but need to source the 2nd.






For an OBD2 S52, does anyone know the correct mounting points for these grounding straps? Ive' seen cylinders 1 and 6, which is what I'm planning on doing, but wanted to double check. OH! Another question! I realized after installing all of this that I forgot to swap over the oil baffle on the underside of the VC for the crank case vent. Thoughts on how necessary that is? I mean there's already an oil separator in line which feeds any residue back into the pan. Should I remove all of this and install the baffle?

The viton OFH gasket came as well and with that in place I could start installing the rest of the drivers side components. I very quickly realized that the threads attaching the Vanos oil feed line were stripped! SHIT!


I've got a spare Vanos unit I can use, but this one has been rebuilt with the viton seals and it's powdercoated to match the motor! Did a little research and decided to try my hand at a helicoil instead. Removed the OFH and thermostat housing to get better access and taped all the holes up.


I'll also be taping inside the bore of the Vanos feed inlet. The actual hole for the oil to pass through is tiny, so a little bit of tape should certainly do the trick of keeping any metal/dust out.
Ordered a Helicoil kit on the interwebs and when it came, the included drill bit had a 9/16" shank. Who on earth has a 3/4" drill that can fit this thing? Certainly not me! Ended up ordering a 3/8" shank 9/16" drill bit on amazon, as well as a 1/2" tap handle.


Plan on getting that situated later today.

Anyways, we're up to date! Finally ordered what I'm hoping are the last parts to complete the swap. I was planning on starting next weekend, but found out my brother is going to be in town on November 6th and wants to drive around in the e30. It was our dads car afterall, and he's got the sentimentals around it as well! As a result I'm going to wait until after his trip to start the swap. More to come!

[dadsbmw]

And another update only hours later. Since the final piece came today, I went ahead and started on putting a helicoil in the Vanos oil inlet.
Stripped


Drilled


Threads cut


And Helicoil inserted


Whadda ya know, it worked!




I'll admit, it took a bit of trial and error, but I'm so glad it's done! As much as I was chomping at the bit to get it completed, I was also dreading the process, as I'd never actually performed this work before. Only real setback I had was not cleaning up the threads enough before trying to thread in the coil. Be sure to go over those bad boys a few times and get them nice and clean!

[Sh3rpak!ng]

Nice work! I have to say, I was a bit skeptical of how it would all look with the red powdercoat, but with the valve cover done, the M3 cover on it and all the rest of the new hardware, it looks pretty good! Also didn't know there was a viton replacement for that damned oil filter housing gasket... will remember that for the next replacement.

Sent you a PM