I have an E 30.

[Nader393]

Heyyyy, how's everyone's quarantine going? Hard times, for sure.

OK, I’m back to work on this engine. I left off by discovering the *correct* length of ARP studs for the main bearings. Went back and made sure all was torqued and still rotatable by hand. Then I installed the ARP head studs. Mmm, ARP. Still, it's a lot of money for steel fasteners. And why are the Allen heads not metric?

[Nader393]

Installed the crank pulley spacer, because the crank is from an M52B28. Had to heat the hell out of it to slip it on the snout, then it shrink-fits on. So now the M20 oil seal fits, but now I need the longer M52 pulley bolt. It's on order. Then I put on an OEM head gasket and installed the shaved Myster-E head with its 280 camshaft. Torqued down in three equal steps to 70 ft/lbs per ARP instructions.

[Nader393]

Then I painted the block. Used Duplicolor from a rattle can. I like grey, it shows stuff you may not want to see. Those are my working companions in the back; trusty big-ass diesel truck, and the Pelican case boombox I made last year. I used to listen to classic rock (because I'm old), then switched to Hip-Hop for a few years, now I'm inexplicably listening to EDM when doing projects.

[iXguido]

Just read through the entire thread. What a satisfying read. Is the the e30 still fulfilling it's duties as a daily?

I miss living in the PNW (Vancouver, BC) so it's nice reading about the persistent rain.

[Nader393]

Hi Guido. Yes, the car is still a daily driver. Continues to instill envy amongst the numerous other monied medical specialists at my hospital who are driving cars 10X more expensive and parking them next to my lowly E30.

I forgot to post pics of the Fj40 Land Cruiser whose restoration delayed this engine build.

[mike.bmw]

Do you have a build/restoration thread for the FJ40?? I'd love to see it!

[Nader393]

In anticipation of the cam belt being loose because of the shaved head, causing cam timing advance to take up the slack, I thought I'd take a chance on one of these cheap (2 for $50), no-name eBay adjustable cam timing sprockets. At first glance, it looks surprisingly well-made, but on closer inspection, it's sloppy. They have slightly more play than the stock piece, the fasteners are questionable, the bevels for the inner screw heads are the wrong angle, but the worst part is that the advance and retard labels are reversed, and the index is in the wrong place. Even when I take it apart and re-clock it, it won't line up correctly. Might just grind off the marks and make my own. And I can re-machine the screw bevels.

It's not complete junk; I can make this work. Or I can spend $180 for the name brand (Nuke Performance) adjustable sprocket. Anyone out there have experience with it? Here are the comparison pics:

[Nader393]

Do you have a build/restoration thread for the FJ40?? I'd love to see it!

Sure do. Here:
https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/new...-start.978598/

[Nader393]

Now that a fresh belt and tensioner is installed, I see that I was wrong about the cam timing effects of a shaved head. It ends up on the short bus. I mean, it's what some would consider mentally challenged. Look, what I'm trying to say is it's retarded. There, okay, I said it. Please, these are already trying times, let's move on. I've attached a picture showing how 1mm shaved from the head "retards" the cam timing by maybe 2°. Squint to see the timing hatchmarks on the pulley and head. I think it will be a benefit since my CR will be borderline high at a calculated 10.4:1.




Also, since I'm using an M52 crankshaft and had to use that spacer to fit the shaft's oil seal, the "Jesus bolt" washer is no longer a perfect fit. Had to shave it down a few 'thou on the lathe to properly fit.

[Nader393]

About 15 years ago, I crudely carved out a 1/4" plate of aluminum into a number 9 (or lowercase "q") to hold a Ducati 748S clutch in place while torquing the clutchpack bolt. That beautiful torture rack of a motorcycle is long gone, but I kept the tool (I never throw anything away), and I discovered it also conveniently fit the BMW M20 engine to hold the crank it place when I tore it down over a year ago. Here's a pic, including the jack handle I'm using as a cheater over the breaker bar on the "Jesus bolt.":




WelI, now that I need to torque down the Jesus bolt in reassembly phase over a year later, I couldn't find that Ducati/BMW crankshaft holder, which irks the crap out of me because I never throw anything away, especially homemade tools that I've used more than once. So I had to make another tool. This one came out better. Goes to show what another 15 years of machine tool acquisitions and practice can do for you:

[rzerob]

If your anything like me you found the lower case q immediately after you finished making your new tool.

[laxplayermjd]

hey can you do me a favor and take a couple measurements? I picked up a semi running stroker e30 and i have an issue with the water pump pulley rubbing on the crank damper by the teeth. I am unsure if the oil seal spacer they put on was machined wrong or installed wrong. Im trying to determine if thats the main cause of rubbing by being too far out from the block pushing it into the water pump pulley. Can you measure the distance from the block to the outer edge of the teeth.? I'm getting about 2 -9/16in on mine if yours is the same i may have a cheapo water pump or issue with that pulley. Thanks. Nice build!

[Nader393]

@rzerob: I haven't found the old tool yet, so I'm good there.

hey can you do me a favor and take a couple measurements? I picked up a *botched stroker engine that some careless mechanic slapped to together, and now parts don't fit* (mildly misquoted). Can you measure the distance from the block to the outer edge of the teeth.? I'm getting about 2 -9/16in on mine if yours is the same i may have a cheapo water pump or issue with that pulley. Thanks. Nice build!

Thanks for following. Buuuut... 2 -9/16"? Are you a carpenter? I don't speak fractional, but I dug around and found an old metal ruler that you might be able to read:





In other news, here's something I found interesting: Not all port matching is created equal. See how one intake manifold is ported better than the other (the gasket is a perfect match to the head ports, so it sets the standard). I chose the second manifold for obvious reasons.







Engine is starting to look okay. I may need to fancy up the intake a bit to match the rest of the engine.

[2mAn]

Love the updates Nader!

[Nader393]

Gradually getting closer to completion for the transplant. Here's a JBR lightweight flywheel. What I haven't shown is how the stock 28mm flywheel bolts are too short for adequate thread engagement with the crankshaft. Keep in mind this is an M52 crank in an M20 engine, so there's going to be fitment issues like this.

Rule of thumb for threading into a blind hole is to have at least as much bolt length threaded into steel as the diameter of the bolt shaft. Stock 28mm bolts are M12, and only engaged about 8mm of thread. So I had to order 50mm M12 bolts (high-strength, class 12.9, too bad ARP doesn't make them) and cut them down to 35mm. Any longer and they risk bottoming out when torqued.

Still waiting on a pilot bearing before mounting the clutch and pressure plate. Hope to transplant in the next few weeks.