e30guydownunder: Project M42, probs definitely got more power than your S50

[gearheadE30]

Wow, this is an insane build!

I'm in the process of building up a turbo M42 for my 318is as well and I've been doing a ton of research on Megasquirt and the M42. I'l pretty sure I already have everything else. What are you planning on doing about the ignition system, considering that megasquirt doesn't nativley support coil-per-plug ignition? Also, how much boost are you planning on running, given that it appears you are keeping the stock internals?

[decay]

good stuff man. very interesting to see how you engineered the turbo setup around moving the engine back. i wish i had the resources to do something similar.

[e30guydownunder]

Thanks gearhead. I have changed from the MS to a DTA S60 Pro. I must have forgotten to put that in this thread. So I have gone full aftermarket standalone. Heres the specs

But you can do it with MS II Extra. That had been my plan. You can buy a plug and play MS off "tglaze" on M42club. Or if you ask Danny he will have his contact details. SO it can be done. Its just a matter of running some extra coil drivers (MS extra supports upto 4) but whether or not you can still have things like boost control I never worked out. I got a killer deal on the DTA and the MS I had was going to require major rework to work for my application.

You could even setup a wasted fire setup driving 2 coil drivers off the one output if you still wanted boost control etc. This would allow you to drive the OEM coils. Or just go with a standalone boost controller. Ohh and I have a COP conversion if you didn't know. No leads, no mess, no issues.

Boost? Thats very much a wait and see thing. I'll know once I get to the dyno nd see how good this E85 fuel is. Which I am hoping will be good enough to keep the standard interals cool enough. I am intending to O-ring the block and run the OEM headgasket with a set of BIG headbolts holding the head on. So I'm aiming for about 20psi, which should see me up over 200whp (remember our dynos read lower than yours ;) and it's only a small turbo). Hopefully it will be making 80% of that power for most of the rev range though :)

dk - thanks man, your 318iC is going well too! If I hadn't dumped all this moolah on turbo stuff I could have ITB's too! I tend to be quite a resourceful fellow, using scrap/second hand stell for most of my work. New steel would increase the cost of this whole car two or three times!

With the car being a race car handling is the key. Better weight distribution helps with that :) By moving the engine back there has been a number of advantages.

The Engine, Gearbox, Turbo, Exhaust is all back 100mm. The engine oil (4L of it!) has moved back around 300mm with the change to a rear sump. The Radiator, fan, water, intercooler, oil cooler are all further back. Making the lines shorter and lighter and the intercooler plumbing shorter simplier and less resstrictive. Its all just WIN WIN WIN, but as you noted alot of work. Hopefully the amount of time I put in here will pay off, with a much faster E30, both down the straight and round corners!

For a road car no way would I do it this way. However I still reocn you could get the intercooler in the engine bay maintaining sleeper status out on the roads ;)

[e30guydownunder]

Figured I'd put up another update. have been slowly tinkering away at things.

The oil pan as it is in situe. I have since added mounts for the windage tray and will be bending up the pan tomorrow hopefully.



I finished up the oil system over the weekend. Here is the take-off plate, including all fittings and lines:



Then the M30 oil filter housing, blanking plate, various fittings and takeoff ports. I haven't added the tee for the turbo oil feed and pressure sender yet and the port for the temp sender needs to be tapped the correct dimensions...need a temp sender also.



From there the oil cooler lines run over the top of the intercooler pipe (yet to be finallised, suitable alloy pipe and bends are in the mail) down thru the sheet metal, which will have a rubber edge in the final product and down to the oil cooler. For these I was able to remove the standard crimped on lines and reuse the barbed fittings in my push-loc line and then threw on some crimp on clamps just to be sure to be sure. The BMW fittings were a little looser than the push-loc hose ends, hence the double clmping. Doesn't look too ugly and considering I only had to buy the hose clamps (~$30) worked out rather affordable!



I also knocked up a joiner piece for the intake. This joins the air filter and the flexible hose I will be using to feed the turbo. There is heaps of room in front of the wheel so i positioned the filter to allow me room for my brake ducting hoses (which will be added at a later date, Ignore the piece of pipe infront of the air filter that is a piece of scrap that got in the photo!).

[e30guydownunder]

Alrighty nothing has been happening and heres why:

As for an update from today. Well I have made most of the sump section of the oil pan. but I made the wing too long, it just hits the control arm, here is a picture. If you look closely you will notice the standrd windage tray is mounted also:



Stupid mistake really. Shoulda had the arm in there for mocking up purposes. Its not that big a deal to fix just a pain in the ass.

By this stage I was already starting to loose motivation and interest. So I took a step back and had a look at what was left. The majority of the mechanical stuff is bowled over. Theres the sump with is about 50% done, the intake mods and then the radiator outlet modification. Then a bunch of lil shit and its done. Except I hven't even started the brake master cylinder relocation (in the form of a custom pedal box with twin master cylinders etc). And then it dawned on me...the electrics! I want a full from scratch custom engine loom and dash wiring, integrated with the standard chassis loom etc. This wasn't going to happen in the time left. The decision was to get the engine rebuilt and stick it in and go from there....then this happened:

Well I was getting tired of this no updating BS. So thought I'd shake it up this weekend. Enter my weakness/mental disorder:



Yup another engine has landed! This one came complete with a gearbox and M3 clutch. 240mm diameter and rated to 350bhp or something. So thats my clutch issue sorted. Thanks go out to Ruger for the hookup.

But that wasn't enough. So today I washed it down as can be seen above. And Im going to have ripped the timing case apart and the sumps off and resealed them up before it goes into the race car.

Further to this I figured I would get crazy on my spare E36 Rack. I present to you the fabled leak free BMW Steering Rack.



I followed this miata guide (the two racks are very similar in design)...Click



Just need to plug the In/Out lines from the PS pump and the job is done. Very simple procedure and at last I will enjoy BMW ownership without a PS fluid puddle acumulating under the car (even my looped rack in the race car with powersteering fluid in it, leaks!)

So that about sums up the weekends happenings. I'm shooting to change the drivetrain by the end of this coming weekend as after that I will be back at uni.

And there ya go...I now have 4 M42's between 2 cars. Probably the oddest piece of info is between all the engines I only have 1 E30 head, but have onl purchased 1 E36 specific engine. The joys of bastardisation done by others!

[agile30]

Did anybody guess the radiator type? I would like to say old school chevy. It looks like the one in my 57 bel air

[Farbin Kaiber]

I was gonna chime in and say the same, old Ford/Chevy unit from the 60's-late 70's.

[e30guydownunder]

I dont think anyone on here has yet...but its japanese

[Farbin Kaiber]

Datsun P/U Truck?

[e30guydownunder]

Close but no cigar...japanese truck is a good guess....some would say unbreakable

[CorvallisBMW]

Hilux!

[Iain]

Looking good, mate. I might be joining you in Turboville due to the RTA not being able to confirm if I am allowed to put the ls1 in my e30. Apparently I have to spend the money putting it all in and then roll the dice to see how they interpret the weight/capacity rule, but the engineer says it's 50:50 whether they go off the heaviest variant of the car (325iS @1300kg = max 6.3L) or the weight off the rego papers of the actual car (318 @ 1080kg = max 5.3L).

Fucking RTA.

[e30guydownunder]

Fucking RTA.

Fuck 'em, Race spec yo!

But I gather from other posts you would like a boosted M52? that would be just as nice. A B25 with the square bore/stroke and a gt35r would be a very responsive and nasty package once you jam 20psi down its throat. Would be a hell of a street monster then. But all that ain't no V8 rumble. Perhaps destroke the LS and rev the piss out of it? Big fat roller cam, lightweight everything...DOOOOOOOOOOOO ITTTTTTTTTTT!

Corvallis....agonisingly close. But my guess is the Hilux (of similar vintage, if they existed back then) probably uses a very similar radiator. Its out of a BJ60 Landcruiser. The radiator core is nearly double the volume of the standard one! I just have to move the outlet port side to side and the top 318iS radiator hose nearly works for both the inlet and outlet.

[Iain]

Hopefully I can get a firm answer as I rekon the LS is the way to go and settling for a turbo M52 isn't my ideal. At least the 52 is lighter than the M50.

When is the next date this thing has with the track? I'd be keen to come see it run

[e30guydownunder]

March 13 I'm planning to be at MDTC which is a good 3 hrs from the Central Coast (3/4 of the way to Goulburn :crazy)

or March 21 I'll be all the way to Goulburn at Wakefield. Both will be N/A but both are small twisty tracks anyway.

Theres a Motokhana at Eastern Creek on May 16. But I'll need to look up some other clubs as to when I'll be racing around EC next.