Budget M42 turbo build

[gearheadE30]

Thanks guys :). I think I'm going to end up putting the boost gauge in the driver knee bolster, left of the steering wheel. That way it's kinda hidden but I can still see it if I need to. I don't really want to cut up a nice airbag knee bolster, though...

And the new trans from Bavarian Auto Recycling just showed up, so I'll be swapping that in sometime this week. It's gonna be nice to have 3rd gear and a synchromesh transmission again haha

EDIT: more interesting news-the manifold doesn't fit with the AC compressor. The external wastegate mount has to go right there...

So, should I just get rid of AC, which is a nice convenience that I don't use much, or should I make mounts to put it on the driver's side where the AC pump is, and get rid of AC? If I do the latter, it will be taking place a while after the turbo gets done.

[Danny]

Get rid of it. AC is for suckas.

[Schnitzer318is]

Get rid of it. AC is for suckas.

You're wrong there Danny. :)

I know we need it here in SA where everyday is now in the mid to high 90's and going to get hotter.

[gearheadE30]

yeah, luckily every day temps here rarely top 90, so it's not totally vital. Its just a very nice convenience... Wish I could keep it, but I'm not seeing a way right now heh.

[e304me]

Updates!!!!

Megasquirt writeup!!!

also, what are you going to do for tuning? I am going to get the turboxs knocklite that i am going to leave installed, and some sort of mic headphone setup for when i am tuning

[gearheadE30]

Well, updates are kinda limited. I got the boost gauge in, and pics of that will be up shortly. I'm not too happy with the placement, but I do like how it looks where it is. It also doesn't waste any interior space. Its a little bit of a pain to look at, but I'm so used to looking across the car at my laptop that it's not a big deal. The backlight is also very bright, so it's pretty visible unless there is a lot of direct sunlight.

I relocated the coil packs to the battery tray. Again, pics will be up soon. I don't have any pics of it all finalized, but you'll get the idea

The oil pan is also installed, now with a (currently plugged) turbo oil drain and a temp sender bung. When I pulled the pan, both oil pump pickup bolts were loose, but all of the upper pan bolts were fine.

The intercooler from the 740 is in the car with temporary ziptie mounts until I can find time to fab up some real sheetmetal ones. I figured I should probably wait until I have all of the piping finalized, as well as rerouting some of the wiring at the front of the car.

Haha I'll try to get an MS writeup going soon, but I've been hella busy with work, and my GF is leaving this week for a month, so I need to get some quality time in there :).

For tuning, I'm just doing the drive and tune route with my laptop, and be very conservative with the timing. I want to get the AFR very very close with reasonable timing before I spend the money for the dyno, which will take care of the finalized timing curves. Dyno time is pricey, haha.

EDIT: pics. yeah, I know the first one sucks, haha. And the gauge is turned off in the second pic.

[e30guydownunder]

Nice work mate, pretty much exactly where my coils are currently as well :) Keep up the steady progress. You will get there.

[einstein57]

I was thinking about putting my coils there when I go wasted spark but placing them inside a ecu box out of a different car. Maybe e34 or something. I'll have to hit up the yards and see what's availalbe and how well it fits.

[TooTall90]

good work so far, i cant wait to see more progress!

anyone ever retrofit the e36 coil pack into an e30? i think it would really clean up the engine bay. is it even possible? im talking about #1 in this image.

[gearheadE30]

I actually seriously considered that (to the point where I bought a used module haha) but the wiring is different and I didn't feel like messing with it.

As far as updates go, not much. The manifold is going to the shop next week for wastegate relocation so I can save the AC, I found a shop to make AC lines, and I'm getting ready to buy some adapters so that I can get the intake more or less figured out.

[Schnitzer318is]

The manifold is going to the shop next week for wastegate relocation so I can save the AC, I found a shop to make AC lines, and I'm getting ready to buy some adapters so that I can get the intake more or less figured out.

Good for you. It would suck to lose the AC even if you guys have more mild weather than we do here.

Is that the boost gauge in your center console by the handbrake? I'm not a fan of that. Especially after the other 2 gauges came out so well.

Are you running MS2? Using stock ICV or 3 wire? I am going to give putting the stock 2 wire ICV another shot as I hate balancing the gas pedal at lights when I want to use the AC. Nothing worse than forgetting and having the car shut off on you because you didn't heel toe some throttle during braking.

[gearheadE30]

Yeah, I know, I am liking the boost gauge less and less. Now I just need to decide if I want to lose another vent (the small one to the left of the wheel), if I want to put it in the knee bolster on the left side of the driver, or if I want to replace the ashtray with gauges. The last one sounds the best to me, right now. any opinions?

[Schnitzer318is]

I'll take pics of my new gauge setup. I moved mine from up top where the check panels are, down to the open area above the ashtray. Came out fairly well. Will post them here when I get them.

[e304me]

any updates? I want to do this asap!

also what did you do with the check engine light? I'm gunna need to do something with that for emissions. needs to be on when the ignition is on then off when the car is running edit: looks like it has a check engine light feature!

[gearheadE30]

yeah, actually haha. I have a track day on monday, so I had to keep it NA because I didn't have time for everything. I did, however, fabricate intercooler mounts, install an oil catch can, made a second temporary intake, got all the hoses and adapters that I need and a BOV line, did transmission seals and put new fluid in, and took the manifold to a welding shop to get the ball rolling on modifications. I should have everything ready to hook up by the end of July :).

Megasquirt is also getting continuous updates with tuning, and hopefully I can get a lot of ignition tuning in at Gingerman on monday. Progress has been hindered slightly by the addition of a WWII light aircraft tug to the garage along with all of my college preparations. I didn't know I had so many e30 parts that I needed to get rid of, hah.