ttrousdell's Project Thread (E30 M3 & S38 swap content)

[Nsquared97]

I just spent a good hour looking through this thread, and wow, you sir have done one hell of a job. Your dedication to the car, and doing things right is just incredible. Keep it up, can't wait to see the car all button'd up and purring with S38 power!

[mammoth_e30]

Awesome build! You mentioned a rebuild manual or something to that affect where you got tolerance info etc. Where did you come across that? Thanks

[ttrousdell]

Awesome build! You mentioned a rebuild manual or something to that affect where you got tolerance info etc. Where did you come across that? Thanks

Most of the tolerances and torque specs that I used came from an old Chilton manual and from reading other peoples s14/s38 builds.

I welded the tabs to hold the coolant bottle the other day. I'm happy with this position. Warmed her up and began to bleed. After She came up to temp and it seemed like the engine was bleed, I decided to take her out for the first break in run.



Unfortunately after making it around the block the engine sounded like death. Backfiring and no power. Pulled the spark plugs which I just bought today. You can see a pattern, where they are the same in pairs. I am guessing it is because the 3 pairs of throttles aren't sync to each other. I also think the injectors could use rebuilding. They were very nasty when I got them and I regretted not having them sent out and flow tested. The tops of piston 1 and 2 were wet with fuel.

The AFPR was set to the stock 3 bar.



Some recent pics...

[The Dark Side of Will]

I always give advice after it would have done you good...

If an injector is screwed up and sticks open, the extreme amount of excess fuel can wash the oil off your cylinder walls and require a re-hone (which means new pistons, possibly new rings and of course a teardown and rebuild).

Given that possibility, scrimping on having injectors cleaned/tested doesn't make any sense.

I use https://www.injector.com/ mostly because my machinist recommended them. He'll clean and flow test your injectors, and send back a matched set.

Caution: He has no problem telling you your injectors are junk. On the plus side, he only charges for the flow-matched sets he delivers. If you send him 9 or 10 injectors, he'll flow test all of them, but you'll only pay for the 6 that match best (within 2% is his requirement). He will then install new screens, caps, etc. on those 6.

[ttrousdell]

Ah again thanks for the advice. I was planning on sending them out to VAC. $140 for the cleaning. http://www.vacmotorsports.com/catalo...6-cylinder.htm How long should the rail hold pressure after the pump is shut off? Mine slowly lost pressure after about 30-60 minutes.

[The Dark Side of Will]

Should hold for hours...

Can you hold the throttles open when you prime the rail so that you can see if any of your injectors are leaking? Maybe use a dye leak test kit?

Although if it holds pressure that long, that's a very slow leak. It would drop immediately if you had an injector stuck open.

How's your intake air temp sensor doing?

[e30m3s54turbo]

The s38 looks sweet in a black e30. Very nice job.:up:

[Iain]

Awesome thread, bloke.

Props to you for digging in and teaching yourself how to work on it, too. There should be more of that, rather than all the bolt-on jockeys!

[The Dark Side of Will]

Ditto... from the looks of things in this thread, the S38 is NOT an easy engine for a first time builder.

[eduTechnic]

I have learned so much just reading this. Thanks for making it somewhat explanatory. I'm sure you're solidifying what you've learned just putting it to words. Beautiful build.

[ttrousdell]

Should hold for hours...

Can you hold the throttles open when you prime the rail so that you can see if any of your injectors are leaking? Maybe use a dye leak test kit?

Although if it holds pressure that long, that's a very slow leak. It would drop immediately if you had an injector stuck open.

How's your intake air temp sensor doing?

When I had the plenum off during the first starts I didn't notice any fuel leaking out of the injectors after shutdown. I took the injectors off and sent them out to VAC. Ill post the results I get back from them. The vacuum gauges to sync the throttles are on the way as well. I have a feeling that the vacuum in each runner will be very different. I will also post those results and explain how to sync them.

I tested the resistance of the intake air sensor. At about 80F I read 1.84kΩ and as I held the sensor in my hand and warmed it up, the resistance dropped to about 1.6KΩ. I'm not sure what the resistance should be for a given temp but since it does change I assume it works.

The s38 looks sweet in a black e30. Very nice job.:up:

Thanks bud. Just need to get her to run as well as it looks.

Awesome thread, bloke.

Props to you for digging in and teaching yourself how to work on it, too. There should be more of that, rather than all the bolt-on jockeys!

Thanks mate:up:

I have learned so much just reading this. Thanks for making it somewhat explanatory. I'm sure you're solidifying what you've learned just putting it to words. Beautiful build.

I'm glad you're able to use this to better your knowledge. I cant tell you how many times I went back to this thread to remember all the things i've done.

[driftingminor913]

Man nice build, I'm itching to hear what the power n torque does to ya. How much of a night n day difference it is from the M20

[EatsHondas]

Man nice build, I'm itching to hear what the power n torque does to ya. How much of a night n day difference it is from the M20

I've never been lucky enough to drive an S38-powered-anything, but I imagine it would go something like this. Only more so.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq9e8QFBWfY

[Northern]

Crazy build. I followed up to the point of those amazing slammed pics with the RC090's, then stopped looking for updates. Yesterday I noticed your sig now says 336i, and I had to see it. Awesome!

[dougie30]

My dream engine right here