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

[ttrousdell]

December, 2011

1.


2.


3.


More pictures from the pier photo shoot...

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=231343

Jan. 2012
Some of you may remember that my car was hit about a month ago.


Insurance settled at $2200 which was a little less then though but ill take it. I ordered the suspension parts weeks ago but dealing with graduation and finding a job has taken up a good portion of my time till now. I also bought an e36 around the time of the accident which I was able to flip and sell for a 800 dollar profit.


Back to the matter at hand. We finally got some warm weather so it was time to get to work on the e30.





Old control arm and link out. Notice the distortion.



New Parts (control arm, tie rod with lock plate, end link, treehouse CABs, polybushing lube)



All ready to go on the car



Picked up a fairy decent set of fenders which will be going on the car.



Fenders about ready to go on.



Fender on but wait whats this. They are too long. Vert fenders F*!k.



Breaking out my old friend I bought this summer for around $350. Great little 110v welder with gas option.



I cut the inch or so of extra length.



Next weld two sections back together. I tacked it and made sure it fit then went back and finished up the rest of the seam.





Back together again.



With the Guten side skirt back on you could never tell the fender was cut. Even without side skirts it definitely looks presentable.



Moving on to something i've been meaning to tackle for a long time. Unless you live in the southwest chances are you battery box is less then perfect. I will also be doing a tow hook delete.



Luckily I was able to source some good replacement pieces from a 318.



Cancer removed



No turning back now



New battery box in.



It started to get dark before I could finish. More progress tomorrow...

[CW325]

Nice update, keep up the good work. Im around tomorrow if you need a hand!

[ttrousdell]

Nice update, keep up the good work. Im around tomorrow if you need a hand!

Cool ill shoot you a text in the morning. Ill def be working tomorrow

[red_e30]

nice man just read thru your thread sux some idiot hit you
but there is always ways to build it better

[poopin04]

I'm happy this was fixed and wasn't a goner. I still haven't seen any extra style-5s anywhere. But if you could shoot me the amazon link to the caps. I need one. I'll attempt to refinish mine this summer

[F34R]

I missed the rear rust fix and everything. Looks great man! And I know something amazing that is instore for this e30! Weep r3v!

[Joe G]

Just went through this whole thread from start to finish. Bravo! If im ever back home in LI with my E30 we should definitely grab a beer.

[ttrousdell]

Just went through this whole thread from start to finish. Bravo! If im ever back home in LI with my E30 we should definitely grab a beer.

Sounds good. Hit me up when you're around.

So I finally got out of school and it took me probably a day to find a kickass job working as an engineer for a tugboat company out of Philly. That being said I felt that I was finally in a economic position where I could finally afford an M/// engine. Intill now I have looked at S38 swaps with envy. Picked up a complete S38B36 today with, e30 motor mounts, harness, ecu, and custom radiator. I will be using the tranny from my M30 swap with the engine. All of this was picked up for a cool 1100. Why so cheap? The shop I bought it from said that there was no compression in cylinder #6. I took a gamble and brought it home. Here is the teardown.





Accessories that were included



19lb. yellow tops. Spark plugs were undamaged and clean with the exception of 5 and 6 which were pretty oily.



Looks clean so far



Getting some help from my friends.





No sign of wear on the cams at all.



They got a little to crazy with the RVT.



Head off. Looks super clean. All cylinder walls looks great. Underside of the head not too shabby. Celebratory fist pound!








Pan off and oil drained. No metal specs in oil. Turns over great. Relatively clean





Little sludge in sump.



This will be a slow build but I will document everything from the rebuild to the install in the car. stay tuned.

[amcink]

nice thread_ what are you doing to the m30 engine? want to ship it to california?

[ttrousdell]

nice thread_ what are you doing to the m30 engine? want to ship it to california?

Ill prob hold on to it. Maybe ill swap it into a future build or sell it to a friend. You don't want to pay to have this thing sent to California. It would prob be as much as the engine.


Took another look at the head today.



Cylinder #6. The reason for low compression is clearly evident.



Valve spring compressor and magnet tool for removing the keepers.



Just as we suspected, bent valves. Now how did they get bent in the first place especially when the shop told me the head was just redone and there was no evidence of piston to valve contact?

[Joe G]

I take back my offer of grabbing a beer. You s38 building bastard!






:)
P.S. Thats awesome, im jealous.

[CW325]

Looks pretty good considering how nasty it looked in the ad. Keep up the good work.

[F34R]

Remember to get the head milled to get rid of the wear. This is going to be awesome and I am SOOOOO happy for you man. You have been talking about this for over a year now. Glad you got a steal on that motor =)

If you don't have a good mechine shop around just bring the head with you when you come to do the suspension at my house. The guy I use is INSANE.

[ttrousdell]

Looks pretty good considering how nasty it looked in the ad. Keep up the good work.

It was sitting under a slop sink for 2 years. I was happy the internals were so clean

Remember to get the head milled to get rid of the wear. This is going to be awesome and I am SOOOOO happy for you man. You have been talking about this for over a year now. Glad you got a steal on that motor =)

If you don't have a good mechine shop around just bring the head with you when you come to do the suspension at my house. The guy I use is INSANE.

Thanks brandon. Im planning on rebuilding the whole engine. It will be going to Colvin machine which is a local shop by my house. It will be epic.

I take back my offer of grabbing a beer. You s38 building bastard!

:)
P.S. Thats awesome, im jealous.

Thanks dude. you should want to stop by even more now

[FunfGan]

This is going to be fantastic, what a steal on the engine! Good luck.