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

[ttrousdell]

Pics with the coils installed. Had to see how low I could go







Little update on the s38. Bottom end mostly together. Ill post up more pictues when I get some time.

[CW325]

Looking good! Keeping it that low? haha

[ttrousdell]

Ha as long as it wasnt going anywhere it would have been good but I knew that eventually id have to get it out of my driveway and steer the car so I raised it back up about 1.5 inches in the front. Seems to be a good height. The ride is a lot stiffer then before. Im pleased so far.

[Garageaholic]

Wow, Tom. Excellent job. Stance looks perfect!!

[poopin04]

Damn dude! The car looks sick. I can't wait for more updates on the swap.

[Rowleym]

sub'd. beautiful build

[Garageaholic]

Hey Tom, so you got 17x8 et20 F/R. Did you use spacers for both the front and the rear? Both 10mm? And was that to clear the brake calipers? Do you have stock brakes or some big brake it?

[ttrousdell]

Hey Tom, so you got 17x8 et20 F/R. Did you use spacers for both the front and the rear? Both 10mm? And was that to clear the brake calipers? Do you have stock brakes or some big brake it?

Thanks again everyone for the compliments. The wheels are all 17x8 et20. I used 10mm spacers all around because you need them to clear the calipers in the front. They also give it a better look with the wheels more flush to the fenders. Up till now I've been running stock brakes. These came in last week. UUC 11.75" BBK. Ordered new stock rear pads, disks, and hand brake hardware.



Threw the head on the S38 today. Ill try to update in the next few days.

[F34R]

Looking good Tom, that S38 is going to be amazing.

[Roysneon]

What size tires are you running?

[Northern]

Holy sex, that looks amazing

[kid325e]

Kudos to you sir! Car looks stunning. Can't wait to see after the heart transplant goes down.

[ttrousdell]

Thanks again for the compliments guys.

I ran the VIN on the engine recently and what I saw kind of disapointed me. The M5 the engine came from had quite a past. It went from Minnesota to Florida then finally to PA. In 2010 it was sold in an auction with 215K miles. Slightly more then the 170K I was told. Shit.

So after the engine came back from the machine shop the first time I realized that I never had the mains line honed which is necessary when using ARP main studs. The studs are torqued to 60ft/lbs instead of the stock 14-18ft/lb +50 degrees so the journals could potentially be out of round. 200 dollars and a few days later the block came back to me.



Gave the block a nice gloss black coat of paint.



Checked the cylinders to make sure that they were what they were supposed to be. 3.697" Took measurements in 6 different locations to make sure it wasnt out of round or tapered.



Had the journals polished. Rechecked the journal measurements and the main bearings to make sure my oil clearences were around .002" like the machine shop said they were after the line hone. Measurements checked out and confirmed with plastigauge.



Installed the new timing chain sprocket. We managed to slide it on after heating it in a toaster oven. Torqued down the caps.

[ttrousdell]

The next task was to throw the pistons and rods into the block but before that some prep work would be needed. The rings had to be cut which I have to say was the most boring part of the build. The first ring called for a gap of (bore x.0045" so 3.697 x .0045= .0166"). The second ring had a gap of (3.697 x .0035= .0129"). Oil rings called for a min of .015"

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At the start of the build I expected to be able to use the stock rods. Unfortunately some checks reveiled that the large ends were out of round. I guess thats to be expected with 215k miles. The choice was made to go with SP rods from VAC. I made sure everything was balanced. I had 3 variables, pistons, rods and pins. By swapping around these peices I was able to get all 6 sets within a quarter gram without filing the rods.

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I had to have the timing chain cover machined down .011" to get it flush with the rest of the block. Thats more evidence that this engine has had a good amount of work done over the years.

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ARP head studs installed.

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[ttrousdell]

Pulled the M30 the other day. Im going to miss this engine becasue it was so reliable and did haul ass but I need to make room for bigger and better. Compression numbers on the M30 were take before pulling and all were around 150. Please dont ask if its for sale. I'll make a for sale post when i'm ready to get rid of it.



Thanks CW325 for coming out an helping with the pull.