E30 M42 + Eaton MP62

[Ian Bowers]

I had a different issue with a Spec clutch, the splines in the friction disc itself. I had it in my GTI for maybe 2k miles. This was a STG 3 so supposedly good to 400 tq. The input shaft shredded the teeth out of the friction disc, shaft received no damage. My car had solid mounts, shrick cams, intake/full exhaust, tune, light flywheel, MAYBE 200 whp. I've heard several reports about the TO bearings begin junk, some making noise even when new.

Well, uhh, let's hope I'm one of the issue-free Spec users. :-( I'll definitely try to use the 323i TO bearing in that case.

Thanks for the heads up.

[Mike The Bavarian]

I'd kill for my m42 to magicly have a supercharger attached to it

[thebutcher37]

Sucks considering I'll be looking at developing an m42 turbo kit soon and I need a guiney pig.

Guinea Pig me !!!

[Ian Bowers]

So, I'll have 4 gauges to mount so I can monitor my Oil temp, Oil Pressure, Boost, and AFR. I was looking for ways to mount the gauges when I saw the mickey-mouse ear group buy. I didn't want to spend the $110, so I bought a $25 sheet of carbon fiber and made my own. (Actually, a friend did the actual work; I didn't have the tools necessary here. )




I still need to sand and seal it, but I like the looks of it.
I used the factory thumbscrews from behind the dash, I nabbed them from one of my parts cars. It's actually incredibly sturdy, and it rotates super smooth. And it weights nearly nothing.

The boost gauge will mount where my OBC is, and I'm undecided what exactly is going into those CF holders. I have an extra mounting cup for whichever gauge gets left out. :)

[Ian Bowers]

I was planning on using the Jackson Racing Miata Eaton outlet, but I managed to overlook the fact that it was for the M45, not the M62 that I have.



Yeah, that's not going to work. I guess I'll be sending it back and figuring out a different mounting system, or maybe-maybe modifying it like this:



:(

[Ian Bowers]

[novel]

So, uh... 5/15 has come and gone, and plans have somewhat changed.

I changed the clutch and flywheel, as well as throwing some DZ101 Star Specs on. I used an E30 323i flywheel, M42 pilot bearing, E30 323i Throw-out bearing, and the M20 Spec stage 2+ clutch. I genuinely enjoy it; clutch is grabby, but super easy to drive with.

A week after my birthday, the car decided to be a little waffleswaffleswaffleswaffles and shoot $60 of brand new (literally, changed 5 minutes before) redline all over my engine bay, so I popped the valve cover off and it scared the shit out of me. The cam sprockets were very sharp and pointed, and I figured it was time to overhaul it.

That turned into "I should really do this, too..." and "The engine has 158k~ on it, I should replace the headgasket." Oh, and the normal "Holy fucking shit what is this under the intake. Fuck that." routine.

Well, a month of it sitting on jackstands and a lot of cash later, it's back on the road. With goodies.

Dropped the oil pan, and found the typical 150k M42 goodies. Bolts and timing guide chunks! Loctited all of the (loose) upper bolts and pooped myself a little.



This was after several hours of scotch briting yuckiness off of the head, and starting to clean up the first piston.


About as good as I could get them. Stark contrast from what they were, though.


My machinist friend took my head and checked it for straightness, and it checked out perfect. He also surprised me by porting and polishing the exhaust ports, as well as opening the intake up a little bit.

I've heard that it can actually be more restrictive to port the BMW heads, but I haven't experienced that while driving it, and it should help when it's boosted.



Polished the valves.



Saw this at the store and it reminded me of the Caprisun pouches from when I was a kid, had to get it. IT HAS A FUCKING STRAW!



Uh, anyways. Put the engine back together. .140 Cometic MLS, ARP Studs, and everything timing related replaced. Cleaned the fuckshitstack out of the tappets.



Painted the VC a nice ricer blue




And then the other BIG change is a built LSD. I purchased 3 Bimmerworld Race clutch packs, and an extra 2.0mm porsche dog ear plate, and had my friend build the diff up, as well as replace all of the bearings, and seals. So clean and fresh.

When he handed it to me, he said two things: It sparkles(I was confused. It was dark. I was... surprised when I saw it in the sun), and your ramp angles are changed, and it should have around 60% lock-up.

I also converted the diff to use studs instead of bolts for the subframe. It turns out, stock M42 clutch bolts are the exact same weird fucking threadpitch as the diff holes, and they are long. Cut them down some, and they work awesome. Makes diff changes a fucking snap. They're red loctited in on the top portion, and welded in on the bottom portion.





And because I'm a major fucking Star Wars geek, I stenciled a mandalorian crest on the diff cover. I did a shitty job, but I'll be the only one to see it.






Because Racecar. Actually, I've just always loved the driver name stickers on race cars. The track outline is of Forza Motorsport's Fujimi Kaido -- Forza has been a big part of my interest in cars, and that track is just fucking awesome. I fixed the Mandalorian crest's alignment after the picture.

A lot of the drifters from the Thunderhill area are in fucking love with the outline sticker, and I believe FD rookie Ryan Kado stole one from the batch I purchased, haha.




Plans for the supercharger are still in action. With the MLS HG and ARPs, I plan on running 12 pounds. Still using a stock bottom end, I think I should be okay.
I have pretty much all of the parts here (well, I need to purchase injectors, and piping for the intercooler.), just been super fucking busy. My friend's designing and fabricating an intake/plenum for me, as well as building my MS3 and a custom harness.

I know some people are going to give me shit for leaving certain parts of the engine dirty, and I totally deserve that -- but I work outside, on gravel/dirt/rock, and it had been raining for most of May/June. I cleaned up integral parts (profile gasket area was totally cleaned and the pitting fixed), but I am a lazy fuckhead on things like tranny bellhousing/oil filter caps.

The car just got put back together 6/25, and 6/26 was spent messing with the cam sprocket adjustments. The start of the cam tuning was just fucking funny. The intake ended up being retarded all the way, and it hit the cam at around 4.5-5k, and made a VTEC-esque exhaust note and pulled like crazy; was good for a laugh.

The MLS' height difference (.140 vs .070) made "Dead center" on the cams... not work. Ended up advancing both the intake and exhaust cams, and it idles perfectly, and has more power all over than it did before any of the work was performed. It pulls like a fucking freight train at top end, especially.

I honestly wish I had done something to support higher revs, as I know it has more past the 7100RPM limit my Mark D chip has set.

[/end novel]

P.S. The difference a built differential made was substantial. E30 rack to Z3 rack substantial. It's hard to describe just how much traction it added, but, holy fuckballs batman.

[freeride53]

Oh yeah!?!



:(

It's really amazing how similarly these cars break down.
Looking forward for the updates Ian, you have one of the hottest m42 cars around.

[Simon S]

Fuck yes.

[Danny]

Gay.

[Ian Bowers]

Oh yeah!?!

:(

It's really amazing how similarly these cars break down.
Looking forward for the updates Ian, you have one of the hottest m42 cars around.

Yeah, but atleast it was caught before it went on too long.

And thanks, but I don't think that's true. My car has had more bodywork done on it than Pamela Anderson. Shit's haggard.

Fuck yes.

You wouldn't believe how many times I referenced your build thread, it was like a giant fuck you to the Bentley in terms of competency and detail. Thank you for going out of your way to document everything.

Gay.

You jelly, dawg?

[kingston]

Dude, you're making me want a 318is. Great work on this thing!

[Danny]

Sorta jelly

[Mike The Bavarian]

what kinda jelly? i wanna be grape

[CorvallisBMW]

I love the studs in the diff idea, I am doing that next time I drop mine out

[MikeDE]

I love the studs in the diff idea, I am doing that next time I drop mine out

x2