`88 Sedan track car build - here's Siobhan! Made the front page of Jalopnik!

[IronFreak]

Congrats again man! getter done!

[kingston]

Congrats again man! getter done!

Thanks man! Getting close now. Zionsville no longer makes the adapter I'd ordered from them (even though it's still on their site, grrr..), so I am going with the Markert Motor Works one now. It means I'm ditching the throttle body heater circuit from the motor, but this car won't be a winter car anyway...

Once that's on and I have a working coolant gauge in the car, she'll be ready to take on the first drive. Can't wait!!

[JeremyE30autox]

Still not on the road!!!

[kingston]

Still not on the road!!!

I know, I know! The coolant adapter should be here Monday, and she should be on the road that night. The motor sounds great, but I'm not putting her on the road without a working temp gauge. And at least I got to get my kicks in the Chump Car yesterday at Gateway :)

[kingston]

Well, the coolant temp sender from Markert is delayed a couple of days, and won't be here until Wednesday.

Since we were planning to be at the warehouse anyway, we were abe to check a couple of items off of the `to do` list...

The SPAL aux fan now actually works, and flows air, rather than acting like a brick wall blocking the air.

The new oil dipstick tube o-ring was installed.

The Massive 'Sport' BBK kit was bled. Can't WAIT to try those!!

It really is just a case of needing the coolant temp stuff installed & wired now. That should happen Wednesday night. Followed quickly by the 1st drive :)

[kingston]

Well, I got to take the 1st drive last night! I have to say that this swap was worth every penny, every once of sweat, every drop of blood that were spent on the project. I have a couple of little things to button up, but she scoots, doesn't leak, the temp gauge works, the Spal pusher fan works... Cannot wait to run her hard this weekend!!

I'll get some vids up over the weekend, too.

For anyone considering an S52 swap, just DO IT!

[LJ851]

Fantastic !

Best success this weekend.

[kingston]

Thanks Lorin!!

Now that she's mechanically sound, it's about time to start attacking the body/chassis issues. Minor dings I could live with for a track car, but the paint is roached, there are 2 serious dents in the driver-side rear quarter, and there are rust issues to be dealt with. I find myself looking at welders a lot lately...

[kingston]

Just a quick pic from tonight's test drive. LOVING the S52!!!!



Thanks to my friend Anders Nelson for all the help!!! You rock, dude!

[kingston]

Siobhan is home! I bolted up the strut bar, engine covers, & hood & took her for another little spin today :) I need to behave, because I haven't gotten an alignment done since popping on the new suspension & Camber Plates, and I don't want to chew up the tires!

Snapped a couple more pics of her, now that she's back at the house



I think I need a skid pan. She's pretty low right now

Things to do now:
* Get the new S54 oil filter housing from Guten Parts, an oil cooler & the lines for it. (My car was an 'e' and didn't come with one.)

* Get the 24V oil pan baffle from Guten Parts & install it.

* start to work on the car's rust issues & larger dents - she's going to be a track car, so she won't be perfect, but the big problem areas really bother me

* Get a cage installed in the car

* Keep working on the new gauge panel

* Get the front wheels balanced (I had to remove the wheel weights that were on there so I could install the MASSIVE BBK, so they'll have to go on the inside of the wheels).

* Strip the roached out paint & reshoot it. It won't be anything fancy, but it will certainly look better than it does now!

[IronFreak]

Happy for you dude!! A long waited success, have fun with it!

[e30m3s54turbo]

Congrats on your project.

[kingston]

Thanks guys!! I'm trying to behave myself since the alignment isn't done
and I don't want to chew up the tires, but she's SOOOOOOO fun to drive!

I don't think I've talked about the next project much, but here's a sneak peek...

Starting to work on the new gauge cluster. A Stack Clubman tach will take center stage, and the smaller gauges will be for oil pressure, oil temperature, water temperature, fuel level, diff fluid temperature and voltage. I'll just use a GPS speedo app on my phone for driving her to events :)

Right now I'm helping a friend do an S52 swap in his car, as well as an auto-to-manual swap for him. Next weekend I wrench on Lilo the Chump Car racer, and the weekend after that is a Chump Car race at Gateway in St. Louis. 12 hours on Saturday and 6 on Sunday. Hoping for a good result both days!!

So, there will be little updates for a few weeks, then more big stuff in October! Cheers!

[kingston]

Well, it's been a bit since I updated this thread. Siobhan is running great, and I'm planning the work I want to do on her over the weekend to get her ready for the track in the Spring. Since the last update, I have done a few things...

First, I rebuilt a set of 21.5# injectors that I got from my great friend Samir. The rebuild kit came with 2 o-rings, a plastic spacer and a filter for each injecdtor, and cost me $24.99 (with free shipping) and was pretty simple to install. First, I used a set of needle-nose pliers to remove the old pintle caps. Then the old plastic spacer and o-ring slide off the end. On the opposite end, I cut the old o-rings off of the injectors. Then, I threaded a screw a couple of turns into the old filter, then used the pliers to remove the screw, and the old filters pulled right out with them.

The rebuilt injectors with the old removed parts.

Next, I installed the TRM S52 chip I'd bought from R3V. Unfortunately, it has turned out to be a chip for an engine running a lightweight flywheel and 93 octane. Unsuitable for my needs, and now for sold.

Going back to the stock chip for now, and I'll be buying the appropriate chip from Turner soon.

I've swapped a front Euro valence with Levent from Guten Parts for a couple of parts I was wanting for the track: an S54 oil filter housing (which will allow me to run an oil cooler) and an oil baffle pan designed for E30 24V swap cars.

Can't wait to install these. I still need to get an oil cooler, a VAC adapter so I can run AN lines, a VAC adapter for the VANOS oild supply and the AN lines themselves...and MAN, are those pricey?!!

Here's a closeup of the oil pan baffle:

Neat!

And a quick shot I took of Showy in the rain a little while back...

LOVE Siobhan!

There are a few other issues. The front SS brake lines are a little too short for my comfort. They were totally fine for the stock calipers, but with the angle and location of the Wilwood calipers, the lines are pulled pretty taut. Levent is going to get me a set of custom-made front lines from Rogue...

...and I STILL need to get the front wheels balanced & get an alignment! LOL!

[6gen91]

Kingstonnnnnnn!!! i miss the fuck outta you! we needa catchup asap, ill text ya in the morning bud, everything is looking great!