Robbies alpine sedan 5cyl swap

[Vtec?lol]

As far as cluster
The coding plug is the little tab thing in the front of the cluster when you remove the cover. Yank it out and swap it, no need to change the entire gauge cluster as you will be doing an 885 swap soon lol!

Make sure you grab the harness back to the ecu just to keep things simple.

As for t-stats, the valve in the rear of the block is just a tstat for you heater core. Helps prevent scalding coolant from blowing all over your leg. If it's original, delete it. If not, I don't see the harm in keeping it.

As for the crank sensors. Some eta's have two crank sensors some don't. I've had one with two, and I've had one with only one. You will need the ecu to whichever one you have. It is also flywheel specific so you would need the dual mass flywheel, clutch, pp, and trow out bearing. Post up your ecu label and someone will be able to tell you which is which.
I can't tell you off the dome which crank sensor goes where but the front should have a mount for it. IIRC the rear was mounted on the bellhousing. Not sure so don't quote me! lol

This is why we suggest you should grab a gasket and head studs and go ahead and do the head swap. It's only 30mins to get it off with the engine in the car and you will spend only a few bucks 100-$300 max
-885 head with intake
-throttle
-idle valve
-MAF sensor
-ecu
-harness
I believe that's all you need to be golden and you can grab one from a member for the low man. Trust me, piecing together that eta is going to take more time than to swap the I head. You can take that harness and ecu back but if you must continue we understand.

Also, you can use all stock b27 parts with the 885 head to have the super low compression if you plan to go turbo you will be golden. it won't be r3v happy.

as far as motor swaps, I'm a fanatic of the M20 because of its simplicity and performance. that b27 block is bulletproof and the 885 is most def needed for boost because of it's larger valves and free-er flowing/larger ports(like mentioned)

All you need to do is grab a good piggy back and tune it for 10-17psi and you're a torque monster and launching like a bat outta hell.

M/s5x motor swaps can be a pain if not planned correctly. Lots of odds and ends to be sorted out and you's be surprised with how common the swaps are, how much info is left out. Don't plan on turbo'n a swap without getting yourself familiar with it first.

[mdlimy]

og, pm me if you have any of the stuff im looking for if you have anything you think might be of interest to me ;)

[mdlimy]

good to know guys, thanks. i will be doing an i head swap fairly soon just to make the car a bit more enjoyable, im sure i could make some decent na numbers once the vems is installed, atleast better than stock.

Made a bit of progress today, went to the junkyard, they only had one 325 and it was an e so i grabbed the throttle body i needed. The whole harness, ecu and guage cluster was gone so i still need to grab all that. I called around the only other 3 yards and none of them have any I's =[

I grabbed the rear heater hoses and that little valve setup from the 325e at the yard, i still use that even with the I tstat right?

so i still need
-I tstat
-eta harness and ecu and coding plug
-waterpump pully
-need to pick up the headers

also need to mount the alternator and ps pump, not sure if i have all the parts to mount them, it sucks because ive never worked on these before and i recieved the car with no motor in it and a trunk of parts lol.

yanked the motor back out and dropped the trans, damn these 260s are light!

sorry for the wierd color pics, for some reason my phone decided to not be normal lol.






managed to get the motor and trans mated and back in it goes

[Wh33lhop]

b25s are rated at 168 at the crank actually. The extra power comes from the extra breathing ability from the valvetrain in the i head and the rest of the intake tract. Loss of compression is not exactly ideal, but it is better than a stock b27.

[F34R]

You really notice some extra power when dropping the i head on the eta bottom end? i know it drops compression to about 8.3:1 but allows for revving, where is the extra power coming from if there is such a loss in static compression ratio? you make me want to do an i head swap sooner than expected, i figured it would be pointless to do without boost bc of the low compression...

Upgraded fuel management/electrical system, BIGGER intake manifold. I am not 100% on what makes more in the head spec wise. All I know is the eta makes 121 and the b25 makes 179. Worth every bit to swap though =)

[ogbimmer]

true, depending on the turbo, but i dont have the time or money right now to do anything, my plan is to get it driving, get it all cleaned up and just work on painting odds and ends and making it looks great, then coilovers and wheels then the vems install then turbo the eta with an i head and roll it and in the mean time either build an m20, m30 or m5x, have yet to decide.

Just let me know if you need any parts! I have alot of stuff lol

[mdlimy]

yeah man! I would boost that engine while you build another one!. e30s are really fun cars with anything above 200hp, and if you boost about 15psi you should be in the 300 range.

plenty of people just get Arp head studs and a good tune and roll with it

true, depending on the turbo, but i dont have the time or money right now to do anything, my plan is to get it driving, get it all cleaned up and just work on painting odds and ends and making it looks great, then coilovers and wheels then the vems install then turbo the eta with an i head and roll it and in the mean time either build an m20, m30 or m5x, have yet to decide.

[ogbimmer]

ok here is what i found on strictlyeta under the 2.8 stroker page

"However, the stock 325e pistons will not work with the 325i head because of the different design; the 325i has a domed cylinder chamber to match the domed pistons while the eta has a flat cylinder chamber to match the flat pistons. Throw the flat 325e pistons into a 325i head and you have a mismatch that causes a lower compression ratio, and this for this procedure, lowering is a bad thing. So that leaves you with 3 choices: "

So it sounds like leaving the pistons alone is what you want to do to keep the compression low if you want to boost it, so sounds like i should be fine leaving the whole bottom end alone and just swapping an i head.

yeah man! I would boost that engine while you build another one!. e30s are really fun cars with anything above 200hp, and if you boost about 15psi you should be in the 300 range.

plenty of people just get Arp head studs and a good tune and roll with it

[mdlimy]

You should hate that steering wheel too... and send it to me. ;) I would love to take those tan seats off your hands as well! :D Lol Car looks nice! Your Volvo was awesome. I love me some Alphards.

the seats and wheel were a couple of the sellings points for me ;)
i will miss the volvo alot, luckily i am selling almost all the parts to locals in the pnw so i will see parts of my car at the volvo meets/shows and the alphards might be going on my buddies e39....

[Erik]

You should hate that steering wheel too... and send it to me. ;) I would love to take those tan seats off your hands as well! :D Lol Car looks nice! Your Volvo was awesome. I love me some Alphards.

[mdlimy]

ok here is what i found on strictlyeta under the 2.8 stroker page

"However, the stock 325e pistons will not work with the 325i head because of the different design; the 325i has a domed cylinder chamber to match the domed pistons while the eta has a flat cylinder chamber to match the flat pistons. Throw the flat 325e pistons into a 325i head and you have a mismatch that causes a lower compression ratio, and this for this procedure, lowering is a bad thing. So that leaves you with 3 choices: "

So it sounds like leaving the pistons alone is what you want to do to keep the compression low if you want to boost it, so sounds like i should be fine leaving the whole bottom end alone and just swapping an i head.

[mdlimy]

I dont think you can just swap the heads, you need different pistons as well, the i combustion chamber is different than the eta.

The Best stroker guide I have found in one location:

http://strictlyeta.net/technical/328i_3.html

hmmm could have sworn you could just swap heads and it would be ok but just a lower compression. ill have to do some more research, maybe someone will chime in.

wow i really like your volvo!!!
based off that i think this build thread will go well
good luck to you sir.

thank you =] this build will be much more performance orientated and i dont think i will be going so much for the stretch/poke stance, but still will have good fitment, i just want some meaty tires to hook up.

Oh and the power comes from the head breathing better with a chip you should be able to rev to 7k

yea i figured

efffff volvospeed!!!! I cant read anymore pages without becoming a member haha. nice job with the changing a head gasket on the side of the road and the e85 stuff

thanks man, i know these cars like the back of my hand, volvo actually engineered them very well.
I am putting my motor in a buddys car tommorow, then next weekend my manual swap goes in someone elses car, lucky to get some side work out of selling my parts, just wish i had more time.

[ogbimmer]

efffff volvospeed!!!! I cant read anymore pages without becoming a member haha. nice job with the changing a head gasket on the side of the road and the e85 stuff :)

[Pantless Spency]

wow i really like your volvo!!!
based off that i think this build thread will go well :)
good luck to you sir.

[mRodiek]

I dont think you can just swap the heads, you need different pistons as well, the i combustion chamber is different than the eta.

The Best stroker guide I have found in one location:

http://strictlyeta.net/technical/328i_3.html