Pitchblack Motorsports Rally e30 318i (now with M50) - and some Porsche 924S stuff.

[kts]

cool, sounds good. And the M42 studs are 40mm, I think. At least that's what the one I have is.

Ah nice. Looking at realoem last night I thought it said 45mm. Then again it was after I had spent all night drinking and playing kickball....

Anyway part number: 11127593376

It's actually used on a lot of new BMWs.

They look like this:


Again, I HIGHLY recommend them. I'd still be trying to double nut the old style studs on my E36 if I hadn't found these awesome bits of studiness.

Sounds like phenryiv1 has you covered for the E-torx bits, if not it's like $10 for a set at Harbor Freight, the smallest one in that set is the one you need and it worked well enough for me.

[irish44j]

thanks, that's perfect. And I have a set of torx bits (from HF, no less!)

[phenryiv1]

thanks, that's perfect. And I have a set of torx bits (from HF, no less!)

E-torx =/= torx

[irish44j]

some detail work tonight. Made it to fastenal and picked up a few random bolts I needed, since with the A/C delete and bracket gone, I can't use the very long (100+mm) bolts that used to go there, so had to find some shorter ones that fit.

Got the correct (45mm) upper allen bolt for the timing chain guide rail, and got that installed, then it was time to button up the case.



Got it on, got all the bolts on, and then realized I forgot the gasket for the center part (around the thermostat area). So back off....and back on again. One issue I had, with the new profile gasket there, was that the top of the timing case was sitting a mm or two above the top of the head. I couldn't get enough leverage to press it down (also tried some clamps, those didn't work well). Then came upon the trick of putting two large screwdrivers in the cams and using them to lever the case cover downward and level, compressing the profile gasket. Worked like a charm.

Also remembered to put some RTV at the corners of the profile gasket where it's notorious for leaking. We'll see if it works, not holding my breath.



On to finishing with the "mess under the intake." The last part was to either plug (as some do) or connect the outlet on the head to the outlet of the coolant pipe thingy. I went with the latter. Since they're two different diameters (as you can see in the first pic below), I used some thinner hose on one end that fit inside the larger hose for the other. Also kept the larger hose from kinking since it's an odd double-curve.





Finally with that done I was able to clean up the wiring box and put it back on, and get the main harness partly hooked up. Not sure why I'm doing this now, since it's sure to get in the way later, but I was bored so whatever....






starting to look like a real engine now. Well, as real as an M42 is :)

[irish44j]

E-torx =/= torx

yes, I'm aware of that, I just mis-typed.

[325ix]

Maybe I missed it but, why M42 and not something else? Weight balance?

[spoth]

Thanks for the stud ideas. I'm missing two on my eta, so I'll grab some of those e-torx ones.

Also, we're planning on fixing our shock tower correctly. I'll try and grab some photos of the process.

Here's some other photos from this weekend:

[irish44j]

damn Jim, those photos are fantastic. Except I seem to not see the one of us mooning that Subaru, or taking a leak while your co-drivers went by.

[irish44j]

Maybe I missed it but, why M42 and not something else? Weight balance?

Yeah, I wanted to stay with a 4-cyl for weight balance, especially since the rear end on this early 318 is so light. Plus it's nice having room in the engine bay to work, etc. Having driven Stuart's car with the M42, I don't think the 6-cyl cars have much of a power edge for rallycross, since the car is traction-limited in the first place and there's only so much power that can be put to the ground (at least on some surfaces). I think the lower weight in the nose will be more beneficial than more power would be.

And I can't afford an S14.

[irish44j]

And that brings me to a new development....I just picked up another M42, complete with all accessories (including exhaust) today for $300. Well, I didn't actually pick it up yet, but I paid for it. Engine apparently has 120k original miles on it too, which is pretty amazing by itself.

The main reason I got it, in truth, is because it comes with a bunch of stuff that I otherwise would have to get seperately:
- full stock exhaust (which I will modifiy a bit)
- power steering pump/lines (which I don't have)
- some other small bits that I needed
- coolant hoses
- a non-cracked oil pan
- and other things I'm sure I'll pull off of it.

I may not actually keep the engine itself, as Spencer was also looking at getting it. So I might pull what I want off of it, and then sell the longblock and whatever else is left to him (or perhaps swap it to him for one of the corbeaus out of his rallycross car, which I almost bought earlier).

In any case, it will save me countless hours trolling the internet looking for a cheap used exhaust local, and an oil pan, and various other things. And in the end I may make some money off the entire deal, we'll see.....

[spoth]

damn Jim, those photos are fantastic. Except I seem to not see the one of us mooning that Subaru, or taking a leak while your co-drivers went by.

Fair enough. I wasn't sure you'd prefer them available on the wider Internet. It's really funny to see how brown the grass gets over the course of the day. We sure breathe a lot of dust.

[irish44j]

Well, work is on hold for this weekend as the storm of the millenium (aka "oh panic, rainshower Sandy is approaching") approches a direct hit on our area.

My cynicism aside (I've been listenening to the local weather forecasters for years and watching people go into extreme panic over 1" of snow here).....but that aside, took some preparations, considering my house is surrounded by very large trees.

So first spent some time clearing out the other bay of the garage to get another car inside. That gets the 4Runner, Triumph, and WRX under cover.


a tight fit on the WRX with all the other crap in there!


Unfortunately for the e30, since it's worth the least, it gets to ride the storm out outside. NOt that I'm terribly worried about it, but did do a bit of weatherproofing, mostly just to keep the expected 4-8" of rain out of the car. Doesn't matter too much since the whole interior is bedliner'd, but whatever.

Pulled the plugs, used some race magnets to cover the hood vents, and some tyvek tape to seal up the HVAC intake vents (where I get most of my leaks) and the trunk (since that ALWAYS leaks, even with new seals...





so, hopefully all is good....and hopefully all is good for those of you who are also in the storm's path!

[DHGurs]

How did it hold up?

[irish44j]

if you mean to the storm.....excellent. Not a drop of water inside the car or in the trunk....and we got around 6" of rain and 70mph winds going sideways, so that's saying quite a bit.

Helps that earlier this year I replaced and/or repaired all the weatherstripping/door seals (all with used stuff, but it was in better shape than what I had on the car when I got it).

Other than some leaves piled up, it rode out the storm nicely :)

early this morning.....still blowing 60mph or so. Hard to tell in a photo


for context.....these are the trees behind my house. They aren't small


later in the day, once it calmed down. We had no damage, no trees down, hell, hardly any branches down. I'm always happy our house is kind of on a hill (no flooding), but down in a small "valley" area overall with the whole cul-de-sac protected on all sides from wind by woods and other trees, so our trees/houses don't take the brunt of the wind force, usually.



also managed to crack my head open. Nothing to do with the hurricane though.....I was feeding the dog and when I stood up I turned and cracked it on the corner of a cabinet. Very bloody, did not feel nice. Don't think I needed stitches though so just dealt with it. If it scars, it scars, lol...



and the car.....none the worse for wear, except for some leaves piled up around it.

[phenryiv1]

Pics of the head gash or you made it all up...