Just another s52 swap

[Thrizzle]

Pretty new to the forums here, only made a few threads so far. Well whats good guys my name is Andrew, and I'm swapping an s52 into my '87 325is. Here it is completely stock a few months ago when I bought it. A pretty decent delphin with no rust.

Got bored quickly of the m20, so decided to swap in an s52. Had to pull out the old motor first. I'll get some pictures of that up later.
Picked up an s52 from out in Sacramento. First thing to do was strip it all down and repaint the block to correct what little rust it had. So off came all the accessories. Then prepped it and and masked off the head and timing cover.

Primed

Painted

Exhaust side, came out a little better.

Some accessories installed on the intake side.

Racelands installed with some new hardware and gaskets.

Yes, I know I over sprayed onto my oil pan, but I dont care because I'll be putting the 525 one on soon, just as soon as I finish cleaning it. Have the s52 oil pan off right now.

Did some maintenance on it:
-valve cover gasket
-spark plugs
-aluminum thermostat housing/new thermostat
-oil filter housing gasket
-rear crank seal
-will put on a new oil pan gasket when I install it along with the e34 pickup

Previous owner had Metric Mechanics do their thing on the 260 that came with the car, so I'm going to use that. Also the clutch was replaced less than 10k miles ago, so I'll use that. And the flywheel had been freshly resurfaced at the same time, so I'll use that also.
I know there's a lot of argument about about whether to keep the s52 obd2 or go obd1 blah blah blah. But I was able to get every obd1 piece for free from a friend, so it will be obd1 swapped.
As of now I'm just waiting on a few parts to get everything rolling. Hoping to have the car running by the end of February.

Thanks for looking!

[usingthejohn]

awesome. keep us updated, i'm looking forward to doing this swap sometime after the summer.

[VinniE30]

Just another s52 swap :yawn:




jk mang nice engine, should be really fun when it's done.

[jaywood]

In for updates! Take lots of pics!

[MR 325]

Nothing wrong with "another S52 swap", they are perfect for these cars. Excellent power, good mileage, and reliable.

Look forward to the progress.

[Pantless Spency]

dang didn't know you were already going s52.
super jelly.
you should help me do the same :D

[Thrizzle]

Always down to help out on some cars.

Here's a few hoopty pictures from when I pulled the engine a few weeks ago. Took me and a friend 6 hours, not too bad for our first engine pull. I'm sure it'll go much faster next time.





Since then I rented a power washer from A1 and went to work on the engine bay. Tore down all the heat shield/sound deadener in the tranny tunnel since it was falling apart. Going to replace it with some stuff I got off amazon. Pulled the brake booster and started to prep it for paint because it was a little rusty. Working on relocating it to the right. Pulled of the MM 260 and am waiting for a few more bits before I bolt it up to the s52.

Engine is for sale by the way, has 189k, but plenty of recent maintenance with paperwork to back it up.

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=229424&highlight=m20+engine

[Thrizzle]

Here are some higher quality pictures of the engine pull. I used the front exhaust manifold and the engine mount arm to secure the chain to the lift. The load leveler actually was pretty useful in its horizontal position across the engine.



Shot of the work area.

Engine pulled.


Some shots of the s52 before paint. You can see it had a little rust.


Checkin out the Zenders.

[Thrizzle]

Not much of an update, but the brake booster had seen better days. So I prepped it and primed it.

And hit it with some black engine enamel.

It's just the stock 325is booster, I will be slotting the holes and relocating it to the right a little.

[2mAn]

Are you planning on getting it ref'd?

[Thrizzle]

What?

[2mAn]

How do you plan to legally drive the car? You might be ok for a year or two, but when it comes time to smog the car are you just hoping to find a dumbass or....?

[Thrizzle]

Ohhh yea, I have a mid section off a 97 M3 that I plan to fabricate. Hopefully that'll do it.

[2mAn]

Umm, you should probably do some more homework. Generally when a motor swap is done, they are looking for all the emissions equipment from the donor car as well. The raceland headers will be a dead giveaway, best bet is to say its an obd1 motor since you're using obd1 parts. its been a few years since i lived in california, but if you try to smog the car without the certification you wont have a street legal car. a little extra work and you will have a CA legal S52 swap which would be worth a LOT more money if you try to sell it, especially in CA. OR just pay someone under the table. your choice.

might want to read this thread and contact the OP http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=126576

[2mAn]

just so you know, im not trying to discourage you, in fact quite the opposite. nothing better than having a swap thats street legal. piece of mind, you know ;)