It's S50 time!

[e30austin]

One radiator, one water pump and three thermostats later, this damn thing is back together. I kept getting the wrong thermostat and never noticed. Got a 75c thermostat and it runs exactly where I want it.

I missed this damn thing.

[e30austin]

See here: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=286561

[mdlimy]

can you elaborate on the overheating issue? under what circumstances?

[e30austin]

Drove it for a few weeks before issues arose. Sure was fun, i really miss driving it right now. Has an overheating issue I can't quite figure out.

Everything is new, so I'm not sure what the deal is. Only thing that isn't new is the water pump and it's been replaced at some point with a metal impeller S52 WP, and it was carefully inspected before reinstalling, so I don't believe it to be the issue...but you never know! Will just replace it, anyway.

Gonna pressure test the cooling system in the next couple days. Might be ripping the head off this in the next week or so, depending on what I find. Oh well, gives me an excuse to swap those valve retainers out, anyway...ha.

[Butler]

So epic!

[318isbmw]

Great looking as always Austin, one of my favorites.

[issabmw]

One of the nicest sedans I've seen in a while...... with an S50. Damn, this is just pure inspiration.

[GreasyE30]

Nice man musta been a nice ride!

[e30austin]

All done. First time I really drove it. I was smiling the whole time :) Spent the afternoon chasing down what I thought was a vacuum leak, just to find out my new MAF I ordered is bad :( Oh well, ripped the stock MAF off the white car and am driving this now.

Also, a short exhaust clip. UUC System U box, OBD2 midsection and Supersprint rep headers.

[GreasyE30]

Daaaaang! That fawking valve cover woulda pushed me too far! Maybe a machine shop could trim a bit? I have no idea how much they charge for this sorta thing, so IDFK just maybe.
Driving open header is pretty awesome, done it in a couple of my cars, the ChevyII being one of them!! Lol my neighbors probably hate my guts but meh...

Have fun on the long drive brotha!

[e30austin]

I honestly have driven this car less than a mile since I finished it. I bought a spare valve cover so I could have one painted and ready to go, but it turns out that the one I bought must have been warped or something, because it's pissing oil from the exhaust side of the gasket. I'm going to redo it tomorrow, hook up the oxygen sensor and bleed the coolant, then, go take it for a nice, long drive and get a video or two. I also have to have the exhaust finished (needs to be rehung,) but it's not that big of a deal.

When I did take it out with open headers down to the parts store, it was so incredibly fucking fast compared to my old, tired M50. It was worth all the money, time and energy :up:

[pacmanE30]

vids!

^this!

[bimmerboy709]

vids!

[DÌEGØ]

congrats man I'm sure that rear end is happier than ever!

[kingston]

Just do it! I put off swapping for a very long time, mainly because I was super unmotivated and always had tons of stuff going on. It wasn't until I finished my white car that I realized how tired my M50 was...so, out it came!

It's in the works, but I'm moving more slowly than I'd like...mostly due to a lack of funds. I had the head worked over at Metric Mechanic, and now the block is apart, getting fresh rings, bearings, bolts, gaskets, etc. I'll have a bonus check in a couple of weeks, and then I can get it knocked out. Happy to hear that the S motor makes a noticeable difference over the M50!