Emma Watson and 2 E34's (Low Mount Turbo M50 Project)

[Panici]

I knew right away we were going to need more air. I mentioned that to the shop owner. I'm lucky the car did not catch fire. Not only was the insulation melted but I also found several vacuum hoses torched.

During the session I started to notice a small change in the exhaust tone as well. Sure enough exhaust leaks started popping up. After a smoke test both V bands are leaking as well as the turbo manifold. Leaks were found in multiple areas but mostly where the cast manifold bolts to the cylinder head exhaust ports. We will attempt to plane the manifold and save it. Not sure how that will work out.

Sounds like the exhaust got red hot if it warped.

Could have definitely been worse though, thankfully no fire!

[Dj Buttchug]

Sounds like the exhaust got red hot if it warped.

Could have definitely been worse though, thankfully no fire!

Definitely. Itll be better on the second go round now that we know what to expect. Probably not a bad investment to beef up the cooling system anyways since its hot as shit here in the summer. Better to be overkill than under built.

[zwill23]

The amount of heat you experienced on the dyno does not sound normal to me... granted I'm only about 300whp, but my car was tuned when ambient temps were 100deg outside and nothing ever got close to red hot and melt / burn components. Makes me feel like the timing was way too advanced or something. If your downpipe isn't wrapped / ceramic coated I highly recommend adding that to your list of coolings changes.

[Northern]

Yeah I wasn't going to say shit, but I was also thinking it was weird to get that hot. I went the other way and was thinking too little timing, but I also have no idea how long they were on the dyno.

If it's not timing, I'd look at your target AFR and consider running a little fatter as part of your cooling strategy with the cooling system upgrade.
EGT sensor is more work, but if EGTs are hot enough to melt/warp things, then it's probably worth implementing.

[Dj Buttchug]

Manifold is straightened. Added some relief cuts. Working on mocking up turbo oil pressure regulator. Random pics of process. Overall level of difficulty to turbocharge an E34 correctly 12/10. Would not recommend.








The heat issue has me a bit puzzled as well. Airflow is big deal but the ambient temp in the shop was probably 70 ish degrees during the session. Posted below is the timing table I had constructed on my own based off zero actual tune data... Take a look and hit me with some input. It should be noted that while the car was on the dyno we changed the whole table to 15 degrees and started from scratch so this table below was not the one used during tuning.

[Dj Buttchug]

Fuel Table (very rough and no where near finished) This is what we ended up with starting fresh. Master fuel is set at 8MS. Injectors used are Bosch Green Giants 450cc. The above timing table I drafted and used driving the car around town testing. It seemed to work well for the conditions I was driving under and it mirrors alot of timing tables I have looked at from other FI builds with similar specs to mine... Figured it was conservative enough to use with no signs or sounds of detonation.

[varg]

I'm not sure how much boost you were running during that dyno session or what your compression ratio is but comparing your ignition table to mine, which is a lightly tweaked version of my base table, you have less advance and also pulling timing earlier for IAT and ECT. If you were locked in at 15° and seeing up to 230° ECT you're pulling 3°, and I don't know what your IAT was but it would retard the timing further. Retarded ignition timing will increase EGT, <12° of advance is pretty drastic at low boost, I'm not seeing that until around 18psi on my table. I have had serious under hood temperature issues with my turbo E34 but my downpipe is only mildly discolored. No dyno sessions though, the most sustained load my car has seen is in my 60-130 runs.

[Dj Buttchug]

I didnt go over 7-9 psi on the dyno run. IAT correction wasnt pulling much time because intake air was cooler, most likely due to the fans we had blowing right near it.

Lets start over now.

Cut out the first set of radiator mounts.

Shave the water pump snout another 1/2 inch.

Mock up, refit new mounts upper and lower.

Create several new custom coolant lines.

Completely re route oil return from pump to vanos plug at front timing case to oil drain bung I welded into the oil pan.

Install Zions Autosport radiator (which isnt all that bigger than stock)

FML

[Dj Buttchug]

3 hours per side to build new mounts and fit them to the chassis. Very time consuming, measuring distances, using levels, test fitting 3-4 times before tacking mounts to chassis rails.

[Dj Buttchug]

Ran out of metal for top mounts. Will likely do those this week.

[Dj Buttchug]

Two coolant Radiators now, sort of. Because why not. Better than rubber hose I suppose.

[Dj Buttchug]

View from the top. 1st part of the mounting is done. Next is to build the feed hoses from the expansion tank to the spider hose under the intake.

[Dj Buttchug]

Few more pics of the new cooling system finishing up. Mounts, hoses ect. Nothing exciting really.

[Dj Buttchug]

Air cooling pipe for alternator.


Leak checked radiator last night. Road testing this weekend.

[Dj Buttchug]

Now working on controlling more of the radiant heat in the engine bay. Made a rough and dirty heat shield over the downpipe to give the transmission bell housing a break from the heat. Shielding also will help with heat moving up the fire wall. Adding Thermo cool lace wrap over the charge air pipes. 25% finished with the hot side pre intercooler. Post cooler is done. We will see if this product works.