Panici's '87 325is E30 - Boosted In Bronze

[Panici]

One more weekend of E30 wrenching. Point form again.

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• Wrapped the 2nd exhaust section where it is very close to the floor.
• Wrapped the 3rd exhaust section where it passes under the gas tank (I don't have the heatshield anymore). Hit the back of the muffler with black header paint.
• Installed a two-foot section of tubing as an exhaust tip. Will shorten this after rear valance is installed.
• Made a 1/4" spacer for the trans mount.
• Installed the 14point7 Spartan 3 wideband with LSU ADV sensor. Ran the sensor harness through the shift boot.
• Made some wastegate dump pipes. They are satisfyingly parallel and equal length. Going to run the screamer pipes until I made exhaust version 2 with recirculating gates.

• Found my fuel pressure would not increase over ~20psi regardless of what I did with the E36 3/2 valve FPR.
• Installed an Aeromotive compact FPR (13136) with Aeromotive fuel pressure gauge (15633).
• Still didn't have fuel pressure, found the in-tank pump hose was loose/disconnected. Used a piece of Gates hose for now, would like to get a submersible-rated line in the future.
• Set the new FPR for 50psi. Will be removing one of the fuel pressure gauges now that I know the system is working properly.

• Installed the removable core support.
• Installed a Colourmatched CATUNED Billet Rad Mount (Thanks Delta Park Auto for throwing this one in!)
• Installed the SPAL pusher fan.
• Test fit the massive front mount intercooler, made some mounting brackets.

Test fit the cold-side pipes, immediately decided I didn't like the tarnished aluminum. Wrapped with DEI Reflect-A-Gold. Not sold on the look, I think it draws your eye too much. Will leave them for now, may end up taking the gold off and painting them black.

I also started trimming out the front valance for the intercooler. Went as far as I was comfortable, didn't want to get into any areas that will be visible when the front end is together.
I still need at least another 1/2" to get the fenders to line up properly. Will take another look with fresh eyes.

If I can find a thinner SPAL pusher fan that may help, as right now the back of the intercooler is touching the fan motor.


Only bit of bad news, I gave the car it's first paint scratch when carrying the valance to-and-fro. Caught the mirror with the edge and scratched right through the paint. Wish I had a bigger workspace. The car will be going back to the bodyshop to get the clear runs cut out; They can touch the mirror up at the same time.
























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[Panici]

Didn’t want to notch the battery tray for the downpipe?

Keeping the sensor at-least 1/2 or higher in the exhaust will help keep condensation off and expand longevity too.

Want to keep the body stock wherever possible. Who knows what engine setup I'll have in here 20 years down the road.
Yep I always mount the sensors as close to vertical as possible.

Yeah I think my biggest issue is mostly that my LC-1 powers on with IGN.

That's how I had the LC-2 wired in the E30 originally. Often I'd key on to download to the ECU and the sensor would get to full temperature before I started the car. Seems to have survived the abuse though, and I have been daily driving the miata with it during the summer.

[Northern]

Yeah I think my biggest issue is mostly that my LC-1 powers on with IGN.
Last year for the brief amount I drove the car, I went straight from OFF to START and it seemed to survive. The year before, I would wait a few seconds on ACC/RUN to let the fuel pump prime and it didn't like that.
I bought a cheap programmable 12V timer, but I haven't wired it in yet. It's on the list...

[moatilliatta]

Didn’t want to notch the battery tray for the downpipe?

Keeping the sensor at-least 1/2 or higher in the exhaust will help keep condensation off and expand longevity too.

[Panici]

I like the idea of keeping it out of the engine bay though. Mine is easy to access but looks gross and it might be part of why I'm killing LSU4.2s so often. I really want to transition to one of the Spartan setups as well, even if it's a 4.9. It'll pay for itself within a year lol.

Yeah keeping the sensor cooler will definitely increase it's longevity.
It will also help to delay after engine startup to warm up the sensor. I set up a separate ECU output to trigger the wideband power 30 seconds after startup, to help prevent thermal shock.

I delay the wideband startup in my miata as well, but with a manual toggle switch. Not quite as elegant


I must be doing something right, because that sensor and controller is going on three years and still fine.

[Northern]

Determining the lambda offset should be as easy as sharply stabbing the loud pedal to hit TPS enrichment and looking for the spike between AFR and Load at various RPM, shouldn't really need to mess with columns, but that would make it dead easy.
I'm sort of making it work with the stock ECU with calculated fields in MegalogviewerHD but it's fairly jank since I don't take RPM into the equation and I guess exhaust velocity isn't 100% RPM dependent.

I like the idea of keeping it out of the engine bay though. Mine is easy to access but looks gross and it might be part of why I'm killing LSU4.2s so often. I really want to transition to one of the Spartan setups as well, even if it's a 4.9. It'll pay for itself within a year lol.

[Panici]

with the downpipe wrap going over the O2 bungs, is your WBO2 going in at the bottom of the DP where the cutoff sensor is? I've been wondering since you posted the dp pic on instagram.

You got it. I added a bung downstream on the 2nd section of exhaust after the downpipe. The cutoff sensor was just acting as a heatsink during welding.

Ideally I'd like to have the location half way between the wrapped bungs and the one I added, but it's a tight spot under the battery tray and would make removing the downpipe a pain.


Technically having it that far from the turbo exit may delay readings when there isn't a lot of exhaust flow. Going to see if I can get away with it, as I didn't want the wideband front-and-center right over my battery tray. Hopefully the exhaust wrap will help to keep the exhaust gasses hot and velocity up.

When tuning you can estimate the delay if needed by adding a "wall of fuel" to a column of cells and timing how long it takes from hitting that wall until the wideband reads rich. Obviously this delay will depend on how fast the engine is spinning.

I'm upgrading from the Innovate LC-2 wideband (which I put into my miata) and have a 14point7 Spartan 3 wideband w/LSU ADV sensor ready to go in the E30. It is quite fast, so this will knock some of the cumulative delay out of the system.

[Northern]

with the downpipe wrap going over the O2 bungs, is your WBO2 going in at the bottom of the DP where the cutoff sensor is? I've been wondering since you posted the dp pic on instagram.

[Panici]

Another busy weekend of E30 wrenching! Point form this time for readability.

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• Notched the valve cover slightly for clearance with the 034Motorsport injector adapters.
• Cut the spare plug off the injector wiring rail, since it no longer hides under the fuel rail beauty cover. Plugged the hole the same way as I did with the original O2 sensor harnesses.
• Massaged the downpipe to create clearance for the battery tray.
• Wrapped the downpipe with DEI Titanium Exhaust Heat Wrap.
• Welded up the exhaust (which I'm dubbing version 1) and added an O2 sensor bung. My first time welding SS using stainless steel wire. Didn't have any scrap to practice on. It's not pretty but it's structurally sound.
• Plumbed up the wastegates. Used a 45degree fitting on the turbo to get the vac line at a nice angle.
• Changed the AN fittings on the fuel rail. Reduced the number of fittings and got the fuel lines closer to the intake manifold. Hopefully the oil filter housing should clear now. Also should be able to fit a hose on the valve cover breather.
• Bled the brakes.
• Bled the clutch. Ended up pulling out the slave and "bench bleeding" it to get all the air out.
• Installed the colourmatched blower motor cover with zinc coated hardware. Also added a new OEM seal to the back of the cover.
• Cannibalized my old E30 driveshaft (on which I blew up a u-joint) for it's center support bearing. Added this to the E36 328i driveshaft after struggling for a while and then finally cutting the E36 CSB off. New Giubo installed.
• Installed the driveshaft. Tested all transmission gears for engagement.
• Installed the radiator, first bleed of the coolant system.
• Idled the car up to operating temp while massaging the fuel table and IAC for the bigger injectors.
• Spliced on an E36 reverse light pigtail for the ZF320 reverse light switch.

Getting close to a test drive

[Panici]

Hell yeah man! So stoked for you.

Another big milestone. Looks so close, I bet you can't wait to have it all together haha

I am very excited!
Trying not to make a to-do list yet as it may be demotivating at this point.

I am going to break it up into two parts. First will be getting the car to a minimal "road legal" state and roughing in a tune for the new injectors & low boost.
As soon as they can take it, I'll drop it at the bodyshop to have the paint cut & buffed to remove the clearcoat runs. Going to see if they will also apply PPF to the front end and sides (below the door moldings).

While the car is at the shop I will refinish the 2.79 LSD with the full POR15 treatment as I did previously for my 3.73 LSD.

Part two will be the final assembly.
Will modify the chassis-mount shifter and DSSR to get the level position & throw perfect after I have driven the car a bit.
Then all the bumper surrounds, trim, rear valance, badges, etc goes on.
Will also swap to the quarter hood to show off the engine bay!

Interesting decision of where to put the oil return.

Common spot for the E36 24v guys.
I would like to eventually get a custom oil pan for more ground clearance and oil capacity. I'll likely have a turbo drain bung added to the pan at that time.

[moatilliatta]

Interesting decision of where to put the oil return.

[Northern]

Another big milestone. Looks so close, I bet you can't wait to have it all together haha

[CubbyChowder]

Hell yeah man! So stoked for you.

[Panici]

Engine Test Fire!


Worked hard again this weekend on the car. I estimate 13 hours of solid wrench time over two days.

Made up a -4AN turbo oil feed line using JEGS Pro-Flo 350 Black Nylon Braided Hose. It’s rated for 300F
so I'll be using some heat wrap near the turbo. Wanted a Nylon line as I'm routing it tight to the head
and SS line can rub through adjacent components.
Used a 120deg fitting on the turbo side to route the line a little nicer.

Reused the existing turbo drain from the parts kit but had to cut and refinish the stripped end of the
fitting for the drain-to-timing cover.

Installed a MaximumPSI M50 Boost-proof ICV hose kit with Billet ICV barbed fitting and 3” silicone
elbow. Added two 1/8” NPT nipples to the bottom of the manifold as a vacuum/boost source.
Installed the clutch master to res line.
Installed the M50 intake manifold with new gaskets on the runners and throttle body (with adapter
plate). Happy that my brake booster still clears the intake as I shimmed the passenger side motor mount
up and moved the booster back (since the previous engine install.)

Deleted the intake oil separator. Installed a RallyRoad Billet fuel rail, Injector Dynamics ID1050x
injectors, 034Motorsport injector adapters, JEGS fuel pressure gauge.
The AN barb fittings I bought for the rail are the wrong size (too big). I made it work to test fire but have
ordered a few more (expensive) AN bits to make the setup cleaner.
Wrapped the motor mount and arm in heat wrap, and applied DEI Reflect-A-Gold to the frame rail
where it is very close to the exhaust manifold.
Changed the oil with some fresh Shell Rotella T6 15w40 and MANN filter. Found out my front fuel line is
right over top of the filter housing and in the way of servicing the filter.
Installed the dual TIAL MV-S wastegates with green 4lb springs.

The First Startup:
I pulled the Fuel Pump relay and turned the key intending to prime the engine with oil. Instead of the
engine turning over, I was greeted with a whirring from the starter and nothing else. Sounded like the

bendix was not extending/engaging with the flywheel. This was a little baffling as this is the exact same
starter and flywheel as I previously ran, (and I didn’t even unbolt the flywheel when I changed the clutch
and trans). After a shower and sanity check post on R3V facebook, I went back to my pictures of the
previous engine assembly in 2020 and found the small Blk/Yel starter wire should be on the bottom
terminal, not the top. Thanks to my efforts of optimizing everything under the intake manifold, I was
able to change the wire position on the starter without pulling the intake off again.

After building oil pressure on the starter, I installed the fuel pump relay and the new Aeromotive 340
fuel pump came to life. Cycled the key while watching the fuel pressure gauge, and could hear when
everything was primed and ready to go.

Made a quick adjustment from the previous tune by changing the Req Fuel in the MS3X for the new
1065cc injectors.
Turned the key one final time, and the engine roared to life! Ran it for less than a minute doing a quick
walkaround (as the cooling and power steering systems are both dry).

Needless to say, I was very happy to hear the E30 run after so much time! Last time it spun under it’s
own power was October of 2020.
This was my first foray into engine internals, and it was a relief to see 50lbs of oil pressure and no
strange noises or leaks.

There is still plenty left to do before the car is ready to hit the road, but this is a big motivator to keep
pushing forward.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-o9x1n8zdA

[Panici]

Chassis Harness Thinned. Trunk Reinstalled.


I was playing with the idea of routing the chassis harness through the fender channel, but ultimately decided to hold off for now. It involves cutting every single wire, and extending them as needed. This would be two splices per wire and take quite a bit of time. Can be a future job if i'm so inclined.

I did spend a decent amount of time thinning out the chassis harness. I cut the ABS computer connector off under the dash, and was able to pull some of those wires (that are straight runs without splices) right out through the fusebox. I also deleted the wires for wheel speed sensors, A/C, fog lights, rad temp switch, coolant level, washer fluid level.
In the first picture, the wires on the right hand side were deleted!

Unfortunately without pulling the entire chassis harness, there is not enough slack to get inside the fusebox to remove the rest of the wires. As a stopgap, all of the extra wires were cut near the fusebox, given three coats of liquid electrical tape to seal them off, and then wrapped in 3M Super 33+ electrical tape (as was the rest of the harness).

As the chassis harness is now about half the previous size, I am hoping I can tuck it nicely under the lip during final assembly.
I routed the hood release cable out through the fender, hoping I have enough length here when the core support goes back on.

In other news, I installed the power steering lines, E36 FPR, and VDO oil pressure sender (with different fittings and a much shorter braided line then previously used).

Also put the truck interior back together. Installed brand new Hella license plate lights. Will need to pull the trunk partially apart again to mount the bumper surrounds, but for now it's all in place.