SNAFU; high performance 318is build that lives up to the name, Turbo M42 ➞ Turbo M20

[varg]

Back to that turbo upgrade. That was a real ordeal, it took twice as long as it should have because I had to grind a relief in the valve cover for the turbo to fit, among other things that required trips to the hardware store. It was a really tight fit.








I've been battling clutch issues for the past several months, I was having trouble getting into first gear from a stop, so much that I had to push the transmission into third, then go to first. I replaced everything in the hydraulic system, starting with the clutch line and ending with the master cylinder, no result. Then I drilled a hole in the bottom of the transmission bellhousing and watched the clutch action with the car up on stands. When the clutch pedal was depressed, the clutch disc was staying stuck firmly to the flywheel, and it would jump off when the transmission was put in gear. Here's the view through that hole




I ordered a new throwout bearing after noticing a little strangeness with the existing one while peering through the hole, and sure enough when I took the transmission off to replace the bearing, it was broken in half. I replaced it, figuring this was for sure the issue, causing uneven disengagement of the clutch and making it get stuck on the input shaft or something.






So after that I took a test drive, and noticed no issues. A couple days later on trip across the state for a vacation The problems came back. Along the way I noticed no issues, but after arriving at the hotel and driving out to get dinner, I couldn't get the transmission into any forward gear without lots of struggle. It was pretty much fine when the clutch was cool, but after driving around town using it, the clutch would get hot and stick as badly as ever. This was unneeded stress during my vacation but I managed, just driving like the clutch was on/off to reduce heating and making going into third before first a habit. I was more mad at the wasted transmission removal job, which is a real pain. After the trip I just continued to drive the car around the clutch issue and eventually ordered a UUC 9 puck clutch. A couple of months after the throwout bearing job, the transmission was off again, and I found a cooked clutch. Now I didn't know this at the time, but apparently Kevlar clutches cook very easily, and even though I hadn't done anything I though to be particularly abusive to this clutch, the drag racing launches were enough to cook it up and make it stick to the flywheel. This time, there won't be any issues. The UUC 9 puck clutch I ordered is good for 500hp (which will come in handy when I eventually get an M20 for this car) and being a ceramic/metallic clutch it won't cook. The transmission input shaft seal also failed some time in the couple of months between the throwout bearing job and the clutch job, so I swapped it out for a transmission from a buddy's parts car.








Since then I've had another exhaust leak, which turned out to be a crack in the header. I've also taken my front suspension apart to install some dust covers to protect my shocks and replaced the front brake discs and pads.

[varg]

My car has been running and driving great, I'm very happy with it. I tracked down a couple of boost leaks, one of them is my blowoff valve so I'll need to find a new one of higher quality than the ebay crap I've been using, but still cheap enough that I can afford it, preferably one with a 2 bolt flange. Any suggestions would be appreciated.





And here are some photos from a recent meet with my local E30 group.







The white car in this photo is beautifully clean S50 swapped car owned by George from the palm beach county E30 group, I don't know if he's on r3v. A real beauty and the beast view. We haven't raced yet but his car dynoed at around 250whp and has a weight disadvantage so I think the result is predictable :devil:

This view really shows how low his car is, mine is at about stock height right now, just how I like it, my big 3" exhaust doesn't scrape on any speed bumps and I still get all of the sharp handling of stiff coilovers. Next handling mod will be a better steering rack, I'm getting kind of tired of the stock rack, it doesn't fit the other driving characteristics of my car at all.

[efficient]

Car looks great.

[Reub_e30]

I'm still deciding if I should boost my 200k m42 or if I should get my hands on a m20

[george graves]

What wheels are those on the red e30?

[varg]

Car looks great.

Thanks!

I'm still deciding if I should boost my 200k m42 or if I should get my hands on a m20

Well, on one hand I want to encourage you to do it because my M42 has around 200k on it so I've proven it can take the abuse, on the other hand, if you have the means to do an M20 instead; do it. The M20 is stronger, smoother and is less troublesome. I am planning on an M20 swap myself.

What wheels are those on the red e30?

fifteen52 Formula TR. They're a nice departure from weaves, imo.

[varg]

Quick update. With how hot and sunny it has been over the last month, my cooling system has been struggling to keep up when I'm in traffic with the AC on, no overheating, but CLT can get high enough that it makes me uncomfortable, I don't like seeing anything higher than 200°f in normal commuting and it was going over that regularly. Pending relocation of the intercooler from in front of the radiator to behind the valance, I'm driving hoodless to keep the temps down. It's working!

[Dj Buttchug]

I have issues with heat as well. Normally I see temps above 200. Nothing over 212 but its hot in socal 100+ where Im at. The hood directly above the turbo is so hot I can't even touch it after a normal commute. I bought a laser thermometer and I gather readings around my engine bay regularly.

I can't drive without a hood in CA mainly because it will attract way to much attention to my car. It also might be illegal but not sure about that.

I removed my engine bay fire wall gasket that goes around the perimeter of the bay. This helps air flow out of the engine bay and over the windshield while driving. I was thinking about installing some ducting that runs from the valence up under the turbo manifold. It could help.

[efficient]

Your car looks great. I don't know how you boosted your car and it's your daily. I don't think I could ever boost my car and daily it while I'm in the process of boosting it. Keep up the updates, I always like to see this car chugging along

[Schnitzer318is]

With the factory M42 fan shroud and an old Volvo wagon efan I pulled from PnP... I never see temps above 185ish on my MS. That's on 100+ days in traffic. I forget the temp of my thermostat though...

[varg]

I have issues with heat as well. Normally I see temps above 200. Nothing over 212 but its hot in socal 100+ where Im at. The hood directly above the turbo is so hot I can't even touch it after a normal commute. I bought a laser thermometer and I gather readings around my engine bay regularly.

I can't drive without a hood in CA mainly because it will attract way to much attention to my car. It also might be illegal but not sure about that.

I removed my engine bay fire wall gasket that goes around the perimeter of the bay. This helps air flow out of the engine bay and over the windshield while driving. I was thinking about installing some ducting that runs from the valence up under the turbo manifold. It could help.

I removed the hood gasket a few weeks ago, it didn't make much of a difference. The flow path (condenser->IC->radiator) is the problem in my case. It's not a sealed, ducted path so the radiator fan is pulling preheated air from the condenser and hot air from the engine bay through the radiator. As far as the practicality of driving with no hood, I'm only concerned that someone will mess with my car while it's parked somewhere. It gets lots of looks.

Your car looks great. I don't know how you boosted your car and it's your daily. I don't think I could ever boost my car and daily it while I'm in the process of boosting it. Keep up the updates, I always like to see this car chugging along

Thanks, it's not the first time I've done this either. DD project cars are just my thing I guess.

With the factory M42 fan shroud and an old Volvo wagon efan I pulled from PnP... I never see temps above 185ish on my MS. That's on 100+ days in traffic. I forget the temp of my thermostat though...

The intercooler placement limits my options as far as fans and shrouds go because it pushes the radiator back and there is very little space. Once I get the intercooler mounted behind the valance I have my favorite e-fan, one from a Volvo 940, ready to go in. They're great, they move a ton of air. There's also the option of stock E36 M42 electric fan and shroud, but the shroud would probably interfere with my intercooler piping on the passenger's side, since it's going to have to run down in front of the AC compressor. I did it the hard way, kept the AC, and I have to work around the AC system. Because of the condenser I can't mount the IC so that the piping goes under the headlights, because of the drier I can't run the hot side IC piping down through the hole you used, it just makes the relocation a pain.

[Schnitzer318is]

The intercooler placement limits my options as far as fans and shrouds go because it pushes the radiator back and there is very little space. Once I get the intercooler mounted behind the valance I have my favorite e-fan, one from a Volvo 940, ready to go in. They're great, they move a ton of air. There's also the option of stock E36 M42 electric fan and shroud, but the shroud would probably interfere with my intercooler piping on the passenger's side, since it's going to have to run down in front of the AC compressor. I did it the hard way, kept the AC, and I have to work around the AC system. Because of the condenser I can't mount the IC so that the piping goes under the headlights, because of the drier I can't run the hot side IC piping down through the hole you used, it just makes the relocation a pain.

It's hard to see in my pictures, but I kept the dryer and the entire AC system in the stock locations. Summer heat in south Texas is the real deal. I went around all the AC stuff with my piping. Only custom thing done was a flexible low pressure line from the fender connection to the compressor so that I could route it around the oil drain and turbo housing. I need to have it remade though as it's leaking refrigerant badly now.

I was thinking about it, I also have an electric fan in front of the condenser on front of the car so perhaps that helps with cooling a bit when the AC is on. And I think my Volvo fan is indeed off a 940 now that you mention it.

[ccsdo5]

I like the no hood look, you could always look for a cheap hood and put some vents in it. I have been toying with that idea, but my car is currently waiting for me to do stuff to it so it can drive again....

Also why not buy a mishitmoto low temp thermostat like the one I currently have. I think it was like $50 and I haven't seen temps above like 185 even when it was 94 degrees here in NY. I'm also running my intercooler in front, behind my valance and have both the original clutch fan with shroud and an electrical puller fan. So I do have a lot of cooling happening on my car.

Thanks, it's not the first time I've done this either. DD project cars are just my thing I guess.

wait what other cars have you had that were DD projects? I'm curious now.

[varg]

It's hard to see in my pictures, but I kept the dryer and the entire AC system in the stock locations. Summer heat in south Texas is the real deal. I went around all the AC stuff with my piping. Only custom thing done was a flexible low pressure line from the fender connection to the compressor so that I could route it around the oil drain and turbo housing. I need to have it remade though as it's leaking refrigerant badly now.

I was thinking about it, I also have an electric fan in front of the condenser on front of the car so perhaps that helps with cooling a bit when the AC is on. And I think my Volvo fan is indeed off a 940 now that you mention it.

Yeah I have condenser fan too, it's just not enough, and unfortunately it will probably have to go when the IC is relocated. I don't think a high dollar spal fan is any thinner than mine either by my measurements, it's just that the IC core is 24x12x3". I must have meant to direct the comment about not being able to route my AC piping through the drier hole at someone else, though I didn't see where you routed yours in previous browsing of your thread. You certainly don't see many people with turbocharged E30s that retain the AC system. To me AC is mandatory, if I'm not on my motorcycle I'll be damned if I'm going to put up with the heat and humidity.

I like the no hood look, you could always look for a cheap hood and put some vents in it. I have been toying with that idea, but my car is currently waiting for me to do stuff to it so it can drive again....

Also why not buy a mishitmoto low temp thermostat like the one I currently have. I think it was like $50 and I haven't seen temps above like 185 even when it was 94 degrees here in NY. I'm also running my intercooler in front, behind my valance and have both the original clutch fan with shroud and an electrical puller fan. So I do have a lot of cooling happening on my car.

wait what other cars have you had that were DD projects? I'm curious now.

Yeah it looks kind of neat, lots of staring going on though and I'm not sure how I feel about that. Plus, I've lost all sleeper cred when I drive around with the hood off, the big turbo sticking out makes my car look faster than it is, not slower than it is, like I prefer. I've an 80° thermostat, I don't see a colder one helping with heat soak, the AC condenser heats the air pretty well when the AC is struggling to keep up with the summer heat in a mostly flat black car. My previous DD projects were a really rusty '81 D150 pickup and a rusty Volvo 240 that I turbocharged then ditched after a few years because the chassis was bent and the rust was terminal. I can't afford it right now but I'll probably put a Mishimoto 325 radiator in this car eventually, the plan is to do an M20 swap in the future anyway.

[econti]

Turbo blankets etc? Wrapped downpipe? Maybe ceramic coated housings