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

[econti]

Keen to see what the actual issue is with the old engine

[cleanasse30]

Nice progress! Do you plan to stick with the 50 trim long term once the m20 is in?

[varg]

Gross. Can that be flushed out of the rest of the engine? I can imagine if that is blocked, so is a lot of other stuff.

I inspected the inside of the head and block as well as I could without removing the head, it all looked clean. The water pump and some of the hoses were new, the fitting pictured was corroded. I flushed the block out and not much crud came out with the water. The engine seems to be as described.

Dang talk about clogged artery. I'm going to be jealous if you turbo the m20 right away. My turbo setup has been sitting for a few years now

There's no way I'd go from 18psi of boost to NA M20. It's going in with the 50 trim T3T4 I've been using on the M42 already attached, just with a .63AR turbine housing instead of the .48AR one.

[efficient]

Dang talk about clogged artery. I'm going to be jealous if you turbo the m20 right away. My turbo setup has been sitting for a few years now

[Northern]

<stopleak pic>

Gross. Can that be flushed out of the rest of the engine? I can imagine if that is blocked, so is a lot of other stuff.

[varg]

I pulled the M42 tonight.




I also did some prep work on the M20; rear main seal, oil pan gasket, valve cover gasket, fuel injectors, rocker shaft seals, hoses, misc gaskets. It's pretty much ready to go in now. I also found this. Someone used stop leak. I hate stop leak.

[varg]

The M20 is out and waiting to be cleaned up, re-sealed and put in its new home.





I'm trying to document this a little better than I have the rest of my project. Too many crappy phone pics, I just don't usually have a real camera out when I'm working on the car.

[ccsdo5]

Seems weird for the head to warp, at least to me. I've Gotten my engine pretty hot as well coming off a couple hot laps over the summer. My gauge was reading about 245*f but I have a cheap ebay one that seems to read about 20-30*f hotter than my laptop so I think it was only at like 210 MAYBE 220 tops. Mine is still fine thankfully, but you are making 10psi more boost than I am so I'm sure all the extra stress on the engine isn't helping.

I personally wouldn't re use a MLS head gasket, but they do make good garage ornaments. I hung mine in my shed when I took my M42 apart. Sucks you're loosing water though, it is probably just leaking enough water to evaporate it in the combustion chamber and not make a milkshake. HURRY UP AND GET THAT M20 IN THE CAR!

[varg]

It was one of my first concerns, but I've discussed it with a couple of people who are knowledgeable about these things and none of us think it's likely that it's the issue since it leaks on all cylinders and didn't do it from day one of running big boost. I think the head is warped or cracked, I never overheated it but it did get too hot for my comfort a couple of times when I had my previous E-fan and intercooler setup. It may be possible that one of those few peaks of 220°f warped it, though I've never heard of such a thing, that's not even close to hot enough to boil with a 140kpa cap, that's 35psia and water doesn't boil until over 250°f at that pressure! The only time it ever boiled over and puked before I started having this problem was when I had a failed cap, and then it was puking at just over 215°f.

Yeah, people reuse MLS head gaskets all of the time but I don't think mine will be worth reusing. I'll probably just clean it and hang it on the wall.

I am beginning to lose water at an increasing rate with this bleeder setup. Not sure if it's evaporation, I don't have any oil cap or dipstick milk but I am seeing faint clouds of blowby out of my side-discharge crankcase vent hose, some of that is steam.

[ccsdo5]

Wait do people really reuse MLS head gaskets?!?! Also I'm willing to be your head isn't cracked, or warped. I would probably say it is that MLS HG you have not sealing right anymore. When I was building my m42 the old timer at the machine shop resurfaced my block to get it really smooth since these head gaskets require a really smooth surface finish to seal correctly. IIRC you had your head machined and made all nice nice but left the bottom end alone?

I don't know everyone seems to have different opinions about MLS head gaskets. It seems strange that it would start to fail after over a year. But I mean you have been cramming 18 psi down that engine basically everyday. So safe to say that engine served you well. But that little coolant bleeder thing is a pretty good idea, way to macgyver along!

[varg]

Sorry about that! Car was loaded on the trailer after the 14hr race and never touched before the event, and the reason I didn't enter the races. Knowing the car was still beat up, didn't want to be causing yellow flags for breakage (plus all my Toyo RR's are toast :/). Come out for the Homstead event in January! I took another spctator for a ride after we fixed the fuel pump, and the exhaust hangers broke, so he only got a couple hot laps too...

I really enjoyed the ride while it lasted and wondered why your car disappeared from the track when I was out taking pics.

RIP :'( The m42 is such a rad little engine. What are you doing with the m42 setup? ( exhaust manifold, downpipe, etc)

Most of it, MS, intercooler piping, downpipe, etc will be modified as necessary and reused for my M20 swap. I'll be reusing the turbo too, only with a .63a/r turbine housing instead of the .48a/r I'm using, since the compressor and turbine combo are good for a reasonable amount of power. I also have a larger turbo sitting around. Only the exhaust manifold will remain as is and it's nothing great.

Interested in the turbo kit!!! I can take it off your hands when ever u are ready. I wanna blow my 200k m42. I could drive down to pick it up. Shoot me a pm

Won't be much left aside from the injectors and the manifold, and the MLS head gasket if it's not damaged. I have a couple of other people who have expressed interest in the parts previously. Not sure what will happen with it.

[Reub_e30]

Interested in the turbo kit!!! I can take it off your hands when ever u are ready. I wanna blow my 200k m42. I could drive down to pick it up. Shoot me a pm

[MR E30 325is]

Just read through your adventure.

Very very cool stuff. Your car is making me itch for a sleeper E30 myself. Just something about it that seems fun.

[ak-]

Good bye Emma Fortitoo.

[2mAn]

just went through the whole thread. Im very excited for this next M20 phase