Aussie 318is - now S54B32 swap

[DER E30]

This one bolt was sooo tough to get. Started by soaking it in WD40 for an hour, then gave it a few wacks with a hammer before having another go with the spanner (with mallet attached). Turns out they were covered in thread locker:

I was just here! I wasted an extra hour at least on those stupid bolts!

[AusScare]

RHDJapan.com were having a big sale on clutches, so I picked an OS Giken STR2CD twin plate clutch kit for about the same as price as the locally made alternatives.

This is rated at 600hp, and claims to be close to stock feel (which I doubt but happy to be proven wrong!!).

Took two days to get here from Japan:

[AusScare]

What wreckers did you get the lsd from?

Also, send me a PM once the m42 is out, been looking for an upgrade to the m40 and I'm also in Brisbane

BMWreckers at Acacia Ridge, not the cheapest, but was exactly what I needed and had a 3 month warranty..

[J3M93]

What wreckers did you get the lsd from?

Also, send me a PM once the m42 is out, been looking for an upgrade to the m40 and I'm also in Brisbane

[AusScare]

Find out what? Essentially, the diff speed sensor reads the rear wheels' combined rotational speed. Only way that the speedo could go off is to change the rear tyres' outer diameter.

Sorry I was confused by your previous post, I know the diff ratio and diff sensor set the speedo. Your mention of final drive put me off....

[petrolhead]

Good point, I guess I'll grab out the speedo app when its all together and find out!

Find out what? Essentially, the diff speed sensor reads the rear wheels' combined rotational speed. Only way that the speedo could go off is to change the rear tyres' outer diameter.

[AusScare]

Good point, I guess I'll grab out the speedo app when its all together and find out!

[petrolhead]

Had a bit of a read and decided the 4.1 ratio was good to stick to - meant not having to mess with the speedo, and it would suit the sr swap.

Changing final drive ratio doesn't affect what the speedometer shows on an E30.
What gear box are you going to use, what kind of ratios does it have? What's the redline on that Nissan engine? Those things pretty much decide what final ratio one needs.

-Jarno

[AusScare]

I had some time tonight so decided to try and work out why the dash lights would only work intermittently. Often it would be after I had been playing with the fuses, then moving stuff around the ecu, so thought some sort of connection was loose, but couldn't see which.

I pulled the lower cover off, and followed a quick guide to remove the headlight switch and panel. I found that the big connector plug was barely plugged into the headlight switch!!!

While I was messing with the car I thought I would take a look underneath and see if anything looked dodgy. On the passenger side sway bar I noticed some fresh rubbing marks, and the drop link bushing looked to be on a wack angle - thinking it might need an alignment of sorts? Hopefully that will sort the rubbing (on full look I can hear it when parking at home):



And now I can see why the PO had cleaned the gearbox before I inspected it, looks to be leaking slightly, but not enough to drip onto the ground where I park the car. Good thing I won't be using the gearbox anyway after swapping motors:



Next on the list is to fit the rear brake rotors I have sitting here.

[AusScare]

Today the old diff was pulled out and wrapped up. I'll spend some time cleaning it before selling it. The new diff went in, minor issue with the speed sensor plugs not matching, but ended up using the old sensor, which is working great.

New diff installed:

[AusScare]

A few more bits and pieces came in the mail. First is a Nismo trans mount for the sr gearbox.

Also a Walbro in-tank GSS340 fuel pump and fitting kit for a '97 Mustang (found a how-to using this kit - almost direct swap just with a bit of soldering). This pump is rated at 500hp - hoping it works ok!

The new diff is going in Wednesday, then I'll have a go at the fuel pump when the fuel level is low. Pretty keen to get as much done and still drive the car before I pull it off the road and take it apart!

Nismo trans mount:



Walbro fuel pump:

[DER E30]

Nice! Will watch the progress!

[AusScare]

So I bought the e30 with a leaking 168mm 4.1 small case open diff.

Had a bit of a read and decided the 4.1 ratio was good to stick to - meant not having to mess with the speedo, and it would suit the sr swap.

Bought a 188mm 4.1 medium case LSD today from the wreckers, was delivered to my house by the time I got home from work.

Should be able to handle everything I throw at it:

[AusScare]

What better way to spend a Sunday than cleaning up 24 years of grime (hardly). The paint was already in pretty good condition, but I still took the time to prep the paint, then give it a polish and wax, as well as raid the cupboard for headlight restorer and bumper black stuff.

It took at least 2.5 hours to clean up the paint with the clay bar, there was so much tar all over the lower half of the car, and a weird yellow something as well on half the panels. Then I just followed that up with a hand polish and wax.

Took a few different grades of sand paper to the exhaust, as well as metal polish, but it's still looking pretty average, so will have to go over it again. The sunroof seal was covered in mould which is weird, so I scraped as much of that off as possible.

Started just over 1pm and was driving home around 6pm lol (gf wasn't happy - giving me the silent treatment) but it's looking good.

[AusScare]

Spent the day troubleshooting a few things on the e30 today.

Managed to get the interior lights flicking on with the opening of a door, and tightened up the handbrake so that it didn't click on while driving!

I pulled the ECU cover down to see if there was anything obvious that might be loose and causing the instrument cluster lights to not fire, but the mass bundle of wires was a bit much :/

Pulled the rear wheels off to change the brake rotors, but turns out I need a 7mm Allen key and I had everything but that.