Aussie 318is - now S54B32 swap

[AusScare]

So I haven't been super pleased with the Racing Diffs (RacingDiffs) billet e30 medium case diff cover. Granted this was their first batch of the product, they did advertise that they had done thorough R&D and testing on it.

Fill plug doesn't go in all the way as the hole hasn't been correctly threaded:



Poly bushing hitting the cover:



Brackets to connect to the body were too short. This meant the car wasted time at my mechanic's shop while waiting for Racing Diffs to send out some spacers (not the correct sized bracket):





And finally after it had been installed and given a run, on highway speeds it's pushing a lot of diff fluid out of the breather. After I took this photo my mechanic added a coiled extension to the breather port which has fixed 80% of it, but it's still leaking, so it's back to the shop for more solution finding:

[AusScare]

While going back and forth to the shop with these diff issues, I got the guys to make some upgrades to the suspension, in the form of:

- KW V3 coilovers
- SuperPro offset control arm bushings
- Febi control arms
- Reinforced front subframe
- Reinforced rear subframe
- Reinforced rear trailing arms

Pretty happy with the height it's at currently - any lower and the oil pan is going to be a concern. Apparently with the SR20 in place, the oil pan will sit above the subframe, so that's a win.

Handling wise, I've only driven it twice on the street since the KW's went in, but I can say that they are much more comfortable at low and high speeds compared to the Bilstein B8 shocks and H&R Sport springs that I had in previously. I wasn't expecting that and am super impressed. Going to get some camber plates put in the front, then will take it on some better roads when the alignment is sorted.

[e30m3s54turbo]

Great project.
I like the dual diff mount. I made my custom one for my e30 over year ago. Then I seen the one you placed on your e30. I saw it on line. Maybe next time on my other project.
I was going to purchase KW V3 coil over for my e30 build. I was going back and forth on KW V3 and Ground Control. I called up Vac MotorSport to ask their opinion on both. They help me decide to purchase GC.
Let us know your experience on the KW V3 feed back.

[AusScare]

Great project.
I like the dual diff mount. I made my custom one for my e30 over year ago. Then I seen the one you placed on your e30. I saw it on line. Maybe next time on my other project.

I would wait for more user reviews to come out, because I wouldn't recommend anyone buying one based on my experience. They have already changed the design after only a few weeks on the market and it now includes a built in rubber gasket, so they're obviously still working out the design.

If anyone else on R3V has one, please let me know if you have had the same problems I have had!

I was going to purchase KW V3 coil over for my e30 build. I was going back and forth on KW V3 and Ground Control. I called up Vac MotorSport to ask their opinion on both. They help me decide to purchase GC.
Let us know your experience on the KW V3 feed back.

Yep will do. KW have a good reputation and I'm very happy with their street comfort, which is what the car will see 95% of the time, so as long as they're half decent on windy roads then I'll be happy.

[NORBY]

I was looking at the racing diffs cover as an alternative to buying a rear cover and secondary mount separately but I couldn't find much and as a fellow Aussie, return shipping is a nightmare.

The car looks super tidy, great work!

[econti]

To do a dual mount I wouldn't bother with that, just an OEM E36 cover and the bracket from Fast Farm. Welds onto the floor very easily

[AusScare]

BBS RS 071 wheels are back from being rebuilt. These are 15x8 +18 and 15x8.5 +12

Summary of the work done:

• Barrels painted black
• Centres painted nogaro silver
• Waffle plate painted nogaro silver
• Polish hex caps
• New titanium bolts
• New polished valve stems
• Reassemble

I also picked up some cheap 'BBS' emblems and valve caps, but I'll need to get some genuine BBS emblems as these don't fill the space correctly.

A reminder of the before:



Now:





Test fit:



Clearance is super tight to the KW V3 coiler strut. I might have to run a 3mm spacer - I've had to run this with the TRM C1's and 225/45r15 tyres, as they seem to rub slightly compared to the stock spindle/strut assembly.



Clearance too tight or will it be ok with a 205/50r15 tyre?

[AusScare]

Tyres fitted today. Went with Nankang CR-S in 205/50R15 front and 225/45R15 rear. The current tyres are Hankook RS-4 in 225/45R15 all around.

These Nankangs are HUGE in comparison.

Front 205/50:



Rear 225/45:



Fronts are fitting fine (ride is high to save my oil pan for now), but while the rears do roll like this, they will hit the guard on bumps, so I've taken them off for now and will raise the rear and add more negative camber.

Looking forward to getting the fitment sorted so that I can take it for a proper drive.

[Northern]

haha I paired some 15x8 ET25 Konig Dekagrams with 245/40R15 Nankang CR-1 (Same as the CR-S)
I haven't tried to install them yet but your pictures of the 205 and 225 are causing some stress lol

[AusScare]

haha I paired some 15x8 ET25 Konig Dekagrams with 245/40R15 Nankang CR-1 (Same as the CR-S)
I haven't tried to install them yet but your pictures of the 205 and 225 are causing some stress lol

Edit: Ok the 225 is not as big as I thought. It's the 8.5" wheel with +12 offset that was making it look so aggressive. With a bit of height and camber it should be ok.

To run a 245 it would need to be on maybe a 15x9 +20 - Protract wheels make this and have pictured a red e30 with this setup, however when I messaged them they said it needed 'massaging' of the wheel well on the inside, as well as a lot of work on the guard.

Safe to run a 225 unless you're running BIG power I think. I would only go a 245 if I cut/pulled the guards right out and had them repainted.

Wouldn't bother trying on the front unless it's a 15x8 +10 or something - the sidewall bulge will touch the strut for sure.

[AusScare]

Got the height sorted and an alignment at the same time. I'm happy with it, as it's not super low. If I ever get the car painted, I'll get them to clearance the guards to allow for a more aggressive height in the rear.

This wheel/tyre combo would actually be better if the BBS was its original 15x8 +18 in the rear, as it would have the guard clearance on the outside. So another option if I want to go lower is to have the rear wheels returned to their original spec with a half inch smaller lip.

In saying that, the roads are always going to be the weak link - you never want to be so low that you can't drive the bloody car, or get it in/out of driveways and over speed bumps!

[jsta1109]

I've got similarly sized BBS RS (15x7.5 +6 front and 15x8.5 +18 rear) and those CRS look great, I dare say I'd have a better time squeezing the 225/45 in the rear.

I've had a square 205/50 Yokohama AD08 on for close to 5 years now and they have fallen off quite considerably with age and it always bugged me having a slight stretch in the rear.

[AusScare]

I've got similarly sized BBS RS (15x7.5 +6 front and 15x8.5 +18 rear) and those CRS look great, I dare say I'd have a better time squeezing the 225/45 in the rear.

I've had a square 205/50 Yokohama AD08 on for close to 5 years now and they have fallen off quite considerably with age and it always bugged me having a slight stretch in the rear.

Agree that wheel spec is perfect for 205/50 front and 225/45 rear.

Went to the local cars and coffee on the weekend, car drove great and it looks like my diff is no longer leaking... not sure how, maybe the fluid level has dropped a bit where it's no longer an issue. I'll listen out for a badly worn LSD now :')

[AusScare]

It's been a few months since the last update. Most of that time was spent enjoying the car and driving it most weekends.

In February I randomly came across a twin of my car, so had to stop for some photos. Friendly owner and his dad came out for a chat.





A few months later at the start of April, I was driving home from cars and coffee and the car started making pretty bad noises - a loud knock when revving and the idle was bad, seemed like a misfire. Diagnosed as no compression in 2 cylinders and a bottom end knock. The motor was dead!



So out it came, and I had some other work done at the same time:

- Brake booster/mc replaced with a Bosch iBooster from a Tesla Model S (rhd)
- Aircon related items removed
- Diff breather adapted to a larger line (still cautious of this leaking)
- Steering linkage replaced with an LPSR linkage as the Astra/Vectra linkage I had was dead
- Excess brackets removed and primed

Thanks to GreshM Performance for their work on the car.





Plenty of room for the SR20 exhaust manifold now hopefully.

I also picked up a few other parts for the new motor:

- Haltech R3 ecu and loom
- Koyo SR20 S14 radiator
- Maradyne 12" 1565cfm fans
- Nissan R35 coilpack conversion kit for SR20 P11 head
- Turbosmart 45mm wastegate (I'm going to sell the EX50 that I had as it's too big)

The SR20 should be done in the next few weeks, and the car is going to the fabricator in 3 days, with work starting mid/late June. No idea how long this will take, maybe 2-3 months? Let's see!

I also bought a 15 ft roll of M Hurricane fabric from ASC Fabrics - interior will be done once the motor is sorted.

[AusScare]

Ok so bit of a change in the project direction.

I picked up the SR20 that was being built and took it to another shop for a second opinion and for them to finish it off. They inspected and measured everything and came back with some pretty bad news. The work that had been done was pretty average to say the least. Bores out of round, scoring in the bores, porting of the head runners was bad, etc. they listed off about 10 things and said it would be cheaper to just start again with a new block and head. Pretty disappointing since I'd waited so long and paid so much already for this long block to be built. The quote to build a new SR22VET long block was too high, especially with the cost of P11 heads these days, which is $3-5k if you can even find one.

So, I asked my e30 mechanic GreshM Performance to source a new motor for the car and he was able to find a S54B32 in a running track car. The cost of a S54 is actually less than just the SR22VET long block.



I then started to sell all of the SR20 swap gear. Most is new and it's a common motor here, so it's selling pretty easily.

The S54 swap goal is reliability for light track duties and weekend driving. Only modifications will be a Karbonius airbox, tune and obviously an exhaust to suit.

Over the Christmas holidays I painted the engine bay in Alpine White II and 2k clear. It turned out great. The stock paint was in pretty poor condition so anything was going to be better.

Original condition, cleaned, with a few brackets cut off and spot primed.


Sanded with 400, then 800 grit as well as some scuff pads for the hard to reach spots. Everything taped, covered in al-foil or paper. All bolts removed and cables cable-tied out of the way.



Primed, then given a light sanding. A few spots missed, but still better than what the factory did - you can still see the dark factory primer in the corners.


With rattle cans, 3 coats of Alpine White II base, 3 coats of 2k clear, 4th coat of clear on the towers. All pretty light coats since this was my first time painting a car and I was mostly concerned about runs in the paint.



Next steps, a few maintenance items to be sorted on the S54 and parts ordered for the swap. A lot more straight forward than an SR20 swap anyway...