Project TougE30

[Sonny]

Unfortunately, I highly doubt its fixable. I'm sure an experienced welder could make it happen for a pretty penny. I might get a quote.

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So what exactly happens if you daily drive with rust like this and never plan to autox? I'm looking at an e30 m20 the same condition

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[Tougerunner01]

Absolutely horrible. Is it doable with a weld?

Unfortunately, I highly doubt its fixable. I'm sure an experienced welder could make it happen for a pretty penny. I might get a quote.

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[e30RS]

Absolutely horrible. Is it doable with a weld?

[Tougerunner01]

End of a chapter

Well r3v friends, this might be the end of this e30. I found rust in a tough spot after ripping up my soaking carpet after driving in a moderate downpour. The chassis has seen it's fair share of abuse and it might be time to retire. I'd love to shell swap the e30,but I don't know if I'm motivated enough to do it.

[Tougerunner01]

Finally have the E30 sorted out. I finished the exhaust, but the original v-bands broke on a dip. Replaced them with vibrant v-bands. Kassel retuned my dme. Kevin from flim flam speed got me back on his dyno. We made 186hp/176tq which I think is pretty good for a basic m52 with an m50 manifold. Anyone have any alignment specs that work well for the E30? I have rear adjusters as well.

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[Tougerunner01]

A small break then back to work.

I had to wait a few days for my ecu to return from kassel performance and my buddy will being welding my exhaust on Wednesday. I decided to get out of town for the day. Right before leaving, I did my valve cover gasket and those gaskets were rock hard. I'm glad the valvetrain looked great. Also, here is a picture of the other caps I pulled.

[Tougerunner01]

Stock rebuilt engines are most economical decision you'll make... in the long run.

I agree. The m52 was a good choice to replace the m20 since its more modern and can take some abuse.

[paynemw]

Stock rebuilt engines are most economical decision you'll make... in the long run.

[Tougerunner01]

Throwback Thursday! The E30 has come a long way and the journey has been a good one!

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[Tougerunner01]

Almost done

The s52 cams did not survive unfortunately. I pulled the caps for cylinder 3 and 6 only to find scoring. I spoke with Kassel Performance who were kind enough to reflash my ecu so I can properly hoon the e30. I'm gonna finish building the exhaust today for dd duties. I may upgrade the ansa catback at some point. I have some finishing touches to do and the e30 should be street worthy and ready to head back to the dyno at flim flam speed.

[Tougerunner01]

Roller-coaster.

Agreed, hopefully I'm at the end of this roller coaster. This e30 needs to head to the dyno and see some seat time.

[jeenyus]

Roller-coaster.

[Tougerunner01]

Sad news then good news

Unfortunately, the m52 made it 2k miles. I started hearing a knock noise the other week and my oil was a glitter party. I found huge chunks of bearing material in my oil pick up tube which is probably attributed to my low oil pressure at idle. The good news is, I had a spare m52 and it's in the car. Buttoning it up today and hopefully hear her come back to life. Engine is fully resealed and oil pump nut welded. Definitely thankful for everyone who helped me these past few days.

[Tougerunner01]

I think I finally solved my cooling system issue. I modified the E36 fan shroud and now my temp gauge holds in the middle. I rebled the system at least 5-7 times and was getting ready to start replacing the thermostat and water pump. Glad it was a simple fix. Pressure tested the system as well. Also, one of my fuel lines sprung a leak, so that got taken care of. Dyno session tomorrow. Excited to see what numbers we get.

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[Tougerunner01]

Tore down the m20 and definitely drove her into the ground. Rod bearings took quite a beating.

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