E30 #2: 1990 Delphin: RHD ITB M20

[318aye]

@rzerob: PM returned. Ready to make you a set of brackets as soon as you say the word.

More delays than I would have liked. Oh well. Keith's MS box arrived today, along with what appears to be the remnants of the radioshack corporation, and Keith's mixtape. Seems like he's upped his game since my last purchase from him, as there's now a power connector on the ECU itself (no doubt for bench programming), and a Db15 connector that I don't recognize either.

Going to give the TopSpeed ebay headers a spin. I've seen instances of good fitment, and instances of bad fitment. Their return policy seems reasonable though, I'll make sure and document thoroughly if I run into anything. Should be here next week. Most likely going to have Eurowise build the remainder of the exhaust here locally. I was quoted $950 for a 2.5" single with two Vibrant resonators as well as having them build the flanged merge off the headers themselves. Not bad, considering the time involved.

Some research on them:

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=241895

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=233325

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showpost.php?p=3704221&postcount=210

Full Thread: http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=155086

Going to try and do exhaust first, and keep the rest of the car driveable until then. I still need little items like the powersteering refresh, throttle cable, etc. I'll be out at Korman this weekend, if anyone wants to see the ITB stuff in person I'll probably bring a section.

[318aye]

Topspeed Longtubes arrived today. I'll give them the same rundown I give everything else.

Packaging: Not fantastic. Arrived loose in an appropriately sized cardboard box, had punched a small hole in the side. No component damage. Came wrapped in bubble wrap. Included gaskets, one sticker, and a license plate frame.

Some measurements for those still evaluating:

Runner ID @ Flange - ~35mm
Collector ID - ~49mm
Flange Thickness - 11mm
Collector Wall Thickness - 1.3mm

Flanges are out-of-flat against a straight edge by roughly .020" in the worst spots. Bolt spacing might be a *touch* off, but mostly checks out against this diagram:



Will probably just end up using OEM gaskets and see how it goes. Far too early to tell, but they look similar to what other people have received. My big parameter is body clearance, they'll be going back if they don't clear the strut tower or point into the floor at the collector. Goal is to get them on to check fitment by the end of this week.

Pictures!

[goarmy]

Nice headers, the design looks to me more for a higher compression/more HP motor based on the bottle neck distance from the engine. looking forward to results, looking good keep it up:D

[318aye]

Nice headers, the design looks to me more for a higher compression/more HP motor based on the bottle neck distance from the engine. looking forward to results, looking good keep it up:D

Thanks! I'm getting anxious myself.

[318aye]

Still haven't had time to test fit the headers :(.

Got most of the remaining parts on order. All the gaskets and such came from Pelican. Throttle Cable (PN: 35411162482 as recommended by Rama) and bitch tube washers from ECS. Shipping worked out cheaper that way.

Total for the lot was roughly $120.

Also got the Ramair filter socks coming. I think they had these for $60 per set of three delivered to the US when dyno4mance bought them, down to $43 USD now :)


Still need to get:

GM Open Element IAT

AEM 30-2310 Inline Wideband

I'm sure there will be other little things as I dig into it.

[318aye]

And the moment we've all been waiting for. Fitment.

TLDR: 1-2-3 bank fits great. Installed with all studs present. Bolt pattern is right. Hugs the block tightly. Exit is appropriate. Required removal of OEM metal splash guard guy down below. 4-5-6 bank doesn't fit. Got it the closest with all studs removed. Is probably 5 degrees off at its "most wedged" position. Is pretty close to fitting, but would require serious hammer time on runners 4 and 5, or the strut tower, neither of which I'm ok with.

Where to from here?

Option A: Return the Topspeed's through ebay, pray to god/allah/whomever I can get a set when the IE longtubes get back in stock (supposedly soon?).

Option B: Reassemble the exhaust/tow the car up to work, cut the flange off and reweld the rear bank at the flange once arranged to fit.

Both options put me out another ~$200. Not sure when the IE's will be available or what other complications I'll run into attempting to modify the Topspeeds.

Pictures!











And in other news, I found my brake fluid consumption culprit. All four corners, the master cylinder, and all lines dry. Then this guy.



Time for a new Mr. Slave.

[318aye]

Given the scarcity of nice headers available privately and IE/any other vendor never having stock, I went with option B: chop/cut/rebuild. I cut the primaries right at the flange, and hammered out the remaining tubing inside the flange.

First attempt: removed 7/16" by cutting the primaries on the non head side (duh) of the flange. Placed the collector pretty much dead in the middle of the area between the control arm bushing and the transmission. Not even close to allowing enough room for the 1-2-3 bank.

Second attempt: removed roughly another 7/16" (the width of the flange) from the primaries. Now we're getting somewhere. It has put me uncomfortably close to the bend on the #6 primary, but it still fits flush inside the flange. Whole assembly fits decently (1mm between the headers themselves, and 1mm between #4 and the strut tower....heh) when swung towards the outside of the car, and rotated counter clockwise (looking down on the motor from the passenger side).

Everything is marked, and I'll tack it at work tomorrow morning. Once tacked, I'll do a final mockup just to be sure, then fully weld them. Unfortunately I couldn't swing getting the whole thing tacked on the car, so this might be an iterative process :(. The remainder of the build parts (minus the wideband) arrive tomorrow, and I'm going to check out other powdercoaters locally here in CLT for the valvecover and a few other small things. Shooting to be at Eurowise for the exhaust build week after next.

Pictures!

[Reichart12]

What kind of exhaust setup do you have planned for after the headers?

[318aye]

What kind of exhaust setup do you have planned for after the headers?

Shooting for a dual 2" to single 2.5" merge that will slip fit onto the collectors, followed by a Vibrant ultra-quiet resonator, followed by a Vibrant universal 2.5" single inlet/outlet muffler.

This will all be in stainless, and two bolt flanged between the first and second resonators, probably close to where the factory axle-back connects.

I really want to work in a flex section somewhere, but it just doesn't seem practical at this point.

[Reichart12]

Similar to what I have going for my 2.9 m20. Bavauto headers to single pipe back with 2.5 vibrant resonator and 2.5 vibrant muffler. Seemed like a good combo when I was searching around. We'll have to compare sound clips lol.

[318aye]

Similar to what I have going for my 2.9 m20. Bavauto headers to single pipe back with 2.5 vibrant resonator and 2.5 vibrant muffler. Seemed like a good combo when I was searching around. We'll have to compare sound clips lol.

I read through your thread only to find that the sound clips aren't here yet :(. Definitely interested in your final results, I'm sure your numbers will coax me into a cam purchase. Get that car on a dynojet when you get through!

[Reichart12]

Haha yeah spoiler alert... Im not done yet. It will be dyno tuned so number will be provided. Get some numbers for your ITBs and it'll probably make me want them as next years project.

[318aye]

Wooo. Headers are in and done. TIG welded, and cleaned up the inside port with a rotary sander. Port entrance isn't wonderful, but it's probably as good as the 1-2-3 header. Clears both the 1-2-3 header and the strut tower, all while exiting at a reasonable angle. Ended up converting the 4-5-6 header to 30mm M8x1.25 bolts with M8 lockwashers. Just too much of a PITA to get the header in with studs installed.

Cleaned up the cylinder head, installed new gaskets, studs and copper nuts. Ended up degreasing the underside of the car after I installed the new slave cylinder too.

I need to cut down a 6mm hex socket to get the lower bolt on #5, and I'll need to make a stubby 12mm open end wrench to get to the lower nut on #1. Weather permitting I'm going to swing it by eurowise today so they can order parts.

[oprahhwinfreyy]

Those wheels are perfect. Cant wait to see the ITBs on.

[318aye]

Those wheels are perfect. Cant wait to see the ITBs on.

Thanks! Whole project should start moving faster next week.

Yay stubbies. Aggressively shortened ball-end hex socket to get to the 4-5-6 header bolts.