The Adventures of Golden Boy, my Rebound E30

[mila325]

https://c5.staticflickr.com/6/5680/30901927612_c018f2b435_c.jpg

Change that stamped gear.

[CubbyChowder]

^^Thanks guys!

Started getting the original M20 ready to pull. Since I'll only have 2-3 days to perform the swap from start to finish (which should be plenty realistically, but always anticipating setbacks), I wanted to start disconnecting and removing stuff early so that pulling it out will go quickly.

The last time this original motor will sit fully assembled in this engine bay:



Got it to this point before I stopped. Basically all I need to do from here is disconnect the power steering lines and AC compressor, unbolt the subframe and tranny mount and drop it out. This M20 will be exiting out the bottom:



Some parts began to roll in over the past few days:



Started the process of reassembling the "new" M20. First things first, got new camshaft oil seal and o-ring in:



Then I installed the new water pump, timing belt and tensioner:



I also took a few minutes to switch from 5mm spacers to 20mm spacers in the rear to fill out the fenders a bit better. Had to install longer studs as well. Here is how it sat before:



And after. Much better in my opinion:




I still haven't adjusted the suspension at all since I installed everything, so that is still on the list. I will likely bring it down about an inch to dial it all in. Just want to focus on getting it running and driving reliably first. More to come soon!

[bobaflesh]

Glad to see you working on the M20, Mikey! Great progress.

[N2MYE30]

Ive been a fan of your work since chubby. Sad to see you personally not finish the 2002 but glad to see your work on a different car. In for the win!

[yngtmr]

Be sure you replace those stamped cam and intermediate gears or at least the intermediate gear. it would really suck to have all the work go to waste because of it breaking down the road. they are extruded or forged on the newer m20s.

[CubbyChowder]

Excited to report that progress is being made, I've been dying to work on Golden Boy lately. Dedicated some time this weekend to get the ball rolling again :up:

I began disassembling the new M20 in prep for Golden Boy's heart transplant.



As expected, everything was covered in years of grime and needed a thorough cleaning. Upon removing the intake manifold, I noticed that all the intake valves and valve guides seemed to be very clean, which leads me to believe that this head has been rebuilt in the past at some point, would you guys agree?



When I removed the water pump there was all kinds of flaky and chunky stuff in there, I think someone in the past used a stop leak of some sort (also maybe why the head appears to be rebuilt?). I'd like to clean all of this out as good as I can, any tips on how I should go about that?



After some time with a pressure washer, the M20 is looking much cleaner. I still want to clean a few areas more thoroughly but this is a huge improvement so far:



Ordering gaskets and stuff tonight so that I can start reassembling things :up:

Also last week I was getting super anxious to work on Golden Boy so on a whim one day I tackled my non functional central locking issue, which ended up being a failed solder in the control unit (common problem). Fixed that and everything works as it should again. Small victory

That's all for now. My goal is to have the new motor in and have Golden Boy smogged and registered before I leave for Switzerland in late December. Stay tuned!

[CubbyChowder]

best of luck with the swap. Sorry that happened to you. I can only image how bummed out you were when you found that worn cam.

I was very bummed about it, just because I knew that meant it'd be quite a while before I could fix it and get it on the road. It's been 3 months since I've even touched the e30 because I've been so busy with other stuff, but I am planning on moving forward with it very soon, hopefully before the end of the year. I can't hold out any longer!

Not really a motor thing but since motor is out. Now would be a time to replace steering guibo and do a rack swap if you want to.

Definitely gonna try to make that happen!

Nice shop, nice e30. Love the rack, did that ever get installed or just when you need it.
I am thinking rack to haul 4 tires, or just buy small HF trailer.

Thanks man! I built that rack for a 2002 that is still in the restoration process, so it'll probably be a little bit before I get some pictures of it mounted up.

[b-rad]

Nice shop, nice e30. Love the rack, did that ever get installed or just when you need it.
I am thinking rack to haul 4 tires, or just buy small HF trailer.

[ThatOneEuroE30]

Not really a motor thing but since motor is out. Now would be a time to replace steering guibo and do a rack swap if you want to.

[jeenyus]

best of luck with the swap. Sorry that happened to you. I can only image how bummed out you were when you found that worn cam.

[CubbyChowder]

Alright, productive update, taking steps in the right direction

Fate was on my side and I happened to land upon a complete M20 and g260 with 140k pulled from an '87 325is. Fellow r3v member "NotJesus" had it posted in the classifieds, he is up in Yuba City which is about 6 hours north of me. I contacted him and he was very detailed with his responses and took a ton of pictures and gave me a lot of info regarding the setup, which was very much appreciated. He pulled it to S50 swap his E30. I felt comfortable with it and decided to take the plunge. He even offered to meet me an hour south of him in Sacramento to help shave a few hours off of my drive, which was awesome. Thanks again James!

I left SLO at 5am since I had a long day of driving ahead of me. A smart person would take their daily driver work truck to pick up a greasy engine/trans. I, on the other hand, decided to leave my truck at home and take my girlfriend's gold Camry that we call Dale. Dale only has 40k original miles and is being put up for sale very soon, so it was the smart thing to do :roll: all about that sweet comfort baby.

We met up and stuffed the M20 in Dale's trunk in a Starbucks parking lot:



Since I was in Sacramento I decided to stop by the new CAtuned shop to say what's up to Igor and see the progress on all of their current projects, I was especially excited to see my old 2002 project in it's current state, there is much more involved than meets the eye:



It's going to be absolutely bananas, 3.2L Stroker M20 Turbo with forged internals, S52 crank and all kinds of extras to handle the power. Like I said, absolutely bananas. So happy that it landed in the hands of CAtuned :up: can't wait to see it finished.

After a long but productive 13 hour day on the road, I arrived back at my shop and had no way of removing the M20 out of Dale, so I took my truck to my buddy's house to borrow his hoist and stand, and before long had it out.



Really glad no oil or coolant got anywhere in Dale's flawless trunk. Literally I don't think anything has ever been back there (previously owned since brand new by her grandfather).

I'll shut up about Dale now, it's a gold Camry.

I'm feeling confident with this M20 and my decision to swap motors. I'm actually excited to tackle this job, any day working on my E30 with buddies around getting greasy is a good day in my books.

I'm going to get it on the engine stand and do a little refresh on it before it goes in. So far the plan is to replace front/rear main seal, bottom end gasket kit, cam gasket, intake/exhaust gaskets, and transfer all of the new parts I put in my current M20 over to this one. What else do you guys suggest I do while I have the motor on a stand?

I'd also like to add that I have something special planned for Golden Boy which I have never seen done on an E30 before that will definitely cause mixed emotions, but will suit my daily needs perfectly. But more on that at a later time :)

Thanks for looking, more positive updates coming soon :up:

[delamaize]

I think that's exactly what I'm going to do. I actually already have a lead on a healthy M20 with 140k on it which I think I am going to pull the trigger on.

Awesome man! Go for it!

[Peterbuilt84]

If you decide to just replace the head I'd go talk to the older guy at Precision Machine. It's right off Sacramento. By the whale lol. I took my m10 head in there and he was pretty knowledgeable. He used to have a 325ix.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[CubbyChowder]

If I was you, I'd find a good running M20, and do the swap.

Then I'd put this one on a stand, tear it totally down, and do a slow build on it.

This way you're still able to drive the car, and will be working your way towards performance.

I think that's exactly what I'm going to do. I actually already have a lead on a healthy M20 with 140k on it which I think I am going to pull the trigger on.

[delamaize]

If I was you, I'd find a good running M20, and do the swap.

Then I'd put this one on a stand, tear it totally down, and do a slow build on it.

This way you're still able to drive the car, and will be working your way towards performance.