Project Armo "330i" M-tech 1

[Skarpa]

I just bought a refurbished head when I came across one for a decent price.


I was thinking of building this head complete with re-ground cams and then just swap it onto B28. Then later I can tackle the bottom end and pump up the displacement and compression. In addition to what I already have, I need the exhaust cam tray and a set of lifters.

I'm also discussing on buying a cast iron sleeved engine block to work with the M54 internals. The European M52's have aluminum block with nikasil plating but there were problems with nikasil in some countries with lower quality fuel (mainly UK). If there was damage due to nikasil erosion, BMW replaced the block with cast iron sleeved one (the Z3 block for you Americans). That's the block I want because M54 piston rings are designed to work with cast iron cylinders.

[Skarpa]

Nice updates!

That E39 airbox should look right at home once you're done it would seem, really neat idea

Could you explain the thinking behind the high swaybar mounts on the struts though? I would've thought that inverting the links' mounting orientation, together with the increas in length would result in some unfavorable suspension geometrics?...

E30 M3 as well as most of the newer BMWs, uses a sway bar mounted to the struts. There are two advantages. The movement of the strut mounting point is fairly linear during suspension stroke whereas the one in the suspension arm travels in an arc. The effect of the sway bar is more consistent and predictable when mounted on strut. The other advantage is that when the sway bar is mounted on strut, it has better leverage to control the suspension movement allowing a thinner sway bar to have more effect.

My sway bar links will likely be longer than the M3 ones because my brackets are actually welded a bit higher than in M3 and the car will be lower than a stock M3 so I need to further increase the length to keep the sway bar pointed horizontally. In theory, the longer links are a plus because the longer the links, the less their angle changes when turning the wheels -> more consistent sway bar action while cornering.

[NufnSus]

Nice updates!

That E39 airbox should look right at home once you're done it would seem, really neat idea

Could you explain the thinking behind the high swaybar mounts on the struts though? I would've thought that inverting the links' mounting orientation, together with the increas in length would result in some unfavorable suspension geometrics?...

[Skarpa]

I finished modifying the coupe rear seat. Earlier I had cut off the raised section from the rear of the seat to fit it together with the sedan backrest. These modifications left the upholstery loose and unfitting at the rear.


I made final trimming on the cushions and planned how I need to modify the leather. Then I separated the leather from the seat to be able to sew it with a machine.


My trusty Husqvarna is certainly not industrial or upholstery sewing machine but it has a sturdy metal frame and a reduction gear and can take on most of the challenges I throw at it.


The center section was shaped very differently from what it needed to be so I replaced it flat leather piece. New leather comes from a different animal and has a different texture but that doesn't really matter since it won't be showing.


I cut the rear of the center bolster shorter so I needed to move the channel for the steel wire to match it.


I also needed to make a steel wire in the seat frame to tie the leather to. I made it from 2,5mm wire and tied it to existing frame wires.


While I had the upholstery removed I finished welding and grinding the seat frame where I had modified it. I also welded loops in the frame to accommodate the brackets in the car body. They fit nicely but I may still add something to them to make them fit even more snugly. I'm thinking on pieces of suitable hose tied around the steel wires.


I cut a piece of polyester wadding to cover the areas where I modified the cushions to even out any imperfections in shape.


I don't have the upholstery clamping rings or tongs for installing them and I was not going to buy them for this job so I used cable ties instead. They are probably not as long-lasting so perhaps I need to redo the seat in ten years or so.


I'm happy with the result. Not perfect but not bad.


The lip on the backrest sits just above the rear shelf and when viewed from right angle, the white strip at the back of the seat is just visible. I taped the surroundings and painted the strip black with matte black spray paint to hide it.




Sorry for the potato-quality pictures

[Skarpa]

My brother is coming over for Easter and promised to take some parts to powder coating (there's no reasonably priced coating shop anywhere near). I wanted to include all the parts that I know will be powder coated so I needed to finish the front subframe and the front struts. The sway bar fixing points were fairly corroded in the subframe so I cut off the lower plate and made new one. It's not clearly visible in the pictures but I tried to match the notch for the sway bar bushing.




After some wire wheel, phosphoric acid and welding primer, the parts were welded together.


On the top I welded the reinforcement plates I had had cut earlier.





I made some reinforcement welding where the hook of the sway bar bracket will sit.

In the front struts I welded brackets for the sway bar. At first I was going to use just 3mm bent angle but decided to weld them into U-profile.




After welding I measured the position of the holes and drilled them.


I decided not to think about the length of the sway bar links too much at this point. I placed the brackets as high as I reasonably could. When I have the struts under the car and loaded I will measure the necessary length to place the sway bar horizontally. If no links are available at correct length I will use adjustable ones.