The Journey of Linda and Friends - the M20b31 Lives

[AWDBOB]

Step away from the angle grinder, slowly. Turn around. Give your E30 to me, I'll put it in a garage and won't cut anything off it.

Hey, angle grinders are only used to cut out rusty things! But on the serious, I'm not smoothing the engine bay and cutting all the brackets off. I'm just getting an iX washer res, relocating the coil, some relays, and getting an M42 rad. Basic cleanup stuff.

But I am drilling holes in my trunk for reinforced swaybar brackets :o.

[c0rbin9]

That's good. My E30 has enough hacked chassis bits on it for the entire forum. : (

[AWDBOB]

That's good. My E30 has enough hacked chassis bits on it for the entire forum. : (

That's a bummer, but makes for a good project! I'm tired of dealing with hacks and/or bodywork. I've had many a car that I buy, sink money into and still end up selling right away because I know it's never going to feel "right".

[AWDBOB]

A seller accepted my offer on a house, so I've got to get this thing done soon to get ready for transport. The time is ticking!

Got the head ready to be pulled. Debating whether I should get a 272 cam and HD rockers or not. I will likely do an M52/M54 swap before too long, so I doubt it. But it pains me to pull this stuff off and not build everything.




My workbench. Getting everything ready. Intake manifold and VC are going out for powdercoat, and I will be refinishing most of the other parts myself. Also looking for someone to send all my bolts to get zinc plated because I don't have the time to get a setup going in this garage before I move.




And one of the few things I'm doing to clean up the bay- deleting the throttle body heater. This bolt is 12x1.5. I threw a crush washer on it and plenty of thread sealant.





That's all for now! Working with motorsport hardware on getting the right spacer/stud setup for the E38 wheels, and then I'll just have to buy some tires. I finally have my fender roller out here too, which I'll have to do soon. Once I get the engine bay all tidied up and moved into the new space, I'll get started on the suspension and manual swap! And then I'm going to force myself to enjoy and drive the car for a long while before I tear it back apart.

[AWDBOB]

Machinist has been waiting on the cylinder head for a week because I can't get any of the exhaust manifold bolts out........or the ones to the downpipe flange........

This kind of stuff drives me to insanity. The bolts were so rusty they're almost a 7/16 as opposed to a 12mm.

If I don't make progress soon I'm going to have to cut the exhaust off to get it out of the car. What a pain in the ass a simple project can turn out to be.

[varg]

I always hate jobs which involve removing exhaust for that reason. It's probably best to just cut the exhaust off at the H and re weld it once the manifold and remaining pipe are off the head. 5 minutes with a sawzall and 5 minutes of welding instead of hours of frustration with rusty stuff that will eventually snap off or round off anyway.

[AWDBOB]

I always hate jobs which involve removing exhaust for that reason. It's probably best to just cut the exhaust off at the H and re weld it once the manifold and remaining pipe are off the head. 5 minutes with a sawzall and 5 minutes of welding instead of hours of frustration with rusty stuff that will eventually snap off or round off anyway.

Couldn't agree more. I got all out but one underneath the flange so I had to cut the exhaust off anyway. Oh well, I guess I'll buy some headers.

[AWDBOB]

Welp, I've definitely had better updates.

This will potentially change everything about this build, but it's all up in the air right now. Looking for some insight, I guess.

With this iS, my whole goal has been to finally 'drive and maintain' a car, and really enjoy it, without turning it into a big project, finishing it, and selling it.

So my plan was to rebuild the top end of the M20, drive it, and then complete the manual swap and suspension build at a later date along the way.

Before I finally pulled the head today, I took the VC off and looked around, and saw that the rocker shaft had been repaired, and snapped off in one spot, leaving big metal chunks all in the head, some of which were in the oil galleys, etc.

So after my moment of "well this head is trash", I pulled the head, and saw the HG that was shot by cyl 6, and then the cyl walls, which have virtually no crosshatching and heatmarks on the backside from sideloading. I doubt this engine has any ring seal.

So I now have a top and bottom end that is essentially a fairly heavy paperweight.

A few things:

This car still has an auto in it. I have a 5sp swap. I have to pull the motor- the auto will NOT go back in. Since I have to pull the motor, this also means that I'd be an idiot if I saved my steering rack swap and front suspension build for a later date.

At a crossroads I guess. Do I build a junkyard 3L M52 like I wanted to do eventually? Or get another M20 and chance that being a POS too?

[sam_]

sorry to hear you've hit a bump in the road - I would probably just pull the trigger on the M52 if that's what you were planning in the long run.

[AWDBOB]

sorry to hear you've hit a bump in the road - I would probably just pull the trigger on the M52 if that's what you were planning in the long run.

That is what I am thinking, too. It's all just going to push the build back regardless of what happens from this point on. Might as well go 24V.

[e30austin]

That is what I am thinking, too. It's all just going to push the build back regardless of what happens from this point on. Might as well go 24V.

Definitely a good time to go 24v, for sure. It's a good thing!

[AWDBOB]

Definitely a good time to go 24v, for sure. It's a good thing!

Yes indeed! I have now seen it in a different light, although it just came at a bit of a bad time (closing on my first house in April). I will prevail :o

I am picking up a clean rotating assembly from an M54B30 tomorrow that I found nearby for a good deal.

The motor build will be:

M52B28 Head/Block
M54B30 Rotating Assembly
S52 Cams
M50 Intake Manifold (eventually RHD ITBs once they get an airbox booster clearance sorted)

aka poor mans 3L. Keeping my g260 because I already have it.

Burnouts to follow.

[delamaize]

Go big or go home! hahah
V8 all the things!!

I love my M60 swap.

[kts]

sorry to hear you've hit a bump in the road - I would probably just pull the trigger on the M52 if that's what you were planning in the long run.

+1 to this ^^

Sorry to hear the engine is toast. :(

[AWDBOB]

Go big or go home! hahah
V8 all the things!!

I love my M60 swap.

I love M60 swaps!

I would be all over it, but it seems like a bit more hassle in terms of a booster, exhaust, etc, and I don't want the extra weight in the front end if I can avoid it.

+1 to this ^^

Sorry to hear the engine is toast. :(

Certainly, I am going to try to make the best out of it! It just doesn't make sense to me to pull out and build the M20 if I can make a 3L 24V for the same price.