The Journey of Linda and Friends - the M20b31 Lives

[AWDBOB]

woo! Looks like things are coming together!

Yes it certainly is! I've got parts moving too which means I can focus a bit more on this car. One iX is gone Sunday, and I have two shells stripped, one almost stripped. Hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel when you have seven broken E30s, but I'm approaching the other side.

By summer I'll have one iS for autox/track days and one M3 for weekend cruises, both red over tan, both on E38 Style 5s. Cant wait.

[lambo]

ugh I really want a set of redrilled E38 Style 5's... I had them on adapters and they were cool for stancey things but fuck adapters...

[AWDBOB]

ugh I really want a set of redrilled E38 Style 5's... I had them on adapters and they were cool for stancey things but fuck adapters...

Having these wheels on an E30 with a proper tire/offset is one of my favorite looks....ever. The dream is E30M3 suspension but every time a setup pops up I'm broke, so I don't foresee that happening anytime soon.

[ATL_E30]

Oh okay! I just realized your car is the beautiful calypso car in the classifieds.

Yep, that is I. I swapped the Style 5's over to my Alpine. Received the Valve Cover btw, thanks again!

Cars making good progress cant wait to see it on the road, keep it up!!

[AWDBOB]

Yep, that is I. I swapped the Style 5's over to my Alpine. Received the Valve Cover btw, thanks again!

Cars making good progress cant wait to see it on the road, keep it up!!

Awesome, I'm glad it made it to you safely!


Got a bit more work done today. I wasn't going to update until I had it all on the road, but the head work is taking forever so I figured I might as well.

I have the engine torn down and on the engine stand so I can prep the block for the head and other components.

So, I do not have access to an oil cooler and do not feel like buying one. I went to investigate this situation and realized that my b25 block already has the oil cooler deleted (car it came out of was in an accident and I suspect this is why). I'll be changing oil more frequently (3K miles) due to the lack of the cooler (higher temps typically=faster break down) and will be keeping an eye on temps to make sure nothing gets damaged. I've read multiple accounts of Spec E30 cars deleting the coolers so I am not worried about it.

I will also be temporarily deleting AC for sake of functionality/weight and will add it later on when I can convert things to R134, parallel flow condenser, etc.

On the stand. Notice said oil cooler delete.

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
[IMG]Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr[/IMG]
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr



Cut a bolt down to delete the block portion of the TB heater with a fresh crush washer.

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr




Spent some time cleaning things up and prepping the deck surface, cleaning pistons, chasing threads, etc. I'll go over this again before I throw it all together.

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr




Started working on the oil pan and fitting the Ireland Engineering Oil Pan Baffle. The pan was damaged during the accident (I assume due to the consistency of other things) and repaired. The pan seals perfectly fine so I am not worried about it in the least. I'm going to have it hot tanked this week. Tested fitment over the oil pump to line things up. I used a 1/4" drill bit for the holes. I was in a pinch for bit so I decided to try the HF ones. The Ti Harbor Freight bits are surprisingly nice.

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

[AWDBOB]

Got some shiny parts back from the machine shop. I know I said I was going to use a RHD flywheel but got so sick of buying parts I just had the machine shop deglaze the one I had, because it was in good shape.

Head was perfect, and he went above and beyond smoothing ports out, etc. It looks like new, with the Billet 272 cam installed along with new updated Febi Rockers and stem seals. I put in a new cam seal/oring.

He also hot tanked my oil pan for free after I drilled for the baffle and filled the pan with shavings. The baffle is in now with the help of loctite.


IMG_2270 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
IMG_2267 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
IMG_2272 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
IMG_2275 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
IMG_2269 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
IMG_2271 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
IMG_2274 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
IMG_2266 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr




Forgot to buy new dowels for the head halting progress there, so I figured I'd throw the new CSB in the driveshaft in the meantime. DS is in pretty good shape, ujoints all felt good/moved freely. It was a royal pain in the ass to get the old CSB bearing off and I couldn't get the new one on, so I'm just going to have it pressed on for my sanity.

I have a new LuK clutch, new flywheel bolts, pilot bearing, trans seals, manual pedal assy, etc that I still have to mess with here soon. This project began so long ago I almost forgot the car started as an auto and I have yet to finish converting it over, despite having all of the parts.

My goal is to have this all wrapped up by the end of April. Sooner if I get more time, but that's doubtful.


IMG_2276 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

[wworm]

Always stoked to see updates on this. Them parts is cleeeeaaan!

[AWDBOB]

Always stoked to see updates on this. Them parts is cleeeeaaan!

Them there clean parts are what it's all about!

I made a pretty decent bit of progress today. SO many small tasks really suck up time, but in the end it is the small things that make the build what it is.

I tore the front seals out to clean everything up. I pressed in a fresh front crank seal and intermediate shaft seal as well, and installed a new OE intermediate shaft pulley.

IMG_2280 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
IMG_2281 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr



Got the head torqued down with a Goetze HG, new dowels from ECS, and fresh OEM head bolts. I also installed a fresh tensioner, tensioner spring, water pump, Conti belt, etc. I cleaned up the fuel rail and harness and installed all of that with the rebuilt green tops.

IMG_2283 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
IMG_2286 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
IMG_2296 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
IMG_2294 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr






I finished the throttle body heater delete by drilling/tapping the hole on the thermostat housing. I'm waiting for a SHCS to plug it up, as my local stores didn't have anything in stock for a 1/4-18 npt.

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
IMG_2278 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr





I also worked on my throttle body vacuum system, drilling/tapping the TB for an elbow and a barb fitting. I also installed a new grommet and a 90* check valve in the booster (now NLA).


IMG_2290 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
IMG_2292 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
IMG_2293 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr





I also test fit the windage tray that I'll finish up installing tomorrow.

IMG_2297 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr





I also stopped by the machine shop and had my CSB pressed on. The small town feel in this city is neat at times. I walked in with no appointment expecting to drop it off, the owner looked at it, brought me back in the shop, and had me hold the driveshaft while he drove the CSB on with a custom piece he had to fit over the axle shaft sized to the inner race of the bearing. Reinstalled and we're good to go.

IMG_2284 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr





I also did some exhaust planning. I have the IE long tubes which have a 2.25" collector. I also have a Magnaflow 2.25" x pipe, a pair of 2.25" vbands, and my freshie eBay catback that just came in.

I'm going to have a midpipe made and will be placing the x pipe 32" (~800ish mm) from the collectors to hit the (I hope) correct exhaust harmonic. I used this eBay catback in the past and was very pleased with fitment, and most importantly, sound. mjweimer gave me a very nice Eberspächer catback to use and my original game plan was going put a new muffler on it. However, after some thought it became clear that just getting the eBay unit would be a simpler, more cost effective choice.

image1 (7) by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
image2 (3) by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr




That's all for now- I'm hoping to continue the progress tomorrow.

[AWDBOB]

Made some more progress this eve.

Adjusted lash to .010 all the way around. Everything is very tight, with ample adjustment room left on stock eccentrics, which I was worried about since this was an aftermarket billet cam.

IMG_2302 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr



Threw the VC on with a fresh gasket and a light touch of ultra gray.

IMG_2303 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr




And test fit the headers √


IMG_2304 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr




I picked up this low mile g260 from mjweimer and it's in great shape. I had planned to replace all of the seals on it today but nothing was leaking at all, so I just cleaned it up instead of messing with it.

IMG_2298 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr




Also, it seems commonplace to replace the entire pedal assembly when doing a manual swap, but it's not necessary. All you need is the clutch pedal, brake pedal, and long bolt/nut from the manual pedal assembly and it bolts right into any auto pedal assembly. If you have an airbag car (like me) you don't have a choice but to do it this way, but IMO it's much easier than swapping the whole pedal assembly even on a non-airbag car.

IMG_2305 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
IMG_2301 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
IMG_2310 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

[AWDBOB]

I had a very productive weekend working on the car. I unfortunately had a few setbacks, but overall made great progress.

FYI, for those considering the Garagistic Windage Tray, do not buy it. It fit so poorly I attempted to modify it but it needed so much help that I opted to just leave it out. The flange casting was way off at the back of the block (over 1/4" off and hitting the flywheel), the provisions for the oil pump needed to be clearanced a ton, bolt holes were off, etc. The IE oil pan baffle also required sectioning, and the removal of a few bolts to fit around the sump. Thankfully I was able to get that on though.

First order of business was to pull the motor off of the stand to replace the rear main seal. I threw it back on the stand afterwords to fit the oil pan and attempt to fit the windage tray (a paperweight). Ended up getting things settled, baffle on the pan, pan on, etc, and set the motor down to mate the trans.

I installed the fresh flywheel on the block with new bolts. I installed a new Sachs PP/Clutch, OE Pilot bearing, clutch fork, slave cyl, clutch fork pin, etc and mated the trans to the motor.

I also opted to change the front main seal of the transmission, as well as the shift selector seal just to be safe. After all that it was time to drop the engine in the car. It's been so long since I've dropped a motor/trans in front the top that it proved to be quite a process. I set the motor down onto new HD rubber mounts.

After the motor was in there were so many small tasks to take care of. I had a new shift selector, DSSR, delrin carrier assembly, delrin shift arm bushing, new cup, and Z3 shift lever to install. The shifter feel exceeded my expectations.

I also deleted the TB heater, converted the vacuum hose to the booster down to one line, and deleted the charcoal canister to clean things up in the bay. Since I removed the airbag computer for my mtech wheel I also pulled the airbag sensor harness completely out.

I also had to modify my power steering hoses for use with the Z3 rack. The return hose fit in with a slight bend, and the OE high pressure hose also fit nicely with a slight bend towards the drivers side frame rail, routing both hoses over the engine mount arm. Hoses/res were all new and installed with new crush washers, aside from the high pressure line (which was in good shape).

I bolted the trans up after throwing a new guibo on it and bleeding the slave cyl and installing the stainless slave cylinder line. I used HD trans mounts with E21 aluminum cups. I had to drill out the holes slightly as the mount studs were larger than stock.

I also removed the auto trans harness under the dash and plugged the black plug black/yellow wire straight to the ignition switch so the car would turn over.

The driveshaft I was sold as a 'manual' unit ended up being an auto driveshaft that I wasted time putting a CSB on, so I'm currently searching for a manual DS in good shape.

After a ton of small things later, I primed the car and let it turn over to fill all of the empty lines that I replaced. Unfortunately the car will not start, but turns over and almost fires. It sounds very healthy and I cannot wait to get things situated!

Everything is coming together, brakes are bled, etc. Up next is hopefully getting the car to fire, getting a driveshaft, and getting the car to an exhaust shop to fab up a mid section.



Back of the block:

IMG_2311 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr


Baffle modification

IMG_2313 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr




Pan on

IMG_2314 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr





Old vs new

IMG_2319 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr



Trans seals

IMG_2317 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
IMG_2315 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr




Trans mounts

IMG_2321 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr





Getting there after removing the power steering pump

IMG_2322 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr





In there like swimwear

IMG_2323 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
IMG_2324 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
IMG_2338 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr



Power steering setup


IMG_2328 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
IMG_2333 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr




Vacuum line

IMG_2334 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr



Harness roughly in place. I still need to take a day to route everything how I want it


IMG_2339 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
IMG_2340 by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

[oekundar]

Nice progress

[wworm]

glad to finally see that motor in the bay!

[AWDBOB]

Nice progress

Thanks!

glad to finally see that motor in the bay!

Same here, it's finally beginning to feel like a car again! Hopefully I can get it running this week so I can get the exhaust made.

I've got a pretty fun suspension update coming soon as well.

[sampayne]

I had a very productive weekend working on the car. I unfortunately had a few setbacks, but overall made great progress.

FYI, for those considering the Garagistic Windage Tray, do not buy it. It fit so poorly I attempted to modify it but it needed so much help that I opted to just leave it out. The flange casting was way off at the back of the block (over 1/4" off and hitting the flywheel), the provisions for the oil pump needed to be clearanced a ton, bolt holes were off, etc.

Is the scraper a total lost cause? I just got one for an upcoming build, and would obviously like to use it. Have you contacted garagistic about the poor fit?

[AWDBOB]

Is the scraper a total lost cause? I just got one for an upcoming build, and would obviously like to use it. Have you contacted garagistic about the poor fit?

Mine was a lost cause. I'm going to take pics and reach out to them this week.

The whole scraper hung off the back of the motor so far it hit the flywheel. And the oil pump wouldn't bolt on over it because they didn't leave enough space for it. For a crank scraper, a part inside your engine that will be a PITA to remove once your motor is in, I expected a lot more.