War Eagle Motorwerks E30 Project Thread

[gdrumm93]

I recently started my own business called War Eagle Motorwerks in Springdale, AR. We specialize in repairing and selling German cars, ceramic/powder coating collecting and selling parts, and doing custom BMW builds/restoration. I have been on this forum for awhile but I've never posted much, so I thought I would create a thread to showcase some of the projects that I am working on. Maybe some of you will find them interesting. If a certain build needs a thread of its own then I may branch off and start one but for now I plan on posting everything here. I have attached some pictures of the cars (I need to find a better way to embed them):






The Zinno 4 door started life as a 1987 325 (2.7L eta) auto. It was converted to a stock 2.5L i engine with late model wiring and we did a five speed swap. The black car was a 1985 325e 5 speed and it received a 2.7i conversion with late model wiring and a chipped 173 ecu. Both cars had a lot of work put into them in the way of suspension refreshing, rust repair, cleaning, etc. and they both were sold to new owners who are daily driving them.

[gdrumm93]

That brings us to our current build, another 1987, Zinnoberrot 325, 2.7l eta engine, automatic with a black interior. This car had just over 270,000 miles on it when the odometer stopped. Originally the plan was to refresh the original M20 (which has already been done) and leave it stock, but I've decided to do something a bit more exciting with it. I will be swapping an M50B25tu from an E34 525i, and a 5-speed G260 swap as well. In addition to resealing, and doing all the maintence to the engine I will be refreshing the whole car as well. Here are some pictures of the starting point:





It has been repainted, and unfortunately the paint is not in great shape and there is lots of overspray. I'm still debating on what to do with the paint. If it is polished it will look decent and I will definetly clean up the parts that have overspray. I have been working on this car for a little while now so I will post some additional pictures soon.

[gdrumm93]

As I stated before the initial plan was to stick with the M20, so I did the timing belt replacement, water pump, valve adjustment, etc. which is not really relevant to the build anymore. The real work started with this:







I had initially planned on using this engine for parts, that's why there are a few parts removed, but it was in great shape so I decided to use it for this car.

The first step was stripping it down and painting the block:



The bottom end was Plastigaged and everything was within spec:



The oil pump nut was welded on just to be safe:



Oil pan was fully cleaned and powder coated:



Then I began the process of cleaning and powder coating all of the components that bolt on to the engine. It looks a lot better than it did:











I am using a set of M52 headers that I ceramic coated:



Intake manifold before and after a full cleaning:





New OE water pump with metal impeller:



Lots of new gaskets, seals, and o-rings:



Valve cover and oil cap:



Now I have to install the cams and the freshly rebuilt VANOS unit. I am using an M54 330i intake cam and an M50NV intake cam on the exhaust side. I should have an update on that soon so stay tuned!

[bostonvert]

Damm that engine looks good!

[gdrumm93]

Damm that engine looks good!

Thanks, it's turning out pretty nice!

I rebuilt the Vanos with the Beisan Systems seal and rattle kit so it should be working great now:



A few weeks ago I fully rebuilt and powder coated the brake calipers (and of course, installed new lines and pads):



While I was doing an inspection underneath I found some rust under the fuse box. I started cleaning the wheel well and prepping the rust for repair. The fuse box will have to come out to fully fix it. It still needs some work but it's looking a little better now:







I'll be cleaning up the engine bay when I pull the engine, but here is a before shot. It's pretty dirty and there is lots of overspray. I've got my work cut out for me!

[TimeMachinE30]

Looking sharp.

[Sirotto]

War Eagle was the name of my thrash metal band in high school. Love it

[gdrumm93]

War Eagle was the name of my thrash metal band in high school. Love it

Nice, it's the name of the road I'm on which is named after the nearby river.

[Court M3]

Engine looking good, nice to see someone start their own business!

[gdrumm93]

I took some time off over the holidays, but I'm back at it again now. Here are some pictures of what I've been working on lately:

Cylinder head cleaned and ready for cams:



Vanos and cams installed. I used an M54 330i intake cam and a non-Vanos intake cam on the exhaust side.



New plugs were installed of course:



I'll be using pink top injectors from an M52, so I refreshed all of those:



Pulled out the 300K mile eta engine. I'm not sure what will become of it exactly but it does still run:



Dirty engine bay:



Shop kitty:



The engine bay cleaned up pretty nicely. I'm trying to decide whether to cut off the unneeded brackets (expansion tank, air filter housing, coil pack, etc..) or just leave them.



That's it for now. I should be dropping in the engine and swapping in a 5 speed pedal box pretty soon.

[Codym42]

That engine looks great! I've always wondered about that camshaft combo. I'm interested to see how it runs with those.

[gdrumm93]

That engine looks great! I've always wondered about that camshaft combo. I'm interested to see how it runs with those.

Thanks, I'm looking forward to seeing how it performs as well. I'd like to put it on the dyno once it's running to see what kind of numbers it puts down with them. The sad thing is that this is an S50 head and when the previous owner "rebuilt" the engine himself and installed the head, he forgot to lube the cams and he over-tightened them as well. Needless to say, the cams, caps, and trays were destroyed. Here's a picture of one of the trays:

[captain awesome]

Nice work. I need to swing by and check out you guy's shop one of these days. Still have the ignition harness for your Dad, so that's a good reason to make the trip I think.

[gdrumm93]

Nice work. I need to swing by and check out you guy's shop one of these days. Still have the ignition harness for your Dad, so that's a good reason to make the trip I think.

Thanks man, sounds good!

[Cha Ching]

Sub'ing to this. I'm in Springfield, MO. There are a bunch of e30 enthusiasts here (I'm a SoCal transplant) but I haven't found a shop/group/individual that specializes in e30's yet.

I transported my 1988 'vert out here after sitting in Cali for the past 2 years. She burns/leaks oil and had 192k on the broken odometer when I bought her back in 2008. Not sure if I'm going to pull and refresh the motor or just go for a straight swap.

I also have a '92 M Tech that needs a new starter to get rolling. Would love to get some contact info from you for advice/parts, etc.