Lacey, the Lachssilber 325iS - oem+ 5spd. swap daily driver build

[vtechnik]

Belated update

Where to begin...
Well I replaced my odo gears, I set up my miller maf, and I blew my engine :up:

THIS IS WHERE YOU GET TO CALL ME STUPID.

So when I said "I also swapped out for 5.0 injectors. I should be getting my miller maf kit anyday now" anyday turned into week after week with hardly any contact from miller. 11/10 should've gone with megasquirt.

Anyhow, I daily'd the car on 19lb injectors for a solid month or so on the stock ecu. My rings were shot to begin with so fuel easily washed past the rings into the oil. Finally I got the maf kit but by that time it was a little too late. I ran the miller kit for a week or so before the oil pressure light came on at idle.

I drained the oil to find a lot of metallic glitter and fuel soaked "oil" :)

After replacing the oil, symptoms didn't get better. In fact they progressively got worse until I had no oil pressure at 3k rpm. So I went engine searching and found a 130k mile m20b25 with an 8k mile rebuilt 885 head and paperwork.

20190412_192745 by Ben C, on Flickr

From there I resealed the motor and threw it in with Bruner over the following weekend. Thanks holmes.

20190414_152430 by Ben C, on Flickr

20190414_152448 by Ben C, on Flickr

Out with the old...

20190415_132145 by Ben C, on Flickr

20190416_165408 by Ben C, on Flickr

Swappin parts / resealing

20190415_154000 by Ben C, on Flickr

20190415_153939 by Ben C, on Flickr

Resealed and ready to send

20190416_122205 by Ben C, on Flickr

In with the new-ish...

2019-05-13_10-28-07 by Ben C, on Flickr

20190421_103212 by Ben C, on Flickr

Annnnd the traditional hood less cruise to get the dirt off

20190421_203532 by Ben C, on Flickr


Since then I've gone back to the stock injectors, afm and airbox. the miller maf kit wasn't the product I was expecting I guess.

I also detailed my car since then too :)

20190316_204151 by Ben C, on Flickr

20190316_201437 by Ben C, on Flickr

20190312_150355(0) by Ben C, on Flickr

[jeenyus]

"the Miller MAF kit wasn't the product I was expecting I guess."

You can say that again. What was your issue with it? Mine is the complete lack of customer support when something does actually need their assistance. Or the lack of being able to purchase replacement MAFs? I'm pretty sure only Brody works at that company anymore as I've literally never been in contact with anyone else.

[vtechnik]

My thoughts...
Good:
- little better throttle response
- cool induction sound? If thats your thing

Bad:
- powerband felt like there was more power in some places but also less in other places compared to stock
- virtually no customer service
- the product itself looked like it couldve been made by buying a Chinese maf from autozone and a 3.5 inch pipe from home depot

I went in knowing that i wasn't gonna get a 20hp gain, but for $400 i expected things like quality of service, a pipe that was cut to fit so i could use it with my stock air box, and an afm adapter wouldve been nice. hell for that price throwing in an intake boot would've still netted them a lot profit im sure based on the materials used.

My final thought is, im sure if the thing made my e30 run like a new bmw id still wish i bought a pnp megasquirt for $300 more so maybe im being unfair.

[jeenyus]

My thoughts...
Good:
- little better throttle response
- cool induction sound? If thats your thing

Bad:
- powerband felt like there was more power in some places but also less in other places compared to stock
- virtually no customer service
- the product itself looked like it couldve been made by buying a Chinese maf from autozone and a 3.5 inch pipe from home depot

I went in knowing that i wasn't gonna get a 20hp gain, but for $400 i expected things like quality of service, a pipe that was cut to fit so i could use it with my stock air box, and an afm adapter wouldve been nice. hell for that price throwing in an intake boot would've still netted them a lot profit im sure based on the materials used.

My final thought is, im sure if the thing made my e30 run like a new bmw id still wish i bought a pnp megasquirt for $300 more so maybe im being unfair.

Everything you have said is 100% accurate. For the price I expected it to be quality and work well. I ended up using the pipe they sent and spending more money to create an airbox adapter for the pipe. To be honest I don't know how Miller is still in business. Now I'm in the same boat, saving my monies to buy the MS kit.

[vtechnik]

Alright, I did some work while I was away. I plan on elaborating more later on but for now I'm trying to catch up on everything on my thread before starting the car Friday...

I went ahead and swapped some subframe bushings out

20191203_161532 by Ben Chadwick, on Flickr

Then got another rod knock

20191209_144259 by Ben Chadwick, on Flickr

Then pulled the engine again

20191209_204242 by Ben Chadwick, on Flickr

Since at this point, I can't keep a stock engine alive for very long, I might as well get boost? Solid logic.

20191218_190523 by Ben Chadwick, on Flickr

Then I bought a whole bunch of arp goodies, new bearings, seals, the works. I cleaned it all up and rebuilt my first engine in a classmates garage lol. Hopefully it holds a little pressure.

20200104_224546 by Ben Chadwick, on Flickr

20200114_132347 by Ben Chadwick, on Flickr

Almost as nice as Jordan's hardware, right?

20200109_141136 by Ben Chadwick, on Flickr

20200116_150156 by Ben Chadwick, on Flickr

Bought a NLA new oil pump, a scraper, a baffle, and had a bung welded in by a buddy.

20200220_115838 by Ben Chadwick, on Flickr

20200220_115035 by Ben Chadwick, on Flickr

Reassembled the head and mated the surfaces.

20200213_132805 by Ben Chadwick, on Flickr

20200218_154700 by Ben Chadwick, on Flickr

To which my idea started coming into fruition

20200224_162548 by Ben Chadwick, on Flickr

I'll leave it there for tonight, I'll probably edit this post tomorrow and add more but it's good to start updating again.