The Blunderwagon - 89 325iX touring 3.1L stroker

[kronus]

Yup, aware of the hole issue. What is needed with the pressure switch hole? I was figuring it didn’t need messing with.

I do have yet another ix block that’s empty that I can use for measuring/comparing. I don’t want to disassemble the whole rotating assembly though. Really hoping to not have to do a whole motor build.

[nando]

IMO rather than do all of that, i would just use the ix block.. you also need to do something about the big hole where the external oil pressure valve is on the RWD block, and there's no pre-cast spot for the dipstick hole on the RWD block either.

[kronus]

Did Eric already sell the motor in his car? :p JK

He did sell me this motor, but it’s not the one in his car. That one is nice, I drove it some.


No 318ti here, dailying the touring for some dumb reason.

The block should be convertible to awd. I’ll need to swap the IMS, install the ix oil pump, plug the old dipstick hole, drill a new one in the provided boss, push a sleeve in, and drill some new holes for the oil pan. I think. This hasn’t been documented well so I will need to do some original research and take photos.

[Julien]

that block looks a little different than an IX block. The dipstick placement seems off... I'm sure that's less important, but will everything match up with the front diff?

it's a RWD block, but apparently they can be made to work in a 325ix. 325ix blocks, however, cant be made to work in a 325i.

[jeenyus]

that block looks a little different than an IX block. The dipstick placement seems off... I'm sure that's less important, but will everything match up with the front diff?

[2mAn]

got rod knock above 3500, part throttle, ratatatat. brought this home today:



..which is a bimmerheads 3.1 stroker, from a RWD car.

Did Eric already sell the motor in his car? :p JK

[wworm]

oooooohhhhh shit

are you also dailying a 318ti?

[kronus]

That suspension issue kinda sounds like how my car was when i got it, idk if youve already done it but check the upper spring perches, mine were collapsed and hitting the strut mount, didnt look bad when i picked up the car. They should look like a bowl, not flat

I had a go at tightening all the stuff involved in the driver's strut, and found nothing loose. Might be the balljoint


update:

drove it. parked it on streets.



got rod knock above 3500, part throttle, ratatatat. brought this home today:



..which is a bimmerheads 3.1 stroker, from a RWD car.

[2002tiiguy]

That suspension issue kinda sounds like how my car was when i got it, idk if youve already done it but check the upper spring perches, mine were collapsed and hitting the strut mount, didnt look bad when i picked up the car. They should look like a bowl, not flat

[jeenyus]

BUT, when it runs right and everything works you seem to forget how frustrating all the extraneous work was.

[kronus]

it was supposed to be a couple short hours in the shop this weekend doing brakes, but, the blunderwagon makes its own work.

done:
- installed rebuilt front calipers, new centric rotors, SS lines
- new clutch slave, soft line and hard line
- new fuel filter
- new motor mounts

short list, huh? of course, since this was the blunderwagon, this ended up being a 12 hour day and then 4 hours the following morning. all the brake hardware is rusted to hell. I twisted the front passenger hard line in half trying to loosen the fitting, and had to replace the entire hard line from the ABS unit to the wheel well. absolutely everything was rusted or botched in some horrible way.

being covered in brake fluid for hours at a time while up to the shoulders in an AWD engine bay with the motor lifted with a sketchy trans jack above my face is my idea of hell.

anyway. it works better now.

[kronus]

I haven't really figured out the build details yet. since it's a street car I don't really want a super crazy build I can't smog and struggle to keep gas in (and running), but some extra added power would be nice.

[AWDBOB]

I see you're using CAD to prepare your patch panels.

Man....a thought popped in my head today that went something like, "well, I can't daily a regular iX because of space, maybe an iX touring would be an acceptable replacement for my Subaru!"

And then I read this thread and immediately changed my mind. As always, great work. I'm glad to see this thing saved, and am excited to see where you go with it.

What are you thinking for the engine build? I very badly want to see a 2.9L with the 85mm IE 'ultimate' Mahles/135mm rods/M52b28 crank.

[wworm]

good news! it's a driver!


- rod knock above 4500, probably :(

time to write bimmerheads an email..

:devil: :devil: :devil:

[D.Martijn]

Looks great so see it out in the wild instead of the shop. Although seeing that list it looks like it will see the shop some more..