My first project car "Ellie"

[Slybeanx]

So I pulled the M30 head, intake, electronics and all the accessories. Head looks minty fresh, bottom end not so much but I think still looks solid. No scoring in the bored and every single bolt on the engine was hand tight or worse. Not one was torqued to spec besides the camshaft nut (is it 40mm? It’s fricking HUGE).

car idles great now, wheels were too tight on the calipers so I actually wasn’t able to drive it. None of the local stores had spacers so I had to order them. Needs about 5-10MM. Otherwise here’s a little photo dump.

[Slybeanx]

Can someone just comment if they can actually read my Megasquirt files? Trying to figure out how to upload them. My idle is god awful and I was hoping someone could look at my tune. My wideband readings dont even make sense to me as they go from 13.3 to 16.9 then to 10 within miliseconds and flat line. I advanced timing in hopes of trying to lower my RPMS by 1k but im afraid of advancing it too much.

I guess it doesnt hurt to go back and reread the manual + MS forums and maita forums.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1MxQHxds5efjJtVPSltutMkpeH505gNDs

[Slybeanx]

Installed my Shadowline Motorsport’s R8 LEDs and I cannot recommend them enough. Finally being able to see will be a huge plus, very bright compared to the ebay special the PO had. I went with the 6K slightly blue color. Wiring was simple, I cut the stock housing about an inch in diameter to allow for the larger box attached to the wires.

going to take these out late one night go to my local gym parking lot and see what the light distribution is and if it’s blinding to oncoming traffic. Better safe then sorry.

[Slybeanx]

Megasquirt installed and the car runs! Idles very high at like 1200 RPMs and is super rich. Unfortunately it seems my AFR from 14point7 doesnt appear to be working. Tried wiring into the harness next to the stock plug.
Maybe someone could give me a point as to where i went wrong.

This is the wiring chart for the O2 sensor.
I tied the Red 12v to the stock Green/blue.
Black went to the brown ground wire.
White went to a bolt on the chasis.
Green went to black for the signal.
I then wired the green wire inside the glovebox to my AFM gauge, drew the power from the cig lighter and grounded to the chassis. I only get 10AFR from both MS and my guage. My O2 is covered in soot so I know its really rich.

This is the 13point7 wiring diagram
Wire Color Name Connects to Note Red Power Switched 12[v] Use fuse holder, 12[v] should be live only when engine is running Black Electronics Ground Ground Ground where interfacing device is grounded
White Heater Ground Ground Ground to chassis or engine block
Green Linear Output Interfacing device; ECU/Gauge/datalogger/etc… 0[v] @ 0.68 [Lambda] Linear to 5[v] @ 1.36 [Lambda], equivalent to 10-20 [AFR] for gasoline fuel
Brown Simulated Narrowband Output Stock ECU if Lambda sensor replaces stock Narrowband sensor Stops Stock ECU from throwing out a Check Engine Light when Narrowband sensor is not detected. Switch point @ 1 [Lambda], equivalent to 14.7 [AFR] for gasoline fuel
Blue or Orange Sensor Temperature LED Output Long lead on LED to Blue wire.

Stock wiring diagram- http://www.megasquirt.325ix.com/MS_t...to_E30_O2.html

Maybe ive not calibrated it correctly. Going to try again to set it up tonight.


Late night edit: figured out I wired the brown narrowband signal wrong. Going to try again tomorrow!

whodwho has been very helpful in giving me tips. Slowly learning more about it all and I think my O2 is working but I’m just uber rich. Gotta lean it out, so more reading on Tuning!

[Slybeanx]

Lastly I’ve been trying to figure out megasquirt on my car. Bought a PNP from whodwho, running a 14point7 AFM and O2 wideband. E36 TPS needs to be calibrated still, I think I can run my stock coolant temp right? Then just a GM IAT needs to get wired in somewhere.

future projects rn are tuning, getting my M30 fixed (leaked everywhere today), and buying paint! I’m going to learn how to paint a car! Or at least try lol. Might just stick to a few panels. What’s the recommendation for paint? There’s a local Sherman Williams that will paint match

[Slybeanx]

Otherwise interior is all back together and working. Ran new wire and installed a new HU, speakers and sub. First time doing any of that and honestly it was super easy once I figured out what amp to run the Sub. The sub is kinda quiet behind the back seat so i may look for a ski pass.

[Slybeanx]

Interesting fix for rust from my dad who apparently did something similar in the 80s for his rusted out beetle. Aluminum sheet, Roof caulk, weather resistant Gorilla tape and the bondo underneath finished with por-15. We’ll see if it lasts.

(my choice was welding in metal but he doesn’t wanna do that for some unknown reason)

[Slybeanx]

And I added some Shadowline Motorsport LEDs in both high and low beams. Going to see if I can get both sets to stay on together.

[Slybeanx]

So I found some rust.... apparently this is a common area for it to sprout up. Hard place to fix it and since I can’t weld I’m kind of at a loss on how to properly get in there and fix all of the corrosion.

also as I was wiring up an M50 TPS for Megasquirt my throttle body mounting point broke off. Thankfully one of the members here in Md had many parts I needed to fix up the car so I drove to get them!

finally I got the carpet out and died black, pulling about 75 pounds of trunk rubber out of the car was fun. Most of it came off in about two massive chunks so I didn’t see the need for dry ice. I’ve put kilomat most places and am starting to wire in speakers etc. I can’t for the life of me get the head unit wired up... can’t tell if the issues my wiring connections, the wires being wrong or something else.

[Slybeanx]

Pulled the carpet because the rats nest of wiring doesn’t correspond to any of the wiring charts I’ve found. None of it seems to make sense so I’m running new wires, going to pick up a sub and an amp and go from there. Interior was pulled and looked FANTASTIC for what I was expecting.

there were three rust holes, a minor one on the passenger side, slight rust on the accelerator and a decent sized hole on the drivers side. POR-15 the whole lot while I figure out how to fix it since I can’t weld.

taking recommendations on subs and amp combos as I’ll be doing research tonight.

[Slybeanx]

I am also using this as a wiring diagram, http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f3...nedImage-9.jpg

And it has been VERY helpful haha. Longest part was actually finding the diagrams for the wires, taking it apart and connecting them is a breeze. First time doing electrical work since by Physics class in HS.

[Slybeanx]

Had some fun with the wiring and putting In a new radio plus updating the speakers with kickers and some alpine in the back. Love figuring out wiring harness etc it’s a real blast....

Also took apart my M30 a bit, so far everything has looked fantastic on the Inside and absolutely horrible on the outside. It’s coated in like dirt etc. also found a weird plate between my motor arms and the engine that looks like someone was making a home made swap.

finally I started swapping my ECU with a whodwho PNP. As you can see I enjoy starting 3 projects and swapping between them throughout the day. I forgot to buy a GM IAT kit tho so I need to figure that whole thing out. Everything else is going smoothly, tomorrow should be finishing up the speakers and wiring. Might be able to finish most of the PNP, but I don’t understand what some of the plugs for it are, I know the MAP sensor is one, and the tuning port is another, but that leaves two ports....

[Slybeanx]

TIL I can just copy and paste images into the text body and it works just fine. LMK if the images are massive (they are literally 18x the size when I go to edit but look fine when I save and just view it.

Also M30 finally came home and I sprayed my taillights. I dislike red lights, might be too uneven and dark for me, but I like it more than stock. visibility at night is not effected at all when braking etc

https://imgur.com/a/7BOPcM0

Video of me hooning around w no hood when I was trying to figure out why my car didnt run right

[jeenyus]

Has anyone used these mounts? I've seen no reviews for them, but they are cheaper than the other 300$ option..... https://e30goodies.com/product/m30-engine-mounts-e30/

Trying to get my E30 back on the road soon and start prepping parts for m30 swap. Going to order motor arms soon.

Edit: Bought them lets see how they look!

https://www.garagistic.com/products/e30-m30-mounts

Well these are made in the USA... also in Merica money, plus cheaper.

[Slybeanx]

Dad did some work over the past weeek, all new hubs, rotors, rebuilt calipers etc.

I was considering having the calipers painted red to go with the red theme of the car but decided my car aint a sports can and doesn't need flashy calipers. Going to be taking the carpet out and do some rust repair on the car. I know there is some near the circle parts under the body (idk what to call them). They have some rust on the outside showing through the original coating.

Also this happened.... https://imgur.com/a/g5hGPkJ?s=sms

I know I've asked a few questions and dont get many responses but I'll hope maybe someone more experience will be able to chime in.
In the next week im going to be heading home for spring break and will try to get 40-50 hours in with work on the car and maybe even do a little youtube video or two on the work. My question is if I'm pulling the carpet to do rust repair, swapping in the MS unit from whodwho finally, adding E36 tps/ deleting AFM, is there anything I should do while I'm in there? For MS I havnt read anything that seems super common or important, just looking to get it installed and tuned on a base map and start on learning how to do that.

And with removing the carpet I figure ill start upgrading/ refreshing the cars audio system. I've totally messed up my head unit wiring and actually just had to cap the wires and leave it a mess as I was so confused what some of the wires were. Figure I might add some sound deadening to the center of the car under the carpet to help reduce trans noise from the poly bushings. The car is too loud for most people and its actually hard to have a conversation without yelling.

Copped some kicker 5 1/4 speakers for the back.

Parts ive bought and yet to install - Wind splitters/ driver fender (needs paint)/ MegaSquirt/ E36 TPS/ Ebay latvian special Side skirts/ speakers