JackBenny's 1991 318is Project

[BUDNUNTA]

Ive been waiting for this.
Definetly liking those wheels. Nice meaty tire
Once this cars done it will look business.

Im thinking of getting a set of the 16x8 THs

The newer model ones.
Pricey though




Hunter

[jackbenny]

continued...

For some reason I've been struggling with R3V and posting today. It really doesn't like my posts and times out and gives me a 500 error. I'll keep trying to post though....

The remainder of Friday evening was spent preparing the engine bay to receive the S52. There are several spots in the bay that need some paint touchup, more so after the engine went in but on the whole, I was pleased with how it looked given that this was the first time I had actually seen it in person.

We started with everyone's favorite, the ABS pump.



Make sure we have the right bolts.



Cleaned up a bit and it's in.

Next, we elected to install the booster and master cylinder. Man the booster is so much easier to install without a dash in place.



Next some brakelines went in.







Finally, at around 8 that evening, we wrapped the other header.



To hell with those stainless zip ties, they were absolutely worthless. I got some stainless hose clamps and they look cleaner and work much better. Your Mileage May Vary though.

By now, the freezing rain was coming down pretty hard and we only had the glow of my father's BMW emergency flashlight from his 5 series to get us back to the house. We locked everything up and shut down for the night.

And now this posting locking up is driving me crazy, I might wait until later to finish the rest of the updates.

[jackbenny]

Going to brave the dreaded 500 error again...

The next morning we got up early...and realized it was still pretty frickin cold! I went out to the barn around 8 and my father already had the engine on the hoist and separated from the cradle we built for it.

We decided to mount the headers but of course, with these longtubes, there is an interference with the passenger side motor mount, even more pronounced with the addition of the wrapping.





Fortunately, there is a woodshop here and apparently, it is decently insulated. We drilled off the heatsheild and went back to mark if some grinding needed to occur. Sadly, it did but fortunately for us, my grandfather has a drum sander in the shop that just so happened to have roughly the same diameter as the primary pipes. Ferocious sanding ensued...



Just enough for clearance but not enough to take much strength out of the piece. We cleaned up the piece and smoothed it out and then mounted it to the block.



Looks pretty good I thought.

And now the big moment. We prepared the engine bay to protect it as best we could.



And we started lifting the engine to such great heights.



Now, a couple of lessons learned here for those of you preparing to do a motor swap like this. One, put the motor mounts on the engine arms and not the subframe. The way the engine came down for us, it would have slid in much better. Two, remove the AC tensioner as it will get caught on the radiator support. There are pictures later to illustrate this. Many of you won't bother with A/C and that will make life easier for you. For me, this isn't an option. And three, make sure your load leveler is well oiled and lubricated. I will show pictures of the motor going in, but there are quite a few because we struggled getting the load leveler to turn because of this lubrication issue. Just a tip based on learning from my own stupidity. ;)



I would liken this process to feeding a baby food it doesn't like. You'll get there eventually, but it will be a struggle.





"Has it pitched down at ALL?"



"Here comes the airplane coming in for landing..."



Here, we discover the tensioner needs removal.



The oil pan did clear though...



That's better.



It's like legos for big boys!





From this point on, we bolted the engine down with some temp fasteners. The good fasteners hadn't come in yet so we'll swap them out next trip.

We wanted to drop the car onto it's wheels and see what the front looked like. Dad went in to get a snack so I mounted the other wheels to see what it would look like.





And the moment of truth...



mmmm, I can haz touring car?





Oil Pan clearance



Header Clearance



I'll have to work with the exhaust guy to clean that up a bit.



I am super pleased with the wheel fitment.







Amazingly, I clear the swaybar, but I am touching the subframe with the header wrap. I'll space that up a bit in my next visit.







Plenty of space without an intake manifold. :)





At this point, we decided to hook up the remainder of the brake lines and the clutch. We put the car back up on stands, removed the wheels and set to work. We elected to leave the car on stands so it would be easier for my uncle to paint the bottom of the car (rockers, fender lips, etc).











Sad rusty rotors I know. We'll fix that soon.

By now, we were cold but satisfied with the work. We both parted ways and I returned home.

I am sad, that the car didn't get painted but that was quickly replaced with genuine enthusiasm seeing the engine in the car, the wheels finally mounted and the car on the ground. There's some room to play with on the suspension but I like it so far. For now, I have to research shifter carriers. The Z3 M roadster is too long and don't bother with the 318's existing one.

Let's hope the next big update includes paint this time...for real.

[e30guydownunder]

The wheels fit perfect! Good to see you made strong progress even though the weather was against you.

Keep up with it, going to be a seriously well turned out car.

[dude8383]

Quick question, how did you bleed the ABS pump?

[James]

I love the wheels, everything else is looking awesome.

[jackbenny]

Quick question, how did you bleed the ABS pump?

Haven't bled the system yet. I was tired. Regarding the pump, I've been reading up on it but still not sure.

[jackbenny]

The wheels fit perfect! Good to see you made strong progress even though the weather was against you.

Keep up with it, going to be a seriously well turned out car.

Yeah, I got the call late thursday night from my dad as he made it the day before me for a meeting. We looked up on ppg's website to see what the lowest temperature was for the paint system and it was 65 degrees F. We both discussed just trying to heat the car up with halogens and what ever we could find but in the end we decided, nope not worth it. We've got a lot of time invested in body work and I would be super pissed to have it ruined because I tried to rush the paint job. As much as that sucked (I've been waiting for this for what, close to 6 months now?) I knew that if I could get the engine in, I could finally see the wheels on so we pushed that instead.

I still don't know if the rear tires will rub though. I can always pull the spacers out and it would be fine. It looks like the additional work we did there will work but it's going to be close. I'd hate to pull the spacers because it looks so damn good in the back.

When we first dropped it on its wheels, my first reaction was needs more Low. I'll blame this on the VW thread or the stanceworks guys. After looking at it more, I was feeling better about the ride height. When the is lip and the front valence go on it will look real low. I do have some adjustment left in the coilovers though.

I'm sure I'll be ordering a skidplate from ejnight though sometime in the future!

[8380 Labs]

youve made some awesome decisions with this project, the engine bay and wheels look fantastic and will be a blast to drive, great job. :D

you're really making me want to totally tear my car apart.

[Simon S]

Quick question, how did you bleed the ABS pump?

I did some research on this and found:

a) the dealer can do it with special equipment

b) 20+ vigorous pumps on the brake pedal (usually not successful)

c) bleed as best you can - then go do some panic stops. this essentially 'burps' whatever air out of the ABS unit. Bleed again. Done.

From what I've read, 'c' works every time for people.


Bummer about the temps there - that's some crazy shit.

[Farbin Kaiber]

C is the method I would suggest, it should be ok for a 20 year old ABS technology, but newer cars this will not be the best method.

[ZM Blue Devil]

this is awesome. take the weather/temp delay as a blessing. do the things other builders dont because they are rushed for time, just as you have done so far.

As far as the ride height, as im sure you know, once you get the interior, etc in your stance will change.

Awesome work.

[jackbenny]

this is awesome. take the weather/temp delay as a blessing. do the things other builders dont because they are rushed for time, just as you have done so far.

As far as the ride height, as im sure you know, once you get the interior, etc in your stance will change.

Awesome work.

Thanks L. Now that it's starting to look like a car again, the anticipation to get it back on the road is killing me! Regardless, I'm glad it played out this way.

On a completely different note, I spent some time in the 24V forum and the consensus is to use the E36 shifter carrier with the zf. Checking with RealOEM, the M roadster part number is indeed different than the M3 carrier. This would explain why it didn't fit. The good news is that when I plut the 318is carrier up there, it was off by the amounts listed in the threads I read. So an E36 carrier is in order.

I also read about short shift kits. Everyone has them it seems and opinions are varying. I do like the thought of UUC's DSSR but I'm curious if anyone has any opinions on the kits themselves. Rogue, UUC, etc...

[jackbenny]

C is the method I would suggest, it should be ok for a 20 year old ABS technology, but newer cars this will not be the best method.

I've seen that too Farbin. I might take the car to the local independent BMW shop when I get the A/C charged and ask them but I think option C might be my preferred choice for now.

[Farbin Kaiber]

There is another shifter maker that I saw some good things about in the back of many issues of Grassroots Motorsports, I can't remember their name, or product info... Sorry.