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Shedcar - an Early Model M20 Build + Other Stuff

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    #16
    It dawned on me today that, once again, have failed to update a build thread. A fair amount has happened over the last five months or so. It has changed locations in the driveway in order to make a clearer access path in/out of the garage as well as protect it from a particularly annoying black walnut tree. Within the last couple of months, I did sand off and prime over where most of the surface rust was left from the PO's bodywork endeavors. (I guarantee nothing as far as photo quality... these were taken mainly for documentary purposes vs presentation)

    Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

    Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

    The donor is also no longer with us (not that we're missing much.....), I stripped it out this summer. While the shell is gone, I kept anything that could possibly be of use in addition to all of the items that will be necessary.

    Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

    Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

    Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

    Note the test fit of the late valence and bumper in the background..... while I am not big on late tail lights, I seem to have come around to plastic bumpers. Having another car with euros, while nice, made no sense considering I have a complete set of plastics.

    Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

    The shell did donate some usable body pieces, notably the rust-free battery tray (and part of the firewall) which is now in a 325i touring!

    Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

    Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

    Onto a new life as a dishwasher. For perspective, the shell weighed roughly 650lbs when scrapped, there was not much left at all.

    Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

    I then did the right thing after finally clearing out some space.... I bought yet another parts car! This particular example is a 1991 318is slicktop with some...... questionable collision repair. While I like early model tails a lot, this is not a recommended repair method. The right quarter panel wasn't even welded on straight and both of them have 1/4-3/8" of filler in them to make up for the differences in early to late quarters.

    Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

    Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

    The C4 corvette in the background here is currently at a local body shop... pending the results of that, I should now have a place to send the shell to be painted. I'd like to do it, but the lack of a booth makes it essentially impossible.

    Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

    Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

    Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

    I mainly bought this in order to get all of the A/C components for the above mentioned touring (customer car), it was originally a non-A/C example and needs everything in order to have A/C. As it was a sight - unseen purchase, I had no idea if anything else would be useful to me at all. Finding a completely intact (minus front seats and some carpet stains) tan interior was a major score!

    Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

    Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

    Though it has come unglued in a few spots, I'm optimistic that the headliner is saveable. A non-sunroof headliner would be immensely useful for the m50 (eventually m54) coupe.

    Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

    The roof is already spoken for, its worth noting.

    Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

    That essentially brings the thread up to date.
    IMG_0145 by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

    Comment


      #17
      Nice update! When I saw the 318is's rear panel and bumper I was going to say, "That can't be a '91", but then I kept reading. Someone made an interesting choice grafting that onto the car.

      Comment


        #18
        Originally posted by mike.bmw View Post
        Nice update! When I saw the 318is's rear panel and bumper I was going to say, "That can't be a '91", but then I kept reading. Someone made an interesting choice grafting that onto the car.
        You could say that..... its even worse in person. Why exactly someone would do that without the entire quarter panel, I don't know (and that really isn't a good idea either)

        Moving on with the block update format that I seem to have chosen (albeit unintentionally) - Since the last post, my m50 e30 has gained a m54b30. Overall, having done a number of swaps, I would definitely recommend this above all other 24v powerplants. While the S54 definitely has its place for track use, a well sorted b30 (at least to me) is the best balance for a street e30. Dropping ~60lbs off of the front axle made for a nice handling improvement, along with the significant power bump. Unfortunately, the car responded to the swap by puking the contents of the heater core into the floor... on a positive note, the heat is better than ever w/a new core!

        IMG_2543 by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

        I performed a suspension overhaul on my e39 as well, though there really isn't anything photo-worthy there.

        Anyway, back to our regularly scheduled programming. The m42 made it up onto a stand last week.

        IMG_2574 by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

        When tearing it down, there were fortunately not many surprises. As expected, the timing drive components were definitely in need of replacement. There was some leakage of the rear timing case to block gasket allowing for some minor coolant loss as well as the water pump being rather stuck in the cover. Considering that the motor has over 200k on it, it is actually quite decent.

        IMG_2583 by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

        Wonderful leaking timing case gasket

        IMG_2585 by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

        Plastic impeller water pump w/a 1990 date code

        IMG_2581 by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

        Once everything was stripped down, it was time to clean,prepare, and paint the block. I decided to go w/a light silver for better leak visibility in the future.

        IMG_2588 by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

        IMG_2591 by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

        Not pictured are the cleaned parts that were removed from the motor. As part of reassembly, I will have to repair several threaded holes in the upper oil pan as well as valve cover hold down holes in the cylinder head. That will be up next, followed by reassembling the engine.

        Lastly, we move onto... the audio system? I have had a number of aftermarket units over the years, and while some of them have been a solid improvement over stock, that is not what I want here. Seeing as the overall vision of this build is a relatively stock, OEM+ appearance, a stock radio was the only option. Obviously, some modifications would be required to have bluetooth connectivity. There are some BT options for the Alpine CM5908, however I do not have one of those. What I do have is a surplus of Pioneer KE-83ZBMs. What I assumed would be a rather straightforward measure of adding the analog audio output of the BT module to the tape deck input turned out to be a much more involved process. Making a long story short, I ended up using the FM pre-amplifed input channel to accept the new audio feed. In order to retain FM functionality, I needed to design a circuit using a dual pole,dual throw relay to switch between the FM board and the BT input. I should have some relays to work with at the beginning of next week. I'll need to change out the display on this particular unit as well, it is a bit compromised...

        IMG_2592 by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

        IMG_0145 by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

        Comment


          #19
          Man, seeing that 318is with early model tail lights made my head hurt for a second lol. If the deal falls through on that slicktop roof, let me know.

          Can't believe that m42 had the original water pump! That's insane. How do you plan on replacing the timing components? Are the cam sprockets still NLA?
          '90 325i - 5 speed coupe
          '05 330ci 6MT ZHP

          Comment


            #20
            If it does fall through, I'll let you know. Even if it does sell, you'll have a chance for another roof anyway - the buyer wants it in order to make a mold for a carbon roof. The water pump was rather surprising. I'm unsure on the cam sprockets - I'm replacing everything other than those, they were easily the best thing going for the timing drive.
            IMG_0145 by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

            Comment


              #21
              A bit of a mini-update: I recently installed a 3.46 Torsen LSD from a Z3 into the M54 car. While it is definitely yields higher highway cruising RPMs versus the 2.93 open I was previously running, traction under hard acceleration is a definite bonus. The 2.93 was also starting to eat itself, so there's that...

              Moving onto the engine reseal - I ran into a bit of an issue w/that today. Initially, the goal was simply to helicoil the valve cover bolt holes. That, however lead to removing the camshafts and trays in order to ensure that no material ends up stuck underneath them. Consequently, I found this

              IMG_2716 by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

              That is a washer which belongs on the head bolt next to it - note how it is wedged into the cylinder head, next to the valve spring. This, in turn, caused the lifter to contact the washer and take several chunks out of it. As expected, the lifter bore did not respond well to this development and is no longer round.

              unnamed by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

              I have to admit that I am surprised to make this discovery, seeing as the engine ran very well with no valvetrain noise. Needless to say, I'll be tearing it down further to ensure that pieces of the damaged lifter did not do any further damage. After taking those photos, I went ahead and pulled the cylinder head. At least that didn't reveal any more surprises - it'll be making a trip to the machine shop for a thorough inspection soon.
              IMG_0145 by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

              Comment


                #22
                The Small tail light late body still has me itching my head. A real life photochop. Great donor! :)

                I was up above it, Now I'm down in it ~ Entropy - A Build thread.
                @Zakspeed_US

                Comment


                  #23
                  Well... I've again went entirely too long without an update. I actually have significant progress to report this time, both with the e30(s) and other stuff!

                  To begin, I've now had roughly 15 months of enjoyment with the e36. I ended up going with a five speed box due to local availability. It even went to the Vintage this year (even though I had to park in the reject lot across the street)! I have kept it as stock as possible (mostly), minus a Dinan carbon fiber CAI, the aformentioned manual swap, and a Continental headunit (which I would realistically like to see go).

                  Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

                  Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

                  I ended up liking it enough that I bought another half of one (and half of an e30)

                  Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

                  Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

                  This particular ti had a particularly astute caretaker in the form of moatilliatta (You'll probably recognize him for doing significantly higher end stuff than me) and came with a lot of the mods that I would have performed already done. While there are still a few outstanding items left, it has become a particularly excellent DD due to fuel mileage and practicality, among other things.

                  Back to our favorite ex-pine forest vehicle..... Between the time spent in the shed and the previous body work that had been performed, things are not exactly great in the visual appearance department. I have taken it upon myself to correct that issue! While I lack such amenities as an indoor space to perform these tasks, that does not excuse me from having to perform them. Thus, I give you the driveway - refinished front end!

                  Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

                  Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

                  While definitely not perfect it is perfectly acceptable for a car that I actually intend to drive. Bonus shot of a portion of my dad's C3 hoard undergoing an exhaust build

                  Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

                  Onto the depressing yet beneficial (at least for me) portion of this update - I did a rebuild on a stock 2.5l i m20 for a friend's eta earlier this year. After performing the rebuild, he had an enjoyable 1500mi.... until he had an unfortunate meeting with a tree. While it was the end of his tenor in e30 ownership (at least for now), it is the beginning of my journey into the world of the m20 e30. I have been involved with e30s for around 12yrs now but have never actually owned an m20 car... definitely looking forward to it, though it is a rather disappointing way to get one.

                  It is worth noting that no one was injured in this, surprisingly

                  Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

                  Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

                  Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

                  Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

                  Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

                  Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

                  That's it for now..... I'm aiming to strip the new donor down this week. Ideally the motor goes directly into shed e30, I have new motor mounts/arms on hand as well as a spare g260 (this one has the super-desirable windowed bellhousing!)


                  IMG_0145 by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

                  Comment


                    #24
                    I for one am glad that cars are safer than they used to be, lol. Lucky he didn't have a passenger
                    sigpic

                    (clicky on piccy to get to thread)

                    Comment


                      #25
                      Great to meet you, man! Excited to see your progress on the m20 swappy swappy.
                      1990 Brilliantrot 325iS Build Thread
                      1989 Zinnoberrot M3 Build Thread

                      Comment


                        #26
                        Originally posted by econti View Post
                        I for one am glad that cars are safer than they used to be, lol. Lucky he didn't have a passenger
                        Yeah….. at least e36s are somewhat better?! They’re the newest thing I have after selling my e39 a couple of months ago.
                        IMG_0145 by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

                        Comment


                          #27
                          Originally posted by AWDBOB View Post
                          Great to meet you, man! Excited to see your progress on the m20 swappy swappy.
                          It was good to meet you as well! I’m definitely happy w/the 2.79 I picked up from you, put a few hours of run time on it last weekend.
                          IMG_0145 by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

                          Comment


                            #28
                            That’s a good hit. I’ve seen a few E30’s stopped by trees.

                            interestingly I was thinking in my head a few months ago while making clearance for my tires that they could come right though the foot wells. And there you go. Defiantly motivated to fit a tidy street cage.

                            I was excited to see the M42 power plant working!

                            I was up above it, Now I'm down in it ~ Entropy - A Build thread.
                            @Zakspeed_US

                            Comment


                              #29
                              Originally posted by moatilliatta View Post
                              That’s a good hit. I’ve seen a few E30’s stopped by trees.

                              interestingly I was thinking in my head a few months ago while making clearance for my tires that they could come right though the foot wells. And there you go. Defiantly motivated to fit a tidy street cage.

                              I was excited to see the M42 power plant working!
                              After seeing this, I would say you’re right on wanting one. Some extra support there would not be a bad idea

                              Admittedly, I was as well. It’s machined and ready for assembly (provided I buy the parts that I do not yet have), so I expect it’ll find its way into another chassis eventually
                              IMG_0145 by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

                              Comment


                                #30
                                Not really much of an update, but I did get the trailer moved into position and will be doing disassembly tomorrow. A few photos....

                                Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

                                Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

                                I had to employ the power pole in in order to begin cutting the core support out.... goal is to cut the right front shock tower off completely.

                                Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

                                Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

                                Untitled by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

                                I did get the bumper off as well though it was dark by then..... aiming to get the driveline out tomorrow and assess from there.
                                IMG_0145 by Jonathan Martin, on Flickr

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