The "Aluminum Monster" soon to be iron....

[dhruva]

I bought an E30 that was previously owned by two members of the r3v community (2man & CYN RNS) off of Bring a Trailer and this will be its build thread! I figured it would be fitting since it is getting a new motor and no longer will be the aluminum monster : ). The other thread that Simon (2man) has created for his build will still be updated periodically! Please check out my write up of purchasing this car and then going to Vegas to pick it up and attempt to drive it back to the East Coast:

https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/for...ial-24v/page69

[2mAn]

Seems like a fitting close to that chapter and to begin a new one. Im quite bummed that you had that big headache to start the journey but I think you're on the right path.. maybe the new name is Ironman? or something like that haha

[dhruva]

I appreciate the blessing Simon. I was pretty bummed out too, but hey, as long as the build is moving forward and getting better I am happy. I hope so! I know the path i'm taking isn't what anybody expected for this car but I hope its a fun one. Haha I love that name, I couldn't think of one last night.

[2mAn]

It was pretty wild with ~265bhp, and it should be closer to 300 if not more once you're done... Its going to be even crazier!

BTW the center pad and that little piece should arrive tomorrow!

[ForcedFirebird]

Sub'd

[dhruva]

265?!? Jesus I didn't think these motors could do those kind of numbers without upgraded cams? I know you were running s52 cams and upgraded fuel injectors in the M52 but wow. I hope I can get close to 300. She's going to be wild. Thank you ForcedFirebird :)

[Javier h]

So the M52 blew up? Overheated?

[2mAn]

265?!? Jesus I didn't think these motors could do those kind of numbers without upgraded cams? I know you were running s52 cams and upgraded fuel injectors in the M52 but wow. I hope I can get close to 300. She's going to be wild. Thank you ForcedFirebird :)

The only aftermarket item was the tune. OBD1 intake helps. S52 camshafts and OBD2 pinktop injectors. Thats it. Basically the components of the 'S' motors but 2.8L not 3.0 or 3.2

[ForcedFirebird]

Refresh my memory, 318is radiator and 24v engine?

[2mAn]

Refresh my memory, 318is radiator and 24v engine?

Yup M42 Radiator, with an independently wired Spal fan that would run anytime the thermocouple deemed it necessary whether or not the car was on/running/etc

[MR E30 325is]

Yup M42 Radiator, with an independently wired Spal fan that would run anytime the thermocouple deemed it necessary whether or not the car was on/running/etc

I was never able to make the M42 radiator work with my swapped 318is, even when it had a puny NV M50 in it. Constantly overheated, even with a Spal fan and the AC fan wired to run at the flip of a switch.

Went aluminum Mishimoto and never looked back.

[ForcedFirebird]

Yup M42 Radiator, with an independently wired Spal fan that would run anytime the thermocouple deemed it necessary whether or not the car was on/running/etc

The reason I ask is a local from the county North of us bought a car from a close friend. m50 swapped, m42 rad, e-fan etc, and the same thing happened to him on a 50min drove home - car overheated and compromised the head gasket. I had a spare m50 at the shop, the owner bought it and had us drop it in. Few weeks later it's overheating again, owner didn't stop and tried making it to a station (and not THAT gasket is blown). Now we drop an s50 in it, this time it got a refresh (rebuilt head, all new gaskets etc). A week later - same thing! Overheating after some long driving, it was starting to overheat and was pushing out coolant. Passed coolant pressure testing, head gasket was strong, everything has been refreshed at this point, so I decided it had to be something to do with the system, not the engines.

After much fiddling around with bleeding, diagnosing, running the car through heat cycles in the parking lot etc and figured out what happened. A late model radiator with expansion tank fixed it all. Not that the m42 rad doesn't work, it just has to be constantly monitored for levels.

The m42 radiator fill cap is level with the radiator. If you do a full bleed/burp and top the system off, the cap still continues to bleed coolant out of the system (expanding coolant needs to go somewhere - so it goes out the radiator cap overflow). So, what happens is over time, during driving conditions, anytime the coolant level hits the radiator cap (think driving on a hill, hard brake/accel etc), it spits some out. Eventually the coolant level gets low enough to stop spitting, but now you have air pockets in the cylinder head since the total system level is now lower than the coolant passages in the head.

The coolant cap needs to be the HIGHEST point out of all the passages, hoses etc. This is why m42 radiators on m20's always have issues as the upper radiator hose is actually higher than the engine - but - almost level with the m20 expansion tank cap. This is why the m20 has that coolant bleed balance point that often is remedied by using a funnel to fill, jacking the car up etc.

A little back-story. About 15yr ago my friend had an m30 swapped e30 that would just consistently have overheating issues. Again, tested everything, replaced the head with a fresh machined unit, all new cooling components etc. No matter what we did the car always overheated in short order, specially if he was to do any drifting in it. That stupid car blew a hose when it was at 225°+ and I happen to be leaning over the engine at the time. I was sprayed in my face, and had 3rd degree burns on my neck. Fast FWD several months, owner left his car at the shop to see if I could find anything - during which another client liked, reached out, and purchased the car from the original owner. He also had heating issues. One day about three weeks later called the shop with "FIGURED IT OUT!!!!". I never questioned the original owner since he was a prominent forum member back then (anyone remember Erick in the 04-08' years?), so figured he used the typical recipes. Turned out the expansion tank setup he was using was lower then the upper radiator hose. All the new owner did was raise the expansion tank cap to be the highest point in the system and the car has been ripping like that since - never to have an issue again.

[2mAn]

That cooling system survived 40k+ miles in SoCal, multiple trips to the track, to NorCal (350 miles), trips to Central Cali (300 miles) typically a 90+. Degree temps... just sayin...