My Hoopte30 Project Attempt #6 - the painless way to earn cash back every day

[2mAn]

My favorite wheel for an E30

[AWDBOB]

Italvolanti back in hoopty. This cockpit is beginning to feel like home!

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

[AWDBOB]

Agree 100% on Hoopties!

I got my first "when are you going to paint it" question about mine recently. Maybe some day, but it's really nice to not have to worry about it.
Park it anywhere, drive it on dirt roads, not care if the kid leans his bike against it.

Your's looks great, paint is baking off nicely.

Yes!! I brought the car to a local open house recently and got the 'when will you paint' question quite a bit. It is a nice position to be in, to get to enjoy the car without major concern, but also being able to make the car nice in other ways so that if the opportunity for paint ever arose, the car would be a paint job/body work away from being a very much non-hoopty.

Thats nearly COTM worthy! lol Your list of COTM candidates went from Linda... to the M3... to the Hoopty. If you stall long enough who knows what it will be

Sent you a message!!! Long live the hoopty. When I make it go faster and put a not red valence on it she'll be COTM ready.

How did you know that your head gasket was the culprit for overpressurising your coolant system? I kind of suspect mine is doing the same because I got dried up coolant around the edges of the hoses

I killed a brand new water pump, 2 good used heater valves (ouch $$), and pretty much anything else coolant related before I realized the car was building an insane amount of coolant pressure.

The car doesn't get hot, and runs VERY well, but the system builds and holds pressure in the cooling system, so much so that the air accumulates in the coolant resevoir and pushes the coolant level out of the reservoir so I have to constantly burp the air out. If I don't burp it and drive the car, and pull the reservoir cap even multiple days after I've last driven the car, it still has pressure in the system. The coolant is also gross from combustion. All signs point to combustion side HG leak, to me.

I got possible roof rack that'll could possibility toss on. The are you going to paint it gets old. Car is getting great character, enjoying it. Be cool to see what numbers that head makes.

You should!!! Roof rack just raises the level of hoopty functionality. I can't wait until I have to make a large home goods purchase, because I am going to use this to fetch whatever it is. Buy a grill? I've got a roof rack sonnie, back off with your SUV

Yes, still up in the air about the head. I decided I don't want to put it on the stock bottom end, as the head was cut quite a bit in the past, so don't want to chance hurting it with stock bottom end, and then have to cut it again. Makes way more sense to save it for when I build this 2.9L. But, hoopty head gasket is getting bad enough to where I feel I should stop driving it before I make something worse, so I ultimately need to make a decision soon.

I have a car itch in the worst way possible right now (yes, I know, I have 153429847 projects)..... but I haven't had a go-fast car in a while. Thinking turbo hoopty may be the ultimate form, deeming that head unnecessary. We shall see.

[moatilliatta]

I got possible roof rack that'll could possibility toss on. The are you going to paint it gets old. Car is getting great character, enjoying it. Be cool to see what numbers that head makes.

[efficient]

How did you know that your head gasket was the culprit for overpressurising your coolant system? I kind of suspect mine is doing the same because I got dried up coolant around the edges of the hoses

[2mAn]

Thats nearly COTM worthy! lol Your list of COTM candidates went from Linda... to the M3... to the Hoopty. If you stall long enough who knows what it will be

[Poorhouse]

Agree 100% on Hoopties!

I got my first "when are you going to paint it" question about mine recently. Maybe some day, but it's really nice to not have to worry about it.
Park it anywhere, drive it on dirt roads, not care if the kid leans his bike against it.

Your's looks great, paint is baking off nicely.

[AWDBOB]

Trying to expand into the 5/6er world for the parts bizz..... ended up with a manual 533 partsie as well!

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr


But the real man of the hour is hoopty. I love this car. Its the best car..... ever. If you haven't ever had a hoopty, my oh my would I recommend it.

Finally got my rockymount setup on the car so it now covers biking duty!! Still going strong with leaky HG

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

[AWDBOB]

what valve sizes does the head have and and are they compatible with the IE piston pockets?

you should try and get the porting gains quantified on a flow bench combine that with some measurements e.g. throat diameter , port entry area, min cross section at apex to short side where its closest to the roof and guide.

Are you going to run ITB with it? The stock fanimold will do its best to nullify any improvements

They look like stock size valves, just nice light Ferrea's, but I didn't actually measure them.

I toyed with doing a silicone mold of the ports and getting it on a flow bench, but the reality of it all is that it'll likely never happen, as it just consumes resources that are more importantly spent elsewhere.

Doesn't help that I have nine (yes, 9) E30 project cars at the moment. Before I buy those IE pistons I was going to measure the valves at the very least. Custom pistons from Steve at TEP are the same price as the IE pistons so I also toyed with that, but those guys are so backed up right now I figured the IE off the shelf Mahle options were ideal.

No plans for ITB... keep it simple stupid has been my mentality to actually get things done and in the car, and then from that point can add ITBs later on. Love the idea of it all, but the actual get the project done and in the car game plan usually wins out, and the fancy stuff falls by the wayside.

There used to be pics of some of Knight Engines' ported heads on some forum, (pretty sure he/they did Rob's car) and they were pretty extreme looking.

Edit: NVM it's still up with at least some of the pics:

https://www.speed-talk.com/forum/vie...31132&start=75

Killer link- I was actually looking for that to post with the cylinder head pics but couldn't find it! Certainly a good reference to have in here.



I got a big 6! Yanking drivetrain before selling the rolling shell to a buddy for a grand touring project. Nice to have something different roll through the garage.

Excited to see what trans is in it. It's an '83 633csi which I thought came with a 4sp, but its' a 5sp car. Would be a huge bonus if it's a g265.

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

[Northern]

There used to be pics of some of Knight Engines' ported heads on some forum, (pretty sure he/they did Rob's car) and they were pretty extreme looking.

Edit: NVM it's still up with at least some of the pics:

https://www.speed-talk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=31132&start=75

[digger]

what valve sizes does the head have and and are they compatible with the IE piston pockets?

you should try and get the porting gains quantified on a flow bench combine that with some measurements e.g. throat diameter , port entry area, min cross section at apex to short side where its closest to the roof and guide.

Are you going to run ITB with it? The stock fanimold will do its best to nullify any improvements

[AWDBOB]

So that head is worth 350WHP with correct internals?


Edit - Great vintage pics! :)

Hey thanks- wish we could’ve cruised- there’s always next year!!

and re: 350whp……… if I was a bettin’ man, I wouldn’t be putting any money on that figure, lol. But after experiencing Linda with head work, having another cylinder head that has some decent port work gets me jazzed for the future of hoopty.

[moatilliatta]

So that head is worth 350WHP with correct internals?


Edit - Great vintage pics! :)

[AWDBOB]

Hoopty's gettin' some fixin's!

So....last year or so, I ended up with an exact clone of the "highest HP M20 engine". This one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAHlvU6VSy0

It's a 2.8L M20 with a ton of head work, 14:1 pistons and a bunch of other stuff. My buddy wanted the motor, but didn't want to put pistons in it or run standalone, so after selling him the motor, I ended up building him a different, more streetable stroker m20, that he'd be waaay happier with..... which means I ended up with the crazy 2.8.

In a recent turn of events with Hoopty's head gasket diagnosis, I recently found a new in box, non-reground 272 cam in the haul from Mississippi, and took the worked head off of the 14:1 compression motor and took it to the engine Yoda Mr Kevin to have it gone through to see what it was all about.

He said it looked like the head was sent off to have the port work done, and he noted the port work is very nice, and the parts used were all of high quality. They're top of the line Ferrea valves with stems cut down, Ti retainers, and a bunch of other neat stuff. BUT, he said the head was obviously not assembled by the same guy who did the port work. The valves were too long, eccentrics all messed up, springs shimmed weird, and a ton of other small stuff that needed to be fixed.

So after a clean bill of health, hoopty now has a new cylinder head to throw on the stock bottom end! I've had a megasquirt kit hanging around for hoopty for ages, so once I get this head on, I'm going to convert it over to standalone and see how it runs with a fancy head on a stock bottom end.

Got a head gasket, head bolts (finally available again!!) and heater valve from the dealer to complete the setup.

This brings me to the future of hoopty..... I have said spare 2.8L bottom end that needs pistons... the IE Ultimate Street Stroker 2.9L Mahle pistons just so happen to be the perfect choice, as they'll drop right onto the M52b28 crank and 135mm carillo rods with a rebore to 85mm!! So I'll be building that up on the side.

I also have THREE turbo kits that I got with the Mississippi haul, as well as ARP studs, Spec Turbo Clutch, etc etc, so whenever I get around to turning the 2.8 into a 2.9, I'm going to turbo the car using whatever setup I end up keeping around. I assume that'll be in a year or so.

Anyway, figured you guys would like to see this cylinder head, as we all drool over M20s with head work. Should be a blast!

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

[AWDBOB]

FIRST VINTAGE TRIP WAS A SUCCESS!!!

On Wednesday night at 5:30p, hoopty was still fully apart. I had just sealed up the new water pump the night before, and had 5-6hrs Wednesday night to put the car back together for the caravan the following morning with the Rivertown Gear Busters down to Hot Springs, to meet up with Simple_Smith, JakeB and Tim, who caravanned down from Michigan.

No HVAC box, no dash, carpet, etc etc. I somehow pulled it off, and was bleeding coolant by 11:30pm.

The trip down was flawless, and the trip was a blast. We stayed in Hot Springs, and Corey showed me the ropes of NC back road ripping. Out of all of the cars that I've had over the years, this is the most intentional seat time I've ever had in an E30, and it was incredible.

Unfortunately, part of the way through the trip, I discovered that my cooling system was pressurizing due to a small internal leak in the HG. The car held steady temps and performed great the whole weekend, and didn't pop a radiator line until I got home. It was pressurizing the system so much that the air was building up in the coolant res and pushing the coolant down throwing on a low coolant light. On the way home, I kept burping the system of the air at the top and made it home! This explains why I've gone through two heater valves and a water pump already. Sorry Febi for talking smack on your water pumps, when the fault was my own, lol.

We barely spent any time at the show on Saturday, but turbo'd Jakes 02 in the parking lot of the Clarion Friday night. Drove it there sans turbo, drove it back to Hot Springs at 3am making 4psi.

Overall an amazing trip, and can't wait to do it again next year.

As for hoopty, I have so many other projects that need to be finished up first that I won't be fixing the car any time soon, but have some cool things plan in the engine department.

Anyway, here are some photos!


When I started working the night before I left.

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr


Repaired a ton of hacked wiring down in the drivers footwell, a pillar and passenger footwell. And fixed my cruise by bypassing the clutch switch, so I had cruise the whole way down!

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

Carpet in

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr


New HVAC box foam, r134 expansion valve, green orings, and new OEM heater valve

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr


HVAC box In

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr



Ready to rip!

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr






Vintage photo dump


Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr