Long Time Dream Fulfillment: E30 Street and Track Car Combo

[CubbyChowder]

everything forward of the MAF is not subject to CARB regulation for OBD1. If your ref is telling you something different, they are wrong and should consult their documentation.

I went through my S50 CARB with a cone filter on the front of the MAF.

surprised you're getting dinged on the coolant sensor, too. that's just nitpicking.

See, that’s what I thought. I have heard this from others too and the ref even said when I first showed up that he knows about the throttle body heater system and that he wasn’t going to nitpick it if I didn’t have it. Then, he discussed with his “higher up” about the heater and was told that it needed to be there, as well as the OEM airbox. I can research this but do you by chance have any resources or documentation that I could use to dispute this with them? I tried looking at some point and couldn’t find much.

As for the sensor, it dawned on me yesterday that I wouldn’t have been able to just run the OBD2 sensor with a harness adapter like I originally thought. I forgot that I have to run the E30 brown top sensor to work correctly with my gauge, so that OBD2 sensor would only allow me to utilize the DME reading. I would’ve had to drill/tap the head anyways since I need to keep the TB heater bung. Hope that makes sense.

[kronus]

I go home and reluctantly spend $400 on a K&N CARB legal intake system, and eventually spend a day fitting it to the car, installing the whole TB heater system, etc. I had to order a shorter filter from K&N in order to fit in the engine bay, so crossing my fingers he doesn't discover that somehow. Had to modify quite a bit of the "airbox" but did my best to make it look unmodified.

everything forward of the MAF is not subject to CARB regulation for OBD1. If your ref is telling you something different, they are wrong and should consult their documentation.

I went through my S50 CARB with a cone filter on the front of the MAF.

surprised you're getting dinged on the coolant sensor, too. that's just nitpicking.

[CubbyChowder]

2mAn - I'm like 95% there! Haha, so close. I won't give up on it.

OSAH racing - Yeah, you are totally right, BUT like you said, I'm almost through it. I knew it had potential to be a complicated process. Anyways, as for the E36 track car, I actually ended up selling it in December. I hadn't been able to do a track day in over a year and I'm saving up to buy a Ford Transit van this year for work (carpentry). Also, the car was actually in that perfect sweet spot of being prime to sell. Everything worked, consumables like brakes/tires still had life left, I hadn't spun it into a wall. I will say though, that car was such a blast on track and I would recommend you get one 100%

[OSAH racing]

Jumping on the negative rant with you. I ditched my M50,318i racecar for an M42 because of the CARB & AQMD rules. It really is frustrating since the rules are convoluted. If this was just about air quality the participants could simply build the engine system to not pollute beyond the limits. Just to drive this point home, a well design turbo kit can clean up exhaust pollution on most engines. Your almost done and the experience is worth it.

I am down for any e36 updates. I am grabbing a good e36 325/8 with LSD Track car for me next year.

[2mAn]

Don’t give up because you’re so close! I got really frustrated with the BAR process in mine but I had way too many variables that I was playing with. Wish I had the gumption to just stick with it

[CubbyChowder]

Well..... over a year since my last update, and a pretty frustrating one at that. Sorry but I'm gonna complain quite a bit here.

Got everything buttoned up, car ran and drove great and it was time to take it to get BAR'd. Referee seemed chill and enthusiastic at first, said he wasn't going to worry about the throttle body heater system being deleted, but then eventually changed his tune 100% and said I needed the entire throttle body heater system plus an OEM E36 airbox in order to integrate the TB heater thermostat. Since there was no room whatsoever with the ABS pump sitting right where the airbox would go, he said "I'm sorry, but that's what you need". So his logic was to either delete the ABS altogether or relocate the pump in order to accommodate the big air box so that I could run the throttle body heater which is so counter intuitive.

Eventually, after some lengthy back and forth he finally mentions that I could consider sourcing a CARB legal intake kit for a 1995 M3 that utilizes the TB heater thermostat. They would allow that. So that seemed like my only feasible option.

After that, the car actually failed smog at idle so that was another issue to address.

I go home and reluctantly spend $400 on a K&N CARB legal intake system, and eventually spend a day fitting it to the car, installing the whole TB heater system, etc. I had to order a shorter filter from K&N in order to fit in the engine bay, so crossing my fingers he doesn't discover that somehow. Had to modify quite a bit of the "airbox" but did my best to make it look unmodified.

As I'm wrapping it all up, I decide to pull the plugs to do a compression test and discover coolant puddled up in CYL 4. At that point I knew either the head was cracked or head gasket was blown, so I made the decision to just go ahead and pull the head and see what's going on:




Sure enough, cracked head in CYL 4 chamber which is probably why this engine was for sale in the first place, even though it was said to be a healthy engine.



I spent the better part of the last year trying to find a good OBD1 head to replace this one. Bought one that ended up being cracked too. Bought another one from a "reputable" shop in Alabama that specializes in refurbishing these heads that ended up being a basket case and turned into a whole debacle that resulted in a PayPal dispute. That was a nightmare.

Started buying parts for the job and kept getting head gaskets stuffed into boxes that were too small from FCP Euro (3 separate head gaskets showed up bent and damaged and I eventually gave up with them):




Let it sit for a couple months and then got anxious to get it back together, so I started searching again. After finding pretty much nothing, I ended up paying WAY more than I was hoping to on an S52 head that was redone by a race shop up in Berkeley, CA. Work seems solid and I don't blame them for their prices, it just seemed like my only option at this point:



BUT, being an OBD2 head, there are only two threaded holes under the intake whereas OBD1 has three holes (OBD1 used two separate coolant temp sensors plus TB heater bung, OBD2 used one sensor and TB heater bung). My BAR Ref told me I can't use the OBD2 sensor with wiring adapter for my OBD1 harness (even though it would achieve the exact same thing) so now I have to take that fresh head to my local machine shop and have them drill and tap another hole for the additional coolant temp sensor. So that's next on my to do list.

Man, this entire post is literally just me bitching and complaining. I'm sorry, I don't want to come off that way. I'm just frustrated and honestly regretting this whole BAR legal S50 endeavor at this point. Motivation to work on this is super low and I'm feeling salty with how this whole process has gone down but the only way to get through to the other side is spend the money, do the work and get it to pass. So, hopefully within the next few weeks I can get it all sorted and behind me!

[CubbyChowder]

Time for another update. Going to be quite picture heavy.

Good news: the engine runs! Was able to just transfer my existing wiring harness from the M50 (It's an E34 harness), install the EWS delete chip in the S50 DME and it fired right up! Well, not really. I was trying to do myself a favor and ended up causing a rookie mistake that wasted about 5 hours of my Monday haha. When pulling the M50, I made a note of which fuel line goes to the front and back of the fuel rail. Turns out I fucked that up, because I had them backwards and was trying to figure out why my injectors weren't firing. Long story short, I thought it was all these different things because I was sure I had the fuel lines on properly, I tested all these sensors and injectors and researched a million things in case my harness swap wasn't plug and play - only to finally check I had them right and realized they were backwards. Big stupid guy moment. Swapped them and the engine fired right up. So by 3pm I finally reached where I should've been at 10am but hey, at least it runs!

Forgot to post pics of my driveshaft and shifter setup installed. E36 driveshaft fit perfectly, I was very pleased. Shift carrier mount took a little bit of finagling but got there eventually. Shifter feels super nice and smooth. Has a pretty long throw but I honestly like it, I think I'm over short shifters:




Then it was time to tackle the project that I was not looking forward to - fitting the exhaust. Like I've said previously in this thread, I'm trying to pass CA BAR and get this legally registered as a 1995 M3, so I have to run the factory E36 OBD1 midpipe which has huge cats and is pretty much guaranteed to sit super low. So, I've decided that I'll make two exhaust systems - one for smog and one for the other 729 days in between. But for this post, we are focusing on fitting the factory midpipe.

My friend Jimmy recently gifted me an E36 midpipe pulled from a 1995 M3 which is perfect, and I'm very thankful that I don't have to try to hunt one down. Thanks Jimmy Jamz! Only issue is, the pipes were cut off. Luckily I have another unit sitting around that is dimensionally exactly the same, so I was able to use it as a reference:




As luck would have it, I actually had some front pipe sections cut from another E36 exhaust system I bought a few years ago. Hoarding those really paid off:




Only bummer: the longer piece was still too short, so I had to make a connector piece to replicate the factory bend as closely as possible:



The front exhaust manifold flange is a known obstacle as it sits low and the factory E36 pipe hits the front subframe. To work around this without cutting and welding up the pipe, I fashioned up some ovalized squeezers so that I could press the bend where it interferes and make it more oval than round, giving me the clearance I need. It worked great, I have a solid 3/8" of clearance:





Getting the front connections fitted up properly and welded took quite a lot of time. With that finally done, I could move on to the rear hangers. I figured out that I could tap into the heat shield mounts and build hangers that would allow it to hang from the factory rubber hangers. They vary slightly because that portion of the exhaust doesn't sit perfectly centered in the tunnel:







I also wanted to create the transmission mounted hanger setup and once again got lucky and happened to have an extra set of brackets on hand. I think these only came on Getrags, and the holes were slightly off and wouldn't bolt up to the ZF, so I modified it to fit. Made some slightly extended "ears" and cut the bracket up so I had plenty of area to weld:



After that, it bolted right up with the rubber grommets and looks factory. You can see I even welded the "sleeve" on the outside of the left most exhaust pipe so that it matches the other one and sits in the clamp properly. For whatever reason, the pipes are slightly different OD's




This is how the cats sit. They are about as high as they can go and sit pretty snug. They are just super tall:



Finally got to step back and see it all mounted. This was a ton of work! Took me the better part of 3 days. I had the midpipe on and off the car at least 15-20 times throughout this whole process but I'm really happy with how it fits, despite the inevitable ground clearance issues:



By some miracle I even managed to fit the E30 heat shields and cross brace! Had to clearance it with a ball peen hammer in some areas but being aluminum made it pretty easy to persuade. It's a tight fit, but works nicely:




Took it all back out one last time so I can paint some stuff tomorrow and then final install will happen, at last.

SO - with that sorted, all I can do is cross my fingers and hope that the BAR referee allows this. I've heard mixed info about "modified" exhausts and I documented this so thoroughly because I want to be able to show that I replicated the factory midpipe as closely as possible and it's basically the exact same routing. I'll even bring that extra midpipe I have in case he wants to verify measurements/distances. Really, really hoping I didn't just do all of that work for nothing, but I'm optimistic. More updates coming soon, I'm on a mission to get this finished!

[CubbyChowder]

Engine is in. It's amazing to me that this all just bolts up using stock parts. There is still a lot of buttoning up to do but I wanted to see it with the engine cover placed on. I know this swap is about as cookie cutter as it gets, but I'm so excited:

[CubbyChowder]

Regarding the front sway- I always like the way an E30 feels with a good bit of front bar. How much rear bar feels good seems to be dependent on spring rate.

Now seems like a good time to move the pickup point from the LCAs to the strut housing and run an E30M3 factory endlink IMHO. I hate those spherical endlinks

That’s a great idea! Totally forgot about the E30M3 end link style off the strut housing, I will most likely go this route. Thanks for the reminder, I would like to keep the current front bar as I do really like how it feels, so that might just be the perfect solution.

[AWDBOB]

Regarding the front sway- I always like the way an E30 feels with a good bit of front bar. How much rear bar feels good seems to be dependent on spring rate.

Now seems like a good time to move the pickup point from the LCAs to the strut housing and run an E30M3 factory endlink IMHO. I hate those spherical endlinks

[CubbyChowder]

More progress! Been steadily knocking out a few tasks every day.

Starting with the diff - drained all of the cold brew concentrate out of the S2.93:




Got the rear cover sealed up and filled it with fresh Redline 75w-90, then swapped over the diff studs from the S3.73 and tossed it in:



Then it was time to install the exhaust manifolds. I couldn't bare to put them on all rusty and discolored, so I decided to take some time to prep them and slap some header paint on them, knowing full well that they'll likely just burn through it and get rusty again within a couple months. But oh well, at least it'll look good for a little bit and on the plus side, it only cost me 24 cents to mask them off:





Got them installed, I think they look nice. But now I hate myself for not fully cleaning/painting the block:



Got the new E30 offset CSB installed on the driveshaft. I made sure to order the correct early model one this time!



Pulled the "old" Lemforder control arms off the subframe to swap them out. Pretty sad that it wasn't even 2 years before they looked like this.:



While I was at it I pressed the Condor treehouse CAB's onto the new control arms and bolted them up to the subframe. Curious to see how those feel, I'm not really excited to run UMHW but need the clearance. I think it'll feel OK. I'm also debating ditching this IE front sway bar in favor of a convertible bar with stock bushings and end links (any thoughts or input on that would be appreciated) because I can hear play in the IE rod ends. Or, if I can just run stock style endlinks on the IE bar, that would be sweet too:



Then it was clutch and transmission time! Started with the eBay special single mass lightweight flywheel and F*G pilot bearing:



Clutch kit installed. I made sure to flip the M5 clutch disc the other way with the spring pack facing the flywheel:



Installed new OEM pivot pin with spring, shift fork and Sachs throwout bearing:



Transmission bolted up super smooth! It popped right in. Excited to see it at this point, it's almost ready to go in the car. Check out that elegant bespoke engine cart, one of my finer pieces:




One last holdup - I ended up having to order a new E30 transmission crossmember, totally thought I had like 3 of them laying around, turns out I have zero. That'll show up tomorrow and then I should be ready to starting piecing it all back together. Really looking forward to driving this thing again in it's third (and best) iteration.

[CubbyChowder]

I always appreciate a Chubby build thread- I had a similar experience with Lemforder LCA boots ripping.

It appears most of the parts made for these cars now are only meant to be bolted up and driven 150 miles then sold.

Precisely. This is my first time actually keeping a car for longer than a year and driving it regularly, so I'm feeling that statement. Quality just sucks now, man, in basically everything. But, that's a rant for another time, we're all feeling it.

With that said, I'm on a roll and making good daily progress at the moment. I love getting into these grooves of motivation and focus towards the E30. Should have another update in the next day or two!

[AWDBOB]

I always appreciate a Chubby build thread- I had a similar experience with Lemforder LCA boots ripping.

It appears most of the parts made for these cars now are only meant to be bolted up and driven 150 miles then sold.

[CubbyChowder]

Made a bit more progress today. Pulled the S3.73 diff out of the car this morning as I'll be running the original S2.93 LSD that came with the car when I bought it. Really glad I held on to it these past few years, I almost put it up for sale a couple times. I spent over an hour cleaning the S2.93, it had some serious goop all over it that would not budge from the pressure washer. Had to scrape at it with plastic scrapers and a wire brush, it was super tedious and it's not perfect but WAY better. It'll get a new cover gasket and fresh Redline 75w-90 tomorrow:



Then I moved on to more S50 prep. Got a new PTFE rear main seal installed and then swapped over the E34 oil pickup and oil pan from the M50. Secured the oil pump nut while I was at it too. I had aspirations to give the oil pan a good pressure wash and get some new bolts but thought about the amount of work I still need to do and had a moment of "eh, fuck it" and carried on:



Got a random assortment of parts in. FINALLY after all these years of ordering through FCPeuro I am utilizing the lifetime replacement service. Every boot on the Lemforder control arms I put on 3 years ago are already completely split open, which is lame, so I'm swapping them out for new ones. Doing the outer tie rods and motor mounts too which wasn't 100% necessary, but now's the best time to do it and it'll all be fresh again and then I'll redo it all again in 3 years probably. Got some LiquiMoly 10w-40, some Redline 75w-90 for the diff, Condor Treehouse CAB's so I can try to stuff the E36 midpipe in there to pass BAR, NGK 6962 spark plugs, OEM shift fork, CSB and a Graf water pump. Just some of the last little odds and ends:

[CubbyChowder]

Engine swap #3 has officially begun!



Solid Saturday progress, had a great day hanging out in my shop enjoying nice weather and good tunes while pulling shit apart. Got almost everything out. Still need to pull the diff:




Ready for a new heart: