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the Black Spot... a euro bumper '87 325is with track mods
So tore the block apart - not worried about the block at all Cross hatching is there - no clue how many miles on it though. As far as the crank - a little nervous about rod journals and the #3 rod.
Everything else looks fine though. Time to bring that bad girl to a machine shop to make sure everything is within spec and just a nice polish - and another shop can build the engine. I do have some concern about the head... what do you guys think?
I picked up a nice 1989 325i parts car mainly for the rotating assembly. It had all kinds of sweet parts. I grabbed a MINT crack-less dash! I got a M20b25 engine, a rebuilt ZF 4 HP22 auto trans WITH receipt, a MINT exhaust and lastly a 4.10 LSD! I sold the car after selling some other parts, but all in all, I came out with some great parts for no money - just some work. Time to break the engine apart to see if the crank is worth anything. I really need to get my engine built. I was looking at doing another budget stroker, but it looks like it will be going back to M20b25...
I really wanted the headlights, bumpers, hood and trunk lid, but I couldn't pass up an offer for someone to buy the roller without missing exterior parts... I can always get those later.
SUPER glad my car is an 87, WAY too many hoses going on in an 89...
Engine update: I took the SETA engine to a machine shop - Rod Journal #3 was .003 under spec and the same connecting rod was damaged too. However the block is gorgeous! Soo it looks like I'm using that engine from the parts car, 300,000 miles on that car, cracked it open - clean! So take that 'new' engine back to the machine shop with my original head. They tore it apart, camshaft is trashed, 75% of the rocker arms are destroyed. Based on the engine builder and machinist, they said the 'new' block even with 300,000 was clean and my old head was disgusting. I brought in my 'new' head (that has broken bosses where the timing cover bolts in) they said it was super clean. I hope that they can salvage my original 885 head, even though it has some scoring in the camshaft journals, but if they can fix the bosses on the new 885 head then I might have a clean set up. Regardless I'm on the hunt for a clean head. However, I can't wait to get this car back together and running. I've picked up a single mass flywheel that I'm having machined down a few pounds and re-surfaced. Now, onto the VAC Motorsports oil baffle and pray to the BMW gods that my engine will come together at a decent price.
My wife's car stereo took a shit, so I needed to fix it for her so I just took out the crappy JVC from the 325is and hooked it up. The PO CUT THE FUCKING HARNESS! WTF man... and to make it even worse, the dude literally just twisted the wires together then taped them. While I was in there, I decided to also pull the EURO clock because I want my OBC back. So selling that, $80 shipped to mid-atlantic!
Wire harness so you can splice in
and the plastic surround you need to make it fit our US facia
I also pulled the clean HUSCO arm rest out because I realized there's no way I'm actually going to be able to shift while racing. It's also up for sale.
I also pulled my cluster and threw a bunch of my other clusters and AFMs in a box and shipped them to BavRest for a restoration. I got $290 in store credit, so I only had to send him $35 for my restoration!
my old '88 535is cluster
my cluster
an e cluster
and a few other AFMs.
I also had a dual mass flywheel and SACHS cluster on the car, so a buddy hooked me up with a single mass so this is up for sale, yea I know, who wants a dual mass?!
Since I'm waiting on Abacus Racing to finish building my M20b25 from that 300,000 mile 91 325i parts car, I've been cleaning and collecting other parts to get after some of the stuff that will also happen before putting the engine back in.
I traded some parts for a non-M Z3 rack. Here it is under the parts Z3
and it cleaned up
no leaking
and non-M Z3 parts number 1 092 031 on the data plate
I also snagged a M20b25 oil cooler from a local buddy as the PO didn't put one on
While preparing the dash I had to deal with the PO's wiring work. He cut the radio harness instead of using a conversion harness and he also cut the OBC harness.
I also found out that this car didn't come with the normal 6 button e30 OBC, but a 13 button OBC... or atleast that's what the harness suggests.
and part number from my e28 13 button OBC which matches part numbers I've found online
and I've decided I'll be selling my M20b27 SETA block and associated rotating assembly... the block is in absolutely great condition with cross hatching!
The Pistons are fine as well as 5 of the connecting rods, one has some damage to the journal
also the crank needs to be ground, so not sure what I'm going to do with that. it can take undersized bearings, anyone want it?
Finally found some time to pull the subframe to get it welded up with the garagistic kit
here's the oem rack, doesn't leak! Totally need new line though...
Look at the grime from the leaky reservoir hose connection.
Un-torn subframe engine mounting surfaces
I do need to get an '87 m20b25 O2 sesnsor and what I think is a idle control valve or something. It's whatever is between the intake boot and booster with reinforced vacuum line that's crimped. snapped it off by accident
I picked up the garagistic subframe kit (front and rear) and got the front subframe taken care of. I also got the Z3 rack installed!
Close up of the #garagistic e36/z3 rack conversion kit... specifically the steering knuckle. It was relatively easy to do, but I spent some time making sure not to overbore the knuckle for the provided bolt. I will say the bolt was a tad bit short to grab the nylon locking portion of the nut, so I removed one washer and threw in some locktite.
Here to you can see the #garagistic swaybar reinforcement... getting the sway bar back on was a pain in the ass though. I had to have a buddy come over.
From what I've read, a handful of people run the front holes on the steering rack tabs... I actually couldn't get the rack to align in the front holes, so I just went with the original holes.... probably because I have an original Z3 rack and not an approved replacement.
I also took the time to replace the broken A/C line. I grabbed the replacement from the '89 325i Sedan parts car. I will say that it wasn't a perfect fit - actually a little long so bolting into the front canister was a little painful. And actually I could only bolt it in with one bolt so I need to find a way to permanently attach it. It'll do for now.
I also started working on replacing the destroyed radio antenna wire from the PO's absolutely shitty work. fuck that guy seriously. So i found this bullshit in the trunk connecting the two coax cables....
I also swapped out the rear window for that clean replacement. I used silicone spray to get the locking strip back in. Overall smooth process. No more shitty rear window with tint pieces scattered all over it.
Lastly, anyone in the market for a functional and non-leaking e30 rack?
I picked up a 1986 BMW 325e coupe parts car to snag the hood/trunk/sidewindows and some small stuff. Found out it had a 2.79LSD! I literally just wanted the car for some small stuff. So it's up for sale, whoever wants an e30 manual swap kit!
Got the engine back from Abacus Racing of Va Beach, VA. SPECE30 built M20b25! I've gotta get the car back together, Finally! Plan is to have the pops come down for a few days to help get everything up and running. I tore the old dash out and threw a new one in. While I was in there, I also fixed a ton of wiring.
I got the engine in and all buttoned up, it runs! BUT, it runs rough. I did a smoke test and I found a nasty vacuum leak from the bitch tube. So I misplaced the washer that sits in the bottom of the bitch tube between the block and the spring... I had no idea. Hopefully that will rectify the rough idle.
As far as feedback on running a Z3 rack without power steering AND a smaller steering wheel. Dumb as fuck. People who say it's not that bad, yea when your at speed it's ok, but to run without power steering set up the slow speeds SUCK. The problem people run into is the fact that the pressure line from the rack to the pump is too long and isn't designed for the different orientation of the Z3 rank banjo bolts. I ran up to a junk yard and pulled a M52 E36 pressure line that's significantly shorter and has alot of the right bends already in it. Hopefully that'll work so I can pull this block off plate and get power back to the rack.
Finally - dash in, a majority of the wires are fixed! And the car runs!
I got a IE header to muffler set up off a SPECE30 racer for a decent price so I just threw that in instead of building my own exhaust. I still need to fix this bitch tube, I also need to button up the dash, but I'll finish that when I get my head unit and clean up the sound system harness which was hacked up by the PO.
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