Balleristic's Turbo 318is

[thenewguy]

I'd love to see the M42 Timing Chain thread with updated pictures! About to go through my M42.

[econti]

Very wholesome

[Dj Buttchug]

bump

[spanish pants]

Following very closely. Looking forward to updates.

[AusScare]

What size spacers do you run on the fronts to clear the RX7 calipers?

[Balleristic31]

What size spacers do you run on the fronts to clear the RX7 calipers?

Front spaces are about 6mm. I’d say there is about 1-1.5mm of clearance on the unmodified caliper.


In other news, parts have started to accumulate and I have started working on a couple small things. I should have my kit from Jake next week so updates will be coming more often! :)

[Dillon]

Front spaces are about 6mm. I’d say there is about 1-1.5mm of clearance on the unmodified caliper.


In other news, parts have started to accumulate and I have started working on a couple small things. I should have my kit from Jake next week so updates will be coming more often! :)

Pictures or it didn't happen ;) i'm excited to see how this turns out!

[Balleristic31]

Entry #3

In order to prepare for the additional power generated by the turbo, I knew it was necessary to upgrade and replace my current clutch system. I had previously replaced the heavy original dual mass flywheel with a non-A/C M40 unit I obtained here on the forums from a member in England. The non-A/C flywheel weighed approximately 20lbs before I had it slightly lighted before assembly down to about 17lbs. I had that paired with a stock replacement LUK clutch, and although I never had issues with slippage, the clutch never seemed to bite particularly hard or have really much pedal weight at all (in comparison to other e30s/BMWs I had driven).

In anticipation of this combination not being up to task to hold the ~200 WHP that the car should be making after all is said and done, I started looking for other options. First, I thought about looking for a high performance replacement clutch to mate with my M40 flywheel, but there weren’t really any good options. Then I looked into the tried and true conversion over to the M20 single mass flywheel, but wasn’t too keen on the cost of a new starter and I would still have to get that lightened/machined which in aggregate was going to be more expensive then my ultimate decision: RHD 7lb chromoly flywheel.

After exchanging a few emails back and forth with Rama about it, the RHD flywheel was a total no brainer. At a cost of around ~280 shipped to my door in LA, I had an extremely lightweight flywheel that worked with my original starter AND accepted the larger M20 228mm clutch. Rama noted that they had NA M54s down under making around 240whp using a stock Sachs M20 clutch, so I figured that would be plenty of clamping force for the lowly M42.

Here's the obligatory pile of parts photo for the clutch job. Yes, I know there are only 6 flywheel bolts there, luckily I had a couple spares in my hardware to complete the set.

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Here’s a nice little note Condor sent me with the brass guide pin.
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So this week work finally slowed down enough that I was able to get the car in the air and pull the trans. Not too bad of a job. Took about 2 hours solo to extract the transmission. Luckily the G240 is nice and light and pretty maneuverable.

Here you can see my (small) workspace and my neighbors E9 which is always fun to walk out to.
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And up!

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Im going to skip ahead to the part where the trans is off because I was too dirty to take photos 

Here are some clutch and flywheel comparison photos. Remember you are looking at a single mass M40 flywheel and clutch not the dual mass M42 set.
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Making sure the ring gear teeth are the same.
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I found a scale and weighed the clutch and flywheel assemblies for comparison. Keep in mind the stock M42 dual mass flywheel alone weighs in at 28lbs with no clutch disc or pressure plate. Unfortunately I didn’t have one in the parts bin to compare.

The lightened M40 flywheel plus stock LUK clutch and pressure plate weighed in at 30lbs even. Not too bad all things considered.

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The RHD flywheel with stock M20 clutch disc and pressure plate came in at 22lbs. 8lbs of rotational mass off of the drivetrain!
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I installed a near rear main seal and pilot bearing. I used the old bread trick to press the pilot bearing out and it worked like a charm! Pretty funny to get peoples reaction on Instagram to a “bread is a tool” story post. Ignore the torn up header wrap and filth.

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That’s as far as I got this weekend. Hopefully I’ll have a couple hours to clean and button things up this weekend and get it back on the ground to break in the clutch.

Oh, and Jake shipped my kit today :D

[robrez]

Good stuff on the RHD flywheel. I'm tempted to get one, but I already have an m40 non-ac flywheel on the shelf. I think it will be ok with my under 200hp DASC'd m42. But I'm looking forward to your comparo once it's all buttoned up.

[Balleristic31]

Flywheel and clutch are in. More details on that later.

For now...

image4a by Nick Brema, on Flickr

image1 by Nick Brema, on Flickr

[AWDBOB]

Looking good man! This thing is going to be a blast.

[downforce22]

Following this one for sure

[Balleristic31]

Entry #4
Got the clutch installed last weekend with the help of my brother getting the transmission back up and in. Unfortunately, I didn’t take really any pictures of the install, but you all know what a transmission looks like installed. ;)

Few notes regarding the results of the flywheel and clutch swap:
- The starter sounds completely different (louder) as the car cranks. It’s aligned properly and the alignment plate is in place and at the proper orientation. I guess I can attribute it to the much lighter flywheel transmitting more noise through the starter? If anyone has put the RHD flywheel in let me know if your starter made more noise afterwards. My starter was a little noisy before so maybe that's the problem.
- I filled the trans up with Redline MTL (80w90). WOW. What a difference in input shaft bearing noise. Previously I had just been using the recommended ATF, but my transmission sounded like it was about to rattle itself apart. Now, even with the light flywheel, the transmission is almost silent at idle and shifts great even when ice cold. Even the 2nd gear downshift is a bit happier (synchronizers are definitely failing). Would highly recommend the MTL.
- Clutch feel is stiffer than before, but I’m not blown away with the weight of the pedal. I bled the slave really well (bleeder screw facing up), and the stainless clutch line definitely feels nice, but it doesn’t feel as stiff as my brother’s brand new clutch installed on his M20. The clutch grabs fairly high on the pedal as well, but not any higher than my brother’s M20 car. When it does grab it feels solid. Maybe a clutch stop is in my future.
- Engine response is fantastic with the light flywheel. The car pulls much harder through the lower gears and the zingy M42 really feels more alive. I’m itching to get started installing the turbo stuff :D.



Speaking of, my kit came in a couple weeks back. I've been extremely busy with work and took a quick trip to the Grand Canyon this weekend so nothing has really gotten done on the car.

image3 by Nick Brema, on Flickr

I will give my overall impressions of everything as I put stuff together. Right now the order of events looks something like this:

- Remove/delete Air Conditioning.
- Clean up and paint the passenger side of the engine bay. Just removing a few brackets here and there and cleaning some wiring up.
- Kit install

Hope to get some real work done this weekend!

[spiDmang]

I've gotten the turbo itch lately as well...Your build looks like it's off to a good start!

[downforce22]

I just did the flywheel swap last saturday as well and I agree with most everything you posted. My starter is not any louder though. I used a lightweight m20 flywheel, which normally weights 18lbs, mine was lightened to 9.6lbs. So I would expect mine to weight about the same as yours. I noticed the pedal is heavier too and my engine revs more freely, mostly on downshifts and from stoplight to stoplight.

I also am on track for my highest fuel economy since the swap and I haven't even been trying for fuel economy. I've got a 3.73 med case 3.73 and now I can actually pass in high gear while on the highway. I've got a turbo and manifold sitting, just have to figure out a few things with the MS unit which is the next step before turbo. I have to decide if I want to turbo because I really like the way it drives right now.