95maxrider's Rally-x '88 E28 build- caged, head swap and more

[irish44j]

Just come to an event where we run the "Barn" course. It's hard and pretty smooth. Almost like a tarmac that someone threw some loose dirt on.

[95maxrider]

Just come to an event where we run the "Barn" course. It's hard and pretty smooth. Almost like a tarmac that someone threw some loose dirt on.

What are your thoughts on running street tires on it? Do we know in advance of events which course we will run on?

[irish44j]

We typically know the night before. At least if you ask. They don't volunteer it, but they already have it planned usually.

First week they'll definitely know, since they'll set it up the night before.

Last year on Barn, several of us *almost* switched to our street tires at lunch break on Barn (star specs and falkens). But we were lazy and didn't. One guy (in the MR2) did switch to his wide falkens and was MUCH faster in the afternoon than in the morning. So yeah...at least in midsummer when it's rock-hard street tires may be the way to go. Rally tires are the WORST on that.....snow tires are even better.

[iamsam]

This is awesome. I love what you did with the bracing under the engine.

[95maxrider]

Well we spent all day in the garage yesterday and got a fair amount of stuff done.

First up was comparing the new PS and brake fluid reservoir caps to the old ones to find out why the old ones were leaking. Closer inspection revealed a torn rubber cap on the brake fluid cap and a worn out/crushed rubber o-ring on the PS cap. The will hopefully take care of two fluid leaks in the engine bay.

Old PS cap


New PS cap


New and old brake fluid caps


Then it was on the replace the leaking coolant hose under the IM. This was the thing that was leaking at the final event last year, and not the HG. The hoses had started deteriorating and expanding, and the connector used wasn't exactly meant for the job.

Location:


The culprit


The solution


After filling and burping the system, we found another leak. Hooray! This one was coming out of the fluid level sensor for the coolant overflow tank. I'm thinking we should replace the sensor and the tank at the same time and just be done with it.


We then mounted that one 15" tire we had to buy at the test and tune last year when I popped a dry rotted tire on a wheel I got off the forums. It's a bit bigger than the stock 14"!


And then we applied the decals on top of our 20% tint


Then Eric finished welding the bracing for the skid plate (it was just tack welded before in some areas) and painted it up.










Then I painted the spoiler we found on Ebay and test fitted it on the car






And did some more sound deadening in the trunk






And painted our fuel rail....




Fun times! Now we just have to relocate the battery, customize the PS seat belt to fit with the roll cage and tie up some loose ends, then it's ready for the head swap!

Does anyone know what will happen to an ETA tach when we drop in the 173 ECU and rev over 6000? Will the needle just snap off?

[phenryiv1]

Does anyone know what will happen to an ETA tach when we drop in the 173 ECU and rev over 6000? Will the needle just snap off?

It just swings past the portion of the face that has numbers. No mechanical issues/problems.

[irish44j]

excellent....

[silence]

Cool build! I have an 88 that I daily drive :)

[95maxrider]

I'm going to keep this post short, and post the juicy pictures later, but I need to ask a quick question. Does anyone know the flow rate of an ETA injector compared to an "i" injector? Since 4 of the 6 "rebuilt" M50 injectors I got from MaksV were DOA, we had to use the stock ETA injectors with the rest of the i parts (including 3.0 Bar FPR) to get the car home. Can I damage the engine running these injectors (run too lean)? Any help would be appreciated, thanks!

[kts]

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=52719

I was reading up on something else the other day which a few people mentioned that eta injectors are low impedance and i injectors are high impedance. I don't know if running them would fly the ECU as the link above suggests, but I still don't think I'd drive around on those injectors more than I had to if I had swapped an i setup in there.

[95maxrider]

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=52719

I was reading up on something else the other day which a few people mentioned that eta injectors are low impedance and i injectors are high impedance. I don't know if running them would fly the ECU as the link above suggests, but I still don't think I'd drive around on those injectors more than I had to if I had swapped an i setup in there.

Thanks for the link, I'll have to look into that. Hopefully the next batch of M50 injectors gets here soon (MaksV is sending another set).

[95maxrider]

885 head swap!

With two weeks left until the first race, it was time to install all the "i" parts and get this motor to make some power! Upon disassembling the motor, we discovered some problems:

1. One of the spark plug boots wasn't properly seated. Most likely have been running on 5 cylinders
2. Our FPR was pretty much dead
3. The TB wasn't installed properly and wasn't seated
4. The spark plugs were disgusting

The old TB


Old plugs




New/rebuilt head


Valve cover before:


and after




We also switched out our old dinky fan with bad bearings (blades wobbled) with this 16" unit from Advance Auto Parts. This thing really moves some air!

Old






Painted these guys with some flat black paint we had lying around....




The thermostat housings were disgusting

[95maxrider]

And after some time with the wire wheel




Also cleaned up the new IM. Here's a size comparison with the old eta


And the block...




Patrick recommended we get the Rotella T Triple 15w-40


And some more sound deadening...


Assembly...


This is what we had to make to get the "i" water pump to work with our ETA radiator/overflow tank. I'll post more details later.


Installed (right, like it was just that easy...)






There a whole long, terrible story that goes with these pictures, but I don't have the energy to tell it right now. Let's just say this took about 20 hours, and it isn't perfect yet.

[irish44j]

Also, it's a good idea to not kill old gaskets because you use too much wire brush making the IM look pretty ;) lol...

[phenryiv1]

This is what we had to make to get the "i" water pump to work with our ETA radiator/overflow tank. I'll post more details later.

Post info about that coolant "t" fitting. I might need to copy it until I get a new radiator.