The Journey of Linda and Friends - the M20b31 Lives

[ba114]

throw the b30 crank, rods and pistons in it.

[AWDBOB]

throw the b30 crank, rods and pistons in it.

I have been audibly back and forth on this throughout the build thread, so here is what I have [currently] arrived at.

I want to drop the b30 rotating assembly in it, but if I do that it opens up the whole world of cost and effort/time/potential failure that I am trying to avoid. There's no sense in dropping that stuff in without opening up the bores and getting S52 pistons ($150 more total added cost over M54b30 assembly build).

If I don't open up the bottom end I save $400 in machining costs for the block,
get $500 back in rotating assembly parts, another $200 on rings, $180 on rod bolts, bearings, other wear items, etc.

The rings on the M54 pistons need to be replaced and the lip on the top of the M52 cylinder needs to be taken down regardless since the M54 pistons sit higher in the cylinder, so to me there's no point in doing that and not going all the way with S52 pistons since the added cost is negligible.

Also by putting the M54 pistons in the M52 you also run the risk of sloppy ring seal because any honing is just going to push you out even further from stock, which can be made up by ring gap but would potentially increase the possibility of piston slap and other shortcomings.

I am going to spend the engine rebuild cash (likely $1600+ out the door) and put part of it ($475) towards getting the S52 cams done by Riot Racing, and focusing on getting the top end of the motor where it needs to be. Thusly, I can get this thing DONE and driving and enjoy it, and if I am really not happy with the bottom end I can easily do as I had originally planned, while I am still out enjoying the car because the car will already be 24V and have great parts on it that I can simply transfer to a built bottom end when I see it fit to do so.

The main reason why I have come to this conclusion is that I still have the E30M3 AND 325iX back east, and they are reentering my possession in the Midwest in a few months and I need to have this car DONE and ready for those cars to get here.

[ba114]

weak!

[AWDBOB]

I've been trying to get my brake lines done for quite some time now. Got line and ran everything, but my flare tool was good for 3 good bubble flares until the tool couldn't produce a proper flare. So I ordered the OE hard line piece and ran the line.





Threw the axles/3.73 on and put the subframe up, only to realize I didn't put the hardline on beforehand that goes under the fuel tank. Trying to find a braided line that will run directly from the "T" to the hardline on the trailing arms. I'm incredibly over this portion of the build and ready to set fire.

[AWDBOB]

Robbed the parts car for brake lines. This thing has come in handy on multiple occasions now. I am quite happy with my purchase.






Rear subframe back out.





Much better!





All back together with my eibach sway up there. Decided to not use my IE rear swaybar to simplify my life in terms of welding reinforcement plates, drilling holes in the floor, etc.

[AWDBOB]

I bought Metric Mechanics 272/258 Rally Cams today!

Going to send the throttle body out to Riot Racing this week and also delete the ASC with the proper intake elbow.

I'll be selling the M54b30 rotating assembly and using the M52b28 bottom end I have. This will allow me to focus on the top end/bolt ons and get the car functioning OBD2 24V so I can later build a high compression S52 in a few years and just swap everything over. I already have an M50 manifold, and need to get underdrive pullies, bigger MAF, and injectors to complete the "bolt on" situation.

Got the rest of the rear end buttoned up. I realized I never bought the correct rear swaybar endlinks or upper shock mounts so I left the endlinks off and put my old rear shocks on for now!

I now have on order the "tall" Ground Control upper shock mounts, as well as Ground Control adjustable rear endlinks set up for the eibach swaybar. Once that stuff comes I can put on the fresh Konis I have waiting for the setup.

Onto the pictures!

Ebrakes assembled with all fresh components.

Upon assembling the rear brakes, I remembered that the person who stole my 3.73LSD at the old garage also stole my fresh calipers with Hawk HPS pads (both were next to the garage entrance and accessible for a quick grab), so I just tossed on these good spare calipers I had lying around with some random fresh pads on them, with fresh rotors I pulled off of the parts car I purchased last year. It'll do for now.




Threw my rear strut brace on for kicks and giggles with the old struts to ensure proper fitment.




On the ground.







And I finally felt comfortable moving onto the front suspension.

I have all sorts of goodies waiting to go on: Koni struts, Ground Control coils, M3 offset CABs, Lemförder CAs, Eibach front sway, fresh endlinks, Lemförder inner/outer TRs, OE Z3 2.7 turn linear steering rack, urethane steering coupler, etc.

I'm going to send the front subframe out to Garagistic as well to get it reinforced before it all goes back together.

[TheWipprSnappr]

Nice update. Cant wait to see it all put together.

[st.petebiodiesel]

With the Metric Mechanics cams I saw that they charge a core. Are they reground cams?


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[digger]

built up with weld and then grind

[AWDBOB]

Nice update. Cant wait to see it all put together.

Thanks man! I can't wait to get the chassis situated so I can turn my attention to the drivetrain.

With the Metric Mechanics cams I saw that they charge a core. Are they reground cams?

built up with weld and then grind

Yep, they're welded+ground!

I was going to go with Riot Racing (Almost sent my cores to them) but these popped up and are a much better/aggressive grind than the riots.

I am very excited, because I think these will really open up the M52 with the M50 manifold, big bore TB, big MAF, asc delete and long tubes!

[Metallated]

Looks great man! Love the Brilliantrot :D

[AWDBOB]

Looks great man! Love the Brilliantrot :D

Thanks, man! I'm excited to see yours come together.

If you need S52 cams LMK I have a spare set, along with a spare set of E34 oil pan/pickup tube/dipstick.

[st.petebiodiesel]

built up with weld and then grind

So can you supply them with just regular M50/52 cams or do you need to provide S50/52 cams?


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[AWDBOB]

So can you supply them with just regular M50/52 cams or do you need to provide S50/52 cams?

I am not sure- I purchased mine from a member on here.

[AWDBOB]

My plans for it, are to just enjoy a damn car for once. I never have still to this day. I want to drive it.

I am going to do a top end towards the end of the month of July (2016).

I'll be replacing every bushing and suspension component on the car, slowly cleaning it up, cleaning up the bay, doing a slight functional drop (not wasting $2500 and a month of my life building coilovers again, probably spec e30-esque H&R Race and Billy Sports), 16x8 ESM RS reps with a 225/45, slight roll on the fenders, RX7 front brake upgrade, and be done with it. Minus the wheels my excel spreadsheet with parts is only around $2K, with added things like trim, roundels, plastic pieces, interior bits, etc.

Just for affect, I thought I'd quote my first post in this thread, just to show how fast and horribly things can spiral out of control.

This is a rough list of things I need to buy to get the car rolling ($5500+ if I do AC and a few light modifications). I don't have anything close to that kind of coin, so I am trying to find a way to get this car on the road, which likely means no AC for now and few modifications to the 24V.




I finally had a day off and spent the day in the garage. Got my ground control order in to button up the rear of the car, and naturally, the tall shock mounts hit the metal dust shields on the Koni struts. Currently trying to figure out what to do without spending more money (again).






Got my Metric Mechanics cams in, they look great. I did also find out that I need to run supertech springs with these, which is yet another $650 expense.





Since I couldn't finish the rear suspension I started tearing apart the M52.

Someone cut off the engine mount bolts flush with the frame.




Got all of the exhaust manifold studs out without any breakage.



Removed everything on this side to get the harness off of the motor.



Found out the harness from a 528 is pretty different from that of the 328 which is going to make it much more difficult to modify.




Removed accessories and valve cover. Everything looks pretty good. Tried to get the crank bolt out and failed. My impact didn't do the trick, and because the motor doesn't have a flywheel on it, it makes it quite difficult to keep the crank from moving with a breaker bar on it.






Then I realized I forgot to order a Vanos timing tool so I moved onto other things that needed to get done. I disassembled the front subframe assembly that I pulled out as one piece. My goal was to prep the front subframe for reinforcement welding and the coilovers for their plates.



Front housing prep.








Inspected the Z3 rack I purchased. Someone couldn't get the knuckle off of the shaft so they just cut it. I tried everything minus heat (because seals) and couldn't get it to budge.





Then I had some extra time and decided to shave down some of the brackets I won't be using with the M52. I'm not going to "shave" the bay, but I'm going to remove a few things I won't be using to clean it up.






I didn't have the proper tools for the next step on that so I disassembled my spare cluster to inspect the SI board and to see what I could salvage. The M3 cluster is at bavrestoration right now and the SI board is bad. They want and exuberant amount of money for one, so I am trying to find a good one for that cluster.





And that's about all. Once I get the vanos tool I'll finish disassembling the M52 and get the head off to the machine shop, clean up the block, etc.

I need to make a decision on a clutch (using M20 size with the RHD flywheel) so I can start to get the drivetrain in order. Also need to find out which 944 booster p/n to buy, since I don't want to "relocate" the stocker. Among other things, this car is absolutely draining my wallet and I want it to be done so I can drive it, but it's looking like it won't be done until after winter.