318iS - Fasts failing to load

[e30guy]

Well I still haven't bleed the brakes! But I have got all the parts on the inlet dummied up. Just waiting for the correct silicon joiner before welding it all together. Also made up a TPS mount for the new TPS on the M30 throttle.





I have also started to modify the fuel rail. Normally the fuel reg pipe goes down the inside (ghey) so I have removed the fuel reg and will be welding on fittings either end for the supply / returns and then running a different fuel reg (probably a Subaru one as I have heaps of them :crazy )



I got out my spare E30 alternator mount and looks like this is going to work better than the E36 one. Because of the way I made the take-off plate for the oil system I need to space it off the block, but this won't be a big deal So thats nutted out. And as I mentioned got an idea sorted for the swaybar. That leaves mounting the new radiator (when it comes), mounting and plumbing up the accusump and the electrics.

[e30guy]

Work continues. A day off work is just the time to get some shit bowled over. My radiator showed up during the week. A Nissan S14 no less. $200 ebay special, twin core blah blah, looks pretty fantastic for $200 shipped! Going to get a set of AU fans to go on it, a very simple conversion according to Nissan Buddies.



So now that I got that I can get cracking on mounting the thing. Take some old broken swaybar links???



BAM, you got yourself some lower radiator mounts, had to make it go around the radiator drain too:







I pressed the rubber bushes out while welding and drilled the centres to suit the radiator. Pretty stoked with how it turned out.

I made some top mounts for the radiator as well (that incorporate the intercooler mounts), but no pictures. So thats everything sitting in there nice and pretty.



The standard top hose works perfectly! Clears the new intake pipe very nicely indeed.



The 135 silicone bend showed up. Clears the radiator nicely. Might have to rejig to position of the oil filter / hoses, but nothing major:



And that was today. Had a quick look at the lower radiator hose and will get cracking on the sway bar mounts.

[msmola2002]

nice.

[e30guy]

You will have to come back to the foreign land to try keep up in your stroker

[msmola2002]

Yeah, for sure. I'm thinking I can't do another winter, and I know I won't keep up - my best at EC was like a 1:57 so you are already going to smite me - altho that was pre-coilover action - but yeah, definitely

[msmola2002]

You are going the right way to convincing me a supercharger may help things

[e30guy]

Oh damn I did a 1:57 on used up KU36's with no power Will be good to have some more E30 brethren to race with, I don't fancy the bmwdc that much and will be sticking to more tradional Supersprint organisations.

And now another update

I managed to drag my ass outta bed about 12....the wedding reception was perhaps a bit bigger than anticipated, but hey can't say no to free beer! All good as I got plenty done yesterday.

I threw a few of the other bits in to get a feel for how it is all coming together. Going well if you ask me!





Got the fans in and mounted, upper (standard 318 ) and lower (hacked up M20) radiator hoses finished, upper radiator and intercooler mounts done, all the intercooler pipes dummied up and threw the BOV in for an idea on required real estate. The accusump just out of shot, about where it will go.

A view from the front can see all the coolers air filter and other shit.



The intake pipe was a tight fit on the fan shroud



I modified it with a bit of heat and hammer The 10mm intake spacer coming will help add a bit of extra clearence also



Alternator in and spaced out. Going have to knock a bit off the spacers to get some more clearence on the chassis rail. Got plenty of clearence over the oil lines anyway.



The new fans and alternator position are occupying where I previously had the oil filter setup. So i have moved to to behind to headlight. making it nice and serviceable from below also. The hoses will work out ok too, with the turbo oil feed and stuff all pointing the right direction



And from under neath



While were down there, here is the lower radiator plumbing / electric water pump (i'm yet to make a mount, but it's in there!)



And a shot of the turbo pipes, fans and lower radiator hose all nice and tightly packaged in there



List of shit to do, throttle cable mount, plates for intake and water pump delete, EWP mount, relocate sway bar, finish sump, then just mounting little shit, plumbing it all up and a shit load of electrical work.

[Momus]

The EWP will be fine supported by the hoses- nice rubber isolation mounts- in fact better than if it is bracketed up.

They weigh fuck all and there is no provision for a mount anyway. I've fitted a couple like yours with no problems and plenty of success.

[e30guy]

That's good to know, have seen people on the interwebs mention people hanging them off the hoses as being a bad thing. There are some threaded holes on the back of it around the perimeter. Although with such a short inlet hose like I have the pump is well supported.

[Marv]

Good to see you making progress, Chris.

Now go forth and fetch me yonder E28 rear-end from your hoarder mate for mine chariot of slow.

[e30guy]

will do marvenstein

Postman stopped by with a few things today:



Boost Valve courtesy Rz

[e30guy]

Will be at Wakefield Park on the 19th. As such the brakes will be double checked, the Advan A050's on order fitted up to the wheels and in the meantime I keep collecting parts:

[50RTD]

G'day mate,

Very enjoyable build thread, some good thinking employed in this car and it just goes to show how far you can go with a bit of ingenuity, skill and motivation, congrats on the success of the car so far!!

Will be a lot of fun with the turbo motor!!!


I just thought i'd mention, it will be money well spent to have the block x-rayed for cracks before you rebuild it, as i've had 2 M42's grenade themselves, one in a particularly spectacular fashion, the other.... well.... see pics below. Not sure of the root cause (both snapped rods somehow) but ive been told that this is not entirely unheard of in M42's, and some have weaker blocks than others.....

Both naturally aspirated, both completely stock...


*PICS DELETED*

[Gammaboy]

Rod failure leads to block failure - the block isn't the problem.

[50RTD]

Rod failure leads to block failure - the block isn't the problem.

Perhaps I worded it incorrectly.

Was told by a few BMW guys who i showed the failed engines to, that some of the M42 blocks are better than others.

[Gammaboy]

I'm sure they are, but your problem was oiling or over-revving it - not the block integrity.

[50RTD]

I'm sure they are, but your problem was oiling or over-revving it - not the block integrity.

Yeah you're right. Not too sure what the root cause was on the bigger aerated block, as the big end still spins freely on the crank, and the piston is still in one piece...

The other one i believe was a re-used rod bolt during a rebuild, as it had oversized pistons and fresh-ish crosshatching on the bores...

Apologies for missworded bum-steer....

[e30guy]

Cheers for the comments.

If there are problems with the rods I would like to know! I have a set of polished, balanced, shot penned rods I was planning on using. The standard rods are forged so I figured my moderate power wasn't going to be a problem.

The E36 donor engine I have, came with a pre-bent rod so maybe the rods bend, grab the crank (or wirst pin?) and the rest is history?

What are rpm are you spinning yours too?

[50RTD]

Yeah dunno mate, the big fail was pretty odd, didn’t spin a bearing, rod bolts all intact, piston all in one piece... the rod just let go, taking block and sump with it on both sides.... standard redline etc.... was a bog stock E36 318is with 180xxx km’s!!

Im not too sure if there is an underlying problem with them or what, Id just cover all your bases with it, getting the rods checked for true, using all new rod bolt @ correct torque etc etc.

[biscan]

Rod failure leads to block failure - the block isn't the problem.

Electrical issue...... My conrod knocked off the alternator

[e30guy]

Yeah dunno mate, the big fail was pretty odd, didn’t spin a bearing, rod bolts all intact, piston all in one piece... the rod just let go, taking block and sump with it on both sides.... standard redline etc.... was a bog stock E36 318is with 180xxx km’s!!

Im not too sure if there is an underlying problem with them or what, Id just cover all your bases with it, geting the rods checked for true, using all new rod bolt @ correct torque etc etc.

yeah, that was the plan. Kinda Surprised the standard engines are letting go like that.

[50RTD]

yeah, that was the plan. Kinda Surprised the standard engines are letting go like that.

Lots of variables though mate, they dont go bang for no reason. The rods themselves are a reasonably chunky bit of gear too, something you'd expect from a factory turbo engine...

The M42 has lots of cool bits you'd expect to see in a turbo car of the era, oil squirters, sodium filled valves etc, plus there are plenty of cars getting around with those Downing Atlanta superchargers without drama too.

Didnt mean to put any doubt in your head mate, just sharing my unlucky experiences with them!!

Looking forward to seeing the rest of the build!!

-Dan

[e30guy]

Yeh information is always good though.

A few guys in sydney are running 250kw plus on stock rods, and there are a few turbo's in the states also, so not really an issue I guess.

The M42 is fairly well forgotten in the BMW fraternity and often overlooked. Not that it is great, but it's certainly not bad. There are a few shortcomings, like the 180degree thrust bearing (fixed with the updated 360degree bearings), but these can be overcome.

I'm aiming for a fairly driveable package with just enough urgency about it to power along the straights...currently I may as well have a cuppa or something, the straights are nothing special

[e30guy]

The project is kicking along a bit recently!

I made a start on an alloy sump. Turns out the brother has the ability to do welds with our TIG, half decently. After the trip to Wakefield netted me a cracked sump we came home and he was able to weld it fairly decently! As such I have started on modifying the E36 sump again.

The results. Wakefield underlined the importance of good sump protection. THUS:



All the bits just about to be welded up:





Another key advantage of using a factory sump is the pickup flange for the oil pump on the crank is already done and I can't stuff that up! Added bonus is the Standard dipstick will still work (once shortened).

Today work started on the brakes. Wakefield raised a heavy brake pedal as an issue with the new pedal setup. Rather than buying ANOTHER set of master cylinders, obviously the logical thing to do is fit larger calipers. I'm going to need something once turbo'd anyway.

I wasn't happy with how the GTR brake setup was going to work out under a 15". Really need 16" wheels to run a 296mm disc successfully, can just imagine rocks getting in there and tearing the wheels to shreds.



So we have gone with some 280mm discs up front, 270mm down back and I'm using sliding WRX Calipers....I know, not a racing caliper, BUDGET. I've been struggling to give these things away and they seem to work decent on the WRX anyway. The lil E30 is some 400kg's lighter also.

I need some spacers behind the front rotors to get the backspacing where I want it....The E30 front rotors worked out nicely



These were machined to the right OD to locate the rotor hubcentrically:



The rear rotors are the right backspacing but will need the PCD redrilled. So I machined down an old front hub (centre bore was too big) to suit the rear rotors and drilled the locating hole thru from the standard rear rotor. Now I have a drilling template for the new rear rotors.

[Momus]

You should be able to get 296 mm discs and those Nissans under a 15 with no problems; even with an unfavourable inner rim contour.

Having the caliper running reasonably close to the wheel is often a good thing, it limits the size of the gravel that can get caught up. A big gap will invite big stones, though the chances of rooting a wheel are pretty low.

[Cal]

How did you crack the sump at Wakefield?

[e30guy]

There were other complications with the GTR calipers Momus. The Caliper adapter was going to be quite funky. All good I've commited to the smaller, cheaper route.

Cal, pushed too hard in the wet coming down the hill and wasn't able to pull the car up. Went off track and over those extra road ways. With the ride height wound down a bit further than normal and a passenger (driving instructor, ha) along for the ride smacked the sump.

The Standard sump is about 25mm BELOW and infront of the crossmember.

[e30guy]

Got a few things on the go:

- Rear Brake setup is all bolted up
- Hydraulic Handbrake en route (cable brake doesn;t work with new rotors)
- Engine Block, Pistons, Rods, Crank, Fly/Clutch, Head are at machinist getting machined balanced etc
- Setting up front brakes tonight, a brake test will be conducted over the weekend to establish new pedal effort required
- VAC Camshafts on the bench waiting for dummy fit
- Ordering some custom eBay coilovers

Aiming for a trackday a bunch of mates have organised at Wakefield 29th of July. Probably won't be turbo, but am aiming for the new coilovers and brakes to be in and hoping I can slot the rebuilt engine in with the cams and moved backwards, but still running the standard ecu.

Will be interesting to see if the standard ecu can manage the cams or not. Fingers crossed!

[e30guy]

A slight update. The turbo is on!

About 6 weeks ago, I thought it would be a good idea to turbocharge the race car....Let the pictures flow!

The humble M42.





I also had to do some rust repairs to the jacking points:


And then more painting:




The New Gearbox and Engine mounts





Got Coolers?



Before the exhaust mani was modified:



Intercooler mounted



Cold pipe



Dump pipe



New shifter location



Heater Delete



We modified the position of the wastegate and then made up a screamer pipe



All in all was 5 weeks of flat out activity. Here we are the car going to the dyno Thursday Morning. I was expecting to bring it home after work and then go about fitting Mtech spoiler, all the front panels, tidying the insides up further etc etc. There was paint to be laid on the spoiler too! And all in an effort to go to a track day that Friday!



On the Dyno:



But alas it was not to be. With less than an hours runtime and not even a proper power run a puff of smoke out the catchcan. "Hmm thats odd" they shut it down checked it all out. Everything seemed ok. Continued getting ready for the good stuff, lets make some power. Start her up and "knock knock knock" the little man in there with the hammer said hello and he sure got angry with a little rev.

Tuning over, hopes of trackday over. It seems the car fought me the whole way and WON, I was sure I had it beat but a dead engine is a dead engine.

I've been bumming round the last week or so kicking my bottom lip abusing the bottle a lil, scratching my head wondering what to do.

Some pics of how the whole install turned out. Rather neat I recon

















All important Side pipe!


The office. alot of work to be done in here. There will be a lot less wiring on show As you can see the fusebox was relocated up under the dash : also

[Kyle]

Love the work mate! Love the race car