Nocd

[Elysian]

M3 control arms and bushings are in!

[Exposed]

I came in here looking for cracks and was disappoint.

[Elysian]

At least there's a V8, right?

[Elysian]

Yesterday I picked up the panels needed for plastic bumpers (on the front anyways), as well as the red passenger side fender I want. Going to have a red front bumper and a red fender now

[Elysian]

So not liking the Borg Warner T5 pricing at all, don't consider it worth the asking price considering its many flaws (even in WC trim). Talking with Shadowless, I'm going to go with a 4R70W. Can find them all over for cheap, they can handle tons of power, and a shift kit makes them a hell of a transmission. My truck has the 4R75W, so I'm already a fan.

[Elysian]

Picked up a 4R70W this weekend.



Need to order a shift kit.

[Elysian]

Ready to get started relearning how to weld

[Roadhog]

Think you need to remove it from the box first.

[Elysian]

Picked up the front half of the driveshaft.

[Elysian]

And the brake booster showed up. This is from a Geo Metro:




Much smaller than the stock one, should clear the 302.

[Elysian]

I bought another E30

This one runs and drives though, it's the new swap candidate. It's an 88, has the plastic bumpers. This one is an auto with a 4.10 limited slip diff. Pics from the CL ad:






For $750, I couldn't pass it up. I'll part out the drivetrain when I'm ready, until then I'll drive it.

[Mahjik]

For $750, I couldn't pass it up.

Yes... You could have....

[Elysian]

Yes... You could have....

Nope.

[Elysian]

Here's the car on the tow home.



It has a vacuum leak that I'm working through. I want to get it running, get it inspected and registered, and drive it for a while. I've never driven an E30, so I want to get a feel for the car. Here's one vacuum leak I found:



The nipple on the left side was disconnected. I've ordered a new intake manifold gasket, fuel injector gaskets, throttle body gasket, etc. Also need to check the brake booster, make sure it's not split or anything.

[Elysian]

Found a nice custom exhaust for the M20 in the red E30 yesterday. Full exhaust, including header, X pipe, and Magnaflow muffler with nice looking tips for $100. The header needs a tiny bit of work as it deformed from heat cycling, but it's nothing I can't fix on my own. It's a nice enough system that I'll actually be able to use it for the V8 swap as well, just chop the headers off it.

[Elysian]

I'm pretty close on the M20 in the new E30, it idles well now, but I think has fuel issues. I'm not really wanting to spend much more on it though, so I may just start working on prepping for the engine swap. It would be nice to drive that car first, but not totally necessary for my goals. I got some argon/CO2 yesterday (after a mix up last week where they gave me an oxygen tank and I didn't realize it until I got home), so I'm ready to start welding. First thing on the welding agenda is to build a welding table.

[OverclockN']

What engine do you plan on swapping in again? Sorry, you're a busy guy and its a big thread.

[Elysian]

What engine do you plan on swapping in again? Sorry, you're a busy guy and its a big thread.

302 V8, already have it.

[Elysian]

Here's a video of the M20 running.

[yt]pDDyuGyCUxQ[/yt]

It'll die if I press the pedal too quickly, but if I slowly rev it it'll rev up. That's why I'm thinking fuel pressure. I'll know tonight, the gauge is out for delivery. Sorry about the open manifolds, previous owner cut the exhaust off before the cat. There's also something wrong with the tach.

[OverclockN']

302 V8, already have it.

Awesome! A friend of mine recently lost the motor in his e39 540. We've been trying to convince him to do an LS swap, but failing miserably. He just bought another 540 to use for a possible parts car. Will be interesting to see what he does, but that 540 is looking like a surprisingly good buy. He'll likely get another 540 motor to get the original running again.

[Elysian]

Awesome! A friend of mine recently lost the motor in his e39 540. We've been trying to convince him to do an LS swap, but failing miserably. He just bought another 540 to use for a possible parts car. Will be interesting to see what he does, but that 540 is looking like a surprisingly good buy. He'll likely get another 540 motor to get the original running again.

He should be doing an LS, at that point it's a no brainer. If I were to do it again I'd have done an LS, and I haven't even put the motor in my car yet. I just don't want to undo what I've already bought, which is everything

[Elysian]

I just bought this camshaft kit:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/c...54-4/overview/

Might go to waste on the current GT40P heads, but gotta plan for the future right? I'll have to figure out what else I'll need to get it working, but might as well start on the engine while I can.

[Elysian]

If the link doesn't work you have to disable viglink, Summit Racing doesn't like it.

[OverclockN']

Looks like an aggressive, big cam. Should be fun!!

I assume you're changing out the springs for the extra lift?

[Elysian]

Looks like an aggressive, big cam. Should be fun!!

I assume you're changing out the springs for the extra lift?

The Mountaineer springs are really weak, so I have to change them anyways, which is what drew me towards this cam kit. It pretty much does everything I want in my extended goals. Starting the top end teardown of the 302 tonight!

[Elysian]

Got a lot done on the V8 today And filmed it. Going to put it up on Youtube after I get the cam in.

[OverclockN']

Got a lot done on the V8 today And filmed it. Going to put it up on Youtube after I get the cam in.

With a cam that big, it has to be the "chopping wood" sound. Depends on the overlap I guess, but it could be "making popcorn" too.

[Elysian]

With a cam that big, it has to be the "chopping wood" sound. Depends on the overlap I guess, but it could be "making popcorn" too.

Yeah it'll be gnarly I'm going to do a video series on the build, and probably another on the blue BMW. Have no idea if people want to watch my fat ass work on my car, but I'm gonna do it anyways

[Elysian]

Found both head gaskets were blown. Camshaft, rockers, valves, etc look great. Was smelling the smell of blown head gasket in the oil, so decided to pull the heads.







Cylinders still have cross-hatching in them, but I'm not sure what exactly I'm doing now. Going to have to get the heads and block inspected now I suppose.

[Elysian]

Got the heads stripped down and ready to take to the machine shop tomorrow. Will have them checked for flatness.

[Elysian]

While the heads are at the machine shop I figured I should start on the suspension. One quarter of the 5 lug swap is done... A little too much poke though.





Wide body is in the plans, but I'm honestly not even sure if these will clear the firewall, much less the fender.

[OverclockN']

That's a lot of poke!

Is there a bulge in that sidewall, or is the tire low on pressure and the image from the low side of the tire is merging with the top?

[Elysian]

That's a lot of poke!

Is there a bulge in that sidewall, or is the tire low on pressure and the image from the low side of the tire is merging with the top?

Low ture pressure is all, I noticed that too that wheel hasn't been on a car in years, I'm surprised it had that much pressure!

[OverclockN']

If you have any plans of a wicked road race or autocross machine, you could tuck in the top of that tire a bit with some negative camber. Maybe not THAT much, but it helps. I had the same problem with the 315's on the Z, and dialing in the camber to -2.2* sucked them in quite a bit.

[Elysian]

If you have any plans of a wicked road race or autocross machine, you could tuck in the top of that tire a bit with some negative camber. Maybe not THAT much, but it helps. I had the same problem with the 315's on the Z, and dialing in the camber to -2.2* sucked them in quite a bit.

I think that's a good idea. I'm going to start looking for wide body fenders. I like the aggressive stance.

[Elysian]

Haven't welded since high school and it shows Started making my welding table today.




Only going to show one bead, since it's the only not completely awful one I got

[Elysian]

Ordered the wrong cam, got flat tappet instead of roller, so submitted an exchange w/ Summit for this:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/c...22-8/overview/

Still pretty aggressive, unfortunately a bit more expensive too.

[Elysian]

Heads are back. Gonna paint them. Going to drop the block off at the machine shop in 2 weeks for inspection/any necessary work.

[Elysian]

Finished breaking down the 302, going to take it to the machine shop tomorrow. The block looks good, going to have them inspect it and clean it up. Most of the bearings were well worn, definitely wouldn't have been a good idea to run it like that. The rear crank bearing was completely copper even. The rod bearings weren't too bad, but definitely needed replacing. The crank didn't look like it was poorly worn, but I'll have them check it and decide what to do after that. If it's too worn to use I'll probably just start saving for a 347 stroker crank.

[Elysian]

Going to pick up the block and crank after work. They cleaned everything, honed the cylinders (still stock bore), polished the crank (still stock bearings), and installed new cam bearings. Not bad for just over $300.