Some M42 FI Affection

[rob_e30]

This project has come far enought that I'm ready to share pics...

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=698624

[Alpine003]

Congrats!. Now with the easy part out of the way(imo), time to concentrate on tuning.;)

[TheNeek]

sick

[franz]

nice wish i had that motor

[rob_e30]

Sound and video... The engine has been running for a bit but I have not had time to finish up some minor stuff and get it tuned. The exhaust is a 3" side pipe with no restriction.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4UXrEPQMUg

[nickmpower]

drive up to santa clara so i can see it!!!! is it even street legal

[rob_e30]

Nope, not street legal.

[gearheadE30]

That's amazing!! Great work, love to see people doing this to M42's instead of just S14's and M50's. Love the sound ;)

[Alpine003]

Nice. I hope you plan on mounting that awesome readout in your dash. I would love to get a Stack but not at the same cost of my car. ;) I don't hear a blow off valve, do you have one mounted or is it recirculating?
I hope those aren't the blue silicone hoses used for vacuum.

So when can we see the turbo and manifold glowing? :D

[D. Clay]

I'm impressed. After helping build a few, I can appreciate the time, effort, and resources that go into one of these cars. Especially with a day job and family.
Another thing that makes an M42 E30 such a good handling car is the angle of the motor. Thats a chunk of weight to the right of the centerline. It's offsetting the driver being to the left. Another advantage is gained by having the driver as far to the right and as far back as possible.
I want to drive it!

[rob_e30]

Nice. I hope you plan on mounting that awesome readout in your dash.

That is the dash. It's mounted on the steering column and uses GPS for speed. It's got shift light indicators and lap timer.

There are are lot of blue hoses, some for vacuum, some for water to the turbo. It's not building boost because the engine is not under load so you won't hear the waste gate or BOV.

[kowalski]

best sounding m42 award.

[TheNeek]

Glad to hear it running. I can guess at the turbo. I know you're trying to keep the "secret sauce" a secret. Good stuff. All this talk about strokers and stuff makes me wish I didn't order my pistons for the 1.8 liter crank. They're already ceramic coated so I can't really deck them.

[Alpine003]

That is the dash. It's mounted on the steering column and uses GPS for speed. It's got shift light indicators and lap timer.

There are are lot of blue hoses, some for vacuum, some for water to the turbo. It's not building boost because the engine is not under load so you won't hear the waste gate or BOV.

Yeah, I was hoping you would mount it in the dash to make it look more finished but it is a race car after all. ;)

As for the BOV, at least I know you're not running an HKS SS with a pull type diaphragm now. ;)

[rob_e30]

Well after many months of delays we finally made it to the dyno tonight. Running just of the spring on the wastegate we put down almost 300 ft/lbs and 283rwhp on a Dyno Dynamics at 15lbs of boost. There is tuning still to be done and some last minute things to button up, but we expect to be at Willow on Sunday for the HPDE's as a shakedown cruise!

Thanks to Vic Sias of Sias Tuning and Jon at 666 Fabrication.

[Tor Arne Kaasen]

Hi Rob e30. do you use GT2871R to get that kinde of power? ore some other type. is the car 1,8 liter 109 cdi?

[BrandC]

VIDEOS, more of them and faster.

[dude8383]

VIDEOS, more of them and faster.

Haha

Where have you mounted the intercooler?

[rob_e30]

Hi Rob e30. do you use GT2871R to get that kinde of power? ore some other type. is the car 1,8 liter 109 cdi?


The turbo is bigger than the 2871 and the displacement is more than the stock 1.8L. It's under 2.0L with a GT3071.

I'm kicking myself for not taking a video while it was running last night.

Here is a pic of the new front end...

[bmwman91]

Sheepdog, we really need a big, slobbering drool smiley.

Rob, how does the powerband come out? Within the bounds of the secret-sauce confidentiality, what can you tell me about boost lag and peakiness of the power.

[dude8383]

Sheepdog, we really need a big, slobbering drool smiley.

Rob, how does the powerband come out? Within the bounds of the secret-sauce confidentiality, what can you tell me about boost lag and peakiness of the power.

yes i'm quite interested to hear about this as well.

i see it is a front mount intercooler...did you have to cut out the bumper support or did you manage to fit in there?

[rob_e30]

I did cut out sone of the bumper support and trimmed the mouth of the new bumper cover.

Here are some more pics

[nickmpower]

hey rob, how many miles on the engine? have you done a leak down or compression test? Im having troubles with my rebuilt engine and another new engines compression or leakdown results would really help out

[rob_e30]

Zero miles since a complete rebuild. Replaced the crank and using custom pistons. CR is 8.5:1 so I'm not sure what my numbers would do for you by comparison. I also have not done either test.

The leakdown is pretty straight forward... What is the % leaking?
On the compression test, as long as you get a close reading on the same number of cranks with all of the plugs removed you should be in good shape.

[nickmpower]

I have about 20-30% leakdown. along with about 130-140 compression. And TONS of blowby. so much that the engine leaks from all the crankcase pressure. About 10 miles on the car

[rob_e30]

30% is starting to get to the high side. Is the leak down the same on all cylinders? Are you careful to make sure you're at TDC? If you are at TDC if you rotate the crank a little back and forth slowly does it change the reading? Rotating the crank will start to open the intake or exhaust valve and hear the air coming from the intake or exhaust manifold.

But, given that it's pressurizing the crank case I would suspect rings. If it's the same for every cylinder then either the rings or pistons are not the correct size.

[nickmpower]

i think the machinist just didnt install them properly, but it could still be that they need to be broken in which is why i was wondering if you had tested it. What pistons do you have? ive got JE. if theres anyway you could do a leakdown that would help me a lot

Its hard to rotate the crank around TDC because it just turns over. all the air is going past the rings.

[rob_e30]

I won't get a chance before we head to the track this weekend, but I've not heard of rings needing to be broken in to solve your problem. Have you talked to your machine shop?

I'll try and get one done for you early next week.

[nickmpower]

The machinist said it probably needs to be broken in more but im thinking hes just praying it some how fixes itself. Ive had so many problems with this engine before and now after the rebuild it makes me sick

if theres any way you can test just one cylinder before you head out to the track that would be great. It seems like after the mileage differences may be too great to make any sort of comparison

[Bunta]

I love this picture
http://www.imagehosting.com/out.php/i1009310_Mechanic201.jpg (http://www.imagehosting.com)

Get them started early. How many of us wish our dads were like this?

Cool project. No love for the looks of the car but its really about what works.



Hunter

[dude8383]

I love this picture

Get them started early. How many of us wish our dads were like this?

Cool project. No love for the looks of the car but its really about what works.

Hunter

Man, my pops thinks I'm wasting money on the car, but has given up talking me out of it :)

[rob_e30]

I did a leakdown test on a warm #1 cylinder and got almost none. I had a bit of trouble holding the crank and the gauge where I could see it. On the bright side, my gauge lists up to 40% as still green.

I also think I have more mileage than you given the dyno time the other night.

You're getting air into the case? It's coming out the dipstick? Are all cylinders reading the same or similar numbers? Are you testing it hot or cold?

[nickmpower]

yeah my gauge lists that too, unfortunately the rest of the world doesnt have the same point of view.

I havent tested them all hot, but i tested one hot, then came back later and tested them all cold and the same cylinder was about the same. They are all pretty much the same varing from maybe 20%-27%. Its all out the crankcase i can hear it though the oil cap.

how many miles were on your engine when you tested this? even if it was just on the dyno. and what kind of pistons and rings do you have?

Thanks a lot for the help rob

[rob_e30]

They're custom JE pistons and frankly I don't know what rings. I had the machine shop assemble the short block and select the components. I'm guessing that there are between 10 and 20 miles on the car since the rebuild.

What made you do the leak down test? Is there a problem or just checking their work? What does the machine shop say? I would get it up to temp and test it.

[nickmpower]

the insane amount of crankcase pressure is what made me do it. it leaks oil from several places because of the pressure and when i take off the oil cap its similar to putting your hand infront of the exhuast pipe. I straped a K&N air filter to where the oil cap would usually be and it no longer leaked oil out those seals. The crankcase breather is working fine in fact after i was having the problem i cut 2 holes in the valve cover and added 2 additional breathers to see if it would help. It didnt.

you engine seems very similar to mine. Mine may have a few less miles but not that big of a difference. I also have custom JE pistons i purchased from topend performance, im guessing thats probably where you got yours. Do you know if they had 1 compression ring like a race piston or 2?

My machinist put together my short block too. Coincidence that the only work i have not done on my car is most likely done wrong?

[nickmpower]

so what exactly does almost none? like 0-3%? do you know how many rings were used?

Im thinking i may pull my engine tomarrow and make the machine shop fix it

[rob_e30]

It got back to the test setting, which would be none I suppose. I don't recall the specs on the pistons but I'll try and call the machine shop tomorrow.

On another note, I just got back from the track. The car ran like a champ. I'll post pics and vids as soon as I get a chance.

[nickmpower]

alright, thanks again for the help rob.

Assuming your leakdown tester is functioning properly, it seems my results are infinitely higher then yours. Time for another talk with the machine shop, I`m hoping they will cover the cost of all the gaskets, not to mention the piston rings or anything else that could have potentionally been damaged