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'88 E30


KaiserRolls

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So I didn’t take any pictures at all because I completely forgot, but i took one at the end 9ff981d1e260283d783bf677ba3eab6f.jpg

I reeeeeally hope nothing leaks.

Basically it’s down to plopping in the radiator, adding fluids and getting the back of the sc to connect to the throttle body, run some vac line, finish the gauge wiring, put in new injectors, add the exhaust, mount a fan, bleed brakes/clutch/coolant, bolt up other randomness & figure out seatbelts

If I can do that all during the week I mayyyyy have this done for next weekend (doubt it)

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Got some more done last night. Finalized the fan bracket (stock e36 AC condenser fan). Just simple flaststock with some hardware. Not crazy cool but will get the job done and make it so I don’t have to destroy my radiator with those ziptie-Ish fan things. 6246b735de03c468a1b94e15e56aa0b1.jpg

I cleaned it up and sprayed it black

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Sits about 1/4” away from the radiator, should work well enough.

Got the rad hoses in and trimmed. Remember the top hose I just took a stock e36 hose, swapped ends and trimmed some fat. Fits like a glove f80f65df2b377fadaf7ecddd42e89f09.jpg544af28c4a2d95aec6a7094992f62d31.jpg bottom is a stock e36 silicone one trimmed up to work in the e30

7b3c82d768e8b0aa211c7bd0231eaa89.jpgfinger width in between the top of the belt and the bottom of the coolant hose. Hopefully that’s enough haha.

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My belt routing is a tad different, so it take a different angle on the PS pump. Had to ditch the lock washer and sand down the head of the bolt for some belt clearance. When I turned it over by hand before, it walked the belt one rib because it made contact.

036231335bab4fb7e8125ffc2cc9eb3c.jpg Intake tube routing is finalized & tightened. Ordered a new filter at lunch that’s a bit smaller so it can work in the spot I need it to.

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Also ordered a patch kit for this, VF wanted $225 for a replacement piece. I’m going to try some 3M stuff for the hell of it and see if it’ll work. Kind of bummed I have to use it, but the lack of room wouldn’t let me use my other coupler I had made. Oh well, so is the life of a project car.

Belt I ended up with for future reference

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I hope someone finds any of this info useful, but no one really supercharges a 24v anymore, let alone in an e30 haha.

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Well the 3M stuff didn’t really pan out, as expected. Returning that stuff tomorrow.

However I remembered I had a plastic welder collecting dust so I figured why not give it a go. Worst thing that happens is I can’t fix it & buy a new one (avoiding at all costs)

What follows is the progression of my frugality.

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Swiss cheesed (4 holes total)

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2 done, these were the smaller ones and were pretty easy to fill

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I used aluminum foil held on with duct tape as backing for the larger holes

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All done. I let it harden up a bit, then went back and took care of any low and thin spots

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I tried pushing and poking at it to see if I could crack it or separate it & I could not. We’ll see how long it lasts

$225 saved.

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Damn that looks like it filled up well. Did you have to use a filler material? I would have used Plexus epoxy to fill them but there are obviously many ways to get the job done. Do you have any plans of mimicking the texture so it is consistent?  Awesome progress!

Just used the stuff that came in the box from harbor freight. Assuming it’s some type of polypro.

Epoxy would’ve probably worked as well.

I thought about sanding it & doing all that beautification. But I’m not any good at that so I’ll probably just leave it for now

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19 minutes ago, KaiserRolls said:

Just used the stuff that came in the box from harbor freight. Assuming it’s some type of polypro.

Epoxy would’ve probably worked as well.

I thought about sanding it & doing all that beautification. But I’m not any good at that so I’ll probably just leave it for now

Enough boost should smooth it out, just send it!

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3 minutes ago, suspenceful said:

Hopefully it's strong enough. I would hate for pieces of that to break and get sucked into your motor.

Good progress!

It shouldn't see much/any vacuum, it is upstream from the throttle body so it should be between atmospheric pressure and full boost.  To be extra safe I would recommend full throttle at all times so any pieces are blown out rather than in.

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Hopefully it's strong enough. I would hate for pieces of that to break and get sucked into your motor.

Good progress!

As others have said, would be blown out 9/10 times.

Also the way the plastic is laid over it, if it were to delaminate from that pipe, it wouldn’t fit thru the hole.

My OCD will make me check it after every drive though I’m sure

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There's no way that could really fail. I guarantee the pipe is made out of a thermoplastic elastomer or a thermoset plastic. The plastic welding would have reached high enough temperatures for the filler rod to melt to the existing material instead of just puddling on like a patch. Not to mention that you wont be pulling near enough vacuum to cause it to collapse inward even if it was somewhat thin.

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Your heater core should be metal tubes. If so you can easily do what I did at the expense of $0. I removed the ends of the heater core from inside under the dash, and chopped them down about 1-2". this way the bend of the coolant hose happens right at the firewall vs. 2" out as shown in your last picture. Only downfall is that the hose clamps for the coolant lines are now under your dash rather than in the engine bay.

 

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