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the one and only e30 s52 engine swap


AsparagusMike

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Ya, so things have been a happenin...

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By the way, thx for the tip on that bolt extractor kit for getting the last bolt out on the gas tank. Worked like a charm.

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As well as the rest of the aluminum subframe sleeve... To get it out I used a tig torch set on AC (usually used for welding aluminum) and it pretty much just heated up really fast and blasted it out all at the same time.

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After getting that done, I was able to pull all the rest of the brake and fuel lines which I should say were very crusty and in dyer need of replacement.

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In fact once I started to pop the fuel lines out of the brackets they immediately started to leak in 3 different spots. Gonna be replacing all the lines with copper nickel line 5/16 for the fuel and 3/16 for the brake.  Ordered a bubble flaring kit from Matco the other day. Hoping to see it here Monday or Tuesday.

For the interior, as you've seen above I got the dash and carpet pulled. Carpet is a nasty mess ,  Gonna try cleaning it today back at home and see how she looks. Not really sure about dying the carpet as I am a little leery about how it may hold up over time. Also came upon a website while researching carpets for bmw's called stockinteriors.com. They will make a molded carpet with the foam for an e30 for about 170 bucks, only thing I would have to do is cut in the necessary holes for it to fit, something I may have to consider if the original carpet doesn't work out.

As for the dash, Got it completely dissembled last, dremeled out all of the cracks with a grinding stone. Will begin body filling the cracks tonight and sand it down. Order dash flocking kit, check.

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Also started to clean all the foam for sealing the duck work. Anyone know where I can get a good replacement for that kind of stuff?

 

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And onto the rust repair...

 

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So far this is all that I was able to get done for repair so far. Tough thing I learned my lesson from is the fact I decided to use 12 gauge steel instead of something a bit liter like 16 or 18. It still ended up turning out alright and welded up nicely with just a few issues where the amperage was to high and burned holes in the original body metal because of how much thinner it was. Will clean it up a bit more with a paddle wheel and paint on the por-15.

There are about three more spots that need to be cut and welded up with new metal on the passenger side floor panel. After that, on to the driver side which I have began cutting out where the rust has ate through.

 

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After learning my lesson, gonna be using something a bit liter on this side like 18 gauge. Gonna weld much better to the original metal and bend nicer.

A couple other things done... removed the entire airbag system and got the hole drilled, tapped, and helicoiled on the timing cover.

 

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Still waiting on new gaskets to reinstall it as well as hand full of other parts including all new 95a poly bushings, motor mounts, and trans mounts from revshift! Still waiting on my frames to get blasted which were suppose to be done this last Friday but it seems everyone I have been getting work done by recently have been telling me they would get it done by this time and end up not having it done when I call them on that date, some people's kids I tell ya.

 

 

 

 

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You're really digging into this thing! 

You are going to love the feel of the brake pedal after swapping all of the lines. While you are at it make sure to replace the soft brake lines, and may as well replace all of the hardlines (trailing arm lines etc.)

Keep up the good work! 

I'll dig for the vanos tools sometime this week, should be able to get out to the shop. 

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On 1/7/2018 at 8:04 PM, Daggerty said:

@straight6pwr bought a carpet from stockinteriors.com or a similar site. 

He could tell you what the pros cons are of it.

pros:

  • color choices
  • lightweight
  • synthetic material so better stain resistance
  • cheap, relative to new OEM carpet

cons:

  • fit is not great
  • takes a bit of effort to install
  • more cabin noise than stock

basically, if your carpet could be R&R'd back to good condition, I wouldnt bother with an aftermarket replacement. mine was ripped and smelled awful from water intrusion.

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On 1/9/2018 at 9:41 AM, straight6pwr said:

pros:

  • color choices
  • lightweight
  • synthetic material so better stain resistance
  • cheap, relative to new OEM carpet

cons:

  • fit is not great
  • takes a bit of effort to install
  • more cabin noise than stock

basically, if your carpet could be R&R'd back to good condition, I wouldnt bother with an aftermarket replacement. mine was ripped and smelled awful from water intrusion.

Thx for the info! Hopefully the original cleans up well.

On 1/7/2018 at 7:36 PM, Earl said:

You can buy those HVAC gaskets new from the dealer. Check realoem.com for the part number

Got the part number. Called up the dealer, 35 dollars for a piece of foam. Ya, no.

On 1/7/2018 at 3:19 PM, KaiserRolls said:

Awesome progress!
As far as the purge valve stuff goes, I let that line vent to atmosphere & have the purge valve still connected to the harness, just let that hang out wherever

That's exactly what I want to do. Thanks for confirming it.

 

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45 minutes ago, Snap said:

For the charcoal canister, I will see if I can cut the line back closer to the fuel tank then install an inline fuel filter just to allow it to breathe but not allow dirt in. I will post more once I get there

That will stink, literally, anytime the car is parked and the temperature increases you will smell gas.  Maybe I missed something?  Why are we not connecting charcoal canisters?  There are aftermarket universal ones for cheap if the original is broken. 

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14 minutes ago, jc43089 said:

That will stink, literally, anytime the car is parked and the temperature increases you will smell gas.  Maybe I missed something?  Why are we not connecting charcoal canisters?  There are aftermarket universal ones for cheap if the original is broken. 

I wanted to keep it but I already had to relocate it 2 "above the stock E30 location in order to clear the E36 engine mount arms. Now the top of it hits the master cylinder. I will proceed with removing it as planned but if I can find a suitable smaller replacement then I will consider it. 

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I'll start off right away by saying that dash repair, is not as easy as it seems. I spent right around 8 hours total body filling and sanding the shit out of this thing. Many times I came upon more small cracks I hadn't noticed before and had to go back and open them up and fix em.  All in all it ended up turning out really great and I couldn't be more pleased.

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The dash flocking was pretty straight forward as there is a pretty well written instructions that comes with the kit. I would say the one and only struggle about the hole process was the amount of time I had to get it done. You get 15 minutes total to get the black undercoat and the fibers on. Luckily I had a friend help me with the painting and so it took us about 10 minutes to get the painting done and the last few minutes to frantically get the fibers blown on before the undercoat dried. I went overboard with the fibers as the kit advises u to in order to cover all the areas. The cure takes about 15 - 17 hours before u can shake the excess fibers off and another 72 hours to a week before u can install it back in the car.

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We'll see how she looks tomorrow once I shake it off.

On another note, got the driver side rust hole fixed up, 16 gauge worked so much better and welded up with little issue.

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Subframes and trailing arms back from blasting!

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Reinforcement time...

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Front subframe all welded up before calling it quits tonight. All credit goes to my buddy Forrest and his master skills with a tig welder...

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Gonna help finish up the reinforcement welding tomorrow as well as two other small rust holes on the passenger side that need to be cut out and welded up. Also praying that my parts show up from fcp so that I can get the timing cover back on the motor. Was suppose to get a few parts I was having powder coated back about week ago but it seems that their oven broke down and was unable to get it back up and running tell about a day ago, so once again, I wait. :(

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sorry for the late update. Spent the whole last week in Arizona enjoying the beautiful warm weather. Before I left I was able to finish up a couple things.

After getting my timing cover gaskets in the mail as well as many other parts needed for the motor I got the timing cover back on and gave the upper timing chain tensioner bolt another shot at redemption... Success acheived :D

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Not to long after, my buddy showed up and went at it finishing welding the reinforcement on the rest of the subframe pieces...

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That was about it until I got back this last weekend. The following morning woke up, ate some asparagus, and began tearing apart the steering rack for rebuild...

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Once it was dissembled, threw it in the wash tank for a good 2 hours for a thorough cleaning.

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Would have the rack already back together by now but I have been struggling and struggling to get the last main seal in the middle of the rack housing out but nothing seems to be working.

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So far I have tried removing the seal with a bushing remover kit which ended real quick as it seemed I was stuck in between two different sizes that was either to small or to big to grab the seal. Tried using a wooden dowel as well as a long thin punch and screwdriver which only got me breaking off the plastic molding pieces behind the bushing that are suppose to come out with it and be replaced.

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That was pretty much all I had for an edge to tap on. Now it seems anything I try to tap on the back of the bushing slips off. At this point I am pretty much stumped and took a break from the whole thing for a bit so I don't lose my mind.

On the up side... bushings showed up!

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As for other things accomplished... designed up a new gas pedal bracket today to replace the unsalvageable rusty old one. Checked it on the pedal itself to verify proper fit and then welded her into place at the same location as the original.

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Between school and work lately it has been hard to get over to the shop and get anything done. Hoping to get a break this weekend and crank out a few things.

Things up next on the agenda include...

  1. Get the holes for the alignment cams on the rear sub frame opened up to the same shape as the brackets installed.
  2. There are three more small holes ate through by rust that need to be cut out and welded.
  3. Once the above two are completed, POR-15 everything.
  4. Work on getting the seal out of the rack
  5. Start working on getting the carpet cleaned up.
  6. Make up new brake and fuel hard lines to be installed as well as ordering the brackets which I seemed to have forgotten about getting on the last order.
  7. Continue to work on getting the seal out of the rack
  8. Begin working on cleaning up the gas tank.
  9. Throw steering rack away and buy a re manufactured one like I should have in the first place instead of fucking around with this one.

 

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5 hours ago, Snap said:

I wasnt aware some of those reinforcements existed, I only have a few of those. What is your spring and damper situation?

Some of it may a bit overkill, whatever. I'm running BC racing coilovers, spring rates are 6k in the front and 10k in the back (Stiffness is pretty close to the same of what H&R race springs would be).

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