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M20 Turbo => M50 turbo fun.


Rowleym

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I was bored searching craigslist, and I found a 91 3 series with a 128k on it, that was supposedly not running. Went to check it out, only had surface rust (thank god..) and some fried wires(Crank position sensor!). Only bad thing, it an autotragic.

So I bought it. 500$ and an hour and a half drive later, I'm thinking, "what the hell did I get myself into." Did some research for a few days, bought a CPS, and a manual swap(still haven't put it in ) and I fired it up. the ODO wasn't broken, and it ran pretty well. Went across the street, did some burn outs and a couple donuts, and drove her back in the shop for the rest of the winter.

GOALS- around 350whp. And a decent looking exterior. Doing this smart. Not cheap, but not expensive either. I have lots of time to search down parts on various forums.

NEED TO BUY(say if you have anything for sale that i need!)

-e34 throttle cable for the swap.

-Intercooler piping

-ARP studs

-Some cheap racing seats!

-Oil pressure gauge

-Oil feed stuff

-Exterior items such as bumpers and a tail light

-Some cheap light rims

-endless amount of bushings and suspension stuff

-coilovers

cant think of much else. Well except brakes and probably everything else. lol

Build list:

Ms3x plug and play running sequential fuel and COP on the m50

Holset hx40 7 blade with 16cm housing. Flows 69lb/min- I will trade for a smaller one.

injectors- Siemens 80lbers. Running a single Walbro 255, probably another one inline too.

Manifold- looking to build a y adapter coming from the stock manifolds. Or a blunt tech mani.

intercooler- a goofy 26x12x3 that I probably need to reweld the inlet/outlet at a different angle. Still need intercooler piping.

Wideband- spartan wideband.

Exhaust- 3 inch dump. Might do a 45 in front of the pass rear wheel.

Oil feed and drain- Just need a proper oil feed set up

Arps- leaving stock compression for e85

Swap brace from GunMetalGrey- thanks man.

Trans and motor mounts by condor. Along with a power steering delete :D

Clutch- Stage 4 f1 racing clutch. Purchased.

Flywheel- I have an early single mass eta flywheel that I had resurfaced.

Thanks for any input at all! Extremely appreciated!

Also, this is a semi slow build. I have about 100$ a week to spend on this baby. haha.

Edited by need4speed1299
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For one, Get ARP Head studs. it's one of the few things you'll be glad you bought. Also a safety measure. Also, don't lighten your flywheel too much. I saw an article a year or so ago about how having a lightened flywheel can actually cause more issues. But to each their own. You need pictures, kid. We here at Wibimmers, like pictures. Lots of them.

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Posted Image megasquirt! Diypnp.

Posted Image yup.. 128k on the odo

Posted Image5 speed swap and rebuilt driveshaft. Along with a failed plasti dip trunk. Posted Image some rust.

Posted Imagethe worst spot of rust.

Posted Image some other surface rust I have been fixing.

Posted Image this turned out to be a damn hole. But it's pretty much fixed. It's not a show car anyway.

Posted Image overview. Anyone have a hood? Lol. Mines all bent.

Posted Imagequick bay shot.

Aaaaand last but not least. My old car. Posted Image

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Word! My sister jumped timing at above car(the Jetta) and I have to finished rebuilding the head before I can continue on this. I'm really just building up parts like a whore and doing all the work quick before the snow melts. Lol. I also have a 1976 jeep cj7 that I'm restoring with my dad right now. It's going to be my winter car lol.

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Posted Image das turbo (:

Also, this is a WTB thread. I will be willing to negotiate for many items concerning this build. If you have anything that you think is useful, just chime in. All comments are appreciated. Unless you are being a douche that tells me to s5x swap it and stop Wasting my time with boost or something.

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Haha. For 500$, it has barely any rust issues at all. I'm very happy with it. My management setup costed more than the damn car. And it has very minimal rust. I'm happy.

True with in reason. Still a decent vehicle. Glad you got sedan over coupe. :)

Yea dude. The pistons are like black at the top. Only 130k on it. Probably shit gas ran through it. Super gross dirty.

yeah, they look like they're covered in gunk. Hopefully you get that thing back on the road!

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That turbo is way too big for your HP goals IMO. The HX35 has much better street manners and will make over 500 wheel all day long. Cool project, and good luck with the build. Is O-ringing the motor really needed for 350 wheel?

That's what I told him. But he's hard headed. He's running the HX40. Lol

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