the one and only e30 s52 engine swap

[Earl]

Ive helped lift an m5x by hand. It took one 260ish pound man, myself, and your average dad lol

[jc43089]

With the head on it will be approximately a 7 shots of brake cleaner to the eye job to get it up the stairs.  Without the head only 2 sprays.

[AsparagusMike]

Was working on my first piston, had everything prelubed ready to go. Had all my piston rings compressed down (or so I thought) and I took one swift hit and the piston went in. Boom bada bing one down 5 to go. Nope...

The very bottom oil ring ended up not clamping down all the way and when I pounded down it ended up bending and getting pinched between the piston and the cylinder wall.

Right here was my problem, never again......junk junk junk!!!

So I went and found something that I should have used in the first place.

After I switched over, the rest of the pistons went in no problem and are torqued to spec.

So here's my question, How much of a risk am I taking reusing that ring? Should I not even consider it and straight up get a new set for one piston (if I even can)? All the other rings are fine.

Another question...

The arrow and  the Letters AW next to it, anybody know what the AW stand for?  After researching and coming up empty, I guessed and installed the pistons with all the arrows facing toward the front of the engine.  Did I do it wrong? or does it matter?

[B C]

Do not think about reusing that ring.

Not even once.

AW is alpinweiß?

Yes, arrows point towards the front of the engine

[Jdesign]

ALWAYS WORRY

[GunMetalGrey]

In the last picture you posted, it works quite well, as AW stands for Awkward Wiener.
Don't reuse the ring, they are cheap enough and that's a vital engine part.

[AsparagusMike]

Snap said:

Do not think about reusing that ring.

GunMetalGrey said:

In the last picture you posted, it works quite well, as AW stands for Awkward Wiener.
Don't reuse the ring, they are cheap enough and that's a vital engine part. 

Yup I thought I'd be better off just replacing it instead of suffering later. Called up Hastings and ordered a new set for one piston(which as you said was fairly cheap).

[AsparagusMike]

Came in yesterday

And all the pistons are installed and torqued to spec. Double checked, triple checked, quadruple checked, quintuple checked, sextuple checked, septuple checked, and octuple checked the torque on the main studs and rod bolts before confirming the Bottom end is done.

Now that the pistons and crank and what not are done its time for cleaning more parts and ordering gaskets and seals.

So, while I waited for the rings to show up I began to get needed things done, first up, drill oil pump nut...

Probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to drill because of the angle and it would have been easier if I had a vise for the drill press but all in all it ended up turning out half way decent and saved myself a ridiculous $14 to buy one.

N

Also began cleaning the metal plate that covers the crank (not really sure what the name of it is) and timing cover. (Not done yet)

Also noticed something on the timing cover....something that worries me....

Am I gonna be finding another timing cover? It still seems solid and strong I wonder if getting it bead blasted or something would get rid of it.

On another note.......E34 OIL PAN!!!!!!!

Man, what a joke. WHAT A FLIPPIN JOKE it is to find one of these for a decent price, that's all. I'm just happy the struggle is over.

List of parts to order next...

Cometic headgasket                

Rear main crankshaft seal kit (part #: 11142247867)

Front crankshaft seal                   

Stewart water pump                  

Timing cover gaskets                 

Oil pump pickup gasket and oil pump gasket

Oil pan gasket

[jc43089]

I've seen funny looking marks like that on timing covers and other parts. I think it's just from the manufacturing process. If you look closely are they actually raised ridges?

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[B C]

Man oh man is it ever hard to get an E34 oil pan. You have the couple of years they made the M50 E34, then out of those, the ones that made it stateside, then out of those, the ones that arent currently being driven and havent been sacrificed for their oil pans by all the other E30 swaps.

I was dealing with a guy known as “most reliable paul” to get a run of new E34 pans made but he has really dropped the ball.

[AsparagusMike]

Can anybody by chance tell me where I can find or what the part number is for the gasket that goes between the oil pump and motor block? Or is there not suppose to be a gasket there? All I seem to find is the pickup to oil pump gasket.

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[B C]

The only gasket is on the pickup tube. Nothing on that mating face there. Just clean it real well for install

[AsparagusMike]

So got home earlier then normal today and with a little motivation left in me I decided to clean the garage a bit and get parts organized, VERY very happy that I did.

I completely forgot about these little guys. I still can't stop thinking, imagine if I had this thing all together ready to go and I found them then or even worse! after its in the car and I start the frickin thing, bye bye motor. Even though I disliked the fact that I had to pull the crank and bearings back out after its been all torqued down I'm thankful I caught it now.

Everything is back together now and torqued down as before, this time the right way.

For other progress I got my oil pump cleaned up and installed (not torqued down) as well as my oil pickup tube.

Still waiting on my gaskets and seals to show up, tomorrow gonna drop off the oil pan and timing cover at the machine shop for a nice acid bath and should get it back by the end of the day, then gonna work on priming and painting the pan which will be bmw blue to match the valve cover (Which isn't painted yet, but will be).

[straight6pwr]

nice progress!

as far as getting a built engine out of your basement...

https://honda-tech.com/forums/general-discussion-debate-40/how-take-motor-out-basement-357271/

please consider one of the two of you has to go backwards up stairs. a fully dressed s50 is north of 400 lbs. short block is less, but either way its a small object so that makes it harder.

(have a plan B )

[jc43089]

Good thing you remembered the piston cooling jets.  I would think oil pressure would be very poor without them.

[AsparagusMike]

straight6pwr said:

nice progress!

as far as getting a built engine out of your basement...

https://honda-tech.com/forums/general-discussion-debate-40/how-take-motor-out-basement-357271/

please consider one of the two of you has to go backwards up stairs. a fully dressed s50 is north of 400 lbs. short block is less, but either way its a small object so that makes it harder.

(have a plan B )

Actually I've been doing some more thinking on that and I think I might have a pretty good idea. No matter what u do, the engine is gonna be awkward to carry and hard to support between two people. So, instead of carrying it why not just leave it right on the engine stand. People on that thread were saying to put the motor on a refrigerator dolly and maybe a come along to winch it up with plywood on the steps. How about I just hook the come along to the neck part of the stand and pull it up backwards on plywood? For the other side of the come along, there's a closet at the top of the stairs. If I took a thick heavy piece of wood and cut it just long enough to fit behind the back side of the frame and maybe supported it with 2x4's so it didn't fall, wrapped the strap around the piece of wood, and cranked her up the stairs, what could go wrong? For safety precautions I'll station a friend at the bottom end so if something were to fail he can catch it.

[Earl]

I highly doubt your door frame or that piece of wood would survive that whole ordeal lol

[AsparagusMike]

Earl said:

I highly doubt your door frame or that piece of wood would survive that whole ordeal lol

Ye of little faith

[Earl]

Lol

[Jdesign]

Ive lifted a few motors out of basements before. Each time the theory was to have more people available to lift it than needed. But then again, there was never any planning ahead or thinking about it like you are right now. What about one of those mover lift strap things?