Lifted E30 V2

[GunMetalGrey]

HipMF said:

Stock LS engine with an auto would be cheap to buy. Depends on if can get it to work with the stock oil pan and headers.

Regardless, I think you should challenge yourself to actually find the problem here and fix it instead of throwing your hands in the air and giving up.

I haven't given up yet, but we both can agree that it would be way more fun with an M60 under the hood!

[suspenceful]

GunMetalGrey said:

I disagree with both of these the things lol. 

Unless there is something I'm missing 

Like Mike said, you could get an LS with auto trans and an ECU for cheap. This is an off-road vehicle, you don't need to tie in a bunch of complicated electronics and functions. Find a way to mount the LS in the car and cut the driveshaft to fit.

With that said... I can see you disliking the auto trans part of it and sadly, T56 are expensive.

[patsbimmer1]

For about $20k you can just have Sikky do the LS swap for you!

[Daggerty]

I think you would be very disappointed with a stock ls paired with an automatic.

[B C]

Cummins swap

[P_Roloff]

Why not be like @Jdesign and put a Ford 5.0 in?

[Rekpoint]

Snap said:

Cummins swap

https://milwaukee.craigslist.org/pts/d/2001-cummins-6-speed-4x4-full/6347938865.html <-----

[YoungCR]

M60 conversion mounts are cheap and so are the motors/trans!

Do you have the oxygen sensor hooked up? I didn't give you a dme along with the motor correct?

[Jdesign]

The 3UZ sounds amazing if you want to be different and Reliable . 

P_Roloff said:

Why not be like @Jdesign and put a Ford 5.0 in?

Because 5.0 fords are old tech. Only if you are living in the Phuture and all the LS and M60 swaps are become extinct, shall this swap become popular again.

[GunMetalGrey]

I pulled the part number on the injectors the other day and they turn out to be M50 injectors, which is odd because they sure don't look green.
Found some E injectors from a friend locally, and snuck those into the fuel rail last night. 

It runs great on 4 cylinders now...... 
Could unplug injector #1 and #6 and it wouldn't make any difference in idle, but with all of them plugged in it drove fine. 
Going to leave them unplugged and try to drive it tonight to see if they are actually working past idle. 

The coolant bleed screw passage is also blocked so I couldn't get air out of the system. That part feels all too familiar.

[Jdesign]

GunMetalGrey said:

I pulled the part number on the injectors the other day and they turn out to be M50 injectors, which is odd because they sure don't look green.
Found some E injectors from a friend locally, and snuck those into the fuel rail last night. 

It runs great on 4 cylinders now...... 
Could unplug injector #1 and #6 and it wouldn't make any difference in idle, but with all of them plugged in it drove fine. 
Going to leave them unplugged and try to drive it tonight to see if they are actually working past idle. 

The coolant bleed screw passage is also blocked so I couldn't get air out of the system. That part feels all too familiar.

So at idle it sounds like it looks?

So what would stop an injector from opening at idle? Not enough fuel pressure? Do you have a gauge, regulator, or wideband on it? ( I figure you dont but I have to ask)

[GunMetalGrey]

Sadly it doesn't sound all that cool at idle. I does amaze me how much air the exhaust moves though. 

I'm not sure, which is why I want to verify that it works when driving, but after checking manifold runner temps after driving it does work. Not as well as others, but works lol. I also imagine that it would be wildly obvious that it was only running on 4 cyl when driving, and it felt fine.

I pulled the plug boot while idling and I could hear the spark arcing so I know the spark portion is functional, though once again pulling the plug didn't change the idle. 

I don't have much for diagnostics on this chassis. I could swap regulators on it and see if anything changes. 
Though that seems odd given that it's cylinder #1 and #6

May just bury it into limiter all winter and not care. Seems like the right thing to do?

[Jdesign]

Let me ask you this; Have you checked the spray pattern? You know, the good ol carb cleaner 9volt battery trick.

[GunMetalGrey]

Jdesign said:

Let me ask you this; Have you checked the spray pattern? You know, the good ol carb cleaner 9volt battery trick.

I have not done so. 
Is this worthwhile? Because pulling the injectors back out isn't all that fun lol.

[GunMetalGrey]

Cleaned out the bleed screw passage with a small drill bit last night, as it was completely blocked and I couldn't use a pick to clear it. 

I also realized that a sealed beam to ellipsoid swap on an early model car involves a lot of wiring because they didn't use a true independent wiring setup for each high and low beam. I found a good write-up of it, so I need to work on that, which involves taking the fuse box apart a bit. 

I have a list of things sitting on the car to get done, ranging from washing it (sat outside for 10 months) to securing the fuel filter in the trunk, and am slowly chipping away at them. I hope to have something new for the car soon that will certainly increase the amount of fun for it!

[B C]

Besides changing the connectors, no wiring is required.

All you need to do is run a bead of solder between two of the blades on the relay. Let me know if you want more info

Source: I converted mine.

[straight6pwr]

Snap said:

Besides changing the connectors, no wiring is required.

All you need to do is run a bead of solder between two of the blades on the relay. Let me know if you want more info

Source: I converted mine.

+1, you don't even have to do the relay jump if you don't want. honestly, high beams are more effective with low beams off, so I always liked that about the early car retrofit.

Source: science.

[GunMetalGrey]

Snap said:

Besides changing the connectors, no wiring is required.

All you need to do is run a bead of solder between two of the blades on the relay. Let me know if you want more info

Source: I converted mine.

Feel free to share, but after doing just about every combination of things that seem possible it doesn't work. 
Note: Chassis year makes a difference, there are two ways the headlights were wired. 

Source: I too have converted other cars, this one is not the same.

See Also: http://users.rcn.com/nifftylion/headlights/E30 Lighting Conversion Information - X Mon - Pub.pdf

[GunMetalGrey]

Well had I known the Bentley had the instructions I wouldn't have spent so much time figuring out how to make this car happen...

[GunMetalGrey]

So I am having a similar issue as before, and it is actually driving me insane. 

The thermostat still will not open when it is running. 

I elevated the front end, filled the system per the Bentley procedure (bleed screw open, fill till it comes out) then started the car, let it warm up to temp and cracked the bleed screw again and waited until no more air bubbles happened. Thermostat still didn't open. Tried it with the expansion tank cap on and off, no difference. The radiator gets coolant flow with the bleed screw open, and with the screw open it is pushing a good amount of fluid. 
Temperature was verified with temp gun (~195°F) and thermostat was bench tested and was good. 
Thermostat is installed the correct way. I added two holes to it to see if that helps anything and will try Snaps suggestion of revving with the bleed screw open. But beyond that I have no idea. 
The heater core is getting flow, as I can get a lot of heat out of it. 
 

Thermostat open

The reason I want it to stop overheating is sitting on the bench, and I don't want to start on that until I can drive the darn thing. 

Pic for fun