Alpine e30 progress/build thread
-
So the E34 M50 pickup tube has a different flange then? What setup do most e30 guys do? Just convert to rear sump??
As far as the CEL. Take a look at the ecu pinout. If its like the OBD1/413 DME then its just a single wire for the CEL signal.
The CEL is communicated to the dash over canbus on the m52tu and later cars if I am not mistaken. There is an aftermarket canbus box that can be used to read the CEL over canbus and output to the light on the older cars dashboard.
-
So the E34 M50 pickup tube has a different flange then? What setup do most e30 guys do? Just convert to rear sump??
As far as the CEL. Take a look at the ecu pinout. If its like the OBD1/413 DME then its just a single wire for the CEL signal.
Yeah, unfortunately they don't interchange. Most people with an M54 swap cut and weld the existing rear sump pickup to work with a front sump like this:
The CEL is communicated to the dash over canbus on the m52tu and later cars if I am not mistaken. There is an aftermarket canbus box that can be used to read the CEL over canbus and output to the light on the older cars dashboard.
^Yup, things like the CEL, oil level light, AC compressor/idle raise, cruise control, etc, are communicated via canbus in the newer cars, so a canbus conversion module is needed to convert those signals to a usable output for the e30. Since I don't have the check panel, cruse, or AC, the only thing I gain by having this $250+ module is a working check engine light. I'll have a working OBD2 port so I can pull that info from the DME that way, maybe with one of those bluetooth readers connected to my phone or something
-
I have a cheap ebay bluetooth OBD2 reader to talk to the Torque app on my phone or android headunit in the saabaru. Havent tried datalogging with it, but for just reading codes and seeing live data it works perfectly fine.
-
Worked on this today now that the weather warmed up a bit.
Against my better judgement, I bought some roll-center spacers from Garagistic since they were the only ones who still sell a 1/2" spacer (anything larger requires 17" wheels), and after fighting with them for over an hour, I realized that the hole pattern doesn't match up with the pattern on the struts. Not only that, but the ridge on one of them is too tall for the groove on the strut housing. I can probably enlarge the holes and shave down the ridge to make them fit...
After I gave up on that, I went back to working on tearing down the engine. I am swapping the e46 engine harness to an e39 harness that will allow me to run the DME in the stock location, so I went through and labeled everything as I removed it to hopefully get it right on re-assembly. I also pulled out everything related to the CCV as I'll be converting it to a catch-can/pcv setup. Did a bunch of other random stuff as well, here's how it sits:
-
Do you plan on painting/ cleaning up the longblock before installing it?
https://www.instagram.com/_jdesigner_/ http://nevertoolow.tumblr.com/
🥳SOLD BMW E24 633CSI - BMW M30B32 🧪SOLD HCH ES9 - 1.3 LDA
👽BMW E30 325IC - Toyota 1JZ-GTE ⏰ HONDA EF9 CIVIC SI - JDM B18C5
☠️BMW E36 318i - Ford 5.0 FE302 🚴♂️ GT-Labomba - 26x2.75 Freeride
🤹♀️SOLD BMW E36/7 Z3 - BMW M54B25 🧓SOLD BMW E10 2002 - BMW M10M05 -
Do you plan on painting/ cleaning up the longblock before installing it?
Yup! That's whats taking me forever since I have no good way to clean parts. The current method is to bring them home and scrub them in the bathtub haha. Can't do that with the block obviously... so I'll have to figure out something else there. I was thinking that since everything is aluminum I was just going to clean it well/leave it bare, and just paint the various steel brackets.
-
Buy a case of brake clean. If you buy from Orielly they will price match farm and fleet @ $1.98 a can.
https://www.instagram.com/_jdesigner_/ http://nevertoolow.tumblr.com/
🥳SOLD BMW E24 633CSI - BMW M30B32 🧪SOLD HCH ES9 - 1.3 LDA
👽BMW E30 325IC - Toyota 1JZ-GTE ⏰ HONDA EF9 CIVIC SI - JDM B18C5
☠️BMW E36 318i - Ford 5.0 FE302 🚴♂️ GT-Labomba - 26x2.75 Freeride
🤹♀️SOLD BMW E36/7 Z3 - BMW M54B25 🧓SOLD BMW E10 2002 - BMW M10M05 -
I also found that NAPA "Aluminum Brightener" in a spray bottle does a good job of shining up aluminum parts, once the gunk is already off. It's pretty nasty stuff.
-
What is the deal with that fuel rail? Air injection manifold?
That's a vacuum distribution piece, basically just a secondary manifold that connects all 6 runners of the intake to the CCV system. It's disconnected and sitting there in that picture, it would usually connect to those 6 holes that are plugged with blue paper towel.
-
I'm glad to see that Garagistic has kept up with their quality standards.....
-
Finally got my diff! It's a clutch-type 3.15LSD from a Z3M, I didn't get the finned cover (just a standard e30 one) but that made it much cheaper.
Unfortunately, it appears that UPS dropped it on the input flange and destroyed the bearings. There is a ton of axial play, gear oil leaking out of the input seal due to all the slop, it's notchy to turn by hand, but hopefully there is no damage to the ring/pinion. Won't know more till I start taking it apart. Looks like I'll be learning to rebuild a diff
-
super sucky news!
If it were me, I would pull the front cover and and look for tooth damage, then mark the input shaft nut/flange/shaft prior to removal, replace bearing, replace the seal, install the nut and flange to the same position as original, then you should be good to go. I would be very surprised if the flange ears themselves didnt bend but somehow the input shaft did.
nothing should have deformed so the original nut position on the input shaft will be valid for setting it up again.
-
Can you not file a claim? I received some shit from eBay that showed up damaged because it was packaged poorly. Filed a claim, sent it back, got money back
-
That sucks=/ It seems the safe way to ship a diff is to make a crate out of 2x4's
Yeah, I think the only way I'd ship one is bolted into a wooden crate from now on. This one wasn't even packaged that badly. Pretty much what I've learned, if you aren't comfortable dropping your box from 5 feet onto concrete, it's not packaged well enough.
Can you not file a claim? I received some shit from eBay that showed up damaged because it was packaged poorly. Filed a claim, sent it back, got money back
It's past the claim period, long story, I'm just going to keep it and rebuild it. I've been wanting to learn to rebuild them anyway, just didn't think I'd be doing it right now lol
Hello! It looks like you're interested in this conversation, but you don't have an account yet.
Getting fed up of having to scroll through the same posts each visit? When you register for an account, you'll always come back to exactly where you were before, and choose to be notified of new replies (either via email, or push notification). You'll also be able to save bookmarks and upvote posts to show your appreciation to other community members.
With your input, this post could be even better 💗
Register Login