Alpine e30 progress/build thread

[m42b32]

Snap said:

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:

jc43089 said:

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

[jc43089]

I have an OBDlink MX bluetooth reader, it was more expensive than ebay ones but it works very well.  Logging is around 300ms refresh if looking at only one data point, I have read that the difference between good ones and cheap ones is the speed.

[B C]

I will be jealous of your OBD2ness

Im missing the logging abilities of my former megasquirt life already

[Bassboy3313]

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.

[m42b32]

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:

[Jdesign]

Do you plan on painting/ cleaning up the longblock before installing it?

[m42b32]

Jdesign said:

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.

[Jdesign]

Buy a case of brake clean. If you buy from Orielly they will price match farm and fleet @ $1.98 a can.

[The Full Banana]

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.

[m42b32]

Thanks for the tips!

[B C]

What is the deal with that fuel rail? Air Injection manifold?

[m42b32]

Snap said:

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.

[GunMetalGrey]

I'm glad to see that Garagistic has kept up with their quality standards.....

[m42b32]

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

[B C]

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.

[Earl]

That sucks=/ It seems the safe way to ship a diff is to make a crate out of 2x4's

[KaiserRolls]

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

[m42b32]

Earl said:

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. 

KaiserRolls said:

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

[YoungCR]

That sucks but please be generous on the rebuild details! I have a worn LSD or 2 that need help.

[m42b32]

YoungCR said:

That sucks but please be generous on the rebuild details! I have a worn LSD or 2 that need help. 

Definitely!