Alpine e30 progress/build thread

[B C]

the dimples didnt seem to have any sort of reasoning when I was dealing with mine. The rotor and that outer rotor piece are both readily available individually. I bought a new outer piece because it had a little bit of grooving, but most of all I replaced it because it had a notch in it

[KaiserRolls]

Run it

[straight6pwr]

upon scanning your photo with an electron microscope, i've found they've used steel with too much carbon content. better replace it.

read: this seems nit picky.

[jc43089]

Most important thing to check is end clearance right?  That is usually the spec listed in service manuals.  Check it with plastigage I would think.

[m42b32]

I google'd the sh!t out of it and there really wasn't much information on what is considered good and junk, thanks for the feedback! I'll be installing an oil pressure gauge to keep an eye on things anyway, so I'm just going to put these back in along with an Achilles pump shaft and call it good to go.

[Daggerty]

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[m42b32]

Stopped by the garage again last night and got a few more things done. 

Modified the windage tray and got it bolted back onto the block. All that needed to be done was cut off the rear mount for the pickup tube. Some sources online stated that you need to add a stud to mount the 728i front sump pickup tube, but that is not the case on mine. There is a threaded feature on the oil pump body itself that lines up perfectly! The stud must be needed on the early m54 or m52tu that uses a slightly different pump, but I'm not sure. 

I also cleaned up the power steering pump, alternator, and belt tensioner/pulleys. The alternator took a bath in ATF during the donor car's accident, so I flushed out the body with a bit of brake cleaner. I also disassembled it as far as it would go and cleaned the regulator and it's contacts, as well as all the electrical connections under the cover. The part of the rear cover that connects to the duct was broken off and isn't repairable, so I trimmed the plastic back so that it would look a little nicer until I can find a replacement cover. It is the typical Bosch 120A unit that is used on a lot of different cars, so once the engine is in and running, I'd like to find a back cover that allows me to cleanly attach a duct setup that fits the e30 chassis. 

Got the alternator and accessory belt parts bolted back onto the engine, but I left off the power steering pump off till I have the oil pan sealed up. 

[KaiserRolls]

I had to cut that entire cover off my alternator to make room for things. We’ll see how long it takes to cook one

[m42b32]

Started working on cleaning up the e39 530i engine wire harnesses. Everything is sleeved in the ribbed plastic tubing and it has worn through or cracked in a lot of places so I am redoing  the entire harness in this braided harness wrap. Looks much nicer, but it is super tedious. Just waiting on the vanos oil feed line and the oil pump parts and I should be able to seal it up and start wiring. 

[Earl]

Are you using split loom or are you depinning all of the connectors and sliding in normal loom?

[m42b32]

Earl said:

Are you using split loom or are you depinning all of the connectors and sliding in normal loom?

Split loom, I got the amazon link from KaiserRolls' thread, I'm pretty pleased with it so far.

[B C]

They also have it at Pegasus Racing if you don't mind waiting a half hour while they ring up the 2 customers ahead of you.

[Jdesign]

m42b32 said:

Split loom, I got the amazon link from KaiserRolls' thread, I'm pretty pleased with it so far.

I didn't realize they made that stuff in split loom!

[m42b32]

Moving along slowly, but progress is progress. Installed a new VANOS oil feed line, bolted the front sump oil pickup tube to the pump, and started working on fitting the e46 oil level sensor to the e34 oil pan. I scraped the old seal out and replaced it with a new o-ring, but it turns out the studs on the pan are too short so I'll have to replace them with longer ones. Cleaned up and painted a few more brackets as well, but didn't get any pictures. 

I also got the m42 ready to pull. Everything is drained and disconnected, motor mounts unbolted, only thing left is to unbolt the trans mounts and hoist it out. Hoping to get it out by mid-week so I can start on the ABS delete/booster swap/etc. 

[B C]

Why cant the E34 level sensor be used?

What booster are you going to use?

[m42b32]

snap said:

Why cant the E34 level sensor be used?

What booster are you going to use?

The plug on the e46 harness is different than the e34, and since I don't have a pigtail for the e34 sensor my initial plan was to delete it with a delete plate. Once I found that the e46 sensor is a direct bolt in to the e34 pan with longer studs I figured why not. I compared the two, and the oil level measuring points are pretty similar so it should be somewhat accurate. Initially, it won't have any functionality as the signal comes from the ECU and is communicated through CAN bus (that and I don't have a check panel), but there is a module than can convert the CAN signals to usable outputs. I'm pretty much just setting myself up for future projects.

For the booster I'll be using one from an e21 that I got from DrLeadFoot

[KaiserRolls]

I use an old school device called a “dipstick” to check my oil level. All I get out of the deal is a light that’s always glowing on the check panel

[m42b32]

Got some things done this week. I swapped the oil pump inner rotor over to the Achilles harneded oil pump shaft, just waiting on a new pressure relief spring and o-ring and I can get the oil pump buttoned up. 

Ebay had a sale so I picked up some VDO vision gauges to keep a closer eye on the new engine. Oil temp, oil pressure, and water temp gauges. I've had a console mounting plate sitting around for a while so I did a quick mock-up, should look fairly factory! I may color the cluster needles orange to make everything match, but that'll be a project for some other time. 

Biggest progress is the m42 is now sitting on the floor of my garage. So much room for activities!

[B C]

What else needs to be done on the engine/trans to be ready to install it?  What trans are you using anyhow?

Keep up the great work! Perhaps you will find more deer blood at this level of disassembly

[m42b32]

snap said:

What else needs to be done on the engine/trans to be ready to install it?  What trans are you using anyhow?

Keep up the great work! Perhaps you will find more deer blood at this level of disassembly 

I have definitely found some hair, there was A LOT so I'll probably keep finding it forever... hoping to keep the fluids at a minimum haha. Trans is a ZF 5-speed. 

Things I can think of remaining on the engine before I install it:

- Rear main seal

- Reassemble and prime oil pump

- Acquire/Install oil pan baffle (debating this one still)

- Reinstall oil pan

- Reinstall P/S pump and serpentine belt

- Modify oil filter housing (just filing down a rib) and install oil distribution block for pressure/temp gauge senders

- Clean and paint harmonic balancer, its a little crusty

- Modify driver's side engine mount arm so I can get the 4th bolt in (or get a later arm with the slotted hole that works)

- Install main/secondary engine harness (Remove auto-trans wiring from secondary harness)

- Clean up starter

- Clean trans (it's filthy) and replace shift shaft seal/selector rod joint

- Replace shift detent pins

- Resurface flywheel and pressure plate

- Probably a million other things

Probably going to have to re-adjust my picnic goal as I'll be out of town for at least 2 weekends between now and then, but I'd rather do that than cut corners to get it done. It'll be on the road this summer for sure!