E30 M52

B C

I used the car to run some errands and put another few miles on with the o2 unplugged. I think I have full confidence in the cooling system now. After driving, I idled in the driveway for 5 minutes with no fan and the temp stayed at 200 F (92 C thermostat). Then I tried it in the garage with hotter stagnant air and no fan and with about 10 minutes of idling. It got up around 210 F slowly but switching the fan on brought it back down to 200.

The ellipsoid I cracked the other day has been replaced.

I did a little fine adjustment on the suspension by leveling out the ride height a bit with different spring hats and spring pads. Theres a little more to do on the rear but I have the fronts leveled with eachother. They were about 3/4” different before when measuring the fender to the ground .

I may have a new lifeline for getting the exhaust tucked up a bit more, and hopefully before the E30 picnic.

im content driving around with the o2 sensor unplugged for now but I do need to replaces these brakes pretty soon.

Still no oil leaks on this engine which seems miraculous. The 24V definitely seems to have a little bit of design improvement in terms of sealing compared to the M20.

Drive by wire and automatic transmissions are deceptive. Despite being down about 65 HP from the VQ in my infiniti the M52 is a smidgen faster rolling acceleration runs, but in actual driving the infiniti feels much faster. You also end up getting 80% of the power at 60% of the throttle opening as well as the kickdown sensation.

B C

I was about to go to sleep because ive been running on fumes the past couple days but somehow, whether through sleepwalking or poor judgement I ended up upside down under the dashboard taking the pedals apart doing something I should have done long ago.

my car was originally an automatic and when I did the manual swap I noticed my brakes werent as good after the swap. The clevis adjustment wasnt quite the same and I had forgotten about this when I did the E21 booster install so i kept the original clevis location/length. It adjusted the clevis out 3 turns which ended up being a good guess as it was the maximum amount that it could be adjusted.

It feels food to have checked that off the list because i wasnt looking forward to doing it.

im not expecting that it will affect my stopping power since its only changing pedal travel but it will definitely help with pedal feel as it wont feel like i have air in the brakes with the excess travel, it will keep the brake pedal higher for those times I want to act like a heel-toe-hero too

B C

Another trustbuilding exercise: I took it on the freeway, longest drive yet and man it actually pulls pretty nice! I think my power expectations have been met.

the brakes feel better after the tired late night clevis adjustment

A woman in a new yellow audi TT, vanity plate BEVS BEE did a ricer flyby on me as well

its a good day!

Time to take it to work tomorrow!

GunMetalGrey

snap said:

I think my power expectations have been met.

It's tempting to dig up all the times where you expressed concern about it not being fast enough, but I'm glad it is meeting your expectations!
It's a good feeling power too, compared to an M20!

B C

All those damn camshaft helicoils are finally worth it

YoungCR

Looks good back on the stock weaves

B C

I made it to work! Constant stop/go traffic on the way home will be the final boss

jc43089

Fantastic! Glad it's running well for you.

Please tell me you were roll racing your wife.

B C

Heavy stop and go rush hour commute. Lots of time in 1st gear and lots of time stopped. It must have some air in the cooling system still. It crept up to 220 while stopped then within a few seconds of freaking out (225 is my “shut ‘er down” temperature) it dropped quickly back to 200. It stayed right at 200 for the next 10 minutes of stop and go traffic then shot up to 220 again and i pulled over to try and bleed some air out. I didnt see anything bleed out but for the last 15 minutes of stop and go it stayed at 200 and reached a max of 205

B C

Jdesign

Bleed some more or pressure bleed it next? Congrats on you successful journeys!! It feels nice just hearing of such success, it must feel even better to be driving the success!

jc43089

Where are you bleeding at? The expansion tank self bleeds the system while the engine is running. I have found it best to never open the system unless cold. You have the sending unit in the cylinder head?

B C

Jdesign said:

Bleed some more or pressure bleed it next? Congrats on you successful journeys!! It feels nice just hearing of such success, it must feel even better to be driving the success!

Thanks, im still not enjoying myself in it like I should unfortunately and im burned out on working on it. Perhaps it wont sell before I have a renewed interest in continuing this dream

jc43089 said:

Where are you bleeding at? The expansion tank self bleeds the system while the engine is running. I have found it best to never open the system unless cold. You have the sending unit in the cylinder head?

Yes, sending unit is in the stock location. I am bleeding it at the thermostat housing (E39 housing has a bleeder) and also running it with the cap off at an elevated idle while squeezing hoses to watch for a steady coolant stream back into the reservoir.

jc43089

Are you seeing any bubbles when you do that?

B C

nope, it looks as normal as can be.

I need to run the temp gauge to a dedicated power and ground to help ensure its not voltage fluctuation related. I am currently using a common power and ground for the 3 gauges.

jc43089

Just giver. I don't think you have a problem.

I had a mild panic attack last night. I just hooked up a temp gauge in my e36 and my wife took it to go shopping and she called me on the way back and said she stopped and shut if off because the gauge said 250, the highest reading it shows, I told her just drive home thinking the gauge must be not working right. She said it showed 250 all the way home on the highway and then dropped back to 200 right before she got home. Weird.

B C

Temp gun shows high 190's at the coolant neck and 180's in the top hose. obviously emissivity and surface can change the readings but ive never had a temp gun reading over 200 on any surface

jc43089

Sounds perfect. More burnouts, less worrying.

Jdesign

jc43089 said:

Sounds perfect. More burnouts, less worrying.

THIS. Whats the worst that could happen? You get a bunch of friends to convince you to put another motor in it?

B C

The thought of replacing another head gasket makes me want to move to alaska and become another alcohol statistic

WIBIMMERS

E30 M52