Lifted E30 V2

[Jdesign]

GunMetalGrey said:

I had replaced all the o rings when I did the heater core, but I will be watching the o rings closely this time. 

This  might sound dumb, and I would assume you already know, but be careful on what o-rings you use where. There are different materials and they all degrade at different rates as they are made for different applications.

• Buna-N O-Rings
• Nitrile O-Rings
• Viton O-Rings
• Neoprene O-Rings
• Polyurethane O-Rings
• Silicone O-Rings

https://www.thomasnet.com/articles/hardware/o-rings-material-makeup

If its not an OEM ring, it might not be rated to hold the seal as well or as long as one might think. Ask me how I know. 

[GunMetalGrey]

^ Thank you for the awesome link!
Just yesterday I was at HF looking at various assortments of things and I realized I didn't know what materials are good for what application of O-rings. 

In the case of my heater core I ordered OEM o rings, so I would hope they use the correct material.

[GunMetalGrey]

I threw a power steering belt on last night, along with getting the rest of the cooling system in and hooked up.

I need to crawl under the car and connect the driveshaft, and I keep not wanting to get under the car. That is tonight's project, so realistically I should be able to take it for a quick spin up and down the street to make sure things are in check!

[Jdesign]

GunMetalGrey said:

I threw a power steering belt on last night, along with getting the rest of the cooling system in and hooked up.

I need to crawl under the car and connect the driveshaft, and I keep not wanting to get under the car. That is tonight's project, so realistically I should be able to take it for a quick spin up and down the street to make sure things are in check!

[GunMetalGrey]

Donor, meet your transplant patient.

So it's looking like everything was successful at this point, I took it up and down the road the shop is on a couple of times, and it was quite enjoyable. 
The new motor feels much healthier, and the turbo sounds just as good  
It could use a valve adjustment, but that isn't anything major. 

It looks so tiny next to the truck, but the side steps on the truck are 12.25" off the ground, and the rocker pinch weld is at 12.13" off the ground, and I am very pleased by this! 

I'm surprised at how much the tires are still rubbing the chassis after doing the "body lift", so it looks like the 3lb sledge will need to fix that.

Next is to finish buttoning things back up and get it road worthy! 

Until next time!

[Jdesign]

LOVE IT.

[suspenceful]

Can you please have this thing ready and reliable before winter for once?

[GunMetalGrey]

suspenceful said:

Can you please have this thing ready and reliable before winter for once?

Tall order to fill, as I already started messing with adding more power... 

Yeah, I'd prefer to have it ready to rip this winter, I will keep modifications to a minimum at this point. 
I will add an intercooler, but that's nothing drastic. 

Anyone have power steering stuff for an M20 laying around? I've got a fairly good leak from this one,  not quite sure where right now, but I know there is duct tape on some of the hoses so I can't imagine it's going to be anything good! 

I plan to work on getting more of the car back together this evening. 
After that the welder comes out and we add some plating underneath for skids and such!

[HipMF]

[GunMetalGrey]

This thing made it to the meet, and that was cool. 
I need to clean some botched work by the PO with the cooling system, but everything went well on the trip. The turbo is obnoxiously loud on the highway and earplugs are damn near required. 

The diesel will be on hold / beater duty for a bit while I get a couple other cars finished up. I've got some work ahead of me!

Should be fun!

[GunMetalGrey]

I added the block heater plug to the car, which will come in handy with the dropping temperatures.

Just flip the cap open and plug in the female end of an extension cord!

I also added new marker lights on the bumper, I think I will be adding a few more, as I quite like the way it turned out.

Andrew Noggle (Noggs photography) took some photos of Jason and I this weekend, they are looking pretty damn cool!

I took this photo awhile back, and just looked at it again the other day and decided to take the color out. 
I think it looks quite cool now.

[Jdesign]

That was such a blast! We need to do it again soon. Maybe my car will be lifted too and we can both drive through massive puddles.

video-1540085052.mp4

[dealindave]

Updates have me going from six to midnight. Mentioning dropping temps just further reminds me I need to hurry up and finish my winter beater E30.

[Bassboy3313]

Looking awesome!!

[GunMetalGrey]

Nasty rear window with peeling tint

Goodbye!

No more rear tint! Of course one of the heating grid tabs came off while installing too, so I gotta figure out how bad I want that back...

I need to go grab the lock strip from the junkyard, because new ones are really expensive for the rear and mine came out in many pieces!

[GunMetalGrey]

This thing has been really grumpy about the lower temps, I feel like air is entering the system somewhere and the cold is making it all worse. 
It will be pulled into the shop soon to get an external wastegate, a fuel pump swap (for science, and because I have $1500 in that pump now...), and to be re-timed. 

It makes an inconvenient amount of torque, and down very low. Snow traction takes some effort.

[Jdesign]

Any diesel is grumpy in cold temps. How new and what amperage is your glow plug relay and the glow plugs themselves. Does it improve as it warms up? do you cycle the plugs a few times before starting it?

Also is that the same window, you just pulled it to remove the tint?

[GunMetalGrey]

Jdesign said:

Any diesel is grumpy in cold temps. How new and what amperage is your glow plug relay and the glow plugs themselves. Does it improve as it warms up? do you cycle the plugs a few times before starting it?

Also is that the same window, you just pulled it to remove the tint?

I know the pump is timed a bit hot, so I was going to back that down a touch and see if it helps. I do think there is a touch of air somewhere.
I run the plugs once before starting, but maybe I'll run em twice?

120A relay for the glow plugs, battery cables feeding them, stock relay was 80A so I've got plenty of overhead. New plugs were put in this one. 

New window (junkyard)

[Jdesign]

If its really really cold out, I will cycle the plugs on my truck 2 or 3 times before cranking it over. My ALH TDI jetta needed 5-6 cycles at times to even start coughing.

[GunMetalGrey]

^ I will try that more often to see how she goes!

What's easy to chase with a diesel engine? Speed!
Wait, that's not right....
 
I want to extract more out of this thing, and an easy place to start is an external wastegate to get some top end power back. 
I bought a 38mm wastegate after hearing that you can usually bolt them to the EGR valve location with a bit of modification.
I ended up needing to make an adapter, but since the new wastegate came with flanges it was quite easy!

@HipMF I haven't welded in a year or so, and this was my first go (I went a bit fast it appears). I think you'll be good to go for your manifold! 

Gotta clean up the splatter and try to paint it, but I look forward to seeing how this will change things!