Shop Life 2.0

[HipMF]

snap said:

Great work, Mike! 

Im enjoying these updates

Thanks. The goal is to have the car running by April. It's hard to believe the engine has been out of the car for 7 weeks already, so if anything I'm probably a little behind schedule. The header is obviously the most complicated and difficult part as far as fabrication is considered, so hopefully things will start to come together faster after I get the exhaust sorted out.

I'm also planning to build a legit ECU harness from scratch, so that will take some time. Sustained progress will be the key to meeting my self-imposed deadline, so you can look forward to weekly updates until spring.

[m42b32]

That looks great!!

[Jdesign]

Nice Update!

[HipMF]

Thanks @patsbimmer1 for getting me nice discount on a big box of stuff from ECS.

Didn't accomplish much this weekend, but the manifold is nearly done. I just need to get a longer burr to clean up some of the welds inside the collector.

My intercooler also arrived, so if making a downpipe isn't enough to keep me busy, I can try to figure out how to get that mounted up.

[Jdesign]

HipMF said:

My intercooler also arrived, so if making a downpipe isn't enough to keep me busy, I can try to figure out how to get that mounted up.

What is this out of? It looks like a F30/32 intercooler?

[patsbimmer1]

That manifold is looking great!

[suspenceful]

Jdesign said:

What is this out of? It looks like a F30/32 intercooler?

I'm also curious...

I have a stock N54 intercooler that I would've parted with.

[HipMF]

Jdesign said:

What is this out of? It looks like a F30/32 intercooler?

suspenceful said:

I'm also curious...

I have a stock N54 intercooler that I would've parted with.

It's from an ecoboost mustang.

An N54 intercooler is twice as thick. I might have used one, but I wanted something with normal slip-fit connections instead of the weird clippy things that BMW uses.

[HipMF]

Ecoboost intercooler is too wide. I've only got 26" between the frame rails and I haven't been able to find anything that will fit nicely in there. This one is about 28". I was thinking I'd just do some sweet mods to core support to make it fit, but it looks like I still wouldn't be able to get it to fit where i want it. Back on the hunt for an intercooler...

Got a longer burr and finished up the grinding I wanted to do on the manifold. Back to my hobby of making artisanal turbo flanges (aka: still doing things the hard way):

The last one was easy because the shape was mostly straight lines, so it was easy to cut out with the sawzall. This one; not so much. I should have had it laser-cut like the header flange, but it's too late for that now.

The dream:

After a lot of cutting, grinding and filing, it was on to the mini-lathe to cut a shoulder to match the turbo's flange.

Finally putting down some decent welds. Filets are a lot easier to make look nice than butt-welds.

And where I left off:

I was hoping to keep the existing exhaust unmodified so that I could drop a stock motor back in without having to change anything. That's not going to happen. It's a really awkward number of weird bends that need to happen in too small of a space. If I cut it back 6 or 8 inches from where it is right now my life will get a lot easier. Brake line will have to get moved somewhere less hot...

[YoungCR]

Keep the exhaust section you cut off and then make a matching flange, then you could just swap the turbo downpipe section out still.

[HipMF]

YoungCR said:

Keep the exhaust section you cut off and then make a matching flange, then you could just swap the turbo downpipe section out still. 

That's pretty much what I was planning. Hopefully the turbo works out and I won't need it.

[straight6pwr]

i like your dedication to using the tools you have at hand.

the manifold looks great!

[GunMetalGrey]

You never cease to amaze me with what you can make with basic tools.
It's looking awesome, and I can't wait to hear it running!

[Jdesign]

[HipMF]

Exhaust just needs an o2 bung welded in and some grinding to flatten out the header flange.

Pulled my "new" bottom end out of storage and started cleaning it up.

Many, many things that I need to get on order so that I don't get stuck waiting for parts. Also need to get the header coated... Looking for suggestions there. The header is mild steel, so it needs something to protect it from rust at a minimum. I was thinking of sending it to Swain Tech (~$250), but I haven't called them yet and have no idea what their lead time is like.

[GunMetalGrey]

You done did me a confuse last night!

[HipMF]

Back to work after taking a little break.

After much digging, this was the best I could come up with for an intercooler that fits nicely where I want it to go. Would be nice if it was a little bit wider, but it will be good enough for now. While I was trying to figure out how to mount it and how to get air ducted to it nicely, I realized that now would be the best time to build a skidplate-like device to protect the oil pan. Not much actual progress since it's been more staring at it and head-scratching, but at least I have a plan now. I should probably be putting the engine back together, but fabrication projects are more fun...

 Looks really tight in this picture, but there's 1/2" - 3/4" of space in front of, and behind the intercooler.

[HipMF]

Long time, no update.

Progress has slowed somewhat, but things are still happening. The skidplate-like device is about 2/3rds done, but I put that on pause so I could get started on the engine. The previous bottom end had some dubious machine work done to it, and the head got damaged while mocking things up, so this engine is good bottom end that I got from @industrialsized a few years ago and an e36 head (6mm valve stems as opposed to 7mm on the e30 heads). Everything is stock except it's got ARPs in place of the stock TTY head bolts.

I picked up an RHD flywheel and a Haltech ECU. There are lots of things that I need yet, so I really need to focus on getting parts here... Still a lot of work left to do, but things are shaping up well.

Still paying with the camera as well:

[HipMF]

Hotter exposure. Trying to figure out which of my screens is hot garbage...

Edit:

Results are in. First pic looks fine on my desktop at home, and at work, but the engine block basically looks like a black square on my phone, even with the backlight all the way up. It's been a good run (6 years), but it may be time to replace my phone.

[HipMF]

Weak updates are still updates.

M20 flywheel with S14 clutch is roughly 4.8mm shorter than the M42 setup. Standard workaround is to use a e21 323i throwout bearing which is roughly 5mm longer to take up the extra space, so I'll have to get one of those on order. The ring gear is also about .050" too close to the block. There aren't any other clearance issues on the back of the flywheel, so I've chosen to ignore this issue for now. If it becomes a problem, I can make a spacer to move the starter forward a little, which seems like a better idea than trying to put a spacer between the crankshaft and flywheel.

"Skidplate" is pretty much done. Engine is almost completely assembled. Still lots of loose ends, but if I can get the engine and transmission buttoned up and in the car, I'll be feeling pretty good about where I'm at.