E30 M52

[jc43089]

It's a joy removing the manifold, you will get good at it.  The extra joy in an e36 coupe is removing the wipers, cowl plastic, and blower motor cover firewall thingy so you can get the manifold lifted off of the studs.

[stealthbimmer]

jc43089 said:

It's a joy removing the manifold, you will get good at it.  The extra joy in an e36 coupe is removing the wipers, cowl plastic, and blower motor cover firewall thingy so you can get the manifold lifted off of the studs.

Thats why I love the e34 platform....so much more room for activities.

[B C]

Progress this week: I popped the beauty cover nut covers in place then went inside.

I was trying to generate some excitement and motivation by reading up on some peoples experiences with modded  M52 E30s :

Here's to lowered expectations 

[GunMetalGrey]

The user name just made me think of this again.

But for real, it'll be fun. 
It won't match an m20 turbo, no, but the m52 alone results in a very respectable e30 power plant.

[straight6pwr]

it'll be fun!

you'll have a working, reliable e30.

that's pretty much all you need for a happy life.

a family is cool, too, I guess.

and beer.

don't forget the beer.

[B C]

I hate this E21 brake booster.

It sits closer to the firewall than stock and as i went to attach the clutch feed hose at the reservoir and start bleeding the system, i realized the clutch feed hose is slightly pinched behind the booster where it comes through the firewall.

As i loosened the brake booster to see what other angles i might try routing the hose, one of the studs on the interior side of the booster started spinning. I used blue loctite on the nut during install and I think that is a contributing factor. Regardless, the studs shouldnt be this prone to spinning....

I dont have a solution for that yet and I dont know if theres enough room to cut the nut off with a dremel like i had to do for the brake master cylinder mounting nut.

I ordered 3 feet of new clutch MC feed hose and im going to route the hose through the firewall through a rubber blank near the strut tower. The clutch MC feed hose is old anyways. The pedal area just isnt anyones favorite place to wrench.

I made some minuscule progress in other areas but its not worth mentioning.

I replaced the belts and noisy idlers on my nissan flagship sedan so at least there was that success

[B C]

As a follow-up to the post about the exhaust fab, here is the Y-pipe with reducers, flex pipe, O2 bung, and V-band flange welded on

Its a start!

[KaiserRolls]

Much appreciated info

[B C]

Skid plate is installed

[YoungCR]

Man it’s clean under there! Nice work

[B C]

Fan.

[m42b32]

Looks awesome!! I really should get one of those skid plates

[B C]

It was one of my first purchases when i started parting out the M20 since I knew jf I didnt make it a priority I would smash my oil pan before I got around to buying a skid plate

[B C]

I was talking to the wife during lunch about a possible vehicle change: sell my Infiniti, get a winter beater (the kind you look forward to crashing into shopping carts and snow banks with) and using the price difference to invest towards something I have been wanting to do for a while (no, not gender reassignment surgery). Her counterpoint is that I have complained about driving some of the other cars we have had . I like my infiniti quite a bit, its the first car I have owned in a long time that I really enjoy as a daily driver. My counter to that was that I should be driving the E30 about 7 months out of the year. Her counter was that the E30 isnt reliable enough to drive 7 months out of the year. 

I'm a bit annoyed by the car's reputation as it was a reliable daily driver for 4 years with no engine mods, 1 year with megasquirt, and 1 year with megasquirt and the turbo, then I encountered the perils of boost. 1 snafu which is my fault (overboosted/no boost gauge) and the 2nd which was the fault of the engine builder I used on the rebuild. 

My wife doesn't understand that this new engine configuration has a higher probability of being reliable than the last couple configurations. 

So it appears I have some people to prove something to, and out of spite, I will try my best to but a heap of miles on the E30 this year. 

The goal is to have it ready to go for the first of March so long as weather cooperates

[KaiserRolls]

Reminds me of an Ollie and Sven joke:

**ollie and Sven are standing atop a hill looking over the city.

Sven says to Ollie, “hey Ollie, see that bridge over there?”

Ollie “yes I do Sven”

Sven “I built that bridge, do you think the towns people call me Sven the bridge builder?”

Sven “see that church Ollie? I built that church as well. Think the towns people call me Sven the church builder?

Ollie “why are you telling me this Sven?”

Sven “they dont call me any of those things Ollie, but if you fuck one pig....”

Point being you have one engine failure on a heavily modified car and all the outsiders are quick to crucify you.

[B C]

A+++

[straight6pwr]

1)sell the datsun

2)drive the e30 all year

3)pocket some amount of the datsun sale to cover the 'unreliability' in the future

4)invest the rest in bitcoin

5)lose your ass on bitcoin because its just made up money

6)save your marriage by selling the e30

7)share the minivan with your wife in the winter and use a bicycle in the summer

8)get in great shape because you are biking all the time

9)become an olympic athlete with your sveltness and make millions in endorsements

10)buy several s54 powered e30s

Don't forget us little people when  you are rich and famous

[B C]

A++++

[jc43089]

Tell her the 24V engine is so reliable I swapped one into my Toyota van for my wife to haul our children around in.

[Jdesign]

Ohh hes got a good point!  ^