the one and only e30 s52 engine swap
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Well it looks like everything is good over here! Only reason for doing a compression test in the first place was because it is part of the pre-dyno inspection checklist and I just needed to know that everything is good and healthy. Very happy with the results, everything was within 10 psi or less of each other!
Finished up hanging the exhaust last night! Very happy with the way it sits along the bottom of the car. As of right now I'm just gonna run the two hangers. There is a spot for a third one which would have to be welded to the muffler but the way it fits up now and how snug it feels I don't think it will be needed, we shall see though.
Next little thing was something I had not originally anticipated on but after some diligent research I came to the conclusion that for me, the pros out weighted the cons. I decided to switch over to E85. Friday night I took a ride to the closest gas station with a flex fuel pump which luckily is only about 2 miles from my house and picked up 6 gallons. Came back, drained out the remaining 2 gallons of 91 still in the tank and poured in the 6 gallons. Once this was done I proceeded to tunerstudio where minor adjustments had to be made to the fuel ve table.
To get the car to at least run and idle with E85 I simply had to highlight all the values, go to my scale cells tool and increase everything by 40%.
After letting the fuel pump prime for a few seconds I turned the key over and instantly she was up and running, very rough of course but after letting it warm up a bit everything started to even out.
This brings me to my last order of business. I Found a tuner. After spending some time asking and searching around I located a shop, DB performance out in Rogers, MN. After some messaging them on facebook explaining my setup and what not they gave me an estimate on the cost and I locked down a date, April 15th. A day on the weekend would have been the best for me but it was an extra $100 and all other days were pretty much booked up tell May. Nevertheless, very excited to what kind of power this thing puts down! Last few things on the list include me tucking up some wires on the front of the car and going through everything on the pre-dyno checklist. May do a few other cosmetic touches that need to be attended to.
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Last little update before Dyno day!
Finished up checking off everything on the pre-dyno checklist!
Double checked the ignition timing. Everything was good there, as expected.
Pulled my wastegate and double checked that I had the correct springs for the boost pressure I plan to run. Luckily I had as it was set at 15 psi on spring pressure. Swapped in a brown and red one which is 7.25 psi (plan is to run around 8 psi once tuned).
Something else I hadn't mentioned but needed to attend to was one of the axle boots in the back. When I bolted the rear end back up after switching out the bushings and what not I just so happened to rip one of the boots on accident.
So, I ordered 2 new boots for the whole axle off amazon and got to it. Fairly easy job to do but very messy with the grease and all, had all my tools used covered in it after I was done.
Unfortunately the boots on the other axle have a few cracks from dry rot so I will be eventually doing those as well.
So, since my car originally did not come with cruise control I did not have a clutch sensor to wire up to run launch control/2step that I was hoping to do. Well thanks to @GunMetalGrey I do now. Wired it up the following night. I am looking forward to the enjoyment this will bring me
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Alright, back to the checklist.
Boost leak test. Instead of paying the 70 to 100 dollars for a tester online I instead made something myself that did the trick. Unfortunately since the turbo leaks through the back side of the face I had to pull that portion off and plug the beginning of the charge pipe there.
On the other side I popped off the 90 degree boot connected to the throttle body and plugged that side where I also had a valve stem I installed into it as well as a port for the diverter valves vacuum line so those would stay shut.
Brought it up to 30 psi before my valve stem started seeping (it was a cheap one) so brought it down to 25 psi where she held as well as everywhere else in the system. I did however notice that after about 15 psi the seam on one of the diverter valves started leaking air out. Not much I can do there besides replace it and being that I will be running lower then 15 psi of boost anyways I think I'll be alright (famous last words). I do plan on eliminating both of the valves down the road and running a tial bov or similar that weld in to the pipe instead of hose clamps.
After that was finished, I went ahead and reinstalled the turbo housing...
Lastly and the most exciting update... WHEELS AND TIRES!!!!
Yes, they are reps. They will do fine though.
CCW classic reps to be more specific made by avid 1. They are 16x8 et25 all around sitting on a set of Toyo proxies R1R 225/45-16 tires . I was originally gonna do a 205/50-16 but with the extra power I thought it's best I run something with a bit more meat. Only down side was the fact that I had literally 5 tires to choose from in that size and 2 of them had been discontinued.
As for the wheels, the back's fit perfect with no rubbing. The fronts however had some rubbing along the inside on the strut tower as expected. knowing this was most likely to happen I had 5mm spacers come with the the wheels to get me a +20 offset which helped with just the right amount of clearance on the front. I will also be running 5mm spacers on the back so it looks more even, idk we'll see. I need to order some wheel studs before I do this though.
I feel pretty confident that she's ready to go. Really hoping all goes smoothly and nothing major happens, we shall see.
Stay tuned!
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This setup will ruin you and nothing will ever be fast enough ever again
I sure hope so
As I think @Jdesign had said, reps now a days are so good it’s kind of non issue for most uses unless you are a wheel purist. Very excited to see dyno numbers, any predictions?
Only thing I can say about legit wheels is the weight being a bit less. I think these ones come in just around 18.5 lbs which is pretty hefty but they seem beefy and capable so whatev's.
Hoping for middle 300's hp, anything better then 330 and I'll be pretty happy.
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@DrLeadFoot did just about 500whp on 18-21psi on his S52, and that was on an OBD2 chip tune.
That setup was uncomfortably fast
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@DrLeadFoot did just about 500whp on 18-21psi on his S52, and that was on an OBD2 chip tune.
That setup was uncomfortably fast
Obd1 tune. Very bad tune
@DrLeadFoot
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baseline run? or final result? either way 300whp in an E30 is no joke!
Final result. 330hp 316 tq 0n 8.5 psi at around 6000 rpm
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I got a ride / drove this car this weekend.
Holy balls batman, it is sweet.
The car feels so good. It is smooth, the power delivery is smooth and linear, and the chassis feels great due to all the work Mike has put into it.
And man does it rip, any gear, any rpm, you lean in the throttle and are immediately doing well over the posted speed limit.Great work Mike!
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well done my friend! picnic or bust?
Yup I should be able to make it.
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What turbo and manifold are you running again?
Edit: did you get a tq curve print out as well?
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Holset HX35 on a Rapid spool manifold
I suppose I should have posted this graph earlier, oops.
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