E36 3.0 ITB Race Build

[f0xy]

Re: E36 Track Day Hack (v2)

Had a bit of time this evening to make a start. Cleaned the block up and gave it a coat of black, then fitted the piston oil jets and first half of the mains bearings.

Decided to use ARP mains studs/nuts this time - the standard main cap bolts should be replaced every time, as are the con rod bolts (stretch bolts), although the price on the main cap bolts has rocketed and its actually cheaper to buy the ARP kit. People risk re-using the main bolts, but if the worst happened.... yeah don't want that happening. Anyway, at least there are some proper fasteners that are re-usable in the future (if still within the manufacturers spec). Luckily new rod bolts are only just over a pound each so OEM is fine for that.

Chased the threads out in the block then fitted to spec..

Fitted the other half of the mains bearings to the main caps, and just dropped into place for now. Didn't have time to start checking crank clearances, but hopefully do that next time.

Now something a bit more interesting - I had some time to look over the pistons removed from the 'new' engine that lost compression on cylinder 1 at Oulton Park. From the previous stuff in the thread thinking it was the headgasket, or head, turns out it more than likely wasn't any of that. I had previously just labelled the pistons up and put them to one side, but after wiping piston 1 down, it revealed...

Took the rings out, and the ring lands proceeded to fall apart..

The bore is fine, no damage or marking, not that it matters as its just a spare now. But I guess that explains the lack of compression in the end. Just another round of bad luck :boring:

 

[Chi]

Re: E36 Track Day Hack (v2)

I don't know where you find the patience... I'd of thrown the towel in a long time ago

 

[Ph1 Tom]

Re: E36 Track Day Hack (v2)

All that grief because of ring lands on one piston :/

 

[f0xy]

Still no explanation really of how it got damaged... Unless there was a bad plug/coil/injector and it was getting DET on cylinder one, or the piston was damaged before it was fitted

 

[f0xy]

Re: E36 Track Day Hack (v2)

M54B30 crank degreased, cleaned and checked over. Dropped it into the block..

Before bolting it together with assembly lubricant checked the bearing clearances..

Small amount on each of the main journals and torqued the caps down on the ARP studs to spec. Then removed to reveal the clearance..

All nearly identical at 0.038mm, within the factory tolerance of 0.020mm <> 0.058 mm. Cleaned the crank again, then assembly lubricant, caps back on and torqued down one last time to spec with the supplied ARP ultra torque grease. Single tightening process with the ARPs (60lbft) compared to the value + angle of the standard stretch bolts.

 

[matt_132]

Re: E36 Track Day Hack (v2)

Coming together quick! Do you have a deadline?

 

[f0xy]

Re: E36 Track Day Hack (v2)

Coming together quick! Do you have a deadline?

No real deadline as such, its booked onto Oulton at the start of November to see how it goes, so a while yet. Got a few jobs to sort aside from the engine before then, but nothing major.


Got new rings for the M54B30 pistons, as they are thinner than the M52s, and new ones had to go into the spare block with the fresh bores etc. Started by gapping them per cylinder, then fitting to the piston, inserting into the bore and bolting up to the crank with new connecting rod bolts..

I had to modify the baffle plate to clear the ARP studs/nuts, but once that was on the oil pump and sump were fitted. Also the chain guides, main chain and front cover went on at the same time.

Swapped the engine onto the low stand after a bit of messing round clearing the threads on the block out with an M8 tap..

You can see here how the M54B30 rotating assembly sits a few mm below the deck at top dead centre..

Cleaned the block face, then fitted two new dowels and a decent headgasket..

Dropped the head on, new head bolts torqued to 30nm, 90deg then 90deg in order. All held good..

Left it at that for today. Need to clean the tappets/lifters and then assemble the top end and its about there

 

[welshname]

Re: E36 Track Day Hack (v2)

Nice work Jord. Fingers crossed this one lasts a little longer than the others.

 

[f0xy]

Re: E36 Track Day Hack (v2)

Hopefully the piston ring lands failing was just bad luck, not much I could have done to prevent it really. I'm going to have the injectors checked, replace the plugs and use the newer E46 coil packs on this engine, which will hopefully rule out any variable that could have caused the DET on cylinder one on the last one. Cant really do much more!

 

[f0xy]

Before assembling the head, I wanted to strip all 24 tappets apart to ensure they are all in good condition internally, freely moving and no springs were broken. Simply just need to hit the tappet downwards on a block of wood and the two main parts separate..

From there you can pull the piston assembly out, and then apart. Three main parts, the spring, piston and housing. There is also a ball bearing in the bottom of the piston which lets oil in/out when running.

Every component cleaned in degreaser, then every piston cleaned fully before re-assembly with fresh oil. There was a lot of old oil build up inside every component. Every single piston had brown burnt on (15 years worth!) oil deposits round the bottom, and none of them would freely move in and out of the housing. I would say approximately 20 out of the 24 were all stuck in one position.

To show the difference, the freshly cleaned/assembled one is on the right, old on the left. You can see how the piston is stuck in..

Pressing down the one on the right is now smooth all the way, and always returns to the same position. Whereas the one on the left does not even move in/out, and is stuck in the one position. This causes more valve train noise when running - so hopefully with them all re-built the top end will be much smoother/quieter, as it would be when new.

 

[f0xy]

As you can see here, the internal part of the tappet has a build up of old oil on both ends, which causes the moving part to stick in as above. The one on the left has been cleaned.

Further disassembly reveals all the components - the actual internal parts are very small..

With everything clean and smooth, all 24 were reassembled. Before vs after..



Once they had all been checked, dropped them into the head with assembly grease on the cam carriers..

Going back a few weeks, when I mentioned about the M54 inlet camshaft, and how it had to be machined to fit the M50/2 head, here is the result. Approximately 4mm has been taken off the VANOS gear to match the M52 inlet camshaft..

With the crank locked at TDC, the cams could be fitted, locked and torqued down..

Now I'm waiting on three studs for the inlet cam coming from Germany as no dealer in the UK has them (Wasn't happy with the condition of mine). The whole thing can be timed up and finished then.

 

[f0xy]

Camshaft gears fitted along with upper chain and tensioners, timed up then VANOS unit bolted into place. Span the engine over a few times to check the timing and the tools dropped right in. Fitted the thermostat housing with new seals, then a new front crank seal. The front pulley then went on, with a new crank bolt and torqued to spec. Cleaned up the rocker cover mating face and fitted that, finishing with some new spark plugs and the M54/E46 coil packs.

Leaving me with one complete 3.0L 'hybrid' ready to go in the car.

 

[matt_132]

Hopefully its the last time you need to do this mate! E46 coilpacks plug straight in? Any benefit?

 

[f0xy]

They're the same dimensions, fitting and wiring as the E36 items. To be honest I think they were used on E39 M52's, as well as the E46 M54's. No advantage really apart from being newer I guess, I've got a couple of sets of E36 ones so thought I would put these in for now - they were on the M54 I bought for the crank/pistons/rods. Got a 'new' set of refurbished injectors ready to go in at the same time, to rule out any issue there may/may not have been in the past. Just want to be certain this time!

 

[welshname]

Great work. Nice to see this car back on track (pardon the pun).

I expect it to be in by close of play tomorrow, you've done it enough times now!

 

[dann2707]

This is awesome. Id love to do something like this.

 

[f0xy]

Great work. Nice to see this car back on track (pardon the pun).

I expect it to be in by close of play tomorrow, you've done it enough times now!

Well the old one came out today, but don't plan on the new one going in for a few weeks yet lol.

Got to sort the exhaust manifolds, exhaust system and a few other bits before its good to go!

 

[f0xy]

With the engine out, I really wanted to sort the M3 exhaust manifolds out properly... as #1, I hate having old flanges that never join properly, #2, the weight of the standard exhaust system (albeit modified) is just a joke, and #3, the standard flexi was damaged and needed replacing.

So the standard manifolds in standard form (M3 3.2 Evo, as they have the Lambda holes. The 3.0 does not)..

My idea was to have a flexi on each manifold instead, then bring the two pipes into one for simplicity and weight. Quite a common change in the US.

To get the fitment and clearance spot on, I mounted a scrap block/head in the car along with my spare gearbox, so I could easily move things about..

Pretty tight for space down here..

After bolting things to the mockup engine a few times, and some cutting/positioning, I had the flexis and bends in place. Using stainless only here..

The final piece which brings the two manifolds into one pipe was then checked and marked up. V-band is going on the end to join the exhaust system rather than a normal flange.

Finally put it back on to the car to test fitment and all lines up, with more clearance than before which was good. Taking it to be all TIG'd over the weekend, along with a couple of new lambda bosses and the V-band fitting. Hopefully not have to touch them again once its done.

 

[Stopherson]

Amazing build been subscribed to the for a while now [emoji106]

 

[f0xy]

Cheers!

Manifolds have now been TIG'd. The v-band flange is on, lambda bosses added in factory locations and an additional one fitted after the collector incase I ever want to run a wideband.

Exhaust is next, but only once the engine is in and mounted.

 

[f0xy]

M20 flywheel on, clutch on and aligned, release bearing fitted.. then put the gearbox on...

I also cut a small section out of the gearbox bell housing to aid clearance on the rear manifold - in the past this has just sat up against the gearbox, but didn't want to risk putting too much stress on it and having issues with cracks in the future. Also fitted the lambda sensors.

Anyone who puts an M3 3.2 manifold on a car with a ZF gearbox (320,323,325,328,M3 3.0) will have this issue.. the 3.2 did not as it used a 6 speed gearbox which had the right casting to miss the manifold. The M3 3.0 manifolds would be a direct fit, but then you won't have the lambda sensor holes.

Fitted the mounts and dropped it in. Very tight going in now with the manifold/collector being longer than it was, but going slow enough it did go in fine..

Good clearance on everything with the new manifold modifications, and correct alignment for the exhaust to continue down the car..

No rush to do anything further on the engine now apart from sort the rest of the exhaust now. Hopefully get on with it later in the week and have it all welded up in the same fashion.

 

[matt_132]

You really don't f**k about haha.

 

[Eddie.]

Awesome stuff. When is the next trackday?

 

[f0xy]

Taking it back to Oulton on November 7th, see how it goes then. Hopefully all will be well and more use next year!

 

[Eddie.]

Good news, looking forward to seeing it.

 

[AlexW]

Have been reading the whole thread over the last couple of days.

Epic skills, and impressive build, will certainly be subscribing.

I've been thinking about buying an E46 recently and this has given me a little boost to do so!

 

[Ph1 Tom]

Nice work! It's coming on well

 

[JoeyD]

Looking forward to seeing this out on track. No doubt overtaking me numerous times...
Awesome progress!

 

[f0xy]

So originally I was going to take it somewhere to have an exhaust made, then decided I could probably do it myself with better quality components for half the cost. I had a few recommendations on local places, but either they were too busy or far too expensive in the end.

I used five mandrel bends (3 x 20degree, 2 x 40degree), a small straight section and a pipe former. Decided to go with two good quality 'Simons' silencers. Everything is 304 stainless, including brackets and silencers. Every joint has been sleeved by 40mm to ensure strength.

With a bit of patience, measuring everything twice and quite a bit of test fitting, everything went together fine. The v-band makes fitting/removal a breeze. The system now sits closer to the chassis and all mounts have been made from scratch, nothing OEM on there anymore. I've tacked everything together for now, but its off to be fully TIG'd as the manifold was later this week.

Another thing to note, the standard exhaust is 30kg, even after I had previously cut open the back box and removed all the insides, so probably a bit more if it was completely stock. The new system, just 7kg. One huge saving really! Il get some proper pictures up once its all been fully welded and fitted to the car.

 

[Jon.G]

That's one mighty way of saving some weight. Looks good too.

 

[AlexW]

Skills. Top job!

 

[Eddie.]

That looks awesome.

 

[Ph1 Tom]

Good work on the exhaust

 

[welshname]

Great work and a massive weight saving.

Any reason you haven't done the tig welding yourself or is it just that you don't have one?

 

[f0xy]

I only have a 220a MIG, would be fine welding it but I want to keep it all stainless and not use my mild steel wire. I could have got stainless wire but then you get all the dirty brown marks that MIG leaves behind on stainless. Hopefully eventually get one sometime in the future if something comes up for the right price though!

 

[f0xy]

So with it all in bits I took the opportunity to drop the propshaft off, clean it up and replace the centre bearing/support..

The LSD has been leaking from the back cover for a while, so dropped that off too and re-sealed everything. Then gave it a clean up and fresh coat of paint. Filled it with fresh LSD gear oil.

This time round I decided to replace the standard water temperature gauge, as its terribly inaccurate and 12 o' clock can be anywhere from 80-110C, without moving.

I picked up a cheap unused digital SPA gauge on eBay (considering how expensive they usually are!) which looked like it would work well. I had used a head with a spare sensor port this time, so found an M14 > 1/8 NPT adaptor, installed the sensor and ran the wiring through the bulkhead with the other sensors..

Then hacked up the clocks some more and mounted the gauge in the same position as the stock one would be..

I've already ran the oil temp/pressure for the past year or so, leaving that where it is. Then sorted all the loom routing and connections out, then fitted everything else..

..and its pretty much all done. It just needs fluids and I can fire it up. Exhaust is being welded up in the morning so once thats fitted hopefully we shall have a running engine.

 

[daveski]

How long now till its back on the road now?

 

[matt_132]

Is it running on the 328 map?

 

[f0xy]

How long now till its back on the road now?

Depends if all goes well once its running and no major issues - taking it to Oulton at the start of November, so ideally sometime before then to put some miles on it and make sure everything is fine etc

Is it running on the 328 map?

Ive got two 328 (MS41) ECUs, one with a decent 328 map on it (raised limiter, suited m50 inlet, usual stuff) which I've been using upto now, and my other with a map suited to a 3.0L. There is going to be no way of knowing for sure, people hammer them about on standard 328 maps but Im going to have it sorted properly. Wideband will be going on and the map adjusted as it needs once its running

 

[f0xy]

Exhaust all TIG'd this morning, some finished pictures..

Fitted to the car, really pleased with how its worked out and how high its managed to go without touching being a single pipe..

Then filled the engine with oil, coolant and cranked it over until some pressure came up. Plugged the ECU back in and fired it up..



Ran it up to temperature, smooth and no leaks or issues as of yet... More checking over with the laptop tomorrow.