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Previously in my lovely build threads: I had a brown S52 swapped e30. Life was good. Got a bug up my rear end to swap in a V8 - acquired a good M62b44. Tempted by friend, bought damaged S62b50. Picked up a beat up 318iS e30 as a daily. Brown car sat, and sat. Moved back to Nashville to finish school. Brown car had to be stored at farm 70 miles away from home.  Look at this poor thing. I've been sitting on the S62b50 I picked up for it with the intent of either following through with the swap after I graduate, land a job, and pay off my student loan debt. That'll be about two years from now realistically. I was getting tempted to sell the S62 stuff and throw money at the DD. The good times:  Yeah, I was an idiot and bought an e82. I make really smart financial decisions but not when it comes to cars.   I blame the exhaust. It has a Berk resonated midsection and race axleback on it. It sounds so ridiculously good. I sold the 318iS daily I had to the friend who bought my S52 swap. Just in time too - one of his friends stuffed his project e30 into something hard and unforgiving, and now he has a straight body to stuff the 24v in. The N54 is an amazing power plant. Anyway, I've been doing research at my university but this semester I started working at a Porsche / Euro / Exotic place doing wrenchwork. I haven't had an outlet to wrench for a while - too much time spent on school and too few places to do it. My brother shut down Track.One around August of last year, and everything car related felt like it's been on hold since then. He's actually working full time at this same shop, so he's in a pretty great position now, though. Working there has been great. The owner is another road course enthusiast, and talking with him has been throwing wood in the fire. I had to get back on a track. I dropped my plans to mod the e82, and called up the venerable RobertK. A few weeks later I was carting back a bunch of parts and a very special motor from Knoxville.   The original plan was to just find a normal 24v to stuff in and get the rest of the components needed to get the car back out on the track. I sold practically the entire drivetrain of the previous setup, so I had a decent amount to acquire. Trans, DS, diff, axles, exhaust, booster - all gone. I scored a ZF trans, 328i DS, and a 3.23 LSD from a local salvage yard for $165. Lucky find. I could have continued and grabbed pretty much everything I needed, until Robert told me about the motor he was getting in. Now I have to do that motor justice, and that means M50tu pistons for 11.5 CR and some custom cams at minimum. I have some pretty powerful engine gas dynamics modelling and CFD software right now, so if I can get into the university's machine shop some cooooool things are going to happen! The suspension is pretty much all set up, it's just getting motor related things together at this point. Five lug is happening, with e36 M3 calipers on all four corners. Driving the e82 on the Dragon made me realize just how poo poo the e30's brakes were. Should be a lot of updates until I run out of money / into finals, but at least when that happens I can post the cool things I work on at the shop! Like this!  Maybe without the shakey hands, though. My build threads always sputtered out and died, but I was in a very lovely place then. Now I'm on happy pills and everything is great!  Note: S62b50 = 1998-2003 M5 5.0L 394bhp V8. M62b44 = 286bhp 4.4L V8 that went in tons of different things, but mostly 540i's and 740i's.
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Mar 31, 2014 06:43
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Current parts list: Engine: M52b28 M50 Manifold OBD2 M3 Exhaust Drivetrain: ZF SG320 5 speed Rogue Engineering SSK w/ selector rod 328i driveshaft 3.25 LSD Suspension: AKG +12mm Subframe Bushings Z3 1.9L Steering Rack New Lemforder FCAs Treehouse Eyeball Arms Poly RTABs GC Coilovers w/ Bilsteins GC Camber Plates 318ti Rear Trailing Arms Brakes e36 M3 Calipers Saftey / Misc Bride Zeta III seat Personal 360mm steering wheel 5 pt harness (freebie I need to go pick up!) As you can see, I've still got a ways to go. No clutch and flywheel, no axles, still need a bunch of 5 lug parts and brake stuff. Roll bar is a big item I need too.
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Mar 31, 2014 06:51
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sansteele posted:Super nice ride, homie. Plannin' on doing anything to the body? I want to grab some KA Motors ultra wide fender flares. That's about it for now - aero will come later. HotCanadianChick posted:Maybe I'm missing something here, but how is a generic pre-TU M52 a special engine? I mean, it's not a bad motor, but it's about as generic and unspecial as BMW engines get. That engine block is not painted Party Alarm fucked around with this message at 13:50 on Mar 31, 2014 |
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Mar 31, 2014 13:47
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M54 is a lot more expensive overall for the swap. I may be able to find a motor for a similar price but I still need to cough up the dough for a reflash to delete CAN and EWS. They also aren't the best track motors unless you want to toss an ATI Superdamper on one. They have vibration issues. The b28 is square - 84x84mm, and can rev without shaking itself to death. It's a very simple motor with few things to go wrong. No V8 because it was going to take too much time and money to do it right. That can wait until after graduation. I was actually excited about having less power - it could teach me a thing or two I figure. However, I'm shooting for the same power levels I had before with the S52 so  Been researching 3d scanning options. I need a Kinect and a better laptop, STAT Party Alarm fucked around with this message at 19:03 on Mar 31, 2014 |
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Mar 31, 2014 18:41
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 First go at 3d scanning. That's an e30 cluster housing. Need more resolution!
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Apr 1, 2014 23:53
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YES A clean red coupe parked next to my e82 when I was eating out just now. I should have taken a picture. Nice Ronals, e30 dude, wherever you are. e: Rename thread title e30 Sperg Zone if you want, I'm down with this being an e30 thread
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Apr 2, 2014 03:02
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My friend agreed to sell me my old exhaust setup for a price I can squeeze it in at. I was running S50b32 Supersprint replica headers, a dual l2.5" straight pipe center section, and a UUC System U catback. I mostly wanted the catback. I love Corsa mufflers. Going to chop up the headers. I might be able to get the company to send me one of their new revised headers for free. Ebay headers have poo poo collectors. Always will. Cheap headers pretty much always do. Need to get in there with a die grinder and make a velocity cone. Found a pretty cool read on headers. Choice quote: "No anodized aluminum butt plugs" This whole post is pretty AI, even if it's talking about Harley exhausts. Does that make it CA as gently caress? https://www.rbracing-rsr.com/exhausttech.htm
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Apr 2, 2014 03:38
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I don't really want to go into to much detail, but it was my brother's first attempt at a business, so naturally some hard learned lessons came his way. Mostly had to do with money problems and lack of organization. Big projects would end up taking way too long and there was not enough money to show for it, some investments were made in equipment that never really resulted in profit, and so on. A risky move to a place with much more expensive rent at a time when both my brother and his tech were pretty burnt out put the final nail in the coffin. He started the shop in 2009, so naturally the economy hurt things too. Just before he shut his doors, a guy with a Hennessey Viper called up because he was referred by Hennessey Performance themselves when he asked where in Tennessee he could take it. It seems like making it in the aftermarket performance market requires products, or specialty services like tuning or engine building.
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Apr 2, 2014 05:22
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 Better days e: Content! Here's an image dump from work today.      
Party Alarm fucked around with this message at 07:26 on Apr 4, 2014 |
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Apr 4, 2014 07:13
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'89. Sold for $45k and it still need a $6k valve job. Porsche prices are nuts right now. Boss has a '91 Turbo he just acquired. Rare car!
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Apr 4, 2014 23:32
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So, anyone ever restore an old shift knob?
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Apr 5, 2014 04:17
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More work photos WHY CAN'T YOU BE 5x120?  Wheels wheels wheels wheels I'm still waiting on a few things to make some progress. Need to ramp up my hours at work a bit - still have some money I need to spend to get what I need.
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Apr 6, 2014 16:55
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Things have been kinda slow because I caught some sort of stomach flu. ill be headed down to Knoxville to pick up some parts soon. Gonna post some content in the morning, for some reason my phone seems to hate posting here
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Apr 17, 2014 07:41
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 One of the shops I had to go pick some stuff up from had some pretty cool things.     1 of 5. Also I found these from Christmas. We don't set up a train around the tree anymore.        Tomorrow I'll be in Knoxville to visit a friend and maybe snag a few more parts. There are a few things owed to me I need to go grab. I've been waffling on what to do with the motor. I could drop it in relatively stock and use the M50 mani and OBD1 conversion stuff from the other M52 I traded to get the alloy one, or I could keep it OBD2 and take advantage of stuff like android phone apps with bluetooth OBD2 dongles for diagnostic purposes. It'd be a cheap gauge setup. Not as readable or cool as analog gauges though. I've also been debating opening the motor up or leaving it alone for now. There is some sludgy build up in the motor. It's pretty minor, but since I am tracking this thing I'd like the peace of mind from new rod bearings. If I'm gonna do rod bearings, I'm gonna do new piston rings and a quick and dirty bottle hone of the cylinders. If I'm gonna do that, I guess I might as well chuck another $150 at it and go with M50tu pistons and get 11.5 CR for my troubles. I guess I'm just gonna go for it and throw some money at the motor. I'd rather delay my track time some more and know for certain the motor is in good shape then risk it and have issues. I want that alloy block to stay windowless. This semester ends May 1st, and exams last until May 9th. I have until the end of May free before the summer semester starts, so I'll be getting a lot of work done then. I'm going to see how much it'll cost to balance the rotating assembly. I can do some of the work myself. More expense, but I really want the car to be bulletproof. I'm going to look at a VAC oil pump upgrade too. For those not in the know about M5X/S5X motors, they love to back off the nut the holds the oil pump drive sprocket on. The nut falls off in the pan, and the sprocket either pops off or shears the spines from the drive shaft. Instant oil starvation. The solution involves red locktite, safety wire, or welding in order of efficacy. This is not a perfect cure however. The shaft itself can shear off. VAC sells an upgraded shaft and sprocket that helps alleviate the issue. That combined with a balanced rotating assembly should leave me safe to wind the motor out to 7200rpm all day long.
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Apr 18, 2014 05:50
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Lightbulb, I'll try to get out there to take more pictures of that XJ if you post some more pictures of your garage here.
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Apr 19, 2014 07:23
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I don't remember anyone saying stop  I don't think I ever posted pictures of the Cocaine Cowboy here. A good friend of mine in Knoxville heard rumors of this thing sitting in front of some podunk repair shop in Knoxville. He bought it for $2000.    It needs a bit of tlc. Here's a teaser and a cockblock from some of my other photos. No other pics of the Jag, I wasn't about to remove the cover!   Two more weeks till the end of the semester. Then I can start making some progress! I really do need to find a good place to store the e30, though.
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Apr 24, 2014 03:29
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What should I do with it, Nitro?
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Apr 24, 2014 18:26
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I'm not 100% certain that the emblem is plastic, it kinda looks like painted metal
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Apr 24, 2014 20:43
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Alabamarama posted:Ooooh, can I play? You're a terrible person
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Apr 24, 2014 21:57
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Its no where near as bad as VAG products. Most e30s you see have over 150k miles and are all over 20 years old now. Of course they need maintenance!
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Apr 26, 2014 13:09
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Finals suck. My brother is getting an e36 M3, and I'm going to be able to move the e30 to my house sometime over the summer! Also that BBS kit owns
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May 4, 2014 07:34
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 Trading some parts for these. Not sure if I'm going to run them or refinish them and sell them. I've been eyeing Style 32s 
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May 29, 2014 23:10
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I'll be on 17's so I have easy access to wide track rubber. Lot of take offs I can get from work in that size too. Also I've got a set of e36 M3 calipers that will be going on all four corners, so I'll need the room.
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May 30, 2014 02:48
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No progress from me yet. I'm working full time doing research at the university this summer, but it pays well so I should be able to get the M52b28 rebuilt soon. Holy poo poo that water pump
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Jul 20, 2014 16:43
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Pulled the rod bearings and one of the main bearing caps yesterday in the M52b28. It's a 130k mile engine, and has definitely been on a 15k oil change interval. You can see a lot of contamination on the bearing surfaces. Glad I decided to replace them! I ordered the adapters to bolt e36/e46 hubs to the stock front spindles over the weekend as well. Looks like I got a place to temporarily store the e30 much closer to home (and in a garage) so I can start working on it next month maybe! And the motor should finally make its way into the garage at home this weekend. Track One is a thing again, I should post some pictures soon.
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Sep 8, 2014 18:24
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Yeah, south of Nashville. I studied at UT K for a while. I JUST BOUGHT MORE PARTS! Snagged two sets of Triumph Daytona 675 throttle bodies for 70 shipped.
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Sep 10, 2014 20:48
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They have the same ID as the kit Jenvey sells for M50s. Someone got a set working and driving in his M20 powered e30, too!
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Sep 10, 2014 23:48
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I guess that makes it a write off at this point. I'll take it off your hands cheap. Got my ghetto high comp pistons!
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Sep 15, 2014 15:21
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I haven't really done much yet, still waiting on securing this space to move the car / engine to move forward. In the mean time, I've been continually chatting up my Compressible Flow professor to learn more / debunk car engineering myths / misunderstandings / grey areas. It's been pretty cool and I might make a thread about Automotive Engineering in here to talk about stuff like bullshit marketing of Ram Air Intakes (tm), how it should not be confused with ram theory aka resonance tuning, and so on I need more things to distract me, my dog died on Saturday way way too young from immune-mediated thrombocytopenia and it's got me feelin' pretty poo poo 
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Oct 7, 2014 13:19
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Am I dumb for wanting to trade my alloy M52 for an M60? I feel dumb but it sounds so good
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Oct 9, 2014 02:23
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I got a minty M62b44 for $250 and could probably find one again
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Oct 9, 2014 03:14
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I'd go from a 330lb motor to a 450lb one :/
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Oct 9, 2014 06:12
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I have one of the rare alloy block M52s. I'm very aware of what I need to do extra to cram the M60 in there. I just get tempted by sound is all
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Oct 9, 2014 23:37
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The brown car is  IN THE DRIVEWAY e: It's very dirty and a tree limb put three dings in it. Welp! 
Party Alarm fucked around with this message at 20:59 on Oct 20, 2014 |
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Oct 20, 2014 03:00
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   So re: Track One: Mike had to close his doors last year at the end of the summer. He ended up getting into business with a friend of his that became a bit of a business mentor for him. He was running a place called CPR - Classic Porsche Restoration - out of his garage. He had built himself a reputation and had a pretty solid customer base, but really needed help from someone who understood entrepreneurialship and was driven towards the same goal. Honestly it's the same thing Mike wanted in an employee - more a partner than an employee. Mike started working with Matt, learned how to work on Porsches and exotics, and they just recently moved into a nice new two building complex. They've been SLAMMED. Tons of work. No one in the Nashville area really caters to work like they do - quality over quantity work on high end cars with a focus on track duty. The CPR name was already in use by another company, so they decided to resurrect the Track One name. They've already developed some Cayman products, and I may be doing some product development with them this winter. Good times!
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Oct 20, 2014 22:35
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  Hooray camber! I'm really tired now - ended up working on the 135i way too late
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Oct 22, 2014 14:06
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 RIP little buddy. I'll miss you At least I have car poo poo and happy pills to keep me from sinking into a horrible depression! http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=338592 Here are some photos from the Southeast BMW Brodeo last weekend. I'll have to dig around for some more. There were some good killboy shots too. Highlights for me were several clean runs up on the Dragon at night (after they cleared out the wrecks - one of killboy's photographers got a great shot of a Genesis Coupe torpedoing a ditch), drinking a lot of awesome moonshine, and seeing some great friends. There's always an award given out at the Brodeo - the Broner. Here was this year's trophy:  They still haven't topped this trophy, though  Ultrawide flares have been ordered. Once I sell the old 135i wheels I'm going to do another parts order, probably for the 5 lug hubs and rotors. I should run down to a pull-a-part for some wheels to roll on.
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Oct 29, 2014 18:12
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There's an e30 chump/lemons/GRM car project in the works with a few friends. Should be fun! Definitely make it out to the spring brodeo - we're getting a private campsite because we keep getting the rangers called on us.
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Oct 30, 2014 22:28
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Brodeo stuff  A really clean ZF box   Always change your oil promptly folks. gently caress you, BMW, for specifying 15,000 oil change intervals. 
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Nov 5, 2014 02:57
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Holy gently caress there's a good M62b44 and a loving 5 speed off an M60b30 car at Pull A Part. I need to grab that poo poo and flip it. Already snagged a 24v swap oil pan + dip stick + pickup, M50 manifold, and valve cover off an e34 525i that was there. More funds for the e30! Snagged a set of used e36 M3 brake rotors on the way back. Almost ready to start mocking up the brakes. I found four 17x9 Style 32s. Working out a deal, crossing my fingers. I loving love style 32s.
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Nov 10, 2014 14:44
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