/// mock 3

[hakhawk]

cant help but spanner on this thing, always something to play with :p

so this weekend is doing a few bits to prep for supercharger/fix small problems

first port of call, remove airbox, plenum, etc.



since the engine went in, ive had a problem with belt squeal. initially i put it down to too short a belt(which i did have) but when i replaced all the pulleys, it remained. i then noticed the power steering pulley/pump looked crooked, so i replaced that, no fix.

i remembered the oil filter housing had a couple small cracks where the pump bolted on, but it seemed to bolt up fine. turns out the whole mount is bent!!

i put a straight edge against the pulleys, and yep, thats a decent gap at the pump



so pull it off, and itll be destined for the scrap pile(after raiding parts from it). replacing it with another one i purchased a while ago, cleaned up and painted.



while im going, i test fit the new lower alternator bolt that will also hold the supercharger bracket. its 180mm long, which is friggin huge and doesnt fit without removing the radiator or engine mount

solution, notch the new filter housing, so i can drop it in place without removing anything. lets hope theres enough meat for it to hold up without cracking. ocne its bolted up, nothing will move, so i think it should be ok, but will inspect from time to time



bolted it back in place with a new oring/gasket. also replaced the tensioner pulley because it was shagged(cheers bent bracket!!)



and straight edge check after. much better. will be getting some more degreaser tomorrow, thought i had more than i did.



and thats it for tonight. tomorrow ill be attempting to replace the vanos accumulator, letting the nut soak overnight, as its tight! and i'll test fit charger and plenum.

[hakhawk]

im going to open with this pic, so you can choose to ignore the rest if you want :p



infact, you know what, thatll do for pics today.

everything bolts up, i need to reweld the outlet straight instead of on an angle, swap the drain fitting back out for a basic hose fitting because it hits the wheel arch. ive decided im going to run the intake under the charger instead of over, because it looks neater, and will be less work than having to mock up to test fit a mould for carbon intake.

new oil filter housing seems to work a treat, no more belt noise so far. new throttle cable is FRIGGIN AWESOME!! made a hell of a difference to throttle response.

i didnt do the vanos accumulator, couldnt crack the nut, and decided ill just buy a new steel line and do it when i do the vanos unit, as itll probably need cutting.

[hakhawk]

picked up next weekends mission today. cost me $56 plus some fuel. give it a good clean next weekend and put it in then, if not the weekend after. decent replacement for mine with a hole under the dead pedal, worn areas, and just general dirty.

[Dejo325i]

Nice!

[hakhawk]

decent weather today(bar one little spurt of rain), so i decided to get this carpet in.

started off with a quick steamclean. didnt need much, but i thought hell, why not, its out of the car!!



after removing trims and seats, i pulled the old carpet out. wasnt shy in cutting things that made it difficult to remove :p i didnt bother removing the front center console, because the new carpet had been cut around it anyway.

might need to remove seats more often and vacuum underneath, damn it gets filthy!! most of its just dust and leaves from leaving windows open at work. maybe ill just leave them cracked from now on.



under the carpet wasnt too bad, i took the opportunity to run my stero wires under the oem covers



under the pedal had its share of dirt and rocks, but otherwise pretty good. there was some surface rust where i hadnt cleaned my left overs from making speaker hole bigger, so i cleaned it and rustkill'd it.





being a sedan carpet, i had to cut holes for the seatbelt bar, but that was like 2 minutes work. the rear carpet piece needs some foam transferred over, but thats ready to go tomorrow.



so tomorrow i clean up the seat rails, add the foam, find and install the new side trims i bought like 2 years ago, and reinstall everything else.

[hakhawk]

so while seats were out and i had a bit more leg room, today i decided to replace the strips under the vent windows, because the old ones were baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad. i also replaced the seals in the vent window area, same deal with them. shouldnt get any water past it when washign the car now :p

while doing the left hand side(which is where a previous quarter repair has been done and needs to be fixed in due course), i found some surface rust where its been welded. will be grinding those welds down and inspecting/fixing before proper paint.



so for now, mask it all up, treat with some rust converter, and throw some paint on it all



didnt take pics of the end result, but it was just black :p i then installed the new seals and strips on both sides, these now match the strips i installed on the doors the other day.



i finally bought a new lock set, seeing as the car was one key for drivers door, one for ignition, glovebox and boot, and none for passengers door. i ran the gauntlet and relied solely on central locking to unlock the doors, and only carried the ignition key!!

today i replaced the ignition, boot and glovebox locks, just need to do doors now. i never noticed how much black paint was missing off the old ignition lock



after all that was done, i reinstalled the seats and the rest of the interior. organising a set of floor mats to keep this carpet as good as i can for as long as i can now.



random pics

[hakhawk]

had a play with the intake piping on the charger today, should work pretty damn well

the 180deg bend landed pretty much bang on where i want it to





it needs to be on an angle to clear the strut tower, think ill cut the pipe and reweld, so i can use a straight hose joiner right off the charger.



then i went crazy and attacked the compressor housing with a hacksaw!!!!!!!!!





so i can have a new outlet welded on, because the one that was on there hit the strut tower because of the angle. its all about clearances, as i want to massage as little of the bodywork as possible

[GazM3]

Hey there fellow Vic resident.

Geez you have tired me out reading 4 pages of this thread, looks a great project.

With regard to the supercharger install are you planning on running E85 or any form of de-compression?

Also have you looked into using an 8 rib belt/pulley. As you are running the belt in conjunction with the water pump/power steering/alternator you may find even with a good belt wrap, it would be a damn shame to do all the work and find belt slip is an issue. I run a vortech on my e34 540i and I have a 6 rib and belt slip is no issue but I run it on its own specific pulley.

Love the work so far.
you put my project speed to shame. Still building my S50b32 supercharged M3 after 4yrs!!

Also I saw a while back in the thread you made a nice mould for CF airbox. Im planning at some stage doing similar for my M88/3 engined E24. Did you use just regular foam for the mould

[hakhawk]

Hey there fellow Vic resident.

Geez you have tired me out reading 4 pages of this thread, looks a great project.

With regard to the supercharger install are you planning on running E85 or any form of de-compression?

Also have you looked into using an 8 rib belt/pulley. As you are running the belt in conjunction with the water pump/power steering/alternator you may find even with a good belt wrap, it would be a damn shame to do all the work and find belt slip is an issue. I run a vortech on my e34 540i and I have a 6 rib and belt slip is no issue but I run it on its own specific pulley.

Love the work so far.
you put my project speed to shame. Still building my S50b32 supercharged M3 after 4yrs!!

Also I saw a while back in the thread you made a nice mould for CF airbox. Im planning at some stage doing similar for my M88/3 engined E24. Did you use just regular foam for the mould

hey, cheers for the kind words!!

current plan is running 98, seeing as there is only one e85 servo locally(sort of) to me, maybe down the track i'll look at changing over. no current plans for decompression, the charger was running on a stock s50b32 with no issues before i bought it.

have considered an 8rib pulley, but the vf charger kits and the likes seem to do ok with a change to mechanical belt tensioner. im building it all so if theres a need to remove it(whether it be to redesign something or otherwise), everything should be swappable in a weekend.

i was actually looking at your build thread on here the other day, and had a squiz at the e34 you now have, both look like good fun!!

i used regular foam for the mould, i managed to grab a bunch of ~1m long bricks from a guy in melbourne, and drove home with them in the car(dont do this, you'll be coughing up foam bits for the next month :p)

the finer foam is easier to shape, but the regular stuff does ok on the cheap.

[GazM3]

cheers.

after running into bracketing issues (and also being somewhat dishartened with the project stalling at the 11th hr, im probably going to go for a Vortech setup. After driving the vortech fed 540i for a few weeks, even with moderate boost ive been very impressed that it doesn't change the charactor of the engine too much, its just like (alot) of Tabasco pepper on top of the whole package, the way its still nice and drivable at low revs, and the power just keeps on piling on. Although the twinscrew setup would have been orsome it will massively change the charactor of the s50b32. As i already have low compression, I can throw plenty of boost, and timing into the engine. I've sized the fuel system to E85, and will run a flex fuel sensor so I can use any mix of E85 or RON98 I wish. It saves having to do science calcualtions every time I fill up.

Ill run close to max boost on the vortech, and electronically control boost with a wastegate or blow off valve directly off the plenum. I should be able to run 1.1bar even on pump fuel. Well thats the plan anyway. When you are in Melb next singout. Im going to Adelaide in 2 weeks so If you live out west I can pop in on the way through.

[hakhawk]

yeh, i saw that you were looking at vortech. i bought mine on a whim(as you probably saw in the thread :p), but did a bit of research when i first saw it for sale, and what you said seems to be the norm, which i was keen for, the way power comes on.

im going to start with low boost and go from there, honestly dont think im going to need lots, its still fun as hell as is! i was looking at doing the wastegate+boost controller aswell, but have sidelined that bit for now.

im over east, traralgon area, but will let you know when im in melb next, im usually there every month or so catching up with mates

[4ABHGE]

Victoria represent!! Haha

I was following your build thread on S | W a while a go but haven't been on there since. Good work keeping the car tidy, quick and sitting well on those wheels at a functional ride height.

How come you've now gone towards the supercharged setup? Was the S50 not quick enough for your liking or are you just chasing more and more power? Did you ever consider going down the turbo route?


Keen to see more as you progress!

[hakhawk]

Victoria represent!! Haha

I was following your build thread on S | W a while a go but haven't been on there since. Good work keeping the car tidy, quick and sitting well on those wheels at a functional ride height.

How come you've now gone towards the supercharged setup? Was the S50 not quick enough for your liking or are you just chasing more and more power? Did you ever consider going down the turbo route?


Keen to see more as you progress!

theres a few of us getting around on here now hey!!

its a never ending mission keeping this thing tidy(so many bits to replace here and there), paint is a big thing on the list, but just not a priority. im super happy with the height its at now, loved it slammed, but im not as worried these days when i roll past the local constabulary!!

honestly, i wasnt going to go boost at all on this, the s50 is still quick enough, its silly fun, the charger was just for the hell of it essentially, also seemed cheap at them time, oh how i was wrong(one downside to wanting to do/redo everything properly). id love to go turbo, everyone else wants me to go turbo, but its just that much more work to switch back if i need to, and fun to implement on rhd.

i'll probably throw a turbo on the e21 down the track, bit more space under the bonnet, and ive got a manifold sitting in the cupboard :p

on the weekend i'll probably clean up the charger housing, finalise position for the outlet, get it ready for welding, then play with intercooler and some more pipe positions. expect more pics!

[hakhawk]

so when i got my car, i got 2 keys with it, one did the drivers door, other did the ignition and boot. i had none for passengers door. ive relied on remote central locking to get into the car to save having 2 identical keys to choose from every time i started it. risky, but i neger got caught out!!

finally bit the bullet and ordered a set of new keys and locks for the whole car, which also replaced the worn/broken drivers door handle.

at the same time i retrofitted my motorsport handles that ive had for about 12 months



and i splashed out on a bit of rice for the interior in the form of porsche RS style door pull straps



aaand random workshop shot i took the other day

[hakhawk]

so i went for a drive today to collect a replacement window motor, after taking the seller for a drive in the car, we pulled up at his house, and the top rad hose felt the need to relieve itself all over the headlight and bumper.

replaced the hose clamp, filled it back up and threw a spare rad cap on that he had, and it was fine on the drive home, so ill be ordering a new rad cap from work and check over things tomorrow

so now, heres some photos that ARENT from my iphone for a change. theyre straight from a fuji finepix s5600.

cars filthy, stupid shitty weather.

[CblockM3]

I really like the suspension/wheel tire fitment on your car, it looks great.

[hakhawk]

^cheers, im still loving the lack of stretch on it now.

so turns out i popped an endtank on the radiator aswell. looks like its leaking when not under pressure, so new one on order through work.

i have to say, this is really the first time the cars failed on me, and its (hopefully) because i failed to replace the radiator cap when i did the swap in the first place, which put extra pressure on the radiator hose/clamp





so, lets use this time while the bumper and radiators off to test fit some intercooler piping

the 180 bends fit nicely, need to cut the wheel arch plastic a bit, and make sure the tyre wont rub later on(feels like enough space)



then straight pipe behind radiator, clearing power steering lines easily enough, then up to the outlet. im going to move the fan over to other side for more pipe clearance.





inlet looks to fit reasonably well, it may need a bit of massaging towards the bottom, just for that bit of reassurance. clears the oil cooler hoses nicely.



and will bolt to MAF sensor and pod filter behind bumper.



cooler outlet should work well, slipping through between the swaybar and steering rack. will need to be super certain everything has enough space at full lock here.



then hopefully up and to the plenum. main bit here is making sure it clears the charger inlet pipe.



random shot showing clearance to oil and ps cooler. hopefully with ducting they shouldnt be affected too much with the intercooler in front



and some more clearancing of the secondary bonnet catch, after welding the brackets, the intercooler moved from where my original testing position was.



and ive ordered some alloy pipe so i can cut up my top rad hose and modify it to give clearance for the extra supercharger pulley. thought might as well while its all off. im going to keep a new hose spare for "just in case"

so now i get to smash around in dads kia 4x4 until parts are here and i get her fixed

[hakhawk]

so far so good on the new rad and bits, still waiting for the temp switch, so just been flicking the fans on manually at low speeds or parked.

replaced my front control arm bushes today with SLRSPEED adjustable delrin jobbies, allowed me to dial in some more caster, and remove the slight braking shimmy i had, which i was either putting down to the bushes(which i replaced a couple years ago with superpro) or pad deposits on the brake rotors.

this is them. i also got a set of replacement inserts at the same time, mainly to save a bit on postage.



and one of them installed, took no time to remove the old ones and install. will need to take it in for an alignment and see how much caster i gained, as i still have a light pull to the left from when i replaced the tie rod ends



the highway drive home today was much better than previously, few hard brakes from 110km/h to 80 felt great, only had slight braking shimmy at one point, which was probably more the shitty road surface, but ill see how it goes on the drive home from work, which i tend to know where its good and bad.

more feedback through the steering wheel, feels more direct so far, bumps in the road dont seem any worse than before, no noticable new noises.

all in all, im happy with the upgrade, next week(hopefully) i replace some exhaust mounts and rubbers, which i have found out dont last overly long. main one i cant wait for is the exhaust mid brace, which i dodgied up during thw swap, as i didnt know at the time that the 4cyl one is different to 6cyl and didnt have time to source another, so the modified one is a bitch to get lined up nicely.

random pic from other day

[hakhawk]

received and installed the temp switch for thermofan yesterday, works a treat again!!

another parts order arrived today

amongst it we have a new mid brace for exhaust, to replace the dodgied up 4cyl one when i did the swap, and new mid and rear hangers(fair sure the rears are shot)

then theres a mechanical belt tensioner to replace the hydraulic one, the mech one seems to be the goto for supercharged cars.

some fuel tank lid seals, i doubt theyve ever been done, and i need to sort out another pump to fix a fuel starvation issue thats common on the e36 when fuel level is low.



and a new ///M logo lighted keyhead for my new key, just coz. i'll probably end up doing an led swap on it, and it needs a new battery(probably been sitting on the shelf for god knows how many years)

[attrack]

Looking good. The brake shimmy you speak of.. How bad was it? I don't particularly notice mine.. You 2 foot braking?

[hakhawk]

was enough to make the wheel shake decently braking hard from ~120km/h before the fcab swap, now its barely there, but still annoying. 2 foot braking?

[hakhawk]

started on the exhaust today before the rain started coming in.

firstly, the new mid brace vs old one. i bought the bolt on hangers without realising the 6cyl brace had bolt spots, and the 4cyl didnt. so at the time i welded the hangers on for a diy fix. i had to use commodore figure 8 rubbers to hold it in place, and it was a right bitch to get them on(been through one oem set and 2 figure 8s).

the new brace is still a tiny bit off, but less so than modified one. i'll see how it goes, i always have spare figure 8 rubbers :p



new vs old rear hangers, turns out i bolted the lower brackets on the wrong way around and thats why it never sat properly. bolts go through because the original studs on one side were too short, and other side were in the wrong spot being a 318is originally.



these are ~40,000ks old and starting to crack, but actually dont feel too bad. im hoping theyre my exhaust vibration.



im about half way through and will finish bolting it back up tomorrow.

random photos time

supersprint still going strong. those stickers hold up well :p



sneaky upskirt



couple group photos with the 21

[BLAKE AuST]

looking great man!, my center brace exhaust mounts dont line up 100% either, fkn anoying.

nice to see im not the only one replacing/upgrading everything around here! heh

How loud is the supersprint? i had the uuc system-u with a custom midsection for awhile there, and way to loud, the stock midsection gets rid of ALOT of noise!

[hakhawk]

looking great man!, my center brace exhaust mounts dont line up 100% either, fkn anoying.

nice to see im not the only one replacing/upgrading everything around here! heh

How loud is the supersprint? i had the uuc system-u with a custom midsection for awhile there, and way to loud, the stock midsection gets rid of ALOT of noise!

yeh? does your exhaust sit like 5-10mm forward of the bracket? gone through rubbers much?

i went the supersprint street 784306 with stock 3.2 midsection, glad i did. cruising its reasonably sedate, louder than stock but not by much, get on it and its barky but not stupid loud

couple crappy vids, need to get some better footage/audio

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NwdOVoKMt8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U93vFv-tONs

must catch up sometime and you can hear it in person

[xeler8]

Looks great!

I know its frequently done, even by respected shops, but I would lift the rear from the subframe rather than by the diff.

Nice work!