Here at last: jjjjjjj's turbo build.

[pbonsalb]

That is the kit I want -- Wildwood 6 piston front, 4 piston rear. But I don't track my car so it is a want, not a need.

[jjjjjjj]

That sounds amazing VR! Nice work. Perhaps I can get my bucket to stop nicely with my junkyard bbk and these yellow pads you all are speaking of.

[E36 HateR]

You will but you will also need very good rubber, better brakes will only do so much until they surpass the tires grip.

[NOTORIOUS VR]

That is the kit I want -- Wildwood 6 piston front, 4 piston rear. But I don't track my car so it is a want, not a need.

Stock M3 brakes are very good... adding pistons doesn't really get you better braking, so.. your investment should really just be a fresh set of rotors (slotted/dimpled) w/ some good high friction pads. You will be amazed I'm sure.

That sounds amazing VR! Nice work. Perhaps I can get my bucket to stop nicely with my junkyard bbk and these yellow pads you all are speaking of.

No doubt... for me it was out of necessity. The stock 328is brakes were probably sporting 3rd line parts and the front DS caliper was sticking to the point I would be able to make it glow and have to pull over from the rotor warping from the heat. If I had M3 brakes I probably wouldn't have jumped on the BBK (although the bling factor is hard to ignore :P )

You will but you will also need very good rubber, better brakes will only do so much until they surpass the tires grip.

Always this. Basically pads and tires are going to do a lot more than anything else for braking.

[jjjjjjj]

Oh I'm sure stock M3 stuff is great but the appeal of the e46 brakes (to me) is the easy bolt-up install and the fact that these days e46 parts are starting to get cheaper or same price as e36 parts... brakes, control arms - all better designs in some way imo. Oh, and off course the bling is nice too especially when oem parts add over 2" to brake diameter I've had my current rotors turned (little sketchy), and replaced pads twice so I've more than gotten my money out of them by now.


Also, totally forgot about my Hard rear flares, goal is to fit stickier 275/40 rear, 235 or maybe 245/40 fronts when these 255/40 Maxxis finally die because I can spin them practically on command.... which has likely been keeping my GETRAG alive :/

Guess I should start ZF shopping... or maybe luck into a nice 6 speed like I really want.

[jjjjjjj]

Well, back at it again. Started a new position, same company now just in South Austin so even more traffic from my house up north, yay!!


Of course, started overheating a little in heavy traffic again but mostly just leaked out each night... And to top it off, I lost a kidney somewhere on the road:








So done...


Ordered knockoff $90 aluminum radiator, Mishimoto aluminum tank and new long hose for the tank. Pretty sure it was a combination of worn out leaky rad and hoses. Oh, and finally some lovely BLUE coolant in this time around!!


Also forced to buy new tires.. was feeling rather squirrelly, shocked to find I had 7-8 bubbles on the inside shoulders of both fronts due to camber wear and waiting a little too long for an alignment

In a pinch so hit the local Firestone up before work the next morning (closest and the earliest opening place around) and have to say I'm pretty impressed with the Indy 500's lol not sure how they would do in the rear but for the price (99 each) they seem very nice and grippy!!

Also repainted my charge pipe and ditched the old leaky catch can in favor of a dump-to-ground setup. Car has never been happier!





















So get it all back together and feel all accomplished like I've bullet-proofed the cooling system when destruction finds a way... First noticed this bulging a few days later:









Then 2 days later this, so lucky it happened like a 1/4 mile from my house (after dropping the kids off to school) and could coast most of the way home! Pretty sure my insurance company was tired of paying to tow me every other week...









Goodbye ECS silicon hose!!!



Luckily had a clean enough old stock upper hose to swap in before I was late to work, no issues since but will get a new set when I can.


Inspection time had come and gone so I needed a muffler!!! Drove around 8 months without, just dumping under the car. Turning heads all over lol luckily no police attention! Went with some 304 stainless 3" to connect v-band with the rest of what I had before it fell off and it ended up pretty nice! Have an awesome friend that did the work as I've had zero money for fun stuff, more on that later:
















Still need to give it a good polish but I love seeing the lovely golden stainless poking out Sounds so good, much quieter than expected with no noticeable power loss at 12psi!!! In fact it seems faster probably due to much less sound.


Most important part was the flawless inspection at the same place where I had a radiator explosion last year!!!







So my wife finished nursing school and landed a job so we "celebrated" by buying a new house!!! Gotta love 'murica. Looked around quite a bit at overpriced old clunkers near less-than-ideal schools so figured out we could build one for much cheaper and in a much better school district than what we could afford in Austin. Will be very sad to lose my rental house on 1/2 acre with huge trees and the awesome 1200 sqft shop out back, but my kids are entering 2nd grade and Kindergarten so that's about the most important thing!!


Round Rock, TX here we come

















Should be ready in August or Sept so it's save, save, save for now. Got all the good options we could afford and I fought so, so hard for a 3-car garage upgrade and a larger corner lot or cul-de-sac type needed to fit it but was just out too expensive to do. I did however get a fully insulated garage (including the door) with better lighting, extra electrical outlets, side access door and wired it for data and audio! Spend the last 2 weekends running (sneaking) extra wires everywhere else- cat6, surround speaker wiring, HDMI conduits etc for wall-mounted entertainment and hard-wired data all over



When this is finished and the budget recovers I will resume turbo building activities including new fuel pump to crank the boost, ZF swap to hold the power, brakes to stop it, cut for flares and paint to match, install AC parts................ and fight the strong urge to sell it when it's all good and start all over with a more daddy-friendly / mod-friendly n54 335i sedan

[White94RX]

Hate it when the pics are blocked at work. I'll have to check out this thread on my phone later.

[jjjjjjj]

Thanks for looking! Consider it "trails and tribulations of a daily driven budget build" Should be my title lol

[jjjjjjj]

Car is running very well, just enjoyed some 85mph speed limits on the toll roads to the new house Local car folk refer to these parts as Mexico


Can't wait to get moved in and finally back to work on car things!!





Oh, and I can tell already that the insulated garage upgrade will be worth every penny, stays quite cool all day

[vollosso]

Huzzah!


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[SCapelo]

Congrats on the home man. That is next on my priority list

[1SLWM3]

Yeah, congrats brotha! That's cool you were able to get some much needed wiring done yourself too.

[jjjjjjj]

Thanks guys! Pretty amazing feeling owning a home... and being "that guy" with the oldest and loudest (fastest??) car on the block is great lol I can feel the hate flow...

Finally did some much needed (boring) car stuff! Installed this fancy rebuilt electronical supercharger, but the car doesn't feel any faster 🤷



Sure does crank up nicely and finally got rid of the embarrassingly loud grinding/squeaking when paired with a new belt

[jjjjjjj]

Welp might be ZF time... any guesses to the noise?

Sorta hard shift into 2nd, loud metallic POP. Won't move, diagnosis coming soon

https://youtu.be/Yu1RjVfttSc

[vollosso]

100% Broken motor.


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[vollosso]

(Jk)


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[jjjjjjj]

lol anything but that!

[rajicase]

RIP input shaft

[jjjjjjj]

RIP input shaft

Indeed, metal chunks in the fluid.

ZF shopping now

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[jjjjjjj]

It seems ZF's were cheaper and easier to find a couple years back?? I know I was stepping over them in junkyards just never snatched one


Likely going with a 100k mile unit my friend found, but I'm paying the price dang it

[Butters Stoch]

It seems ZF's were cheaper and easier to find a couple years back?? I know I was stepping over them in junkyards just never snatched one

Likely going with a 100k mile unit my friend found, but I'm paying the price dang it

I have 4 of them , but shipping might suck.

[jjjjjjj]

I have 4 of them , but shipping might suck.

Thanks! Yeah down to TX would be a fortune.


I will finally be using the giubo you gave me, thanks again for that!

[vollosso]

They have been 250-350$ solid for a long time? What are you paying?


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[Butters Stoch]

Thanks! Yeah down to TX would be a fortune.

I will finally be using the guibo you gave me, thanks again for that!

I'll give you one for $300 shipped.

[jjjjjjj]

I mean when I see them for sale that's a good price but can't find anything around, and junkyards are also bare. 11 examples of matching cars e36 and e39 around right now and zero ZF's

It's LKQ , 100k and would at least have a good warranty for $500. Local yard would be under $200 but much less trust there