e36 m50b25 turbo build

[crapet01]

I blew my diff

so i have done a few other things like install coilovers, make a glove box delete panel and install my front m3 brakes but right now i really need some help getting the car back on the road! a few days after i was at the track it was a rainy night and i went drifting with a few mates. nothing serious. on my way home i decided to "finish off" the tyres which I had on. anyway started the burnout and as soon as i gently pressed the brake BANG. night night diff. at first, I was hoping it was a shaft. no dice. anyway here is the aftermath.





i put the diff together so i think there is a good chance i did something wrong. if anyone has any idea it would be greatly appreciated because at the moment everyone is telling me different things. i saw an engineer and he thought nothing was wrong and that this stuff just happens? but im only pushing 110kw like really? and i had someone else tell me i overheated the diff which caused the end of the spline to wear off. i think it might have something to do with the bearings but who knows!

here's a picture of the new shafts i picked up ready for when i know how to fix whats happening inside!



also why was when i poued the oil out of the diff some of the oil looked bubbly almost like saliva?

[Fender13Bender]

Is the car boosted now?

What diff and axles? 325 328 or M3?

[crapet01]

Not boosted yet but I have most of my supporting modifications which I wanted to be done first now. The manifold is next on my list of things to do so I'm hoping within the next month!
currently running factory 325 axles and a 3.64 LSD.

[crapet01]

Okay so since I still have my diff out of the car I'm going to upgrade the diff bushings. im not sure if I should go for solid or track rated rubber bushings. I like the idea of the diff being able to have a bit of flex so I'm leaning towards the Powerflex black series bushings. i have heard great things from these and they also have a lifetime warranty!

I also just ordered some Powerflex black series rear trailing arm bushes since I get really bad axle tramp/ wheel hop when I drop the clutch in 1st. from what i have heard this is normally the issue. however, I intend on doing a bit of a bushing overhaul now before the car gets more power.

[crapet01]

Solid steering bush:

So i ordered a solid steering bush from the UK since i had one in my e30 and i loved it. the turn in was so direct i couldn't fault it. little did i know how much of a pain it was going to be to upgrade. you have to essentially pull the steering rack to pull the steering shaft. i didn't grab any photos of this unfortunately but here is a picture of how it came out next to the solid bush



I then tore down the factory shaft to reveal the shitty old rubber bush.




It turned out I have a rare single piece shaft which the bush was not designed for. requiring modification for it to work properly.





after many more hours than it should have taken it here's the final product. I haven't even had a chance to drive it yet as I'm still waiting on my trailing arm and diff bushes so my diff is still out of the car. but ill report back on it once everything's back together.



and here's a little mock up of where my new Garrett 3582r will sit

[crapet01]

So its been a while since i last posted. i have had a few issues come up which i had to wait for parts from the UK before i could move on anything. namely, i lost my lock nut as i was tuning my coilovers. I accidently left the key in the rear wheels when I went for a test drive. that was an expensive mistake. anyway i wanted to do the lug to stud conversion at some point anyway so now was the ideal time.

Old mate Digby gave us a hand removing the old lock lugs with his trusty welder. much appreciated


just tonight i managed to get my rear camber arms in. this was a nightmare job. i thought it was going to be a simple bolt in. you have to mess around with the diff to get it on different angles to remove the bolt going into the rear subframe and then you have to take weight off the wheel hub to get the other end out.

Anyway I was impressed with the quality of the Hardrace product. but I haven't driven on it yet so we will see. here are a few photos of it.

[Fender13Bender]

Are those a cheap ebay set of arms? If so, ditch them before your rear end falls apart and causes a crash.

[crapet01]

No. they are "hardrace" brand and I have heard great things from people with them.

another update. within the next week, I will be purchasing my ECU. I have put a lot of thought into this and I'm going for the Link G4+. not many people seem to use this but the main reason behind selecting the Link, is that the shop I am getting to do the tuning are Link suppliers and love working with Link. so I will save myself some dyno time there. it also has all the features I may want in the future. flex fuel, anti-lag, launch control, etc. Link is also seen by these guys to be one of the best if not the best ecu brands. and they make a direct plug and play for the m50tub25. its a bit over budget at $1400 but I think it will save me money in the long run.

The manifold has been put on hold until I get this ecu so that's another month or so away.

[crapet01]

M3 Rear Brakes:

okay so about 3 weeks ago i tackled the task of chucking the m3 rear brakes on. after a bit of reading i found out i'd lose my factory handbrake. This doesn't bother me too much as i don't daily the car or anything and a have a hydro i can use to temporarily use. anyway i found once i stuck my teeth into the task it was a bit more fiddly than a straight bolt on like some people online were suggesting. the main issue being that the factory rotors are 280mm and the m3's are 310mm so they no where near fit within the factory splash guard.

here's the factory 325 setup


and here's how the m3 rotor sits with no modification to the splash guard, Obviously this means the rotor isn't actually up against the hub in this photo.


To combat this I just bent the splash guard out. I was considering removing it but I figure having something is better than nothing.


And here's the final product.

[pbonsalb]

Most use M3 trailing arms and M3 axles and M3 diff output stubs. Handbrake works. USA M3 parts might be cheaper.

How plug and play is the Link? Preserves obd2 plug in inspection?

[crapet01]

yeah i would but those parts are impossible to get here and if they do come up for sale people want your left nut for them!

The Link is 100% plug and play. just unplug the factory ecu and plug the Link in. all you have to do is unscrew the pcb from the factory ecu as the Link fits directly into that housing. and yes it retains all factory features. mine should get here today or tomorrow so ill post some photos up soon. I'm hoping to have it into the fabricator today or tomorrow as well for the manifold, exhaust and cooler.

[crapet01]

Fabrication:

Today I dropped the car into Vulcan for the fab work.
- turbo manifold
- cooler piping
- turbo oil and water feed
- turbo drain
- exhaust

The car will probably be in there for a few weeks but it was good to see within the first half hour of the car being in there the stock headers, exhuast and air con compressor were removed and the guys seemed keen to crack on with turbo placement and exhaust work. ill be dropping in from time to time to try and grab some photos of the process. i think almost all the parts i need have been acquired and now it's just putting together the puzzle.

[crapet01]

So went down and checked up on the progress at Vulcan a few days ago. Things are really coming along, I cant wait to get it down the Garage 7 for the tune. while I was there the guys were getting into the manifold merge pipes.



fortunately, I had some time up my sleeve while I was there, so I stuck around for a chat and decided to tackle the injectors while those guys worked on the fabrication side of things. The injectors were a bit of a hassle but not too bad. I suppose once the fuel line gets pressure again we will see.



Also, I'm wondering how people bypass the factory fuel pressure regulator since it is attached to the fuel rail? Or is it not necessary to remove it, everywhere I have read, say you need a rising rate fuel pressure reg. Especially with ethanol fuel.

In other news, I bought some Bilstein B14 coilovers yesterday since, surprise surprise my shitty ebay ones clapped out after about 50kms. Just under 2 months now until the Hillclimb event I have entered, so I'm starting to get nervous about having it finished on time!

[crapet01]

So the guys at Vulcan have been flat out the past month, so not heaps of progress but I know they have also just been putting a good bit of thought into it. after discussing almost every option (rear mount turbo, running the turbo to the cold side, low mount, high mount) He ended up thinking the best way to design it was similar to the Nelson Racing engine turbo setup (pictured below) where the exhaust port is upside down (compared to how people normally mount them). this means with the steering shaft we can still achieve decent length runners instead of doing a log style manifold which suffer flow issues and reduced top end power. for the US and other LHD guys you won't understand how little space there is!



Recently i have been trying to get the fuel system sorted whilst the car has been down there, so it's ready for a tune as soon as the fabrication work is complete. over the weekend I managed to get a Turbosmart FPR 800 in.




Excuse the average photos, but you get a rough idea. I bought some Aeroflow 400 series 5/16 e85 compatible fuel line to replace the factory fuel line while i was there. This fitted perfectly over the factory hard fuel line barbs. which was complete luck so it happens.

[crapet01]

Back down at Vulcan yesterday, good progress happening on the dump and manifold. unfortunately, I didn't grab any photos as I was flat out trying to get the fuel system finished. still a bit of work to be done but it's coming along nicely. I also got my ZF 5 speed the other day, I'm still waiting on the clutch, flywheel, pressure plate and oil cooler though. hopefully ill get time to get that installed next week before it gets on the dyno.

anyway here's the progress with the surge tank so far (swirl pot for the yanks) I still want to be able to run my boot lining for now but I might end up moving it down the track. I went for the Aeroflow 400 series ethanol approved nylon hose, just because it's easier to work with and about half the price of the stainless braided stuff.



excuse the tape telling me what hose goes where haha.

I love leaving the shop seeing my car on the hoist:

[Nutzy]

Lookin' good mate.

What's the 400 series doing on hosetail barbs though?

[crapet01]

Cheers Nutzy,

it's the fitting I got recommended to use with the 400 series?
would you think something else is more appropriate?

[Nutzy]

https://www.aeroflowperformance.com/...push-lock-hose

400 Series is pushlock hose. It probably doesn't matter much that you used barbs and clamps, but with the matching fittings, no clamps are needed.

[pbonsalb]

Bimmerworld and others sell a factory regulator block off for the early rail.

[crapet01]

thanks pbonsalb. ill have to get one sorted.

- - - Updated - - -

Bit of an update:

Today I was down at Vulcan to tidy up a few things, I want to get my zf box in before it hits the dyno. I also only just got around to swapping out the crap ebay coilovers for the bilsteins.

I ended up using the factory top hat as when i purchased the bilsteins thats what was being used by the previous owner. I'm not sure how it will feel but we'll see, I dont think it should make that much of a difference.


the manifold has been progressing really well through this week finishing up today. this is what it looked like a couple days ago


and this is what it looked like today when i was in there.



I think it looks like a piece of art. absolutely stoked with the result and it should make some massive torque from such long runners.


Gearbox:
I didn't snap too many shots of the removal process. nothing really special going on just unbolting everything really. as usual the starter motor bolts were a pain in the ass but other than that it all went relatively smoothly and got it out in a couple hours.

here's a little before and after, even though i did end up pulling the clutch and flywheel off. I intended on putting it back together as well today but I didn't have a new spigot bearing and the old one wasn't the best, so id like to replace it which put a hold on everything. I will probably end up doing the rear main seal whilst I'm in there as well.

[crapet01]

The last few days have been flat out working on the car getting it ready for the Hillclimb on the 11th. We decided it would be easiest to pull the engine and put that and the gearbox and manifold back in the car all at the same time. this wasn't too bad other than removing the wiring loom with the intake manifold still attached. Here's a couple of photos I managed to grab throughout the process:




This is the manifold before it got welded out and the external gate plumbed in. ill snap a photo of the finished manifold when i get back down there this week.


This is the modified strut tower to clear the manifold. Still needs a little tidying up, Then ill hit it with some colour match paint. im pretty happy with how its come out considering the clearance with the steering arm and all.

[pbonsalb]

The RHD cars really are a challenge to turbo.

[grinchxvx]

That manifold is badass I can't wait to see how it all works out


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[crapet01]

Fabrication is done! (for now!)

Yesterday all the fab work was finished up. its booked in for the dyno tune on Monday morning. im nervous about the head gasket but there's not much I can do at this point. It's too late to do anything about it before next Sunday. its exactly a week today until the Hillclimb and there's still plenty of little things to tidy up and finish off before ill be happy with where it is at. For the dyno I just had a straight pipe made to get maximum flow. but i will end up putting a rear muffler on to quiet it down a bit. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of it but ill put some up when i get a chance.

here's how the fab work finished up:


When I first saw the engine bay I was blown away. It turned out so much better than I had expected.


also had to get a snap up of this ally dime stacking. Wish i could weld like this!

[Butters Stoch]

I've never seen a stock intake boot on a turbo car. I'd be worried it would blow up like a balloon. I don't think they are reinforced.

Nice build BTW, good luck at the racing event.