328 Take 3

[gdavid]

My last two pistons are on their way, should have them in a couple days. I also realized that there is a guy doing machine work much closer to my house so I'm going to have him inspect the blocks, choose the best one (if there is any better journal alignment) and bore it out. I have no problems with the other shop but this guy is just much closer and worth a shot.

He suggested that he could do both blocks for a discount if I was interested in selling one. I explained that there doesn't seem to be much demand for them as the egnines fail due to head warps/cracks long before these iron blocks wear out but if anyone in the DC area is interested in a fresh S52 (bare) block, let me know.

[gdavid]

I haven't turned any wrenches on the car for a while, just run it a lot. The vanos really needs to be swapped out for the spare I have with fresh seals, it is sluggish at low RPM's and is throwing a timing code, I just have been lazy about getting to it. The oil pressure light has come on a few more times on hot days sitting at idle after running at highway speeds. I'm going to switch to 15W-50 on my next oil change but the long range fix will be the new engine. I ordered the new piston rings this morning, availability seems to have gone down and pricing up a bit in the last couple of years. I believe I recall seeing Grants running around $130 a set for the m52 engines and $160 for the S52 but when I was getting ready to buy, they were around $250. I ended up ordering CRP's from FCPeuro at $190, best price I could find and by far the most reputable supplier so I grabbed them. I will go ahead and have the block bored sometime in the next month and start gearing up for the swap in the fall.

I pulled the 3.91 open differential and the axles out of my old red shell the other day, I'll sell the diff or trade it for a 2.93 ratio. I've collected most every other manual swap parts needed. The zf transmission I bought apparently came from a e39 so I had the wrong pedal assembly, driveshaft and shift carrier & linkage. Now I've collected the correct versions of all three, the e39 stuff is for sale in the classifieds in case anyone is needs it. I plan to redo the shift pins and seals in this transmission before the swap but haven't got around to it. I am undecided on the flywheel and clutch. The transmission I bought came with a flywheel that appears serviceable, I may end up springing for a new dual mass flywheel but haven't decided yet. I was perfectly happy with the setup in the vert I sold with a stock dual mass and a fresh luk clutch.

Now that I've pretty thoroughly stripped the old red sedan shell of useful parts, I need to get it out of the yard and it's been a bit of a pain finding a taker. I don't know if scrap prices are down but I usually there are signs along the road for getting scrap cars hauled off for free. So far everyone I have spoke to wants a complete car with engine and interior even if they don't run.

If anyone needs any bits off of a sedan, let me know and your welcome to them. There is nothing of real value but I saved most of the little odds and ends that tend to break or fail. I need to clear out some of my junk.

[gdavid]

I haven't turned any wrenches on the car for a while, just run it a lot.

I just had to open my big mouth. The car is now demanding immediate attention as the brake line rusted out at the left rear tire.

I also realized that I received the wrong driveshaft from my ebay purchase. It thought it was a great deal at $150 shipped for a 4 bolt, zf transmission driveshaft but it turned out to be the 325/323 driveshaft for the getrag manual which is slightly longer and has a smaller guibo pattern. I should have checked the size as soon as it arrived but I had just set the box aside, fortunately the seller immediately acknowledged the mistake on his part for the part number in the listing and I'll ship it back today.

[gdavid]

Returning the driveshaft went smoothly, the seller received and immediately refunded the part and shipping cost. The brake line replacement was a little more involved.

I still have my parts car, 96' sedan and both cars have the ACS+T systems so they have individual brake lines from the abs unit directly to the rear caliper, some cars had one line that Tee'd off at the tank to each side. I dropped the gas tank on the parts car (running gear was already out) and removed both brake lines. I needed the driver side but took the passenger side as well in case I need it later. On the drive side, you can get the brake line off in one piece by just loosening the tank and popping the brake line from the plastic clips that hold it to the body if you pry the tank aft and towards the passenger side a bit. To remove the passenger side rear brake line, you either need to remove the tank or lower it quite a bit and disconnect all of the fuel and emission control vent lines. I just removed everything as I'm going to be scrapping the car.

There are different part numbers between the two cars and it turns out that the 98' uses a 12 mm brake line fitting at the abs pump for the left rear brake and a 10 mm fitting for the right side. I assume this is to prevent getting them switched which would be a mess with active stability control. On the 96' 328 (4/96 production), the left rear brake line has a 10 mm fitting at the abs pump. The brake line itself is the same 3/16" for each, it just uses a different fitting. To make it work and appear as close to stock as possible, without bending an entirely new line, I cut the bubble flare off of the line so I could swap the fittings out and re-did the flare. I didn't have a bubble flare tool, fortunately Advance Auto Parts carries them. It took me three tries to get it to come out right, each time making the line a little shorter but I was finally happy with the shape and I was able to snake it into place without much work by letting the fuel line, regulator and filter sag down and out of the way. Not a pleasant job but I'm certain I could do it much quicker the second time.

[gdavid]

I finally swapped my vanos unit with a new seal onto the motor. I'm hoping that this will clear up my recurring P1519 code. There is a break in period so I should expect to see the code for a little longer but I believe this will solve the issue. Resetting a CEL every time I drive the car is really annoying, but I can't stand driving around with a CEL on either.

Assuming this resolves the issue, I'm starting to ponder the differences between my current engine setup and the stroker engine in the vert I sold. It really is a apples to grapefruit type comparison and not a fair basis for any decisions.

On that car, aside from the 2,979 cc displacement, had a m54b30 intake cam (not the ZHP cam), stock m52 exhaust cam and was running on a tuned DME from Hakentt. I never had the car running well on the stock DME because the exhaust was plugged up and I swapped the DME searching for a solution prior to finding the problem. I considered swapping the stock DME back in to see the difference be never got around to it. The car had the m52 intake, cats and a gutted muffler. I had the 2.93 open diff behind the zf manual transmission.

Now, on my car's engine, it is bone stock with the exception of a S52 intake cam and M50NV intake cam on the exhaust side. The intake and exhaust systems are all stock. It still has the getrag automatic and 3.91 open diff.

When I was building the stroker engine, I frequently questioned the level of effort I was putting into it and thought I would get similar results out of the 2.8 motor with S52 cams. I still can't answer that question due to the differences in transmission and DME but my gut tells me that the 2.8 is no where near as strong. Honestly, my 2.8 has a lower compression ratio than before I resealed (it didn't rebuild the bottom end) because I cleaned nearly 1mm of carbon off the top of every piston.

[gdavid]

Stripped block, going to the machinist tomorrow morning.

[gdavid]

I'm pretty excited at the prospect of a freshly assembled S52. I believe I got a great price on the machine work but it also isn't a rush job. He doesn't plan to get to it for about 3 weeks. Now I'm trying to decide whether to swap in the manual transmission onto the currently running M52 or wait until the new engine is complete. I probably won't have the short block together till late fall, as long as the m52 is running well, I think I will stretch out the build and spend a little more on the new engine. Things like a rebuilt (upgraded) oil pump, new timing chain & sprockets would be a good idea as I anticipate running this engine for a long time.

Manual swapping beforehand will certainly cause me to duplicate a lot of work but it will make the engine swap simpler, as I won't be dealing with the pedals, diff, shifter work at the same time. I'm kind of leaning towards manual swapping now with the used dual mass flywheel and clutch that came with the transmission and then replacing it when the drive train comes back out, this will give me a chance to judge the condition of the flywheel. I retained the dual mass flywheel in my project vert and was happy with it but I am considering an aftermarket, slightly lighter weight ebay flywheel this time around. Manual swapping the car with the current engine would also provide me with the most flexibility and increase the value of the car as it stands today. It is the best chassis I have owned and I really intend to keep it for a long time, but if someone else fell in love with it and had to have it, I would let it go for the right price. That would be far more likely if it was a manual. Then I would keep my eyes out for another 328 or m3 with a bad motor.

[MrFixItBuilds]

Man. You’ve been busy! I am all caught back up on the progress: super excited about your s52 build starting. Between the buying of the new house, listing the old house, derecho damage/repairs and the extremely painful insurance process, I haven’t done a single thing to my cars and it’s killing me.

I need to get on it though, since I close on the new house at the end of the month; and I want to drive the 323 there under it’s own power. Gotta grind and undercoat and then finally order the stuff that’s been sitting in my Fcpeuro cart for 3 months.

I think with the long weekend I’ll get to hopefully get something done on the car. My m3 and my 525 are still under the building... hoping to get them out in the next week or so.


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[gdavid]

Man. You’ve been busy! I am all caught back up on the progress: super excited about your s52 build starting. Between the buying of the new house, listing the old house, derecho damage/repairs and the extremely painful insurance process, I haven’t done a single thing to my cars and it’s killing me.

I need to get on it though, since I close on the new house at the end of the month; and I want to drive the 323 there under it’s own power. Gotta grind and undercoat and then finally order the stuff that’s been sitting in my Fcpeuro cart for 3 months.

I think with the long weekend I’ll get to hopefully get something done on the car. My m3 and my 525 are still under the building... hoping to get them out in the next week or so.


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Lately, I've been trying to catch up on some home maintenance prior to launching into fall car projects. I'm about halfway through them and hopefully will have time to work on the new engine assembly when I get the block back.

I have my new rings on hand but haven't ordered my bearings yet, I have a nice looking set of used bearings from one of the engines that I will use for sizing purposes. I don't plan to use them, but assuming that they are within spec or very close after checking with plastigauge, I'll order new-standard size bearings for the mains and rods.

[gdavid]

The block engine was bored and honed yesterday so I picked it up today. I didn't have any other work done to it.

[gdavid]

The first and second steps in this engine build will be cleaning up the pistons and painting the block. I'm still trying to decide on how many new parts and upgrades to do along the way. The m52b28 in the car now is running fine and I can build block up at my leisure. The longer I stretch the build out, the easier it is for me to justify upgrade costs along the way. it is still a budget build in that I'm using used pistons and rods but everything else will be close to new condition.

This is primarily a OEM build and I could throw it all together with used parts on hand now but I think i should probably use all new timing chains and sprockets as I intend to keep this car and engine for a long time. These don't have a reputation for stretching out their timing chains but is a relatively low cost option to take at this point. The single upgrade that I'm planning is to send an oil pump out for rebuild and upgrades to Achilles racing.

This is my second engine build, the last one was a m52b30 that came out great but I ended up selling that car that it went into. There were a few things from that build that turned out well and I plan to repeat including using a m54 style harmonic damper (no timing teeth) and red paint for the block (great for looking for leaks). That was a bit more of a budget build, I did replace all of the common wear items and did give it new lifters but I reused the chains and tensioners. I will be running the cylinder head that is currently in the car, so for now I'll just assemble the short block.

[gdavid]

I've finally fixed the nagging P1519 code on this car, I admittedly feel a bit sheepish about letting this whip me for so long. I never had this code when this engine was in my old car, it only arose after the swap to my new chassis, which included refreshing the head and swapping cams. I first tried replaced the vanos seals with beisan seals but the code remained. I'm pretty certain that my error was not using a dummy timing chain tensioner when I set the timing, instead I had just left the stock tensioner in place while using the flywheel locking pin and cam locks. By not taking all of the slack out of the timing chain, the intake cam was a little effectively retarded relative to the crankshaft and therefor the trigger wheel on the camshaft was not advancing far enough to satisfy the DME.

My last project and only other time I installed a vanos was on a complete engine build and I replaced the spring in the timing tensioner with pennies (temporarily) to act as a spacer and then threaded the tensioner in to the timing cover finger tight prior to setting the timing. The higher end VANOS timing sets include the dummy tensioner, and I'm sure in many cases you can get by fine without it but whether it was a slightly weakened spring or a slightly stretched chain, I had my intake cam too retarded. The beisan instructions covers what to do in some instances with a recuring P1519 and aftermarket cams, they suggest enlarging the holes on the cam's trigger wheel and advancing it clockwise prior to tightening the studs down. I took a shortcut and just advanced the intake by a tiny amount when the exhaust bolts were loosened and the vanos unit was still in place and then put tightened it all back together. I haven't had the code since, and previously it was setting the CEL on the first acceleration to about 2 rpm under load each drive. After resetting it, it would not set off the CEL for the rest of the drive but if scanned, it would show up as a pending code.

[gdavid]

Couple updates, the car is running well but I'm going to start making some changes.

Now that my timing error code is solved, the car is more pleasant to drive (not having to reset the code as soon as I pull out of the driveway each morning) and power is noticeably better in the lower rpm's where the vanos is engaged. The upper engine speed range was already good, so now issues there. Almost immediately after fixing the timing issue, my auto transmission is throwing a torque converter circuit code about ever other day, it had done this about once every 6 months before in the old chassis but suddenly now that the P1519 is gone, I'm getting P0740 torque converter clutch circuit malfunction far more often. I'm not sure if the improved torque low rpms, where the car transmission is trying to lock up the torque converter is causing it, or if the code was being masked behind a higher priority code (I don't think they work that way). In either case the transmission is not slipping and I have absolutely no plans to attempt fixing it. I will be manual swapping the car within the next month and I can put up with this transmission code until then.

I've started cleaning up the s52 pistons, there looked ok but as I removed the rings, there was quite a bit of carbon in the grooves between the ring lands. As I'm cleaning them up, I realized that the piston skirt coating almost gone so I'm going to re-coat them. It probably would have made sense to just buy new aftermarket but I'm learning along the way. I spent about $200 on the used pistons, another $160 for new rings and now another $60 to coat the skirts and of course all my time but it will work out in the end. I feel that I got a pretty good deal on having the block bored at $400. I've been really patient collecting parts at cheap prices so I'm expecting to have a very fresh s52 for about $1200, this will be on par with the cost of the stroker for my last build.

[gdavid]

Also, my secondary air pump is on it's way out, I thought about going with a tuned DME that codes it out but am going with a simulator for now. Either allow me to relocate the coolant expansion tank to the euro location which will make the car easier to work on.

[gdavid]

I am continuing on slowly with what may be the most pedestrian project of the forum. The recurring torque converter code is motivating me to get the manual swap done. The last piece I needed was a differential to work with the 1:1 final drive. This is my daily driver that will see alot of highway miles annually so I went with the most boring choice, 2.93 open.

While it is boring and worth next to nothing, I am all about keeping the underside of this car looking good. It is the most benign looking e36 but being clean and rust free makes it downright pleasant to work on. The fluid that came out of it looked good. A repaint and reseal will further clean up the undercarriage.

I took a couple of pics of the removed pinion (input) flange. It comes off with a 30 mm socket. There is a retaining ring that need to be freed up prior to removal. It is just strong enough to prevent vibrations from backing off the nut but primarily, it need to come off to have enough room for the socket. I am not rebuilding the diff, just replacing seals so I marked the position of the nut relative to the splines shaft so I can reinstall without altering the pinion lash.

- - - Updated - - -

I used an impact gun to remove the pinion flange nut. The next easiest way to break it free would be in the car with the parking brake on and a pull handle. The clearance inside the flange is too small for most proper impact sockets but it wasn't too tight. If you are swapping between a 4 and 6 bolt flange, this would need to come off of course.

[MrFixItBuilds]

I am continuing on slowly with what may be the most pedestrian project of the forum. The recurring torque converter code is motivating me to get the manual swap done. The last piece I needed was a differential to work with the 1:1 final drive. This is my daily driver that will see alot of highway miles annually so I went with the most boring choice, 2.93 open.

While it is boring and worth next to nothing, I am all about keeping the underside of this car looking good. It is the most benign looking e36 but being clean and rust free makes it downright pleasant to work on. The fluid that came out of it looked good. A repaint and reseal will further clean up the undercarriage.

I took a couple of pics of the removed pinion (input) flange. It comes off with a 30 mm socket. There is a retaining ring that need to be freed up prior to removal. It is just strong enough to prevent vibrations from backing off the nut but primarily, it need to come off to have enough room for the socket. I am not rebuilding the diff, just replacing seals so I marked the position of the nut relative to the splines shaft so I can reinstall without altering the pinion lash.

- - - Updated - - -

I used an impact gun to remove the pinion flange nut. The next easiest way to break it free would be in the car with the parking brake on and a pull handle. The clearance inside the flange is too small for most proper impact sockets but it wasn't too tight. If you are swapping between a 4 and 6 bolt flange, this would need to come off of course.

I’m digging the red! I shoulda painted my sway bars red or at least my diff or subframe since the bed liner under the car is black and now it all blends together. Next time it’s out I guess. Maybe I’ll do the xbrace in red.. hmmm


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[gdavid]

I’m digging the red! I shoulda painted my sway bars red or at least my diff or subframe since the bed liner under the car is black and now it all blends together. Next time it’s out I guess. Maybe I’ll do the xbrace in red.. hmmm


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Thanks, it really is a polished turd but will serve my purposes. Speaking of polished, I did clean the diff cover up quite a bit using buffing/polishing wheels on my dremel tool. I'm not taking it to a polished level but it is cleaned up quite a bit, time consuming but it will make me smile when I see it under the car.

I haven't worked on the car for a couple weeks now, instead I've been regrading my driveway and refreshed it with 80+ tons of crushed stone. It had become a mess and keeping mud and dirt out of the house as well as the garage was a losing battle. With that wrapped up I can finish prepping the parts for the manual swap. I need need to replace the transmission seals next.

[gdavid]

It has been a long time but I have a couple minor updates. I cleaned up and painted the block for the new engine build. I use a wire wheel to clean up the block and just picked up a compact air needle gun which works well for cleaning out the corners. It came out well. Thanks to Spyderg0d, I have a cylinder head for this build as well. My plan was to rob the head off of the m52 currently in the car but it does seem like a real shame to pull a good running engine apart. This will also allow the swap to go much quicker when I'm ready for it. I plan on just running the m52 valve springs that are in the head as well as a m50NV intake cam in place of a real S52 exhaust cam. These will be the only differences between this engine and a stock S52.

[gdavid]

I've gone forever and a day without updating this thread. I've put about 50k miles on this car since putting it together and on the road, recently I had emissions inspections headaches to overcome but I've finally got it addressed.

Overall, the car has run great for 3 years but threw a CEL daily for a fault in the automatic transmission's torque converter lockup circuit. This was a bit odd as I had previously ran this exact engine and transmission in my old sedan for 3 years, prior to it getting sideswiped and totaled and it only threw that code about once every 6 months. The CEL caused a concern for my emissions testing, required every two years in Maryland. The first two times I had to have the car inspected, the inspector saw the plastic trim piece over the OBD2 port and didn't bother to connect their machine, they were satisfied that the would illuminate the CEL and go off when started. Because I was constantly clearing CEL codes for the transmission circuit, the DME was not "emissions testing ready". This year, when due for testing, I ended up with inspectors determined to connect their machine and of course, it could not be tested due to the recent code reset (daily). This finally gave me the motivation to manual swap the car and be done with the automatic transmission woes for good. Fortunately, I had a ZF transmission and all the required swap parts on hand, having collected them piecemeal but had not got around to knocking out the project. I pulled the chip out of the transmission module, installed a tuned DME (hakentt) that I had on hand and removed the transmission light bulb in the dash. This allowed me to drive the car without any warning lights but I was concerned that the car still wouldn't pass emissions testing because the DME was not VIN matched to the chassis. I don't know if this would really would matter but I sent the DME original to the chassis off to Kassel performance and had it recoded for a manual transmission, as well as my S52 cams. I was glad to have the other hakentt DME on hand to keep the car running while the other DME was in the mail.

Anyway, the short story is the car finally passed emissions. I could have re-registered the car as historic to avoid the whole issue but I still daily drive this relic and know of people that have been hassled from cops about driving a historic tagged car too frequently. The car is far more fun to drive and I've probably doubled its value.

I year ago, I ended up picking up another e36, a 328is this time, still waiting on the title on that car, I'll probably start a thread for it.