Mike

Wicked, I've always been a fan of dish. but... what size tyres you running? 205/50 or 195/50? either way they look a bit too small. I'd go for 205/55R15 when that set are worn, its the proper size tyre to use and will fill gaurds better as well.

+1 for donor car. you know you'll have all the bits to make it work. Plus you get bits like bigger front struts, bigger sways and other options that some 325 had. Depending on the year of your 323 you may already have some of these bits though. Either way sell the bits you don't need off donor car to help pay for conversion.

2.5 use a different ECU than 2.0 and 2.3 cars. So looms are different.

yeah, gauges are autogauge copies. Wired up so they're only on when car is running. Will do front-mount eventually, I got that IC free with turbo so figured I might as well use it. Was easy enough to modify to fit, looks smaller in those pics than it actually is. Have done everything myself apart from alloy welding.

Yea thats an idea, I'll try that. Took for a quick test drive on sat, goes well. Its taking too long to spool so I've probably got an exhaust or intake leak. Could also be that the wastegate isn't sealing properly. Or its just an old inefficient turbo too big for a 1.8. Anyway by 3.5K its really starting to haul with no signs of running slowing at higher rpm. Will give it a proper test when I get the lower pressure actuator in there. I also think I went slightly too tall on the diff with a 3.64, when I'm back down south I'll see how the 3.91 goes. I've just got to tidy up bits and pieces, like find a more permanent soultion to hold spark plug leads out the way, make a new windscreen fluid bottle, Also got to see if my bonnet fits, that IC pipe may end up with a small clearance dent. More pics... charge pipes leading to intercooler and gauges, hope the 'M' police aren't too upset.

I think I've got this right, you want to give up DD a $14K 2.7L car and use a $20K 3.2L car?

I was planning on using a skyline turbo but ended up with a plain old garrett T3, slightly bigger turbine housing but same size compressor. No water cooling, so will be doing more regular oil changes obviously. I have skyline oil lines and one end appears to have a restricor in it, not sure how to replicate that in my oil feed setup tho.

Thanks but will have to pass. a decent M10 build is planned but wont be happening for a quite a while. ECU next on list.

Update: Been having problems with turbos and oil leaks. I thought the oil leaks were a result of the turbo drain and feeds so I re-did those but now I think theres also another leak around the timing chain cover area. Theres a whole heap of gaskets all intersecting here so its highly possible one isn't sitting right, or I missed a piece of old gasket and thats causing problems. This is a really bad leak so hopefully should be ok to find. Have also had problems with turbos, one my own stupid fault which I wont go into. Anyway, tonight went round the block tonight. Not much happened until roughly 3k when it started to pull really well. At this moment blue smoke started to pour from engine bay. (No bonnet) First thought was blown turbo but no signs of smoke from exhaust or anything prior to hitting boost. Also, cant see where that much oil would escape out of of turbo and into engine bay. Not sure if exhaust was smoking while all this was happening. edit- should note no restrictor in line, banjo fitting is already quite small and as mentioned drain is a good size and well placed. Andrew- more details on restrictor anyway? I think what happened is that positive pressure in the crankcase/head forced oil out of that bad leak and onto hot manifold. I haven't plumbed in catch-tank yet so crankcase will be pressurised under boost. Possible? or way off track? Haven't had chance to have a really good look but want ideas as to what else could be causing this. again, thoughts and ideas welcome. Pics of gauges and intake stuff coming real soon.

225/45R16 is what you want, (same overall dia as stock) rare size though. Toyo T1R would be my choice in that size. A539 comes in that size too but is ridiculously priced, $300 a tyre or something outrageous. I keep hearing good things about GSD3's, they only come in 205/50R16 which is a shame, will be a tad stretched on a 7.5" rim. Similar story with DZ101, you'll have to choose between 215/50 or 215/45 (205/50R16 available for pretty much any tyre)

I think he wanted straight swap for cars, no cash involved. and E36 325 for $4.5K is a good deal (depending on condition)

Dirt bikes > cars. Kawasaki KDX200. Nothing else comes close to bang for buck. It will annahilate those MX bikes mentioned above when it gets pretty tough going. You can pick up exc condition ones for ~$4500. (One or 2 years old). Far easier to ride than mx bike, leave standard pipe on while learning and its docile as. Then chuck a pipe on when ready and its a whole new bike. As for race car, I reckon leave your 320 alone, its too nice and too much work to turn into a track rat. Buy a mechanicaly sound 325 if you want E30 race car, still will cost you heaps to out fit with cage, seats, harness etc. Better off buying a car that someone has already spent money on race gear.

Another update... Intercooler and charge pipes done. Started car today, ran really well considering I just chucked bigger AFM and injectors in there. Still needs idle mixture and AFM spring adjusted. Couple of minor oil leaks which should be easy enough to sort. Unfortunately turbo does seem to be broke, not sure if its something silly I've over-looked or the shaft is indeed causing problems. No gauges in yet so don't know for sure exactly whats going on. Anyway, now the mission is to sort out little problems and make the thing run well. Pics of IC and intake pipes tomoro. replies to comments... Beau- Not exactly sure on power, would like to say around 170 ish hp@flywheel for initial setup. I'm keen to get it on the dyno as soon as its running well. Ashkan- It took me roughly 2 weeks to bolt it on, I had already made most of the bits and alot of the parts were simply replacement. eg injectors, AFM, manifold. Gary- haha, my engine bay was spotless a couple of years ago, hasn't been cleaned since. Will clean again eventually.

Its the anti-freeze that provides the corrosion protection, not the water. The reason that you don't mix too much anti-freeze in is that it has less cooling capacity than water. to clear things up... http://auto.howstuffworks.com/cooling-system3.htm

Got some pics for you guys. Almost finished now, only need to make up some brackets for various little bits and install gauges. (excuse cracking paint on tappet cover, makes engine pay look quite a bit more rangi) oil feed and gauge sender wastepipe (not too bad a fit round steering column and it fits up to this exhaust and my oil catch can (needs quick blast of paint)

Cheers for that andy, I'll see what pressures I'm getting stock and then experiment from there. Oil drain is pretty big and flows straight down to the timing cover return so should allow me a bit of room for error if the turbo is getting too much oil. As for update, this run of good weather has halted progress a bit, and a few odd jobs that needed doing. I"m just heading off to finish up intercooler now and pick up some clamps and hose joiners. Should be running by tomoro with a bit of luck. However, I'm worried the turbine wheel took a bit of a knock today (nosy buggers) when I had it apart. It still spins freely in the housing still but just looks ever so slightly bent. I'm just going to see how it goes, worse case scenario is another turbo I guess. Sux if I need a new turbo but what else can I do?

IMHO like it or lump it, you don't have to bid on his auction.

Same with me first year of NCEA, dominated 5th and 6th form but 7th form I had way more fun, and of course didn't do as well. NCEA does seem to be based much more on effort than natural ability, which has both positives and negatives. Andrew, NCEA is stuctured like that, only its Excellence, merit, achieved. Also, you don't fail, you just haven't achieved yet, cos fail is just too harsh a word.

I have a 4.27, only thing is its small case too though, should still hold up fine though, I think Andrew was using one on his race car for a while? ah, just noticed you in aucks, if you don't have any luck up there get in touch. $80 + shipping.

Another thought: factory head unit? If its like my old one then I doubt that its the HU at fault, as they only have 2 channels, so a problem on the rear speaker should also happen on the same front speaker.

Wicked, E34's are my pick of the M5's.

swap the speakers over and see what happens

Bit of an update for interested folk, 2.5" wastepipe is done, only need to cut some flanges to join it to old exhaust and thats the exhaust side of things done. Running wastepipe around steering column wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Oil feed and return lines for turbo are done. Feed comes from factory oil pressure sender and return is here: Only major bits left are intake plumbing and installing gauges. Still a few little bits and pieces to do of course but should be back on the road by end of next week, I'll get more pics when I have a camera again.

congrats man

Add me to the club. Next mission Ive got to tackle. Ollie, not sure exactly on 4 doors but on my 2 door I pull out the rear windows and then just pull the head liner down. My hoses are rusted away as well. I haven't had an extremely good look but hopefully there should be enough left either for me to nu-tech it or I may have to fabricate and weld in some new pieces. Its also visible (just) if you pull the sunroof panel out.