Kepes 231 Report post Posted February 12, 2017 (edited) Righto, told myself I'd start a thread when I got my engine block back from the shop. 4 months after leaving it there, finally got a call saying it was ready. Acid dipped, everything checked (crank, block, pistons, etc) and it was all in good order, to my surprise! The goal is ~260kw (350hp) on 1bar boost through a M20B25 with B27 block, daily driveable, maybe I'm dreaming. My current (B25) block is cracked so going with the B27 was a no brainer. The block was cheap but must have been left outside for awhile as the cylinders were somewhat corroded. After a re-hone all but cylinder 3 are perfectly smooth, engine guy reckons it will be sweet I would have liked to o-ring the block, and I still might but the guy who I took the motor to talked me out of it, said it can cause more harm than good - any insight here?? I've been collecting parts in my bedroom for the past year, the first bit being the turbo which I purchased while visiting family in Sydney. It was cheap and for only $55 extra I could put it in another suitcase and check it onto the plane, I did some funny looks from customs. Parts -B25 head, B27 block -ARP head studs -All new bearings, gaskets, rings -+0.3mm headgasket (lower compression, head has been previously skimmed) Everything in the block will be reused apart from bearings, gaskets, and head bolts. -Link G4 Storm -Holset HX40, 17cm exhaust housing, 8 blade inducer (big, lazy, silly, I know) - sold -Holset HX35, 16cm exhaust housing, 7 blade inducer -Ebay (cx racing) exhaust manifold, looks surprisingly solid considering it cost just $250 landed -Ebay intercooler (600x180) -Delphi 42lb injectors, high impedance -Bosch 044 external fuel pump (yet to purchase), factory puller/in-tank pump -HKS SSQV BOV -Tial 38mm external wastegate -APSX wideband o2 sensor and gauge -APSX boost gauge -Coilovers (yet to purchase, likely D2 or K-sport) Probably forgotten a bunch of stuff, everything's in boxes Still need to purchase a clutch, still very unsure what route to go down with this, was looking at a spec stage 3 from the US but it would cost north of $750 landed. I know Troy got his resprung and it worked great, may look for a place here in Wellington who can do that for me. Purpose of the thread? Help me keep track of progress, and hopefully provide useful info to people who want to go down this route. I'm confident that I'll do a good job, despite my experience extending only to a headgasket replacement and basic maintenance I am in no way an expert and those of you who are will probably see things that I may be doing wrong, or may not work well together etc and I welcome criticism. Picked up the motor from Levin, about 90min from home. Oh if you visit Levin, do yourself a favor and buy a punnet of strawberries, they're really good. Sits nicely in my bedroom Still waiting for the garage to be built... Nice cross-hatching marks The manifold, I chose this one over the other cheapies because the turbo has a bit of support as you can see. Whether or not it will stop it from cracking, who knows. Welds look decent to my novice eye Edited February 23, 2017 by Kepes 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kepes 231 Report post Posted February 12, 2017 (edited) There was an error with an order I made for the bearings. They sent me enough, if I had a 4cyl motor. Wellington had a couple of nice days over the weekend (rare!) so I thought I'd paint the block while I wait for more bearings. Any reason? Nope At first I didn't like it, but it's growing on me. For $20, why not. Next steps are obviously assembling the block, deciding what I'll do about a clutch and wiring the Link ECU to the 1.3 harness I have. The last part is a bit daunting, I've never been very confident working with electronics, but I'll figure it out, red to red, black to black, right? Someone is coming out to assess the land for a garage in the next week so hopefully the whole process won't take too long. Once that's done the B25 is coming out and I'll build the motor on a stand before dropping it (and the trans) in. Oh yeah, car is manual. forgot to mention that. I'll probably add to this over the next few days as I remember things and do stuff. Progress will probably be a bit slow to start with, but once the garage is built it will be a full time project Edited February 12, 2017 by Kepes 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
polley 916 Report post Posted February 13, 2017 Im not an expert and will prob look stupid later but my thoughts... For that power level don't worry about the orings. If you still wanna use the hx40 at least try and get a smaller exhaust housing for it, maybe crunchy has some suitable ones. I bought mine off a nz crowd online but forget who it was now. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kepes 231 Report post Posted February 13, 2017 (edited) Cheers man, yeah you're right about the o-rings. I rang another shop today and they too said I'd be better off without. Do you know what his business name is? I might try giving them a call, otherwise will send him a pm. Are you running a hx40? Edited February 13, 2017 by Kepes Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
polley 916 Report post Posted February 13, 2017 If you google or facebook mse turbo i think you should find it. I have a hx35 with 12cm housing. Made 270kw on 12 psi. So if thats all the power you're after then maybe a smaller turbo would be better and youd get better response. But im sure steve would have more useful info on that Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kepes 231 Report post Posted February 23, 2017 (edited) Not much of an update but New turbo arrived yesterday. Not hugely different, Holset HX35 (right) with a 16cm exhaust housing and 7 blade inducer (hx40 had 8). Noticeably smaller and lighter, should see full boost a few hundred rpm sooner than the hx40. The hx40 has already sold for the same price I got the hx35 for, nice Garage guy came around, sadly from when you say "go" to the building being ready is about 3 months minimum (I hope to be busy with the airforce by then). Oh, and it looks like there's a water main running directly under where we would like the garage to be, which is a problem... Still waiting on an engineers report. In other news, rest of the rod bearings arrived so this engine can begin to be put together. Still dreading wiring this ECU... Edited February 23, 2017 by Kepes 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olaf 3320 Report post Posted February 23, 2017 looking good, Toby. A couple of questions/suggestions/comments having read through it. what bhp/torque are you expecting to make? I note you're looking to go coil overs; you going for stiffer ARB's to match? You going to uprate the braking to match the new power? May be as simple as slotted rotors/better pads/braided lines, or a retrofit from a newer model? suggest you store that lovely manifold in a box on the ground; a good shake (quake) will see it slip off your toolbox Water main under garage shouldn't be an issue, likely you'll need to encase it in thick concrete. My mate has a large stormwater drain under his, when he built it around '86 the council just made him encase it as part of their buildiing consent. That'd just increase your building and comliance costs. Keep the updates coming, looking good. Mind no surface rust forming on those parts, yeah? 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kepes 231 Report post Posted February 24, 2017 Olaf! I'm glad you're chiming in and you make some very good "questions/suggestions/comments," thank you 14 hours ago, Olaf said: what bhp/torque are you expecting to make? Aiming for 350bhp. Won't be pushing it over 15psi as it won't handle it but this turbo is very common with E30 guys in the states and they make good power. 14 hours ago, Olaf said: I note you're looking to go coil overs; you going for stiffer ARB's to match? Eventually, yes. Will get a front and rear sway bar to start with and eventually be upgrading the bushings throughout, but that will come after a cert probably 14 hours ago, Olaf said: You going to uprate the braking to match the new power? May be as simple as slotted rotors/better pads/braided lines, or a retrofit from a newer model? Not really upgrading at this stage, however the rotors are currently at the end of their lives so slotted rotors up front and new rotors rear. High quality pads all round and stainless steel lines. 14 hours ago, Olaf said: suggest you store that lovely manifold in a box on the ground; a good shake (quake) will see it slip off your toolbox Point taken! Never thought of that. I put it in a box on the ground As for the garage, I'm really bummed on the whole thing, hopefully the engineers report shows it to be in a slightly different location, ha. We'll see what happens. Thanks for the insight though, I'll mention that. And originally it was supposed to be 6m wide (double) but the garage guy reckons we'll need a firewall if it's on the boundary at a cost of $120 per square meter. The alternative he gave us is make it just 4.5m wide but 10m long, that way 2 cars still fit in but it can be a metre from the boundary and a firewall is not required. There is already a concrete retaining wall, I thought a firewall wouldn't also be needed, but he's the expert! I'll keep my eye on the parts! I'm more concerned about the rust on my E30 for now... Speaking of sitting parts, should I reassemble the block yet or should I be waiting until I'm ready to actually start working with it? That way I don't have to keep rotating it etc. Not sure Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Olaf 3320 Report post Posted February 24, 2017 (edited) I'm not up with the play these days. Used to be reinforced concrete block wall for boundary (with neighbour's permission), or if you had to do a fire-rated wall (a metre from the boundary), it was two layers of fire-gib (not a huge inconvenience/expense)... I dunno about the parts... having had all that machining done, perhaps best to put it all together with plenty of assembly lube and turn it from time to time. Someone here who knows the real oil will no doubt be along soon. Perhaps storing with plenty of protective oil is the go. What's your lvvta guy say about the brakes for your cert? Edited February 24, 2017 by Olaf Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kepes 231 Report post Posted February 25, 2017 13 hours ago, Olaf said: I'm not up with the play these days. Used to be reinforced concrete block wall for boundary (with neighbour's permission), or if you had to do a fire-rated wall (a metre from the boundary), it was two layers of fire-gib (not a huge inconvenience/expense)... I dunno about the parts... having had all that machining done, perhaps best to put it all together with plenty of assembly lube and turn it from time to time. Someone here who knows the real oil will no doubt be along soon. Perhaps storing with plenty of protective oil is the go. What's your lvvta guy say about the brakes for your cert? I've definitely got some research to do re the garage and firewalls etc.. Who knows, maybe I'll get bored on the next rainy day and put it together. Haven't spoken to a cert guy yet, but have read through what I can find on the lvvta website and from what I gather a refreshed oem braking system will be fine for cert. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
polley 916 Report post Posted February 25, 2017 pretty sure they do 3 hard Stops from 100kph and as long as there is no fade your good to go. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mr Vapour 76 Report post Posted February 26, 2017 3 stops from 100km in 4 minutes from memory 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
musccoo 82 Report post Posted March 1, 2017 Glad the block turned out to be ok. Set of decent pads in the brakes and you'll be sweet 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aja540i 1906 Report post Posted March 1, 2017 Firewall on a totalspan/steel garage is a bit of a PITA, but not impossible, fireline gib inside and out on the offending wall and about 400 return on the 2 adjoining walls, and no penetrations, windows etc. Water main shouldnt be a big issue. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kepes 231 Report post Posted May 3, 2017 (edited) Some progress Got stuck into wiring the stock harness to the Link loom. Went with crimps instead of solder because it's easier and still solid. Heat shrink and then capped off the wires which won't be used. Labelled wires which I could potentially need in the future for things like Electronic boost control, wasted spark, etc. I used masking tape for the labels, is this a bad idea (fire)??? And I've been collecting a few more bits. All of the big ticket items now acquired! The steering wheel was free since the order took longer than they said it would, if anyone wants to buy it let me know! Clutch is a 6-puk Spec Stage 3 clutch. Good for 425ft/lb so more than enough. I know 6 puk is not the most streetable clutch but I have driven one on an Evo 7 and although it took some getting used to it wasn't horrible. The reason I got this particular clutch is because the ones available here in NZ like Exedy and clutchmasters didn't have the best reviews. This Spec clutch is one of the most common among the guys boosting their M20s in the US. Coilovers are D2, budget. Suited my budget. I'll need a cert anyway so coils made sense for a similar price to quality springs and shocks all around. A lot people have asked me about the cost of all of this, and it's hard to gauge what it will cost here in NZ since most builds which are documented are on US forums. So far with everything I've spent just shy of $6k and I've budgeted another $3k ($1k Tune, $1k Exhaust, $1k Misc.. Brakes, intercooler piping, fuel pump, hoses, vacuum lines, brackets, etc etc) I bought myself an Arc welder too. It'll save me a lot of time and money if I can make my own brackets for things like the intercooler and sensors. Just waiting on a helmet then I'll give it a go. Maybe if I get good enough I'll have a crack at doing my exhaust. This build will take a bit of a back seat until July as I have a very important assessment then. But after that it should be full steam ahead. Not sure how long it will take to put together as I already have all the parts, we'll see. Edited May 3, 2017 by Kepes 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
zero 1162 Report post Posted May 3, 2017 How about a pic of the car too? 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kepes 231 Report post Posted May 3, 2017 Whoops forgot that part, here she is 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
