[Socket]

2018 winter build cont

Day 5 and a bit

With the DP out of the way, next task is to make some changes to the cooling system.

Basically the water coolant hoses need to be rerouted because the auto has coolant running to a heat exchanger for the transmission fluid.
The manual has no need for this, so we need to make some changes.

First up, Vince knocked out a block off plug on his lathe and then using gasket sealant and the 10T press, pressed the plug into the coolant hose.... no chance of that leaking

Pics below

[Socket]

2018 winter build cont

Mid week update

Ok so the weather here in Melb is amazingly crap.... cold, windy and just all round wintery Great time of year for working on the car

So last weekend we had done about as much as we could do, while we wait on the delivery of parts. Thankfully a few arrived on Monday meaning we could do some more work tonight

Some special high temp grease, means we could finish lubing up the gearbox shaft and seal it up for the last time. Long manifold studs from the BMW stealership also arrived, so we could get the manifold studs in and torqued. Unfortunately the manifold nuts we need are 50 kms away at Tims place, so we will need to organise a pick up and get the exhaust manifold bolted down on the weekend

The downpipe was dropped off at RevSpeed on Monday for welding. Amazingly Ray at RevSpeed has already done the welding work and has it and off for ceramic coating. Hopefully will be back next week so we can complete the turbo work

Talking about the turbo, the turbo needs to be rotated so the waste gate actuator shaft clears the wheel housing. Unfortunately we ran into problems. The two halves of the turbo are seized together and despite some WS40 and light taps with a hammer, we could not get them to budge... will need a plan B

As always pics below

Pic 1 - Nice night to do some modding
Pic 2 - Engine out again
Pic 3 - Exhaust manifold ready for test fitting
Pic 4 - Before fitting studs
Pic 5 - After fitting studs
Pic 6 - Nice shot of 7670 waste gate

[Socket]

New Shoes

Courier arrived today with a special delivery

TE37 SL
Fronts: 18 x 8.5 et35 235/40/18
Rears: 18 x 9.5 et22 265/35/18
Michelin PSS4 all round

Big thanks to Sam Carroll in Qld, for parting with these wheels....


Pic 1 - Courier arriving
Pic 2 - Packed up nicely by pack & send
Pic 3 -

[e36mmm]

Ohh me likeyy the shoes and that meat! Wise decision to opt into 18s with that sort of power. No more watching out for potholes here and there and will be more compliant for daily driving. Two thumbs up!!

[Hoper]

Originally Posted by e36mmm

Ohh me likeyy the shoes

they won't suit your car socks...give em to me :

[Torgus]

Nice rims. I hope you have center caps for them!

[Coupes33]

You will find a far better ride on the 18" tyres Socks. My ride was greatly improved with them.

[Aus335iguy]

You guys are soft! I look upon my time on 19inch run flats fondly.

[DR-JEKL]

Nice rims Phil

[Socket]

Thanks peeps. Have not run 18s before so will be interesting to compare ride quality

[Socket]

2018 winter build cont

Weekend 3

Weather in Melb has not improved, in fact its got worse .... rain, wind and hail so bad vinces fence was blown over during the night, narrowly missing his car


Despite the weather we managed to get the engine back into the car for the last time (hopefully)

Lots of little time consuming jobs and a couple of challenges along the way...


Bolting down the exhaust manifold including milling down some of the nuts to make them fit (2 hrs)

Degreasing the engine including the wiring loom (1 hr and 4 cans of degreaser)

Heat shielding the engine bay and cables (2 hrs)

Insulating and heat shielding the engine, oil and water hoses (2 hrs) Found this great heavy duty aluminum foil tape from DCI performance products in Adelaide (http://www.dciperformance.com.au) if anyone needs local heat shield stuff

Mounting and screwing around with the turbo positioning and hose locations (1 hr)

Fabricating a custom mounting bracket for the boost solenoid, that clips onto the fuel rail - genius (1 hr)

Hooking up the engine to the lifter and getting it back into the engine bay (1 hr)

Bolting up the sub frame and gearbox. Installing the gear shift assembly (3 hrs)
3 Hrs you say... yes because the bloody thing was bent and caused massive amounts of swearing while Vince tried to leverage the pins into place

Install manual tail shaft (30 mins) 5 mins to install and 25 min remove the painters tape that Brule has used to tape up the ends to keep it clean... thanks mate

Install shifter boot and harness (30 mins)

Play around with the gear shift, just because we like the way it notches through the gears lol (30 mins)

Reconnect and reroute wiring loom, apparently a terrible job, but I was out getting lunch at the time so I missed all the fun.... looks brand new to me

Reinstall power steering pump and hard pipes (1 hr)

Screw around with the turbo again, (3 hrs)
Because the turbo is positioned further away from the valve cover, the waste gate actuator ends up sitting in the wheel well. To sort out the problem, the turbo housing needs to be rotated so the mounting bracket is in a position, where the actuator shaft can clear the turbo housing. Only one problem the two halves are stuck fast and refuse to move. Finally a combination of WD40, a blow torch and a hammer, worked and Vince was able walk the housing into the correct location. With mm of clearance from the wheel lining and the housing, its not great but will do the job (see pics below)

Trim the radiator support so we can fit the 4" elbow for the turbo air filter (30 mins)

Fabricate and route a new coolant hose (1 hr)

Finally fit and admire the new Rays (30 mins)

Still lots to do, waiting on down pipe and other parts to arrive before we can start it up and see how it runs.... hopefully next weekend

Once again big call out to Vince, who did 90% of the work while I watch and generally got in the way lol

Pics below

Pic 1 - Bolting down the exhaust manifold... 16 studs and nuts using an old school spanner
Pic 2 - Some of the nuts needed to be milled down to fit. Lucky Vince has a lathe
Pic 3 - More shots of exhaust manifold nuts
Pic 4 - Degreased engine... looks brand new
Pic 5 - Engine bay heat shielding, custom yoda motorsports handy work at its best
Pic 6 - Heat shielding the hoses and engine ready for turbo install
Pic 7 - Turbo needs adjusting to suit the new mounting position
Pic 8 - Custom boost solenoid mounting bracket
Pic 9 - Engine ready to reinstall
Pic 10 - Lifting the engine into place
Pic 11 - Installing the gear shifter assembly
Pic 12 - Tail shaft installed
Pic 13 - Gear stick and harness installed
Pic 14 - Quality Yoda wiring work
Pic 15 - Power steering pump and alternator installed
Pic 16 & 17 - Waste gate actuator - clearance between housing and wheel lining - small but functional
Pic 18 - Radiator support, trimmed so air filter snorkel will fit without rubbing
Pic 19 - New TE37 SLs
Pic 20 - End of weekend 3

[Socket]

[iliketurtl3s]

Socks, any reason u didn't go with an external wastegate?

[101Duck]

phew. i fluked that strut tower clearance. haha. was so worried it wouldn't be enough.

[Socket]

Originally Posted by iliketurtl3s

Socks, any reason u didn't go with an external wastegate?

Yeh so we didn’t have to deal with a screamer pipe. Trade off is the turbo has a bigger footprint

[Socket]

Originally Posted by 101Duck

phew. i fluked that strut tower clearance. haha. was so worried it wouldn't be enough.

Lucky

[terminator335i]

Hey Phil did you play "eye of a tiger" when working on the car?
Coincidence guys???

[DR-JEKL]

Originally Posted by terminator335i

Hey Phil did you play "eye of a tiger" when working on the car?
Coincidence guys???

Lol almost spat crunchy nut all over my keyboard

[EB89]

Originally Posted by DR-JEKL

Lol almost spat crunchy nut all over my keyboard

They still make crunchy nut lol.

[DR-JEKL]

Originally Posted by EB89

They still make crunchy nut lol.

im normally a muesli eater but crunchy nut was on for half price and thought why not for old time sakes!!

[iliketurtl3s]

We taking twinsy pics once my car is done?

[EB89]

Originally Posted by iliketurtl3s

We taking twinsy pics once my car is done?

What’s your car doing? Where’s your build thread moite