Project German Muscle

[alxdgr8]

Decided to pull apart the 32V and fix it prior to swapping in the 40V. I don't want to do the 40V swap until it's in the garage so I'm fixing the 32V to drive for the time being.

Headbolt that was stripped and causing the leaking head gasket:




Picked up an 01E 6spd trans from a B6 3.0L A4, should provide much better highway gearing and strength:

[alxdgr8]

Stripped headbolt thread has been fixed with a TimeSert. Waiting on new headbolts and then it'll be put back together. Going to ceramic coat the exhaust manifolds while I have it apart to try and cut down on some engine bay temps.

[alxdgr8]

Car is now back together! Still fighting crank trigger problems though I thought I had this figured out as I was getting perfect triggers prior to the tear down.

Ceramic coated the exhaust manifolds to try and cut down on engine bay temps. Did a Cermakrome ceramic primer and main coat. Polished by hand so it's not perfect. I'd really need a vibratory polisher to make it shine. We'll see how it holds up and if it helps. It's not swain-tech but it should be better than nothing. And it does appear to have some ceramic in it as it does sparkle after blasting between coats. Disregard those hideous welds, they aren't mine!





Took off my motor mounts to look at them as I figured they were on their way out. It's a good thing I did, the driver's side was completely separated. B4 are kinda similar to B5, but the mounts are crimped onto the aluminum housing. I decided to mod mine by cutting out the old mount and enlarging the center hole so a mount could be secured through it. I could use B5 mounts now, but I opted for something cheaper. Hockey pucks! 4 stacked together is pretty much the same height as the old mounts. Glued them together and then drilled them and mounted them. I should probably fab up some heatshields for them too. Took me visits to 4 different stores before I found a place that had pucks in stock this time of year. $30 later and I had a set of mounts.







It desperately needs a wash. It's got quite the buildup of 8 months of dirt and pollen!

[joel]

awesome!

you're pretty worried about heat in the engine bay?

[alxdgr8]

Quote: Originally Posted by joel

awesome!

you're pretty worried about heat in the engine bay?

Yeah, there's just so little room for air to go so the engine gets pretty heat-soaked quickly. I need to build a box for the intake too. Going to work on the radiator ducting too, and maybe go with a different radiator. And if that isn't enough, then I'll cut some holes in the hood with exhaust ducting for the radiator.

[ExplosiveToaster]

Induction cowl on the hood and have the air intake seal to that

I kid, I kid. Would a more powerful radiator fan help?

[alxdgr8]

Quote: Originally Posted by ExplosiveToaster

Induction cowl on the hood and have the air intake seal to that

I kid, I kid. Would a more powerful radiator fan help?

It would, but there's no room! I've got <1" of clearance between my fan and crank pulley.

[joel]

radiator ducting for sure..

[Kinnikinnick]

I like your taste in cars. Always loved the Porsche 9..'s

[alxdgr8]

Been a while since I updated, but not too much has happened as I've been super busy with life. Ended up switching from the 034 IIc to a VEMS ECU since I needed to redo the harness anyways. Going to install that and it should just be a matter of tuning to get it running again.

I bought a couple Christmas presents for myself since I was such a good kid this year....or there was a really good deal on them. I've been watching these for a while and I couldn't pass up the sale they had.
Picked up an Eastwood TIG welder and 40A plasma cutter. Still need to get an argon tank for the TIG, but the plasma works great! These will help greatly for future projects.





I was gone a few weeks for the holidays and then got sick so I haven't had time to mess with VEMS much. Still working on labeling all the connections I need to terminate and understand the harness/ECU. This is what my dining room table looks like

[joel]

I'm envious that you have ECU options for your car..

[alxdgr8]

Quote: Originally Posted by joel

I'm envious that you have ECU options for your car..

You can make VEMS work with nearly any car if you wire it Unless you have to pass emissions...Thank you 1995 OBD1 and your two speed sniffer test.

[joel]

true.. I may go with an aftermarket ecu on the m3 at some point. It hasn't been done a whole lot though..

[alxdgr8]

Quote: Originally Posted by joel

true.. I may go with an aftermarket ecu on the m3 at some point. It hasn't been done a whole lot though..

Anyway you can run an emulator with the stock motronic? I know lots of people can tune the stock motronic in Audi's pretty easily, hell one guy even got it to do a 2-step limiter/launch control recently.

[joel]

I really don't know. My understanding of what the M3 uses is way below what I understood about the mk2's I owned. But, with the limited amount of options for the OBD1 m3's, I might have to learn more sooner than later.

[benny_mech]

1) Where'd you score the new motor & trans?
2) Why'd you go with the VEMS over the 034 IIc or MS?
3) How the hell are you going to shoehorn that turbo and associated plumbing in there??

Awesome project, I like what I'm seeing!

[alxdgr8]

Quote: Originally Posted by benny_mech

1) Where'd you score the new motor & trans?
2) Why'd you go with the VEMS over the 034 IIc or MS?
3) How the hell are you going to shoehorn that turbo and associated plumbing in there??

Awesome project, I like what I'm seeing!

1.) Both on craigslist. Engine was in Woodinville and the trans in PDX ($1k for engine, $650 for trans; both screaming deals)
2.) I like the flexibility of VEMS better and it has some nice/needed features that 034 doesn't offer. I know a lot of VEMS tuners too.
3.) Remote mount in place of the rear muffler most likely. I do have some ideas that could possibly fit it in the engine bay, but I already have problems getting heat out so I probably won't go that route.

[alxdgr8]

Quote: Originally Posted by joel

I really don't know. My understanding of what the M3 uses is way below what I understood about the mk2's I owned. But, with the limited amount of options for the OBD1 m3's, I might have to learn more sooner than later.

Well at least yours is OBD1, you'd be screwed if you had to do emissions testing with OBD2.

[ExplosiveToaster]

Quote: Originally Posted by joel

true.. I may go with an aftermarket ecu on the m3 at some point. It hasn't been done a whole lot though..

Depending on when you go through with it, I may also have some experience with standalone ECUs You should be able to get VEMS or MS3 working on the M3, and I bet someone on their respective forums has figured it out already.

[joel]

Yeah, a few people here & there have experience with stand alone e36's. A lot more have experience with the e30, of course.

Alex/pirate on here has MS experience.

[alxdgr8]

Not really any new progress, have been busy with life. Still working on finishing the engine harness so I can install VEMS. Not sure if it'll make it to the BBQ. I just moved the cars over to my new rental house. About 1800sqft of living space and TWO garages! Normal 2-car is a 24'x22' and then there is a 'RV' garage that's 15'x45' with a mezzanine for more storage over one end. Still have to move the rest of my stuff over the next few weeks, then I can start organizing and hopefully get the VEMS installed and start tuning.

Lots of parking, even more covered storage on the side of the house.


The 'normal' garage. This will house the Touareg and Merc, or a roommate's car if they opt to rent a spot in the garage.


The 'RV' garage.


Workshop section


Lots of room...it'll get filled up quick!

[buddylove]

Nice garage space!

[Helios]

Awesome digs!

[Mr.Nobody]

Jealous!

[joel]

that "RV" space is awesome.. darn near dream space for me