'75 2002 DD Project - Non e46 Content

there no way in hell this will become just a daily driven car....HA! the mod bug struck...and it struck hard.

It may not be a DD, but it sure as hell will be a DDD (Dry Day Driven) lol

Dammit!! I thought there were some good updates!!

Lol, sorry to disappoint. Have no fear, the next update will have some progress all for you

Update of actual significant importance!!


Turns out the vendor I ordered the pistons from sent them to my school address. They were delivered on the 8th and none of my roommates thought to tell me about it! Pretty excited, expect some very nice pictures in the next day or two when I can find the time to go over there and pick them up before taking them to the machine shop.



This means that the engine work can start, which will also hopefully kick my butt into gear on getting the body work done.

looking good, looking good!

So after 3 months of waiting, They finally arrived!



















Specs:

86mm Bore
10.5 CR
Intake valve relief 4.7mm
Exhaust valve relief 1.9mm
289 grams

Total Displacement will be a hair under 3.2 L

3.2l in a 2002

that thing is gonna be a beast

damnnn cannot wait to see this done

Great thread! Any updates?

I can fap to this.

Nice build... Can't wait to see more!!!

Bump for Springfield, OH

...grew up there in the 80's/90's off of E. High St.

This whole project is top notch. Very impressive.

Originally Posted by jwm5

3.2l in a 2002

that thing is gonna be a beast

Originally Posted by jmanfredonia

damnnn cannot wait to see this done

Originally Posted by Tate325xi

Great thread! Any updates?

Originally Posted by 330performance

Nice build... Can't wait to see more!!!

Thanks guys!

Originally Posted by southpaw

I can fap to this.

Originally Posted by ALPIN3

Bump for Springfield, OH

...grew up there in the 80's/90's off of E. High St.

This whole project is top notch. Very impressive.

Nice! Been here since '88 , but looks like I'll be heading to the Bay Area in the next year or so.

School has started back up and so that's been taking up a decent amount of my time. I do have some updates to report though. Since my last post I dropped the rest of the engine parts off at the machine shop. This past week they called me to let me know their done, so as soon as I get the chance to go pick them up I can start the assembly process on the engine.


The next very exciting thing is that I've moved where I've been working on the car. I used to be sharing a space with the manufacturing company I work for, but it was a bit of a hassle due to getting in each others way and having to work after hours etc. That recently changed when some of the other building tenants moved out (the manufacturing company also owns the whole building, but they rented parts out that they weren't using). Long story short I was able to take over one of the 'smaller' rooms with huge bay door that opens up to the rest of the building (I can still get forklifts in and out no problem) AND an overhead door on ground level so I can also drive my e46 in when it needs maintenance done. I still need to get new bulbs for some of the light fixtures and upgrade them from 250 to 400W, but it's come a long way.

Two wide angle shots of the space:





It looks dim in the pictures because I had to take the shots handheld, so I needed a short shutter speed.

Some of the cool old tools I've adopted...

A nice radial arm drill press:




Floor Standing Bench Grinder:




Cast Iron Leg Workbench with a 1/4" metal top (great for welding smaller things)




General desk space and storage:





Then I finally picked up welder of my own. An old 80's Beta-tig, lays down a great bead:




And my new baby, a Lincoln Square-Wave 175.



Planning to use that for the intake plenum to go on the itb's as well as a full custom exhaust with tubular headers. And then maybe a small rollcage, depending on how I could fit it around the seats.

I was also able to get back into the shop over the past weekend and work on welding up the transmission tunnel.

When I left her last time I got the shifter mocked in place with some rod stock and an old shifter linkage. While it held it in place, I figured I should probably box the darn thing in.

What I started with:



It was necessary to rip out the tunnel due to the G260 (e30 5-speed) being so much larger than the old G240 (2002 4-speed). Some people have been able to just beat the crap out of their tunnels with a BFH and get it to wedge in there, but due to my engine placement (as far back as possible) I just didn't see it happening. That and this way I knew I would have clean, rust free metal going in there.

I started off by boxing in the shifter itself:





Then I started to frame in the tunnel. I used some rod stock again to frame it out so I could make sure everything would clear the transmission, even under full engine load/shift). Here you can see the rod frame with the right and top metal pieces tacked in place:




For the drivers side I wanted to add a little something extra to help with bleeding the clutch. So I cut a frame out of 1/8" (the rest of the tunnel is 18g) steel and welded some acorn nuts on the back to help keep the water out. Then I framed around my window with the 18 gauge and this is what I ended up with:






Overall I'm very happy with how it turned out. I should be able to handle bleeding out the system as a one person job now. I'm also contemplating adding a second window right in from of the shifter on the top of the tunnel. Pretty much where the pliers are in the picture below. This would let me reach the shifter assembly and adjust/replace things as needed without getting under the car. It would also normally be covered by the center console I'm going to fab up, so it wouldn't be an eyesore.

The tunnel from behind:




Next on the list is to get into the engine bay and mount the radiator and other engine accessories. Once all of those are in and finalized I can take the mock engine out and finish welding/sealing the underside of the car. I will also clean up the front subframe and then work on modifying the e30 rear one to fit.

Just got back from the machine shop. Very impressed with their work overall, especially on the head. But I'll let the pictures do them justice.


Got the Cometic Gasket and the Pistons back today as well. Still just as sexy as the day I got them...






On the block it was pretty much just the standard stuff. Surface the deck, then bored it out to 86mm and a fresh hone. Then I also had them add some oil squirters from an m50 (I think). This should help keep the pistons temps down once the boost hits. They also have built in pressure regulators, so if the pressure is low it won't rob the oil from the main bearings.







Sorry, I don't have any pictures of the block deck, it's still in the trunk of my car and I couldn't flip it around to take the pics.



Now on to the head. First thing first was new exhaust and intake guides. Then the valve pockets were enlarges for +1mm valves (43mm intake and 37mm exhaust) with a 3-angle valve job to help improve flow. Then, last but not least, I had then fully weld the coolant passages were possible to ensure the head would be as strong as possible for the boost. This involved port-matching with the cometic gasket, leaving the most possible material while not reducing flow at all.


There's nothing like a clean head to start off the weekend:






The business side:






Close up of the welding and port-matching:




Silly engine, thinking it's still a 2.5L....




I still need to pick up all the gaskets, bearings, and small misc stuff before I can really start the assembly process. That and I need to decide on the color to paint the engine block. Right now I'm torn between white (easy to spot oil leaks and can look very clean), bmw motorsports red (would look great with the engine bay being white, which it will be) or motorsports blue (same as the red while being a little more subtle and vintage imo).


The e46 carrying the heart transplant to help it's friend, so touching.

MORE MAAAAN! I just gave away my e30 sedan. I miss her. You are doing an amazing job!

Ugh...You're living my dream of building an Inka 02! Keep it up this thread is awesome!

In the market for a 2002 now.