S38B36 Laguna Touring

[steve_k]

that crank does look good

has it been bull nosed? (leading edge rounded off).

keeping an eye out for the updates.

[lellis]

that crank does look good

has it been bull nosed? (leading edge rounded off).

keeping an eye out for the updates.

The crank is totally OEM, I guess it must have been done by the M performance guys back in Germany haha!

[steve_k]

that crank does look good

has it been bull nosed? (leading edge rounded off).

keeping an eye out for the updates.

The crank is totally OEM, I guess it must have been done by the M performance guys back in Germany haha!

probably, dont help when i've neve seen an s38 crank in isolation

[lellis]

that crank does look good

has it been bull nosed? (leading edge rounded off).

keeping an eye out for the updates.

The crank is totally OEM, I guess it must have been done by the M performance guys back in Germany haha!

probably, dont help when i've neve seen an s38 crank in isolation

I'll get a photo of the s38 crank next to the m30, I have them both somewhere in my spare room lol

[lellis]

The first of three ITB bodies has now been stripped down.













A few more bits to remove from this body such as the bearings and the studs then it's time to try the ultrasonic bath I am borrowing

[lellis]

The throttle bodies are now all stripped. It has actually been a very smooth progress which was very enjoyable.
Being very therapeutic with each step of the way with over 100 photos too.. Better get them backed up ASAP.



I was loaned a ultrasonic bath from our lab at work to try clean up a few small parts.

Before:



After:



These just, don't fit.



I plan to get the parts vapour blasted, and some smaller parts zinc plated. Here is my inspiration for this:







I would highly recommend you to have a read through this thread, added below!

https://s14net.vbulletin.net/forum/s14/ ... -and-dirty

Using this thread, I have ordered the new parts needed for the resurrection.

[lellis]

Time to get the big bits sent off to be cleaned.

Starting with the block, I completely stripped it down. Including the core plugs, so that all the ports can be flushed through.





It does look pretty ugly compared to my m30 block, hopefully that will change!

Then the head, first I just had to put some bits back on to it so I could remember how cool it is:



Then start on the head:





Everything I can removed, has been. Just the valve stem seals and a few 7mm cap heads to remove now.

I'll be taking these parts and the cam holder part of the head to SEP Kegworth for a wash.

With the m30, I had the big bits vapour blasted, but I regretted that as the ports always had media left in them, even though i tried to flush it out plenty of times..

[TurtleDesignTech]

Can't wait to see it all come together.

[lellis]

Putting my touring to good use again.



Before:



After:



So happy with these bits,





And a few more

[lellis]

Some may know that I'm aiming for a m12/m88 inspired look.

I've really been struggling to find someone who can find the exact paint code of the gold from these engines.

I have had someone show me Ridgeway Racing Engines Ltd, they restore m12 engines!





Here is the colour in all its glory



I have attempted to contact them on this matter, however I am yet to hear anything back.

A long shot, but do any of you guys know of this company? Maybe that will be the only way to find out.

[flybynite]

Is it just me or does that look like smooth gold hammerite?

[lellis]

Is it just me or does that look like smooth gold hammerite?

I really hope it is that simple, my only issue is that I have nothing to compare it to in person.
Depending on the picture taken, the colour looks different per shot.

Wish I could just see one in person!

[lellis]

Trying to at least stick to monthly posts..

More ITB clean up progress:

Starting with the bodies, I used the ultra sonic cleaner to help loosen the debris then spent way too long wire brushing them, but i'm happy with the overall outcome.





I'm planning on giving these a coat of paint, purely to assist with cleaning in the future, deciding whether to use aluminium enamel or get them vapour blasted and clear coat. Any suggestions?

Also modified a puller tool to remove the x6 butterfly valve shaft roller bearings, actually worked a treat!



Next is to decide what part is going to get what finish.

The boxes go by row: clean/replace, vapour blast and coat and zinc plate. This may change.. Scroll up to see my current goal for them.

[lellis]

Now to possibly my favourite part of the throttle body rebuild.

This stuff..



My friend suggested it to me regarding restoring NLA parts, I didn't believe him at first but still gave it a go.

The before and after photos below show what it did!







An absolutely amazing product! I'm yet to zinc plate the retaining springs to finish off the look, but I'm so happy with these now. I'll definitely look to use this more often.

I then moved onto the butterfly valves restoration, before trying something on the s38 valves, I had a spare m30 valve which I can use as I won't need it now.







I seemed to of pressed too hard at this point and scratched it up, glad I used a spare! I have a plan now and I got it close to a mirror finish, will upload pictures of that soon.

[fixedwheelnut]

Fixedwheelnut on here too, mine is currently having a stainless steel exhaust made for it , looking forward to seeing the S38 build done that will be epic especially with your quality of work.
Cheers
Steve

So, even though I said I would hold onto the m30 until I know the S38 can be fixed, I've decided to sell the m30..

I finished off the manifold by first removing all the casting marks to make it smooth



Then masked up and applied etch primer



Wrinkle painted



Once cured, I scraped down the emblem and the '3.5' part to finish it off



I was really happy with the final outcome of it. I then built up the m30 just to see how good it would've looked.







Not gonna lie, it looked amazing. Posted up some pictures on my insta and I sold the painted parts to Steve (who is on here but can't remember his profile, fixedwheelnut on instagram)

[lellis]

As always, not much to update..

But most importantly, I found the paint! After messaging absolutely everyone who could possibly have a source, I was shown to a company which restores m12 engines for f2 cars, in the UK!
Don'y know how I missed that.. But got speaking to them and they were god enough to sort me out a couple of cans of the stuff.

And as soon as it arrived:



And with the head and cam cover on, it really took shape. So relieved to have found it, what a result too!







Got a few more bits to do with it, don't want to go overkill, keeping it to the m88/3 style.

Next I just had to start on the block, it was super patchy with the old paint, I tried wire brushing and paint stripper and it didn't budge at all.

This was my first attempt results.



Didn't really have a plan after that, but then before getting it sent off, I decided another couple more tins of stripper may help.

"Apply liberally"

A tin per side will get it, right?



After many hours of wire brushing again and a jet wash, it was done!



Got the thing masked up, and it was ready for paint



Etch primered:



And painted:



Now I need to install the zinc plated core plugs and lacquer the exposed mating surfaces.

Other car-related updates:

Main m30 bits sold on! A sad moment considering the time and effort I put into that,



And my workshop is nearing completion!



The exterior is now complete, just the electrics and interior to do.

[martauto]

Loads of hard graft going on there, my three bins are all satin black now.

Mart.

[TurtleDesignTech]

Good stuff. Glad you found the paint. Looking forward to the assembled engine, never mind it being in the car.

[lellis]

Ok, so I may of forgot about this thread. I've finally got some spare time to update it, there's a lot to show!

Starting with pre-lockdown where everything seemed to be easy.

I removed my subframe for better access on the welding repair work planned





Then it was time to peel back the repairs from the previous owner..









Then without hesitation, the cutting started



And the patches were made



Whilst my mate Pat was getting on with the footwell, I started in the wheel well









This was my first proper patch repair that I had done myself, pretty happy with the outcome



Next was to tackle more round the firewall/wheel well



Things got out of hand..





More came out, I just don't have a photo. Due to finding more and more rust, we decided to make our own battery tray 'delete', the battery is going in the boot and I've never like how it looks without one, so we have planned to redesign it, using some of the original parts, more to come on that soon,

[lellis]

Then lockdown happened, meaning my mates couldn't come round to help me, so I decided to work on the engine whilst furloughed.

The first job was to install the zinc plated core plugs, quite an important part for me.



A quick test fit





Then I moved on to sanding down all the bare surfaces, and applying high temp lacquer to them all (apart from known gasket faces). This should hopefully keep the block looking clean for as long as possible.



Next on the list was some large parts to clean, sand down and paint



I seem to enjoy spending a lot of time and dremel sanding pads on removing casting marks





The timing chain cover got the special motorsport gold colour just like the m88/1



Another test fit



Then more parts to do



Degreased



Wire wheeled



Exhaust heat shield studs removed



This won't be painted just yet as I have plans to make it work with the s38b35 cooling system which is a pretty big task in itself..

Few more staged pics







Here's a pic of where it fits, rear of engine, underneath exhaust. Will never be seen, but at least I know it's there, right?

[lellis]

With no plan of working on the car in the near future due to lockdown, I decided to use the opportunity to neaten up my work area

I made a make-do rolling frame to get the car out the garage using wood I had spare from the workshop





here comes possibly my favourite 'before and after' of this whole project





The workshop was pretty much completed regarding electrics, paint, storage and worktops.

I let the girlfriend loose on the white walls too

[lellis]

The double sunroof decided to give up on the e34, so I started to tear that apart to give it a full service



It was a long winded task due to how much needed to be removed, however once I had removed it all, inspected and regreased, it went back to working like a dream.



More ITB bits to clean and spray





Quite the contemporary art look



My new lockdown toy arrived



And I got straight to work on making my own brass sensors for the temperature displays I produce



I can now produce them in any size and thread needed





The next toy turned up soon after



This is something I had always wanted, and a recent youtube video from 'Project Binky' pushed me over the edge and I had to get one.

This is the 'professional zinc/nickel plating kit' from classic plating.



The kit is huge so luckily I had a ton of worktop space available



It was time to test it out



Wire wheeled



Plated with a yellow passivated, absolutely blown away by the finished result



So I got straight into the ITB hardware







My 'ready to fit' boxes were soon filling up



Now for the test fits









Then my 12 week furlough came to an end..

[lellis]

Some more before and afters

Butterfly valves





Cam holders





Everything was going so well, until I tried to remove a seized bypass adjuster screw from the middle throttle body using a stud extractor



The plan was to weld it up and carry on, however out of no where, a single middle throttle body came on ebay from Athens, Greece. So I have purchased that as a replacement, and plan to get it cleaned and painted asap on arrival

[boiliebasher]

Wow! Simply blown away! Great work mate and garage looks awesome. Makes a hell of a difference when you have a clean and tidy workshop

[JungleGus]

Commitment! Love to see it...you're a hero sir

[lellis]

Another present to myself for the workshop



Due to size restrictions, I cannot go for one any bigger. But i'm certain this will be sufficient for future use! The main use of it will be for preparing items for plating.

Here is another pretty cool before and after





I think I'll call that a success so far.

I was getting a lot of interest on instagram regarding my plating process, so I thought I would make a quick video on how I do it!



I will add some screen grabs to show the video

This box of bolts are the head coolant pipe hardware, this is how they were when removed from the engine



The first step of preparation is to get a 30 minute dip in muratic acid, and then look like this



Some then required sandblasting to remove every last part of debris, then all were polished using a wire wheel.



First step of plating is to be dipped into a alkaline degreaser for a few minutes



Once rinsed, they're then dipped in a dry acid pickle for another 2 minutes



After a rinse, they can be dipped into the electrolyte, connected to a power supply and left for 30 minutes, rotating half way through.



They will then be dipped into the yellow passivate for 30 seconds



And left to dry for 2 days



I did end up doing a few batches, which helped me really get used to the plating process



Probably another 20 boxes to do, which will take me a good week of hard work, but I am up for the challenge

[lellis]

I enjoyed making the last video so here's another!



Showing the restoration of my newly replaced middle (cylinder 3 + 4) throttle body!











The replacement came from Greece and was in a much better condition than the ones that came on my engine so the task was much easier.

[rix313]

I've really enjoyed catching up on this from start to finish. The engine looks wow, very cool. Transformation of the bolts and ITB parts is amazing too!

[lellis]

I've really enjoyed catching up on this from start to finish. The engine looks wow, very cool. Transformation of the bolts and ITB parts is amazing too!

Thanks! It has turned out to be a very satisfying task, however now that these parts are at such a high standard, the rest will have to follow!

Exciting times ahead, just slow progress..

[TurtleDesignTech]

One of my favourite projects to check up on. Thanks for creating such a good thread.

Great job with the platting - definitely something I need to look into.

[rix313]

Progress is progress

[lellis]

One of my favourite projects to check up on. Thanks for creating such a good thread.

Great job with the platting - definitely something I need to look into.

Thanks! Yeh this plating kit is amazing, definitely a tricky one to master. Stressful but satisfying process

[lellis]

Onto the next part for restoration whilst I am waiting for my last ITB parts to arrive from Germany.





I am enjoying filming my process as it helps me keep organised and tidy as well as motivating me to carry on! I seem to be completing tasks at a much greater rate.

Started as always with stripping each part down as far as I can get it



Applied the first layer of paint stripper, turned out to be a pretty sturdy paint job, I have since applied a second coat which has helped dramatically, I was planning on blasting them with glass media however the larger part doesn't fit in my cabinet!



some of the first before and after shots





A lot more work to be done, including painting and plating! Have ordered some new parts too.

[lellis]

Here is all the parts refurbished! The whole process is explained in depth in the youtube video for anyone interested.













And here it is built up.













And finally a quick reminder of the condition before,







I am over the moon with the completed product, and it's good to know that it was all done by myself in my workshop.

As some may know, these air intakes do not fit the e30 engine bay, so this will be up for sale soon!

It'll be sad to let it go, but it'll help fund my new idea which is pretty exciting.

[lellis]

Next on the list is the s38 alternator.



This is the s38b38 item with a 140amp output, i went for the higher output (compared to 115a for the b36) due to me planning to run a similar ignition system to the b38 engine.



As always, it is getting the full treatment.



It was in pretty poor condition, with more screws well seized, so a lot of bits to replace







Unfortunately for my bank balance, I have found out that most parts can be bought from bmw, so I have decided to get most replaced.. A lot still to restore and paint etc