M30 Rebuild - Fixing an unfinished project

[e30_singh]

I bought this car back in 2007 it was a 320i which had been M30 converted; but the guy had run out of money and said that he did not have enough to finish it off so I bought it off him with the intention to fix.


On driving the car back, the head cracked, so the car got towed the remaining distance home.

There it sat on my drive for 2years and now in 2009 I have decided enough is enough I need an E30 in my life again, so I have decided to strip the engine down and rebuild what I can.

The engine is currently in position one, although I have bought some position two mounts from Beefy which I want to fit soon.

I have got loads of E30 goodies which I intended to use on this car and it would be a shame if I did not use them. So I have every intention of getting this car up and running again.

I started to strip the engine this week, I drained the oil; once the oil stopped coolant was been drained from the sump!!!


I could not open the downpipe bolts because the downpipe has been welded to the manifold. So i cut the exhaust pipe on a straight section, so that i can remove the head. Guess what was in the exhaust pipe? Yes thats right coolant! Not a lot of it but enough to tell me that there is a lot of coolant in the engine where it should not be!!

I am currently at this stage and now just need to remove the timing gear, so that i can take this head out.

[leeparkes]

Good luck with it mate

[GrindCulture]

Good luck with the rebuild, is it being put back to original spec or something a bit more lairy?

[winx]

Nice little project there, looking forward to watching the progress!
The exhaust manifold looks very different to mine, do you have any more pictures of it?

[ImysE30]

Good luck with the rebuild, look forward to seeing the progress

[cliffybabe]

another M30 wicked stuff, Zaust (marc) is ur man he has just gone threw the same process im sure he can give some pointers

[e30_singh]

The exhaust manifold looks very different to mine, do you have any more pictures of it?

Its a stock M30 manifold welded to an E30 downpipe and exhaust system.

Good luck with the rebuild, is it being put back to original spec or something a bit more lairy?

I am considering porting the head and valve clearances for more flow, depends on how much it is going to cost me. Also considering a performance manifold, but depends on price again.

[whipsey]

looks like an early manifold iirc there are two types

[e30_singh]

I removed the timing gear, then started to pull the block out. It was pretty heavy and in an akward position. I ended up standing on the front struts and pulling everything out upwards.

To my horror the cylinder heads were filled with coolant, but i am not suprised. The headgasket was in good condition and looks pretty new; did not look cracked or damaged. Personally I think that the head was not properly tightened to the right torque settings and thats why the head failed once it had been on a long run.



So i gave it a little clean up



Heres a pic of the block with inlet and manifold



Heres a pic of the piece of shit manifold that has been bodged using putty





Stripped the block, going to send this off to get skimmed





1/2 a M30 tucked away in the corner of my shed



I would like to thank all the zoners that have supported me and provided me with that extra little push i needed to get my ass in gear, feels good to have made some progress!

[E30BeemerLad]

maybe it's worth paying an extra £30-£40 to the machine shop before it has a skim to preessure test the head and check it ain't cracked

[ImysE30]

Good work so far, keep it up

[e30_singh]

maybe it's worth paying an extra £30-£40 to the machine shop before it has a skim to preessure test the head and check it ain't cracked

The place where i am taking it to get skimmed pressure test before they skim, so they will let me know.

I have a spare head as well which i will take with me, so either way i get one or the other done.

[leeparkes]

What radiator are you using?

[e30_singh]

The one on the car is the stock one that has been forced into the front panel. I have bought an aluminium M3 racing radiator.

I have also salvaged an electric fan from work that came off a S500 MB, its massive and will be wired with an electric fan kit, one of them ebay ones for kit cars.

[Andy335Touring]

What do the bores look like ?

I'd be suprised if the piston rings havn't rusted/ceased up having water on them for so long ?

The manifold is off a b34, the rest of your engine is b35(E34+E32).

It is rare but check for cracks in the block going from the cylinder head bolt holes to the coolant ways.

Also bare(sp?) in mind you might have to redo the length of the prop and gear linkage if you're moving the engine back, P1 is shit !

[Andy335Touring]

BTW, if any of you M30 boys wants a spare sump drop me a PM, as you know the sumps are a bit low and prone to being hit in these conversions so i used to have a spare one ready just incase.

[rix313]

Good project nice to see something like that back in the hands of some one who can do it propa

Thought the picture of the cylinders full of water was pretty amazing lol!

[e30_singh]

Im going to try and get this back up and running, if it don't work; then it don't work!

What can you do about it! Nothing... but at least i am giving it a shot and hoping for the best. Thats more than what i have done over the last 2years of owning it.

[charlE30]

Good project mate If it does all go Pete Tong you can always get another M30B35 at a good price to drop in.

Be careful you don't snap the timing chain guide when putting the head back on, did that on a mates 535 and it becomes a bitch of a job as you have to strip down the front timing cases. Bent my 3 foot breaker bar trying to undo the crank nut

[leeparkes]

Im going to try and get this back up and running, if it don't work; then it don't work!

What can you do about it! Nothing... but at least i am giving it a shot and hoping for the best. Thats more than what i have done over the last 2years of owning it.

Thats the spirit

[Andy335Touring]

Bent my 3 foot breaker bar trying to undo the crank nut

3/4" drive breaker bar and scafold tube is what you need, i've got one with the right sized socket if you need one ?

[Rav335uk]

Keep going mate, hope its all ok

[e30_singh]

I took the M30 head to local machine shop who said they need the cam and rocker components all taken out before they can do a pressure test. Also a pressure test can only tell them upto 85% whether the head is ok or not...

How much of a job is it to remove the cam and rocker components, I believe I need some specially made rods or something..

Also how much improvement can i make by DIY'n the inlet ports after removing the valves etc. I mean with a wirebrush attachment to an electric drill. Is there any other attachments I can get to help me open the ports up a bit?

[zaust]

I would not have the head pressure checked myself. If there is no visable signs of a crack and there was no mayo in the head, then a check is not going to tell you anything you don't already know.

Just close the valves off. (take the eccentrics out and remove the some of clips that hold the rockers in place) and have it skimmed. And make sure you use a thicker head gasket and not just any old ecp or g&s one.

[Rav335uk]

How much are the metal h/gaskets sets???

[e30_singh]

I have got a metal headgasket, bought it from CA automotive. Cannot remember how much it cost now, but I did not get a decompressioned one, i got one at stock headgasket thickness.

As headgaskets are the weak point of the M30 i thought I would replace it with a super strenght metal one, so that it never goes wrong, no matter how much I rag the car around.

[leeparkes]

I took the M30 head to local machine shop who said they need the cam and rocker components all taken out before they can do a pressure test.

Thats b0llocks! they are either lazy or dont want the work.

I went to 3 machine shops and all 3 said to leave the cam/rockers etc in,try another shop and see what they say!

[charlE30]

Slap some ARP head studs in aswell and your good to go with boost

Bear in mind if they skin the head you may well need a non standard thickness H/gasket otherwise it'll alter the compression ratio.

IIRC the last time I looked at MLS gaskets for the M30 they were around the £150 mark from the states.

[DRIFTBOY]

how much improvement can i make by DIY'n the inlet ports after removing the valves etc. I mean with a wirebrush attachment to an electric drill. Is there any other attachments I can get to help me open the ports up a bit?

Unless you are well experienced with gas-flowing ports / heads I would leave well alone!
It's quite a science and not worth risking actually making it worse.
Unless you are going for ultimate power without forced induction the gains to be had are small for the cost of a professional to do it anyway, in my opinion, and I did get my n/a head ported at some cost.
I wouldn't bother again.

[e30_singh]

The head is crack a jacked!

Headshop just phoned me told me it is cracked along the top at the back, exactly where i suspected it from.

This is good news that I got it pressure tested instead of just skimming it and putting it back in the car. Bad news is that I now need a new cyclinder head!!

Hmmm..... Anyone got a good E34 m30 head they want to sell?

[Theo]

Bummer, I have a spare M30B35 head for sale

[zaust]

Bad new's fella.

[e30_singh]

Got a M30 head of Theo today

Will strip it down tommorow, and then take it for pressure test/skim.

Here we go again ..... fingers crossed all is well this time.

[winx]

any updates? About to follow in your footsteps with my m30 rebuild!

[e30_singh]

The head I bought of Theo is sitting on a 4post lift at work!

I do not get no time to strip it down during the week, and I do not want to spend my own time after working doing it either. I do a little bit at a time on my lunch breaks, once i strip this head down, I will take it to the head shop for test and skim....

In regards to progress... none so far unfortunately, may have to give the head a smashing good time tommorow lunch. Pull my finger out and get something done....