S14 into RHD 325i into LHD 316i

[Demlotcrew]

I would be interested in the ABS loom if you are willing to sell/swap?

I have some nice gear shift parts?

Andrew

[Mikey_Boy]

Always happy to sell / swap! But please do remember that the ABS loom isn't complete (minus sensor wires, sensors and ABS light, but that is easily fixed) so drop me a PM and let me know what you are thinking.

Gear shift parts eh?? Tell me more!!

[Demlotcrew]

Ok ill get some photos together and get a PM across.

Andrew

[Mikey_Boy]

OK - time for another update!

Whilst I have been saving for engine parts (I am getting there..) more time has been devoted to getting the engine bay ready for the lump:

The ABS pump is now out (not as heavy as I thought, but glad to be rid) and the pipes re-routed:



For those of you wanting to remove ABS, it is pretty straight forward as the front brakes go to the REAR of the master cylinder (looking from the front of the car) and the REAR brakes go to the front of the master cylinder. Hopefully just a case of joining the pipes together and hey presto. The adapters shown coming out of the master cylinder are for the remote brake reservoir needed for the carbon airbox....

I want to fit the M3 radiator and a big oil cooler to the car. The M3 rad mounts a little differently via a couple of brackets on the cross panel. My cross panel was a bit crispy on inspection:





So new panels were sourced from BMW:





This one showing the lugs...

Duly welded in:



And covered with lashings of Hammershite - it is a trackcar after all...

In a bid to get some extra air to the front of the car for the (larger) oil cooler, me and Mr Jig saw had a look at the front of the car:



Marked up - ready for cutting, bit of paint and mesh:



And with the front bumper mocked up:



Whilst in the engine bay, I also noticed that the wiring loom was also past it's best:



So stripped back the tape:



And whilst this was being done that the header tank level indicator could be relocated - the header tank for the M3 is on the bulkhead - the 325 has the header tank by the LH headlight. So this plug:



Was traced back to the fuse box:



And pointed out the other side of the fuse box ready for wiring in the correct location once the engine is installed:



The foglight harness and headlamp wash wires were also removed:



And the whole lot taped up with some decent automotive fabric tape:





So hopefully that's protected for a bit longer!

The exhaust headshield attached to the bulkhead and underside of the body has also seen better days:



So this has been replaced with some adhesive heatshield from 'Cool-It':



So after all these 'small jobs' hopefully I am getting pretty close to tackling this:



Oh lordy....

[Mikey_Boy]

Time for another update...

After messing around in the engine bay, I thought it was about time I got my shizzle together and put the engine back into one piece. This has resulted basically in financial ruin - every time I look at the thing, I wonder why I didn't get an S50 or M50....

Here's some (hopefully) interesting pics of what I have achieved so far with the engine:

Starting with the block, the bores looked in great shape so just ran a cleaning tool up the bores:



Just to tidy them up a bit...

The crank also measured up just fine, but the chain drive and gears all looked quite shabby, so all new parts have been ordered (this has been a major contributor to my financial woes!). Getting the crank gear off is a challenge as it's quite an interference fit:



The new gear needs to be heated up to get it on - 220 degrees in the oven for 30 mins did that a treat:



Now I know I am setting myself up for a fall here, but I would like this S14 to be as reliable as possible, so for the bottom end I have installed ARP mains studs and rod bolts:



Having measured the crank journals with a micrometer, I knew that the mains and big ends were standard size, red bearing size for the mains - a quick look see with plasti-gauge showed that we were running in the right ball park for clearance:



This pic showing that we have a bearing clearance of 2.5 thou - The reason it's quite large is that for this look-see, I used the old mains bearing bolts and only torqued down to around 40Nm or so - the last half a thou comes with that extra torque - checking the bearings with greater torque showed we were on the money at around 2 thou clearance (factory spec is 0.7 thou to 2.7 thou)

After some handy work with ARP lube and a torque wrench:



Lots of ARP loveliness!

And new slugs installed - I am using standard pistons as I had a set in the workshop:



One area that causes at lot of debate is around the oil pump - apparently, a common cause of engine failure on S14s is from the oil pump shaft - here is the standard oil pump:



And now with the gear removed:



As you can see, a lovely piece of machining by BMW, but it is this loveliness that can cause the shaft to snap like a carrot and the resulting loss in oil pressure is obviously catastrophic... I was aiming on replacing the oil pump gear and chain anyway and found an uprated gear that (again apparently!) solves all the problems:

Here's the uprated hardened shaft (ooooh matron!):



Showing a much simpler shape to push onto the gear. To install, you have to strip the pump apart by undoing these bolts:



To get this:



(Thankfully no nasties here) - here is the old shaft with oil pump gear and the new shaft beneath it:



Measure the distance from the gear to the end, press off the old oil pump gear and install to the new shaft, again with a press to the same distance (to ensure the chain lines up - brilliantly, I didn't take a picture of the gear on the new shaft... D'oh!)

Once it's all reassembled, it should look like this:



And a left hand thread bolt and a dab of loctite completes the picture:



Hopefully now, I have a reliable bottom end....!

Earlier in the thread, you may recall that I had a few problems with the cylinder head. After removing it and having it cleaned, it appears that the stripped threads were only the tip of the iceberg - several cracks were found in the combustion chambers:





Meaning that head is only going to ever be a door stop from now on. After some head scratching and searching, a good second hand bare head was found - cleaned, skimmed 3 thou, and Evo springs installed:





Hopefully this should do the job!

More engine build pics to come soon...

[e30topless]

very sad that the S14 turned out to be rough, did you not get to test it before you bought it Mike ?
that's really going to dent the wallet but at least you will know it's all fresh
what cams are you going for ?

[Demlotcrew]

Well i hope to make your Sunday night even better, its time for a GrpN RHD manifold

[DanThe]

Does it fit with an E46 rack?

Great work Mike

[Demlotcrew]

Does it fit with an E46 rack?

The one on my car does, so......

[DanThe]

You molested a genuine "motorsport" item? How do you sleep at night?

[Demlotcrew]

I did no such thing Dan, many ways to skin a cat

[DanThe]

Ahhh, washers under the RH engine mount

[Demlotcrew]

Dan, i needed more than a couple of washers!

Engine is sitting exactly where it was before

[e30topless]

Motorsport Manifold FTW

[e21Jason]

Looks like the standard approach to a rhd s14 manifold splay the down pipes to get the steering link in

[Mikey_Boy]

That manifold does look the business!!

In fairness, when I bought the engine, it was running and I saw videos of compression tests and cold starts etc. I guess it was just on the edge of the cliff of starting to get bad... Oddly enough, the bearings and cams were / are in great shape, just the head and chain drive that were cabbaged and I guess you can't really see that until you start to take it apart...

For cams I am being a little conservative as I am not running custom pistons with deeper pockets - so I will be running a Schrick 276 inlet with a standard exhaust cam - not the best combo, but if that works well and I manage to save some more money then I shall try a Schrick 284 on the inlet later on and swap the 276 to the exhaust side...

Thanks for the kind words!

[Mikey_Boy]

And I should Ask Andrew - does that exhaust manifold fit with a Z3 rack???

[Demlotcrew]

Mike, the truth is i dont know, I bought this manifold from Nigel Moseley about four years ago, its hard to tell if it clears until you have it on the engine, even if it doesn't clear, i can help you with a nice fix

[Mikey_Boy]

Intriguing...

Is the fix a trade secret?!?!

[Demlotcrew]

Absolutely

[Mikey_Boy]

Trade secrets aside - the Group 'N' Exhaust manifold is now mine....! With some luck, it will fit into my enigne bay and clear the Z3 rack - update to come at the right time...

Many thanks to Andrew (above) for the deal there - much appreciated - looking forward to other tasty parts to be tempted by!

[goosiegander]

Any further updates? Very much liking this thread

[Mikey_Boy]

They are coming - hard drive and photobucket currently recovering...

[Mikey_Boy]

Time for another quick update....

Having done a bit of reading about S14s, I have taken the plunge to go 'gasketless' to try and stop leaks - this means using Loctite 518 where possible:

Front Cover:



Rear Seal carrier:



Upper Sump:



I have had a bit of luck with this so called 'anaerobic sealant' when I was an engineer so no doubt I will be taking the engine out after first start when oil p*sses out all over the garage floor...

Putting some extra pieces on to make it look more like an engine:







So now to put on the crank damper - this requires the front cover to be fettled a little bit:



To allow the crank trigger I am fitting to clear the TDC pointer:



Crank damper bolt tighten to 440Nm (!!) using a 'made to measure' locking tool:



A long bar, bit of maths, 80kg weight (me) and Loctite 270 to make sure the damper doesn't move...

Moving on to fitting the head:

Determine TDC using a (very old!!) DTI gauge (thanks Dad.. )



And attach timing wheel to the recently fitted crank damper:



Once TDC has been established (there is always a degree of 'float' around TDC, so best way is to go up and down the bore a fixed amount and use the centre of those 2 points as true TDC) then the head gasket can be fitted:



I am using (again to be reliable) a multi layer steel head gasket - a touch thicker than standard to compensate for the head skim.

Fit the head:



More red goo for the cam carrier:



And breath a fecking HUGE sigh of relief when the cam carrier and cams all torque down OK with no stripped threads....



I am using a Schrick 276 for the inlet and a standard 248 cam on the exhaust side to minimise the risk of valve to piston clash - when I am feeling braver, I will install a 284 on the inlet side and move the 276 to the exhaust side for a bit more zing...

Just cam timing to check....! And then the rest of the engine can be bolted together...

[fowler]

nice build mikey boy watching with interest

[Demlotcrew]

Looking good!

[Mikey_Boy]

Time for another update!

Having put the cams in place using the standard doweled gears (I did buy some m/sport adjustable gears, but on inspection realised that the standard gears were just fine in terms of tooth wear) I realised that I was about right on the inlet side, and a tooth out on the exhaust side - thankfully no valve to piston contact whilst I was turning the engine over...

Cam gears fettled, the timing has been measured at 107 degrees ATDC for Inlet and 107 degrees BTDC for the exhaust - all marked up:



Time to bolt the other bits and pieces on - firstly a bit of automotive porn:



Lovely alloy flywheel:



Installed...

Stainless steel exhaust studs:



Details like this (the allen head in the stud to aid fitting) is why I love engines!! Very sad...



Cam gear lock rings installed and tapped down:



These are really vital as the fixtures holding the cam gear to the cam are torqued down to just 9Nm - I did 11Nm with loctite just to be sure!

As I am using a standalone ECU, the crank sensor needs to be installed:



Not quite as central as I'd like (as it's a magnetic sensor) so a spacer sorted that out:



Also, I need a full range Throttle Position Sensor as well for the ECU - a chap in Canada does this lovely bit of kit allowing an S54 TPS to be used:



The original fuel injectors were looking past their best as well so I have invested in slightly higher output injectors (from a Ford Focus ST):



Which is a bit ironic as I have one as a daily driver!

Engine mount heatshield also looking past it's best:



I have bought a set of AKG engine and gearbox mounts:



And knocked up a new heatshield:



Alternator earth strap needed re-doing:



And also the wiring on the (new) crank sensor was a bit crappy:



So that connector was binned and new wires hooked up:



One of the final pieces to be fitted has been the baffled sump:



A really well made piece from the States, although an absolute bastard to fit given the bolts enclosed within the sump itself meaning that 6 bolts have to be inserted with a magnet then inverted and lined up with the upper sump - much swearing, 18 bolts and a lot of loctite later:



The engine is now at a funny angle on the stand as the sump now won't clear it!

As I just have the alternator and starter to fit and valve cleances to do, I shall be taking the engine off the stand as soon as work allows - one step closer to installation!

[ross_jsy]

Looking good Mikey

Where did you get those exhaust studs from?

Cheers,

Ross

[Mikey_Boy]

Thanks Ross - the nagging doubts are starting - is everything right? Will it get oil pressure? Will it start??

I got the studs from Turner Motorsport in the States - have a look at the link below:

http://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-423-e ... t-kit.aspx

Not sure if these are available in the UK - quite possibly?

Cheers,
Mike

[Demlotcrew]

I use these for exhaust studs - £7 for all that you need!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/310236698283? ... 1439.l2649

Mike, I have a horrible feeling that the sump will have to come off again the steering rack will foul it.

I hope not!

Andrew

[Mikey_Boy]

That's another of my worries at the moment... Especially as I have a set of DanThe's PAS pipes installed as well..

We shall see - fingers crossed! Standard sump on standby if needed and thankfully the goo is fairly easy to wipe off - just a shame the fecking sump is such a bitch to fit!

[Demlotcrew]

Mike,

The problem is the pinion part of the rack on RHD cars

[Mikey_Boy]

Yes - that's clear and an unlucky coincidence (I just had quick look)... In fairness, the Z3 rack's pinion doesn't protrude too much and currently I am on the front set of holes on the subframe - I should be able to move the rack back to the rear set to get more clearance. We shall see...

The extra baffle on the sump isn't the full width of the sump though - this makes me think I *may* get away with it?

Here was I thinking the engine build was going to be the tricky part...

The trial fit might be happening sooner rather than later!

[Demlotcrew]

I hope it clears, this was a FYI really as i know it doesn't clear with the MS DTM sump.

Andrew

[Mikey_Boy]

Always good to have the discussion and bouce ideas around!