M42 cams, valvetrain, lifters etc etc

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moonster98
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Nov 02, 2009 11:00 pm
Location: Kuala Lumpur

Sun Sep 27, 2015 8:37 am

Have looked across for topics on this but couldn't find any. Hope to get some pointers & opinions from experts:

The Car:
Built (balanced, lightened) bottom end, 12:1 compression, headwork, DiBilas ITB, carbon airbox, reground stock cams, custom exhaust manifolds (as near equal length as possible), Haltech Sprint 500. With all these the car is making around 155@wheels at around 6400rpm & tapers off after 6800rpm. I don't normally go beyond 7000rpm ever

The issue:
I think the cams are the limiting factor & am thinking of bigger duration jobs to target 170@wheels. My builder reckons 8000rpm is doable & safe, I would rather try aim for peak at 7500rpm with the odd 8000rpm burst, not more for longevity

The question(s)
1. Will cams in the 290-ish range do the job or will i be able to achieve the same with lower duration?
2. Either way - am i right to assume valvetrain upgrades are needed?
3. Do i need solid lifters if at all given the target rev range? if yes - will the VW lifters i've been reading about do the job?

Appreciate any feedback. Thanks
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sh123
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 33
Joined: Tue Aug 05, 2014 11:00 pm

Sun Sep 27, 2015 8:43 pm

What crank, pistons and rods are you using?

Out of interest who is your builder?

Have a look at m42club forum. Some good info on there and quite a few who have built decent m42/m44

I cant comment yet but have a m44 2.1 high comp build being built by a vulcan race engines atm
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moonster98
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Nov 02, 2009 11:00 pm
Location: Kuala Lumpur

Mon Sep 28, 2015 2:36 am

M44 crank & rods, custom pistons with valve reliefs cut into them. I'm based out of Malaysia, my builder has been building race engines for much longer than I've known him if that makes any sense. This build was completed about 2 years back & is thankfully running fine, no issues so far.

Given reasonable prep work & sane revs I don't see much issues with the M44 crank & rods to be honest. But a 2.1 will be nice to give it some added torque, not that it's really wanting in an E30 I would think.

Thanks for your headsup, will check m42club.com & r3vlimited.com. All the best with your build.
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