S38B36 Laguna Touring

[lellis]

Excellent work, I think Car Builder Solutions do a remote reservoir kit you can link to it with pipes and elbow joints, or some 2002 models have a remote reservoir.

Cool! I have the 2002 reservoir and a 3d printed mount to go with the brake bias valve, but need the elbows. I'll check them out

[HartgeH27]

Am loving following this thread !

[twenty]

Great stuff!

[lellis]

Am loving following this thread !

Nice! Time for the nitty gritty stuff now with mocking up all the ancillaries, I'll try document what I can

[lellis]

having issues posting updates on this thread. Mic check

[twenty]

Liam you should join the E30 WhatsApp group.

[lellis]

Liam you should join the E30 WhatsApp group.

I will send you my number, thanks!

[lellis]

First of all can I just address the recent passing of Iain Hamilton, known on here as user 'HartgeH27'. He was a huge contributor to the e30 community and especially the zone. Condolences to his family and friends.



My recent progress started with me taking a grinder to the exhaust manifold.






I have been trying to figure out a steering shaft UJ solution, the common upgrade is the Vauxhall Corsa B modification as it removes the rubber bush.





However, for my application, the rack spline knuckle is still too bulky.

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So after a quick purchase from the USA, we now have plan B,





We now have clearance (just), I think it requires a heat shield but that can come later.



So with the front section of the manifold clear, unfortunately I cannot say the same for the rear.





No5 primary is the issue now as you can see from my amazing artwork.





Hard to tell, but the plan is to cut and rotate the collector to allow no5 to be routed inwards, leaving no4 and 6 in place.





Moving on. The LHS of the bay, reservoirs. The carbon airbox, although pretty, it's a rather large piece for an e30 engine bay.





So I wanted to aim for it to live around here



With relocating the servo reservoir, I had to then lower the PAS reservoir, I replicated the OEM mountings for this

Mocked up a quick bracket, I will remake this in due course but this is dimensionally correct.



The PAS reservoir bracket required modifying to pull it approx 15mm closer to the strut tower. But I am happy with this solution.



Now I forgot about the PAS pump.

[e30newman]

This was an epic read fair play, great build so far will be well worth it in the end

[lellis]

This was an epic read fair play, great build so far will be well worth it in the end

Cool as! More to come soon, a lot of things in the works

[fixedwheelnut]

Brilliant work Liam, I relocated my P.A.S reservoir slightly lower and further forward by making an 'L' shaped bracket mounting to the original location, to allow for the air intake pipe clearance.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/fixedwhee ... 8921371883

[lellis]

Brilliant work Liam, I relocated my P.A.S reservoir slightly lower and further forward by making an 'L' shaped bracket mounting to the original location, to allow for the air intake pipe clearance.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/fixedwhee ... 8921371883

Nice, the things we do to fit these big engines..

[lellis]

Some big updates! It may not look it but this following update is a huge weight off my mind.

Firstly, prepping the car to leave the house for the first time in 8 years!!




Into the safe hands of my friends workshop.


The underside is still as pretty as I remembered. Quick SuperSprint exhaust system check.


And straight onto the issue, manifold clearance.


This took much longer than we had planned. But the primaries were coming together after some serious chopping and fabrication.






Happy (fed up) me.


For reference, we have rotated the collector on no6 primary into the block, routing no5 and 6 closer to the block whilst trying out best to keep the equal lengths. Yes it looks like nothing has changed.


Another before and after.




Now to bridge the gap




Figuring out the steps for how this collector goes on was pretty fun, but with the 3 primaries welded together, we can now install the collector. This required a ton of labour with fitting the engine, system, manifold, all out again, tacks, refit, check, remove, weld, refit etc..


With it all happy now, just need to weld up completely but I am ticking this box. Thank god

[lellis]

Some recent side quests




Some very tricky surface rust to tackle


This valance has been through the wars. Dents and buckles all over, nothing that can't be sorted




This revealed some decent chunks of filler


Same again, tricky areas of surface corrosion


Thinking getting them blasted or dipped to remove the rust, will do some research as both methods have their pros and cons.

[martauto]

Excellant work yet again mate !!
That took some balls to cut the manifold

Mart.

[lellis]

Excellant work yet again mate !!
That took some balls to cut the manifold

Mart.

It wasn't my most relaxing moment.. However, was in safe hands and very glad we just went for it

[lellis]

All the door sealant has been removed, surface rust treated and ready for primer and reseal


New (to me) wings are in much better condition, surface rust treated.


All 6 tabs were badly corroded, so this is a no go. I could repair it yes, but for the amount of time and effort, I looked on ebay and found a mint condition one..




Bonnet, valance and wings off for blasting.


The car is now back home.


The lighting makes this hard to see, but the airbox was already too close to the fan cover, and with it being convex it made it much worse. Few delicate cuts later and it has good clearance now. Concave section to go back in with some clearance required on the fan box shroud.






Engine back out..




Time to clean up the engine bay, respray is pencilled in for the start of April, wish me luck..

[lellis]

Now here is something I have been excited for, the custom radiator is done! Now this sits in the support rather than behind it to gain more valuable room in the bay. It may look small, but it is 50mm thick.






Also, this little beauty. Coolant reservoir which will plumb into the rear of the engine.





Something previous me had been procrastinating over, the clearance piece for the exhaust


Cleaned up and epoxy primer applied


Sealed, like it was never was cut out..


Fan box cover notch tacked into place, let's hope it clears the airbox now..


Then hit another issue, no brake line brackets! Don't know how I missed these, but no one else seemed to have noticed anyway.


New bracket made up, just to grind off the underseal and plug weld in.


Luckily it was well isolated, so hopefully some brush strokes will blend it in.

[lellis]

Seam sealed and painted, like I never missed them!


Clutch and front brake hard lines made up, just need to add some extra securing clips.


So that is the engine back in for the final time before the respray. Time to mock up as much as possible to check fitment.


Fan housing cover notch was a success, good amount of clearance around the airbox.


Hardlines are close here so they need some tweaks.


Headlights on to check airbox clearance.


It clears, but it is close. Need to either make a air scoop to a remote filter or just run a mesh..






Next is panels!

[lellis]

With the panels back from blasting, it is starting to look like a car again!




Problem. Bonnet doesn't close..


Chop time


Now it closes, but how close is the airbox.. Get the blu tack out.


It clears, but not by much, I think I best shave down the engine mounts by 5mm to gain 10mm of clearance here.




Some great progress this week. Positive too with a lot of things now clearing that didn't before. A few more bits to check and it can soon come apart for the respray.

[martauto]

I am so looking forward to the end result mate and the idea of "mocking up " to make sure things fit properly .
It`s a bit time consuming but really well worth doing so congrats for common sense here too !!!

Mart.

[lellis]

Usual c-pillar cracks, luckily no excessive corrosion. So both sides were drilled, ground out and rewelded.






Oil catch can mount made and welded in.


Coolant pipes need to be custom, so I made up some stainless versions which can be given to a local company and be used as a die to make proper ones!


Now to remember how this goes back together..


Bonnet on!


Some pictures from my camera before it all comes apart again.

[lellis]

Doors all now rust converted, primed and sealed,




Now with the engine bay complete (unless I have forgotten something), it is time to remove everything from the bay.




Wings needed the lips rolling in due to my wheel/tyre choice, more on that later.


With the loose ends sorted in the bay, it was then time to put all the panels back on to make sure they line up before paint.




Here is me looking happy.. All the panels work well, will need a fine tune once back from paint but happy to know it all works.


Then removed again for final bits to be done.


New (to me) bonnet cut and rust converted.


And that's it. The car is packed ready to go to paint!!!

[Tzantushka]

What a milestone - well done!!!

I'll raise my glass to your efforts tonight.

[martauto]

What a milestone - well done!!!

I'll raise my glass to your efforts tonight.

Mart.

[lellis]

What a milestone - well done!!!

I'll raise my glass to your efforts tonight.

Many thanks. Huge relief to get the car to this position.

[lellis]

Final few tasks completed.


Very last minute front bumper collection due to mine having damage i was not aware of.


7am the next day and it is out ready for collection.








And that is it, arrived at the paint shop!




Now this does not mean progress is halted whilst it is away. I have many tasks planned in now I have the garage space.

[lellis]

For anyone interested in my latest progress, I made a video covering everything from the full dry mock up.

[lellis]

So with the car away, I now have space in the garage. So let the engine build commence!

Spent nearly a week organising, checking, cleaning, replacing components for the build, I feel like I have RealOEM coursing through my veins at this point.

Oil pump(s), So the casings/full units are NLA. Being 30 odd years old now, it isn't easy to find good condition used items.
So I have collected a few over the years..


So my original was in very bad condition, the e28 one which I hoped to salvage the casing was damaged and worse than expected, but the cheap 'plan c' pump was in great condition.
I still replaced all the internals with new from BMW, but much happier now to know it is as it should be.


Think I better shim the pump to gain some chain tension though..


And unfortunately until some o-rings and gaskets arrive, this is as far as I have gotten so far.


Always wanted to do this kind of picture

[lellis]

And here is the video going through these first steps!

[martauto]

I can only imagine what you are thinking, it must be very satisfying??
When I built my kit car back in 1983 film was all there was so nothing got recorded.

Mart.

[lellis]

I can only imagine what you are thinking, it must be very satisfying??
When I built my kit car back in 1983 film was all there was so nothing got recorded.

Mart.

It is great fun, but highly stressful. So many steps to plan, double checking everything to make sure it not only goes on correctly, but in the right order!

[martauto]

This side of things is right up my street as I have made jigs/fixtures one off`s all my life so planning is paramount so what you are doing is superb.

Mart.

[lellis]

Moving on with the build, loads more bits arrived to let me progress, so lets get on with it.

Timing chain and guides in.


Cover on


Crank hub/bolt on. Made up something to hold it whilst torquing to spec, however I have just set it to the initial 150nm, the next is to release it, 60nm, 60deg, 60deg and 30deg. I will do this once it is in the car as that is some serious torque!!


Studs in, issue incoming..


MLS gasket and head on.


Torqued up, first two valve springs removed and lighter springs installed so I can do some PTV checks. As I have some 280 cams and adjustable cam sprockets, I want to see what extremities I can go to before handing it over to my tuning man.


Schrick 280 cams (standard are 264), B38 reproduction cam cover with sensor and spark plug extenders to do a COP conversion.


Then the issue, the ARP studs are too long, about 10mm, they hit the walls of the bucket holders. I have had to order new ARP bolts which will take a while to arrive..

[martauto]

Is it possible for an engineering shop to reduce the length via a slitting disc or even do it yourself ?

Mart.