Engine rebuild question - Page 3

peterux · #41 1st January 2012, 19:16

After slowly recovering from the late night celebrations, I thought I would sneak out to the garage for half an hour to assemble the fuel rail and injectors in the inlet manifold.
I wanted to use the injector loom from the old 320i engine because.....
a) it was already modified to connect to the Auotometer water temp sensor and, b) I know it works with the rest of the engine loom already installed in the car.
After assembling the fuel rail and injectors, I then discovered that BMW had changed the design of the fuel rail between '88 and '89. The early fuel rail has a fuel hose connector at the rear of the engine which clashed with the new type loom.
No problem, I thought, I'll just swap the fuel rails, so whipped the old one off the 2.0 litre manifold. Whilst checking it over I discovered that the 2.0 litre fuel rail has a 2.5 bar regulator whilst the 2.5 litre has a 3 bar. So I had to swap the fuel regulator as well.
About 2 hours later, I finally got it all assembled!!

Happy New Year!

Early and late fuel rails by marlinpeter, on Flickr

Later version fuel rail by marlinpeter, on Flickr

Inlet manifold assembly by marlinpeter, on Flickr

peterux · #42 19th January 2012, 22:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by peterux

Here's my new alloy Radiator.

Fitting the new taller alloy radiator has resulted in an unplanned consequence that my header tank is now too low

Ahem.....

peterux · #43 2nd February 2012, 15:09

Well it's all back together and the coolant reservoir is re-fixed 35 mm higher.

M20B28 Installation complete by marlinpeter, on Flickr

And so the day came today to start the engine after the rebuild.
Just a reminder an M20B28 stroker engine consists of a 325 block and pistons, an M50 crank from a 328 (modified to fit the M20 block) and 320 conrods. I decided to stick with a (new) standard 325 crank as I didn't want the engine to be too hairy. I've got the original 320 ECU fitted with what was sold as a copy of an Alpina C27 map chip. And I'm using Bosch W7DCR plugs gapped at 0.7mm.

So everything checked and torqued. Oil, coolant, petrol all checked.

There is lots of conflicting information on this here internet so in the end after hours of research (well a couple last evening) I decided to follow the advice of Piper Cams as they should know what they are talking about. http://www.pipercams.co.uk/pipercams...stallation.php
The essence is to start it up and run at 2500 rpm for 20 mins!

And so the time came on a very cold but bright and breezy day to start her up!!

Very boring video to follow.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgQro..._order&list=UL

Some points to note are.....
Engine started after only 5 seconds of cranking.
Oil pressure rises smartly in the first 4 seconds after firing.
The engine then coughs and splutters whilst I feather the throttle to coach it up to 2500 and then I tie off my piece of string on the throttle so that I can get out of the car and check it all over as it warms up.
After 45 seconds the engine is running smoothly on all six cylinders but there is some tappet noise as the oil circulates and everything settles into its right place. But there is good oil pressure so I cross my fingers.
After 2 minutes the engine tappet noises dies away and the engine runs smoothly for the next 20 minutes.
(I have a video of all 20 minutes, but its very boring.

)
The engine warms up and the thermostat opens. No need to top up as I filled it completely. Then the oil stat opened and the oil cooler got nice and hot. The oil pressure droped back to a steady 50 psi. Followed by the electric fan that cut in and out again as it was a very cold day.

And boy, does it feel like a beast. No road testing yet as its currently SORN'd and the lack of bodywork might attract too much attention.

But the engine roars when you you blip the throttle and tries to leap out the chassis!!

It feels really strong and idles OK at about 950rpm

No sign of any leaks, so far, but I'll check it all over again tomorrow.

Am I pleased....you bet

GreatOldOne · #44 2nd February 2012, 15:18

Well done Pete!

You also need to change that servo...

Mike · #45 2nd February 2012, 16:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by peterux

Well it's all back together and the coolant reservoir is re-fixed 35 mm higher.

M20B28 Installation complete by marlinpeter, on Flickr

No sign of any leaks, so far, but I'll check it all over again tomorrow.

Am I pleased....you bet

Peter

Congratulations - what a fabulous feeling when you have built the engine yourself. Well done. The oil pressure sounds very good. I've tested mine and thought 30-35 psi was good at tickover when warm, and around 60psi at raised revs, but you are holding around 50psi when warm at only tick over - those new shells were obviously worth it!

......I think your Street rod looks pretty good as it is now - just leave the rest of the body work off!

morris · #46 2nd February 2012, 18:22

yay, well done peter. I agree, drive it as it is, it looks good but you will find yourself in a drag race at every set of lights. The only bit of bodywork that looks remotely wrong to me is the nearside front bumper

peterux · #47 2nd February 2012, 18:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike

Peter

Congratulations - what a fabulous feeling when you have built the engine yourself. Well done. The oil pressure sounds very good. I've tested mine and thought 30-35 psi was good at tickover when warm, and around 60psi at raised revs, but you are holding around 50psi when warm at only tick over - those new shells were obviously worth it!

......I think your Street rod looks pretty good as it is now - just leave the rest of the body work off!

Thanks, Mike, yes it was a great moment!
Slight misunderstanding due to the way I wrote my post. The 50 psi was still during break-in period at 2500 revs. It drops to about 25 psi at idle, which I think is fine on this old beast.
It was more nerve-wracking starting this engine than the first engine just because of all the potential issues. You find yourself thinking... 'did I really tighten all the main bearings'.........etc.

peterux · #48 2nd February 2012, 18:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreatOldOne

Well done Pete!

You also need to change that servo...

It's on my list.......

peterux · #49 2nd February 2012, 20:29

So after running the engine for 25 minutes, I thought i'd check the clutch was working OK.
...and promptly reversed into the video camera

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPacA..._order&list=UL

...btw the clutch was fine!

AndyDane · #50 28th March 2012, 14:53

peter - have you had a chance to assess the new radiator yet?

I'm running an old 316 rad in mine and it can't really cope with the 325 M50 under the bonnet.

Have seen a few like yours opn ebay for £115 and was after an opinion from someone who's clearly put some thinking into it!

Also got an pics of the relocated header tank?

andy

peterux · #51 28th March 2012, 19:19

Hi Andy,
no,sorry no results yet. Due to other commitments, I've not got my car back on the road yet and it is still SORN'd. I plan to get it taxed from the 1st of April so should then be able to do some proper road testing. I'll let you know when I've got some results but I guess the real test will be later in the year when we get some high summer temperatures.

In the meantime, here is a picture of my header tank. I ended up raising the tank by 35mm and dropping the radiator by about 15mm. The top of the radiator is now level with the 'high' mark on my tank.

M20B28 Installation complete by marlinpeter, on Flickr

morris · #52 28th March 2012, 20:16

Hi Peter, is that the header tank Marlin provide with Module 2 or one you sourced separately?

peterux · #53 29th March 2012, 08:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by morris

Hi Peter, is that the header tank Marlin provide with Module 2 or one you sourced separately?

Hi Ian,
I sourced this header tank myself as I wanted to mimic the BMW config as close as possible. (The Marlin supplied tank was very small and didn't hold the same volume of coolant nor much expansion volume. But I should point out that I had no evidence it wouldn't work though).
The tank I used is a Ford component but I don't know which car/application. I noticed it being used by Westfield on their LSIS's at a kitcar show and it has similar dimensions to the original BMW, so I bought bought one from their on-line shop.
But other builders have successfully re-used the original BMW header tank, so that's another option.

...peter

peterux · #54 29th March 2012, 20:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by peterux

I plan to get it taxed from the 1st of April so should then be able to do some proper road testing.

Just checked the weather forecast .......... it's sods law.......
..... winter is back with a vengeance in April!!

http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/FREE/...ode=ME14%203JF

denniswpearce · #55 30th March 2012, 07:32

Don,t believe any forecast longer than 5 days, too many variables to be accurate.
Met office are pretty accurate in that period but even the fourth and fifth days may vary.

Chris Cussen · #56 30th March 2012, 07:40

Never trust a weatherman. My brother is one and he never told the truth as a child.

peterux · #57 30th March 2012, 08:33

Thanks, Guys.
I am secretly hoping they have got it completely wrong and it will be warm and sunny again!

peterux · #58 25th May 2012, 21:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by AndyDane

peter - have you had a chance to assess the new radiator yet?
I'm running an old 316 rad in mine and it can't really cope with the 325 M50 under the bonnet.
Have seen a few like yours opn ebay for £115 and was after an opinion from someone who's clearly put some thinking into it!
andy

Radiator now fully tested on a 90 mile run in the baking hot weather today.
No issues and it coped well with the heat on the run and in traffic.
...peter