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Old 12-31-2018, 04:30 PM   #126
John V
No more BMWs
 
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Join Date: Apr 2005
Carmudgeonly Ride: Ram, MS3, CX-5, RX-8
Location: Glenwood, MD
Posts: 14,753
I made some progress over the holidays. Because I can't seem to be bothered to take pictures of incremental progress, some of this isn't really well documented.

Engine is back in for the (hopefully) last time before I turn the key for the first time. I made a battery mount, finished all the battery wiring, and powered up the car. Everything works, the fuel pump primes and builds pressure, no leaks that I can see or smell. I finished up the oil plumbing, though I may shorten one hose. Sensors are in place for fuel pressure, oil pressure and oil temp to connect to the (eventual) aftermarket EFI. The DBW throttle even works without the engine running, which may be of use if I go with a Megasquirt ... could use the stock ECU to do the throttle and the Megasquirt for everything else. Not sure.

Mostly I spent a bunch of time cutting and fitting intercooler pipes until I was happy. I wanted to minimize the number of silicone couplers in the intake tract so I had a buddy TIG weld it all together for me.



The piping is a lot easier to manage without all the couplers everywhere.





I got the clutch fitted, reinstalled the transmission and finally got to install the driveshaft that arrived months ago. Everything fit together as expected. I bled the clutch and tested its travel... it seems to fully release but it's definitely close to the floor. I may need to modify the factory clutch pedal, or at least just adjust the plunger to get a little more release, but I won't know until I can start it and test the driveline with the engine running. It's already been reinforced as I guess it's pretty common for them to break.



I didn't like the way the Fab9 kit had the oil drain at the block set up. They call for you to drill and tap the block in an area between two internal strengthening ribs. The problem with this is the block casting is angled there, so it's very hard to thread in the (3/8 NPT) fitting they want you to use. And the hose to the turbo is so short it's a pain to install. And everyone seems to have issues with it leaking. I saw this stripping out pretty quickly, so I turned an AN fitting to TIG weld into the block, now installing and removing the turbo oil drain is easy.





Not much to do before I can turn the key. I managed to booger up the one O-ring I had for the (Ranger) dipstick tube at the (custom) oil pan, and nothing I have in my stock will work. I need to make a plug for the stock dipstick tube (in the valve cover) since I'm not using that with this pan. I need to figure out the hot side radiator hose connection, now that the intercooler piping is done I can work that out, plus one more hose for the overflow and another one for the heater core return. Oh, and there's no exhaust, just a dump pipe off of the turbo. So, that's gonna be loud.
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