Another BMW E28 - This Time From Australia

[epearce]

Cranked the engine over for a bit longer this time and after 25 seconds the oil light went out and the cam spray bar started squirting oil. Massive relief, I was starting to get worried and doubt my work.

If all goes to play I should be driving this in the less than 48 hours time!

[MrViicc]

oh thats so nice good work

[epearce]

DUDE!

Well done. Can't wait to see the result, and how it runs on l-jet

I'm still searching for an e23 735i I can rip apart for my 528i. Can get a b35 but that means motronic swap as well.

Cheers, i'll be sure to let you know how it goes!




Stripped the starter motor to bits and put it back together the other week. Was stoked when it worked when I bench tested it. More simple than I expected. Then fitted it as the are sh!t to do in car.





Eight months after starting the rebuild I was glad to finally have an empty engine stand.





First thing was to fit a new throwout bearing, clutch pivot pin and clutch, as well as grease and contact surfaces.







Bolted the gearbox up:





Then the challenging part, lowering it into the bay...











Proved to be harder than I anticipated. Should have had the rear strap longer as getting enough angle was a struggle. Also had to remove the exhaust manifolds as they wouldn't clear the steering box/lines when lowering it down. After some cursing and head scratching it finally sat in the right spot.

Worst part about fitting the front exhaust manifold is that you had to remove the engine mount.. Fitted them to check clearances before taking them to an exhaust shop to see the best way to join them up to the old system. Clearances are minimal, but it could be worse.





Had the wideband bung welded on to the rear manifold in the only available spot the had enough room. And then fitted them.







The plan after this was to fill it with oil and connect the starter motor. Then crank it over to check for oil pressure before fitting anything else. If only this happened.. The first crank was a nervous one, but it sounded smooth and as it should. The issue however is there is no oil feeding to the head, so I can only presume it's not picking up. Cranked it over a few times in total but there are no signs off oil to the head. Your meant to pack an oil pump with vasoline or assembly lube when rebuilding a motor. I did this, but I also turned it over heaps when doing timing and valve clearances. So now i'm worried something isn't right...

Talking to various people there are varied opinions. Some say it should definitely feed at crank speed. Others have said they've rebuilt motors that wouldn't get pressure until they started it. So yeah i'm worried, might have to risk starting it and then turn it off instantly. If it hasn't picked up then there must be a problem.

See what happens I guess :|

[symmat001]

DUDE!

Well done. Can't wait to see the result, and how it runs on l-jet

I'm still searching for an e23 735i I can rip apart for my 528i. Can get a b35 but that means motronic swap as well.

[epearce]

so i'm somewhat confused. you keep saying "green" car, is that the main car? because if it is, it appears to be Bronzit Beige. great buld overall but the color thing is just confusing me.

Farily sure it isn't Bronzit Beige. Definitely looks more green than gold.

[Good Ol Kid]

so i'm somewhat confused. you keep saying "green" car, is that the main car? because if it is, it appears to be Bronzit Beige. great buld overall but the color thing is just confusing me.

[Greg|H]

Great work on the engine, 410Nm is tight!

[epearce]

Wow that engine looks so nice!

Been a great thread. One of my favs on ozfoz!

It turned out well, I'm stoked with it!

Cheers mate, very much appreciated :drinks:

great stuff.

any chance of a better look at those headers?

Thanks

See below


I had a small dilemma with the exhaust manifold/headers. The standard 2.8 headers that will bolt up to the rest of the system will be a restriction to the new motor. I have standard 3.5 litre headers that will flow better but don't bolt up to the remaining 2.8 system. The other option was to find aftermarket headers that would flow even better, produce a better sound but still require an exhaust shop to join them to the old system. The most annoying thing is an exhaust place won't be able to join them up until the engine is in with the headers bolted up. And I don't want to tow it in or have it started for the first time by them.

2.8 headers:


The best option IMO was aftermarket headers. Found a place in NSW that make replica headers of a popular German system at a fraction of the price. Unfortunately for right hand drive cars the cylinder 1 runner has to be quite a bit longer as space is so tight between the steering box and to also clear the engine mount bracket. It's certainly not ideal but from what i've read on a low powered naturally aspirated car it should make SFA difference?





The other annoying thing is the engine mount bracket has to be removed to install/remove them, which means supporting the engine... So the plan is to drop the engine in with them on, figure out how the exhaust shop will join them onto the rest of the system and check clearances. Then remove them and have a flange or extra length added to them to make it easier for them to join.

Distributor and fan test fitted for some whole engine pics..







With the gearbox out it was a good chance to clean that up and replace the leaking selector shaft seal. The gear shifter also had enough play that it felt like it was in neutral in every gear. So I ordered replacements of the all the wearing parts, as well as a E36 short shifter to remove the massive throw between gears. Fitted all the pieces up tonight and it feels mint!







Plan is to drop the motor and gearbox in on Saturday and hopefully turn the motor over and get oil pressure before the days over.

[epearce]

So update time...

Got the old 2.8 flywheel machined as it was in horrible condition, turns out it is also the lightest OEM flywheel which is good. Also bought a 3.5L Extreme standard duty clutch as the other one wasn't far off warn out.







Had the sump acid bathed to make sure it was spotlessly clean and fitted that along with the oil level sensor.





Adjusted valve clearances, torqued crankpully nut to 410nm - sooo tight and fitted new waterpump,:







Painted the valve cover the classic BMW colours. Ported the intake manifold to the exact size of each individual intake port and then painted it.







Decided to fit a Wideband gauge so I bought a Innovate MXT-L. The reason being i'm staying with the 2.8 ecu as to run a 3.5 litre ecu it requires a full loom swap (sorta like fitting a 01 gt forester ecu to a 99 forester). So I have no idea if the ecu will cope with the increased capacity. Figured a wideband was cheap insurance and also aloq me to change things like fuel pressure and coolant temperature resistance if more fuel is required. Fitted the gauge to a non obvious spot, yet still in the field of view.



Wiring was a mess under the bonnet, so that was fixed. Also cut out a heaps of wires that are not needed anymore, mainly AC and emissions related. Cleaned off 30 years of oil/grime whilst I was there.





More updates to come tomorrow night

[Asee]

Sorry mate, i have it removed currently. So when i get a chance I will take some pics and measurements.

Sweet, cheers

[epearce]

Yeeah i know its home made, it looked rly good, i just thought you maybe had a tamplet or something when u did the plate. What i meant with spec was length, width and hight and so on..

Cheers m8 !

Sorry mate, i have it removed currently. So when i get a chance I will take some pics and measurements.

[Asee]

What sort of specs? It's home made.

Yeeah i know its home made, it looked rly good, i just thought you maybe had a tamplet or something when u did the plate. What i meant with spec was length, width and hight and so on..

Cheers m8 !

[epearce]

Every night after work spent swinging spanners will hopefully pay off soon.

[JrScrap]

this is turning out to be really cool resto/build, can't wait to see further progress

[epearce]

Been a good long weekend so far.

Pulled the engine and gearbox out as one. All went fairly smoothly and the car went from driving to have no engine, gearbox, tailshaft and exhaust system in less than 4 hours.













Then removed gearbox, clutch, flywheel and any other pieces I needed.



Also needed the sump, so i checked a main and big end bearing whilst I was there:





Great condition from what looks to be standard bearings - 360,000kms old, motor also had between 150-170psi compression on all cylinders before removal.



Next on the list is to get the flywheel machined and decide what clutch to go with. Clean up sump and fit that to new engine. The gear shifter also felt like a box of neutrals when driving, so it would be stupid not to fix that before going back together. Gearbox is also leaking oil, so might as well replace that seal. Plenty to keep me busy for a few weeks.