Stateside RB e36

Thread in 'Project Cars and Builds Threads' started by BrandonRoche, Aug 11, 2015.

  1. BrandonRoche

    BrandonRoche Member

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    So. Here's a giant update... For the first time in over a month I genuinely felt motivated to work on my car. Monday I bought a slave feed and redid my fuel lines for the final time and am much happier with them. For my feed I cut the stock hardline down to right after the 90* bend, then TIG'd a -4an fitting on the end of it, then got a braided line to adapt it over to the slave. I will also build a heat shield for the fuel lines around the driveshaft and to protect it from the exhaust. I would definitely recommend the dual pump setup I have, it flows a TON of fuel and protects from starvation...

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    On Tuesday I bled the slave as much as I could, but it was such a pain with my brake setup even with the rear end jacked WAY up. So I bought a remote reservoir I still have to mount. I have a shit load of air in the system, but the clutch works mint after that. Something about the BMW clutch master and 05 maxima slave makes it so the pedal ratio is extremely quick (feels like 2 or less inches for full slave piston throw), but I'm happy with it, just have to build a large clutch stop! Lol

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    Wednesday comes around and at this point I'm nervous, but I push through and add gas, then coolant. The system took almost 3 gallons fully bled, but it bled like a charm with only one air bubble at the back of the block that came out almost instantly. Held 163 with a fan in front and 175 with no fan just idling. Finished my fuel pump relay and started it up and it sucked that stuff right down, added more and it hasn't skipped a beat. I was a little nervous the radiator wasn't high enough, but it seems to be at that perfect height where it's not too low, but it's not so high the air somewhat struggles to get to the top quickly.
    All my gauges work except for my oil temp because I haven't tapped a hole for the sensor yet. My oil pressure gauge even showed a good reading now, my ground was loose originally and it was reading EXTREMELY high, but I figured it was just a connection.
    I got another MAF from a maxima and a pigtail from a friend and went to wire it in, cut off the loom protection and notice the wires feel loose, give them a little tug and out comes 3 out of 4 wires [emoji85]. So that's my MAF issue. They weren't all broken, because I was getting heater voltage and signal at the MAF, but I guess it just never made it to the ECU. I said "what the heck" and extended the wires a few inches so it could wrap around the shock tower and Kablamo, revs all the way to 6.8k. SO much relief.
    Now the super exciting part... IT DRIVES!!! And it's pretty quick for me not really getting too into it since everything in the interior was kinda loose. Definitely happy with the swap and it sounds so so sexy (better in person, less of the open downpipe tractor noise).





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    So now, a small list of what I can remember is left until I can slide at Clubloose in no particular order:

    - Exhaust (oval tubing and transitions are expensive AF)
    - Fans and fan wiring
    - Fan and blower motor switch
    - Battery box and mount
    - Weld different holes in floor
    - Patch the few rust holes in the floor from sitting
    - Install new right rear inner lower control arm bolt
    - Weld the diff
    - Tighten everything down
    - Seal up the firewall and grommet the wiring harness
    - Wrap and secure the harness
    - Brake heat shield
    - Mount and bleed remote slave reservoir
    - Manual boost controller because 5psi will get old quick lol

    That's all I can think of now... My motivation is definitely back and hopefully I will have the energy after work to work on it and finish it up. Probably going to do a radio, maybe wire in some high beams and hazards to make it easier to pass state inspection, but we'll see. I'm excited!

    Thanks man! I hope I can inspire you to do whatever you want with your car! Anything is possible if you put your mind to it
     
  2. BrandonRoche

    BrandonRoche Member

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    So not a ton has happened since my last post... But it's progress towards the finish line!

    So I put my front end back on, trimmed the nose panel more and pulled the bumper up and forward a little bit. I've put this bumper through hell from dragging it on the highway in my hotboi low phase, to driving over it when it ripped off, to people backing into it, etc. and it has never failed. It is COVERED in spider cracks, but not one real crack. Genuine M bumpers are worth the money. Also threw my rear bumper on in lieu of beginning to build my exhaust and driving it on the street. I will definitely need to paint the car ASAP once it's done, but for now it can be multiple colors...

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    Got all of my round exhaust tubing, vbands, flex joint, muffler, and oval transitions in. The oval tubing will be here Tuesday which sucks but I can build a decent amount of the exhaust before then, if not all over it except that section. I also thought I ordered 12ft of tubing but I only got 8ft I guess. So I may have to order more (probably will considering I'm doing all pie cuts), but oh well. I was going to get mandrel bends, but I am never happy with the bend I get from them and the angles they bend at aren't always what I want etc, so I pie cut it all, it's more work, and a lot more filler and argon, but I can make the exhaust exactly how I want it.

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    Here's a current engine bay picture. No show stopper but it functions for now. When I pull it all apart to paint the bay I'll shave the firewall more, seal off the holes and grommet the wiring, tuck stuff under the intake manifold, and plug up the extra ports on the intake properly.

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    I had a major idle surging issue, which sent me crazy testing my CAS, checking my ignition timing, my CTS, my TPS, all perfect. My battery I'm currently using is super old and kept dying, but I thought it was just being crappy like always... Nope! In an idiot and I somehow mixed up the alternator charge check wire and the voltage gauge wire. Since I didn't have a voltage gauge that wire was just dangling taped off until I got one. I multi metered them to find out I had a power loop and the alternator was either overcharging or undercharging the battery. This caused all sorts of weird electrical stuff which ended the life of my wiper motor (RIP [emoji24]), but I have a few extras so I'll just throw a new one in there. But now it's all set! Idles a little low, so it will occasionally stumble, but overall it's great! And seems to have much smoother power now. Here's a video of it running now and revving up. Will sound much better when the exhaust is done. The tractor clicking it because of the open downpipe echoing off the ground. Also I need a slightly softer BOV spring because it doesn't open immediately (you can hear the surge before the BOV opens), but I may just leave it for now... A little surge never hurt anyone.



    I'll try to post pictures of my tac'd up downpipe and exhaust this weekend or Monday. I'm not sure if I have enough argon and filler to weld the hole thing this weekend but maybe!
     
  3. BrandonRoche

    BrandonRoche Member

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    So I made some progress on my exhaust. Just need to finish my midpipe really for the fab then weld it all up.
    The downpipe all welded minus the flange:

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    And the fit, gained more clearance than my old downpipe with smoother transitions:

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    The cat back, it's all welded up now, no pictures of it welded but here is it hung:

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    And my glorious midpipe placement to keep it as tucked as possible, yes it will be wrapped [emoji15]

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    Should have it all done this weekend, but it's been pretty much all done. Will update with the finished product!
     
  4. jon07043278

    jon07043278 Well-Known Member

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    Lovely fab work :thumbs:
     
  5. BrandonRoche

    BrandonRoche Member

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    So my exhaust is finished and I'm happy with it. Sits extremely tucked and doesn't hit anything, has a little wiggle room, but it's so tucked up that it shouldn't need to move really so it should be good.

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    I will heat wrap it better and not use hose clamps when I go out to get heat wrap lol, but for now it's just what I have at the closest spots.

    Here is a video of took of the sound, it's quieter than my old 328 with a 3" and much smoother noise. I remembered one of the amazing reasons I went RB, the sound!



    The first high rev goes to 7.7k [emoji15]! I had no idea the limiter was removed because when I drive it the stock turbo becomes really choked by 7k and it falls on its face so I've always shifted. So I'm not going to be Reving that high anymore, and making seeking another rb25 ECU just so I have that failsafe. It might even be tuned because it pulls REALLY hard for only 5psi with the only mods being my exhaust, intake manifold, turbo inlet, intercooler and piping. Once it's done I'll try and get on a dyno, the car is also completely gutted so I'm sure even low HP feels really fast.

    Next is to wire the fans, get my front tires swapped, battery box, and fill some holes then clean it all up! Getting closer and closer!

    Thanks! It's a lot of work and time lol, but totally worth it!
     
  6. jm325is

    jm325is New Member

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    Mmmph[emoji854] good shit!
     
  7. Jays36

    Jays36 New Member

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    Ah I see, yea from what I have researched recently the z3 plates are fine. I think the whole US bullshit is just the US in general, I've come to find out people out here flip the fuck out over the smallest shit and I usually tend to go with what guys in the UK say when it comes to our cars. Thanks!
     
    #87 Jays36, Jun 7, 2016
    Last edited: Jun 7, 2016
  8. BrandonRoche

    BrandonRoche Member

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    Well I've started my OT at work so I work 10-11 hour days 7 days a week now so progress will be slow for a bit, but there isn't a lot left to do which is nice. I got my battery cable, battery (I have like hundreds of batteries I get for free lol), and battery box. I need to make a template for my trunk plate then have my buddy plasma cut it out for me so I can weld that in and seal my trunk, then mount and setup my battery.

    I'll try and vent my gas tank this weekend but not sure if I'll have time. Also going to try and cut out the final bits I need to cut out and maybe start to fiberglass them shut. (around the gas tank so I can't weld it [emoji19])

    But on the bright side, I made some progress! I made my brake master heat shield. Might gold foil it, not sure yet though. The bay is coming pretty close to being ready to get painted. We'll see though.

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  9. BrandonRoche

    BrandonRoche Member

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    So, I've been super busy with work on going to Nova Scotia, Monteal, and DC. I've gotten some done but overall motivation has been lacking and I've really been trying to get away from cars a bit this summer.

    So I could my battery box made and mounted and ran my cables. All I have to do is seal off where the cables come out and that is done. Also have a floor in the middle, but still need a plate for the stock battery tray location. I have a plasma cutter now, but just no motivation sadly, and it's been hot.

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    Then I got a second set of rear Roadstars and flared the rear end. I still need to weld up the wheel wells, but at least it's flared now. Also tire sizes are at 205/50/17 in the rear, so that'll be getting a slammer sidewall and slightly wired.

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    Also, my grandma turned 99 yesterday, so I did a small burnout, didn't wanna piss off my neighbors too much.



    Small, but totally worth it to finally do one.
     
  10. Jays36

    Jays36 New Member

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    Looks and sounds amazing man.
     
  11. keef247

    keef247 Member

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  12. BrandonRoche

    BrandonRoche Member

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    Thanks guys! Hopefully finishing my crank windows today then seeing what else I can get to... Maybe license plate lights or my wheels wells.
     
  13. BrandonRoche

    BrandonRoche Member

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    Well, I finally decided to motivate myself to finishing it enough to register it. I came home one day, ripped all the wheels off and brought them to my tire guy, and made my gas tank vent and took out my wiper motor. I finished up the crank Windows, got the wheels and tires on, then registered it last Thursday.
    I drove down the road, got gas, went another mile to my buddies shop, and the e34 steering joint I had stripped out in the parking lot. So either it somehow became loose somehow (it was a lock but bolt and I cranked it down, it was pretty hard to get off), or it just wasn't strong enough for the task. Here I am stranded at his shop.

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    I decided that since I already paid for my 20 day registration and insurance... I needed to fix it. I overnighted a new steering joint from Flaming River and swapped that in Friday-Saturday. My steering column ended up being stripped too, but luckily I had an extra and it's a tilt column! Some then I've been just driving around seeing if there are any other issues other than having to cut another inch and a half off my fenders to have full room to turn with the bigger tires. I run really rich on cold start, but that's kind of normal, and I still can't figure out how to get my speedo and gas gauge to work, I have all the wires hooked up, everything is connected, I have resistance across the wires from signal to ground so it's wired up correct. I also grounded it early so there much be a power delivery wire I'm missing somehow even though I've followed all of the skematics correctly*****. Other than that I have no issues other than averaging like 11mpg, but it's also hard to stay out of it.. It makes really cool noises. But I drove it to work (about a 25 mile drive each way on backroads) with no issues which was nice! Alignment is a little funky and I can't pull my front toe in anymore for some reason, it might be stuck/dirty in the tierods, I'll look into it..

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    Also since I have no filter &I my insurance company is flipping shit at me for some BS with this car and my other cars policy, I have started to design my filter box. I can't fit a cone, so panel filter and induction system it is! Haven't decided how I'm going to make the induction yet, may just vent to hood and not drive it in the rain (stock e36 filter BTW).

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    ***** If anyone has any idea what I need to do please let me know. I just want my gas gauge really lol I can post how I wired it later if I get a chance.


    Thanks guys!
     
  14. Joe Gersh

    Joe Gersh New Member

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    Love this man!!! keep up the hard work !!!!
     
  15. BrandonRoche

    BrandonRoche Member

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    So, it sat again for a while after I drove it, but I recently had a sudden burst of energy, wrote down a list of what I needed, and started working on it. I'm going to try to go from front of the car to the back so first thing was to pull the engine to finish my bay!

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    Then I decided on a color for my bay after carefully randomly selecting a paint can without looking and spraying my nose panel with it. Came out better than I had hoped and I just ordered my quart of it. Hopefully I can have the bay prepped & primed by this weekend, then paint it next week and let it cure before I put my engine back in. I'm also planning on tucking the wiring harness for the engine and the headlights so that'll be good. I also vented my hood and raised my oil cooler up.

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    The nose panel is the color I went with for the bay, but I still have some hole sealing off to do before I can paint it that. So for now, here is a better picture of the paint in the sun with only one layer of clear and no wetsanding. I personally love it.

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    Here is the beginning of my wiring tuck on my engine, I have more to do, but it's already looking much better. I also changed the rubber caps I had to actual plugs. The vacuum lines I will clean up more once my Boost Controller comes in and I figure out where I wants to put everything. I also remounted my dip stick and redid my water lines so they are more tucked under the intake and I can run my oil cooler lines right up to my oil cooler now.

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    In other news.. I picked up a new daily. 2014 Audi A4 Quattro 6 speed. I love it so much more than the Jetta TDI lol. It might be what is causing this motivational bump, driving a well built performance/luxury car again!

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    Thanks! I'm trying but motivation has not been at it's highest, but recently I've made a giant push again!
     
  16. Atomic_Rolla

    Atomic_Rolla New Member

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    So cool.

    Sent from my D6503 using Tapatalk
     
  17. BrandonRoche

    BrandonRoche Member

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    Mini update:

    Redid the wiring on the engine again because I wasn't 100% happy with it, still not in love with it, but I had to put the MAF wiring somewhere and I didn't want it running right next to or under the turbo, so here's the final wiring "tuck". Not the most tucked but it looks cleaner than it did. It's not a show car by any means anyways. Also made it so it goes through the firewall directly behind the engine so it won't be running across the bay anymore, nor will the headlight harness.

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    The bay is primed now, it's not perfect, it has dents, flaws, seam sealer, the works, but I don't really care much. It will look 1000x better than before and again, it's no show car. I don't want to spend hours upon hours shaving a bay that I could easily crack or mess up.

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    Painting the bay Thursday. While it cures I'll be finishing up my trans tunnel and hopefully have the engine back in over the weekend, then I can dive into the interior work and hopefully get that painted by the end of next week. We will see.

    Thanks man! I'm finally excited to get it done again haha
     
    #97 BrandonRoche, Oct 4, 2016
    Last edited: Oct 4, 2016
  18. HCR_guy

    HCR_guy New Member

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    I literally started from the beginning until now.. I love E36's as I own one in the Philippines.. Now this is a build!! Great job and I will surely follow this. there is a big E36 following in the Philippines. We are over 300 members strong down there.. Lol.. keep it up. Who did your exhaust? I am debating if I should just buy or have someone fab mine up..
     
  19. BrandonRoche

    BrandonRoche Member

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    Thanks! Haha, there is a decently strong following up here but I don't talk to many.
    I did my whole exhaust, wasn't terrible to do, just took time and patience and a lot of argon haha
     
  20. BrandonRoche

    BrandonRoche Member

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    Bay is painted. Reassembly starts tomorrow, hopefully engine can go back in Tuesday. Just need to finish up and paint the trans tunnel.

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