e30rapidic

Finally got it booked for some dyno tuning time on May 20!

zbomb

I'm guessing 325WHP if it's on a dynojet.

Good luck ! dyno days are the best and the worst, I hope you walk away happy.

e30rapidic

Flowcoat with Cromax and a quick buff/polish. Needs some deep cleaning in the crevices but I'm totally pleased with how my garage paint job has turned out.

Few more areas to touch up with the buffer, deep clean all the nooks and crevices.....then ceramic coat it.

Wheels need to be refinished now. I do like the stock silver but thinking of neodyme or aurum.

Now, it just gets driven......

e30rapidic

So today was the day. Peak 305.52 wheel horsepower and 296.98 wheel torque. If someone knows what the typical drivetrain loss is, please let me know. I figure somewhere between 10-20%.

I was mostly concerned with AFR and drivability around town so didn't go hard core on the tune. I'm really glad that I had it tuned as apparently the engine had been running lean, hence the early shutdown on the first run. So yeah, I'm glad I got it tuned. Peace of mind for sure. Stock DME "handled" the larger displacement but was not optimal by any means.

Final number from the dme tweaks alone were +15 hp and +12 tq over what we started with. That's about what I've seen from tuners advertising on the web., We left some timing out as I wanted a comfy daily around town and not worry about blowing it up!

I was expecting a little bit more on the numbers but I am really pleased with how the car drives now. Power delivery is so much smoother than it was before the tune. The low end torque is great, really makes flat power delivery. It was wild watching the different tunes do different things. Peakier numbers but a sharper curve, lower peak and a flatter curve. flatter curve = more overall power.

We discussed headers to get a bit more power out of it but doubt I'll do anything else outside of enjoy it. Hey, the power and torque went up.....and now I know it won't blow up!

Hearing/seeing it on the dyno running at redline like that did make me nervous AF. I had the original AOS let go at redline and was cringing about seeing that again.

They wondered why I had a purple wire attached the DME, so we ending discussing the overall project, transmission swap, and paint. They complimented me on the build which gave me the warm fuzzies. I'll take my supercharged e30 S50 to them one day.




First aborted run showing AFR. Just seeing this made me glad I was getting it tuned properly!

2mAn

Im here for the E30 updates, but the black car is cool too

#r3vlimited

KC-CarGuy

After reading through this post... it came to me...

Your definition of a project is way more advanced than mine. Good on ya!

e30rapidic

THATS where I know your name from!!! haha awesome

hah thanks. I enjoyed it. Was just thinking today of what to do now it’s just about done. All my friends cars are fixed now too. Might be time to get another project….?

2mAn

Yup, that place is still alive, but on life support. Shame the group hasnt seen the updates on the vert. Pretty freakin awesome.

I havent owned an E30 in ~4 years, but still over there harassing people and posting all my non-E30 projects. They were the ones who made my avatar. They never got over me selling my MR2 LOL

themadhatter444

I'm just a 991 guy lurkin' these waters but wanted to chime in that I read the whole thread this morning and couldn't help but comment how much fun it was. What a great build! I'm sure all of this documentation took a considerable amount of time but there's at least one reader here that had a blast scrolling through this thread.

e30rapidic

thanks for sharing that, pleased to hear it! I’ve enjoyed learning and sorting through it. Pretty proud of the transmission swap. 😬

I am sensing a 991.2 in my somewhat near future.

e30rapidic

here ya go. Showed the ol’ single stage paint on the hood some love. Been on there since October 1986.

e30rapidic

New Alpine front speakers installed, couldn't justify the Focal cost. Bought the adapter rings and factory connectors. Plug and play for less than $150 and 20 minutes per side. Hardest part is getting the Torx closest to the windshield.

I haven't listened to them yet. Started renovating the hardwoods and kitchen..... so the garage is full of my old kitchen cabinets.






But I did manage to get the e30 all shined up and all the shadow line trim repainted. Just about ready for a photoshoot and sale ad...

FunWithPaul

Great journey! (and thanks for teaching the rest of us!)
I have a 03 C4S and had the back bumper off (to change the plugs/coils and try to get to the left cam sensor. Got 5/6 plugs done, couldn't get to #4, and no joy on the cam sensor). I saw the stainless pull cable in my engine compartment, I am assuming it is an emergency boot (since you are English) release, but where is it supposed to go? Having it in the engine compartment is useless... I see yours comes out under your left tail light. But you need the engine lid open to get to the screws to remove them.

For anyone reading this: Shouldn't it go under the left wheel well liner ? (as at least you could get to that if the engine lid wouldn't open...)

Thanks,
Paul

e30rapidic

My garage is a mess and my car is filthy but I don't care. We finally got all of the old and new (except one) kitchen cabinets out of my garage (house renovation) and I just couldn't wait anymore to get my new x-pipe with 200 cell cats installed. I just felt like the emissions thing is right to comply with. I had no issues with CEL or passing the yearly inspection but I figured I'd do my part...

Only driven it once since my inspection is past due but...no difference in sound or the way the engine runs between the two x-pipes. I can say the exhaust doesn't smell so much now, which is a definite plus.

I went with the larger diameter Top Gear unit, made in my home country of England. I ordered on a Thursday night and it was delivered the following Monday. Excellent shipping time. Looks to be a quality piece and is definite cost effective.

Now time to do a couple of drive cycles to reset the DME monitors and off to get it inspected.

circuit.heart

Curious about your impressions on fit and eventually longevity of those cats. I want this for my car, but those cats need to work for many years for the buy-in to be worth it in California.