Slowly but Surely- 325iX, 325iS, and E30M3 resurrection

[PAdutch]

Reminds me of my forester. Everytime you go to fix something, you find 5 other things that need fixing.

[DocWalt]

Every time I'm like "I should buy a Legacy or something" I read **** like that lol

[blue91lx]

Originally Posted by DocWalt

That all looks like ****ty grunt work, lol

Originally Posted by PAdutch

Reminds me of my forester. Everytime you go to fix something, you find 5 other things that need fixing.

Originally Posted by DocWalt

Every time I'm like "I should buy a Legacy or something" I read **** like that lol

There is certainly nothing glorious about wrenching on this thing, grunt work gets old FAST

Subaru's are definitely an odd bird. On one hand, they're pretty reliable. But on the other hand, once you actually dig into them, you find out that 10 things are bad despite the car still getting you from A-B all that time.

I'm taking care of (and have taken care of already) most/all of the issue-prone areas like the Secondary Air Pump delete, TGV delete, new OEM turbo, HD Wiseco pistons so no ring-land failure, HD Moog suspension parts, etc etc, and I don't drive it very hard, so my hope is to get a few years of reliability out of it.

I'm also going to have the tune done for efficiency/reliability and couldn't care less what it makes (it's already way faster than my E30s stock lol), so a solid, safe tune should aid in reliability.

[blue91lx]

Got all of my strut assemblies pulled and reassembled with the swift springs and KYB GR2s. I swapped tie rods, installed the front swaybar, and after a ton of fuss..... finally got my new axles from Subaru! They're supposed to have green cups for OEM, my guess is that Subaru is having these remanufactured somewhere judging by the overall quality. They don't feel nice, but there is no better option than OE sadly, so I really hope these don't vibrate.



I am just waiting on an alignment now (my preferred alignment shop is closed), and she'll be back to cruising before I tear it apart for the engine build! I also ordered Wiseco HDs over a month ago and still haven't heard from the company after multiple communication attempts. Gotta love it.



Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

[blue91lx]

Finished up the suspension, got the GF to hold the wheel straight while I did an eyeball alignment and she drives straight as an arrow! It'll hold me over until my alignment on Wednesday. The front has settled a bit since I took this photo, it looks exactly how I hoped!

I wasn't a huge fan of the Subaru Trans oil that I used last time, so I went with some tried and true 75w90ns Redline.

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

[blue91lx]

Oh so pretty
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

[DocWalt]

oh snap

[PAdutch]

[blue91lx]

Originally Posted by DocWalt

oh snap

Originally Posted by PAdutch

They’re some quality pieces- I spoke with a few friends who have ran ITBs and they all said they’re a PITA and constant maintenance which I don’t love, so I’ll see what happens with them.

I am having a megasquirt unit built into a factory E30 ECU case that’s almost done, and my engines are almost done. I bought a flip Subaru that I need to do a motor on and have been doing a head job and manual swap on a buddy’s ‘87 iS. I also preordered the new AlphaTig 201xd.

I’ll post some progress soon once I get some of these project wrapped up.

[rocknrace03]

Originally Posted by blue91lx

I also preordered the new AlphaTig 201xd.

*Creepy grin Jack Nicholson nodding meme*

[PAdutch]

Your a busy car guy haha. Make sure to post feedback on tuning the ITBs in tunerstudio/megasquirt. I still have mine sitting on the shelf for the miata.

[blue91lx]

Originally Posted by rocknrace03

*Creepy grin Jack Nicholson nodding meme*

I am so excited to get it! They called for July arrival and I got tracking yesterday already

Originally Posted by PAdutch

Your a busy car guy haha. Make sure to post feedback on tuning the ITBs in tunerstudio/megasquirt. I still have mine sitting on the shelf for the miata.

Re: the ITBs and tunerstudio- I am going to get it going on the stock intake manifold for a while so I can get all of my ancillary systems together like AC r134 conversion, exhaust fab, cruise control, etc etc and once things smooth out move onto the ITBs. I plan on running blended alpha-n and SD using a MAP signal from a vacuum block + a variable TPS, but we'll see!

I'm at that awkward point where I am almost ready to go full time with the BMW stuff and ditch my day job...... aka I'm just working more than full time at both haha. Trying to get all of my ****ty cars finished *enough* to where they can move under their own power without catastrophic failure for a period of time.

I also finally reached a point of peace about leaving my Forester behind for an Auto car in lieu of reliability/simplicity. Took me years, but I can't stand the constant maintenance anymore, so once I do the head gaskets I'm going to sell it and pick up a 17-18 2.0XT Fozz Touring in Ice Silver Metallic, like this one.



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Some photos for you guys. The machinist that I've been using for years out here is a saint. He finished up my 3.1L build today with the heavily ported cylinder head and fancy bits. The head was previously welded and someone did a crappy job, so he had to rework quite a bit of the corroded surfaces and refinish with an RA suitable for my MLS gasket, bore the block out to 86mm, clean every last little part and assemble the engine.

My plan was to sell the 3.1 because I figured the bill would be astronomical. Turns out, if you send folks enough business and are easy enough to work with, sometimes you get thrown a bone. I got charged a whopping $600 for work I was expecting to spend thousands on so the 3.1L engine is going in my car! Super stoked about that, definitely made my day.

Am getting this cylinder head job wrapped up on an '87 iS, I did a suspension refresh for him as well. He's going to drive the car for a while and then bring it back for a manual swap.

I also disassembled my SOHC subaru motor today for the flip car to get the heads done and the HGs were leaking so bad the cylinders started to rust from water sitting in them. Thankfully I caught it before it scored the walls. A very light ball hone knocked off all of the surface corrosion. I brought it to said machinist to get his approval, he said all was well.


Head job on the 87 iS almost buttoned up. I was originally just going to do a timing belt, and upon teardown realized the HG was leaking very bad, had original hex head bolts, etc etc. Luckily I had a head already done on the bench waiting for a home so I could make swift work of it.

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr




My other stroker motor- 2.7L is coming along! Need to shave the deck and assemble, all parts are cleaned, measured and ready to go.

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr




Aaaaaand the 3.1L build at home!

Head: Billet split duration 284/280 cam, HD rockers, RHD valve springs, +2mm valves, porting by RHD

Block: M54b30 89.6mm crankshaft, M54b30 rods, block bored to 86mm with torque plate, custom 4032 JE pistons profiled to match the 731 head, 10.5:1 compression

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

[DocWalt]

3.1L beast

[blue91lx]

Originally Posted by DocWalt

3.1L beast

I can't wait! Going to begin assembly this week before I change my mind again


I finished up the '87 iS and he came to pick it up over the weekend- the new cylinder head really brought this car to life. He's bringing it back in a few weeks for the manual swap and 3.73 diff swap. I got to do some fun stuff like delete the throttle body coolant hose with taps/plugs to simplify coolant routing, simplify vacuum routes, four pintle injectors, update all of the timing components to the non-stamped revisions, etc etc. This thing was ALL original. The car rips now, even in auto trim.

Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

[DocWalt]

What do non stamped revisions of timing stuff do?

[blue91lx]

Originally Posted by DocWalt

What do non stamped revisions of timing stuff do?

BMW had a few failure prone engine parts over the years that caused some catastrophic failures. The intermediate shaft gears and some cam gears were stamped steel and would very commonly fold in and cause your pistons and valves to become good buddies. They also had “hex” style head bolts that would “pop” and the heads of the bolts would break off and fall into the engine.

They revised all of those parts, so every once in a while I get the satisfaction of opening up one that is totally original and bringing it up to spec.

It doesn’t do anything, it’s just fun from a bmw nerd perspective haha

[blue91lx]

Set the head on the block with no HG and timed it with some old components I had lying around and carefully turned it to feel for any interference, valve lash all the way out, just to do a prelim check.

I then put on my cometic 86mm .070 HG, snugged the head down, set lash to .010, and tested with some clay. Clearance looks good, I am happy.

Torqued the head down with ARPs, and started assembling some small stuff.

Despite the piles of M20 stuff I have lying around, I still had to order oil filter housing seals and a revised intermediate shaft pulley. When I get the new pulley in, I'll time it back up with the Gates Racing belt I have for the engine.

I have a cheap IE oil pan baffle but don't really want to drill into my pan, so I'm considering just getting a VAC or AAF oil pan baffle and having my buddy weld it in so it's done right. It'll push back my timeline, but I think it'll be worth waiting on for those left hand parking lot sweepers.

Also, to take a moment to bitch- the suspension mods I did to the Forester made it drive like complete trash. It feels like a '95 honda on racelands. 0/10. I'm going to get new stock control arms/bushings, another stock front swaybar (was so confident I scrapped the last one), and put on my stock springs. I am at wits end with this thing, but feel like I NEED to fix it before I sell it to get the most money out of it. It's going to drive me crazy. I want a reliable, quiet, smooth daily driver so badly I could cry.



Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr
Untitled by Bobbie Morrone, on Flickr

[DocWalt]

Those relatively basic mods ruined the Forester? Dafuq? Ugh

BMW ****'s looking sweet at least lol

[blue91lx]

Originally Posted by DocWalt

Those relatively basic mods ruined the Forester? Dafuq? Ugh

BMW ****'s looking sweet at least lol

Never in a million years did I think that would be the case with the Forester.

I don’t think those mods specifically killed it, but rather likely highlighted other underlying issues. Having so many projects going at once, though, I don’t have the energy to spend all my time chasing shakes, rattles and clunks, so I will admit to being a bit dramatic when it comes to Forester issues. I’m just exhausted by it.

It shakes like crazy at 70+mph now, the new Whiteline sways clunk like crazy (common), and the ride is far more harsh than I thought it would be with the Swifts. I never over spring struts, but the only Forester struts available are GR-2s which the internet said would be fine for the Swift rates, but I don’t think they’re valved right for the springs.

[DocWalt]

My experience with GR-2 shocks is that they're trash even for stock springs, but loads of people love them