533i turbo

[Nebraska_e28]

Good stuff! Keep the updates coming!

[tig]

Very cool. I envy your fab skills.

[mitch5]

Very cool. I envy your fab skills.

Thank you, i started my first fab project a year ago when i made a welding cart. I guess it just shows that anyone using the internet watching lots of youtube videos can fab stuff haha.

[tig]

Very cool. I envy your fab skills.

Thank you, i started my first fab project a year ago when i made a welding cart. I guess it just shows that anyone using the internet watching lots of youtube videos can fab stuff haha.

I've been very, very good at procrastinating on the getting started part. Glad to know that you were able to pick it up quickly. I now have several projects that require welding so...

[jodystevens]

Very cool. I envy your fab skills.

Thank you, i started my first fab project a year ago when i made a welding cart. I guess it just shows that anyone using the internet watching lots of youtube videos can fab stuff haha.

Looks good! Can definitely see where you started to get the hang of the tig on the manifold. I need to get myself a tig setup.

[mitch5]

Very cool. I envy your fab skills.

Thank you, i started my first fab project a year ago when i made a welding cart. I guess it just shows that anyone using the internet watching lots of youtube videos can fab stuff haha.

Looks good! Can definitely see where you started to get the hang of the tig on the manifold. I need to get myself a tig setup.

Yup I made the collector first, all those welds are very gray. Eventually I managed to get them looking like stainless welds. If your looking for a tig I would highly suggest an inverter tig machine, they save a lot of space compared to an old syncrowave miller. Htp and thermal arc are the best options for the 1k-2k range.

[mitch5]

Update: It was finished

Intake/Cooling
I decided i wanted to flip the TB since it really helps de-clutter the engine bay, not to mention minor head loss caused by the extra inter cooler pipe bends. I really wanted to get some more practice with tig welding so i decided to increase the plenum volume. The design is based purely off theory and i didn't even bother to calculate the increased volume. The first problem with doing this is where to relocate the coolant expansion tank. I searched and couldn't find much in terms of e28 applications. I decided the firewall was a good location since it would keep it at the highest point and the e34 was configured as such. I increased the capacity of the new one by about 20%. Instead of a proper coolant level gauge i welded a brace where the tank should be full. The coolant tank has 2 barbs, one for the thermostat housing and one for the coolant neck. The heater is long gone so need to worry about that. Both the manifold and tank was made with .125 inch t6 plate, with 1/4 used for the tb. I mounted the tb upside down so the stock linkage could be used.






The next issue was with the air intake, I previously had cut a hole and ran a 3 inch cone filter by the front tire. This CAI worked great when it was dry(AZ) but in the rain not so much. I opted to make a proper intake box, its a sheetmetal box and is welded to the chassis. The box has a aluminum cover and is just deep enough for the kn cone filter. The air inlet is a 3 inch tube that extends out horizontally into the bumper cover area with some baffling. I didnt take any pictures of the finished product just some of the tacking, The box was seam sealed and undercoated. The other pic shows a panel repair to make more room for the turbo. I also had to repair some rust in that area.










Skid plate:



At the the same time i converted to vacuum brakes, the hydro system was always leaking and needed some high pressure hoses replaced. I used a 528e booster, 528e power steering pump to steering pbox pressure line and a 528e filter, if you pull the parts like i did then you should grab the filters brackets. The 533i already has the holes. I also decided to clean up the engine bay and wiring, everything was re wrapped.

Story:
I initially planned to spray the bay with 2 stage delphin, but halfway through decided i just cared about the function of the turbo. So my young brother was tasked with rattle canning the bay and hood. The hood was rusted so i told my brother he could repair it while i was on vacation. I instructed him to cut out some sheet metal, weld up the holes, seam seal and paint. Well my younger brother who lacks listening skills made a sheet metal repair with aluminum...he tried to mig weld the aluminum to the steel. He was determined though because he attempted to fuse both side and never stopped to wonder why it wasn't working. That's what happens when you leave a 18 year old unsupervised with a welder. Unphased by that he proceeded to seam seal it, with alex latex caulking. Luckily its the 30+ year variety. By the time i got home, the hood was back on and the job was done, i nicely let him go back to fixing up his elcamino.

Currently:

The car has only been street tuned and i doubt ill ever pony up the money for a dyno. I have been running the car 12psi with the ebc, holding full boost till the limit. Tuning has been straight forward since all my warm up/enrichment maps were set. The holset hx35 hits full boost at 3500 rpm and car is spinning tires in 2nd and 3rd. I was just enjoying the car until last week i dropped the clutch and snapped the oil drain for the turbo. The shitty jegs hose isnt flexible enough, so i will be doing a new return in push lock hose. Luckily i let off and then saw oil pressure drop, so i immediately shut it down. I should have it running again this week. If any one has any constructive comments, im all ears.

[Kyle in NO]

Dude. You're a talented fabricator.

[Mark 88/M5 Houston]

Very nice fab work there in the engine bay! Good luck getting the oil drain issue sorted out.

[EventuallyAyrton]

Dude. You're a talented fabricator.

x1807

[mitch5]

Thanks for the compliments. The fabrication is almost as much fun as driving it. So I went to fix the oil drain tonight and discovered i cracked the passenger side motor mount. I must be doing something right to make enough power to crack the mount. I really hate doing oil lines as they always seem to leak on me.

[Nebraska_e28]

Awesome work! One small thing, seeing the coil wire that close to the fuel line makes me squirm a bit.

[mitch5]

Awesome work! One small thing, seeing the coil wire that close to the fuel line makes me squirm a bit.

I really never thought about that. Would the fear of a fire be from the return line squirting onto the coil? Or a spark arcing? I have a fire extinguisher in the car so i try to be on the safe side.

[Nebraska_e28]

Awesome work! One small thing, seeing the coil wire that close to the fuel line makes me squirm a bit.

I really never thought about that. Would the fear of a fire be from the return line squirting onto the coil? Or a spark arcing? I have a fire extinguisher in the car so i try to be on the safe side.

It's probably unlikey for a spark to jump from a non-moving part like the coil itself. But with that said, last year I chased a random arching issue near my dist cap that took forever to find. In the event a spark did jump & ignite anything fuel related or under fuel pressure, I dont think you'd be able to get that handheld out fast enough. Then again I could be wrong.

[mitch5]

Update:
About a month ago i broke an ear on the passenger side motor mount, i was busy finishing finals so i pulled the mount and attempted to repair. The repair didn't go so well, due to it being a very dirty casting. While i had the mount out i made a steel jig so i could later make my own.

Using mild steel for a mount would have been alot easier, but you just dont see many aluminum mounts. The design i came up with should allow me to dump clutches all day long. It's an assortment of t6 .25 plate, thick tube and some round stock.

The next step is replacing the torn diaphragm in my tial wastegate, right now it only holds 5 psi when the spring is 10. I recently found out that asu partners with a community machine shop called techshop, so fulltime students get free membership. This means i will eventually have access to a 4-axis cnc along with all other kinds of machines. The first order of business is to replace all the bushings in the rear with poly, im cheap so i plan on turning all of them myself. Unfortunately my brother totaled his elco, so my turbo has become my daily driver, which gets toasty with no ac. Also due to employee pricing via internship the holset may be getting replaced by a garrett, which would mean a new manifold. But of course that all has to be put on hold until my brother can afford another car.

[EventuallyAyrton]

Incredible work. That mount looks like it will last forever