E46 BMW Ebay HEADERS and Engine Swap! Mosport in the Rain. Road To Time Attack
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TechTranscript
00:00On the last episode of Road to Time Attack, I money shifted my BMW and damaged the engine.
00:06We had no clear answer as to why it wouldn't start so it was time to get to work.
00:10There was only a week left before the next event.
00:13So stay tuned to see if we can get the car fixed and make it to Mosport on time.
00:24You join us after we got the car back to my garage.
00:27Unfortunately, JRP was too far away for a tow so this is what we had.
00:31Some of Team Pata joined me to start removing the head so we could see the damage.
00:35We realized the engine was probably coming out so we removed the front clip too.
00:39I've never done this before so naturally everything was an adventure.
00:58Why are there trinkets in your car?
01:17After we got the head off, as expected, the news was grim.
01:20Okay, this is the result of a good old fashioned money shift.
01:24When the engine over revved, I got valve float which means the valves contacted the pistons.
01:30Every piston was damaged and every exhaust valve was bent.
01:34So I have ordered a E46 330 block with under 100,000 kilometers on it.
01:42And we're going to do headers as well at the same time.
01:44My good buddy Alex from Boost Customs is coming over because he knows what he's doing.
01:48And he's going to help me with this.
01:50Ran into an engine crane.
01:52Yeah, this is stressful.
01:54The next OTA event is next weekend.
01:57We have basically today and tomorrow to get this swap done.
02:00Then I need to go find a 330 mass airflow sensor because the 325 one doesn't work.
02:05Different intake booting size and different sensors and whatever.
02:08And I have to get the DME reprogrammed because that has a 325 software and I need 330 software.
02:14So, yeah.
02:18Look how brave I am. I'm wearing a white shirt and so far it hasn't got dirty.
02:22That's because you keep sending me under the car.
02:24Safety first.
02:26This is Alex. He does custom exhausts, headlights, and tuning for his brand Boost Customs.
02:31And he's a mechanic, which makes him very handy.
02:37Jerry Vo, a fellow writer from Double Clutch Magazine, came over to help as well.
02:40And the three of us got to work pulling the engine.
02:42With a few hiccups, including forgetting to disconnect the shifter and some struggling, the engine finally came out.
02:47Start pulling it out.
02:52I know where the belt's going to be on this side.
02:54No, just go straight up here.
02:56Just pull it right away from the bolt.
02:58Dude, you're faster than my body. Just start getting it out.
03:02Watch the pump on the right-hand side.
03:04Yeah.
03:05Right here.
03:08Yo!
03:09Alright, yo!
03:11Alright.
03:15We pulled off the transmission, clutch, and flywheel and then reinstalled them on the new 330 engine.
03:20At this point, Alex's girlfriend Katie was nice enough to stop by and help as well.
03:24Things were going smoothly at this point.
03:26But that wouldn't last.
03:29Okay, so we had a little bit of a catastrophe.
03:31We had a broken engine mount.
03:33So I just ran to an hour away from here.
03:36Got a new engine mount.
03:39Well, a new old engine mount.
03:41And we're going to put that in.
03:43This is the new 330 block right here.
03:45And we are going to put in some headers.
03:49Ha! Ebay headers.
03:51How much these cost again, I say?
03:53$200.
03:54$200? You sound ridiculous like that.
03:56Incredibly cheap.
03:58And right now we're just removing some caps from the exhaust manifold that they put in to keep the water out.
04:05Yeah, so.
04:06Or to keep it inside.
04:07It's exactly one million times easier to install if you do it with an engine floating in the air than it would be in the car.
04:13Because getting the bolts out of the exhaust manifold is a pain.
04:16They're in a really awkward spot.
04:18Plus it's going to be a nice picture opportunity.
04:20Yeah.
04:22Victor Rains. I want to meet this Victor Rains guy.
04:25Yeah, who is he? He makes stuff.
04:27Yeah, he's pretty cool.
04:28Yeah.
04:29Oh, look at that.
04:30Shiny.
04:32Okay.
04:33That looks right.
04:36Where's the other one?
04:44It was right here.
04:45It was right here.
04:46It's not a surprise. Have you seen this place?
04:48Where is it?
04:49Wow!
04:50Just a little bit of a hiccup.
04:51Oh, it's...
04:52Wow!
04:53Wow!
04:54I mean, just a little bit of a hiccup.
04:56Edit that out. Edit that out.
05:06Take a look at this beautiful engine here.
05:08It's pretty much ready to go back in.
05:10We're going to give you a 360 tour of it.
05:12Look at that.
05:14And when it comes around, you see the beautiful exhaust right over there.
05:21That's it. She's ready to go back in there.
05:23She's going in.
05:24The engine's going in.
05:26A little tight.
05:27Go a little bit more.
05:28Not on this side.
05:29Here, this one.
05:31This is where things went south.
05:33Getting the engine in is very difficult,
05:35as there is hardly any clearance at the firewall.
05:37And getting the oil pan over the power steering is very tricky.
05:41We eventually unbolted the power steering and moved it right out of the way.
05:44We had to redo the chains and straps several times
05:47and attach the hood so we had enough clearance.
05:49The three of us struggled for hours and hours.
05:55Okay.
05:56Ten hours later, the engine's back in the car.
06:02Never do this, unless you absolutely have to.
06:13There's a June bug stuck in the bucket.
06:19I'm going to bed.
06:21I'm going to bed.
06:26Okay, this is day five now of working on this pretty much constantly.
06:31I feel like I haven't really slept in like four days
06:35just because it's been so stressful trying to figure everything out.
06:39So this, I found out, is from an MS45 DME.
06:43It's the engine computer.
06:45So that means that I'm going to be working on this
06:48with the engine computer.
06:49So that means that I can't use my engine computer
06:52unless I swap over the wiring harness.
06:54That's what I'm doing right now.
06:56It's a shame because everything was all ready to go.
06:58Now I've got to remove this from the car and reinstall it.
07:04We have two days.
07:06Two days to get this thing completely running and ready for the track.
07:10And so a good chunk of Team Pata is coming over tonight
07:14to try and help me get this finished
07:17because, oh man, this is going to be close.
07:22Yeah.
07:23After swapping the wiring harness,
07:25I shot over to see Jim at AMT Tuning with my DME.
07:28He was nice enough to do a last-minute custom reprogramming
07:31so that my DME would work with a 330 engine.
07:34I will be heading back to him after time attack
07:36so he can do a proper software tune,
07:38which coupled with my headers and intake
07:40will yield a significant horsepower bump.
07:42So with that done, I headed back to join up with Team Pata
07:45so we could reassemble the front end.
08:11We played the game of figure out which connector goes where
08:14and all things considered, we did quite well.
08:16The eBay headers didn't mate perfectly with the exhaust
08:19so we sealed it as best we could.
08:21I did have a check engine light because of the headers
08:23and the computer wasn't communicating with the alternator.
08:26But other than that, things went well.
08:28We had to make a temporary intake
08:30and I picked up a 330 mass airflow sensor earlier that day at a junkyard
08:33so I had no idea if it would work.
08:35After several hours of wrenching, we got it back together.
08:38There were so many variables,
08:39I wasn't holding out much hope for it to actually start.
08:43Here we go.
09:04On the morning of Ontario time attack,
09:06my throttle body wasn't working properly
09:08so I removed it and cleaned it and rebuilt the intake side of the engine.
09:11At about noon, I arrived at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park Grand Prix track.
09:16I got there just in time for Colin to instruct me and show me around Mowsport,
09:43one of the fastest tracks in North America.
09:45My car was running beautifully and now it was loud.
10:13I needed tuition at the infamous turn 2.
10:26The entry is blind and there is a massive elevation drop.
10:29You absolutely cannot lift.
10:44Inside edge.
10:53This section isn't very scary.
10:55Turn 2 is.
10:56It is, yeah.
11:00Wow.
11:01What a track.
11:02Told you.
11:03Holy crap.
11:04That's what I keep telling you.
11:06Once you've driven this track, it's a whole different level.
11:08Yeah.
11:10There are some sections I can see how we would get hairy very quickly.
11:16Yep.
11:17Like there's no, like at other tracks, like Cayuga or whatever,
11:20you can mess around and kind of like touch the brakes.
11:22You can't here.
11:23No, you can't.
11:24You really, really can't.
11:25That's why a couple of times I yelled at you, I'm like, brake early, brake early.
11:27Yeah.
11:28I'm like, you're braking too late, you're going to kill us.
11:30Unbelievable.
11:31It's like, it's a completely different style of track than what I'm used to.
11:36It feels like, it feels like a racetrack.
11:39It just feels like a real racetrack.
11:41It's like, you know what?
11:43The biggest thing that was different from like the simulator is,
11:46it's narrower than I thought it was going to be.
11:49Like the track itself and the elevation changes are insane.
11:53Yes.
11:54Those of you at home watching that play this on the simulator,
11:56turn 2 and turn, what, 4?
11:58Turn 4, yeah.
11:59It's like three stories.
12:01It's like a huge drop and you can't see it on video.
12:05You can't see it on a simulator.
12:07Yeah, you don't experience and feel the G-forces.
12:09No, you can feel the car lighten as it goes down.
12:12It's scary.
12:13And you feel the build and the G-forces as you kind of sink down into the drop.
12:16Unbelievable.
12:17Yeah, and then even visually as you crest the hill and you look down,
12:20knowing it's not a video game, that's real life, you're about to drop down that chasm.
12:24And just out there is a wall.
12:26Yeah.
12:27It's just past.
12:28It seems like at the exit of every corner, there's a big wall.
12:30There's lots of squishy things to hit, but still a wall.
12:33Yeah, exactly.
12:34Man, what a ridiculous experience.
12:37Yeah, isn't it?
12:38Holy.
12:39So you think you want to go out and do it again after?
12:41Yes.
12:46I was grateful for OTA's organization and Colin's instruction because the next day, I was on my own.
12:52I had several practice sessions in the morning and the competition would start in the afternoon.
12:56Because of my engine swap, I was now running in GT3 class,
13:00which puts me up against cars like modified BRZs, RX8s, and Honda S2000s.
13:05So I needed to start pushing.
13:08The car was feeling amazing.
13:10I was enjoying the new power that I had from the 330 motor and headers.
13:13The HSD coilovers were keeping the tire temperatures even,
13:16and the StopTech brakes had no issues dealing with scrubbing off the high speeds.
13:20I was starting to feel confident, and I was tackling Turn 2 full on.
13:24Until...
13:25Okay, it is raining out, and we are going out for a practice session.
13:30I'm not sure how I feel about that.
13:33I'm just going to take it really easy.
13:36Brake super early.
13:39I was talking to a guy I just met there who is driving an E36 328.
13:43He doesn't have ABS.
13:45I wouldn't want to be that guy.
13:50We have to go windows down so that we can point people by for passing.
13:54So I'm going to get wet.
13:57But I've got this racing suit, so I don't have to worry about that.
14:00I can just wash it later.
14:02It dries out pretty quickly, actually. I got this at JRP.
14:04This is a Sparco suit, and it's totally fireproof.
14:09So I don't really need it.
14:11I'm not driving a full-blown race car, but I'd rather have it and not need it,
14:16than need it and not have it, if you know what I mean.
14:18So I'm getting pretty excited to see what Mosport is like in the wet.
14:27I took my time and slowly increased speeds until I found my limits.
14:33I still have a lot of grip, actually.
14:36A very impressive amount.
14:38I really can't believe it.
14:41That was an example of speaking too soon,
14:44because I was about to find out that the Hankook RS4s have a tendency to suddenly lose traction in the wet,
14:49instead of progressively letting the car move around.
14:57Whoa!
15:00Okay.
15:02I'm going to take it easy now.
15:07The Grand Prix track wasn't done with me yet,
15:10and Turn 2 tried to take a bite out of my car as well.
15:18Whoa!
15:20Mother of God!
15:26Try not to swear, children, but Mother of Heaven!
15:34Before we went out for the time trials, we had a driver's meeting.
15:37Very cleverly, OTA organizes the car so that during your timed runs,
15:41you will never pass or be passed,
15:43and you are spaced out enough on a track like this that you feel like you have the whole thing to yourself.
15:47Personally, I was worried about my friend and nemesis Kevin in his S2000.
15:52He has already set a better time than me at Toronto Motorsports Park,
15:55so it was time to focus.
16:11We had several timed sessions, but this was my best.
16:14I put everything I learned to use and took as much in the blind braking zones as I dared.
16:19I knew Kevin was hot on my heels.
16:22I knew Kevin was hot on my heels.
16:24I knew Kevin was hot on my heels.
16:26I knew Kevin was hot on my heels.
16:28I knew Kevin was hot on my heels.
16:50I used every inch of my new engine and managed a top speed of 190 kmh on the straights.
16:56I went into Turn 8 as fast as I dared.
16:59I went into Turn 8 as fast as I dared.
17:01My best time in practice was 1 minute 50, and I had just set a 1.47 second mark.
17:26My best time in practice was 1 minute 50, and I had just set a 1.47 second mark.
17:29set a 1.47.0.
17:32That is three seconds faster than this thing read last time.
17:37Ha!
17:38Woo!
17:39Oh my god, that feels so good.
17:43Oh my god.
17:45It's one thing to drive on a track,
17:47but when you do it in competition, in time attack,
17:50it's a totally different feeling.
17:59That time held me in second place for a few sessions,
18:02but by the end of the day, I was down to fourth.
18:05I just squeaked by Kevin, but I had a feeling he was going to best me
18:08at the next event, which was at his home track.
18:11Honestly, none of this would have been possible
18:13without everyone that helped me swap this engine,
18:15so thank you, you know who you are.
18:17JRP's support, Colin and Jay from the Pinnacle Driving Academy,
18:20and the impeccable organization of Ontario Time Attack
18:23made this easily the best driving experience of my life so far.
18:27I can tell you that I'm coming back here next year,
18:29but right now, I need to focus on the next event.