The Headache

Last night I was hoping to spend some more time attacking the fuel lines. BMW conveniently uses a lot of rubber hose and hose clamps to assemble their fuel systems. It makes plumbing adaptation not hard. My biggest hold up right now is getting the 3/16" Ford line to adapt to the M3 1/4" line. I'd like to adapt a 3/16" brake flare to NPT and then go from NPT to hose-flare of some sort. Finding that set of adapters was difficult. I tried a local hardware store and a set of parts-stores fitting bins. I may have to concede to running some more expensive AN adapters from a parts catalog.

Unfortunately, I was never able to get to the garage last night. After getting Anja from daycare, and getting some dinner with Anja and Susi, I ended up having a terrible migraine. I was stuck in bed, with the lights off all night, barely able to see/speak/hear anything. Some ibuprofen and 10 hours of sleep/not-sleep later I'm feeling better but I lost an entire night of progress.

A Smaller Shaft

A life long problem, too long driveshafts, is plaguing this swap project.

First, some teaching. A "U-Joint," short for universal joint, is a small piece of hardware that has two bearings on it. One set of the bearings runs up and down and the other set runs left to right. This forms a "+"-sign shape that allows things like a driveshaft to move both vertically and horizontally. If you've owned a busted old front-wheel drive car you may have needed to have a "CV" or "Constant Velocity" joint replaced. The universal joint is the grandfather of the CV joint and they both perform the same function.

U-Joints are sized by their cap size and their width. Common U-Joint sizes are 1310, 1330, and 1350. Sizes any larger than that can be found on heavy duty trucks but for cars, those three sizes are what can usually be found holding things together. All of the documentation I collected before performing my swap into the M3 indicated the stock Fox-body Mustang driveshaft uses 1310 U-Joints. This was going to work nicely since i also happened to purchase a JagsThatRun (JTR) BMW differential flange that uses 1310 U-Joints.

Unfortunately, I was fouled. When trying to assemble everything I noticed the Mustang U-Joint was noticeably larger than what the JTR flange would accommodate. A few Google searches and some head scratching revealed that Ford changed the U Joints used in the Mustang in 1987. On Manual-V8 cars, the driveshaft uses a 1330 U-Joint. Off to the local parts store I went to get the adapter U-Joint. There was a point in time that I lavished when the parts-counter guys would inquire as to what I was doing with my cars. I've grown to really appreciate counter staff that will simply do what I ask when I say, "I don't have an application, but here is a list of part numbers, one of them should cross to something you have on the shelf." And, "No, I'll pay the extra $3 for the one that will actually fit without grinding and welding."

On the return from the parts store, I swapped on the flange and attempted to fit the driveshaft into the car. I discovered that the driveshaft is about 1.5" too long. Given that I'm putting a weird Ford engine into an even stranger BMW (parts wise) this is amazingly close. All appearances indicate the driveshaft would fit if I assembled things differently but for safety and servicing I'm going to get the driveshaft shortened a bit.

The Hydraulics

The M3 has three distinct hydraulic systems. One is for the brakes, one is for the power steering system, and the third is for the clutch. While the brakes are nice and distinct from the engine the power steering and the clutch are more integral. I have, however, moved forward with getting things hooked up.

I have mounted the BMW power steering pump in the ford bracket by grinding out a larger hole which the BMW pump can "pass through." Then, using a few of the factory bolt holes, mounted an aluminum plate to which the BMW pump attaches. The pulley for the BMW pump-pulley lined up perfectly. i will need to have a new hose made because the factory BMW power-steering line is way goofy. Essentially, the Germans routed the hose up-over-and-around the factory motor mount.

What has seemed imminently more difficult was the clutch. I have a hydraulic TurboCoupe bellhousing. Unlike the Capri, which used a clutch cable, both the M3 and the 1987-1988 Thunderbird TurboCoupe used a hydraulic clutch-actuation mechanism. Most factory hydraulic clutches use a similar fitting that would be found on a brake line. In Ford's infinite wisdom, they used a special hydraulic fitting. For a bonus, the only type of line they ever attached to that fitting is a non-serviceable vinyl line.

Luckily, the gentlemen at Custom Hose Tech in Bloomington, MN, are unafraid of such strange fittings. They are fixing me up with a hose that will allow me to create a BMW-pedal-to-Ford-clutch adapter. As soon as I have this line, I'll finish up a few smaller details with the power steering pump and get a line for it. That will complete the all the hydraulics and allow me to move on to the electronics and intercooler plumbing.

The Change-Up

The reason for a long delayed post has more to do with bravery than having something to post. I have sold the Capri. It's pretty late to be posting, so I'll throw up some pics as teasers. The engine is still the 2.5 Turbo from the Capri but the shell around it is a bit of an upgrade.

The Revisions

The exhaust I previously, and proudly, boasted about has been removed, recut, rewelded, and reinstalled. Twice. Wiring that I redid earlier in the year had a few small "shakedown" issues which were resolved.

I've been reminded about how much work can be done to a car and then you can still be left not fixing the problem that was originally targeted. Relative to the scale of some of the big-buck builds seen in magazines my engine didn't cost that much to put together. After the dust had settled and I finished trading parts, I have under $2500 into this engine. However, there are some major components that I don't want to see fail. Such as the $250 custom-made clutch.

A car's clutch system is not that different from the brakes, except they are inverted. When the clutch is pressed down the brake "releases" and when the clutch is up it is engaged. If any oil gets on the brakes then they will start to slip. This is because the brakes are based on friction, the pads are a rough carbon material and the rotor is metal. When oil gets in between the friction material and the metal the friction goes away. Same with the clutch, if it manages to get oil on it, it will start to slip. Given this new clutch cost an aforementioned $250, I have not been keen on getting any oil on the clutch.

Unfortunately, for the past two weeks I have been trying to track down a fluid leak at the back of the engine -- exactly where the clutch is located. First, I found the oil pan had loose bolts, so I tightened them. Second, I found some oil leaking from some brass fittings at the top of the engine. Upon replacing the fittings, the oil line to the turbo need replaced as it did not have the length to connect the fitting to the turbo. This caused a panic as the type of hose needed for the connection is of a special high-performance type. Luckily, after a few phone calls I found a place 20-minutes away who had the ability to fabricate a new line. After getting everything reassembled. I still had leaks. Third, I dropped the transmission, the clutch, the flywheel, and replaced the rear-main seal. This had both myself and my Dad awake until 1:30 AM on Thursday night re-assembling the car. All of these events unfolded in the same week as Saturday was race day and my goal has been to get the car ready to run at the track. On Friday, I started driving the car a bit to make sure things were stable when I noticed that fluid was still pouring out of the space between the engine and transmission.

This latest leak meant dropping the transmission again. So Friday night, out it came, and I was able to confirm that the front seal on the transmission as leaking. Of course, someone reading this might say, "Duck, transmission fluid is red, why didn't you know the difference between brown-oil and red transmission fluid?" This is because I was trying to be smart about the survival of my transmission. The ubiquitous Ford/Borg Warner T5 transmission is notoriously spindly and my power levels are border line for the transmissions survival. A way to improve the life of the transmission is to use GM Synchromesh transmission fluid, at $15/quart, and it is brown.

Between 6PM and 10:30Pm on Friday I managed to remove the old transmission and swap in a mystery transmission into the car. Instead of $15/quart fluid I'm using $3/quart fluid that I happened to have on the shelf. After some spirited driving around the neighborhood, I finally had less of a leak. You are reading that correctly, less of a leak, it appears that the oil pan gasket is still leaking and it will need to be removed and better sealed. After some consultation and deep thinking, we concluded it was not leaking enough to go to the track.

Saturday morning my Dad and I drove the car out and I raced the car all day. The car was dependable and it still needs more tuning and suspension work but the preliminary results of 8.8 seconds @ 81 MPH are very encouraging.

Some pictures from the victory runs:

The Clamp

I hate leaks. Boost leaks. Exhaust leaks. Water leaks. Oil leaks. "Leaks" the vegetable. I have yet to favorably cross paths with a leak and enjoy the experience. On turbocharged engines with high-boost levels leaks are inevitable. The high pressures find their way into places they are not intended to reach. For the past few years, I've also been fighting an issue with my oxygen sensor. The sensor tells me whether the car is getting too much or too little fuel. It is rather important since too much fuel will cause the car to lose horsepower and too little fuel will cause it to break something. In the gear-head world we call this running "rich" or running "lean." The general philosophy is that "lean is mean."

Through our diagnostics of the Capri after it's initial startup Jim and I discovered the exhaust clamp between the turbocharger and the exhaust system has been leaking in a very serious way. In such an obviously serious way as to cause me to feel embarrassingly stupid. Thus began my quest to track down a clamp. I have not been posting updates because of one, silly, but apparently significant clamp.

For a bit of background, various items on a car are held together with clamps. Just about every car has them holding the hoses onto various places, keeping exhaust components together, and performing other various clamping tasks. Specific to the Capri, the turbocharger has a type of clamp on it called a "V band" clamp. This style of clamp is used to put two flat surfaces together very tightly to prevent them from leaking any air. Upon additional investigation of this specific clamp I've discovered a few things:

1) The surfaces on the Capri are no where near flat.

2) The clamp on this turbocharger (HY35 / HE341) is non-standard. I could not get one from Holset/Cummins or a diesel specialty shop. To get a replacement I was forced to a Chrysler/Dodge dealership.

3) Chrysler/Dodge has a pretty arbitrary pricing scheme for this clamp ranging from $30 up to $90. I didn't bother traveling to the dealership wanting to charge $90. The parts desk guy must have read into the desperation in my voice.

4) Even after some flattening, the clamp still did not provide a seal on the Capri.

After spending $30, probably a full day worth of phone calls and traveling, and even more time in the garage test fitting various arrangements I still had an exhaust leak. In frustration, my Dad and I stared down all the parts in the garage and joked about how "aluminum has a melting point of 1600 degrees, if the exhaust gets that hot, there are other problems." Literally, stuff some aluminum foil in the clamp and hope for the best. It seemed more serviceable than the "weld everything together" and cheaper than "screw this turbo I'm buying a new one" strategies that also popped up through the evening.

This solution, while creative and seemingly innovative seemed a bit hackish to me and I decided to spend a few more hours googling how others spent their time and money to fix V-band leaks.

Hours later, and a few more phone calls, it was suggested to me to use aluminum duct sealer. This is essentially a thicker version of aluminum foil with some mild adhesive on the back. Yes, my wild-ass guess of using aluminum foil was not only limited in its wildness but an accepted fix for these types of clamps.

The Fumes

More pictures! With some great help I managed to get some exhaust fabricated this weekend.

Here is a comparison of the old and new exhausts:

This is the new "dump tube" for the wastegate:

And I have some pride in these welds: