engine and drivetrain Yippee. MegaSquirted Stroker installed at last

[Grover]

Looking back at old emails and research, it was almost exactly one year ago that I started seriously looking into a stroker motor for my '73. Over the following months I slowly procured parts and continued with research. Eventually I decided to go with an S14 block as opposed to a bored out M10. So basically the bottom end is totally stock S14 except for the custom 9.5:1 pistons from Ireland/Ross. Terry Tinney did the machine work on the bottom end included plugging an oil channel on the back right hand side of the block where it doesn't mate up to the E12 head. Another "special" things he did to accomodate the swap was boring out the lower timing chain cover such that it could fit the S14 front seal since the S14 crank has a larger nose than the M10 one. I used the stock S14 crank pulley and mounted a moveable trigger wheel on there which is designed specifically for that pulley, so no weird machining there.

Other random small things to make the S14 worked included boring out the lower mounting hole of the timing chain tension since the stud it rides on is larger than the stock M10 on. I also had to plug the small oil spray hole in there. Lastly, drilling small holes in the bottom of the E12 head to mate to the central coolant channels in the S14 block, right between the cylinders, thanks JP Cadoux and JohnUp for the help on this.

Most of the EFI parts are pretty much the same as other MSII folks before me have used so I'll spare you the details. I ran much of the wiring it a little differently since I wanted to keep the engine bay as clear as possible. As such, I ran the harness through the right side of the firewall and mounted the relay board under the dash, just beside the glove box. This way the glove box is still useable. The main MSII unit is mounted under the passenger seat.

I still have some dressing up of the wiring to do, wrapping it in friction tape, but wanted to be sure everything worked right before doing this. Of course there is still plenty of work to be done on the fuel maps but this is coming together pretty well and I can tell the car has some great grunt and a nice rumble under throttle. Once it's dialed in I'll see if I can figure out how to post an audio file.

Cheesy as it sounds, this project has reminded me of the saying "It takes a village to raise a child." In my case, it truly did "take a community to build a motor." So many folks locally, as well as on this forum, gave me endless help that I could not have done this install without. In particular, some folks I'd like to shout a thank you out to: Curt Ingraham (soldering and electrical whiz), cj (all around generous guy and a fabulous wrench), German Auto in Berkeley for endless advice and parts, WinstonTJ for the initial inspiration, JohnC and JimK for answering countless EFI questions, and countless others who provided input and inspiration along the way. Attached are a few photos.

[Ian]

Very nice work. Where'd you get the trigger wheel? I've got an S14 in search of MegaSquirt.

Ian

'76 M2

[Grover]

The trigger wheel is from VAC motorsports. Not cheap but designed for the job, easily adjustable, and fits perfectly.

[kcdonahue]

Damn that is very nice! Lots of attention to the details most would miss or skip. What bracket did you use for mounting the Ford coil pack? It looks better than the one that I have.

More pictures please!

Casey

[Grover]

The coil pack bracket is actually the stock one from an Escort. However, it was so bulky that I whacked off a portion of it with a plasma cutter then mounted it near where the stock coil mounts, but on the firewall, seemed like a nice out of the way location.

[cj]

Very well done Tom.

As I told you, I really enjoyed your posts and your work is very inspiring even to the old wrenches.

BTW, the engine bay looks very clean. I'd have to say your mission is accomplished.

I raise the stein of Paulaner- CHEERS!

Cris

[2002Targa]

It's looking very clean, I'm glad to hear almost done. Did you have any clearance issues with the manifold and the front brace?? What did you end up doing for the fuel pump??

TK

[ingraham]

(nt)

[Armond]

congrats Tom!!!! Engine bay looks great. Cant wait to see it go.

[Grover]

Thanks for the compliments guys, like I said, I couldn't have done it without you. 2002Targa: No, there are no clearance issues with this particular strut brace. I'm using a fuel pump from an '89 318is, the one with the M42 motor. From what I found, it was the best option since it has a built in return line and is the exact same depth as the '02 tank. Wiring it up was fairly straight forward, just had to figure out which one was the sender for the fuel level vs. the low-level indicator light. Mounting the fuel pump and bending all the new fuel lines was a considerably more tedious process and I let more than one curse word go.

[jimk]

Excellent work. I wouldn't have had the patience.

Thanks for the thanks, I don't know what I contributed, but it must have been of some help.

JimK

[JohnC]

That engine is going to be a beast!!! Comin' together nicely!

[Inka]

Nice clean installation! Looks really nice...

[PSloan]

http://www.vacmotorsports.com/cgi-bin/view_item.pl?item_id=558

Is this the trigger wheel? Does it mount to the stock 02 pulley??

The motor looks awesome. That that TPS work out?

[Grover]

Yes Pat, that's the trigger wheel, and no, it won't fit to the '02 pulley. Thanks again for the TPS, I knew I'd forget to thank somebody for their help. It worked out perfect.