So, when refreshing your existing engine there are lots of things you can/should do; first thing besides a thorough visual inspection is to pull out the plugs and line them up in order and check their condition. Plug condition is more an indicator of what the engine is doing rather than it's condition although there are things that can point you in certain directions but your next test of course is compression and this can tell you allot. I think the average stock e9 engine with inoperative smog equipment dismantled would probably yield about 125-165 hp on a dyno (depending on overall condition) since that is measuring hp at the rear wheels and not the flywheel where many factory specs are taken (please correct me if I'm wrong here). I think our cars can handle about 185 hp at the rear wheels before we need to worry about reinforcements to the shell or suspension. From all the things I have learned here from the folks and from the many times I have had to redo what I just did there is one constant; every time you change something there seems to be a consequence we were not necessarily expecting so wheel and tire size, final drive ratio changes, transmission swaps, fuel systems etc all have effects on weight, handling, comfort, safety, speed and power.
If you are going to reuse your existing engine and the numbers fall within reasonable specifications then you need to flush, clean and reseal everything. I would not remove the head unless numbers dictate, but all the failure prone parts such as the water pump and gaskets all around as well as fuel lines and vacuum hoses, clutch, PP bla bla bla need to be changed, resurfaced etc.
NOW THE FUN STARTS; Forget the money, it's the time. This is when you need to make the critical decision of whether or not to upgrade the engine. Because I spent thousands of dollars and many hours putting my stock engine back together only to find that the modifications I did to the wheels/tires, transmission, exhaust, suspension ETC! rendered my poor car basically gutless. She's a great ride to be sure, finally got the handling solid, will travel 90+ MPH safely, confidently and comfortably on the highway but the truth is the mom in the KIA is quicker off the line even when I wind her up to 4500 rpm in each gear. The car needs something more.
I hate to part with my shiny sloth.
I had my hand on my wallet at least 4 times in the last year and with each desperate call to SF Don I was told that's not what you want, "look, you need a 3.5 out of a Euro 735i between the years 78 and 83, has to be silver, driven mostly up hill, kept at a drinking temperature of 68.7 degrees, has a motronic computer with a Ford Mustang injector set up, oh, and the previous driver had to be blonde, less than 34 years old, less than 115 lbs and it's ok if she had implants.... OK, did you get that Pete, now you know what you're looking for, call me when you have one and I'll get you all set up."... Ah, oHkay
So, I'm scanning through craigslist local and come across a 1981 653 csi Euro for 1500.00. I call Don, he says that may be what I want and that if it has the 5 speed trans and the LSD I can probably sell everything I don't want and pay for the car. A word of warning, parting out a car takes ALLOT of time, luckily the grower, I mean seller offered to completely dismantle the car bolt by bolt for 400.00 if he could use my shop. Well, the numbers on the car/title/engine matched, compression was good and I'm now the proud owner of this car. I take more pictures of the engine and Don says that's a good engine, "the intake and computer system are junk, head is crap, rebuild the engine and I'll get you what you need, buy a Shrik or Shreck? cam, send it to me, I'll fix you up". Don is awesome, got me in touch with some guy in Germany, I shipped Don the cam, he found the "right head", I mean there is allot of crap going on between Germany and San Francisco and I still have this engine that I'm not exactly sure what I'm doing with?
I'm not that lame and as my Sainted math teacher Sister John Bosco once told me "it's not important to know the answer, it's important to know how to find the answer" I started calling around. My go to Porsche guy told me of one machine shop that would do the block but I had to wait 4 months to bring it in to them, Terry Sayther gave me a contact 125 miles away, Jerry Janke Engines who took the engine immediately but I think it will still be a couple weeks before it's assembled and I dropped it off 7 weeks ago, but, I know they'll do the job correctly.
It seems that the main differentiating factor in these engines is the bore and stroke, as well as displacement. The earlier 3.5 blocks have a larger bore and a shorter stroke giving them the handle "square blocks" (again this is from what I think I understand) so when hunting for a new, bigger block this is basically what we're looking for unless we go with an M engine but from what I understand I will never understand all that. But, there are other advantages to using the older engines in that motor mounts do not have to be changed or fabricated and there are more options when it comes to the distributor set up.
Because I'm pretty simple I am going to get the information from my block and try to list what models and years these came in and if there is any sequential engine numbers that will make them easier to identify. I received my fancy intake from Don yesterday but have yet to unpack it. When I do I will photograph all and try to make some sense out of why we're doing the build this way and how to take the guess work out of some of this.
In my opinion, the auto-to-5-speed swap is like changing a spark plug compared to this project. I hope I can provide some useful information.
