M44 Engine project

[windym]

So as per tittle my M44 1.9 140 BHP engine project, a while back I was looking at transplanting a 2.8 engine into my car. After much deliberation I decided against the idea and started looking at ways of keeping the cars original characteristics.

This meant sticking to the 4 pot engine building and modding the 1.9 lump and ancillaries to gain HP. Speaking with an engine tuner who takes m42 and m44 engines and turns them into hill-climb and sprint engines I have decided to follow suit.

The aim is to take the engine to 208 BHP normally aspirated as a first stage, then possibly take it further with supercharging. @spurs fan in a coupe was getting shot of an M44 unit I decided to use that as the base of the project.

So very early stages and still having work done on my car to make this modification work properly, I removed the engine with Andy. Today I stripped all the ancillaries and brought the block home to start dismantling and getting the various parts worked on.

This thread will go on a bit over the next couple of months while I get this underway, so a couple of pics so far.

I am looking at a lot of little HP gains as well as some quite substantial ones, will put up the first stage list of mods this week after I have stripped the engine into parts.

Andy

 

[Low Rider]

I'll be following this thread as it sounds very interesting
Andy

 

[mwpe]

I will be watching this with interest, it was good to meet you this afternoon.

 

[Althulas]

Looking forward to your progress.

 

[DavidM]

Interesting project and looking forward to seeing how you progress!

 

[spurs fan in a coupe]

I'm going to enjoy this

 

[andyglym]

Be interesting to see how you get on, no real great knowledge of tuning but I understand there are many ways to gain more BHP. Good luck.

 

[windym]

Hi just came across a thread by Zedonist and a few things he did, including the flywheel. Im not sure why he stopped at that but heyho, this is part of his build thread.

"So Flywheels and clutches, The M44 has a DMF (Dual Mass Flywheel) they are very heavy, help with torque but are parasitic to draining the engine power, how much you say, well its to the tune that if you shaved 10lb off one you would gain 34BHP (virtual) in first gear, 28 in second, 18 in third, 10 in fourth and 5 in 5th. This sounds good, and in theory it is very good and backed up by calculation, we should all do it yes? well the problem is the DMF it cannot be modified, its a very intricate and heavily engineered component, and nobody has the skill to do it. The option therefore is to fit a single mass fly wheel, they are available in various expensive forms from the states, you can even put in an M3 flywheel and clutch or a Valeo conversion kit, problem is these are the same weight as the DMF so that you do not notice any difference in driving, so no point in just swapping these out.

Answer therefore get one modified, have the fly wheel lightened and balanced, well that is my solution, but today ended up in a fortunate twist" (zedonist.,https://zroadster.org/threads/m44-dual-mass-to-single-mass-and-beyond.6167)

So looking at hp gain calcs and reasoning behind this mod it appears on paper this is the mod with the greatest HP gains for very little money. The three lightened flywheels that are most popular to use in place of the standard DMF are, Chrome-molly E36 M3 standard flywheel, Billett steel balanced and Aluminium balanced. All these have their merits as to hardness, wear, heat and friction in fairness there is really too much to get bogged down in, in this thread.

The standard M44 DMF weighs in at a rather lardy 13.6kg (28lbs)

E36 3.0 M3 SMF comes in around the 10kg (22lbs)mark

Billet steel/Alu balanced 7.2kg (15.8 Lbs) and 5.2kg (11.4lbs)

DMF
"Drawbacks – it takes effort to get the wheel rotating and stops the engines revs increasing or slowing down quickly. A lighter wheel takes strain off the engine and allows the engine to rev more freely, as a bonus as there is less weight the engine is able to release more power.-- Read more at: https://www.torquecars.com/tuning/flywheel-lightening.php - (c) TorqueCars

SMF
The big downside to a lighter flywheel is that engine momentum or inertial spin is reduced – most noticeably on a hill.-- Read more at: https://www.torquecars.com/tuning/flywheel-lightening.php - (c) TorqueCars

So with this in mind and talking to a few people who run and race/sprint/hill-climb cars with lightened flywheels I will go for the billets steel weighing in at 7.2 kg. This will release a huge amount of wasted HP I was quoted as a ball-park 18-23 av gain in HP at 5500 rpm for the E36 M3 3.0 weighing in at 10kg. I would expect to see gains of 27-34 av HP at 5500rpm from the 7.2kg flywheel, still waiting on the torque figures from the engine tuner. Also I will fit performance engine and gearbox mounts at the same time, these will help ensure torque is not lost trying to twist the engine off the mounts.

There are a lot of plus/minus when doing these mods so the figures are ball park until I get the thing finished and onto a dyno. I am planning a lot more smaller gains as well as another larger gain, will come onto those later.

Andy

 

[oldcarman]

I'm going to enjoy this

I also will be following along Andy!! That isn't my old car is it?? JIM

 

[spurs fan in a coupe]

I also will be following along Andy!! That isn't my old car is it?? JIM

Yes it is!

 

[Lee]

Keep all the info coming

 

[Antm72]

An interesting project and one what will be a great read!
Thanks for sharing the info im sure many M44 owners will watch with great intrest as will i

 

[windym]

This is a brief outline of the first stage mods and upgrades that I intend to carry out over the next few months. Also looking to have a play with some electric conversions to make the most of the engines potential and seeing what is achievable @Lee and @GazHyde have kindly offered advice and help with this project.

M44 140 hp start

Engine rebuild re-hone new rings gaskets and bearings

Full service/plugs/leads.

Flywheel 7.2kg 27-34 hp

M3 3.0 E36 clutch for future possible supercharging

Head ported/polished, guides, bigger inlet/exhaust valves, lifters/springs (stage two)

Cams up to 276 deg max mid/high rev range

Uprated injectors/ forced induction

Polished intake chamber matched to throttle body

Gasket matched inlet/head manifold, exhaust manifold/head

De-cat or sport cat

Throttle body re-bore 2mm + 90mm Maf- 18-23hp

High capacity radiator repositioned to allow forced induction

Oil cooler/high capacity oil pump (electric?)

Electric water pump conversion 9 hp with fan delete 13-16hp

Electric steering pump conversion 7hp min- 11hp max

Re-map rev limit lifted to 7200rpm 12-18hp

Engine/gearbox mounts

Total released ap 220 hp n/a.

This is without bringing into consideration the head, cam and air intake mods, going to do the head/intake polishing, gasket matching work myself as a learning curve, but not the valves/guides

So I feel confident that with all these little gains I can happily achieve the 208 HP min, I am after, while still having a car that is drivable. I would be looking to have all this done by early next year, quite a lot of the mods I can get done with the help of the Zshed.

Electric steering/water pump conversion, engine and gearbox mounts, forced induction and radiator. This will also give me an indication of how these mods will work on the engine I have in at the mo. Also it will give me a bit of time to sort out any gremlins that may follow before I have the new engine fitted.

Advice would be good and will photograph the stages

Andy

 

[GazHyde]

From the chat we had at the weekend this looks a really promising (and relatively safe) way of boosting the power of the 4 pots. Doesn't look major money either, although once you start chasing horses it can be hard to know when to stop. Will definitely be getting the ZedShed eagle eye cast over it, and hopefully a few test drives too when it's done!

May be the end of the 6 pots dominating the line up

 

[littlefeller]

how about something completely different, lithium ion battery pack and a super capacitor (as a buffer) to power an off the button electric turbo, regenerated during braking and off throttle moments via a rather clever clutch running off the now defunct cooling fan coupling

 

[littlefeller]

do you really free up all those ponies by getting rid of the fan, i need a new thermostat, as mine rarely gets past quarter on the temp gauge, now thinking to go down electric fan route and get some free horses to boot (im thinking i struggle with emissions as it never gets hot enough and this might solve the issue), i could just swap the faulty part but then i dont get the free part. as for the flywheel, yes i have seen this posted elsewhere including metric mechanic. im not sure this would be to my liking though as i drive twisty country roads, i find the heavy flywheel actually helps in this kind of driving (wouldn't want to give it another squirt of umph mid corner (im convinced this is why some say the 1.9 handles better in corners than the 2.8, it doesn't it just feels different as the 6 pot has 2 more pots slowing the flywheel), quick take cover as all the 2.8 ers get involved

an interesting project your embarking on there @windym will follow with interest.

 

[windym]

Was meant to be working today but had a clinic list fall through, so went shopping instead. Ordered the flywheel, clutch master cylinder and braided hose, this flywheel is compatable with standard and stage 1-3 comp clutches.

Forged Chromoly Steel One-Piece Lightweight Balanced Flywheel from Competition Clutches in the USA. Balanced flywheel, and tested to 11,000rpm, 7.2kg weight for a huge performance gain over the stock dual mass unit, but still nice and drivable.

so very happy, looks like this project is now underway.

Andy

 

[5harp3y]

fair play for doing this but i cant see how its value for money over a M52 with M50 manifold?

but each to their own and i'll enjoy following your progress

 

[windym]

From the chat we had at the weekend this looks a really promising (and relatively safe) way of boosting the power of the 4 pots. Doesn't look major money either, although once you start chasing horses it can be hard to know when to stop. Will definitely be getting the ZedShed eagle eye cast over it, and hopefully a few test drives too when it's done!

May be the end of the 6 pots dominating the line up

Hi @GazHyde fully agree with the HP chasing it looks like my target of 208HP will be met or passed with these mods. Planning to keep it fun and fairly sensible as I still want to drive it without reliability problems.

Also this is more about releasing the engines HP potential rather than forcing the engine to perform. The electric and flywheel conversions should go along way to achieving this end. Combined with the throttle body, intake gasket matching, head porting and polishing will really smooth out the air flow.


Andy

 

[oldcarman]

Glad it's gone to a good home and the project works out as planned!!