I have a m10 with 90k miles and the original solex carb. I was wondering what the basic upgrades would be. I would imagine:
Intake, Headers, Exhaust and a Weber Carb seem to be popular basic ideas. I was just wondering what else would be needed to get to about 150 hp while still staying n/a. Also, if you have any ideas on costs, that would be... well splendid. Thank you.

you could swap out the cam to something hotter. You'd want to match that with whatever carb you get.. otherwise you've got it covered. weber, intake, exhaust & cam are the ones that come to mind. You could rebuild the engine with larger pistons etc .. or go megasquirt fuel injection and so on..

I've been thinking 292 cam, weber 36/36 (i have one is why), tii manifold, and a peanut job in the intake should make around 130-150 with this engine i've got.

It depends on what you have and how much you want to spend (or how long you want to search for sweet deals).

I'm kicking myself there were dual 45's on craigslist the other week for $100 but I was too late. The guy had spelled them webbers so I didn't find them so fast :(

edit: i'd point out that what I've said is only from what I've learned, not from personal experience. Like you I want to build up this m10 engine I've got so any other real world advice would be great!

I have a m10 with 90k miles and the original solex carb. I was wondering what the basic upgrades would be. I would imagine:
Intake, Headers, Exhaust and a Weber Carb seem to be popular basic ideas. I was just wondering what else would be needed to get to about 150 hp while still staying n/a. Also, if you have any ideas on costs, that would be... well splendid. Thank you.


What compression ratio are the pistons? You'll need to know before selecting a cam. Otherwise you may go too big and hurt performance. All other mods will depend on the cam.

Cris

M10 Bored and stroked to a 2.3 and a ported head can produce 180hp

Well I think I'm gonna keep it to mainly the basic stuff because I bought this car to work on with my dad and I don't know if he wants to do anything to serious. I could be mistaken. It's definatly not because he can't do it, he is a wizard with euro's, just he's a froogle. I'll run some prices by him. I mean, if your gonna swap parts on a car, you might as well do it right.

what is the head casting #? That might help us figure out your compression ratio. It will be located on the towards the rear of the head on the drivers side. should be either 121, 121ti, e12, or e21. Who knows what motor might have been put in your car by now.

with stock compression a 32/36 weber and a tii exh manifold are good upgrades. advance the timing as much as possible while avoiding preignition and you should be set.

other modifications beyond these wont give great results without a bump in compression (based on my personal experience).

My favorite setup for the street EVER would be 9.5:1, 38/38 weber, 292 cam, tii manifold, and a nice 2" exhaust. Very fun and lots 'o torque.

BTW:my ITB's are almost done! I'll post pics when I fab up the linkage and make some velocity stacks :redspot

oh, and 150hp is a pipe dream without opening up the motor.

you would need at least 10:1, 300 cam, header, nice cfm flow through the head, and 40's or 45's.

I checked for the engine and it says e12. Now that means...

thet is a type of the head. e12 used on later 2002 and early e21 cars.

steve k.

On my 2002 we did a bit of work in this area. Here is what we did:

-Shrick 292 cams
-Dual 45mm Solex side-draft carbs
-Needed some new pistons so compression got bumped to slightly over tii specs (when matched with whatever head we had, truly don't recall)
-Stahl headers with a straight pipe exiting through a magnaflow muffler. Started with a Supersprint but it kept cracking. :rolleyes

I think that was it. Car was pretty damn fast. Quick enough to surprise every corvette that I lined up with at a stop light. (Those guys wanted to race me more than anyother car for some reason). No clue what the hp was before or after. I do know that it was enough that my brother toaster a 330 coupe of a stop light with this car. The only thing I wish we did differently was get Weber carbs. While the Solex is a good carb, it is next to impossible to find any parts for it, and thus, our carbs were never tuned perfectly.

Car was pretty damn fast. Quick enough to surprise every corvette that I lined up with at a stop light. (Those guys wanted to race me more than anyother car for some reason).
I know what you mean except my car is a Mustang magnet.

What kind of power would taking off the emissions controll equipment, new headers, muffler, and a weber carb give? 5 maybe? Just curious... and bored.

I know what you mean except my car is a Mustang magnet.

Those seem to love my M3. :rolleyes

Silly american car drivers. :stickoutt

What kind of power would taking off the emissions controll equipment, new headers, muffler, and a weber carb give? 5 maybe? Just curious... and bored.
headers won't do a thing for you until about 150-160 hp...get an exhaust manifold off a 2002tii; that would give better flow but not too much where you lose your low end. also, don't go over 2" diameter with the exhaust. 2" is good to about 160 hp. other than that i would think between 5 and 10 hp would be gained. i could be wrong however. also get an electronic ignition set-up to replace the points. the pertronix unit seems to be very popular; also, crane makes a pretty good unit. i think you'll be pleasantly surprised by the results. if you want to achieve 150+ hp you would have to get either sidedraft carbs or an injection set-up. both can be pricey. these engines are engineered very well to begin with so there is not a whole lot to be gained through bolt-on mods. good luck.
regards, jeff

wouldn't it be smart to do efi + cams + slightly higher-flow injectors + fuel pressure regulator + port and polish head?

I was just curious why most of you guys choose to stay with carb? :)

Carbs work, they are pretty easy to set up, and there (seemingly) arent as many things that can go wrong as FI. Many people also refuse to accept FI cuz they want to stay original or "period correct"

What kind of setup will you be running? Im working on a FI setup as we speak. I'll probably have all the fabrication done this week. As soon as I am done though, the car is getting stripped and sent to the bead-blaster/paint guy.

Im using 4 38mm throttlebodies off a GSX-r 600.
I'll be using megasquirt to control it but that wont happen until after the car is put back together.

I still have to fab throttle linkages and velocity stacks. I'll post pics when I have the setup installed.

Carbs work, they are pretty easy to set up, and there (seemingly) arent as many things that can go wrong as FI. Many people also refuse to accept FI cuz they want to stay original or "period correct"

What kind of setup will you be running? Im working on a FI setup as we speak. I'll probably have all the fabrication done this week. As soon as I am done though, the car is getting stripped and sent to the bead-blaster/paint guy.

Im using 4 38mm throttlebodies off a GSX-r 600.
I'll be using megasquirt to control it but that wont happen until after the car is put back together.

I still have to fab throttle linkages and velocity stacks. I'll post pics when I have the setup installed.

Sounds nice, I'd love to do TBI but it seems like alot of work for me. Right now I'm in-between jobs. I just got hired at an Infiniti dealership so money is zilch at the moment. But my plans are close to yours.

I'm also doing a FI setup and right now I'm collecting parts. I was going to just use the efi system from an 1985 318i but I decided to make my own intake manifold. I'm going to make my own "sheet metal" manifold that looks like a side draft manifold with the ports for fuel injectors, and a plenum at the other end with a throttlebody/tps(i have 3 of them:P) from a 2000 323i. I know a guy that has a machine shop and he should beable to help me out with the manifold and welding. I'm also going to be using a megasquirt setup. I have a kkk k26 turbo from an older 300D mercedes thats in excellent shape.

Right now I'm in the process of researching how hard it would be to use the s14 crankshaft on the m10 block...I hear it helps out alot with displacement and that it was done in the early 90's often.

The 2002 is the only car i've ever worked on, but I've never been in the motor itself. I know/understand most of the theory and such, but im sure as i start to take it all apart I'll learn new things.

I'm doing this all, as well as working on my/my cousins e30(we share it's expenses but he drives it...he doesn't make much money), paying for college, insurance and gas on the e46 as well as other things while working at Autozone *sigh* I start at my new job at an Infiniti dealership Monday though...so im excited about the bump up on income(finally). You'll definately get this all done before I will but I'm slowly making progress :)

Right now I'm in the process of researching how hard it would be to use the s14 crankshaft on the m10 block...I hear it helps out alot with displacement and that it was done in the early 90's often.

The 2002 is the only car i've ever worked on, but I've never been in the motor itself. I know/understand most of the theory and such, but im sure as i start to take it all apart I'll learn new things.


The s14 crank has been done alot, but it isnt as easy as alot of people think. There are 2 options for getting the crank to work
The nose of the crank needs to be turned down, re-threaded, and have a new keway cut so that it will fit the m10 timing cover and the m10 crank pully.

or, you can bore out the front cover and use the s14 crank pulley

if you go either way you still need custom rods to get a proper compression ratio.

As a machinist, it would be cheapest to go with option A. but If I had to pay for machining, option B would be best. Rods are expensive but available from Pauter or carillo.

The s14 crank has been done alot, but it isnt as easy as alot of people think. There are 2 options for getting the crank to work
The nose of the crank needs to be turned down, re-threaded, and have a new keway cut so that it will fit the m10 timing cover and the m10 crank pully.

or, you can bore out the front cover and use the s14 crank pulley

if you go either way you still need custom rods to get a proper compression ratio.

As a machinist, it would be cheapest to go with option A. but If I had to pay for machining, option B would be best. Rods are expensive but available from Pauter or carillo.

oh nothing inside the motor(and almost nothing outside the motor) will remain original anyways :D I think by-far you are my most fav thread-replier :D

but yea, by the time im ready to get the s14 crank, i'll have plans for what spec. custom forged pistons and rods i'd want to run..EVENTUALLY :help :buttrock

The s14 crank has been done alot, but it isnt as easy as alot of people think. There are 2 options for getting the crank to work
The nose of the crank needs to be turned down, re-threaded, and have a new keway cut so that it will fit the m10 timing cover and the m10 crank pully.

or, you can bore out the front cover and use the s14 crank pulley

if you go either way you still need custom rods to get a proper compression ratio.

As a machinist, it would be cheapest to go with option A. but If I had to pay for machining, option B would be best. Rods are expensive but available from Pauter or carillo.
Why would the rods be so much more expensive? Is it because their custom? or because of the brand?

I'm surprised no one mentioned an electric fan. That is sure to free up a few extra hp and clean up the engine bay a bit. A 14"-16" Hayden electric will yeild 1000-1300cfm and cost $60-$80.

Why would the rods be so much more expensive? Is it because their custom? or because of the brand?

Because they are custom and because they are forged.

But they would also be lighter and stronger! :redspot

oh nothing inside the motor(and almost nothing outside the motor) will remain original anyways :D I think by-far you are my most fav thread-replier :D


Thanks for the compliment ;)
I am just obsessed with 2002's and pretty much strive to learn every detail. I've studied the factory manual so much, I can pretty much assemble a 2002 in my head (crazy)

Good luck with your project!!