Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

My first engine swap - M30b35 into 89' 320i build thread

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    My first engine swap - M30b35 into 89' 320i build thread

    I have now entered my 4th month of 320i auto ownership and have decided to plant the 'Big 6' into my engine bay along with a 5 speed

    As the title suggests, this is my first engine swap and will hopefully be quite the learning experience.

    The engine I'm using came from an '89 E34 535i that has covered 300,000km and the transmission is a Getrag 240 pulled from an M10 318i

    The car receiving the transplant is my daily driven 1989 Delphin Metallic 320i Sedan that has done a mere 165,000km and is in pretty great condition.

    I should probably start putting photos in to keep you interested... So here are a couple of pictures of the car just after I got it driving from Nelson in the South Island of New Zealand to Auckland in the North Island.



    Stopped on the side of the road to enjoy the view of Pelorus Sound around the top of the South Island between Nelson and the ferry at Picton. I'm a fan of the dual square exhaust tips the car came with



    Stopped again halfway up the North Island beside Lake Taupo for lunch. The swans came round to check the car out too.

    The car made the whole 900+ km home without stranding me. It did struggle on the motorway coming into Auckland. Traffic was crawling and as it turned out... my viscous fan was broken and the engine got very hot. Once I got moving again the idle was surging and the engine was hesitant on acceleration. I managed to make it home alright and cleaned out the ICV and throttle body the next day which fixed the problem.


    Anyway.... to swap related photos! Starting with the first parts I picked up. Which was an M10 Getrag 240, manual pedal box, clutch master cylinder + slave cylinder, manual transmission mount, shifter, and a 318i manual driveshaft which I plan to have shortened to fit once everything is fitted in the car.



    A little after and before picture of the Getrag 240 and two cans of engine degreaser later (I went a bit overboard)


    A week later I went and had a look at an E34 535i and struck a deal with the owner where I could take anything I needed relating to the swap from the car for a fair price.



    As you can see the engine has seen better days but it ran well and the oil and coolant looked good. I'm planning on painting the engine regardless so it's rough look isn't a big deal.



    This picture brings us to a couple days ago where I trailered the engine home and lifted it into the garage. The M30 with an auto box attached is a fairly heavy package and because I don't have any female torx sockets it had to stay attached for the manoeuvre out of the trailer and into the garage.



    And a picture of where I managed to get the engine to in the garage. It's just resting on a sheet of ply with blocks of jarrah under the engine mounts and the hoist is still attached to provide a bit of a fail safe.



    And this brings us to yesterday where I did my first bit of cleaning and started stripping bits off the engine to be de-greased. It's fun finding all of the stamps on the parts buried under decades of grime!

    I'm hoping to have the car running by the end of April. Although it's more likely to be June before the car is moving under its own power. I hope to update the thread every step of the way so you can see me struggle all the way through the swap and hopefully get some tips from people with experience.

    This is all for now :D
    Last edited by Simmie; 02-15-2018, 09:42 PM.

    #2
    Very cool! You'll like the m30 :)

    Comment


      #3
      Good luck Simmie! It'll transform your car.

      A 320i is an ideal candidate for the M30 swap as they have the 6 cylinder suspension bits etc. but don't have the 325i price tag :)
      My e30: OEM+ with M30B35

      Comment


        #4
        Update time!

        I spent my weekend pulling the engine apart. I managed to get most of the parts off and the engine is looking pretty good.

        I'll be taking some of the parts to my friends tomorrow to get them sandblasted. I'll be sure to take some before and afters and post them if they look good.



        I believe this is the worst of the hoses on my engine although I think it'll probably be okay, water flows through it alright and there aren't any cracks.

        I'm planning on ordering a bunch of parts to spruce up the engine. I'm ordering a set of spark plugs, a new waterpump, waterpump belt, alternator belt, powersteering belt, an A/C belt that should allow me to keep my A/C, a head gasket, valve stem seals, oil pan gasket, clutch release bearing, flywheel bearing, as well as other little bits like a water pump gasket and replacing broken clips, etc.


        Anyway.... More pictures!

        I was getting frustrated pulling the engine apart and did a bit of cleaning of the spark plug well



        I like before and after pictures :)

        Pictures of where I have gotten the engine to as of today. Both the intake side and exhaust side





        I'm sure you're wondering why the auto box is still attached to the engine.... This is why



        That was, once upon a time, a torx bolt. However, it has since become a circular stud thing which is just about impossible to get off. No doubt i'll be spending my day off work tomorrow pondering how to get the bolt out :roll:

        That's all for now
        Last edited by Simmie; 02-06-2018, 04:29 AM.

        Comment


          #5
          Originally posted by CorvallisBMW View Post
          Very cool! You'll like the m30 :)
          I'm sure I will! I'm a bit sick of 18L/100km (13MPG) I get currently with the blistering speed of the M20b20. I figured if I'm going to drink petrol that quick I may as well have fun doing it. Hence the M30 swap :)


          Originally posted by lukeADE335i View Post
          Good luck Simmie! It'll transform your car.

          A 320i is an ideal candidate for the M30 swap as they have the 6 cylinder suspension bits etc. but don't have the 325i price tag :)
          I think I bought my E30 when there was a bit of a bubble in the market. If I had waited a bit longer I probably could've gotten a clean 325i for the price I paid for my 320i last December.

          Oh well, no regrets. I'm sure it will provide a good base for the swap. It's a very clean car!

          Comment


            #6
            Long time no update.

            I've spent the last two weeks further destroying that stripped bolt to try and remove it. Ultimately I ended up using a grinder to cut the head of the bolt off. And, it worked.



            I'm now left with this



            I rate my chances and getting this off myself (without having to get someone with a welder to help) pretty high and I'll likely have all of this easter weekend to myself to work on it :p

            A pretty short update. But it feels good. Having the auto-tragic stuck to my engine was starting to.... irritate me.

            Next step is the get the torque converter + flexplate off and test fit my Getrag 240.

            I'll hopefully finally get the valve cover and intake manifold painted this weekend too. I bought a can of VHT engine enamel and a suitable primer too ($40 for the pair.) The plan is to paint them black and then sand the paint off of the raised bits. If it goes well I may also paint the engine block before putting it in the car.

            I shall round out the post with a picture I took of my friends "new" FD Rx7 Type R Bathurst (Only 500 were made)



            Pretty cool, eh? It's pretty much completely original too!

            Comment


              #7
              It has been one month since my last update and a little bit of progress has been made.

              To start with I had to remove the stripped bolt by using an angle grinder to remove the bolt head and I was left with this



              And as it turns out it wasn't seized at all. After I used the angle grinder knock the head off I just assumed the bolt would be VERY seized so I just left it alone. The next day I simply twisted it out with my fingers. I guess it was the weight and the transmission that made it so hard to turn




              Over the past few days a couple packages have come in with mostly preventative maintenance parts



              First package was a delrin shifter bushing kit from Garagistic + a new clutch fork pivot pin and shifter cup.


              Next package came from Schmeidmann in Denmark and was filled with missing odds, ends and preventative maintenance parts.



              First photo is all gearbox/clutch/shift related bits. We have....... a fit bolt to attach the clutch pedal to the clutch cylinder, a flywheel bearing, a clutch release bearing, a rubber boot for the shifter, and a clutch spring clip thingy, and a bracket to hold the clutch line.




              Here we have new gaskets for the intake, exhaust, water pump, and oil filter




              Next, new belts, fuel injector o-rings, shifter o-rings, bolts for oil filter housing, fuel rail clips (I broke 2 in engine disassembly,) and an E28 radiator T piece.




              Do not worry! I also got a new water pump... and an air filter.


              Next step is to wrestle the torque converter off and test fit the Getrag 240 and then mount the engine to my stand.

              Once that's done I can pressure wash the engine and maybe slap some fresh paint on.

              From that point, it will be a matter of engine reassembly with my new bits to get it ready to drop in the car.

              Comment


                #8
                Any more updates on this?

                I'm looking at doing something similar and just wanted to see how things were working out for you

                Comment


                  #9
                  "From that point, it will be a matter of engine reassembly with my new bits to get it ready to drop in the car" - Me 9 months ago. Famous last words, eh?

                  Anyway, after this I was putting the timing cover back on so I could put the engine hook in to lift it up. Without thinking about it much I used two random bolts that came off the timing cover. They just so happened to be the two bolts that are ~10mm longer than all the rest so as to hold the CPS bracket. So as I was tightening them down I noticed that it was getting hard to turn even though there was still 10-15mm of space between the head of the bolts and the timing cover so I cautiously kept tightening as I thought it may have just been a dirty thread (hah,) and..... yeah



                  And then I thought "oh shit I should probably loosen the other one before that snaps..." yeah... ratchet was on the wrong setting, applied just a little torque and that happened. Lol.



                  So I was feeling sorry for myself and basically I ended up having to send it off the a machine shop and $600 later I had the engine back at my house with the head and timing chain assembly disassembled and the news that the cylinder walls were lightly oxidised...

                  At this point I felt like everything I had hoped wouldn't go wrong did and I realised that I didn't have the funds to make the swap happen right now to a high (or as high as I can, lol) quality and I pretty much decided to just wait until I had the money sitting around to actually do this properly and being a student, money doesn't come in quickly which is why this update is coming 9 months late!

                  But, now i'm here and I have a lot of pictures sitting on my phone waiting to be shown to the world (r3v) so here I am.


                  In the following months I just tried to progress on the project when I felt motivated and got some things done in the meantime.

                  Firstly, i was happy to see that the G240 and M10 flywheel seem to fit up nicely





                  I also did some work on the shifting mechanism. Delrin bushings and, a new shifter cup (badly needed,) should make it nice and stiff.





                  It's always fun busting out the propane torch. Burning rubber bushings smells good too



                  More to follow...

                  Comment


                    #10
                    I've read there is no excuse to not swap out the E30 steering rack while doing a swap so I picked up a standard E36 rack from someone on a local forum and cleaned it up a bit. I also bought some new Lemforder tie rods (great quality) to go with them.



                    Next up I just wanted to share this absolutely awesome trick I picked up on the forums a while ago.
                    Butting up two nuts tight on a stuck stud and then using the rear nut to loosen the stud.



                    Works a charm



                    I think I picked the trick up from the guy who turbo'd his car with an M102 or M106 setup (CorvallisBMW's thread I think)

                    Comment


                      #11
                      One of the other things I did before the rebuild was convert the battery to the rear. I used the guide on E30zone as a reference but I found it was lacking in pictures a bit.

                      The first thing is to find and pop out the factory panel to feed the cable through. The panel is just below the A/C lines and can be knocked out with some light tapping with a screwdriver and a hammer.



                      Here's a photo of where it is in the bay, I found it hard to find as I didn't know exactly what it looked like



                      Next you need to remove the seats and pull the door trim up so you can pull the carpet to the side to feed the wire through.

                      It can be... difficult to get the trim out



                      The cable comes through here on a RHD car (another photo I couldn't find when I was doing the swap) and it is necessary to remove the kick panel.



                      Once you have the cable through the firewall you just keep pulling it through and tuck it under the rail on the side of the car where some other wires run until the battery cable runs through into the boot/trunk. Make sure that it doesn't impede where the carpet will sit! It's then just a matter of putting the carpet back and everything else we've removed.

                      The next part was a real c*** of a job but after a lot of hot soapy water, screwdrivers, and a lot of swearing I eventually ended up with this



                      The grommet fits... snugly

                      I also made an effort to neatly mount the bracket to hold the cable.

                      I used a punch to make two holes in the sound deadening material(?)





                      Which lined up nicely with the holes I drilled that come through under the window wiper grilles.



                      The bracket fits very nicely



                      The only other problem was that there was nowhere to ground the battery in the boot on my car.

                      The solution for me was the grind off the paint around the hole as seen below



                      and then to attach the ground cable to the gap (be sure to cover the bare metal with paint to prevent oxidation)



                      I have more to follow in the form of a full rebuild but it's 1:40am now so I think i'm off to bed. I will continue tomorrow evening after i've pulled the M20 from my car

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by gregasaurus View Post
                        I'm looking at doing something similar and just wanted to see how things were working out for you
                        I've just started updating the thread after a hiatus while I saved some more money. I'm just about to pull the old engine and put the new one in. If you have any questions regarding the swap I'm quite familiar with the process and happy to help.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          We're back again with a head rebuild. It's worth mentioning that I actually had to do the rebuild twice. The first time I did the valve stem seals and after I reassembled I realised that two of the cam lobes were severely worn. Don't know how I missed it the first time. I pulled it apart again and also noticed that the feet of the rockers were also cracking/cracked (I'll have photos later on.) So, I saved up more money and bought a 284/280 cam and heavy duty rockers from Ireland Engineering and put it all back together... Anyway, photo time.

                          I'll just be showing pictures from the head rebuild on this post, both rebuilds combined into one for simplicity. The bottom end build in the next one.

                          This is what I was presented with.



                          After 343,000km? Not too bad if you ask me. Although, i'm far from an expert.

                          After a "quick" teardown of the head



                          I used soft wire brushes to gently work the carbon deposits out with the help of some CRC (WD-40)



                          I love before and afters. Do not worry, better ones to come shortly.


                          Next up was to clean the valves.

                          I wrapped the valves generously with tape and lightly tightened it into the chuck of my corded drill.



                          I then switched on the bench grinder and tried to evenly clean both the front and back of each valve.

                          Results!

                          First up an exhaust valve before and after



                          Next, a comparison of the back of a cleaned valve vs a dirty one.



                          And now (I did save the best for last) the before and after for the intake valve




                          Once the valves were cleaned before replacing the stem seals I decided to lap all of the valves by hand... Not sure i'll ever do it again but I did learn plenty. I think it was worth the effort even though it probably took nearly 20 minutes per valve. here's an example of a worn valve seat vs a freshly lapped seat on the exhaust side.



                          Guess which is the exhaust side


                          Valve seals were replaced after lapping.



                          I removed the seals by GENTLY pulling upwards with adjustable pliers without squeezing too hard so as to protect the inner collar from being bent.

                          Once they were all removed I generously covered the new seals with oil and gently pushed the seal onto the collar.



                          I then ensured they were all properly seated by LIGHTLY tapping on the top of the seals with a properly sized socket and a small wooden mallet. Key word there is lightly, don't want to damage these! (forgot to take a photo)


                          Now some photos of four of the damaged rocker pads



                          Admittedly I most likely damaged the top left one while pulling the head apart. However, all but maybe 3-4 of the rockers had these micro-fractures on the feet.


                          Final head assembly followed with new valve stem seals, cam shaft (284,280 degree,) and HD rockers. A LOT of time and a fair chunk of money went into it and it felt mighty satisfying once fully assembled.



                          I also adjusted the valve clearance to minimise on the sewing machine noise.



                          That is all re: head rebuild

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Well then. Let us keep the ball rolling with the bottom end rebuild and lets start it with a picture of the reason the project get so very delayed!



                            Light oxidation on the cylinder walls. I didn't want to risk running the engine and scoring the walls so I thought it would be best to pull out the pistons....



                            .... and do the piston rings and cylinder hone now.

                            I wasn't necessarily doing the piston rings, but.....



                            ... yeah, all 6 pistons had at least one stuck ring and 4-5 had multiple. I spent a solid hour per piston cleaning them up ensuring the ring journals were spotless (or there about) using the old rings and small screwdrivers.

                            Although I could've got most of the oxidation off easily I honed all 6 cylinders as it's necessary if i'm doing the rings.



                            It's worth noting that it is possible to do all of this work without removing the crank or oil pump. You just have to rotate the crank to get favorable angles to work on the pistons nearest to the oil pump. The hardest part was probably just being careful to protect the crank and not to hit it while honing the cylinders.


                            I also replaced the connecting rod bearings as they seemed quite worn.



                            Pretty easy to replace the bearings. They push in and out and are easily located by the notch, just have to make sure they're lightly oiled before installing.

                            I did the piston rings by hand. Would I do it by hand again? Probably not, although it did allow me to feel the metal and get an idea of how robust they are for next time when I just use ring pliers.

                            Assembly is the reverse of disassembly. I'd like to stress how important it is to do this properly. EVERYTHING needs to be well lubricated, loctite is definitely a good idea and, everything torqued down to spec!

                            Assembly lube is probably better than motor oil for this work, especially if the motor won't be started for a while. However, being a (pretty poor at this point) student and also just wanting to get this stuff done I just used what I had, oil.





                            Once all the pistons were back in a reattached the lower timing cover and crank to get it set the TDC which you can see in the picture above. At TDC cylinders 1 and 6 are at its highest and the other 4 cylinders are at the same height about half way up the bore.

                            Here's what the head looks like at TDC



                            The cam sprocket's 4 bolts are at 12, 3, 6, and 9 o'clock with the small dowel somewhere between 7, and 8 o'clock



                            You can probably see the dowel in the cam sprocket better in the picture above taken after the head gasket was done and timing set.


                            Anyway, next I just cleaned the deck on the head a bit and got ready to do the head gasket.



                            Plenty clean I reckon.

                            I then spent a while cleaning out the threads with a thread chaser I made with a grinder and a spare M12 bolt which I failed to get a picture of! It's very important to get the threads nice and clean so that you don't end up with a head bolt that won't tighten to spec. Yes I should've done this before I honed the cylinder walls but I didn't even think about it until I was about to re-attach the head.


                            NEXT I lined up the new head gasket with the locators in the block. The fit was a little tight and I ended up having to use a blade to clean up the bits of gasket but it eventually sat nicely.



                            It's also worth mentioning that I found it easier to take the cam sprocket off and reattach it with the timing chain on it once I had tightened down the head.

                            I used the following torque specs for the head as the factory specs use an angle spec at the end.

                            1st - 60NM
                            2nd - 80NM
                            3rd - waited for ~30 mins and finally tightened to 100NM

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Holy moly I just spent an hour writing the next post and i accidentally hit the back button on my mouse so now it's all gone. Until tomorrow then

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X