Starting an E30 302 Build. Warmachine.

[THQ]

Meet my 1985 BMW 325e "Warmachine"

http://i.imgur.com/BiIa5Vsh.jpg

I got it on trade from an older man, flat out. Previously I had a 1990 VW Vanagon base model/fridge white that was the bane of everything horrible happening in my life. I couldn't catch a break with it. It never ran properly. Lets just not talk about it.

The E30 ran pretty good, but stumbled here and there and smelled kinda funny. I cleaned it up nice. All new sensors, rubber in the engine, fuel system all spruced up. You know, all the maintenance you do with a new vehicle. It ran b-e-a-utifuly after that.

Then I hit a pothole at stock ride height.

http://i.imgur.com/KKDAsXy.png

Let's not talk about that either.

This is why shes a warmachine. I can't give up AGAIN on a vehicle. I've owned too many pieces of ####. This is where I redeem myself. I'll fix this right.

Then the alternator wiring caught fire and ignited the Fire Retardant Material under my hood.

http://i.imgur.com/HFLR9fqh.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/qhYzgEwh.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/7SOgt34h.jpg

So she's getting a new heart, and a new life. Where most people would give up after so much crap.

Updated:
Also, I'm selling the (Engine and trans already sold, nevermind). If anyone needs random engine component/M20 Parts + some parts I had collected let me know and I'll check my boxes.
I also have two ECUs. One with the Turner Motorsport chip and one without it. Both work, but I got two so I could switch if I wanted.

[JCarp90]

Props for not giving up. I would have let the fuckin thing burn out of frustration.

[THQ]

Props for not giving up. I would have let the fuckin thing burn out of frustration.

Thanks! I've just given up on so many cars and bikes when I had a easy chance to keep with it and come out on top. I should be able to do this. I'm a patient person, at least I think I am.


The motor is out of the vehicle, clearing up the engine bay and sorting through wiring. Pictures will be coming in soon, probably later today. I found a heavily built up 302 in New York that I'll be picking up on Monday.

More updates soon! I'll be rebuilding the entire brake system also, since it needs it.

I'm finding more and more shit that this car has been through. The entire front radiator support/header assembly is from a Delphin Metallic car, welded onto my Diamondshwartz.

[Nick_S]

In for this. The world needs more V8 E30's.

[jalopi]

In for this. The world needs more V8 E30's.

+1 on that

BTW, let me give you some advice on the swap:

1. Do yourself a favor and use a pedal box for your clutch/brakes. The way e30v8 recommends doing it is real ghetto and you won't be very happy with the results. View my thread to see how close the pedals are together... not cool.

2. Instead of buying the 90* adapter for your oil filter you can buy a sandwich plate/cooler combo for about the same price. This was something else not mentioned in the e30v8 guide.

3. DON'T CUT THE HEATER CORE LINES!!!!! I did because there was very limited info on this swap on the internet. Once I dropped my engine in, I saw I could've gotten away with only cutting them by maybe a 1/2 inch instead of flush with the fire wall... I still have heat, but it was much harder to get the hoses on that way. Leave the lines uncut and play it by ear.

4. Try to avoid the Wilwood 'pull style' slave cylinder. There's no real good way to mount them and if you mount it in a 'solid' fashion to where the slave can't pivot it will fail in about 500 miles or so. If I had to do it again, I'd drill into the bellhousing and mount up a push style slave cylinder.

5. If you buy your mounts from e30v8.com, be prepared to modify them! QC isn't their strong suit... at least the mounts can be easily modified. I wouldn't consider buying their pre-modified pan though.

6. If you want to swap out the rack for a faster one, such as a z3 or whatnot, do it now... trust me, it's not fun once the 302 is in there. However, if you're not planning on running power steering I would stick with an e30 rack as they're progressive and will be better in parking lots and whatnot.

7. Radiator... the stock one will not cut it. If it's under 80* and you're not in completely gridlocked traffic you'll be OK with a decent fan. However, for hotter days or if you want to go out to the track you'll need something better. I just ordered a z3 radiator, I'll chime in later and let you know how it works.

8. Be prepared to have a worthless street car. Don't get me wrong - I love driving my car, it's fucking awesome. However, you can't really have fun on the street without speeding excessively. That's just how fast these things are. It's way too much engine for these tiny cars. What I'm saying is, I guess, is that if you've got low levels of self restraint this is the car that will make you lose your license.

That's all I can think of for now... if something else pops in my head I'll chime in. Good luck with the swap!!

[THQ]

+1 on that

BTW, let me give you some advice on the swap:

1. Do yourself a favor and use a pedal box for your clutch/brakes. The way e30v8 recommends doing it is real ghetto and you won't be very happy with the results. View my thread to see how close the pedals are together... not cool.

2. Instead of buying the 90* adapter for your oil filter you can buy a sandwich plate/cooler combo for about the same price. This was something else not mentioned in the e30v8 guide.

3. DON'T CUT THE HEATER CORE LINES!!!!! I did because there was very limited info on this swap on the internet. Once I dropped my engine in, I saw I could've gotten away with only cutting them by maybe a 1/2 inch instead of flush with the fire wall... I still have heat, but it was much harder to get the hoses on that way. Leave the lines uncut and play it by ear.

4. Try to avoid the Wilwood 'pull style' slave cylinder. There's no real good way to mount them and if you mount it in a 'solid' fashion to where the slave can't pivot it will fail in about 500 miles or so. If I had to do it again, I'd drill into the bellhousing and mount up a push style slave cylinder.

5. If you buy your mounts from e30v8.com, be prepared to modify them! QC isn't their strong suit... at least the mounts can be easily modified. I wouldn't consider buying their pre-modified pan though.

6. If you want to swap out the rack for a faster one, such as a z3 or whatnot, do it now... trust me, it's not fun once the 302 is in there. However, if you're not planning on running power steering I would stick with an e30 rack as they're progressive and will be better in parking lots and whatnot.

7. Radiator... the stock one will not cut it. If it's under 80* and you're not in completely gridlocked traffic you'll be OK with a decent fan. However, for hotter days or if you want to go out to the track you'll need something better. I just ordered a z3 radiator, I'll chime in later and let you know how it works.

8. Be prepared to have a worthless street car. Don't get me wrong - I love driving my car, it's fucking awesome. However, you can't really have fun on the street without speeding excessively. That's just how fast these things are. It's way too much engine for these tiny cars. What I'm saying is, I guess, is that if you've got low levels of self restraint this is the car that will make you lose your license.

That's all I can think of for now... if something else pops in my head I'll chime in. Good luck with the swap!!

Thank you so much. I've owned 9 cars, no speeding tickets, nothing. I'm careful but I have a lot of private land near me to do whatever I want. I'm at this stage right now:


Here's the crispy motor:

[jalopi]

Wow.... you really did have a good fire going on in there

[THQ]

Yeah I only had a tiny fire extinguisher (didn't cut it) I barely stopped the fire from spreading down the fuel line. A nice guy in a work van pulled over and hosed down the entire engine. Nodded. and took off like some sort of super hero.

Here is my 292. It's a 289 A block bored .30 over. Completely rebuilt but the guy never put it in his mustang. Got it for free. It has valve covers but they aren't in the picture.





Ordered some parts, coming soon!


Now I'm searching for a T10 Borg Warner.

[THQ]

Some engine bay pictures. It's getting colder where I am now, so I'll try to keep some momentum going.


Inside the car. It's been patched. A lot.

I didn't do any of this patching, but under my accelerator pedal.





As of now, I'm doing more for the motor itself. Since it needs many-o-parts.

Mountings!


Parts and vinyl!


It came with a milodon oil pan, and I really don't want to cut this one up.

For sale!

[jalopi]

Nice progress bro - you should buy heads :)

Also, if you go with the wilwood pedal combo that e30v8 recommends (which I don't) make sure you buy a m42 throttle cable. The angle I had to have the stock cable at made my original one fray and stick open.... twas not cool. Just got the new cable in yesterday actually - I'll take a picture the general setup.

Also... wtf is going on with that passenger footwell?!?! I know you said it wasn't your work, but I still have to point out... that is some horribad welding/metal work.


Lastly, I told you I would post later about the z3 mishimoto fitment... it's pretty bad. I had to hammer some of the core support to get it to sit more forward, but even then I've only got about 1/8-1/4" of room between the rad and the water pump nose. I suggest going with a m3 mishi or something.

[FunfGan]

Dave your still having issues with the stock rad? I threw some "Super Coolant" in mine, and after a few days when it had run through the system, I was sitting in gridlock traffic reving my engine at H2o and it never went past 200 degrees.



Keep at it! Fun awaits you. And listen to what Dave said.

[jalopi]

Well, I was having issues with the stock rad... no longer a stock rad, lol.

Doesn't help that the fan I have isn't the greatest and I'm pretty sure the belt is slipping on the wp pulley a bit under a hard load... of course you'll never hear that though :)

Also, you gonna be out at summit for the 100 drifters of december?

[THQ]

Nice progress bro - you should buy heads :)

Also, if you go with the wilwood pedal combo that e30v8 recommends (which I don't) make sure you buy a m42 throttle cable. The angle I had to have the stock cable at made my original one fray and stick open.... twas not cool. Just got the new cable in yesterday actually - I'll take a picture the general setup.

Also... wtf is going on with that passenger footwell?!?! I know you said it wasn't your work, but I still have to point out... that is some horribad welding/metal work.


Lastly, I told you I would post later about the z3 mishimoto fitment... it's pretty bad. I had to hammer some of the core support to get it to sit more forward, but even then I've only got about 1/8-1/4" of room between the rad and the water pump nose. I suggest going with a m3 mishi or something.

Thanks, both, for the input! It looks like the footwell was hammered to shape and buggered in about 10 years ago. The underside is all undercoated too.

Why new heads?

My stock throttle cable is burnt from the engine fire, so I was researching my options. M42 it is. Which route did you take/recommend instead of the Wilwood setup? I had foxbody pedal assembly as one of my options too.

How thick is your radiator?

[jalopi]

I only say new heads because they look like the factory E7's... or whatever the equivalent of E7's were from back in the day. Not only will you lop 40-50lbs off of your front end by doing aluminum heads, they really do make a difference in power (provided you've got a cam that works with their flow rate).

I was just looking at the pic of your engine again... you just might want to pull one of the heads to make sure the cylinder walls aren't rusted up. I only say this because I noticed your push rods are rusty... makes me think it was sitting for a good while.

I used the wilwood pedal kit (the one suggested by e30v8 ) because when I bought it I didn't know any better. If I had to do it again, I would do a pedal box as it would actually probably be more cost effective (as this addresses the brakes as well as the clutch... no need to buy a $200 plate from massive). When you say you've got a mustang pedal assembly to use, I'm assuming you mean the gas pedal... don't know why you'd go through the trouble of making the 'stang brake pedal work let alone the cable clutch pedal

The mishi radiator I have is almost 2.5" thick at the core, which pretty much insta-solved all my cooling problems. However, it's way too thick for the car (less than 1/4" between the water pump snout and the fins) so I would go with a M3 rad or something... the cores on those are supposedly 1.5", which is much more reasonable for the car. Also, depending on the year of your car, the m3 radiator will have anywhere from 25-50% more cooling power than the stock radiator.

Also, go to jagsthatrun.com for a heavy duty diff flange deal - the u-joints are non-serviceable on e30 driveshafts which is not cool. All in all, including the parts it was about $350 to make my shaft. Also, go for a 3" diameter tube... heard of 2 inchers breaking.

[THQ]

Yeah, you're right about the 'stang setup.

Right now I'm taking this route http://store.garagistic.com/ocart/e3...ss-brake-setup

...with the Wilwood pedals. Is that what you mean?

My radiator was cooked in the fire, and I have a buddy that runs an ebay special radiator from this shop http://www.ebay.com/itm/All-aluminum...-/290875763903 and it seems to keep it at a good temp. I'm also running a lower temp thermostat and I have a push fan from a Taurus that seems to measure up.

Theres a crusty old man in the town over from mine that does crazy driveshaft/suspension work for really cheap that I talked to about doing my driveshaft too. He's deciding on a price.