Resurrection 325es, tucked bay, custom rad. support, m52+zf (soon to be boosted)

[meanEG]

I got this car a few months back. It had a stuck engine that would not un-stuck. I bought a eta engine for it locally that turned out to be a pile of shit. It started running better over time, but still had a alot of issues.

I found a great deal for a M50tu, trans and harness for $350. I pounced on it, got the rest of the parts together for the swap, and i started tonight.

Plans are removable radiator support, wire tuck as much as realistically possible, clean and paint the bay, looking at grey bedliner. I will be doing a complete bumper swap front and rear. changing the rims soon, replacing the carpet, redye the grey seats, full paint, replace dash, add i cluster,

Now on to the pics. Only one loaded right now. Photobucket app sucks. More to come.

URL=http://s43.photobucket.com/user/junkgrrl/media/325es/IMG_20140303_205748_958_zpsa637c914.jpg.html][/URL]

This is how i left it tonight

[meanEG]

Removable radiator support


This is how I cut the top of the radiator support.




This is where I cut around the frame rail.





Cleaning up around the spot welds and getting ready for the grinder and flap disc.



Finished up for the night.

[meanEG]

made a little more progress tonight.










I have a coat of filler on there right now. I will sand tomorrow. I went on the cheap and got some Rustoleum bed liner from Lowes, and had them tint it for me with white to make it grey to match the Delphin. I{ will eventually repaint it Delphin again.

Deleted the ABS, planning on running a new line to get it off the firewall. Also trying to figure out how to relocate fuse block, battery distro block and harness. does anyone know if anyone successfully relocated the fuse block under the dash?

I found an M52 today for 143.99 at the yard, paid an extra 30 for a 30 day warranty. its out of a 96 328is., may grab the driveshaft and trans from it as well.

[Rdreas]

Damn that's a steal!!! Keep it up it's looking promising!

[Rdreas]

Damn that's a steal!!! Keep it up it's looking promising! What are you planning on doing booster wise?

[meanEG]

planning on the stock booster for now. I was going to do the Audi/passat , but they are a bitch to take out at the yard. the pedal use a ball and socket method to attach to the pedal. hard as fuck to get out.

i was going to upload a good tutorial for the fuse box relocation to under the dash, but i deleted something off my phone i shouldnt have had. all my pics are gone. I successfully have my fuse box under the dash where the ABS module used to be. I will mount it after i get the engine in and the harness lengthened where it needs to be. i am relocating the battery distro block as well to the inside of the car. i want to make some custom a/c lines to run in the fender well.

Thanks for the encouragement. I cant wait to get the m52 swap though. Hopefully i will get it tomorrow morning.

Id like yo get the booster mounted soon and figure out where i am going to remount the cruise bracket. I think i can sneak it behind the chock tower, next to the boster.

[meanEG]

Unfortunately, my phone lost all my pics. I was planning on making a DIY for the fuse panel relocate. Here is the bet i could do after the fact.

Tools needed to do the Fuse box. I decided to de-pin instead of unplug and pull though. It may have been a bad choice i dont know. I couldnt see any of the plugs for the harness under the dash.


After the harness is pulled through, i have the box hanging. I will mount later when i lengthen the engine harness wires and wipers. I also relocated the starter and fuse box power cables to inside the car.


Wire delete mod, LOL


Should be enough room for the fuse box to be bolted to the ABS mounts

http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e384/junkgrrl/IMG_20140310_083334_264_zps08a4e238.jpg

So much room for activities



I will shave the bracket today i guess. I have to prep the M52 i got today, so i am going to be busy.

[meanEG]

Engine bay is done, the bed liners looks really good. It could be a little darker, but overall it matches pretty well.

The M52 is picked up at the yard was not such a great deal after all. Oil sludge was so bad the po should have been fined for not changing the oil. I cleaned out the best I could and pressure washed the inside of the engine. I think a few oil changes with some ATF should dobit well.
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Started the radiator support mock up. The nut sert tool I have was not strong enough to squeeze them hard enough. I am borrowing another one to see if it will do a better job.

[meanEG]

Booster shifted over

REady for install

obd1 converted m52, ZF trans

where the magic happens



Placing the engine in its new home tonight. then i will finish the radiator support this weekend. Doing a full wire tuck and pulling all excess under the dash. i will keep the diag plug, have to add the relays that are missing. may be runnuing before Tuesday. i need to order my 2.5" bends

[Rdreas]

Placing the engine in its new home tonight. then i will finish the radiator support this weekend. Doing a full wire tuck and pulling all excess under the dash. i will keep the diag plug, have to add the relays that are missing. may be runnuing before Tuesday. i need to order my 2.5" bends

Make sure you get 4 45s. I got a j bend and 3 45 bends and it would have been less work, expense, and effort to have had a 4th and kept it simple. I have a vibrant y pipe, resonator and muffler and with this setup I could have done it with 4 j bends and maybe a 2' straight piece just to be safe

[meanEG]

Change of plans, had to remove the engine to adjust the heater core, move the booster over further, and take the fins of the manifold. I am not really liking the idea of shimming the engine up of the mounts either, so i may have to get a booster after all.







While i was out i did the wiring outside the car as much as i could. i had to add the relays that the po removed when he cut the engine out. I tried to remove all the splices as much as possible to make the harness as skinny as possible. i should have made it shorter by about a foot too, but i didnt really want to solder all those wires. I am afraid that there will be too much harness to hide under the dash.



I will try to install one more time. Then i will install a 944 booster. I have a lead on one for really cheap.

[Rdreas]

I see you got some eBay headers you may do yourself a favor and cut them while they're out if you plan to. I ended uP installing my headers on the engine in the car and it was a royal pain in the ass and removing them and reinstalling thEm was no fun either.

[meanEG]

i can cut them in the car. I am going to heatup the inner tube and bend it straight. after i have them where i need them i will cut them off even and use a slip y and clamp it on.

I tried installing again, no go with the the stock booster. i think ii am going to go get the 944 booster.

[meanEG]

ordered a mk2 vw booster today. i will have it tomorrow. i will finally be able to have the engine bolted in 100%. I finished up the bolt on radiator support today. i am waiting to apply the 2nd coat of bedliner to it. exhaust parts should be here tomorrow also.

Finally making some good progress. I have all the wiring done for the engine and wire tuck except the c101







I ran out of solid wire, and i have 10 lb of flux core, so i am going to use that up. I hate welding with that shit






This little fucker is awesome. I would like to buy one, but they are a lot of money.
Got this one for the airframe shop at work.

[meanEG]

took a little break tonight. i did get a booster. i picked up a mk2 8v vw booster. reman for $83 from autozone. i feel there is no reason to get anything else. unless you really need a dual diaphragm. fits in the stock holes, just cut and rethread the rod, no grinding. trim the intake fins and no spacers. its a no brainer.


mounted the radiator support today for the first time since it has been converted. put the e36 radiator in and i am happy with it. i am trying to figure out a mount for an expansion tank right now. i am thinking about mounting it under the top radiator hose and removing/rlocating it it to fill and bleed the system, and then placing it back into the custom mount. we will see.

I am trying the keep the engine bay as clean as possible. i have managed to keep the harnes hidden quite well. I spoke to someone about making some custom a/c lines to run the, out in the fender well and under the frame rail. i think i will order the parallel condenser, expansion valve, and drier. i will use all e30 components if i can.





just for a comparison, here are the boosters.