E30 M50 swap

[rosphill]

Pics of M50 engine/tranny install

Here is the first wave of pics from todays M50 swap.

[rosphill]

More pics of M50 install

Heres the second wave of pics

[rosphill]

Even more pics of M50 swap

Here's the third wave of M50 swap pics

[rosphill]

Suspension ride height with M50 question

I noticed that once I got the M50 engine installed and set the car back down on all four wheels that there was actually MORE of a size gap between the tires and the fender wells. I expected it to sit an inch or so lower in the front. Does it just take some time for the new suspension and everything to settle and lower into its permanent position?
I figured since I replaced the control arms it was best to do like the Bentley manual says and put the car back down on wheels for everything to seat properly
and get accustomed to its normal operating position.
Will wait and see, but man I may haveta lower this thang.

[OTT]

Role it around and it will settle... Probably just slightly lower than before.

[rosphill]

Stopped by the E30 for more pics today

Wanted to get some more pics of the car in its present state. It's been sitting for a few days while I let the new suspension settle and buying more parts. Need to pick up a manual E36 driveshaft from somewhere so thats the next major part I need.

[rosphill]

Walkaround video of E30 after the M50 install

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uH0lra-V7Os

[rosphill]

Found some more swap pics that I love

Can't wait to get a driveshaft and get back to working on the swap.

[skatingzooyork]

Need to pick up a manual E36 driveshaft from somewhere so thats the next major part I need.

There is a 95% chance I will have one available w/ a brand new e30 CSB. I will know by this weekend... Message me if you're interested!

And congrats on the progress! You will love how the m50 feels; I know I do!

[Schwarz325]

Damn you got the whole local retirement joint hangin out and helping lol just kidding.

Swap looks great and you move fast.

question: what size is the fan, also is it a puller or pusher? And did you just cut the connector of the auxiliary fan harness and splice the spal in there?

[rosphill]

SPAL fan

Schwarz,
The fan is a 14 inch SPAL pusher fan mounted in front of the radiator.
I removed all of the AC stuff in front of radiator.
Here are the specs on the fan:
SPAL
PUSHER FAN
14" Curved Blade
1720CFM
12 Volt
High Performance Fan Part Number: 30102056 Description: VA08 - AP71/LL - 53S


We installed the M50 and then looked at the stock E30 fanclutch and said 'that shits not fitting in there!'



I plan on wiring it into the Stock AC fan wiring.

Trying to get fan wiring/plug for a late model 318 cause I moved to a late model M42 rad and it puts the new temp sensor on the wrong side of the rad. Installed a new 80/88 C temp sensor in the rad. Would like to wire the low temp to the high speed side of the new fan. Not sure yet how I'm gonna wire the fan will probably be the last thing I do on the swap cause I'm procrastinating it :roll:

[rosphill]

Update 8/1/10

I shaved the plastic fins off the intake manifold today so it actually fits now without banging against the new E21 brake booster. Hooked up the power steering lines, still need to relocate the power steering reservoir because it is in the way of the air intake rubber boot. Wrapped the DME snake in thick rubber and dressed it through the hole in firewall and connected wiring harness to red label 413 DME and connected little three wire connector for tach and etc. Its rather tight stretching across the firewall so thinking I may relocate the driver's side C101 connector mount an inch or so towards passenger side of firewall.

Spent most of the rest of my time today looking at connecting the stock E36 downpipes to the E36 stock exhaust manifolds. The bottom downpipe hits against the swaybar and subframe. Dropped the sway bar on both sides three inches but pipe still hits subframe.

Need advice on exhaust. Trying to decide between shimming (1/4-1/2 inch) between passenger side engine arm and motor mount, or perhaps just having the bottom downpipe chopped and welded at a different angle?? Not excited about taking motor mounts loose again, it was alot of work getting engine/tranny bolted into current configuration. Any advice on the exhaust fabbing would be greatly appreciated.
Thx.

[rosphill]

8/7/10 update - Engine cranking for first time

Worked on the M50 swap for 12 hours today. Got everything hooked up and engine cranked but would not start and idle.
Battery was low on charge during first time cranking so had to put a booster pack on it. Second try it cranked better but saw a little smoke and after some checking the Brown #20 wire on c101 got quite hot and melted all of the insulation off it between the fuse box and the c101 connector.
Stripped back the rubber covers on both the c101 and the x20 connectors and studying all of the wiring until my eyeballs hurt.
The brown #20 wire car side is the only wire that melted. None of the wiring in the engine harness or inside the car was affected, just between the c101 connector and the fusebox. Still a mystery to me why the wire is getting hot.
Also the engine will crank but there is no fuel making it to the fuel rail when cranking. Overall it was a very productive day and glad engine cranks and all but a little disheartened that I could not hear the engine run. :roll:
Attaching a few pics of today's progress.

[lonestar22]

this thread would be awesome if i didnt have to click every pic

[rosphill]

Videos of engine cranking

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2JImzHXLG0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHS52KU88G8

Here's two videos of today. Thought I had a better video of it later on when engine is actually cranking over good but guess I didn't get it captured to film. Garry is talking about some troubleshooting in second vid. He sounds like a teacher cause he is a high school autoshop teacher.

Engine is currently cranking over but there is no fuel pump activity.
Wondering if maybe the crank position sensor is bad perhaps?
I checked the connections and I know at the moment that the EVAP sensor is connected to the intake manifold where the intake air temp sensor should be and cannot find the intake air temp sensor connector at all. That is where I am at for the moment, too tired to do anything else to the car this weekend..