After breaking two G260s in my crap can racer (bent shift forks, I think), I'm considering swapping to a ZF transmission because they're stronger and I found a great deal on one. My car is a bit of a mutt, so it's not always easy to find info relevant to my specific combo, and after researching I'm still not positive about what it'd take to convert over to the ZF. Here's what I've got:
-7/86 325e body
-92 M50NV from an E36
-G260 and slave cylinder from ~89 325i
-Single mass flywheel (shaved)/clutch/starter from 85 325e (scavenged from the original eta motor, after I converted from dual to single mass)
-Original 7/86 driveshaft with big (135mm) guibo
-3.73 rear end
This combo has worked great (other than breaking the G260s), so I don't want to alter the way things work if possible. From what I've read, in order to swap to the ZF trans, I'd definitely need:
-The transmission itself
-M50 pilot bearing
-Original E30 trans crossmember (I have a custom angled one for the G260 currently)
But I'm not sure about a few things.
-Throwout bearing: I *think* I can use the current '85 unit because according to my sources, pretty much every E30 and E36 uses the same one.
-Clutch slave cylinder: I'm guessing I should use an E36 slave to match the trans?
-Driveshaft: The consensus I've seen is that you normally need to swap to an E36 (328i or M3) driveshaft when going to the ZF trans. I think this is because the output flange of the ZF trans uses the big 135mm guibo, and most '87+ E30s have the small guibo. My car has the big guibo though (early '87), and according to RealOEM, the original driveshaft I have is 1483mm long and the E36 is 1492mm long. Based on that, I believe I can use my original driveshaft?
Anything I'm missing here?
In regards to my steep rear end gear, this is a track only car, and according to a calculator I have, based on the gear ratio and my tire size the car would top out at about 120 at redline in 5th, which is the maximum speed we normally hit at most tracks.
Of course, the other alternative is to just keep the 260 that's in the car now (seems to be fine, survived our last race) and buy a spare for $100, but I don't really want to do another trackside transmission swap.
-7/86 325e body
-92 M50NV from an E36
-G260 and slave cylinder from ~89 325i
-Single mass flywheel (shaved)/clutch/starter from 85 325e (scavenged from the original eta motor, after I converted from dual to single mass)
-Original 7/86 driveshaft with big (135mm) guibo
-3.73 rear end
This combo has worked great (other than breaking the G260s), so I don't want to alter the way things work if possible. From what I've read, in order to swap to the ZF trans, I'd definitely need:
-The transmission itself
-M50 pilot bearing
-Original E30 trans crossmember (I have a custom angled one for the G260 currently)
But I'm not sure about a few things.
-Throwout bearing: I *think* I can use the current '85 unit because according to my sources, pretty much every E30 and E36 uses the same one.
-Clutch slave cylinder: I'm guessing I should use an E36 slave to match the trans?
-Driveshaft: The consensus I've seen is that you normally need to swap to an E36 (328i or M3) driveshaft when going to the ZF trans. I think this is because the output flange of the ZF trans uses the big 135mm guibo, and most '87+ E30s have the small guibo. My car has the big guibo though (early '87), and according to RealOEM, the original driveshaft I have is 1483mm long and the E36 is 1492mm long. Based on that, I believe I can use my original driveshaft?
Anything I'm missing here?
In regards to my steep rear end gear, this is a track only car, and according to a calculator I have, based on the gear ratio and my tire size the car would top out at about 120 at redline in 5th, which is the maximum speed we normally hit at most tracks.
Of course, the other alternative is to just keep the 260 that's in the car now (seems to be fine, survived our last race) and buy a spare for $100, but I don't really want to do another trackside transmission swap.
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