Hey Folks! If you stumbled upon this thread/guide because you're scratching your head and wondering how the M20's throttle body can successfully adapt to the M10's intake manifold? This is it, Here's what you'll need.
Parts / Tools Required:
02Again M20 Throttle Body Adapter Plate
Plate.
H5 Hex Screw Bit for the slotted head bolts that come with your adapter plate.
(1 285 330) M20 Throttle Body - This one doesn't have two ports at the base plus only one vacuum line!
M20 Throttle Body Coolant Gasket.
Two 10mm Wrenches.
E30 M10 Intake Manifold Gaskets.
Any M20 Intake Rubber Boot.
M20 Throttle Body Gasket Or RTV (Ultra Grey Or Black is fine)
Optional: Hammer
Got all of those? You can also take the time to adapt a M50 throttle position sensor or the 02Again Nissan 300zx Position Sensor, I did the 300zx sensor in preparation for Megasquirt but this also works for a completely stock engine as long you switch over the M10 TPS to the new throttle body! Alright Let's Begin.
Start off by having a clean work bench for this marriage of parts, We will assume you already managed to get the Intake manifold off the engine and you probably cursed at the last bolt at the bottom of the fourth port for 4 straight hours (The Bitch Bolt) Once you set your manifold on the table and you got everything you need? Begin by taking off the old gaskets and cleaning up the internal ports with some brake clean.
The original M10 gasket is no longer needed for this, You will either use the M20 Gasket that will mount to the new adapter or a good coating of RTV, Once you had decided your choice of gasket, Go ahead and figure out a way to get off the four studs that were originally mounted for the M10 Throttle Body. In this instance? I stacked two nuts against each other and proceeded to use the mentioned two 10mm wrenches to get the studs off one by one.
Once you take the time and patience to get the four studs off, You can now mount your adapter and then line up the holes so you can use the provided Hex bolts to screw down the adapter to the manifold, Remember that the 4 small holes are for your throttle body! Do not get them mixed up! The Hex bolts require a H5 screw bit or an allen key of similar size to have them screwed down in the large holes that you just removed the studs from.
For the second to last step for this marriage, You can reuse the original studs for the new throttle body but I will be buying new ones that properly fit the throttle body, Screw them down and then install the throttle body itself to the adapter (you might need to use more RTV if you find that there is a gap between the throttle body and the adapter) As for making sure everything is complete, If you bought a cheap random M20 Intake boot like me and you're fitting it to the throttle body, Now is the time to make sure that the throttle cable is facing the same direction of the original 318i throttle body along with the sensor as well! This is what it should look like:
i'm reusing the studs just for this photo but as you can see, the ports that are for your coolant and PCV hose are meant to be facing on the back while the sensor is to the right, When you go to mount this back onto the engine, You might be able to reuse the throttle cable that came with your car but this is untested as of now.
Well then! I hope this helps you in your journey of squeezing as much power you can out of your M10, Thank you to 02Again for helping the M10 community as long with the E30 Community, Cheers!
Parts / Tools Required:
02Again M20 Throttle Body Adapter Plate
Plate.
H5 Hex Screw Bit for the slotted head bolts that come with your adapter plate.
(1 285 330) M20 Throttle Body - This one doesn't have two ports at the base plus only one vacuum line!
M20 Throttle Body Coolant Gasket.
Two 10mm Wrenches.
E30 M10 Intake Manifold Gaskets.
Any M20 Intake Rubber Boot.
M20 Throttle Body Gasket Or RTV (Ultra Grey Or Black is fine)
Optional: Hammer
Got all of those? You can also take the time to adapt a M50 throttle position sensor or the 02Again Nissan 300zx Position Sensor, I did the 300zx sensor in preparation for Megasquirt but this also works for a completely stock engine as long you switch over the M10 TPS to the new throttle body! Alright Let's Begin.
Start off by having a clean work bench for this marriage of parts, We will assume you already managed to get the Intake manifold off the engine and you probably cursed at the last bolt at the bottom of the fourth port for 4 straight hours (The Bitch Bolt) Once you set your manifold on the table and you got everything you need? Begin by taking off the old gaskets and cleaning up the internal ports with some brake clean.
Well then! I hope this helps you in your journey of squeezing as much power you can out of your M10, Thank you to 02Again for helping the M10 community as long with the E30 Community, Cheers!