M30 swap for my Olive Drab Vert!

[RagtopE30]

Finally my semester came to an end and I got a chance to catch up on some work. And today I got some progress done, well enough that I thought it warranted a post.


I got my oil pan back last night. The oil return bung was welded in and the adapter is now in place.



And a cap until the turbo is installed.


I glued the oil pump gear nut in place with some red locktite and installed the oil pan. I then started with the fun stuff!



Caution the following pictures contain large amounts of sexy. Even if my iPotato took the pictures









Next up I am going to clean up the transmission a little bit and flush and replace the fluid. Then I will be test fitting it into the car. Hopefully all goes well and it will just stay in there.

[RagtopE30]

When I read about the "massaging of the firewall" I assumed that because I wasn't planning on using position 3 that I would not have to worry about it. MAN WAS I WRONG! At least the removable firewall made pulling it in and out repeatedly much easier.

Anyways it is in, for now. I need to pull it out one more time to do some final cleaning and painting of the newly exposed sheet metal on the firewall. Then final assembly is on!

Pics for your viewing pleasure.









And while she is in dry dock here are a few pictures of some of her stable mates.

[Good & Tight]

Getting there..!!! Nice clutch set up. What's the torque rating on it..?

[RagtopE30]

Thanks.
The torque rating for the stage 3+ is 525 ft/lbs

[RagtopE30]

Operation removable radiator support is underway!

I drew up several different ideas of how to make it happen but in a stroke of brilliance I came up with the most complicated way to do it yet! Who likes the easy way anyways.

I started by making cardboard versions of the adaptors. I made a sleeve that fit inside of the remaining radiator support pieces that are still attached to the inner fenders. It sticks out about 1" with 3 attachment points on each side. Using m6 bolts (two on top and one on the bottom) I am able to securely bolt the support in place. I then trimmed the radiator support so that it slides over the sleeves. I still have to work out the lower mounting points on the frame but that is the easy part.

Pics:

Existing radiator support pieces still attached to inner fender. AKA before!


Template and metal cut out (I love love love my plasma cutter!)


Formed and nuts welded in place. Sorry I skipped a couple of steps.


In place


Welded then cleaned and primed



Trimmed radiator support



And in place bolted up. I did measurements before and after and they are the same. I also measured two other convertibles to verify my measurements.


Thanks for looking

[RagtopE30]

Finished up the upper mounts for the radiator support. And spent some time cleaning them up to make it look like I meant to do it.





Then I got a wild hair up my bum and figured I would join the tucked engine bay crowd.
First I eliminated all the unused wires such as ABS, AC, and the windshield washer bottle wires. Then I rewrapped the harness in ACE hardware friction tape which is extremely similar to the BWM wire wrap.

Then I proceeded to poke a hole in the inner fender after cutting out an access on the out side. I used an extra rubber grommet from the engine wiring harness to protect the wires.
I pulled the wires through the inner fender and then carefully routed them through the "tunnel" in the inner fender.

[RagtopE30]

So I had a slight distraction in the last couple of days. I stumbled across an e21 convertible and then an e21 dune buggy!




Then after 2 loads in the truck I had an empty bay again and some much needed patch panels for my Euro E21 323i.

NEXT, I got a new toy today! A recently (within 200 miles) rebuilt Holset HX40 turbo!
I am going to clean it up and polish the cold side while I finish up the build and break in of the M30.

[RagtopE30]

I made the hardware today for the lower mounts on the radiator support.
I cut and then bent some 16ga steel. I drilled holes and then welded in pipes to the center to provide support.



These are designed to slide tightly over the existing radiator support and be welded onto it. The bolts will secure the radiator support to a piece of angle iron that will be welded to the frame of the car. I mocked up the entire set up in the next couple of pictures. I will be welding everything into place after Christmas. Once again there are many ways to skin this cat, this is just the method I choose.

[RagtopE30]

Got some progress done today. First off, Project Removable Radiator Support is complete!
I welded the brackets in place added some extra metal and then cleaned up the welds. I am sharing a picture of a raw weld just so I can have proof that not all my welds suck.



I then decided that I want to complete all the fabrication for the intercooler mounting and the radiator before I move on. This way I can pull the drive train and paint it without worries of major future fabrication.
Anyways, I first placed the intercooler where I wanted it and marked the metal that needed to disappear. Then the plasma cutter went to work.



I then boxed in the now flimsy valance mount points. This made them strong again and also made the whole mess look a little better.



And this is what it looks like with the intercooler on the radiator support out of the car.



The bottom mounts are two pieces of 16 gauge sheet metal bent to a 90 and welded in place. I then drilled a hole through both of them and used factory headlight mounting hardware to secure the bottom of the intercooler.



And in the car! This intercooler is huge!




The valance bolts back on without modification. The intercooler fits perfectly! Here are a couple of pics with the valance in place.




So the next step is to get the radiator mounted. I have an E36 318i radiator with the built in reservoir that I would love to use but I am concerned about the cooling. So I may end up having to purchase a 535i radiator. Regardless, the plan is to utilize the dead space between the intercooler and radiator and put a hi volume electric fan in there. I will be making plastic or fiberglass panels along with foam to ensure that the air moves 100% through the intercooler and radiator.

Getting closer!!

[Good & Tight]

Your gettin it...! Looks good, I like the removable front support.

[navytapaul]

well that's one way of putting that in there...

[RagtopE30]

I wonder which one I should use?



Back on track. I removed everything I installed and started the engine bay clean up process. Ideally I will have it painted and the engine reinstalled before school starts back on Jan 13th.

[george graves]

sub'ed

[Good & Tight]

I wonder which one I should use?

Um, the one on the right of course...!!

[RagtopE30]

Yeah your right. I guess the smaller KKK turbo will find its way onto the e21 once the e30 is on the road..