V8 cabrio? Anyone done it? Updated with video.

[YeOldeBuggy]

That'd be an interesting feat. If you braze it using sil fos, or any other decent solder, it should hold up fine. That stuff melts at 1400 degrees, if I remember right. Just get on a website to read up on the properties of various solders, and you should.be golden.

[jalopi]

I wouldn't do it unless you thread the copper pieces together (not sure if you can even do that... I know home depot will thread galvanized steel pipes for you). Either that or braze it. But I wouldn't trust soldering... methinks hot temperatures + vibrations (even taking the rubber couplers into account) = you're gonna have a bad time.

[bmk]

So after doing a little bit of research Im thinking about making my own radiator hard lines out of 1.5'' copper tubing. You can get it for $7-10 and I only need 2 feet at most. Couple that with some 90 degree bends you can get at homedepot should make a clean easy solution. I will be using rubber couplers as the attachment points to reduce vibration. Anyone done this?

[Garageaholic]

Very good looking swap. Any V8 Swap in an E30 is definitely a feat. Good for you!

[bmk]

And since it came out of a caddy I thought id pay tribute

[bmk]

Here is the motor almost in




Here is the clearence on the drivers side. I have no clue how im gonna get exhaust through there

[bmk]

Some more updates. I got the driveshaft back. For those who do this in the future just have the driveshaft shop make custom shaft. This entire time before I had the motor physically in and measured the shaft I was under the impression that the driveshaft needed to be SHORTENED when in fact mine needed to be extended 4" Had it needed to be shortened it would have cost me a measly $40. Since it had to be extended its virtually a brand new shaft and set me back $240 ouch.

[bmk]

Yeah I decided to do gold I think it looks good with the green. I'm even thinking about doing the "318i" logo and MAYBE the kidney. I've seen it done from the factory on some 5 series and thinks it looks pretty good and it's original.

And I have some custom gold race wheels to match ;)

[jalopi]

Shit's real purdy, the gold paint is a nice touch.

Also, try adjusting the pushrod a bit more, might help with the pedal.

[bmk]

Ive ran into so problems with the airbag steering shaft. As you can see by the picture it has a extended appendix on the end that I had to cut off. Once that was done I noticed that the splines on the shaft are much more coarse than those on the steering rack and the ones on my modified e46 steering shaft. Nonetheless I "made" it work and just cross threaded it. Its not going anywhere.




Another side note on the airbag steering shaft is that it telescopes, even with it all the way up its gonna be a tight squeeze with my modified e46 steering shaft.


And heres a the motor mostly done after a rebuilt it.

[bmk]

I also finished extending the brake lines from the abs to the new location without the booster. After adjusting the pedal and pumping the pedal a LOT i have decent pressure now. Still easily depresses a couple inches before good pressure.

[bmk]

Update things are coming along. Went to the junkyard today and picked up a drive shaft, after some research i found I could use any driveshaft from any 93-02 camaro or firebird. What I found is that the earlier models used 2 piece shafts. I ended up picking a steel shaft out of a 97 LT1 based camaro $15 out the door. Deal.

Got back mocked it up and looks like it will fit. The new steel shaft measure approx 2.5 diameter, But just over 3" where the u-joint is, where the 3" aluminum shaft was approx 4" where the u joint was.

[jalopi]

Unscrew the pushrod coming off the pedal until you get some resistance coming from the master. Then back it up a few turns. You now have a stiff brake pedal, yay!

Either that or you've got a fuckton of air somewhere

[bmk]

Just the stock one for now. From everything I've read there isn't anything that much better without something completely custom.

[e30_302]

What size master are you using?