BMW E30 1UZ-FE V8 Conversion
Modified from my thread on ECCA.
So I have posted pics of Stormy in another thread so time to post some pics of "Frank" as it is affectionately known.
The car is not meant to be a show car, a euro style classic, a drag car, a drift car, a race care, the idea was an all rounder.
Basically do what I wanted with no regard to what others thought. Full stop.
Forget what purists would do, just do what I wanted.
This project started in March 2008 initially delayed due to breaking my sacrum bone shown in this pic
Not recommended.
This is how it looked when I first bought it in 2005, well when V test drove it for me as I was license retarded at the time. I could see potential.
This is how it looked the night I got it after a serious workout at the car wash.
1983 323i 5 speed manual 2dr manual windows in graphite metallic which I still seems quite an uncommon colour
First lot of mods were
15x7 et25 shod with 205/50-15 fronts and purely for visual reasons, went against tradition and fitted 225/50-15s to the rear well aware of the slight oversize and if anything, detrimental affect to performance.
But wait, I dont remember buying a 4x4 E30
Even after a drive, it reminded me of a giraffe
So naturally, next step was get it sitting better.
Seeing that made confirmed my reasoning for doing the 225 rears, just filled the rear wheel arches that bit better.
Few other mods around that time were the single Remus, wanted to steer away from the typical twins found on 6cyl BMWs.
Clear side indicators and smoked fronts.
Played with blackened kidneys and inflicting pain on fellow E30philiacs at Deca, one of my fave pics of the car (Thanks to Jamie)
The passenger in this pic is Shakey Jake, who I bought Stormy off.
Few other things, QH slotted and drilled rotors. They have been INCREDIBLE.
Added some mirrors, for looks and they were a couple of happy meals lighter than the originals (weight loss bug starts here)
Just out with the boys lol (another one of my fave E30 photos, had to add it)
I didnt want a full bodykit, so started working out what front spoiler to use.
Decided on doing the unthinkable and chopping up a brand new BBS front spoiler (lolz at the flaming Newman copped here chopping into his Mtech1).
This front was part of this BBS kit.
I had access to a complete kit, front rear and sides minus the flares. For anyone that has had one of these kits will know, the flare makes up part of the bumper replacement section, shown in this pic.
So I could not use the whole bumper as a replacement but I knew I could make it work and the big advantage was that it wasnt fibreglass.
So out with the tools, yes Jim beam being an important tool at that stage lol
First morning it was fitted, finished late the night before, got up at sparrows to take this pic
Was starting to be happy with the way it looked, sat, sounded and drove.
A bit of a wheel swap with ADJ turned it into the thorn between the roses this day.
So not much else happened apart from an interior strip, started the sound deadening removal trying to find some, what I call natural horsepower, weight reduction.
I would have liked at this stage to have turned it into an E30 race car and compete in the Aussie E30 Racing series but at the time an M20B25 and manual box would set you back $3000+, cage $2000k min, tyres $1200 a set etc etc, $20K later minimum to have an entry level car, and with the E30 regulations seeming to change like the wind I didnt want to spend 12 months and money I didnt have building a car to have the rules change.
After owning it for a few years I sold it to MorerevsM3 Alan who owned it for approx 1 year and bought it back
I didnt want to build an all out race car, wanted something a bit different and something that was not going to cost the earth. Something that was quicker than an E30 race car, could be driven on the street and for alot less.
Ideally I would have loved to have gone S50B30 or M60 BMW V8, even better S38 and even better still, S62. The reality, out of my reach financially and I have no shame admitting that.
It pisses me off how some people like belittling others hard work and enthusiasm and bag there projects because they dont use the best of everything or do it the way they think it should be done, something I was once guilty of but have learned to accept we are all different and do things different ways.
I saw modding the M20 as an expensive exercise, dont get me wrong, I love a worked NA M20 or boosted M20 but $ vs gain it was cost prohibitive and I didnt want something highly strung (as in the worked NA M20)
So a purists nightmare conversion was on the cards.
Like so many others have mentioned in other threads, I considered the following list
PP 20B N/A Rotary
LS1/LS2/LSx
Toyota 1JZ-2JZ
Nissan RB20-25-30
Toyota 1UZFE V8 4.0
Nissan SR20 turbo
13b turbo
Nissan VH40-45
Lol, even a Holden red 6 cylinder. I know of several weber fed 235 strokers that make a good 300hp. 300hp is 300hp in anyones language, is a badge on an engine you cant see while driving the car important when you have 300hp in an 1100kg car?
Its ok, even I wouldn’t have done that, it would have been funny, but I wouldn’t do it. Maybe when I am a bit older and have really lost my marbles.
So the 1UZ-FE 4.0 Quad cam alloy V8 was the weapon of choice.
There are a lot of people who say pffft to the 1UZ, they are boat anchors etc. The HP/KW figures they produce are not spectacular. 350nm in less than 1100kg is what I was looking at.
E36 M3 type torque combined with E30 weight to me is a nice equation.
Modified from my thread on ECCA.
So I have posted pics of Stormy in another thread so time to post some pics of "Frank" as it is affectionately known.
The car is not meant to be a show car, a euro style classic, a drag car, a drift car, a race care, the idea was an all rounder.
Basically do what I wanted with no regard to what others thought. Full stop.
Forget what purists would do, just do what I wanted.
This project started in March 2008 initially delayed due to breaking my sacrum bone shown in this pic
Not recommended.
This is how it looked when I first bought it in 2005, well when V test drove it for me as I was license retarded at the time. I could see potential.
This is how it looked the night I got it after a serious workout at the car wash.
1983 323i 5 speed manual 2dr manual windows in graphite metallic which I still seems quite an uncommon colour
First lot of mods were
15x7 et25 shod with 205/50-15 fronts and purely for visual reasons, went against tradition and fitted 225/50-15s to the rear well aware of the slight oversize and if anything, detrimental affect to performance.
But wait, I dont remember buying a 4x4 E30
Even after a drive, it reminded me of a giraffe
So naturally, next step was get it sitting better.
Seeing that made confirmed my reasoning for doing the 225 rears, just filled the rear wheel arches that bit better.
Few other mods around that time were the single Remus, wanted to steer away from the typical twins found on 6cyl BMWs.
Clear side indicators and smoked fronts.
Played with blackened kidneys and inflicting pain on fellow E30philiacs at Deca, one of my fave pics of the car (Thanks to Jamie)
The passenger in this pic is Shakey Jake, who I bought Stormy off.
Few other things, QH slotted and drilled rotors. They have been INCREDIBLE.
Added some mirrors, for looks and they were a couple of happy meals lighter than the originals (weight loss bug starts here)
Just out with the boys lol (another one of my fave E30 photos, had to add it)
I didnt want a full bodykit, so started working out what front spoiler to use.
Decided on doing the unthinkable and chopping up a brand new BBS front spoiler (lolz at the flaming Newman copped here chopping into his Mtech1).
This front was part of this BBS kit.
I had access to a complete kit, front rear and sides minus the flares. For anyone that has had one of these kits will know, the flare makes up part of the bumper replacement section, shown in this pic.
So I could not use the whole bumper as a replacement but I knew I could make it work and the big advantage was that it wasnt fibreglass.
So out with the tools, yes Jim beam being an important tool at that stage lol
First morning it was fitted, finished late the night before, got up at sparrows to take this pic
Was starting to be happy with the way it looked, sat, sounded and drove.
A bit of a wheel swap with ADJ turned it into the thorn between the roses this day.
So not much else happened apart from an interior strip, started the sound deadening removal trying to find some, what I call natural horsepower, weight reduction.
I would have liked at this stage to have turned it into an E30 race car and compete in the Aussie E30 Racing series but at the time an M20B25 and manual box would set you back $3000+, cage $2000k min, tyres $1200 a set etc etc, $20K later minimum to have an entry level car, and with the E30 regulations seeming to change like the wind I didnt want to spend 12 months and money I didnt have building a car to have the rules change.
After owning it for a few years I sold it to MorerevsM3 Alan who owned it for approx 1 year and bought it back
I didnt want to build an all out race car, wanted something a bit different and something that was not going to cost the earth. Something that was quicker than an E30 race car, could be driven on the street and for alot less.
Ideally I would have loved to have gone S50B30 or M60 BMW V8, even better S38 and even better still, S62. The reality, out of my reach financially and I have no shame admitting that.
It pisses me off how some people like belittling others hard work and enthusiasm and bag there projects because they dont use the best of everything or do it the way they think it should be done, something I was once guilty of but have learned to accept we are all different and do things different ways.
I saw modding the M20 as an expensive exercise, dont get me wrong, I love a worked NA M20 or boosted M20 but $ vs gain it was cost prohibitive and I didnt want something highly strung (as in the worked NA M20)
So a purists nightmare conversion was on the cards.
Like so many others have mentioned in other threads, I considered the following list
PP 20B N/A Rotary
LS1/LS2/LSx
Toyota 1JZ-2JZ
Nissan RB20-25-30
Toyota 1UZFE V8 4.0
Nissan SR20 turbo
13b turbo
Nissan VH40-45
Lol, even a Holden red 6 cylinder. I know of several weber fed 235 strokers that make a good 300hp. 300hp is 300hp in anyones language, is a badge on an engine you cant see while driving the car important when you have 300hp in an 1100kg car?
Its ok, even I wouldn’t have done that, it would have been funny, but I wouldn’t do it. Maybe when I am a bit older and have really lost my marbles.
So the 1UZ-FE 4.0 Quad cam alloy V8 was the weapon of choice.
There are a lot of people who say pffft to the 1UZ, they are boat anchors etc. The HP/KW figures they produce are not spectacular. 350nm in less than 1100kg is what I was looking at.
E36 M3 type torque combined with E30 weight to me is a nice equation.
Comment