1991 BMW 325i Coupe - Build Thread - The end is in sight!

[djmoska]

That is one sick ass Y pipe bro... keep it up I'm still waiting to see the end product :)

DJMOSKA

[MaksV]

That is one sick ass Y pipe bro... keep it up I'm still waiting to see the end product :)

DJMOSKA

Thanks T-12days till swap begins. Just gotta make it through these finals first. :(

[djmoska]

Thanks T-12days till swap begins. Just gotta make it through these finals first. :(

Well good luck on your finals....n can't wait for the swap to start

DJMOSKA

[MaksV]

Well good luck on your finals....n can't wait for the swap to start

DJMOSKA

thanks,

I am gonna need it.

[MaksV]

The only way to stay alive in the texas summer:



Engine swap starts tomorrow at 9AM all locals welcome to come and help.

[rares]

good work hombre. keep it up, be safe. looks sick

i love that valve cover blue...hehe. very cool

[Jand3rson]

That shift knob seriously looks like it should be saturated in KY and, well... you know.

Nice work on the exhaust parts, looks decent. Looking forward to seeing this in the car.

[MaksV]

good work hombre. keep it up, be safe. looks sick

i love that valve cover blue...hehe. very cool

Thanks.

That shift knob seriously looks like it should be saturated in KY and, well... you know.

Nice work on the exhaust parts, looks decent. Looking forward to seeing this in the car.

I got the KY ready for you big boy....



So day one of the swap. The engine is out. I will be going later tonight with my dads truck to swap out engines and bring the new one to the house.

Woke up and the day looked like this:


wet, but significantly cooler. This was all fine and dandy right up until i hear a crash in the driveway and am greeted by an angry swarm of bees.



While I started on the car my dad powerwashed and chemicaled them into oblivion, but thats a pretty big nest.

Car getting ready:


Coolant and oil being drained from the car:


Look Ma, no hood:


I dont have a lot of pics since I had a few friends over helping and we were all working on different parts but before everyone showed up I pulled the exhaust:




can anyone ID this for me:


and now get the coolant out of the block


no more radiator


starting to come apart and then everyone showed up to help


Fast forward 5 hours and the engine is out - really wasnt that bad. I then moved on to power washing things clean as the others stood by and laughed.




Engine bay will be cleaned tomorrow. Parting out all ofthe M20 stuff as soon as project is over and I have time for thtat.


Calling it a day (sort of)


Big thanks to my friends Pat and Alex for coming over and helping. See you guys on Monday for the new engine coming in

[MaksV]

Update for today:

My parents planned a 2 week late Bday party for my dad so today was a short day. It was also a painful day, my hands are all cut up, and hurting, but my mama didnt raise no bitch so onwards and upwards.

Got the steering rack swapped today, got the engine ready for the tranny and install, got the brake booster out, and got the engine bay prepped for tomorrow. I am a little behind schedule but not a lot. Pictures:

Problems started here - M20 flywheel wouldnt come off and I stripped on of the screws, fuck allen head bolts. BTW for those who like bigger/stronger stuff. Home Depot sells the M8 1.25 16mm allen head bolts that are 12.9 grade for about 70 cents each. SO I just bought those. M20 part out later this week if you need parts stay tuned.



engine bay was powerwashed


new rear main seal


Clutch and PP in place


new steering rack and tie rods in. This steering knuckle was a bitch, as was getting the rack in place for some reason.



Brake booster out - Need to setup the remote system tomorrow.


3 new seals, delrin shift arm bushing, new TO bearing - ready to bolt to the block


engine waiting for tomorrow.


so game plan for tomorrow:

- Drill out brake booster holes and reinstall
- set up remote brake reserviour
-engine mounts
- trans to engine attachment
-engine goes in
- fire her up.

[drutt23]

Keep it up man! Enjoyin every step

[Dj Buttchug]

very clean work. props on that

[MaksV]

Keep it up man! Enjoyin every step

very clean work. props on that

Thank you gents.



Well day 3. The idea was to have a running and possibly driving car by now. No. Not happening. You know that feeling you get when you bite off more than you can chew, but are too stubborn to give up? ya....

Anyway, the important part is that the brake booster is done, and the engine is resting in the car, ready to have everything wired up. Tomorrow I am hoping to get the car running. Unfortantly Steve sent me the wrong e34 throttle cable so even if everything goes perfect tomorrow it will probably not be drivable.

The goal for tomorrow is to get the car running, and maybe get it somewhat buttoned up below. Leaving just the exhaust and throttle cable to do.

anyway pictures:

First I had to get the brake booster slotted. Pat was good enough to get it removed yesterday while I was working on the rack, so I just had to cut the holes. Not having an actual miter bit (the correct tool) I put a round file into a power drill, and along with a drill, and a half angle grinder I managed to cut that shit out





You really only need about half an inch. I dont think I used the whole slot, but it all fits just fine so whatever.



So here is the tranny attached to the engine. Another thing no one told me is that the bottom 4 bolts (tranny to oil pan dont fit)



We were having all sorts of trouble getting that engine in - we literally spent most of the day trying to get it in. A couple of notes. If you have the 2 ton HF special lift it suck - the boon is too short to get a really good angle on it. You have to manipulate the height of the car both front and back, as well as removing the AC before hand. Another good trick is laying the engine on the front subframe once its in and sliding it around to get the engine mounts in one at a time. Also make sure you put the threaded part in the slot in the subframe and the holder clip in the hole. Not the other way around.

Also in our frustration we managed to bust this thing:


an 8 dollar part. unfortunately no one stocks it, I managed to get it out of the tranny, and ordered it, going to try to get it back in the tranny under the car tomorrow when orielly gets the part. This is the switch for reverse light, Cant pass inspection without it. I strongly suggest buying one - better to have than not, and at $8 not going to break the bank.

End of the day pictures:






I wish i had trays - cleaning up for the next days worth of work. Sponsored by Harbor Freight




This is the M20 o2 sensor - the plug fits. should I just extend it and use it with the M50?


Now to bitch. I dont know whats going on with this project but my car is out to get me. These are my hands.



I have not gotten cut up this bad every before. whatever Stay tuned for a running car - hopefully.

[MaksV]

NOTE: CAn someone post pictures of their 24V harness connector on the passenger side of the compartment?



Not a lot of pictures today, but I got some stuff accomplished.

-cooling system is put together
-power steering is set up
-charcoal canister, MAF, ect is in.

but the car wont start. I got run out of my garage by bees being attracted to the lights so I had to give up for the day. The engine cranks but wont start. Also I cant turn my car off - basically no matter the key position the "ignition" is on. This leads me to believe I have a wiring issue. Having the e34 wiring harness sucks dick. I didnt realize it til pat pointed it out today. Looks like I will have to end up building quite a few little brackets, and a cover to keep the ECU in the engine compartment. This is gonna add work. However the current goal is just to get it to fire.

So a couple of lessons learned

1. This swap is a lot harder - at lesat to do "right" than a lot of people on the interwebs imply it to be. I have yet to run into a problem where I didnt have the right tool, but I have run out of ideas. Even after I get the engine running It is going to be a lot of custom work to make the engine bay look and function descent.

2. coolant hoses - My e36 spider hose had to be spliced to the old one to fit on the fitting, ditto for the top heater core hose.

3. Keep the pulled engine close - you will forget to remove certain parts

4. There are a lot of stuff people dont talk about like the charcoal canister that need to be fit on the driver side of the engine compartment - there is only a little space and a lot of stuff to fit. So it does take some creativity.

5. the best resource you have is realoem.com - those diagrams answer more questions than the Bently, the forums, all of it combined.

6. I had to bend the power steering solid lines to make them fit. Your results may vary.

Pics:

[MaksV]

More updates: SHE RUNS!!!!!:excited:

Got a lot done today - ran into more problems. wasted half the day trying to figure out that I have crank and cam sensors plugged in backwards - go figure.

Anyway Next set of problems:

-shift linkage adjustment - options - cut and bolt the stock one, fit in a 87 one - more time and more money.
-Remove harmonic balancer from the driveshaft.
-fit headers.

quite frankly the engine bay is a mess. This whole car is custom - everything is being fabbed and made. Kinda wish I had just bought and e36 or ti and swapped and boosted that. But hey, I wanted a swapped e30 and thats what I am building. The goal is to be able to drive it out of the garage on sunday. There will have to be a lot of fab work done to make the engine bay look and act presentable, but one thing at a time.

Pictures from today:










this thing was a pain to fit. ended up grinding of a corner to make it fit.









This is a mess too:


squish:





So ya. Need to get shifter stuff figured out, and then get the rest sorted. But I am getting closer.

[MaksV]

Well I am slowly making more progress. Fabbed a shift linkage today. Got pretty much everything engine back in the car buttoned up. Game plan for tomorrow:

-get interior togetherish.
-finish the underhood stuff
--PS res
--Brake res
--bleed systems
--Charcoal canister
--clean up lines
--Maybe figure out something for the ECU.

Still waiting on the correct throttle cable... come on Steve, chop chop.

-Get the headers in

That should only leave the throttle cable, and exhaust for this weekend. :)


Pictures from today:

Started with sorting out the shifting. The hard thing is that I have the 260 carrier, so I need to make it longer, move it an inch toward the driver, AND tilt it. After a little thinking this is what I came up with. $10 solution.


3/8" sheet steel


the trick to drilling these, is to flip it on its side, drill out the middle portion of the I beam, and then drill straight down. Or just own a drill press :facepalm:



Test fitting. Look at that - dead center in the middle




Took a hammer and vice and bent it about 6*. thats all I needed to make it perfectly straight.

Got some 3/4" angle and bolted that in. all hardware is 10.9 M8 bolts. That shit aint moving.






For those who want to build their own here are the important dimensions. I have lots of material, so I can cut you some pieces for just about free.




Now to sort out the connetor arm - basically decided to get rid of the balancer and hammered it straight.



3lb sledge> balancer.


Notice how the arrows on the guibo are backwards :facepalm:





Then it was time to go home cleaned everything up and organized the garage.


random hardware that was found




Stuff to go to storage and will be FS soon.


The parts taht still need to be installed.