The complete repair, rebuild, repaint, and v8 swap of my early model sedan

[JGood]

Nice work Justin!

What clutch did you use on the 6 spd and is it holding good? I swapped mine to 6spd recently and the 540i stock clutch is slipping...

Thanks!

I went with the e39 540i SPEC Stage 1, with the optional sprung hub disc. I'm using the 240mm e39 540i UUC flywheel. A bit pricey for a normal organic clutch setup, but it has no adjustment to mess with/slip, and the pressure plate is rebuildable (although I'm not sure how cost effective that will be). The flywheel is also nice, since you can just bolt a new friction disc on during a clutch replacement.

So far it's great, no slipping and smooth engagement, but I only have about 3k miles on it. My m52 clutch behind my 5 speed lasted about 12k miles before slipping.

I'm suprised your stock clutch is slipping, is it the e34 265mm or e39 240mm setup? How many miles?

[Jon Merck]

Thanks for the info! I think I will go that route...

Any issues with the slave being too short since the flywheel is not as thick as the dual mass? I welded an extension on mine to get the pedal off the floor...

e39 240mm set up with JB Racing light weight flywheel...it surprises me also that it would slip. Normally slips in 3rd or 4th around 4000 rpm . It is a used clutch and pp with what appeared very few miles on it maybe 2k-3k...looked almost brand new.

I had one of those stage 1 ebay clutch/pp setups and it only lasted 5000 mi with my 5 speed. I could see the LUK stamp on the pressure plate, so I thought it would last for a little while. The clamping of the pp appeared to be too weak as the flywheel side of clutch was gone almost to rivets.

[JGood]

Hmm, did you properly adjust the clutch? I'd bet that's your problem. You can't just remove/reinstall the factory SAC clutches. I'm guessing that's the issue with your engagement point too, you definitely shouldn't need to modify the slave. The flywheel should be the same thickness from crank flange to PP mounting surface and friction surface. A stock e39 540i slave will work fine.

[Jon Merck]

ugh! I bet that's it, never adjusted it...didn't realize I had too. Thanks for your help!

[JGood]

ugh! I bet that's it, never adjusted it...didn't realize I had too.

Ohhh yeah. It requires an expensive tool to reset a used SAC clutch. When you buy a new one, they come pre-set, you just remove a lock plate after it's bolted down. But, some people have reported issues even with new ones, with the adjuster slipping or malfunctioning. There's some info about it on UUC's website. Not to mention, it's a solid hub, which isn't ideal with a single-mass lightweight flywheel.

I have another stock e39 540i LUK clutch with less then 5k miles on it, you're more then welcome to give it a shot if you get the tool, I'll give it to you for the price of shipping. I didn't want to mess with it, so I just got the SPEC. They are one of the only companies that sell a non-SAC organic kit for the e39 540i's. UUC also sells them.

[Jon Merck]

Yep, just read up on it...crap! I'm going to nurse it until funds are available and do the Spec stage1 like you did. Sad thing is, I'm not how to nurse it at a track event, but will find out this weekend =-0....probably will be towing it home...

I appreciate your input and the offer, let me know if you need anything.

Probably ought to put some of this info on the V8 forum so nobody makes my mistake, as I'm sure others are contemplating the 6 speed swap.

BTW, the 6 spd swap was worth it, I love that tall final gear, its perfect for the long drive...

[JGood]

Went to the drag strip the other night.

2820lbs without me, but with 3/4 tank of gas, the spare tire, and my normal crate of tools/supplies in the trunk. Basically, the way I drive it 99% of the time.

Best time was as follows:

60' ...... 2.018
330 ..... 5.592
1/8 ..... 8.505
MPH .... 83.01
1000 ... 10.996
ET ...... 13.099
MPH ... 107.21

All of my runs were 13.1-13.3, 107-108 mph. Didn't hook up in any of them. I've done a 1.9 60' before in this car, just couldn't do it again that night. I guess the additional low end torque makes it more difficult. If I can do that again, I'll be in the 12's. But I'm VERY happy about the trap speed increase. From 102-103 with the m60b40, to 107-108 with the m60b44. That shows that there is a serious power gain. I'm probably near 300whp. e39 M5's with good drivers usually end up with very similar ET/MPH numbers, so I'd expect I'd be about even with one until probably 130ish or so, when their peak power and aerodynamics take over.

[LJ851]

^ Nicely done !

[The Dark Side of Will]

Went to the drag strip the other night.

2820lbs without me, but with 3/4 tank of gas, the spare tire, and my normal crate of tools/supplies in the trunk. Basically, the way I drive it 99% of the time.

Best time was as follows:

60' ...... 2.018
330 ..... 5.592
1/8 ..... 8.505
MPH .... 83.01
1000 ... 10.996
ET ...... 13.099
MPH ... 107.21

All of my runs were 13.1-13.3, 107-108 mph. Didn't hook up in any of them. I've done a 1.9 60' before in this car, just couldn't do it again that night. I guess the additional low end torque makes it more difficult. If I can do that again, I'll be in the 12's. But I'm VERY happy about the trap speed increase. From 102-103 with the m60b40, to 107-108 with the m60b44. That shows that there is a serious power gain. I'm probably near 300whp. e39 M5's with good drivers usually end up with very similar ET/MPH numbers, so I'd expect I'd be about even with one until probably 130ish or so, when their peak power and aerodynamics take over.

Awesome!

Really good to see performance numbers for the B40 vs. B44 combos.

E30 has a lot less frontal area than E39, so even with a worse Cd, the aero loading on the E30 would be less than that of an E39.

[JGood]

Awesome!

Really good to see performance numbers for the B40 vs. B44 combos.

E30 has a lot less frontal area than E39, so even with a worse Cd, the aero loading on the E30 would be less than that of an E39.

So even though an e30 is shaped like a brick, it still has less drag overall then an e39 would? Is the frontal area the main factor in drag? What about the cross sectional area and turbulence/interference drag around, say, the windshield? Or, the rear of the car, which is probably flatter then the front, in the case of the e30?

I don't really care, I'm not going to go out and try to turn my car into an airfoil, but I'm intrigued by physics! I always was curious how much aerodynamics actually effect e30's. My Hartge wing, for example. Am I adding a ton of drag over 100mph, with no rear downforce benefit? Or too much downforce, when I don't need it to begin with? Or maybe the damn thing is causing lift, lol. I don't really care, because 90% of the time I'm just cruising, but curious minds need to know!

[MPLFoster]

...My Hartge wing, for example. Am I adding a ton of drag over 100mph, with no rear downforce benefit? Or too much downforce, when I don't need it to begin with? Or maybe the damn thing is causing lift, lol. I don't really care, because 90% of the time I'm just cruising, but curious minds need to know!

I have the same Hartge spoiler and i would be interested to know the benefit (if any) that it has on the overall aerodynamics of the E30. You would think Hartge would put some R&D into the design...

[MJCRO]

Nice!

[The Dark Side of Will]

So even though an e30 is shaped like a brick, it still has less drag overall then an e39 would? Is the frontal area the main factor in drag? What about the cross sectional area and turbulence/interference drag around, say, the windshield? Or, the rear of the car, which is probably flatter then the front, in the case of the e30?

I don't really care, I'm not going to go out and try to turn my car into an airfoil, but I'm intrigued by physics! I always was curious how much aerodynamics actually effect e30's. My Hartge wing, for example. Am I adding a ton of drag over 100mph, with no rear downforce benefit? Or too much downforce, when I don't need it to begin with? Or maybe the damn thing is causing lift, lol. I don't really care, because 90% of the time I'm just cruising, but curious minds need to know!

The formula for the force created by aerodynamic drag is 1/2*p*Cd*FA*V^2
p - density of fluid
Cd - Coefficient of drag
FA - Frontal Area
V - Speed

So a 10% decrease in Cd is exactly balanced by a 10% increase in FA.
I'm sure those numbers for E30 and E39 are on the internets, if you're bored and need some things to Google.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag_equation

As for the Hartge wing... I don't know.
You could test its drag by timing coast-down (e.g. from 100 mph to 80 mph or 60 mph) with and without it along a "standard" stretch of road. The difference in coast down time can be equated to drag.

[Denny]

Went to the drag strip the other night.

2820lbs without me, but with 3/4 tank of gas, the spare tire, and my normal crate of tools/supplies in the trunk. Basically, the way I drive it 99% of the time.

Best time was as follows:

60' ...... 2.018
330 ..... 5.592
1/8 ..... 8.505
MPH .... 83.01
1000 ... 10.996
ET ...... 13.099
MPH ... 107.21

All of my runs were 13.1-13.3, 107-108 mph. Didn't hook up in any of them. I've done a 1.9 60' before in this car, just couldn't do it again that night. I guess the additional low end torque makes it more difficult. If I can do that again, I'll be in the 12's. But I'm VERY happy about the trap speed increase. From 102-103 with the m60b40, to 107-108 with the m60b44. That shows that there is a serious power gain. I'm probably near 300whp. e39 M5's with good drivers usually end up with very similar ET/MPH numbers, so I'd expect I'd be about even with one until probably 130ish or so, when their peak power and aerodynamics take over.

Wow pretty good considering the car is 99% a real car and not a drag queen that weights 1800 pounds and 1 baby seat for driver seat. I would suggest try some slicks on small steel wheels that you can just swap easy at the track and see your time go down in the low 12's if not brake in the 11's. All Motor power too.... keep leading the way man!

[DeckDub]

Damn this is impressive, good work.

I'm also about to embark on a similar rust repair journey and after reading through this, I now have hope.