yep, another m30b35 swapage

[Rennsport]

Finally got the engine/tranny in and bolted up.

Here are some pics of the custom engine mounts thanks to my welder friend and myself:







And the shifter:



Long tube ceramic coated headers:





How the engine sits now:



I will be measuring the driveshaft length after I get the differential in tomorrow. While I'm waiting on the driveshaft to be cut and balanced Ill mount the radiator and start wiring and hoses.

[So Live]

So if you were going to do all that welding for the motor mount, why wouldnt you just make the engine arms? I feel like you would get better weight transfer cause the weight is more focused over the wheels instead of in front of it... idk

And does the passanger side motor mount bolt to the subframe?

I feel like your solution for mounting the engine was very quickly "thrown together"

Looks like fun though!

[Rennsport]

No the passenger side does not bolt to the subframe, that is the side welded. The driverside is bolted in. I did it that way in the chance of a hard front impact the engine would drop down towards the passenger side.

The placement of the ps engine mount was due to the headers. There is no way I could make an arm that cleared them and bolted to the subframe without sacrificing strength.

[So Live]

I meant driver side sorry! I gotcha. Idk just seems weird to me, not that it wont work or anything.

Can you fit a radiator in there?!?!?!! looks like a tight fit!

[Tavern Gnome]

Sweet! When are you doing mine?

[Rennsport]

yeah, radiator fits in, i might have to get some poly engine mounts though to prevent the pulleys from hitting it.

Ryan, id be happy to help you! lol However I don't weld well and my welder friend isn't exactly cheap...

[Garageaholic]

I feel like you would get better weight transfer cause the weight is more focused over the wheels instead of in front of it... idk

Weight transfer (distribution) has nothing to do with the where motor mount arms are mounted to the chassis...

Your overall goal should be to mount the engine as far back against the firewall. Period. Doesn't matter if you have your motor mount bracket squigling around in 15 different directions. Just where the motor ends up is the only thing that's going to affect your weight distribution.

[george graves]

^ thank you. I didn't want to have to type all of that - and I don't think I would have been half as nice!

[Rennsport]

the engine is all the way back against the firewall, cant go any further without hammering the firewall, which id like to leave stock.

[einstein57]

you already chopped off a bracket and welded directly to the frame rail. What's a little hammering compared to that.

[george graves]

EXACTLY! I banged the crap out of my firewall - If you were looking at my car, I'd bet you $100 you couldn't spot it.

[Garageaholic]

Typically, all you need really is to bang out the part of the firewall right near the cylinder head. Other than that, leave the rest alone. If you bang too much, you start interfering with interior HVAC stuff.

I banged the shit out of my firewall and ended up putting my engine at least 1/2 inch further back than the E30.de position III mount location by modifying the motor mount brackets (extending the holes).


Realistically, I still had about 3/4" clearance to push the engine back further. If I did that, I would probably have had driveshaft installation issues then. In fact, I might just use that 3/4" to re-install the sound deadening material that I initially removed.

[E30SPDFRK]

Which headers are those and how do they fit?

[Rennsport]

well, i did some hammering on the firewall today lol, not as big of a deal as I thought. made some extra room around the back of the head for hoses and by the end of the headers.

[Rennsport]

Which headers are those and how do they fit?

They are ebay headers with ceramic coating. The welds are actually pretty good (better than I was expecting.) All of the mounting studs line up fine. I had to modify the firewall alittle at the end of the headers for them to fit/have room to weld a pipe on.



Differential (3.73 lsd) and driveshaft went in today. Had a scare when I was bolting the driveshaft to the diff flange, the diff wouldn't turn!! Pulled the cover off again and it turned out to just be rusty gears.

I am very happy with the driveshaft. I had it shortened 1.5" by driveline service (driveshafts.com) in portland. Came with a new center support and rebuild-able and grease-able u-joints. $450 shipped after core refund, received it 4 days after I ordered it. I will definitely be using these guys again for other projects in the future!

Test fitted the radiator today aswell, DAMN its a close fit!! Looks like I need to chop the stock mounts off (the radiator is for a e28 535is)