1983 Henna Red 323i

[kdevitt]

Lots more done with the donor engine, but its not all good news unfortunately. Looks like the budget is going to explode - but more of that in a bit.

Here is it as it currently stands!



As of this morning this is how it looked -

Before a clean up -



After -



Plenty of parts had come off at this stage though!



Hadn't intended taking the head off - but when looking at the exhaust valves, one appeared oily. Not much point sticking the engine back in and then having to lift it out again if there was an issue, so Dave did a leak down test - the results of which weren't positive. One cylinder had an 80% exhaust valve leak, so make the decision to whip the head off.

Unfortunately there was bad news - one of the valve seats was damaged.



Looks like something was floating around in there and doing some damage -



So its off to get a cylinder head rebuild priced up. To add to the woe, looks like the cylinders potentially need a re-bore.

[kdevitt]

Lots of progress today from my man with the skills!

Engine on its way out of the donor -



Its a big lump. The eagle eyed viewers amongst you may notice that this swap is a distraction from an altogether more exciting project!



Clutch has seen better days - will be replaced with a Sachs kit



The synchros were gone on two of the gars on the box from the donor car, so needed to source a new box or fork out for repairs. Decided to take a chance on a box which hadn't been used in a few years, but was guaranteed as having been removed from a 32k mile car. At the moment, it appears the gamble paid off! Oil needed a change though :D



Would be a shame to leave grotty exhaust manifold gaskets on it, so off came the manifolds -





Some degreaser and a quick scrub seem to do the trick on the head -



Only piece of bad luck was a stud snapping off the manifold -



Going to price up a stainless steel manifold, might just buy a used standard manifold off eBay if the price is over the top - could be easier than getting this out.

[Mfever]

Sure - will get something sorted. My mid silencer is a bit bashed up at the moment, so think it's noisier than would otherwise be normal.

haha I know the feeling. I install my bav auto headers and mid pipes while retaining the factory exhaust... it rattles like a mother and is extremely raspy... been looking at the eisenmann for a while. thanks for the help. can't wait to hear it. mtech 1 makes me big in the pants btw.

[evil-diesel]

wow... this is the perfect non-M...:)

[E30NJ]

nice and clean. good job!

[garagewelt]

Love Henna, I could not get my eyes off that last shot!

[kdevitt]

Is there any way you can get a sound clip of the eisenmann exhaust? been wanting to hear that thing for soooo long!!

Sure - will get something sorted. My mid silencer is a bit bashed up at the moment, so think it's noisier than would otherwise be normal.

[Mfever]

Is there any way you can get a sound clip of the eisenmann exhaust? been wanting to hear that thing for soooo long!!

[kdevitt]

Things are beginning to pick up pace with this now -

Here's the engine which will be going in.





Inlet manifold, alternator and a few other bits are coming off for vapour blasting. Engine is having an overhaul while its out - so a substantial parts list has been ordered.

Rocker cover will be powdercoated, but nothing overly ostentatious.

First parts started arriving this week too - have also bought all new shifter parts so that the manual box will be as sharp as possible. E46 M3 shift lever is going in - hopefully not too short a throw for my liking.

[kdevitt]

Yep - M30B35. Coming from a very tidy 535i, which is way to clean to break - but its being broken by the guy anyway, so at least part of it will live on!

[e30m3s54turbo]

M30 b34 or b35? The motor mounts look like for b35.

[kingston]

M30b35?

[kdevitt]

First purchase made in a while for this - free hug for the first person to figure out my plans! :D

[kdevitt]

Lord! No kidding, man! She looks proper :)

I just went all week in the knees.....

Thanks Gents.

In bad news with a silver lining, the engine seems to be in a rather unhealthy state of affairs and is using a lot of oil. So have started gathering some parts for an engine swap.

[CorvallisBMW]

Several hours spend with the porter cable yesterday paid dividends!

I just went all week in the knees.....