M10 modification problems. HELP.

[niconoro]

hi, im new to this forum and i hope some of you can help me figure out some issues with my E30, this is gonna be a long post, so bear with me.

first, ill start with what has already been made to the engine:
-pulled out the engine, dissasembled it completely.
-bored the block
-used new, high(ish) compression, forged, tefflon coated, 1.20mm oversize pistons.
-new crank bearings and rod bearings to 0.10mm oversize.
-used an E12 2.0 cylinder head.
-bought EVERY seal and gasket NEW.
-new water pump, new oil pump, new everything.
-put the engine back in the bay and added fuel injection (previously a 316 so it was carbureted)

now, ill go with the issues.
as it was carbureted, i got an intake and its corresponding fuel system and ECU from a 318i.
as some may now, E12 camshafts have the inverse rotation (the same as an E21), so a normal 318 distributor DOES NOT give spark advance. so this is when i start having issues, obviously. some say that i have to use a Pertronix ignition unit with an E21 or E12 distributor. i tried using old school contact breakers, but it doesnt give the correct signal to the ingiter in order to give signal to the injectors. Pertronix ignition isnt cheap, and i dont want to waste money if its not gonna work.
another work around is changing the camshaft, but that involves buying new headgasket and a new/used E30 camshaft.
a third option (which i like more because it means more POWER) is:
i have a E21 camshaft, regrinded to 292 and extra lift by Ireland Engineering (it was a gift from my E30s previous owner) the question is, can i change the helical gear that drives the distributor in order to use my 292 cam with an E30 distributor, and if so, would you recomend it?. thanks for reading and i hope someone can give me an answer, my car has been sitting in the garage for almost a month now, and i crave to use the new engine.

[Good & Tight]

In order to use the 318i ECU you will need to replace the camshaft and use the 318i distributor.

[mjweimer]

Unfortunately you cannot just change the distributor gear because the advance weights will not spin outwards when rotating clockwise.

You would need to find an early 2002/ E21 320i dist. and use the early lower half mated to the late upper half internals. The upper half consists of the shaft that holds the rotor and the electric pick-up and the lower half would be the housing, main shaft/gear and advance mechanism.

Some machining of the housing would need to be done in order to pass the electrical wiring to the outside.

Many 2002 folks have put the late E21/E30 electronic ignition on their cars so there is some info out there on what is involved with making the distributor rotate clockwise. I would suggest searching the 2002FAQ site.


MJ

[niconoro]

Unfortunately you cannot just change the distributor gear because the advance weights will not spin outwards when rotating clockwise.

You would need to find an early 2002/ E21 320i dist. and use the early lower half mated to the late upper half internals. The upper half consists of the shaft that holds the rotor and the electric pick-up and the lower half would be the housing, main shaft/gear and advance mechanism.

Some machining of the housing would need to be done in order to pass the electrical wiring to the outside.

Many 2002 folks have put the late E21/E30 electronic ignition on their cars so there is some info out there on what is involved with making the distributor rotate clockwise. I would suggest searching the 2002FAQ site.


MJ

indeed, i did change the distributor gear in order to make the car run, it runs, VERY ROUGH, but it runs, what i suggested is changig the gear from the CAMSHAFT and use an e30 distributor, thanks for the help BTW!

[mjweimer]

indeed, i did change the distributor gear in order to make the car run, it runs, VERY ROUGH, but it runs, what i suggested is changig the gear from the CAMSHAFT and use an e30 distributor, thanks for the help BTW!

Unfortunately the gear on the camshaft is machined into the camshaft itself so it cannot be removed.

Like I mentioned above, I think your best bet is to use the top half guts of the E30 distributor with the lower half of the 2002 distributor that matches your cam/head combo.

Here is a link to a thread where they discuss this in a little more detail:

https://www.bmw2002faq.com/forums/topic/96522-84-318i-m10-swap/

I wish you luck with your project, it sounds like you have built a very nice engine.


MJ

[niconoro]

Unfortunately the gear on the camshaft is machined into the camshaft itself so it cannot be removed.

Like I mentioned above, I think your best bet is to use the top half guts of the E30 distributor with the lower half of the 2002 distributor that matches your cam/head combo.

Here is a link to a thread where they discuss this in a little more detail:

https://www.bmw2002faq.com/forums/topic/96522-84-318i-m10-swap/

I wish you luck with your project, it sounds like you have built a very nice engine.


MJ

thank you very much!
i thought the same, but it seems that the e30 camshaft gear is pressed in, the gear in the 292 is machined yes, but im thinkin it could be re-machined to make the e30 gear fit with a press, thankfully where i live, machining and lathing metal is quite cheap.

[niconoro]

this is the 292 regrinded solid camshaft

this is the e30 camshaft, seems to be pressed in.

[mjweimer]

Very interesting. I have never seen a M10 camshaft with a pressed on dist. drive gear.

I think it would be worthwhile to have a machinist look at the cams to determine if the E30 drive gear can be made to work. It's entirely possible that there is enough material on the 292 to allow the E30 gear to be pressed on in place of the other gear.

It will be interesting to hear how this works out.



MJ

[niconoro]

update:

cam gear on the E30 cam only "looked" like pressed, turns out it wasnt, but a local machine shop swapped the entire cam for about 35$, tomorrow i'll put the head back on and use a normal e30 distributor, will be posting pics of the process and an update if it starts, or not.

thanks for the support.

[mjweimer]

Sounds like you have made good progress so far. Hope it runs well!


MJ