Drive shaft

Thu Apr 24, 2014 11:11 pm

I have an m20b23 but it's messed up, So I have bought a m20b20 with gearbox. Will the Drive shaft from the b23 fit on the car when I have the b20 with gearbox in it? Or do I have to fit the b23 gearbox on the b20?

I believe the gearboxes used on b23 are Getrag 260 and the gearboxes on b20 Getrag 240?

Thu Apr 24, 2014 11:26 pm

Found something on the wiki, The 240 gearbox is longer so i quess the drive shaft won't fit with the 240 box.

But then

question number2, is the clutch interchangable? Cause I will fit in (if it fits) the best one if both engines are out the car.

Thu Apr 24, 2014 11:53 pm

What's wrong with the M20B23? The M20B20 I gather has the same block and head, it's just the crank that differs, so perhaps you could swap the M20B23 crank into the M20B20...

Fri Apr 25, 2014 3:28 am

Assume you mean the shaft that runs from the gearbox to the differential?

We call this the 'propshaft'...

Rear part is common to all E30's,front differs with gearbox/engine.

But;
The join between the two halves can be adjusted,so you may get lucky,by sliding the two bits in or out.

Fri Apr 25, 2014 5:31 pm

Speedtouch wrote:What's wrong with the M20B23? The M20B20 I gather has the same block and head, it's just the crank that differs, so perhaps you could swap the M20B23 crank into the M20B20...

It runs on 3 cilinders, I suspect the injectors, And the viscous coupling of the cooling fan is broken. So it became overheated a few times. Lately my radiator started leaking and now I don't have a headgasket anymore

And today was also a bad day cause I cracked the head I think, If I add water it flows out of the engine at cil number 6. But I have to say for a car with no fluids in it and running on 3 instead of 6 cilinders, It performs pretty well

But I think I keep some parts of the engine just for spare. I think I keep the crank too so maybe some day I can make a 2300 of it.

Fri Apr 25, 2014 5:39 pm

Running on 3 may be due to corrosion of the connector underneath the inlet manifold, a common problem.

Fri Apr 25, 2014 5:42 pm

daimlerman wrote:Assume you mean the shaft that runs from the gearbox to the differential?

We call this the 'propshaft'...

Rear part is common to all E30's,front differs with gearbox/engine.

But;
The join between the two halves can be adjusted,so you may get lucky,by sliding the two bits in or out.

Yes, I meant the propshaft.

The E30 wiki says it can be adjusted by only 10mm. And the propshaft of a b23 manual is 1468mm and a b20 manual is 1526mm. So that's a difference of 58mm. I don't think it's gonna fit with A b23 propshaft. Or are there any other tricks to make it fit. But I guess I just change the box, It's the cheapest solution since I already have it.

Fri Apr 25, 2014 7:07 pm

woerie938 wrote:
daimlerman wrote: The join between the two halves can be adjusted,so you may get lucky,by sliding the two bits in or out.
Yes, I meant the propshaft.

The E30 wiki says it can be adjusted by only 10mm. And the propshaft of a b23 manual is 1468mm and a b20 manual is 1526mm. So that's a difference of 58mm. I don't think it's gonna fit with A b23 propshaft. Or are there any other tricks to make it fit. But I guess I just change the box, It's the cheapest solution since I already have it.

The propshaft is adjustable for length, but it's the rear part that can be changed and the front part that's the wrong length!

No connector under the inlet manifold to give problems on a 323i. This plug and socket was only fitted to facelift M20s.