BMW Touring build with SR20 power (UPDATE- 03/04/13)

[Phill172]

Christ, just read through this whole project, litterely dribbling at every photo!

That touring is stunning! Can not wait to see more photos!

[robbo86]

Thats the sort of crazyiness I wish I had the money to throw at..... good on ya!!!!

Wont that flocking get sunfaded?

[Jon_Bmw]

So what have you shut down in the hi blow turbo then?

[oldroydsr4]

Just a little update.

1) Engine is almost ready to be removed from the saab.

2) been speaking to the guys on www.uksaabs.co.uk , where my thread has been made a sticky

And a spec has been made for up for maxium performance for minimium cost.


1) Remove current turbo and send it to Universal turbos. Ask them to fit either an 18T or 19T compressor wheel. The 18T should scrape 350 on a very good day.... 19T guarantees and is more likely 370bhp
Ask them to take 10deg clip on the turbine wheel to get high rpm flow up. 18T is more point and squirt though and won't get caught off boost so easily.
This should cost £500 tops.

2) Source some green giant injectors 430cc (0280155968). Geniune Saab in the US have them for £175 for 4.
3) Get a 3bar map sensor (£40) This is a GM part - don't have number handy.
4) Ensure your exhaust and intake are nicely free flowing and your I/C is good.


ECU wise somebody has offered to flash there map (designed for the above spec) on to my ecu for £50 + mail me the bin file for the stage 3 map which is already on there.

They are very helpful and although the map won't be perfect it should be very close.

http://trionic.mobixs.eu/

using the above program the cu can be further modified.




With 350bhp and a 1000kg e30 she should be very likely.

[Hyperion]

wow

[oldroydsr4]

Hi All, Just a little update of the progress i have made since last time i posted. Although it might not seem much, motivation has been low and with it being soooo cold staying outside allday is always a challenge.

Here goes

The first step was to remve the lump from the saab, i decided to do this with as much attached as possible to help when installing it into the e30





The next stage was to find the GM omega gearbox, I contacted Megavaux and £80 (including postage) later it arrived. This is the big worry on the build, as the GM gearbox is rated at 280nm and in tsandard form the saab b234r makes 325nm, with the current spec its getting on 400nm. I'm hoping theres a large safety factor in the GM figure. However I'm going to purchase a second box and have it cryogenically treated to allow for future turbo and boost upgrades.

Check out this link for the explanations

http://www.cryogenicsinternational.com/



Following this i stripped anything of value on the Saab and sent her to the race track in the sky(scrap value is now at its lowest so the £100 i thought i was going to get never materialised)



Gearbox and engine bolted together ready for the test fit



While the engine was out i measured up the mounting points on the block and made some dummy plates from 2mm aluminium for a test fit.




These were then measured and drawn on solidworks. the working drawings where then sent to be my former place of work and machined for free



With this done the engine counld now be positioned int the engine bay. It was decided that the engine was to be loctaed central to the car with anough room to get to the bellhousing bolts incase a gearbox change was required , I think a little manipulating of the tunnel may be required for the shifter tho.



Bloks of wood/ axle stands and jacks were used to hold the engine in place until the mounts were welded



With the engine positioned I friend (with 20years of welding experience) came round to weld the mounts up.






Engine is now bolted in place and ready for radiator +exhaust fabrication etc etc. Once this is done i will remove it all and give it a freshen up + new clutch etc etc








Mean while Iv Started work on the interior, The dash panel has been started and the door cards are finished. Iv also started countinued work on the loom and have decided to use CBS fuse box and simply cut what is needed from the bmw loom and wire straight to this.


Although it is not finished and needs tidying, the plan is to copy the old Group A M3 dash layout and then get all of the aluminium panels powder coated plack.

Currently i have no real pictures of loom work but just imagine a plate of spagetti and your half way there

Thats all for now

[ROC]

Excellent work, you must be very pleased with your progress

[oldroydsr4]

Cheers ROC, I'm pleased but you can never make enough progress I just dream about driving it one day

[deano1351]

Great project you've got there, cant wait to read more!!

[GrindCulture]

Serious project this one.

[Jhonno]

Can't believe you don't have this running yet!!

Nice work there fella! Will be a chariot when done..

[greentouring]

What an unusual project! My hat's off to you mate. Has anyone ever dropped a Saab engine into an E30 before?

[hoshy]

Loving this!

[cliffybabe]

looks

[FreddieS]

Looks really promising, Would love to drop the saab turbo lump into my e30, used to have a 230bhp saab 9-3, was fun but being fwd crap in the corners

[tomson]

Will post pics when i get some good ones, but heres a taster from it at combe.

I've seen this turd at CC and it was quick!!

Awesome project too

[oldroydsr4]

It felt bloody quick on the way home. Your right tho the shell was a proper dog, when i removed the abbott rear suspension (to sell back to the guy i bought the car from) the rear macpherson struts were being held on with iron oxide god knows how long it had left when being used hard on track.

Cheers for all the positive comments guys, its good to know i haven't got loads of purists saying

'how dare you put a saab engine into a BMW'

I guess its better than a pinto tho (Fuzzy???)

[leeparkes]

Great build.
ill be watching this one

[rosscoe]

This looks the dogs bollocks this does,what sorta cage is it m8,also how hard was it to make up the rear reinforcement brace?

cheers

Tam

[Malaise]

SUPERBE thread.

When do you think u will have finished?

[oldroydsr4]

Rosscoe: Its a 6 point omp cage, the rear brace was very straight forward,i simply measured the gap turned a lenght of 50mm bar down on a lathe to ensure flat faces, then cut the end platesand weled them to the bar.

The diff pick up reinforcement was alot trickier tho.

Malaise: My original aim was last summer, however i should have it done for my annual trip to the nurburgring this summer.


cheers

[Aramil]

This is an excellent project mate, and a has given me a few good ideas for mine! (Putting the Audi 20v 5 cylinder engine in my E30)

[fuzzy]

i think this would have had my vote for the best project of the year in the zone awards.

[Pad]

this is fantastic. B234 is one of the all time great engines (I loved my 9000), shame it was alway powering the wrong set of wheels. Glad to see someone is putting the record straight...,.

[Aramil]

So is this the B234T engine as found in the Volvos?

[georgen]

Just fantastic. Loving this project !!

[BadDave]

Dave

Liking the project so far

Do you have the details for the diff reinforment?

I'll have to do something similar in the near future and any info would help greatly

[Pad]

So is this the B234T engine as found in the Volvos?

No, but you wouldnt be the first to think that... A most unfortunate clash of engine naming, it has to be said. The SAAB B234 was a hugely advance engine when it came out and is still a force to be reckoned with. High flowing heads, strong conrods, chain driven and the ECU (Trionic 5) is supposed to be the envy of Bosch etc.. From what I read when I had one, 400hp+ on stock internals is quite doable (but not necessarily cheap...).

Maptun have some 600hp + 9000s in sweden I believe?

[oldroydsr4]

Dave

Liking the project so far

Do you have the details for the diff reinforment?

I'll have to do something similar in the near future and any info would help greatly

Hi dave,

what sort of details are you after? I have all of the solidworks files for measurements etc and have pictures of every stage but basicly,
1) Removed the original hanger
2) Bolted the diff with e36 back plate to cross member and using measurements of differential angle from before positioned it with a jack
3)Bolted the fabricated brackets to the diff and tacked them in place
4) Cut small grooves either side of the pickup points through the floor and double skin inside the car
5)Tack the double skin floor in place
6) place the horse shoe bracets through the grooves and tack inside the car and on the pickup points
7)Weld every thing up
8 ) Weld rear strut brace in and cross braces onto diff pick up points.


To be honest it was a very involved process and deemed nesessary when i had a big power target with the m20 turbo but now it probably is n't really required. However with the current setup I'm happy in the knowledge that the rear end can pretty much take any increase in power/torque i plan in the future.

[oldroydsr4]

Also cheers for all the positive comments

[oldroydsr4]

Hi All , its been a long time coming buts here is a small update.

First up was to fabricate the gear box mount and linkage.

I started by positioning the gearbox and engine assembly level with the chassis using a jack.

From here i fabbed a bracket using the BMW as a base.


By oldroyd, shot with




Once i was happy with the position , i made sum additional supports and had it welded up.






And added a coat of paint




Initally I used the Ireland engineering gearbox mounts to mock up the mount, however the omega box uses an M10 thread and the BMW ones are M8, as a result i ordered a bar of 'race' stiffness polyurethane and made a set with some M10 bar running through it.









Finished



Following this the aim was to get the gear linkage sitting in the centre of the tunnel and the original lever hole provided by BMW.


The standard position was approximately 20mm out so i started modifying all the components to suit.






The end of the bracket also required shortening.






The below pic is the standard linkage.





Cut line added



cut



Now sitting central to the bracket and tunnel.





The next stage was to get the gear lever mechanism sorted, this is the scary point and i was a bit pissed off when i realised i had to cut the transmission tunnel after I had just painted the interior.

Using omega gaitor as a template









Install, omega metal surround to add strength back into the tunnel.







Coat of paint and a test fit with the linkage.





Now, today I have taken the plunge to BIN the omega gearbox idea !! As a result all this hard work was a waste of time. I Have decided to go for a T5 cosworth gearbox and use a custom bellhousing, the reasoning being that I have no confidence in the strength of the omega box and following a chat with some of the guys on drift works decided this was the best option. I

Its no fun driving a car you think you are going to break when used hard.

As a result if any one wants an E30 - omega gearbox mount and linkage just send me a PM.

The new way is way more expensive but I'm sure the end result will be worth it!!


While this was going on I started building up the shell.

Added the dash , front roll cage, buckets seats, hydraulic hand break , harness mounting points, Lights and window rubbers.













Ive also been playing with an ali dash panel, where i plan to install a Stack (or similar (cheaper) ) digital dash.





Here are my custom lights.

I basiclly only want the outer lights but also want to be road legal. I'm making a wiring loom from scratch so the wiring wasn't an issue. I bought a pair of universal 5.75 inch headlamps, with side and dipped built and using the standard bmw bracket had a play.









IMG]http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/9913/018pvu.jpg[/IMG]



The plan is to smoke them but currently this isn't at the top of the huge job list.

Harness points








Finally.

Ive also mocked up the sump in cardboard (Lap top broken so no more Solidworks) to get the required measurements for sump. Its now with Altiss engineering

http://www.altiss.com/

along with the inlet manifold fo get the required mods.


Left over of sump to clear the cross member.





Did a few calculations to achieve the correct volume and started my art attack.







Should be finished in a few weeks.


Currently I'm having a packaging nightmare with the turbo around the block, engine mounts and servo /mc. It looks like a custom exhaust manifold is required.

Heres a pic of the car when i was playing with the ride height. (I think it needs to go lower)







Thats all folks.

I'll update again when I've sorted the sump and turbo and deep into the second gearbox installation.

[fuzzy]

thats a cracking job. one of my favourite projects.that paintworks quality, as is the workmanship your puting into the whole project.almost makes me want to reconsider breaking mine up...but not quite. co incidently i have a t5 box up for sale if your looking for one.

[oldroydsr4]

Fuzzy, I may well be interested.

What sort of price are we looking at ? and what sort of condition?

Also interested in your fuel pump.

[RichIS]

where did you get the lights from out of intrest? and you still got the e30-omegabox mount ?

cheers

[djk]

Can't believe I've only just discovered this thread! Epic stuff.

Sounds like you were in Swansea at the same time as me - I'm guessing you could have been Automotive/Motorsport Engineering at the Institute bearing in mind your obvious skills? Small world, though as I was doing English I doubt our paths would have crossed all that readily.