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What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 4:42 pm
by johnk2977
Hi
What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit ?.
I have been tralling throught he treads someone said a Duretec, what about Saab Turbo motor some of them are 300BHP standard now correct me if I am wrong are they not a similar bolt pattern to the Dog box my problem is I want a S14 and cant afford one, so hence why I am looking at other engines.
No don't get me wrong I love the 318Is rally car and the 325Is road car but I want 250+ BHP to try and keep up with Escorts with Red tops in them
So what other engine have other Zone members look at or fitted.
Your feed back would be greatly recieved.
Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 4:47 pm
by Ziggy
I can't help but think fitting an S14 won't work out much more expensive once you've paid for (/made) the custom bits to fit a different engine...
But anyway:
Volvo turbo lump
Cosworth (couple of cars on here)
SR20DET?
Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 5:07 pm
by 1an
Duratec, on throttle bodies etc.
Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 5:14 pm
by mikekean
ive asked this before. unless you have the know how to be able to fabricate everything it works out cheaper if you buy an s14. and thats if you where going to fit a duratec etc yourself and just having the mounts and exhaust made etc.
Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 5:36 pm
by e21Jason
Hi
Turbo m10 cheapest way to 4cly 250hp, to rebuild my s14 so far has cost over 2k on parts and maching and i ain't finished spending yet
Jason
Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 6:42 pm
by mikekean
jason howcome your rebuild has cost so much? surely if your just rebuilding it to oe spec then you would need bearings, oil pump, seals, pistons, rings, timing gear, gaskets few other bits and bobs. does all that add up to that much? or have you got uprated parts?
Ive got my heart set on an s14b20 but if its going to cost upwards of 6k to get it in. then i may aswell buy a duratec.
Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 6:45 pm
by fuzzy
i think id fit a cosworth lump for and easy 330bhp.
Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 9:48 pm
by e21Jason
Hi Mike
s14 timing gear chains, guides, sprockets £800
full gasket set £250
water pump £30
Bearings £100
Valves (my head had valve to piston contact) £250 but the head all ready has schrick cams and vlave springs
The rest to date has been on maching including the block which is dry sumped but needs a rebore, plus crank and rods
After than I need to buy an mls gasket, forged pistons and a 60-2 trigger kit but i am hoping for 100 bhp/litre plus for a 2.0l dry sumped motor
The advantage of the s14 it bolts in, the gearbox bolts and the manifolds etc are standard, a duratec may be a lowcost engine, but the throttle bodies, exhaust, engine mounts, sump, bellhousing, gearbox water rails for an inline conversion all ad up.
Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 9:54 am
by johnk2977
Hi Chaps
thanks for the feed back, I have looked at buying S14 engine and there are not many for sale and most of the ones you find are out and on the floor and you cant hear them running and as Jason has found that the parts for them are expensive, I am in the lucky position that between myself and a couple of mates we can make most parts to fit. I all ready run a E36 24V autocross car with 220 BHP but I didn't want to go that route of the extra weight from the M50 engine but that mite be the way to go.
There are a few escorts weighing 1000Kgs with 200 to 300bhp my 318is weighs 1050kgs appox 160BHP in full rally trim but the E36 stripped out still weighs in at 1300kg 300 kgs is a lot to get moving. dose any one know the weight of an E36 24V engine, and dose any one now do a kit to fit it to the E30 I know that its a popular upgrage. I have never look at tuning M50 engine is it a cheap option compaired to S14 I am stuck with a cc of below 2500 or if I go Turbo or M3 E36 engine i will be in with Scoobys and Evo.
Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 11:42 am
by e21Jason
Hi
An alloy block m52 is not far of an m20 in wieght terms, if you have to stay under 2.5l then what about a vuax v6 or jag v6 my friend done the work at cosworth on the jag v6 and they make about 340bhp NA in top tune.
Out of the box an s2000 is the fastest and I can get you a complete engine box & loom for about 2k
Also what is the factor for a turbo 1.4? destroke a m42 to 1.6 and turbo it, also I though the MSA were going to ban engine swaps for rally cars or is that just "hybrids"
Jason
Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 11:31 pm
by 1an
e21Jason wrote:Hi
An alloy block m52 is not far of an m20 in wieght terms, if you have to stay under 2.5l then what about a vuax v6 or jag v6 my friend done the work at cosworth on the jag v6 and they make about 340bhp NA in top tune.
Out of the box an s2000 is the fastest and I can get you a complete engine box & loom for about 2k
Also what is the factor for a turbo 1.4? destroke a m42 to 1.6 and turbo it, also I though the MSA were going to ban engine swaps for rally cars or is that just "hybrids"
Jason
the engine in my dads car an m50/m52 mix that uses an alloy block uses 4 pot lowering springs as the 6 pot springs from the m20 made it sit to high on 40mm drop springs,
its all down to what cattergory you want to run in and how much money you wanna spend.
Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 10:46 pm
by Karan
sr20det would make an e30 truly awesome.... powerful and very light engine/box combo
Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 10:53 pm
by Speedtouch
Triumph Dolomite Sprint engine? 2-litre 16 valve, 127bhp as standard, easily tuneable to 150bhp+
Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2008 11:14 pm
by Silverfang
Saab engines are actually based on the old Triumph 16v units, but they've got Marle Pistons and a forged bottom end as standard, along with the turbo.
Apparently the 2.3 version's good for over 300bhp without major tuning, they're putting one into a Mk2 Escort in PPC, all you need to get it RWD is a Omega box / flywheel / clutch and clutch master / slave cylinder combo and no real mods to the sump apparently (could be wrong).
Either way, Saab 9000's are silly cheap now and so are Omegas, it'd actually be a really cheap project compared to something like a Ford Cosworth / BMW S14 / Nissan SR20 engine conversion.
Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 4:01 pm
by S2Avant
Mi16 peugeot engine is 167hp and all alloy.

Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 5:04 pm
by stonesie
VAG 20valve turbo engine? 300bhp is easy enough on those.
Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 5:11 pm
by Gibson
Are you trying to avoid turbo because it will put you in another class? because if you are it has got to be Vauxhall redtop... easy power for good money and nice and easy to find in old astras... loads of escort boys run them....
Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 5:12 pm
by maxfield
Gibson wrote: Vauxhall redtop...
Beat me to it.
Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 5:25 pm
by Jhonno
Have to try hard to beat the Vaux red top imo.. Cant beat em join em..
Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 6:19 pm
by stonesie
Ah non turbo... C20XE (red top) is a very good engine, better if you get one with the 'Coscast' head, made by Cosworth and worth another 5bhp.
The Vaux heads go porus.
Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 10:10 pm
by Gibson
its the obvious choice for normally aspirated 4 banger....it it doesnt have to be a 4 pot then there are definitely other options
Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Fri Jun 27, 2008 10:14 pm
by Jon_Bmw
S2Avant wrote:Mi16 peugeot engine is 167hp and all alloy.

That was the gti6 engine, I am not sure it was officially named the mi16.
The early mi16 had 160bhp seen in the citreon BX's and early 405s
Late mi16 in phase 2 405s had an iron block 2.0l with 155 or 150 bhp.
Can't remember what the s16 in the 306 produced.
Also I think the gti6 engine was a 2.0 cast iron block.
I'd be putting an c18det as they are so cheap. For £500 you could have one chucking out 260bhp+. Nice. If you have slightly more money, do what Karan said.
Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 11:49 am
by Aubs
stonesie wrote:VAG 20valve turbo engine? 300bhp is easy enough on those.
Yeah, plenty of cheap ones around as well, I believe the bottom end can handle up to 400bhp standard
Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 2:26 pm
by chu346
BMW M40
My mate has a redtop forsale complete with ecu and loom for £250.
Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 2:27 pm
by jaistanley
The 20VT engine is really good but might be a pain getting it longitudinal.. It was in the passat, but don't know how easy it'd be to get it mated to a traditional RWD gearbox...
I vote an SR20DET.

Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 3:03 pm
by S2Avant
They fitted the 1.8t 20v in the A4 - they are the right way round.

Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 5:53 pm
by Speedtouch
Fiat Twin Cam - designed by ex-Ferrari designer Aurelio Lampredi and a good long production run, available in 2 or 4-valve per cylinder and Weber single/twin carb or injection forms, apparently bullet-proof with strong gearboxes to match.
Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 8:40 pm
by luke123
im stuck between supercharging my 318 is or putting it on bike carbs or dropping a s14 lump in my boss has a s14 lump sat at work what would i need to change to get it in my is could i run the same box ? luke.
Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Sat Jun 28, 2008 11:52 pm
by suzie650
fiat Twin Cam
If you consider the fiat twincam, why not the alfa bialerbo? much nicer sound and engineering!
On a serious note, before considering the s14, make sure that it is in good nick! A "proper" rebuild will cost you the price of supercharging the 318...
Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Sun Jun 29, 2008 9:30 am
by luke123
ahh thanks i will check
Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 4:26 pm
by Gibson
Redtop Redtop Redtop Redtop!!!!
Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 5:37 pm
by jaistanley
SR20DET, SR20DET, SR20DET
Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 5:55 pm
by Gibson
jaistanley wrote:SR20DET, SR20DET, SR20DET
that really is a bit of a mouthfull for a chant!
Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 6:54 pm
by 321gazza
you finished that manta yet silverfang, ive got a red top turbo in my e30

thats right im bad

Re: What other engine 4 cylinder would you fit to a E30
Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2008 11:14 am
by les3002
c20let would get my vote