E30 Zone

Anyone got any useful info with regard to the wiring side of things. Is there a loom converter available?

Also wishful thinking, but anyone come across somewhere which sells engine mounts to fit the lump to the e30?

Good man. If I am bored later, i'll see if I can find the thread on e30tech.

That would be good mate.

go to www.eurocca.net/forums

This is a popular swap in Oz as the engines are dirt cheap.

had enough of that boat anchor Theodopolis?

http://www.e30tech.com/forum/showthread ... ht=sr20det

That looks a good starting point.

Cheers Colin, i'll have a scan through that.

Lee, the boat anchor is great! But snapping a rocker has pissed me off. Normally it would be a minor job replacing it but the shite m30 design means you have to remove the headbolts. The rocker shafts had slight recesses in them, through which the headbolt passes. Very annoying.

The car was really good on track with the anchor, despite what are the clueless brigade on here who have never actually driven a car on track would tell you.

The SR20DET seems like a cool swap; sump is the right shape, exhaust is on the nearside, gearbox fits in the tunnel easily enough, they have alloy blocks so there is a weight saving, big power is cheap to attain etc.

I've seen Jason's swap, looks like a low rent affair - just like mine will be

another one converted to the rice side

it shall absolutely massacre all!!!

yeah that is the king of all swaps!

i want a jap motor!

its all about the wires i would assume.

that link is a good read

The ball is now rolling, so to speak.

Got myself an sr20det Lightly tuned with a Roller bearing T28, gasflowed and ported head, stage 1 ecu, alloy flywheel etc etc. Pulled 263bhp and 254ft/lbs on surrey rolling road earlier this year.

Need to remove all the m30 setup now. It's for sale for anyone interested...

Wheres the facking pic!

Good work my man. I nearly did this swap before getting my hands on an S50B32. I wanted to keep the handling of my iS on M3 running gear.

Keep us posted with loads of pics dude.

It's been pissing down for much of today, so i've done nothing noteworthy. Infact, the engine and gearbox are still in the back of my mum's car!

I did have a brief tinker to see if the rad and intercooler were a good size, they both fit nicely Offered them up to a shell I have here festering, the bumper is sitting in its proper position. The litte metal brackets which the plastic rad brakets are normally clipped to make the rad sit far too high, but I chopped these off on my track car to fit the E28 rad, so this one will slot in nicely.

I'm going to have to cut a big hole in the front valance in order to get a decent amount of flow to the intercooler, would be nice to conceal it, but then that would make the big intercooler rather pointless.

Can't wait to see this progress. Well done that man

gonna keep my eyes on this Theo, are you going to run a thread showing how you geto n with the swap etc?

Cheers chaps, should be fun. Wiring, engine mounts and custom exhaust are the biggest ball aches. Rest should hopefully not be too difficult. Famous last words.

I suppose this thread will turn into the project thread...

Theo325 wrote:I suppose this thread will turn into the project thread...

I'm subscribing, this looks good luck Theo!

let the molestation commence

Found a couple of pics of engine mounts that people have made...




Fingers crossed i'll have the m30 setup out of the car on the weekend and sit the engine in place with wooden blocks.

i was thinking along the lines of the 2nd set....should be fairly easy to centre the mini anchor actually

Yeah, the second set look good to me.

I was thinking of lowering the engine and box into the car to check clearances, then removing it again and positioning it over a spare front subframe and then bodging up some mounts without the space restraints of doing in the engine bay.

Oh yeah, is there a site like realoem but for Datsuns? I need a couple of studs for the turbo elbow, a PAS belt, sump gasket, new fanbelt and a few other bits.

And do I need to run this lump on super unleaded?

jap mills, it's the future

You'll probably be fine crusing around on normal unleaded. We get a slight amount of pinking in 4th gear at 6500rpm+ on a hot day, so use super unleaded and it stops this(c18det). I suspect as that is effectively only at stage 1, you might get away without it. Depends what the chip map has been developed under. You'll know if it dets.

Theo325 wrote:Yeah, the second set look good to me.

I was thinking of lowering the engine and box into the car to check clearances, then removing it again and positioning it over a spare front subframe and then bodging up some mounts without the space restraints of doing in the engine bay.

Oh yeah, is there a site like realoem but for Datsuns? I need a couple of studs for the turbo elbow, a PAS belt, sump gasket, new fanbelt and a few other bits.

yes i too was thinking that, we can do that after we get a rough idea of front/rear inclination as we dont want the mounts to sit funny when everythings done up

That chip that is in the ecu will need super.... ideally on track u neeed to be using something like tesco 99

lowest knock readings on these engines come from tesco 99 followed by optimax

studs.....i have some,
belt...motor factor
sump gasket...there isnt one you have to use a sealant like hermetite instant gasket which flows into recesses on the fit surface of the oil pan (its like this from the factory)
use driftworks for parts...they stock filters exhaust gaskets and lots of simple things well priced.

and nissan are absolute rapist on prices.... but not much really goes wrong on them... there arent any real consumables on the engine like on an anchor apart from plugs- use NGK iridium 7s

and change the plugs to NGK 7s

by 2 large jerry cans for track days then carry the tesco stuff

Jon_Bmw wrote:You'll probably be fine crusing around on normal unleaded. We get a slight amount of pinking in 4th gear at 6500rpm+ on a hot day, so use super unleaded and it stops this(c18det). I suspect as that is effectively only at stage 1, you might get away without it. Depends what the chip map has been developed under. You'll know if it dets.

you dont always know if it dets unless you have a knock sensor with readings on it or det cans----trust me i learnt the hard way

u will HAVE to use super trust me.

and there is no realoem type site but i will forward you the pdf of the s14 workshop manual

I guess I meant, you'll know if it dets hard. tinkle tinkle.

Super would be the right choice if its just an out and out track weapon and no sunday afternoon cruising involved.

Karan wrote:

Theo325 wrote:Yeah, the second set look good to me.

I was thinking of lowering the engine and box into the car to check clearances, then removing it again and positioning it over a spare front subframe and then bodging up some mounts without the space restraints of doing in the engine bay.

Oh yeah, is there a site like realoem but for Datsuns? I need a couple of studs for the turbo elbow, a PAS belt, sump gasket, new fanbelt and a few other bits.

yes i too was thinking that, we can do that after we get a rough idea of front/rear inclination as we dont want the mounts to sit funny when everythings done up

That chip that is in the ecu will need super.... ideally on track u neeed to be using something like tesco 99

lowest knock readings on these engines come from tesco 99 followed by optimax

studs.....i have some,
belt...motor factor
sump gasket...there isnt one you have to use a sealant like hermetite instant gasket which flows into recesses on the fit surface of the oil pan (its like this from the factory)
use driftworks for parts...they stock filters exhaust gaskets and lots of simple things well priced.

and nissan are absolute rapist on prices.... but not much really goes wrong on them... there arent any real consumables on the engine like on an anchor apart from plugs- use NGK iridium 7s

and change the plugs to NGK 7s

by 2 large jerry cans for track days then carry the tesco stuff

Ahh OK, having to use super unleaded all the time is a bit gay, but never mind.

If you could bring a couple of studs when you come down, that would be cool.

Just seen that it's about £25 for the turbo elbow gasket, ouch. I'm also wondering if fitting one of those tubular manifolds would move the turbo further away from the brake servo/master cylinder..

Should be in the postion to drop the engine in bay on sunday or monday.

Looks like fun theo - good luck dude!

You deviant Theo! Fi is the way forward and i would use super on all tuned turbo engines at all times.

i saw this deviant donk earlier... looks fun! the baby blue rocker cover needs some paint though - any colour would be better than that!

one thing that may be an issue, that me and theo spotted earlier was the length of the gearbox and hence the position of the gearstick. this looks to be a long way back and may mean either: having the engine forward of the ideal position, moving the driving position backwards (motorsport innit), a remote shift setup of some form, or shifting with your elbows!

Theo325 you hero, sr20det is a damn good choice it is the future of conversions!

Have a look at m42/44 for mounts and bits aparently some of its pretty damn close to the ca18det/sr20det.

Thanks for the encouragement chaps

Shakey, that's an interesting idea with the M42 mounts. Will have a look into that.

I'm not sure that its possible to have the engine right at the back on the engine bay, not only because of the gearbox length, but also the proximity of the exhaust manifold/turbo to the brake servo & master cylinder. I quite fancy getting an alloy brake fluid resevoir made up.

had an idea... how about moving the engine right back and fitting a remote servo inside the cabin (above the passengers feet?). then move yourself back a bit, and extent the column so you can reach the gearstick

a signinifant increase in the faff-factor though

just been looking on youtube... space does look tight round the m/c but the gearstick comes out in the right pace. not sure on what gearbox he's using though


looks like you've already done it and posted the video up!