E30 Zone

Well I started on my second set of manifolds today.
Got a call from my mate this morning to say my stainless pipes/bends had arrived and that he had his work for the day cancelled, so we dragged the Sport to his workshop and made a start.

Going for a different route from the first set I did, so it may work out better and easier, or not

This time I basically cut the bottom section of each manifold off and routed new pipes to meet at the collectors.

So far it seems to have gone quite well. Its only tacked together at the moment to make sure it fits ok, and it still needs the No.6 pipe doing because not all the stainless bends arrived.

Forgot to take the camera with me this morning, as I was in a bit of a rush but heres how it looks fitted so far....


As you look at the manifolds in the pic, nothing has actually been altered. The pipes you see are all original S50 manifold. Its only the No.6 pipe that wont fit in the E30 chassis, the first 5 pipes fit. All the changes have happened below, around about the level of the alloy mounting arm.

I will get some more pics before its all welded up, so that should show which bits have been changed and which bits are original S50.

Its bloody tight down by the steering joint with pipes 4 and 5 (it would be easier with the E30 steering rack fitted), so I might have another look and the rear section may get changed before its finished.

Well done mate, be nice to finally see this beasty done and on the road !

Real head f*** doing exhaust plumbing isn't it!?

Funnily enough I'm looking into buying a TIG welder at the moment in anticipation of a load of stainless welding on exhausts etc I need to do.

Out of interest, has anyone had their steering rubber coupling go soft/melt on them with non-standard exhausts/engines?

Awesome... looks like we can look forward to a decent write up?

In particular, lengths and radius of bends used... I have an MCoupé rear section which I believe is different, not sure how. Only time will tell if it'll be easier or harder.

Good luck man.

Jai

Andy335Touring wrote:Well done mate, be nice to finally see this beasty done and on the road !

Youre telling me mate

After the hassle with the last set of manifolds, I just had to leave it a while - I almost ripped it all out and put it back to standard at one point.

Turbo-Brown wrote:Real head f*** doing exhaust plumbing isn't it!?

Out of interest, has anyone had their steering rubber coupling go soft/melt on them with non-standard exhausts/engines?

First time round was a real pig, but actually this time its gone ok. I think just doing away with the bottom sections and making new has been easier than trying to mod the originals.

The rubber coupling is the bit Im worried about. One of the pipes is very close to the coupling and even with the metal cover, Im just not sure. Will look again tomorrow with fresh eyes - it was a long day today.

jaistanley wrote:Awesome... looks like we can look forward to a decent write up?

In particular, lengths and radius of bends used...

I will see what I can do

Got to wait for the rest of the bits to arrive and then for my mates workshop to be free again, so I may not get much done for a week or two now

But I think the worst is over

The rubber coupling is the bit Im worried about. One of the pipes is very close to the coupling and even with the metal cover, Im just not sure. Will look again tomorrow with fresh eyes - it was a long day today.

Was so concerned about mine I made up a replacement in solid 12mm thick ali, better safe than sorry

did your manifolds fit between the head and the bay ok?

Me? It was the downpipes being one either side of the coupling that worried me, not done an S50 conversion though so I've not had your particular headache!

Jhonno wrote:did your manifolds fit between the head and the bay ok?

As you see them in the pic above, thats how the manifolds would be in the E36, I havent changed those bits. Theres more than enough room once the manifolds are bolted to the head.

Once the No.6 pipe was cut off, the rear section fits in through the top but fouls the steering joint a little. The joint needs pulling off the rack to get the manifolds past.

To get the rear section to fit, we heated and bent the No.4 & 5 pipes away from the steering joint. This is the bit Im not too happy with as its still close to the joint and is now closer to the bellhousing. The No.6 pipe hasnt been done yet.

The front section wont fit in from the top. I passed it in from under the front of the car, through the gap where the AirCon and Air pump should be and then up and over the mounting arm, jiggling it round until its in place. Then we changed our minds and we cut each pipe from the collector, so all 3 pipes were separate and so will fit in easily.

Ahhh i see.. Will give that a go instead

Just a quick update.


Well other than almost starting again (see below), not much has happened with regards to getting them finished because my mate suddenly had a load of work come in, so Ive had to actually book my car in to his workshop to get the manifolds finished, so the week after next it should be done

I was looking at the work we had done, and realised Id been a bit of an idiot and made it very complicated. So its been cut apart and changed again
The only pipe that has really been changed now is the No.6 pipe, the others are pretty much all the original pipes with a few mods to re-angle them - it just dawned on me how much easier it could of been done

Pics will be posted when they are done - hopefully in 2 weeks time

Is it just the manifold that needs finishing then your all done ?

Yeah pretty much Andy, or at least it will be driveable and on the road - it may take a little while to get it totally how I want it.

I need to get another M3 diff but cash is short at the moment, so I may be using a 2.93 open diff to begin with
Then theres the 5 stud conversion and better brake upgrades etc.......

But I will be happy with just being able to drive it

Yeah, getting it on the roads the main thing, you can play with the other stuff as it suits

I might have to sort the brakes before I do too many miles though Not sure the standard E30 stuff will cope, no matter how sensible I 'say' I will drive

this might sound like a stupid question because i havent done my conversion yet but......

The standard manifold dont fit i assume ? where does it hit on or come close to?

do they need to be fabbed or can you just alter them a bit

ta

The original manifolds dont fit. The problem is that most cars will be slightly different, so its difficult to say what the exact problems are. Things like the No.6 pipe hitting the bulkhead and the front section hitting the crossmember will be the same, but the steering joint clearance might be different, depending what rack is being used etc.

On my car.....

The front section hits the crossmember and the steering also get in the way - Im using the E36 rack, so the E30 rack might be a little different.
On the rear section, the No.6 pipe hits the bulkhead and where it enters the collector is where the steering joint needs to pass by. The No.5 pipe also hits the steering joint.

The pipes after the collector also need some modding to fit through the gap between the wishbone bush and bell housing - its very tight.

Ive modded some original S50 manifolds, but TBH, if I was to do it again I would probably start from scratch.


An update on my manifolds...

Had some issues this week, mainly not getting started until Weds
Then after the recent wet weather, the pit in my mates workshop filled up with water

So on Thursday we started work again with the car sat on railway sleepers so we could get under it - wasnt the easiest way to work.

The rear section is finished and clears the steering and bulkhead, only problem is getting it into the car as we made it a little wide, but I wanted to make sure it wasnt going to hit and jam the steering
As I said earlier, the N.6 pipe has been made up from scratch almost, but the pipes for 4 & 5 have been heated and bent to clear everything - I would not recommend doing it that way, what a bitch of a job

The front section is tacked together and it mostly uses all the original pipework, just a few little wedge shaped bits to change the angle of the pipes.

Havent got any pics yet, will get them done when all the work is finished and we know its not going to change yet again

mate i`m up to this stage with my conversion and i`m going NUTS!!!!!!!!!!! ARRRHHH!!!!!

Turbo-Brown wrote:
Out of interest, has anyone had their steering rubber coupling go soft/melt on them with non-standard exhausts/engines?

Obvioulsy iv had no first hand experience but have just ordered an aluminium steering guibo for 40 quid delivered from muzzi motorsport in austria. speak to roger, hes a real good bloke! obviously you could just make your own but i dont have the knowledge etc like you do!

aluminium steering guibo for 40 quid delivered

HOW MUCH?!

Crikey, I'm missing out here, anyone else want one?

Turbo-Brown wrote:

aluminium steering guibo for 40 quid delivered

HOW MUCH?!

Crikey, I'm missing out here, anyone else want one?

How much is a normal one?

i cant exactly make my own!

MY manifold is quite close to the UJ ive not had any issues.



BTW a solid guibo for a road car isnt the best sollution.

Andrew

Demlotcrew wrote:
BTW a solid guibo for a road car isnt the best sollution.

Andrew

what is then ?

Dan318-is wrote:

Demlotcrew wrote:
BTW a solid guibo for a road car isnt the best sollution.

Andrew

what is then ?

A rubber one I would guess. You will probably get lots of vibration through the steering with a solid guibo and no give at all - could crack/snap/break something in the worst case Most likely fine for smooth track use, but I think I will stick to a standard rubber one for road use.

Im glad you posted that pic Andrew. My manifolds are close to the steering joint, but I dont think I need to worry about it so much now

jmc330i wrote:

Dan318-is wrote:

Demlotcrew wrote:
BTW a solid guibo for a road car isnt the best sollution.

Andrew

what is then ?

A rubber one I would guess. You will probably get lots of vibration through the steering with a solid guibo and no give at all - could crack/snap/break something in the worst case Most likely fine for smooth track use, but I think I will stick to a standard rubber one for road use.

The guy at muzzi told me they sell them to people with road cars in austria and that they feel a lot of bumps on the road etc. Turbo Brown is running one too; any input dude?

Tbh im not at all bothered about comfort etc on the road or noise dampening etc; iv kept the carpets etc but i just want the car to go fast and be go kart-ish. Soryr for off topic!

Dan318-is wrote:i just want the car to go fast and be go kart-ish. Soryr for off topic!

Dont we all

No worries about the off topic, one day soon I might have some news on my manifolds

Any more pics?

No not yet. I havent got much done the last couple weeks - the run up to Xmas is mega busy at work

All thats needed is two 1-2" sections of pipe to be welded up and one of the 2.25" sections after the collector to be welded back on - it was easier working with it cut off. Then I can run the centre section to the backbox and we are there

I've noticed absolutely no vibration whatsoever with the solid guibo in there, and I don't have PAS to damp anything out either

Many cars don't have a rubber guibo thing.

Manufacturers will have put it in there to avoid a specific NVH problem such as steering column shake at idle.

Seeing as we have changed the engine on our cars, we can expect the thing not to be bang-on anyway.

If it means I have more clearance, I'm ditching mine.

Jai

jaistanley wrote: If it means I have more clearance, I'm ditching mine.

I dont think you can get rid of it. You either need a rubber or ally one to fit the two ends of the UJ together.

You don't get any more clearnace unfortunately, just more of a tolerance for heat.

I see... To get more clearance it looks like a more involved problem:

I keep meaning to find some U/J's that fit the steering rack and the steering column so I can make up a narrow steering joint.

The U/J's I've found kicking about have been the wrong size so far. Will keep an eye out for info.

Jai