E30 Zone

Right then guys, I thought I would start my own thread, and let you know about my project M60 touring!

I can see that it will be an ongoing thread that I will add to as an when various stages occur throughout the build.

So to kick things off, I picked up the M60 lump on saturday morning.......

Engine came from a spares or repairs 1992 740iA nikasil engine, serivce history up until 135k ish, but not been run for a couple of years and was laid up.
There was talk about iy having covered somewhere in the region of 170-180k but it doesn't really matter as I intended to take it apart, inspect and rebuild.

The guys I bought it from were sound as a pound and threw in the prop, the virtually new radiator, all hoses, the ECU's and all wiring looms, the brake hydraulic servo/cylinder, engine mounts, alternator, water pump and all other ancillaries, exhaust manifolds, and even the boot badge so I can make a 340i badge, if I want to!

I got the beast home and then had a fight with it to get the bugger out the back of the van without the aid of a hoist!

My best mate was there, (and will be throughout the build), and brought his engine stand so we could attach the engine to it whilst it was in the van. After stretchig a few ligaments we finally got the thing bolted up to the stand!

Next step was to drain the oil, (or should I say tar - it was old and thick), petrol and coolant.

Then came the fun part - we stripped the engine down in a logical order and labelled as we went, starting with tracing the engine sensors to the loom with the aid of the wiring diagram. Once everything was labelled on the loom, the housing was removed from the engine and stored in the electrics box!
We then went ahead and removed the fuel rail - I wanted the injectors stored in a clean environment so I butchered a pair of marigolds and pulled the fingers over each injector to seal them off from the outside world, works a treat!
Then the inlet manifold came off and on inspection had a coating of oil and grime on its inner surfaces and in the breather pipe
Then, looking down the exhaust port of number 8 cylinder i could see alot of heavy black oil and grime - uh oh I thought!

Still, we pushed on, stripping bits away until we were able to remove the coil packs, spark plugs and cam covers. The spark plugs were drenched in oil because the inner gasket of the cam cover had begun to perish and let oil inside and into the plugs. It was the same story on both banks and is apparently a very common problem on M60's - the outer gaskets looked fine.

We then whipped the cam covers off and the cams are in perfect condition - hurrah! They look brand new, no wear on the lobes and shiny clean metal (albeit coated in oil). The chain was well tensioned and the back of the valves looked clean, well the bits we could see anyway. I didn't go ahead and take the heads off because I wanted to wait until I have got a complete gasket set and other bits I may need for it, before I fully strip it.

So the final part was to spin the engine upside down and take the sump off.
On doing this, and to our suprise/horror, we saw there was 3 bolts sat on the oil scavenge, one in the sump chamber, and two loose bolts on the side of the scavenge housing
But looking at the crank and bottom end in general we could see no damage, the journals and bearings were all sound and we could see the honing marks on the cylinder bores, and it hand cranked really smoothly.
So obviously the bolts were removed, the sump put back on and I was a releived and happy chappy - it looks like the engine is a good one and will run in the touring for many more miles to come

We also removed the aircon pump which is a heavy and unecessary beast and its pulley.

So it is now sat on the stand half stripped until I get the parts I need including ancillaries to rebuild it back up, but all in all, I am chuffed to bits with the weekends work, and can't wait to get back to it for the next stage.

To me this is half the attraction of an engine conversion, yeh I should have a fairly quick sleeper, but the building of it is awesome banter and you really feel like you are building your own car rather than taking parts from exisitng cars and boshing them together.

I deffers recommend it!

Cheers for reading, I'll update when I can

Rob

You don't mess about well done dude pics don't go a miss either

Oh yeh, I forgot to say that I left my camera, so haven't got any pics yet, I will take a load when I get back to it

Nothing unusual to find a spare bolt or two in a M40 sump. They come from the upper part of the two part sump.
Don't know if the M60 has any arrangement like this or no, but those bolts came from somewhere, and probably once had a purpose.
Don't think I'd be happy until I'd identified them.

possibly oil pump as they are notorious for coming loose

bigdek wrote:possibly oil pump as they are notorious for coming loose

I've heard that too, good luck on your project mate it should be

Brianmoooore wrote:Nothing unusual to find a spare bolt or two in a M40 sump. They come from the upper part of the two part sump.
Don't know if the M60 has any arrangement like this or no, but those bolts came from somewhere, and probably once had a purpose.
Don't think I'd be happy until I'd identified them.

Yeh, you are quite right, it actually looks like the three spares hold the cam cover lids on as they were missing, the one loose bolt did come from the inner of the two part sump and the two other loose bolts just needed tightening, they were alreay located in the correct postion, so all is well!

Nice project,
There are gonna be some scary E30 tourings tearing up the streets in the UK soon!

bigpimpin wrote:Nice project,
There are gonna be some scary E30 tourings tearing up the streets in the UK soon!

Mate I absolutely love the look of your car and your wheels are just minty mint - art in motion when they are rolling! I'd be scared of wrecking them though myself, so I don't think I'll opt for them just in case - I think Ronal R10 turbo's would look retro cool on the touring!

Give us loads of pictures and inspiration please ! I'm thinking of the same conversion or even a later 4.4 V8 so come on pics please lets see everything !

I will mate I will, just as soon as I can! It won't be until Thursday as I'm away with work this week and to be fair there isn't alot to see, but I guess a few engine shots and touring pics will kick things off!

Hi Guys,

I am the above mentioned "best mate" of Gravy!

I have decided to take a membership too to post my experiences and ask questions that I come up with as the build progresses.

Firstly before we remove the heads we decided that a compression test wouldnâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t be a bad idea. Does anyone have any info for the M60 engine? correct pressures for the test would be ideal if anyone can help.

Anyway, thatâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s it for my first post.

Hope we can sort some pics and get some of you guys inspired to do the same!

Neil

V8's
plenty of pics please
good luck

We've been scaring ourselves with nikasil issues and would like to do a compression test before whipping the heads off as Neil mentioned above. Like I say, the bottom of the bores look immaculate with clearly visible honing marks, but its the top of the bore where the nikasil wear is most prevalent and we could be in for a suprise when the heads come off.
So if anyone knows where I may be able to find what pressures we should be reading with a healthy M60, that would be very useful. As I say, the heads will come off but I'd like to do this as a preliminary test just to see what state the engine and gaskets are in.

Does the oil pan clear the subframe okay?

Nefarious7907 wrote:Does the oil pan clear the subframe okay?

Don't know is the short answer, but the conversion has been done before so where theres a will theres a way!

Just a small update, spare time has been non-existent these last two weeks but I managed to start stripping the engine down proper on Friday.
Innitially I was just going to take the heads off but having got into it I thought I'd do it properly and do a complete strip and rebuild

All I have done to date is take the heads off and therefore the front timing chain covers. To say the piston crowns and vavles are carbonated is a massive understatement! I am now very chuffed that I took it apart because everything needs a really good clean and freshen up, but the awesome news is that the bores look to be in good nick.

I now look forward to stripping the heads and the block and cleaning everything up before putting it back together!

Pics to follow this week!

sump clears just but is very close to the steering rack. That why a few peeps have put spacers between the subframe and chassis rails.

Just discovered today that the nearside rail will need to be notched as the alternator hits it and is stopping the engine from being centralised

Yeh I've seen those spacers and I have to say that I don't like the idea of them so will not be going that route.
Notching the rail is a bit of a bugger too but if it really has to be done then so be it!

Long time of no posting, but I'm about ready to get stuck into the engine again so I thought I'd take a trip to the stealers and find out how much head gaskets and a full engine gasket and o-ring set would be

£555 in VAT!!!!

Bugger!

I won't be going that route as GSF and ECP combined have the full kit and kaboodle for alot less than that but I would like to say that the chap I dealt with a Shrewsbury BMW couldn't have been more helpful if he tried - quite fantastic customer service which to be fair, I wasn't really expecting.

I nowe have equipped myself with all the tools I need to finish the strip and subsequent rebuild, so things should really tick along nicely over the next couple of months.

Incidentlly, can anyone reccommend a good custom exhaust fabricators - my mate is building a Dax Rush with a rover V8 and is having simpson race exhausts build his. It looks amazing and there workmanship looks really good quality from their website, but the money may be too much for me to stomach, any ideas?!!

Was that Ryedale BMW ????

I find them quite helpful aswell........

Your not to far from me... i will have to come up and have a bucthers hook.......

kam-325i wrote:Was that Ryedale BMW ????

I find them quite helpful aswell........

Your not to far from me... i will have to come up and have a bucthers hook.......

Yeh wire in mate, no problemo - I will be attacking the engine tomorrow (read: strip heads, clean and rebuild heads), but should be on it over the next couple of months trying to push the project on a bit.

......and yeh, it was Ryedale, can't recommend them enough!

Went out in the pissin' rain today to strip the valves out the heads, but thought I'd have a general look around the touring first.
Found the drivers side rear footwell was completely sodden with no obvious signs of where the water came from.

I was quite disheartened actually, because I don't want the thing to waste away whilst I prep the engine!

I got stuck in and removed the front seats and then the carpet. Bit of a biatch to lift it round the pedals and centre console (one or two cheeky cuts with a stanley and it was free). The carpet is now drying out and has revealed a very tidy (virtually immaculate) floorpan. I just cant wait to get the car under shelter and protected from the elements.

Now i've started the car strip, I feel I'm getting more and more sucked in to a full resto and rebuild which is the best way I suppose!

At least it will be a beast when it's done...........

Gravy wrote: Found the drivers side rear footwell was completely sodden with no obvious signs of where the water came from.

Usually from the big round plate that twists in. One of the lugs that holds it has probably bent or rusted off.

Cheers Brian, I shall have a proper gander tomorrow.

I spent the afternoon in the shed stripping one of the heads fully, I now have 16 little bags with each valve and associated bits n pieces from one head ready for cleaning. Some of them are really mucky, some have heavy carbon deposits and some are very clean - I have taken some photos which I will post up tonight when I dig out the camera lead so you guys can see the internals of the M60. It is well filthy so I'm glad I decided to strip it.

On the plus side, I measured the camshaft lobes for wear - unbelievably, they are well within tolerance, just as well as they are pricey items! Also, there was no movement of the valves within the guides which is a brilliant sign.

Overall I'm well chuffed with this and have left the bits soaking in engine degreaser overnight and will clean them off tomorrow and re-install. I should then get a photograph of the clean head against the dirty one to show the difference!

Gravy wrote:Cheers Brian, I shall have a proper gander tomorrow.

Have a look at the "Inspection plate? For what? " thread in E30 BMW chat.

Here are some shots of the Engine post stirp, pre-clean. The lighting is poor but it is the best I could do!



My touring that will receive the M60 treatment!











Shows some cruddy build-up and carbon deposits, this is the whole reason that I am stripping the engine - it's filthy! Do the bores look ok to you guys?

Brianmoooore wrote:

Gravy wrote:Cheers Brian, I shall have a proper gander tomorrow.

Have a look at the "Inspection plate? For what? " thread in E30 BMW chat.

Yeh, I looked there and it is in immaculate condition on the side that had the water in it??? However, the other side (behind passenger seat) there are signs of surface rust on this plate, but no water ingress. Very strange, since removing the carpet, there hasn't been anymore water leaking through?!!!

Bores look fine to me, pics arent very detailed but sure you can still see the honing marks

Jhonno wrote:Bores look fine to me, pics arent very detailed but sure you can still see the honing marks

Yeh you are right, the honing marks are clearly visable - I have this pictures in high res but would take ages to load up on here so I resized them!

The only thing is, the honing marks don't go right to the top, say 5mm short, but I think they are in good condition.

is there a step where the honing marks end?

toughyv8 wrote:is there a step where the honing marks end?

It looks like there is, but it doesn't feel it to the touch.
The honing marks end where the top ring comes to up the bore. It might be very slight wear but it's no where near what serious nikasil wear looks like that I have seen on the 'net after a bit of a search.

Do you think it looks bad?!!

no its not to worry bout. that will be ok then mate cos if if that gets too excessive it becomes overbore time

yeh exactly!

I have finished cleaning one head and put it back together - I spent probably 12 hours scrubbing the head by hand and cleaning the valves. I was very careful with the scrubbing and scraping as ECP do the inlet valves for £15 odd each and the exhaust valves at £30 odd each (and I have 16 of each)!!!!! Who knows how much they are from BMW! Also, I'm chuffed to bits that there is no wear on the camshafts as they are £330 odd a pop - I'm pleased to report that if looked after, these engines appear rock solid!

One more to go then which I intend to do on the weekend.

Wahey long time no post/update!

I went of it for a bit because I thought it was going to cost too much dollar, but since getting back into it I have fallen for it and feel the need to complete!

The heads are fully back together now, I have all new gaskets, o-rings, water pump, head bolts, stem seals, sump gaskets etc but I can't for the life of me get the ruddy crankn bolt off!
Haven't tried an impact wrench because I don't have one (yet) but I tried a method where my mate was on the bolt with a 24" breaker bar, and I was on the other side with a counter bar screwed into the vibration damper hub.
I thought it was coming loose because there was movement in my bar, but what had happened was the counter bar bent and fractured part of the hub mounting lip! What an bastid!

Got a new hub, hub bolts and crank bolt but can't fit these or finish the engine until I get the old bolt off!
At least its a long weekend coming up.....

heh- think a gasket set is expensive?

Got a 730i here with a warrenty rebuild due to nikasil- £9600 on parts alone for the dealer to replace

excellent work though- keep it up!