Had a thought about reusing my write off

[e30cheeseman]

Right I thinking of stripping my write off BMW e30 into a kit car.

Does anyone know the diemensions of the 325i engine and gearbox together I'm not at home ATM so can't do it my self

Has anyone tried doing this I have a neighber who is building to cobras so he said he will help with tools, welding and stuff

I only thought of it as I have my busted 325i and wanted to see if it could be done

Help would be received nicely

I know most people will say what's the point blah blah but end of the day it's my choice so just wanted some help with diemensions or a site I could get them

[alan1272]

saw this at the classic motorshow last year, it uses an m20b25. would be nice to blast round in:
http://www.tipo250.co.uk/

i think bmw motors were used in a merlin or something?

[Brianmoooore]

Marlin, from Crediton, Devon used the M20B25 and some other E30 bits.
Because of the way they are canted over, BMW engines tend to be on the wide side for a lot of kit car designs, especially the 'seven' clones.

[Speedtouch]

There's a Zoner who has a Marlin, with the M20B25 in.

[senna]

[quote="alan1272"]saw this at the classic motorshow last year, it uses an m20b25. would be nice to blast round in:
http://www.tipo250.co.uk/

My friend built that with an English Wheel.

The engine came from my touring

The only problem with the M20 is that the exhaust is on the right side.

[e30cheeseman]

So I could be done?

I'd want a seven clone but like said I have someone who's knows a lot helping me so it might just work

[duracel79]

You could try GKD Sportscars. All BMW based Caterfield style.

http://www.gkdsportscars.com/

duracel79

[jmc330i]

I asked on few kit car forums about using an M20 in a seven style car a couple years back. The general feeling was the engine would be too heavy for the 'lightweight' ideal of having a kit car, most were telling me that a tuned Vaux XE or Ford lump would be much better. I tried explaining I wasn't after a circuit racer/hillclimb car, but only one or two guys got my idea, everyone else told me to get a Marlin!

I bought an old crossflow powered Westfield that needed much work, but only got the M20 hanging in the chassis once from the engine crane. From memory, I cut a couple bits of chassis away to get the engine in (more for length) but the engine was too far forward, so was planning to cut more into the 'bulkhead' frame to move the engine back. I never got any further with it as I lost my garage space when my brother moved house.

The other issue that was fairly obvious was the height of the engine, although I was planning on keeping the standard inlet manifold/injection for cheapness. The bodywork is easy enough to modify so I wasn't particularly worried and if carbs or TBs are used, this will be less of a problem.

I'm going to have to research those GKD kits, could be interesting

I'd say definitely go for it, if only for the noise - the 6 pot should sound lovely out of a short side pipe!

[e30cheeseman]

Lol I wanna do it! Looking at getting a new car first then this will be done

[jmc330i]

If you're looking at using a Westfield (or similar), you will need to do a fair amount of chassis work to fit the engine nicely. I didn't get that far, but I've seen similar work fitting a Volvo 5pot, so as long as you're happy with some welding/fab work you should be fine.

I can't look at the GKD site above on my phone, but one of their chassis will already have the work done.

[e30cheeseman]

Ill have a look

[Speedtouch]

See this thread:

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... ght=marlin

[e30cheeseman]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm