My M30 conversion

[leeparkes]

You may get away with not touching cyl 5 as it might tuck under the battery tray (there's quite a big gap)
I would try cutting here and folding up (or down) imo i wouldnt shorten them as it might affect performance as they should be all equal length.



Have you thought about cutting/smashing a hole in the turret?

[Bristol_Jer]

You may get away with not touching cyl 5 as it might tuck under the battery tray (there's quite a big gap)
I would try cutting here and folding up (or down) imo i wouldnt shorten them as it might affect performance as they should be all equal length.



Have you thought about cutting/smashing a hole in the turret?

Number 6 will fit ok, 5 will need moving but not too much, 4 is the one that will need the most adjustment to fit. I'm going to cut out the overhang of the battery tray to free up some more room, the battery is in the boot so don't need the full tray. I thought the same about where you put the cut lines, that should work ok I reckon.

That is going to be the main challenge, to keep all the primaries the same length as they are now, I'm sure it is do-able though Going to order up a length of pipe and few bends this weekend and see what I can come up with

It has crossed my mind briefly about chopping the turret, but I think I'd rather try and sort the pipes if I can first!

[Bristol_Jer]

Small update this week, got the steering linkage made up now, going to fit the rack this weekend and then I can start modifying the manifolds at last

e34 and e30 UJ halfs ready to be joined



And finished steering linkage



I bought another second hand gearbox the other day as well so I can keep the car on the road before I get the other one reconditioned.

[Bristol_Jer]

Rack and steering column fitted, front manifold will need a little modifying too after all:



Manifolds cut ready for modifying:



There is a bloke who works near where I work who has pipe benders and is very good at welding so going to get him to make the pipes up for me.

I've also stripped down one of my spare pairs of front struts ready to fit the threaded tubes for my DIY coilovers

[leeparkes]

Thats pretty much where the standard manifold hits with a quick rack.

Good work.

[mcbonio]

Good work Jer, bloody shame you have to cut 'em in the first place..!

[Bristol_Jer]

Cheers, yea I know it was a shame but I knew they would need to be modified when I bought them. When this snow fooks off I can start working out where the pipes will run

Once I've got the manifolds tacked in place I can get them welded up properly, and then the engine and box can be lifted out to swap the gearbox.

I've also been making up the alu door cards and gauge mounting plate to fit where the centre air vents were this week. Got to order the senders up then the gauges can be fitted

Working my way through the to-do list slowly but surely!

[leeparkes]

How you getting on with those six snakes?

[Bristol_Jer]

Having a bit of trouble finding someone to mandrel bend a 180 degree bend tight enough to fit, might have to join 2 90 degrees I think. Once I've got them sorted (I've borrowed a pipe bender for the shallower bends) then I can get it tacked in place and pass it over to an engineering shop local to me who will weld it up.

They are also going to look into making a stainless manifold from scratch, using my welded up one as a template. If they can do it there might be a chance I can get a couple of others made as well

[Rocla]

I tried to study your thread and read the wiki, but didn't find answer.

Is that axle between u-joints in steering avaible somewhere or a custom item?

[Bristol_Jer]

It is made by DanThe on here: http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... c&t=148445

[Bristol_Jer]

Manifolds modified and tack welded in place Going to the engineering shop tomorrow to get welded up, and they will see if they can use mine as a template and make a whole new one out of stainless.



Not sure what exhaust system to run, will need to be a twin 50mm system so an m3 system would be ideal, but they are hard to find and expensive new. Might look into getting a custom one made.

Next job is to swap the gearbox over then put everything back together again!

[leeparkes]

[Rav335uk]

[Rav335uk]

[Bristol_Jer]

Intredasting?

[Rav335uk]

Intredasting?

The Fannymolds

[Bristol_Jer]

Wasn't sure what the Intredasting bit meant?

[Speedtouch]

Small update this week, got the steering linkage made up now, going to fit the rack this weekend and then I can start modifying the manifolds at last

e34 and e30 UJ halfs ready to be joined



And finished steering linkage



I bought another second hand gearbox the other day as well so I can keep the car on the road before I get the other one reconditioned.

Do you treat all your Practical Classics magazines like that?!

[Bristol_Jer]

Only ones that I've already read!

[Bristol_Jer]

Not had an update for a while, mainly because I haven't really done much on the car for a while.

My modified exhaust manifold should be back with me this week, also looking good for them being able to use mine as a template and make a stainless steel copy of what I've got, though I'm going to do a back-to-back dyno run of the standard manifold and the modified one to see if the new one is worth making

Also got the engine back out this afternoon to swap the gearbox over, using my newly aquired engine crane. I'll be getting the box that I took out today rebuilt and then I'll have a good spare which is handy as m30 boxes seem to getting rare and going up in price now.



Will be putting the new box on tomorrow morning and bolting it all back in, and thanks to lighter evenings I can get it back on the road soon

Also bought a new grinder as well today as my old one went bang, so I can make my DIY coilover conversion at last.

Can't wait to drive it again!

[Rav335uk]

Getting the box done professionally???

£££££££££££'s

[Bristol_Jer]

Yea, been quoted around £350 depending on what needs doing, will be worth it though as I'm sticking with an m30 in my car for a while yet I'm fine on rebuilding engines, but I don't touch gearboxes, too many little bits to fall out and not know where they came from, leave it to the experts I say!

[Rav335uk]

That's a good price.
Is it a local guy?

[Bristol_Jer]

Yes, not far from me, my mate's dad has dealt with them for years so will be a bit cheaper with cash That is the cheapest it will be, I know the synchro on 3rd is fooked, but not sure on the condition of the rest of the box so won't know exact price until they take it apart.

[jimbom30cab]

your new engine crane looks good also mate

it must have been the recycling bin collection day as your box of empties is looking.....eeer rather empty

btw, i like the gearbox mounts also - i remember you talking about them

keep the pics coming

[Bristol_Jer]

Cheers Jim

That was just the glass recycling box, the can one is a bit more full!

I'd definitely recommend those mounts, they still look brand new after a couple of track days and some 'spirited' road driving, not bad for about 10 quid!

[jimbom30cab]

will add them to the list of bits i might one day get

looks like you are treating yourself to a new gear shift also by the pics ??

[Bristol_Jer]

Gear shift bits were all new when I did the conversion, along with a z3 gear lever, replaced all the bits in the Wiki guide, made a huge difference to the tired old 165k original linkage, with a shorter shift too which is always nice

[leeparkes]

Where did you get the gearbox mounts from?

[jimbom30cab]

I'm sure Jer got them from somewhere like here:

http://www.cbsonline.co.uk/pub/files/Re ... E%2022.pdf

large down load file - p46

[Bristol_Jer]

That's the ones Jim, here is the page they were on:

http://www.cbsonline.co.uk/category/Mec ... nts,b.html

Can't remember which ones they were exactly now, pretty sure they were the small engine mount ones

[Bristol_Jer]

Got the engine bolted back in yesterday morning

A pic of the gearbox mounts compared to standard ones:



Took the water pump off to replace it as the old one had some play in it



Gearboxes about to be swapped over



And back in it goes!



Definitely going to have to invest in a load leveller, it's a pain in the ass just using ratchet straps to lower and raise the gearbox end!

Found the rubber propshaft donut is starting to split as well so got to put a new one on there.

MOT will need doing before I put get it back on the road again, shouldn't be much wrong with it as it's done less than 1000 miles since the last one.

[jimbom30cab]

nice work mate, amazing to see £500 worth of gearboxes in one single photo !!!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/261142698190? ... 1423.l2649

do you think this would be up to the job mate?

jim

[Bristol_Jer]

I only paid £100-ish for the spare box thankfully, they have gone up in value since then!

Yes something like that one in the link, will do a bit of research into which ones are good as I read on another forum that someone bought a cheap one and the threaded part sheared off after only a couple of uses.