M30 install into calypso cab. Back on the road :)

[jimbom30cab]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-TON-ENGINE- ... 1c16d62bb9

might get this then for only another £15 on the crane

leveller looks a bit short at just 46cm

will get the machine mart one - much longer

[jimbom30cab]

Right o me hearties.

I was supposed to go to Bristol today but now it's tomorrow so i picked up the repaired engine crane jack and the load leveller from machine mart, wizzed back home after work in a druddy focus diesel and popped the old M30 lump in.

Wow, what a fun and kinda emotional job, will it fit ?? will it not ?? at one point i really didn't think it would go in

The load leveller made a MASSIVE difference and made the job so much easier, thanks for the tip Lee, i would highly recommend one.

took a few snaps and yes the Mrs did help me quite a bit and actually she was really good (never throught i'd say it)

































very very tight



low !!



and she's in



well happy

[griff87]

That's a whole world of WIN! Great progress mate, your nearly there

[leeparkes]

[Rav335uk]

Tight bastards aren't they.

[jimbom30cab]

Well tight literally 1mm to spare, maybe a couple more if I could be bothered to take off the PS pump, but well tight. We really didn't think it would fit. We slowly adjusted the load leveller and lowered the crane arm millimetre by millimetre to ge it in. Suppose the real work starts now getting it all connected up.

[mcbonio]

Haha brilliant, the M30 is a figgin' lump isn't it. Love the wife poking it with a stick too.!

[zaust]

Good feeling once its in. Just a few bits to bolt on and connect up now and your off sideways up the road.

[rob0r]

Looks great Jim, great time and care has obviously put in! Puts me to shame when I just whack engines in!

[jimbom30cab]

wacking them in is what i should be doing Rob, how's your new conversion going mate ?

[rob0r]

It's on, then it's not, then it's back on again, then it's not.... Then repeat that cycle! I'd be doing it to my chromie 320i drifter which is still just the 2L. I have all the bits and consumables to build a high comp 2.5 on motronic 1.3 and that's currently my latest plan. I also have had an E28 M535i engine sitting around for ages which could end up in the E30 or in my recently bought '72 E3. The E3 is years away from being touched so the M30 could still be E30 bound...

I've spent some money on the 2.5 consumables so I might as well swap that in for now but I could build up a transferrable M30 conversion inside one of my many E30 shells. Who knows!

[Rtaylor2208]

Nice work Jim, all you need is those 3 days of the british summer to get out in the cab.

[jimbom30cab]

Right, so the engine had been in for less than 24hrs and it had to come out again. I just couldn’t get the exhaust manifold attached with the lump in situ. Engine out, manifold on and then guess what”¦”¦. Not enough room to get the lump back in”¦.so I got the angle right up and shoved it over the slam panel and lifted the exhaust downpipes over the anti-roll bar”¦.it fitted”¦..just.



Not as tight as I thought it would be to the Rad. It’s sitting on the furthest back engine mount hole and the cylinder head is touching the bulkhead just below the 2 brake lines. It would be nice to move it all forward about 5mm which will take it off the bulkhead and still give plenty of clearance at the front. But the next mount hole is about 20mm further forward which would completely close the gap at the dizzy/rad end. Might just wiggle it about and attach the gearbox mounts, hopefully that will just move it off the bulkhead BUT”¦What would be really useful is rubber engine mounts with 5mm offset threads, a bit like this:



Talking of engine mounts, the landrover ones are no good ïaa they need spacing out otherwise the sump sits on the x-member and when spaced up by about 12mm there is not enough thread left on the mount to get the nuts on. So I will need to order 50mm mounts anyway

If anyone know’s if you can get offset threads like in my pic, it would be fab.

Few shots of the steering column and exhaust manifold. Hard to see in the photo’s but it does clear ok except for a little rub on the rubber coupling shield when the wheel is in a particular place, a small bit of ”aadjustment”a will cure that.



The front cooling pipe is a little short which is odd as I’ve looked at loads of pics on the net of people who’s pipe fits fine.

I’ll either need to extend it or get a longer one. I’m really puzzled by this as everyone else who has used a e28 535i rad seems to fit fine





Basically it’s all in ok but needs new mounts and a little move towards the rad.

I want to turn it over next so I can take compression test readings to check everything is ok before I carry on putting everything back on.

[mcbonio]

I replaced mine with m20 ones, worked great.!

[jimbom30cab]

bugger....just ordered a set of 50mm ones - oh well

[Rav335uk]

Where's the pic of Phil Naked then

Did you find the starter lead?

[TPS]

Nice work Jim, all you need is those 3 days of the british summer to get out in the cab.

That was last month!

[leeparkes]

Not as tight as I thought it would be to the Rad. It’s sitting on the furthest back engine mount hole and the cylinder head is touching the bulkhead just below the 2 brake lines. It would be nice to move it all forward about 5mm which will take it off the bulkhead and still give plenty of clearance at the front. But the next mount hole is about 20mm further forward which would completely close the gap at the dizzy/rad end. Might just wiggle it about and attach the gearbox mounts, hopefully that will just move it off the bulkhead BUT”¦What would be really useful is rubber engine mounts with 5mm offset threads, a bit like this:

You shouldnt need to be doing this, M20 50mm mounts should be fine.
Where are the (steel) mounts from? dont look like mine...

[jimbom30cab]

Second hand Lee, I don't know where they originated from. They look good quality. The gearbox is about 2 inches lower than it should be so I hope when I bolt it up it just comes off the bulkhead. Other than that I might just make the hole for the rubber mount slightly eccentric, just a few mm would do.

[leeparkes]

I reckon you will be ok once the gearbox is lifted up.

i was going to say you could send to mounts up to me if you wanted and put them on the jig to see if there right.
If your still unhappy once its all bolted up the offer is there.

[jimbom30cab]

Thanks Lee, I will do that if its too tight when all bolted in

Thanks

[jimbom30cab]

Hi Rav, got the starter lead sorted thanks, I didn't have one so I robbed the one off the spare m20 lump.

[jimbom30cab]

Some progress this eve.

I gave the exhaust a good looking at and took some diameter measurements, looks like the M20 pipes should slot straight into the M30 downpipes so i'll pop over the autofactors tomorrow and get some good quality clamps.









The steering column heatshield round the rubber coupling was just touching the exhaust manifold where it (did) curl up at the top, so i dressed it back with the dremmel and now there is a good 8mm of clearance, maybe a bit more when i get the proper 50mm engine mounts. Happy days.

Fitted the gear selector and prop shaft - do shout if you think i've done something wrong








i've fitted the reverse sensor cables and now need to fit a new slave cylinder and top up the box with oil.

lastly i did some work preparing the wiring which looks like this:





Do you think i have got it right. ? None of the cables went to the -ve terminal, they all were +ve. The only -ve cable i have is the earch for my anal eyes.

Thanks guys, most appreciated

I'm really pleased to have made some progress also.

[mcbonio]

Looking good Jim, almost there.! Get this slag filled up with fluids and fire he up.! You going to take some video for the first fire up?

[jimbom30cab]

Will do Chris, just need to fit the proper engine mounts then I can fit in the rad and top up with coolant. I'll definitely fire her up with just the manifold on and no exhaust, will make all the work worthwhile to hear that sound

[mcbonio]

Very close now, take care bleeding that m30 lump they can be very tricky to bleed, would hate to see it overheat after all that hard work! Can't wait though, definitely one of the nicest m30 builds here.

Oh the mikalor exhaust clamps are very good. Nice thick band on them and can be ratcheted up really tight without deforming the pipes.

[jimbom30cab]

Bit more progress tonight and have to say i'm really happy with the way it's going

got a new slave cylinder from CP4L for £3.60 and it looks very good, identical to the OEM one it replaced (now on the other e30). See the top item here. Its exactly the same part btw for a M20 lump, maybe even a M4X. The quality looks good but for less than £4 i'll give it a go. Notice the list price !!!! i bought 2 actually to have one as a spare, thinking of getting a few of them just in case.






Also the 50mm engine mounts arrived so i swapped these in and took the landy ones off. There are much better and everything fits perfect. I bolted up the gearbox and it pivoted the engine forward nicely off the bulkhead so there is now a good 10mm clearance, happy days.

Burton 50mm on the left and landrover v8 on the right




So when the engine mounts were all bolted up and i popped in 5.8L of 10w/40 i turned it over on the starter for the first time, all went fine. Did a compression test on the first 3 cylinders and the results were 175-180 which is brill, well happy with that.



I did need to buy a new earth cable to earth the block to the chassis, so i bit the bullet and bought 2 one for each side.

Problem i have is that the prop is too long, its just impossible to attach the two halfs together. Its a 325i prop.

getting there....

[mcbonio]

Looks brilliant Jim, loving your work. I think I read somewhere that an e36 325i prop will fit. Someone chime in if I'm wrong.!

[Rav335uk]

It's a 328 prop that will fit, but an E30 325 maunal prop will fit too, i'm sure LeeParkes went that route.
I went custom prop, cost me £100

[jimbom30cab]

E30 325 maunal prop will fit too

that's what i have mate and it's too big, maybe my engine is further back than Lee's ?

I think i'll make a little "adjustment" and see if that helps, am thinking a very carefull trim with the dremmel.

If that doesn't work then i've got another 325 prop and will get that shortened and balanced.

Thing is, i have a 4.1 diff which i think is small case at present

I have a 3.46 to fit which is medium and therefore is a larger size i think

so if i get the prop shortened i'll need to make sure it fits the new diff also

[E30_Jatt]

I had a similar issue but with my prop being too short. I used a 320i prop and it was a perfect fit, but I'm using a M10 box though.

[jimbom30cab]

arh, yes i have a 320i prop and thought about that but its about 3cm longer than the 325i one.

thanks anyway.

[Rav335uk]

What box are you using.
M30 or M10?

[jimbom30cab]

m30

e34b35

[Rav335uk]

Thent eh 325 prop should work.

Did you change the output flange on the M30 box over for the M20 one?