My M30 conversion

[leeparkes]

Load levellers are a god send with an M30, makes life so much easier.

[Bristol_Jer]

Load levellers are a god send with an M30, makes life so much easier.

Which one have you got Lee?

[leeparkes]

Not sure, it was from Machine mart at about £40.

[leeparkes]

Its this one, cheaper than i thought.

http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/produ ... d+leveller

I removed the pump handle type winder though as it kept hitting the windscreen (or hoist) which ever way round you had it, just a bolt there now to get a rachet or air gun onto.

[Bristol_Jer]

That looks good, I've got a few Clarke tools and they're pretty good for the money

[jimbom30cab]

thanks Lee, i might invest on one of those. Its a shame all us M30 dudes don't all like relativly close so we could share tools !!

[Bristol_Jer]

Update for this week, I've bought a set of these sexy PAS pipes so I can finish fitting my e46 rack :



Got a new pair of fan/alternator belts to fit with them this weekend, and a new prop donut coming next week so should have the car up and running again asap.

Got let down by the company who were going to sort out the 6 branch manifold, they made a bit of a mess of it so my good mate Will is sorting it out for me, so not got any pics of it finished yet but should be sorted soon.

[Bristol_Jer]

Got the PAS pipes fitted so thats the e46 rack conversion finished at last I've also taken the rocker cover off and done the spray bar mod and checked the tightness of the banjo bolts, glad I did as one was a bit loose.

Cut off the spring platforms from my spare struts, just have to get the last bits ground down then I can fit the sleeves for the coilover conversion:



Just waiting on the manifold and prop donut then I can get the car MOT'd.

[Rav335uk]

Where did you get the pas pipes from for the e46 rack?

[Bristol_Jer]

Dan's (DanThe) m20 pipes, and with a tiny bit of persuasion on one of the pipes they fit an m30'd e30 perfectly

[zaust]

You best be ready for pod jer...

Join in the m30 sorted blast

[Bristol_Jer]

I'm up for going to Pod this year as long as my car is! It should go pretty well in theory being stripped out and having the 3.73 diff

[leeparkes]

Id say mid to low 14's, i ran 14.5 with that very diff you have. albeit mine was fully dressed an weighs 1300KG.

Have you ever had this weighed?

[Bristol_Jer]

Not yet Lee, I will get it weighed once it's MOT'd though as I'm curious how much it weighs. Will you be taking yours to Pod?

[Bristol_Jer]

Got the prop donut fitted, and prop, heatshields and exhaust system fitted back on this afternoon. Will be picking up my exhaust manifolds Tuesday so it's nearly ready for MOT now Will take some more pics this week sometime.

[leeparkes]

Will you be taking yours to Pod?

All being well, yes.

[Bristol_Jer]

Nice one

Got to get a length of exhaust pipe and a few other bits and pieces to join the manifolds to the system this week, once I've got that sorted I can get it MOT'd!

[Bristol_Jer]

Been very busy with work the last few weeks so not done anything on the car for a while until yesterday afternoon and this evening.

The exhaust manifolds are all welded up now, and I've got the pipes, bends and flanges to finish the downpipes off, should get them made up this week with a bit of luck.

Started the centre console and door cards as well

Making a template:



New door cards cut out, ready for neatening up with the dremel and file:



And centre console made up, just need to figure out where I want the electric window switches, cut-off switch and cigarette lighter socket to be:



VDO gauge backing plate made, ordering the senders tonight to get the oil temp and pressure working:



Also on the list to make out the aluminium sheet is a cold air enclosure for the K+N filter, similar to Lee Parkes' one (hope you don't mind me nicking your idea! )

[leeparkes]

Nick away.

If your any good at fabricating you should try and do one of these.



Although not quite that long, up to the elbow would do.

Ram air FTW.

[Bristol_Jer]

That's a beast of an induction setup, although I think you would need to do away with the headlights to make the best use of it!

A couple of pics to update:

The finished exhaust manifolds:



And the bits needed to get the VDO gauges working on an m30'd e30 (hopefully, will update once they are connected and working!)



Got tomorrow put aside for working on the car, should have it ready for MOT if everything goes well

[jimbom30cab]

nice job mate

that zaust is the business

next time I am over in Bristol, could I pop over and see how you have fitted those gauges ?

[Bristol_Jer]

Of course mate, give me a shout when you're over this way

I've got the manifold mated up to a standard 325i system for now so not ideal, I'll be getting a custom twin 2" system made up eventually.

[leeparkes]

Yum yum!

[Bristol_Jer]

As usual today didn't really go as planned. Started off well as I cleaned and tapped all the exhaust manifold threads in the head as a few felt a bit dodgy when I was taking out the old studs. Fitted new studs from BMW. The manifolds fit fine, but the downpipes we made up didn't want to fit properly without touching the bodywork or being very close to the steering column linkage. So I got in a p1ss and chucked the manifolds back in the shed and have gone back to the standard manifolds for now as I can't be bothered messing about with the 6 branch any more for now! Need to modify the front manifold downpipe to clear the steering linkage, but that's an easy fix compared to f'ing about with the 6 branch.

On the plus side I've fitted an aftermarket washer bottle where the battery used to be and wired up the pump to make way for the air filter housing, got the filter and pipe made up ready for the housing to be made, filled up all the engine fluids and gearbox, tidied up some wiring in the car, battery is charged, a few exterior trim pieces fitted to tidy it up where they were missing before.

Just got to get that bloody exhaust sorted then I can MOT it.

[mcbonio]

Just do away with any exhaust system at all.!

[Bristol_Jer]

Right, got the exhaust sorted tonight and as far as I'm aware it is ready for the MOT. There are a few rust holes that maybe a fail though, so fingers crossed they're not and I can get a ticket on the car and weld them up afterwards.

Only problem I found so far is the engine only runs for about 10 seconds before cutting out the couple of times I tried it, will have a go with it again tomorrow and see if a drive will sort it

[Bristol_Jer]

Did a few jobs tonight on the car, fitted the bonnet back on, set up the tracking as accurately as I could and some other bits and pieces. All good I thought, apart from the fooking thing won't start now!

Got Friday off work so was hoping to MOT it then, hopefully I can get it going in time! Fook knows why it's not starting, all I've done is take the engine out and put it back in, I haven't touched the wiring other than undo a few connectors and then plug them back in! Will get the multimeter out tomorrow and see what's going on.

Some progress pics:

Washer bottle fitted and wired/plumbed up, got to neaten up the wiring to finish it off:



Filter and pipe work fitted, have made cardboard templates form the aluminium enclosure, just got to get them cut out and fitted. I've hit out the blanking plate ready to fit the cold air feed:



And centre console made up and wires connected, again just got to tidy the wiring up now I know it all works

[Speedtouch]

Did you reconnect the engine-to-body earth strap?

[Bristol_Jer]

I have, I've been over all the wiring again and everything is exactly as it was before, thank you for the suggestion though

[Speedtouch]

Check the fusible link, in the main feed that supplies power to the ECU.

It is a flat strip, hidden under the cable insulation (usually near the battery +12V terminal), and they often crack, leading to this sort of problem.

[Bristol_Jer]

Will do, thank you

[jimbom30cab]

Can you turn it over on the diagnostic plug?

The wiki guide is very good on here

[Bristol_Jer]

I'm going to have another go at it tomorrow and Thursday Jim, I've been here before with non-starting problems earlier in my conversion, and you're right, the wiki and the forum in general are very helpful

[Bristol_Jer]

Tested a few things today, turns out the fuel pump is knackered. Hit it a few times with a bit of wood and that didn't make it go again, so I've taken the old one out and sorting out another this week.

[jimbom30cab]

Great nice one, when's the next track day?