Lee Parkes' E30 Alpina B10.

[leeparkes]

Right,


Ive picked up a healthy 89 535i sport,insurance write off! (light scrape down the drivers side)

here's the spec:
manual
sterling silver
130k with history (recenty serviced)
air con (the fan will be used on the swap)
m-tech kit
m-tech steering wheel
m-tech suspension
black sports leather with rear blind and rear door blinds
LSD
K&N panel filter
green stuff pads
sachs clutch fitted 12 months ago

I paid £200 for the car
oh and £50 for the wheels off 'danthe' to get it on the trailer,

Here's the Pictures of it!







Rear door blinds



and one of the lump!



here's a sly pic of the E30 the M30 is going into



And yes the slipper locks up fine




I will be making notes all the way to the end of the conversion including the total cost,so far it owes me £250,i will break the car so that will bring some of the money back

Let the fragfest begin!









Today was 'engine out day'!



started at 8am this morning and i was cleared up by 2pm,minus a trip to the cafe and i forgot my breaker bar so had to pop home,so you could say it took me 5 hours to get the engine out onto the floor.
The only pain in the arse i came across was a gearstick lock thingy,not sure if it was factory fitted but it was welded to the gear selector rod and came out of the transmission tunnel about 3 inch's on the passenger side,i knew it would stop the engine being pulled out smoothly so it had to come off,i had to cut the metal around the gear stick on the top of the tunnel to get the angle grinder in there and wasted about an hour of scratching my head thinking the best way to tackle it!
Here's the offending item








after this ordeal it was plain sailing and everything went according to plan.

Job done.






The engine ill be removing from the E30 is a high compression M20/b25 with rebuilt head,new sachs clutch 6months (3K) ago along with new water pump,cam belt,etc...,it will be for sale soon and will be sold as a complete conversion.




Thats it for now but just before the m20 gets pulled out i will put the car on a weigh bridge to see its weight then put it on the same bridge when the M30 is in the to see how much weight the car gains,also in going to measure how much the front suspension drops with the big six in there because we all know these big lumps of pig iron are heavy.

Ill keep it updated as i go along with plenty more pics (and problems)

[ImysE30]

The project start's . Have you got all the bit's needed for the conversion, how long you reckon it's going to take you? I'll be keeping a close eye on this

[leeparkes]

Got to get a few bits and pieces to get it in but i also want to change a few bits and do the sump gasket,its not leaking now but id rather do it now rather than later
i want it in and running before july
cant wait! i drove it round the trading estate for about an hour before i got to work on it and it pulls like a train,its a lot quicker than my 325i,loads of low down power!

[ImysE30]

It'll be even quicker in the E30 . Ready in time for summer

P.S. I have a 3.46 diff if your looking for a diff

[leeparkes]

P.S. I have a 3.46 diff if your looking for a diff

Slipper?

[ImysE30]

P.S. I have a 3.46 diff if your looking for a diff

Slipper?

Not a slipper unfortunately, otherwise i'd be keeping it

[leeparkes]

P.S. I have a 3.46 diff if your looking for a diff

Slipper?

Not a slipper unfortunately, otherwise i'd be keeping it

[Rav335uk]

You don't need a slipper Lee, I don't have one and light starts in the dry are still awesome.
JULY????????
It should take all of 7 days if everything is there at a push.
If you need anything on the conversion, give me a shout as i'm off work for a few days after the 30th.

[zaust]

Suscribed....

[furbster]

Good luck with the conversion!

I'll be keeping a close eye on this one. Do you use your E30 for trackdays? If so would be interested to see how the heavy lump affects the handling.

It's something I've been toying with for some time but do not want to compromise the handling as mine is just a track toy.

[Cook318IS]

lee you have a PM fella

[leeparkes]

You don't need a slipper Lee, I don't have one and light starts in the dry are still awesome.
JULY????????
It should take all of 7 days if everything is there at a push.
If you need anything on the conversion, give me a shout as i'm off work for a few days after the 30th.

A slipper is always nice though rav
ive give myself a couple of months to gather all the parts together and prep the engine before it goes in also i want the E34 broke and gone first,
im not sure if ive got everything off the E34 needed for the conversion though,ive got
engine/box/prop
loom/ecu/relays
accelerater cable
all coolant hoses
is there anything else i need?

furbster,i dont do track days but also im curious about the weight issue,ill keep you informed.

[Rav335uk]

You don't need a slipper Lee, I don't have one and light starts in the dry are still awesome.
JULY????????
It should take all of 7 days if everything is there at a push.
If you need anything on the conversion, give me a shout as i'm off work for a few days after the 30th.

A slipper is always nice though rav
ive give myself a couple of months to gather all the parts together and prep the engine before it goes in also i want the E34 broke and gone first,
im not sure if ive got everything off the E34 needed for the conversion though,ive got
engine/box/prop
loom/ecu/relays
accelerater cable
all coolant hoses
is there anything else i need?

Lee, thats about it mate apart from the rad, unless u have a e28 m535 one..Have u got a short shift for it yet???

[leeparkes]

Lee, thats about it mate apart from the rad, unless u have a e28 m535 one..Have u got a short shift for it yet???

The rad on the donor car isnt that old and looks about as thick as the m20 one,if you've got 5 minutes rav could you measure the thickness of your e28 rad for me? ive been reading that people have used the E34 rad

short shift is on my shoping list,previous owner of my car cut the original shifter and fitted a ripspeed chrome ball

[e30_singh]

Good luck with the swap, hope it all works well.

[Rav335uk]

The rad on the donor car isnt that old and looks about as thick as the m20 one,if you've got 5 minutes rav could you measure the thickness of your e28 rad for me? ive been reading that people have used the E34 rad

Lee,i've used the origional e34 rad mate, makes it tight on the front if you need to change your dizzy cap etc and also the stat.
I didn't see the reason why i should spend £150+ for a e28 rad.

[DRIFTBOY]

i've used the origional e34 rad mate, makes it tight on the front if you need to change your dizzy cap etc and also the stat.

You might also need to remove the air con belt groove of the crankshaft front pulley, even in engine position three mine made contact with the radiator under heavy braking!

It's very easy, just run a cutting disc in a grinder around the centre of the 'V', this cuts through the welds and it comes away in two halves.

[leeparkes]

i've used the origional e34 rad mate, makes it tight on the front if you need to change your dizzy cap etc and also the stat.

You might also need to remove the air con belt groove of the crankshaft front pulley, even in engine position three mine made contact with the radiator under heavy braking!

It's very easy, just run a cutting disc in a grinder around the centre of the 'V', this cuts through the welds and it comes away in two halves.

Cheers lads

[e30_singh]

If you need any parts drop me a PM, I am breaking my one..

[leeparkes]

If you need any parts drop me a PM, I am breaking my one..

pm sent

[blackcountrybimmerman]

I'm watching this one very closely.........

[Ziggy]

I've got an open diff in my m30'd E30 at the moment.... and it is rubbish. Can't wait for the rebuilt LSD to get back where it belongs!

Change the sump gasket before it goes in.

[leeparkes]

Change the sump gasket before it goes in.

Its on the ever growing list

[leeparkes]

UPDATE:

Well first of all the donor car has gone after a fragfest and letting my 10 year old smash it up with an iron bar,
he was in his element lol







Owned



The frag list:(all sold) not inc post)

door cards with blinds £105
seats £80
M-tech kit £85
Slipper £120
suspension £50
Fuel out of the tank £30ish
Shell £40
Misc bits&bobs £95

Total £605

I still have greenstuff pads and other bits still to put on e-bay hoping to make around an extra £100 off them.

donor car got took last week.the gypo gave me £40 for it!







Right,got the engine home on the back of a mates trailer,not nice when you see an M30 bouncing around behind you and im glad it was only a 5 minute journey,
got to work on it,so far ive been mainly dressing it up with hammerite
Engine block is gloss black
inlet mani is hammered black which comes out a nice charcoal colour,
oil filter housing,alternater,thermostat housing,manifold mount and throttle body all done in silver,
Not sure what colour to do the rocker cover yet











Jobs left to do

Paint rocker cover
Adjust valves
Do the spray bar mod
Cut front pulley off
modify exhaust manifold
Sump gasket
then put it all back together ready to drop in!

Ill update again soon

[DRIFTBOY]

Looking gooooood!

I bet your boy loved smashing that car, it's great for getting a bit of anger out too!

I started smashing my 535i donor car in front of a police woman (long story) but I really was very angry!

Why not do the rocker cover the same as the inlet? I think that would look smart!

[blackcountrybimmerman]

Definitely going to be good when it's finished......

Give me a shout if you need me to pass any spanners to ya....lol

[leeparkes]

Cheers Alan^

Driftboy, i have been considering doing the rocker the same as the inlet but not sure yet and yes my lad loved smashing it up the donor car,it wasnt just the windows he done he kicked and smashed all the panels (check passenger wing) also got on the roof and stamped that in!


I launched an assault on it when i was pulling the engine out after cutting my finger with a hacksaw,
it helps to let your anger out on it

[DRIFTBOY]

Just go to 'edit post' on the first post of the thread and you can change the title there, I think!

[leeparkes]

Just go to 'edit post' on the first post of the thread and you can change the title there, I think!

Cheers!

[Rav335uk]

Rocker cover should be the same colour as the inlet mani, will look nice

[leeparkes]

If i paint the rocker in hammerite i cant re-paint it another colour because other paints react on top of it and it would be a ballache to strip hammerite off a rocker cover with all the grooves etc...

the jury is out on this one till im 100% sure

[ImysE30]

Highly polish it

Nice work so far

[leeparkes]

Highly polish it

Mmm.....

[ImysE30]

Highly polish it

Mmm.....

You know you want to, will look nice with the black IMO

[DRIFTBOY]

Paint the rocker cover then go over the raised parts with a block and wet & dry, polish those and lacquer it, lovely!