E30 Zone

I get asked alot of various questions, I havent done a proper build thread so ill try and lash whatever I can together now.

So my car started out as non sunroof 318 touring




Get asked alot why a touring, well it was pretty much rust free, red and had no sunroof.

Originally I fitted a M50B25 from a E34 525



I ran it for a while, got bored very quickly of it and the idea of turbo reliability/blowing up/cost just seem to mount up and I really wanted turn key reliability



So the M50 conversion was removed and sold, I gutted the engine bay and started to clean up and paint/prepare it for a test fit of the V8





But before test fitting the V8, I installed E36 M3 Evo wishbones, hubs & brakes (uprights aswell so the car could be rolled)
I also fitted a E36 325 steering rack.



Test fit of the engine, I used 'copied' E30.De engine mounts, alot of time was spent ensuring the engine sat as far back as possible (without massive work) and getting the engine sat low enough.
It came to light that it simply sits to high without the 20mm subframe spacers.

So a couple were machined up and the engine sat in



Oil cooler & powersteering cooler fitted.
Oil cooler is big as the car will always be used hard on track and drifting. Powersteering cooler as drifting puts alot of pressure on the system plus the hoses run very close to the manifolds, fluid failure/boiling isnt fun.






The engine then came back out for some serviceable work before the manifold work began.





You can notice in these photographs the extended lines for the oil filter housing, this is already remote mount so a company re used the existing fittings and the housing was moved into the front corner of the engine bay out of the way of the hose to the top radiator.

Manifold work was a pain, I had a set of E34 540, E39 M5 & X5 manifolds, I ended up using bits from them all, and I really cannot wait to rip the fuckers off and have a proper system on the car.


Ill continue it on as I find more pictures

very nice, looking foward to see this develop.

Watchin'

Cant seem to find any shots of the manifolds



So next was to fit the gearbox, I used a 530 5 speed box, bit of a ballache but it fitted in nicely.
I order a billet flywheel from BBB with a helix paddle clutch, the flywheel took months to arrive.

A E36 328 propshaft was used and a medium case diff.
Wiring was pretty straight forward, and a conversion loom created.

The brake servo, I found this picture and liked the idea

For mine I used a 2002 Clio servo and fabricated the mount whilst flipping the sprung hinge on the brake linkage

The end result looking like this (excuse the wiring under there for the moment)



A pretty simple job and zero flex in the linkage itself, the servo gives great power and feel to the brakes

On the test run a couple of issues were the water pipes on the back of block catching on the bulkhead so a bit of reshaping was needed for clearance.

I ran the car for a couple of weeks before completely gutting it and having a full cage fitted.
The cage has got to have made the biggest difference in the car, even more so then the engine.
Taking it out to the turrets has stiffened the whole car and it genuinely feels modern now




Sound deadening removal is always boring but it pays off in the end



By then the car was pretty much finished



Although I kept snapping the driveshafts




Changing these has got to be my most hated job.
I had issues with the cooling too, I used a E36 M3 Evo radiator, purely because it fits so well, you dont have notch the chassis, It will just fit in on the mounts.
Although its smaller in hieght and width its 10mm thicker then a 540 radiator so I worked them to hold similar capacities/areas.

But planning sometimes doesnt work. I figured the coolers were limiting the airflow aswell and creating residual heat. So i set about moving those

The car looks a bit tatty here as it had a hard time over the winter and unfortunately I am a bit of an abuser then a polisher




I also drilled quite a few holes in the thermostat and run 100% antifreeze and its as good as gold now, runs cold on the road but whilst drifting its perfect.

I will be upgraded to a ally rad and putting a stock stat back in, but for now its fine.

I have also played with cars geometry quite alot, it now runs E46 lower wishbones although not very happy with these, it seems to be working ok now.

Road and track is perfect but not whilst drifting. I am currently having machined a kit for ackermann and to correct the wishbone levels.

And this year I secured a sponsor, so the car had a little overhaul

I'll break down the areas of
Commen questions aswell

Excellent stuff I've been a huge fan of this car for a long time, good to see this thread.

Aye Phil, what sort of filter you got on there dude? I'm looking for a open filter myself but can't find a bean?

The filter is just a K&N jobbie, not the best if im honest, im currently making a airbox for the car and getting rid of the hideous blue pipe!

Ohh right you going back to the air box? I do fancy I open air filter but does it suffer from heat soak?

After speaking to quite a few tuners/builders that use the 4.0's it seems they produce more power with airboxes/open filter with in a box.

It seems also that the engines respond better to having 'still' air rather then a ram system, if that makes sense!

love this build currently setting off this in my chromie 2 door non sunroof ! cant wait !

hello mate......how have you resolved the breaking drive shafts?I am looking for some stronger ones .....if you know of anyone ? Ta ....car looks awesome !!

hello mate......how have you resolved the breaking drive shafts?I am looking for some stronger ones .....if you know of anyone ? Ta ....car looks awesome !!

I had the same problem so started running a set of e36 318ti rear drive shafts which are thicker and a set of e36 output shafts which are lighter and are slightly splined which are stronger....... No problems yet after running a welder

Hi Ben, you running 4 stud or 5 stud hubs ? will the e36 318ti shaft ends fit the 4 stud hubs ? Soz Phil ......don'tmean to hijack your thread !!

No worries!

Intersting combination Ben, I smashed my compact shafts within my first two drift runs in the car,

Did you have to get a company to make them up?

Hey phil, hows the car going at the moment?

I'd still love to come have a look at this up close as i bought shaan's v8 2dr off him at the beginning of the year (m3 kit fitted still in primer, know the car? he lives up the road from you i think)

Will the car be making an appearance at prept, brands hatch, anytime soon, be good to meet ya and pick your brains if i may because mine has been somewhat thrown together!!!

Hi Phil, where did you get the oil filter extension pipes made ? Look the biz
Gus

Tomislav, you are more then welcome, im heading to players this month if your there?

The pipes were made by a local pipe company, pretty cheap

Where's the players meet?

North weald, on the 15th

http://players-show.com/

Bollox, i'm at my brothers that day, arse.

Prept at the end of the month maybe? 25th sept?

Its in the evening, starts at 6pm, £2 on the gate

25th is my birthday so if the missus lets me off!!!

Went to players this weekend, as my car is used by a company - Vabric.

The car has been sat outside for the past 8 months and child/marriage is taking up all my time!
The car needs a little work and a big refresh so over the weekend we did a little work to it



New wings sprayed up, as the repros are awful fitment and took a bashing the last time I was on track



The only person with a practical car was me, so all the stand/seats/parts where thrown in the back of mine



A little photograph from the stand

And one more.....

The repro wing on the drivers side is yet to go, hence why it doesnt fit at all!

Looking hard fella

looking good, sorry if it's been mentioned before, but what is the size, width and offset of your wheels, and what tyre size are you running?

I like the fender flares.

The wheels are 17 x 8.5 et 0 (after the spacers and rears are 17 x 10 et15

tyres are 245/40/17 rear and 205/40/17 front, ideally it needs a 215/225 but i didnt have any legal ones

Nice, good sizes. Where did you get the fender flares from, they look perfect for what I'd want.


Would you say they add around two inches width? Any pictures of how you fit them, just to see how much of the arch was removed and how much space there is to lower the car further.

Sorry for all the questions but I appreciate the help .

Good work on the conversion!
Im looking to put a V8 into my 318i saloon and was wondering if you used the 3.5 or 4.0 V8?

He used the 4.0, if ya gonna v8 an e30 its not worth using the smaller engines, all the same ballache for less power

Fender flares are from vabric. They are grp and can be made in any UK RAL colour. I have been testing these on my car for 10 months now

Arch removal is up to you on how much you want to cut out. Ill put a picture up so you can see


Yep 4.0 was used, 3.5 is pointless if im honest.

hi Phil, any chance of those subframe spacer specs mate ? Ta
Gus

Love it. Starting my M62 swap right now. Very inspiring !