e30 vauxhall red top rally car

All the info you need to race E30's

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Trise30rally
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Tue Oct 14, 2008 4:05 pm

After lots of considering i have decided to fit a Vauxhall redtop engine into my car, I have shown the beggining of what i have done and if there is enough interest i will post up the rest as i do it.

The reason i have chosen this engine (c20xe) is because of its massive potential in power, if i strap itbs to it i can get 208bhp out of an engine that weighs less than half the amount of the m20b25....

This conversion is not covered very well on the internet so these are my findings so far....

I took the engine out and steamed cleaned the engine bay to get it ready, i will be painting it after everything has been test fitted....

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Getting the engine in was the very easy part,

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For engine mounts i used a ford escort chassis mounting kit that you cut and weld yourself.....

Right chassis mount

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Left chassis mount

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This is where the problem is, Sump clearance!

Pic also shows the bell housing to type 9 box.

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Type 9 gearbox with ford prop

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Ford prop to bmw prop

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Gear change lines up perfectly! :shock: :D

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Veiw down the car....

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I had a few thoughts on the sump front and after a lot of measuring it seemed the only sensable option was to fit a rear loading sump like people use in there mk 2 escorts, the only problem with this was i needed to re locate the ARB

Luckily my mate had an e36 325i ARB hanging around so i gave that a try!

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As you can see it fits at the front nicely.

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I used the e30 drop links and it all bolted together perfectly!

All i need to do is weld some plates to the chassis rails and bolt it on.

I bought a Yukspeed Escort rwd sump in flatpack form so i could modify it to fit around a BMW x member.

It only needed slight modification where the slope is to the pan, It was a smooth 45 degree before.

so i put a little curve into it!

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This bolts on now and clears most things, i think i may have to grind the steering rack tabs slightly because they are quite high off the x member.

Hopefully over the next few nights i can get it all welded up and bolted together to make sure everything clears.....
Lloydie38
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Tue Oct 14, 2008 7:34 pm

BlOOdy Hell fella - serious spanner work there - Big respect to you - I don't have the skill/ knowledge/ time in that order to attempt anything like this :cry:

Good luck to you and hope it goes well and keep us updated with the progress 8) 8) 8)
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JimmyC
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Tue Oct 14, 2008 9:10 pm

Ouch!! Last time I looked you were putting stickers on and driving it!

Love it, good effort!!
Trise30rally
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Wed Oct 15, 2008 10:15 am

:D Yeah i did a few hillclimbs in it, now its the end of the season so its being turned into a rally car.

I am sfraid to say that the m20 is far too lardy for a rally car, a fully dressed one weighs 180kg 8O

The vauxhall motor weighs about 89kg dressed up and produces more power......

Anyway,

It fits! :D :D

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I just need to weld on the anti roll bar brackets now.
Jon_Bmw
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Wed Oct 15, 2008 1:26 pm

Brilliant work. The XE is really close to the bulkhead which is great for some good handling. Looking forward to 8000rpm then? :)

I know people slate four pots, but there are some cracking ones out there. Honda revtastic lumps, XE, mi16, s14 etc etc. You get so much more control with a high revving linear engine.

Wicked project. :cool:
Rallyprep_UK
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Sat Oct 18, 2008 7:28 pm

hey, great thread...

was surprised when i got to the c20xe part but hey i think you will lose a few more precious seconds with this car now :)

best of luck with it and keep posting ;) :P
Trise30rally
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Wed Oct 22, 2008 9:31 am

Thanks mate, its now pretty in white!!! :D

This was a lot of work!!! :shock: I found little patches of rust everywhere that had to be ground and treated and primed, i also spent ages cutting all of the random brakets off and grinding them down....

Home made spray booth :shock:

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Inside my den :lol:

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All painted!

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Wed Oct 22, 2008 4:30 pm

Keep em coming!! :cool:
Got cable ties? Get diffin..

Arch roller for hire.

www.zeroexhausts.co.uk

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zaust
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Wed Oct 22, 2008 5:43 pm

Looking nice there fella. Keep the pic's comming.
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SteSE
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Wed Nov 05, 2008 4:52 pm

Was looking for this thread but you had changed the title!

Glad to see it all coming together, didn't dream it would take this route. Good to see people exploring other avenues with the E30. Please keep the updates coming, much respect :cool:
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Benho
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Thu Nov 06, 2008 3:11 pm

love this thread, keep us updated :)
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Black_Potato
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Sat Nov 08, 2008 7:29 pm

might as well take that sound deadening out of the rear quarters as well... I expect you will find some in the doors as well.
e30cossie
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Sun Nov 09, 2008 12:53 am

very intresting project. keep pictures coming.
just wondering have you removed your brake servo?
Trise30rally
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Mon Nov 10, 2008 2:19 pm

Thanks guys, i have a load more pics that i will upload in a few days when i have my usb cable.

e30 cossie, Yes my sero is now gone, I didn't bother seeing if it would fit around the exhaust manifold because i had all sorts of braking issues with the rear locking up before the front.

What i have done is modify an escort mk2 rally bias pedal box and welded it onto the backing plate from the bmw pedal box :cool: pics to follow......
zimmer-320i
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Mon Nov 10, 2008 2:50 pm

so whats happening with that b25 engine that you spent so much time on, would love to buy it off you winkeye
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town325i
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Tue Nov 11, 2008 11:04 pm

have you tried any oil in that sump yet to see if it leaks?
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E30BeemerLad
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Tue Nov 11, 2008 11:14 pm

awesome thread

I assume this is Bouley Bay Hillclimb you've been doing? My old man did this when he was a young'un
Trise30rally
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Thu Nov 13, 2008 10:08 am

Yep Bouley bay hill and the Jersey rally :D

Funny you should mention the oil :( When i water tested the sump it was fine but i have been away for a week and came back to find a very small seep!

This is it finished last week,

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I am not happy with the welding on it anyway so i am gonna grind it all back and re weld it, i am devoloping my welding skills all of the time so hopefully this time i will do a better job!

This is my Front mounted ARB

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And the suspension looking nice and shiney!

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The engine is in and looking good! :D

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This is the Escort pedal box before i modified it.

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Tbh it was not the best box to start with because aswell as cutting a load out of the top i had to shorten the pedals by about an inch.

More pics of this to follow!

This is the clutch slave bracket i built, since this pic i have reinforced it with another piece of steel welded to the back.

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Also in there is an sbd clutch arm, spiggot bearing, release bearing and ceramic paddle clutch.
Last edited by Trise30rally on Thu Nov 13, 2008 10:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
zimmer-320i
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Thu Nov 13, 2008 10:41 am

looking good, 90% way to having a fully reshelled e30 shame its a rally car would make a exellent stock show car!!

what going on with the 2.5 you took out or i pursume thats beeing shelfed for later projects? im intrested in buying if thats your plan
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320dave
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Thu Nov 13, 2008 10:43 am

i wish i had the time and money to do a project like this :cry:
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zimmer-320i
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Thu Nov 13, 2008 11:17 am

yer and i wish i had th eneibours to allow, the first site of me under my bonnet and there complaining, my stupid housing assotiation state i cant make major repairs to any motor vechile!!!!!!!!!!! :eek:
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Trise30rally
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Thu Nov 13, 2008 11:53 am

I don't have the car at home, its in a shed that i rent along with some other guys with there rally cars....

Unfotunately the old m20b25 went to heaven, i stripped all of the new bits and sold them on ebay to fund the xe project.
zimmer-320i
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Thu Nov 13, 2008 12:06 pm

xe as in vaux?

im after another e30 weather its got parts on or been stripped apart from what it would need to drive, elecys, drive parts engine etc

did you take the dash out on yours?, im wondering if its safer to keep it in, incase of a accedent but thought id have straps any way but thought it would look better "properly" striped so the inside looks track car instead of a stripped road car
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Trise30rally
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Mon Dec 15, 2008 3:13 pm

Keep the dash, it looks better :cool:

I have been spending faaaaar too much money recently!

I got a brand new non aircon e36 radiator off ebay which fits in the gap nicely.

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Next to the rad is the oil cooler, where do you think the bast place would be to mount this? there is plenty of space to mount it on the engine side of the rad do you think it would work ok there?

I also fitted a fan to the front of the rad,

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And a take off plate for the remote filter head and the oil cooler

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Next up was fitting my exhaust manifold, i went for the high spec one from sbd

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The top section went in easily but the bottom section was another story!

It turned out that if i was to put it in in one piece i would have to complete some serious floor modifications because it sat too high.

So what i did is fit the collector upsidedown then cut the twin pipes at the weld and weld in two small angled pieces to bring the flow around at the correct hight.

Tacked

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Welded

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Next up was to finish the cooling system by sorting out the maze of silicone hose, it turned out to be a maze because i have decided to keep my heater box for a demister and a heater in the winter! :D

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Then i moved onto the really fun part and fitted my throttle boddies!!!

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Hopefully it will run by the weekend!!! :shock:
e30bmlover
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Mon Dec 15, 2008 3:19 pm

wow the engine looks real small in there!! didnt the 2.0 16v redtop power the astra gte??
Jon_Bmw
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Mon Dec 15, 2008 3:40 pm

Yes it did.

Thats going to be about 200bhp then? 8) I see you have used a mighty iS radiator as well. :D The handling is going to be sublime.
zimmer-320i
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Mon Dec 15, 2008 4:27 pm

that looks real good, the oil cooler mount ont he oter side so out side- side of the rad, will perform there more effently,
or put it behind thge middle air inlet which has a blak on some models but it will be good there,
but with the xe engines they need the oil cooler to have good air to surface ratio over the cooler,

hows the itbs coming along, you realy should see a good 180 bhp from that,
but have you gone for cams??they will make the itbs 100 times better
kent cams are realy good, go for some aggressive ones. granted there a little sluggish below 3k but feck when they get going they pull till 7k, had some in my mk3 astra and fook did that go!!! and that was on the sfi inlet and no 4 branch was preety much my first mod till it stuck a hydralic tappet and kinda bent a valve!! but even then it ran!! good litte engines, good luck
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Trise30rally
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Wed Dec 17, 2008 10:18 am

The throttle bodies are tapered and coupled with that manifold i should see 209bhp according to SBD motorsports.

I haven't gone for cams yet, i think that will come next winter because the best thing to do is replace the pistons and rods at the same time. then i could get 290bhp if i wanted!!! 8O

The oil cooler cannot go on the front of the radiator because the cooling fan is there and the space is limited.

It cannot go below the rad where my m20 one was because it is a rally car and that area is probably gonna get smashed once or twice :D

So my two options i see are mounted to the back of the rad so the fan can push air through both.

Or mounted behind the drivers side headlight because you do actually get a fair amount of air through there.
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hoshy
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Mon Dec 22, 2008 2:19 am

Lovely thread mate!
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Trise30rally
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Mon Dec 22, 2008 10:30 am

Thanks mate :D

Well after much thought over things and contemplating i decided to mount it behind the rad to see how it goes.

Mostly because i want to keep the plastic funnel and i am hoping the combination of the funnel and the fan will be enough.

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Remote filter head

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I also got my fuel system run with braided lines run through the inside.

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Trumpets on the throttle bodies

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And the moment of truth! :D

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321gazza
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Wed Dec 24, 2008 9:02 pm

hi mate, im doing a c20let in my e30 not running yet no money but its all in their with an omega box,great to see it welldone. :D
GrindCulture
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Wed Dec 24, 2008 9:10 pm

How have I not seen this thread? Awesome build, 4pot rightness :cool: , sounds meaty with the ITBs. :thumb:
Not in E30s any more :(
Rosc0PColtrane
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Sat Jan 03, 2009 3:02 pm

What a build. Looking forward to seeing this finished. You sir, are a very skillfull gent. Hats off to your hard work!
Trise30rally
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Mon Jan 12, 2009 12:33 pm

:o: Thank you!

I am fitting a bias pedal box but as you cannot get a bias box for a beamer i decided to modify an escort mk ii one.

It took a fair amout of work, First i took the bmw box apart and cut off all of the braketery etc from the bmw back plate. Then i welded the escort pedal box onto the bmw back plate and braced it in a few different places.

After some test fitting it was clear the escort pedal arms where too long (either that or my feet are too big) so i shortened the pedals a fraction so i could get the pedals on the right are of my feet.

This is the finished product....

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And the reservoirs above....

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Before i started wiring i decided i needed something a little better for my centre console so i decided to gamble and try an escort one....

After cutting the now useless bits out of the dash the gambe payed off and i have a perfect fit!

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big_jof
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Tue Jan 13, 2009 12:22 pm

Fantastic build lot of hours and skill looking forward to a vid of it on an event. Keep it up. :D
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