'86 316 M20B28

[Duke137]

4 x 13mm Nuts on the inside, to fully remove it, you'll need a flat screw driver to unlatch the securing pin, then a matter of disconnecting the lines from the cylinder in the engine. it then will just pull out.

He just wants to get the insulation out Jim not remove it so he can leave the lines in place

[Kedge]

4 x 13mm Nuts on the inside, to fully remove it, you'll need a flat screw driver to unlatch the securing pin, then a matter of disconnecting the lines from the cylinder in the engine. it then will just pull out.

That pretty much answers my question in the last post

[Jim320i]

I'd remove it while you have the chance, just to make sure everything is clean behind there and the servo hasnt got any surface rust behind it...

[Kedge]

Brake servo is out, did have to come out as there's no way new insulation would go back on with it still losely in postion, no great shakes though. Pleased to report it's sweet behind that side on the bulkhead (the brown is just glue);



Then out to the otherside and the reason why i'm having to piss about with this added hassle.

From the inside;


From the outside (the brown gunk from the glue makes it look worse but it is getting chopped out past the thread at the top);


Didn't get much else done as i've had to finish sorting my Mum's car to sell (Anyone want an '04 Punto Sporting ) Did finally get the rear number plate panel fitted as i got fed up of constantly moving it out the way when i wanted anything from uner the stairs;



When i come to fit the new insulation what's the best way of going about it as Waxoyling the area has obvioulsy crossed my mind but then nothing will stick it inplace once i've done that and i doubt just the retaining nuts will hold it.

[capri_rob]

Are those rear lights staying Dave ?

[Rav335uk]

Are those rear lights staying Dave ?

At about £300 Rob, i think he's keeping them

[Kedge]

Are those rear lights staying Dave ?

Yes they will Rob, i really like them although that pic doesn't do them justice. Also like the fact it p!sses the OEM Homo's off. They swap and change between other lights as well though! Will be sporting smillie headlights aswell

At about £300 Rob, i think he's keeping them

They up to the £300 mark nowadays!?!?! I didn't pay anything like that amount

[Dezzy]

Are those rear lights staying Dave ?

Yes they will Rob, i really like them although that pic doesn't do them justice. Also like the fact it p!sses the OEM Homo's off. They swap and change between other lights as well though! Will be sporting smillie headlights aswell

At about £300 Rob, i think he's keeping them

They up to the £300 mark nowadays!?!?! I didn't pay anything like that amount

They are if Rav's selling them

[Rav335uk]

No Dezzy, never had a set to sell, just what I see when window shopping.

[capri_rob]

Are those rear lights staying Dave ?

Yes they will Rob, i really like them although that pic doesn't do them justice. Also like the fact it p!sses the OEM Homo's off. They swap and change between other lights as well though! Will be sporting smillie headlights aswell

At about £300 Rob, i think he's keeping them

They up to the £300 mark nowadays!?!?! I didn't pay anything like that amount

Are they genuine ? never seen a set like that before

Nowt wrong with the smilllie upgrade on a chromie

[Jhonno]

Love the lights.. Some nice work there!

[Kedge]

Rust chopped out the floor, just need to get a patch made up with the thread in it now and welded back in.

Are they genuine ? never seen a set like that before

Nah, period aftermarket made by Startec. Pretty rare and seem to command hefty M-Tax since they fit the M3.

[Simon13]

i like the lights too for what its worth. the numberplate surround works well with them also

[e30topless]

i too like the startec's they look great with Polaris, Great work going on there Dave

[Duke137]

The lights look great in the flesh, that number plate surround is a quality piece of kit!

I am liking the drive shaft refurb also, they look good

[Kedge]

Been very little activity since chopping the hole into the floor, been doing training courses and stacks of overtime while i've still got a job. Got a couple of hours on it this afternoon to build up the crossmember;



Just sent off what i hope to be the last parts request from Cotswolds for the underneath including E28 M5 engine mounts to try and shift the engine over enough so the steering linkage has more chance to clear the manifold, fingers crossed it works.

[Kedge]

Time I got round to updating this thread, progress has remained slow since I'm in no real rush with this at the moment.

Floor is now welded up and the engine is back in after the rigmarole of getting hold of a suitable bulkhead insulation panel, first one was a LHD one and the next two weren't in an acceptable condition for a brand new part from BMW.

The engine is sitting on lefthand E28 M5 mounts which has provided clearance between the BTB2 manifold & the steering linkage on the E36 rack, the bottom UJ had some edges massaged down to add another couple of MM clearance so hopefully it will be ok once it's on the road but we'll have to see.

Also since my last update I've found a fetish for Soda blasted parts following Robs and Pauls threads and that also coincided with a local biker setting up his own blasting & plating unit just round the corner.



I've also decided to fit an E36 rad now to save the hassle of welding a bracket into the bay for the header tank and and more clutter, also provides me with a bigger rad so will be more effective......................this has obviously added further hassle though since I've got to convert the rest of the piping to facelift spec.

Since I was going to be messing with coolant pipes again and I'd need to fit a facelift cambelt cover to enable me to fit the metal pipe across the front of the engine I though I'd attempt my first cambelt change even though it had only just been changed prior to buying the donor car, bloody good job i did since it was bodged!!!!

Notice anything missing???? (this it the new belt and tensioner in place but it's how i found the old one)


So a quick call in to Jims and we took the spring/tensioner from his 325e breaker, since this was covered in crap and looking the 20 odd years old it is I dropped it off with a few other parts to get blasted and zinc plated.


All in place now with a new water pump, can't believe how easy an M20 cambelt is to do


How it looks when i left it this afternoon;


Now on with fitting some brakes......................

Front discs and calipers mounted after a LOT of fiddling;



New rear shoes and trimmed dust shields;


Discs, calipers & pipes fitted;

[capri_rob]

Nice work Dave - looking forward to seeing this at some point - will it be drivable for Jim's meet ?

[Duke137]

Well done Dave, looking good mate some nice shiney boasting pics there

[Kedge]

will it be drivable for Jim's meet ?

More chance of me turning up in a delivery mileage M3 i reckon.

nice shiney boasting pics there

Photo Gallery is the main willy waving section on the zone

[Dan320is]

Well done Dave, this is coming along really well. I just hope you can operate the clutch a bit better than you did driving my car

[Kedge]

Well done Dave, this is coming along really well. I just hope you can operate the clutch a bit better than you did driving my car

I'll be thanks fella, this won't need the tits revving off it to pull away not being a wheezy 4 pot

[Dan320is]

Well done Dave, this is coming along really well. I just hope you can operate the clutch a bit better than you did driving my car

I'll be thanks fella, this won't need the tits revving off it to pull away not being a wheezy 4 pot

As wheezy as Rav running up a flight of stairs, the old git.

[scott180gtb]

Been very little activity since chopping the hole into the floor, been doing training courses and stacks of overtime while i've still got a job. Got a couple of hours on it this afternoon to build up the crossmember;



Just sent off what i hope to be the last parts request from Cotswolds for the underneath including E28 M5 engine mounts to try and shift the engine over enough so the steering linkage has more chance to clear the manifold, fingers crossed it works.

I'm very interested to see if this mod works. I think I remember reading in Andy's book about moving the engine over to make way for the 36 rack.

Are the M5 engine mounts stiffer to stop the fannymold leaning on the rack linkage.

Have you got the part number for the mounts?

[Kedge]

The engine is sitting on lefthand E28 M5 mounts which has provided clearance between the BTB2 manifold & the steering linkage on the E36 rack, the bottom UJ had some edges massaged down to add another couple of MM clearance so hopefully it will be ok once it's on the road but we'll have to see.

I'd got the info from Andys book as well. I don't know whether they are stiffer than E30 mounts but they'll certainly be stiffer than old E30 mounts. They are taller which helps with the clearnace and also the studs are offset which is what makes the engine move across.

I'll digout the part number and send it over.

[Kedge]

About time for an update I think, although lacking pictures for the majority of the work done lately.

It's now back on wheels as everything is pretty muck finished. A couple of weeks ago I thought I was pretty much at the stage of getting it booked in for painting, engine was fired up for the first time in about a year and it sounded like a complete sack of shite. I'd taken the care to turn it over by hand while filling with oil beforehand. No matter what I did I couldn't get it to tick over less than 1200rpm, revs were dropping with the oil cap off, everywhere I could think of was sprayed to check for air leaks, the ICV was swapped (all that I tried were also making a hell of a lot of noise as well on top of the normal buzz. The final stray was the fact the exhaust manifold was blowing all of a sudden, I'd never even removed that during the swap, I went to have a feel around for lose studs and went and found that one was snapped so I was resigned to needing to get the head off to sort that, then the engine developed a metallic noise so I've bitten the bullet and ripped the whole lot out again ready for DanThe to build me an M20B28.

Head was pulled off yesterday and then the block this afternoon, here's a fer pics of how the internals look. Looks OK to me, nothing to suggest the metallic noise it developed was it starting to eat itself inside out.














Also found the dreaded bulkhead rot


30 seconds work and it was sorted


Then I went on to giving the drivers side footwell some closer inspections as there was some very light surface rust I already knew about needing to rub back and paint but I soon found myself poking at the sound deadening and found it was coming up really easily to my surprise. This also led me to pulling up the seam sealer where the floor meets the bulkhead.

Here's a picture of what was found partway through the removal of the seam sealer, I'm sure you can already guess what it is though!!


The start of the clean up though revealed it's nothing serious at all, I'm sure most out there wouldn't be so lucky though!



The whole floorpan will be taken back to bare metal and then zinc primed.

Now just waiting on all my shinny new engine parts to turn up in time for me to take the engine over to Dans at the weekend.

[Simon13]

Nice work there Dave, before you pip for the 2.8 i've got a good idea i tried out on my bronzit 325i i did over the summer. I've nto got pics as they're on an old computer but i shall locate them

[Meatballs82]

Jealous!!!!

Good work dude, have you received your engine bits yet or has Jim Ebayed them?!

[Kedge]

Nice work there Dave, before you pip for the 2.8 i've got a good idea i tried out on my bronzit 325i i did over the summer. I've nto got pics as they're on an old computer but i shall locate them

I'm pretty well invested in the 2.8 route no Si, still intrigued in what you've got to show?

[Kedge]

Good work dude, have you received your engine bits yet or has Jim Ebayed them?!

Not yet mate, going over Jim's in a bit, no telling what he'll still have!

This is all that's turned up so far;

[Meatballs82]

Good work dude, have you received your engine bits yet or has Jim Ebayed them?!

Not yet mate, going over Jim's in a bit, no telling what he'll still have!

This is all that's turned up so far;

Ironically I spec ordered a shedload in for stock and they're still not here!!

[Kedge]

Strange how a dear competitor of yours got them on next day delivery from Febi

[Rav335uk]

Strange how a dear competitor of yours got them on next day delivery from Febi

That happens quite regularly Dave

[Meatballs82]

Strange how a dear competitor of yours got them on next day delivery from Febi

They probably sent a van direct to Germany to collect them

[Duke137]

Strange how a dear competitor of yours got them on next day delivery from Febi

They probably sent a van direct to Germany to collect them

I wonder if they have an E30zone trade account....