This is it when I first bought it:
Genuine sport, rot free with 80k .
Unfortunately the top hose blew after a couple weeks of ownership. Wasn't hanging around when it went and didn't notice till it was too late. Head was so warped you could see it without a straight edge
Luckily for me, martinpallot (another zoner) is local to me and was selling his m50 conversion.
m20 with head stripped and bonnet off ready:
Bulkhead was thouroughly inspected at this point. All was perfect
The next day, what must be the most ghetto engine swap in zone history started:
With no balance bar, I love tapped the hook either way along the chains links with a hammer to achieve the desired angle of the dangle. Combined with an engine crane that needed constant pumping to stay up (bit like me) and a leak patched up with masking tape
safety first!
In case you are wondering, no, you can't get an m50 in with the rad attached:
I used very expensive (for too fooking blocks of rubber) AKG engine mounts. To be honest, I am not impressed with the fitment considering they are made purposefully for an m50 into an e30. I just couldn't get them to line up also once fitted, the threaded rod does not protrude enough for my liking. Engine is never going to go anywhere, but I would like at least a thread showing rather than flush with the top of the nut. Time for some spurious engineering:
In the end, engine had to be lifted, mounts loosened from underneath, tilted so the studs lined up with the holes in the mounts and slowly lowered back down again. Obviously it wasn't that easy:
There are a worrying amount of pictures of me standing on my engine!
All glass and excess wiring came out and a full hunt for rust commenced. Not a patch
All excess brackets were removed, ground back and primed:
KTM MX goggles, the latest in safety.
And there it sat for pretty much 2 years. I have done the odd thing here and there, but money has been tight (trainee site manager) and bits are expensive. But I have collected most the bits I need and I am ready to start again.
Me trying to be arty last night with my iPhone:
In desperate need of a clean
Had a go at skinning the boot:
If you are interested it saved about 4kg. But not worth the hassle. I'll be buying a fibreglass one. (PM me if you have one for sale).
Someone had welded up the spoiler holes for some unknown reason in the past along with a few other dodgy repairs. Ground these back to bare metal but decided fibreglass will be the best way forward:
Picked up these goodies on the weekend. New fuel lines (welding damaged the originals), clips for them, new conical washers for the exhaust, new nuts and bolts for the centre section of the exhaust, throttle cable and battery cable form the positive to the starter/alternator. £127
My co-driver:
So time for a big push, next weekend weather permitting it is being pushed out the garage for a massive clean up of the engine bay, interior and exterior, get the cage fitted so all the mounts can be drilled and bleed the brakes. Going for interior paint a week or so after.
Thanks for reading, I'll be updating this as much as possible!
