V8 conversion specialists - Gama Motorsport - on YouTube!!

[Driftben]

well im a big fan of nascar so im swaying towards that as long as its not too loud
well iv still got abit to go but ill be alot happier when the manifolds are done. thats a big chunk of the cut knuckles

sounds like theres a few going down to the Nuremberg in october if you fancy it? should be a laugh.

[SuperchargedV8Touring]

The Nascar sound is the business! A company we both have had dealings with has chosen that sound for their demo car.

I like the idea of going to Nuremberg in October, but it does depend a lot on whether mine is ready. More on that another time..........

[Driftben]

lovely thanks for finding that out will, i shall have a look later today to find out if mines the same. im hoping it will be. mine was out of a 95 e34 so we shall see.

well i have managed to complete both sides of the manifold now which i am over the moon about because it was a complete pain in the ring!

[SuperchargedV8Touring]

Lovely job Ben! You're making great progress, looking good for Gaydon.

What rack have you gone with by the way?

[Driftben]

well jobs still to do are pipe the brakes and clutch, finish the powersteering although i will leave that till last as i could drive with out it and finish the exhaust which i might give to a company for that?

i have gone with a E36 rack as my e30 one was stuffed. i have a e46 rack waiting to go on but i might leave that until later on in the year as i just want to drive the old girl.
hows yours getting on?

[SuperchargedV8Touring]

It's pretty much the same left to do for my car, but progress wise it's awful! The long and the short of it is that I feel I would have been better off having a go at doing the conversion with one of my very talented best mates. I didn't, as you know, because I wanted it done quicker (!) and with someone else's experience and knowledge of E30 V8 conversions.

The plan, back in July 2010, was to have it done within a year, back when I had more time on my hands and well before our baby son appeared.

What I have at the moment is an empty bank account and an unfinished car, which is a bad combination.

I'm most likely going to have the car back and finish it myself at home........ I may be walking to Gaydon.

[Driftben]

ahh now that does suck! well if you get the e30 back, give me a shout if you need a hand. id say i have my head round this now hehe.

once you have the ball rolling on things its surprising on how quick you progress on.
im moving to Canada next year so all my hard work and enough money spent to buy a house will have to be sold or unless i find a loop hole to take the e30 over there legally

[SuperchargedV8Touring]

Thank you Ben, that's very kind of you. I may well give you a shout! Thanks for not saying 'told you so', because I know!

I just want to get some control over the project again. I'd rather it was sat in my garage not getting worked on than 50 miles away not getting worked on.......

Canada! That's a big move, is it a permanent one? I'm sure someone on the zone will know if there is a loop hole.

[Driftben]

Well your lucky because I'm not the sort to say I told you so but........ Haha
Yea give me a shout if your stuck, I'll do my best to help you out
At least if it's in your garage you can think about working on it even if it's for about 10mins.

Yea it's a permanent one, just alot more space and oppotunity over there. Plus they have bigger garages

[Driftben]

Just a quick video, as i know you lot like a good bit of footage

[youtube][/youtube]

[SuperchargedV8Touring]

That's brilliant! How happy are you now?!

I meant to ask before, but have you got your rev counter working?

[Driftben]

I'm over the moon and can't finish it quick enough now. Yep the rev counter works as well as the fuel pump relay which is great. Will was right it naturally doesn't prime before the engine starts.
Basicly all up and running

[SuperchargedV8Touring]

How have you got your rev counter reading correctly? Mine's a 4 cylinder originally, so I assume there's some sort of converter used?

I'm really pleased for you and hope to see it sometime.

[Driftben]

I didn't do anything to it hehe, it may be out but on idol it seems to be ready correctly?
I'm sure I'll find out once I drive it

[Jonsku]

You need to halve the rpm-signal coming from ECU to have a correct reading. M6x puts out "8-phase signal" whereas the tacho understands "4-phase signal" or "6-phase signal", depending on the code-stick you've in the instrument cluster.

RPM-signal modifiers can be found on various tuning shops, and e.g. stifter @ e30.de sells them for pretty reasonable price..

[Driftben]

is that the little unit in the front bottom right of the cluster that needs to be changed to achieve the "6-phase signal"?

[Jonsku]

is that the little unit in the front bottom right of the cluster that needs to be changed to achieve the "6-phase signal"?

That's the "code stecker" which handles data in the instrument cluster. It's different in 4- and 6-cyl models. Also different instrument clusters (VDO / Motometer) have different "code steckers".

Solution is to have 4-cyl code-stecker and "rpm signal halfer"

[Driftben]

I see, so where would I put this signal halfer then? Would it be inside the signal stecker?

Also what sort of exhaust have you used? Is it a complete custom one or have you used a modified E30 one?

[Driftben]

a update only on the brakes as they were bit of a pain.

iv gone for a set of E46 M3 front discs and 6Pot wilwoods in the end.
because they are radial mount they werent too bad to fit just time consuming getting them point perfect.

[SuperchargedV8Touring]

Lovely job Ben! Quite cost effective too?

I've still got the E30 4 stud set-up, so I've gone for WMS under my 15" steels.

How's the rest of the car coming along?

[Driftben]

I brought both the calipers with brand new braided lines and AP discs and bells (which I didn't use) for £380 so not bad at all really. It should stop on the spot.
The rest is doing well, mainly all I have to do is just the exhaust but I'm thinking of getting a company to do that as its quite abit of work.
Pop the windows in along with the seat and wala MOT time.
Oh and I forgot the bloody handbrake to do as well. God knows how yet. Who needs a handbrake anyway ;)
How's your getting on? Will it make gaydon?

[SuperchargedV8Touring]

That's money well spent. And you could sell the bells?!

You're not far off MOT time then really, especially if you draft in an exhaust company.

I'd like my handbrake to operate on the discs, do you know if there are calipers which can easily be fitted to my E30 which do this?

What weight do you reckon your lightweight E30 V8 will tip the scales at?

Gaydon - possibly. They've got a guy in to finish my project, who has done V8 E30s before and is a real 'get on and do it' guy, so I'm feeling a bit more confident. Will you be going with the zoners?

[Driftben]

yea thats what i was thinking, the skyline boys would love them

nope not too far now at all to be honest, i can almost taste freedom with it. im speaking with the exhaust company tomorrow and their stuff looks awesome.

you will be going down the mechanical caliper road with that. same for me to be honest. wilwood do them for a pretty penny but ill have a look for an alternative that can be found in a scrappys. its only a hand brake for MOT time really.

i think the E30 will tip the scales at about 1050kg? and that is a complete stab in the dark on that.

good to hear that you may be able to make gaydon and you have stuck a rocket up their arses.
you will have to get some piccys up soon

[SuperchargedV8Touring]

I reckon you're right about the weight of yours. I think mine will be between 1200 and 1300 kgs.

I'll get some pictures up later this month or early July. I don't think there'll be much to photos before then! I can't wait to see what you exhaust company create for you. Are they local to you?

If you find a good mechanical caliper option could you let me know? I'll do the same for you if I get there first!

[Driftben]

well they have got their work cut out for them i tell you. they make manifolds, roll cages ect so quite a wide band of products. they are about 10mins down the road and they even said they can pick the E30 up on a trailer?

yea ill have a search tonight caliper wise and ill report what findings i have

[SuperchargedV8Touring]

Thanks Ben!

Exhaust company sounds top notch too.

[Driftben]

welcome matey
also sound blooming expensive or i might be wrong

[Driftben]

just a frontal pick

[SuperchargedV8Touring]

Very smart! I like your wheel choice too.

[Driftben]

Thanks fella
The wheels are staggered fittment BBS from a Z3.
They are great for good size brakes and blooming strong.

Got a quote back from that company today...... About £1k
But there's a company that I wired their engine dyno and he's going to do it for £400 ;) wooooo

[SuperchargedV8Touring]

Were the BBSs another Ben bargain?!

£1k is at least what I was expecting to hear. £400 is a result! When can they do it?

You're very nearly there, just the handbrake etc to get sorted for the MOT.

[Driftben]

The BBSs where £190 with almost new goodyears on
i do love my bargins, they call me the budgie in my wholesalers because i like to knock them down on price all the time...... cheap cheap

im going to ring again tomorrow when hes in front of this diary so he can book me in. should be in acouple of weeks i hope.

also it looks like the handbrake mechanical calipers that are on a Jag XK6 will be a good choice because of using a vented disc on the rear.
its either that or wilwood sell a similar caliper for the wider disc for about £60 each

[SuperchargedV8Touring]

£190 for 4 x 17" alloys with decent tyres - that's a real budgie deal

I was thinking of putting the 280mm Z1 rear discs on mine, but they're pretty hard to get hold of. I can't fit anything bigger than 280mm behind my mini steels, but I'd still like to have vented if possible.

Are these XK6 calipers only really suitable for you with your 17s, because you can fit larger discs (than I can) inside them? Or could I get them and source some 280mm vented discs suitable for my 4 stud e30 rear end?

Two weeks or so isn't long to wait and you might have it back by the end of the month too? Happy days!

[SuperchargedV8Touring]

Having just looked on a popular auction site, it seems that XJ6 rear brakes aren't that massive, so the calipers could be good for me.