335i firewall altering.

[Rik178m]

When putting the 3.5 in howmuch of the firewall should I take out? Is it a trial and error? What happens if I go abit over the top?

[Andy335Touring]

You don't have to take any bulk head out, some(not all) people have had to dent it a bit with a hammer, depends how far the engine is back.

You will have to remove some of the sound proofing though.

Just don't use an early M30 with the coolant pipe sticking out of the back of the head.

[SPADGE]

I didn't have to remove or dent anything and that is on P3! I removed all the sound proofing as its heavy and bulky and imo causes/hides rust.

[kabeer]

i'll post the pics . .wait to reach home . . .HAPPY NEW YEAR RIK

[gareth]

mine is in Position 2.5 (about 5 / 8mm forward of spadges position 3) with the sound deadening intact and no bulkhead bashing. the bellhousing bolts do push into the sound deadening though!

i had to tweak the brake pipes as they pass close behind the head and will get hit before the bulkhead. there is a small lug that sticks out of the back of the rocker cover that i cut off as it gives the brake pipes a bit more clearance

[jonb]

position 3 requires plenty of bashing with a large hammer to make the bellhousing fit, and to get some clearance for the downpipe.

[gareth]

unless your name is spadge!

[jonb]

of course.

im sure spadge welded a larger transmission tunnel in there aswell.

[Rik178m]

When choosing the position of the engine (1,2 or 3) is this determined by different engine mounts or where they are connected?

[Rik178m]

Also my dads about t get rid of his E34 535i se so ive got my engine but its done 215k miles n still really strong with no rattles or smoke etc should i get it reconditioned and howmuch is this likely to cost? could I do it myself?

[kabeer]

here s the snaps, as gareth said "

i had to tweak the brake pipes as they pass close behind the head and will get hit before the bulkhead.

you'll have to remove the heater closing panel and 'elephant trunk' (water outlet hose)
http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/8972/firewall1mv0.jpg
after installing the engine
http://img413.imageshack.us/img413/4897 ... ll2ch5.jpg

[oze30]

no bashing required.. just careful and precise movements on the hoist~!

[ed325i]

[SPADGE]

unless your name is spadge!

I can assure you Gareth (and jonb) that i didn't touch the bodywork on my car to fit the engine. No bashing,cutting or welding whatsoever! The only issue i currently have is that one of the downpipes is a little too close to the offside wishbone but this will be sorted as soon as i can be bothered to get under there and move it over a fraction.

[gareth]

i wasn't implying anything of the sort! happy 1000th post btw!

it's funny, every conversion comes out that bit different, needing different bits modified to make it work. i reckon mine could be put back to standard with no noticeable giveaways left apart from the lower rad brackets being removed to get the E28 rad in. others have been battered to hell to get it in! i think the e30.de mounts vary a bit as well

[ed325i]

apart from the lower rad brackets being removed to get the E28 rad in.

And I didnt have to do that, I used them to mount the e28 rad.

[gareth]

really? maybe mine was a slightly different shape... my rad was fixed using the e28 'lugs' and some captive nuts at the top, the bottom is held with heavy duty tye wraps to the front crossmember. was yours this tall? mine is an auto rad though so this may be the difference...

[Andyboy]

position 3 requires plenty of bashing with a large hammer to make the bellhousing fit, and to get some clearance for the downpipe.

I find the 3 pounder from Draper an ideal companion for this and murdering hitchikers.

[DRIFTBOY]

I used position 3 on 335.de mounting brackets and had to bash the bulkhead in an icnh and a half or so to give reasonable clearance to the back of the cylinder head.
I removed all of the sound proofing from the bulkhead to give space and save a little weight!

I also lopped the top bolt lug off the gearbox bellhousing to make future gearbox removal less of a hassle, it was up against the underside of the transmission tunnel which was also bashed in a little.

My radiator is an E34 535i mounted on two right hand E30 radiator bottom plastic 'cups' for the rubber rad mounts. The top secured by the standard E30 325i plastic mounting bracket with the two rubbers cut down to fit. It is very close to the distributor cap and the crankshaft pulley though!

[Andyboy]

It's 3.21 am. Fuck off!!!!!!

[gareth]

what on earth were you 2 doing on here at 3am?