Which is less work?

Discuss general engine, turbo and supercharger conversions in this section

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choppa7
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Post Tue Jul 24, 2007 10:00 am

I've been looking into engine conversions recently and come up with a couple of options. I'm not exactly Brianmoore when it comes to mechanics but I'm willing to give most stuff a go and the car is not my daily runner so it doesnt matter that it takes time.

I'm not after a normal everyday conversion such as a 2.5, not because its too easy, but I dont want to do the same as everyone else as people will know what that is. The car is a J Reg touring 13.8 m40 at present with 160k on the clock.

I plan to sort the suspension and brakes accoringly but I think they're fairly straight forward.

So engines.....

V8 - 740 V8 mated to a 540v8 manual box

or

M10, fitted with twin weber carbs and turbo'd

I know these are vastly different engines with very different work involved. The reasons for the above choices are the v8 is a scary engine, I know it'll f00k up the handling but I dont know of many v8 e30's.

I have a 50k m10 in my current 316 which I have a set of twin webers for including the linkage and exhaust manifolds waiting to be fitter so I'd have to sell these to get the engine for the touring. But I thought I could fit these, turbo the engine and then swap it into the touring which I would run day-to-day while I did the work.

What do people think?
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cypriot_boy_2k7
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Post Tue Jul 24, 2007 10:06 am

owwwww m10 beasty i like it, only because of my age, v8 now hmmmm :twisted:
march109
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Post Tue Jul 24, 2007 10:25 am

turbo 10 on carbs is my vote for sheer coolness.

I wouldn't say either option were easy and certainly no difference in difficulty, however M10 will require more engine work, V8 will require much more fiddling fabricating and fitting type work, which are you more comfortable with?
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choppa7
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Post Tue Jul 24, 2007 10:30 am

Probably more comfortable with engine work, that way it either works or it doesn't, fitting and fiddling anf fabricating isnt my thing. The thought of building a management system scares the bejeesus out of me though, still - he who dares and all that!

I think I'm wavering towards the m10 turbo tbh, The engine is in the car and I can fit the turbo etc round the existing steering column, exhaust etc, I'm not keen on having to try and move all that to fit a v8 in just yet, but again, he who dares :mad:
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Post Tue Jul 24, 2007 10:46 am

M10 turbo :cool:

Try this info:

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http://www.turbotrim.dk/public_html/sta ... 1202514567

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HTH, Mark.
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Post Tue Jul 24, 2007 10:47 am

M10 is old and seen thingie, how about S38 from E34 M5? If not enuff power then turbo it, lot's of those projects here: www.pure-pf.com ;)

I'd say V8, it's a lot better than M10
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1an
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Post Tue Jul 24, 2007 6:04 pm

V8 is also alot more work to even get it in the car.
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pnd
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Post Tue Jul 24, 2007 6:22 pm

I am no expert but the V8 conversion is for a very experienced mechanic only and mopst of them would have the sense not to bother why not go for 2.8 or 3litre out of an e46.
ed325i
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Post Tue Jul 24, 2007 6:39 pm

I would go for the V8, it cant be that hard to fit :)
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Post Tue Jul 24, 2007 6:55 pm

id go for the one that gives you more scope for tuning upgrades in future for the least amount of £ outlay being my secondary consideration..
CraigG
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Post Wed Jul 25, 2007 12:51 am

you cant run a turbo with carbs, you'd need throttle bodies. and tbh, you wont gain much in the way of performance fitting TB's to a turbo setup unless you get a decent managment setup with sensors after the throttle plate on each body. which is helluva expensive. and a nightmare to map. standard inlet will be fine :)
CraigG
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Post Wed Jul 25, 2007 12:58 am

in terms of which is less work, the V8. you aint fucking about with the ECU or anything, its just getting it to physically fit thats the hard bit, which should be easy enough if your handy with a mig/grinder.
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Post Wed Jul 25, 2007 7:01 am

Turboing M10 is way easier than fitting V8 which isn't easy thing to do but it's been done so many times that it can't be THAT hard and there is quite a lot information about the swap.
Biggest things to do:
-relocating brakebooster & ABS (just some metalwork)
-exhaust manifolds (local specialist)
-engine holders (www.300mm.de)
-making some space for gearbox

so nothing special.

And V8 is way cooler than M10 :cool:
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