325i Touring restoration "the wrong way around"

[ian332isport]

Aaah, this all takes me back

Superb work as usual Dameon

[buster]

Good work mate ! Dont forget to remove the baffle plate from the sump before you fit it.

[jaistanley]

SUPERB dude...

TRÔ°S handy for me as this is the next stuff I want to do on my S50 conversion.. That and the wiring side of things. Plus remove and re-locate the ABS pump. Oh, and sort some sort of manifold. I might do the rear beam whilst I have access to a press.... AD infinitum.

Bugger....

Looks like I'm quite a way behind you but it's inspirational to see though!

What are the specs of that drill and tap for the sump Dameon? I need one for mine too, gonna do it the same way to save me the process of having the dip tube modded.

Jai

[old_skool]

SUPERB dude...

TRÔ°S handy for me as this is the next stuff I want to do on my S50 conversion.. That and the wiring side of things. Plus remove and re-locate the ABS pump. Oh, and sort some sort of manifold. I might do the rear beam whilst I have access to a press.... AD infinitum.

Bugger....

Looks like I'm quite a way behind you but it's inspirational to see though!

What are the specs of that drill and tap for the sump Dameon? I need one for mine too, gonna do it the same way to save me the process of having the dip tube modded.

Jai

Cheers Jai,

The drill is 10.4mm and the tap is M12x1.5. If you need to borrow both then PM me your address and you can send it back to me after.

I going back now to do some more. Just waiting for my camera to charge some more!

I have all the bolts torque specs now too, which is handy. I'll post them later.

[tristan325]

I'll be back tonight for an update, make sure it's there please!!

[Andy335Touring]

Plus remove and re-locate the ABS pump.

Jai

Where are you re-locating it too ?

Only i've read that it has to be sited below the level of the brake master cylinder to help get the air out properly, i don't know if this is 100% true but it was posted on another forum by a fairly clued up bloke ?

[DanThe]

If I was moving mine it would go in place of the washer bottle which would be replaced with a diesel spec one.

There is no such thing as 'enough room for an airbox' in an E30 engine bay

[Andy335Touring]

There is no such thing as 'enough room for an airbox' in an E30 engine bay

Yeah, i was going to use an M30 air box on mine but the ABS pump(and other stuff) is a PITA, i'm going to be using a BMC CDA pod filter instead now.

[jmc330i]

Plus remove and re-locate the ABS pump.

Jai

Where are you re-locating it too ?

Henry, the guy with the S50'd M3 relocated his ABS pump directly below its original position on the under side of the panel - kind of behind the indicator/foglight rather then the headlight if that makes sense

[old_skool]

Now then,

Sorry about yesterday y'all. Had a busy day today and took lots of nice pictures for your perusal.

Firstly I had to finish the work to the underside of the engine to get the sump back on. I wasn't too pleased with the crusty appearance of the sump so I blast cleaned it first.

Before:





After:



That's better! So before the sump could be fitted the ARP con rod bolts had to be put in. Here is an ARP next to an OEM rod bolt:




These are torqued to 70 lb/ft three times, on then off, using the molylube supplied. A 12 sided 11mm socket is required as they have different heads to the OEM torx style.

Now the oil pump was fitted into position finally with the E34 M50 pick up pipe. The oil pump locates onto two dowels and is secured by three M6 hex bolts. Note there is no gasket between the pump and the block. I used Loctite 243 on these bolts and also on the drive cog assembly.









Next the sump was fitted with a new gasket and secured in place with a couple of bolts. Note that the S50 sump bolts are generally longer than the M50 type. As some of the holes are blind be careful that they are actually done up to the sump. Ideally you would use all the M50 sump bolts instead.

I had already removed the baffle from the sump and turned the engine over a few times to check for clearance to the sump.

Next was the oil drain. The S50 has two oil drains from the plenum that tee into one. In the pic you can see that I am pointing to the original drain location. I now needed to get that pipe onto the new drain point on the sump whilst maintaining a fall in the pipework.

Pipe location:



This is the drain pipe arrangement as fitted: (removed for picture)



I removed all of the ear type clips from that tee piece and removed the pipes to study which way to best orientate everything to fit. In order for this drain to work properly there must be a fall continuously in the pipe.

This is what I came up with after some careful trimming and positioning:



Now to extend the pipe using a 10mm steel pipe/insert I had spare:



This was then fitted with a length of OEM 8x13 fuel hose to meet the new tapping in the sump. I used BMW hose clips because I am sad, of course:

Centre of pic:





Job done.

Now for the dipstick. The S50 tube wont fit as it is, and apparently won't read right so I decided to modify an M50 item that I had. I put a pair of calipers on the dipstick tube and amazingly BMW in their wisdom had made it from 15mm o.d. tube. This was good news as it is the same size as 15mm domestic copper plumbing pipe.

So I called a plumber in



With some careful positioning and a few sneaky printouts from busters S50 thread I figured where the dipstick tube needed to go. The M50 tang/bracket had to be cut off and rewelded but after some careful bending, welding and painting I ended up with this. I drilled the plenum and threaded it to M6x1 then used a BMW bolt (sad again) to secure it.



Having spoken to buster (at great length - cheers mate) today, he has done his a bit fifferently but to the same end.

So now for blanking off all that air emissions smog pump nonsense. Here it is, new blanking plate and gasket fitted:



Next for the coolant sensor. I had no idea this had to be done, thanks again buster for the heads up. I didn't know this but for the E30tem,p gauge to work the S50 has to be fitted with the M20 coolant sensor. Again, BMW have been kind enough to leave a spare port for it to go in:

Blank hex plug to right of S50 coolant sensor:



M20 brown coolant sensor and spare plug:



The Brown/violet wire on pin 1 of the S50 sensor needs to be pulled out and connected to the M20 sensor:

Sensor fitted:



Phew, that's it for today. Tomorrow I'm doing the engine mounts and fitting the subframe to the engine.

[maxfield]

Never fail to impress

[tbmw]

absolutely stunning work dameon

i'm following this very closely as i intemd doin it at some point

[Simon]

Good work as usual Dameon!

Hope you don't mind the new title?

[old_skool]

AWESOME!!! I got roundels too!!!!!

Cheers Simon,



I have finally made it in life

[buster]

good work as usual mate.I think i'll re do my dipstick by welding the braket and bolting it like yours.
Mine's a bit shit.I just used a bit of aluminium and fastened it with a jubilee clip




I'll rectify this tomorrow.

[gareth]

bloody hell that's looking good. being a sad and often over-anal engineer (tee hee, cue jokes etc!!!) i too use BMW bolts and hose clips wherever possible! there is a very good reason though, it's hard to match the quality! whenever i got to a breakers and get a part, i grab all of the bolts and hose clips etc as i can find so i can use genuine bmw ones whenever i need them as i know that the next time i need to get them off again, like in 2 years time (yeah right!!!) they'll come off straight away without fuss!

even branded 'Jubilee'" clips seem to rust / sieze solid in about a year these days but all of the 20 year old bmw version i've ever worked on have been fine.

i have been known to spend about 4 hours replacing every non-genuine hose clip on a E34 before. just so it's 'right'!!!!

[jaistanley]

Good work Dameon.

I might take you up on your kind offer on the drill and tap, seems pointless to buy them for one job (though I do love buying tools!).. I shall PM you presently.

I had planned on re-locating the ABS distributor/pump thing to where the battery tray is on non 325i cars; but you've got me thinking about the possibility of not being able to bleed all of the air out now..... You guys say Henry relocated his to the position directly under it's current one? I shall have to get hold of him and find out for sure. If that's the case, it makes it a lot simpler. I wasn't looking forward to all of the wiring (cutting and splicing wires to extend them). The pipes are going to have to be custom whatever happens. My only concern with having it there is it's exposure to the elements. Thats beneath the wheel arch is it not? Does the arch liner provide enough cover for it?

Trying to keep the car looking factory by using the air-box and 4 pot wiring covers sounds really cool, but when you look into it, it's going to be a P in the C. Oh well!

Jai

[Brianmoooore]

whenever i got to a breakers and get a part, i grab all hose clips etc as i can find so i can use genuine bmw ones

You won't find any in any breakers that I've just visited!

[gareth]

[ricey46]

Wow!!!!! That is one seriously ace rebuild your doing mate!! Just read all the pages/threads and it's awsome!!

It's gonna be one deriously sweet lookin E30 after all this! colour is spot on too, looks minted!!
Keep it up mate,Wish i could do this to mine!!lol.

Nice one mate!!!!!

[uberdrah]

Hi Old Skool,

Your attention to detail is amazing. Have you managed to do any more work on the car?

Rich

[jimbob350]

i think dameon has put this 1 on hold for a bit while he doe's his other m3 conversion, not enough hours in the day comes to mind......

[Dan318-is]

Resurecting this thread for damo & co! Just noticed that his location is fairly ironic!

[d6dph]

How the fook did I miss this thread?!

Absolutely enthralling read, Some serious work gone into it and possible the most complete touring Ever!

Dameon, Waterlogged hero and engine swap guru

[Andyboy]

Don't forget - left hand thread on the 17mm oil pump sprocket nut!

[Toby_Unna]

I also plan to tack weld the pump drive cog nut in place. Belt and braces!

i certainly would, my m30 one undid itself and the first thing i knew was the oil light

no doubt due to some monkey installing it finger-tight

[frogger]

Great thread - any newer stuff?

[oldroydsr4]

I believe the car was destroyed in the floods

[john325tewerin]

wtf

[Jhonno]

I believe the car was destroyed in the floods

no it wasnt

its fine, tho it needs a new loom, it is safe and well

[d6dph]

Are you sure Dan? I thought I read it was totalled.

[Simon13]

lets not speculate now

[Jhonno]

Are you sure Dan? I thought I read it was totalled.

I spoke to Dameon on the phone after the flooding had subsided, he said the shell got 'wet' but as its was pretty much a bare shell other than loom it was gonna be ok..

[Simon13]

the loom would dry out though? It's all the shit and mud floating in the water that could f**k all the paintwork on it though. I have been lucky and saw the spray job in the flesh and it was ace

Damo will come through it once he's sorted all the rest of it out

[old_skool]

The car is alive and well. She did get a little wet though, well actually the water was up to 12 inches from the roof

Nothing a steam clean and a polish won't cure The only real damage was to the wiring loom and the ABS Ecu.

Will be a while before any more is done to it though! I was tempted to throw the towel in and hand it over to a bodyshop to get it all finished then I remembered reading Mfree's thread and decided to finish it myself