BMW E30 1UZ-FE V8 Conversion take 2

[DTM190]

After some unavoidable delays I am back into my E30 V8 project.

Firstly I want to say that the quantity, quality and attention to detail on some of the euro projects on ECCA at present blows me away. You all suck lol. There are just so many cars in the projects threads that I believe we Aussies should be proud of. The diverse range and acceptance to different ideas is staggering. From LS1s to turbo rotaries to BMW power, is there an engine that isnt being shoehorned into an E30 at the moment?

Anyhow, this car is not meant to be a show car, a euro style classic, a drag car, a drift car, a race care, the idea was an all rounder.

Basically do what I wanted with no regard to what others thought.

This project started in March 2008 initially delayed due to breaking my sacrum bone shown in this pic



Not recommended.

This is how it looked, well when V test drove it for me as I was license retarded at the time. I could see potential.




This is how it looked the night I got it after a serious workout at the car wash.







1983 323i 5 speed manual 2dr manual windows in graphite metallic which I still seems quite uncommon (colour)

First lot of mods were

15x7 et25 shod with 205/50-15 fronts and purely for visual reasons, went against tradition and fitted 225/50-15s to the rear well aware of the slight oversize and if anything, detrimental affect to performance.

But wait, I dont remember buying a 4x4 E30



Even after a drive, it reminded me of a giraffe



So naturally, next step was get it sitting better.





Seeing that made confirmed my reasoning for doing the 225 rears, just filled the rear wheel arches that bit better.

Few other mods around that time were the single Remus, wanted to steer away from the typical twins found on 6cyl BMWs.

Clear side indicators and smoked fronts.

Played with blackened kidneys and inflicting pain on fellow E30philiacs at Deca, one of my fave pics of the car (Thanks to Jamie)



Few other things, QH slotted and drilled rotors. They have been INCREDIBLE.

Added some mirrors, for looks and they were a couple of happy meals lighter than the originals (weight loss bug starts here)



Just out with the boys lol (another one of my fave E30 photos, had to add it)



I didnt want a full bodykit, so started working out what front spoiler to use.

Decided on doing the unthinkable and chopping up a brand new BBS front spoiler (lol at the circus on R3V over Newman chopping into his Mtech1).

This front was part of this BBS kit.



I had access to a complete kit, front rear and sides minus the flares. For anyone that has had one of these kits will know, the flare makes up part of the bumper replacement section, shown in this pic.



So I could not use the whole bumper as a replacement but I knew I could make it work and the big advantage was that it wasnt fibreglass.

So out with the tools, yes Jim beam being an important tool at that stage lol



First morning it was fitted, finished late the night before, got up at sparrows to take this pic



Was starting to be happy with the way it looked, sat, sounded and drove.





A bit of a wheel swap with ADJ turned into the thorn between the roses this day, ADJ you idiot letting me drive on your tyres lol.



So not much else happened apart from an interior strip, started the sound deadening removal trying to find some, what I call natural horsepower, weight reduction.

I would have liked at this stage to have turned it into an E30 race car but at the time an M20B25 and manual box would set you back $3000+, cage $2000k min, tyres $1200 a set etc etc, $20K later minimum to have an entry level car, and with the E30 regulations seeming to change like the wind I didnt want to spend 12 months and money I didnt have building a car to have the rules change.

After owning it for a few years I sold it to MorerevsM3 Alan who owned it for approx 1 year and bought it back

I didnt want to build an all out race car, wanted something a bit different and something that was going to cost the earth. Something that was quicker than an E30 race car, could be driven on the street and for alot less.

Ideally I would have loved to have gone S50B30 or M60 BMW V8, even better S38 and even better still, S62. The reality, out of my reach financially and I have no shame admitting that.
It pisses me off how some people like belittling others hard work and enthusiasm and bag there projects because they dont use the best of everything or do it the way they think it should be done, something I was once guilty of but have learned to accept we are all different and do things different ways.

I saw modding the M20 as an expensive exercise, dont get me wrong, I love a worked NA M20 or boosted M20 but $ vs gain it was cost prohibitive and I didnt want something highly strung (as in the worked NA M20)

So a purists nightmare conversion was on the cards.

Like so many others have mentioned in other threads, I considered the following list

PP 20B N/A Rotary (more than I could afford)
LS1/LS2/LS2 (to me, just too much torque, insane in big heavy cars let alone an E30)
Toyota 1JZ-2JZ (would have just been a poverty version of BMWTurbo’s car lol)
Nissan RB20-25-30 (Would rather just have one of them on an R30 4dr or R31 2dr)
Toyota 1UZFE V8 4.0
Nissan SR20 turbo
13b turbo (they seemed to be popping up all over the place at the time)
Nissan VH40-45 (PURELY for visual reasons I could not have that whacked inlet, just makes any car with them fitted look like they have a FWD engine in them plus manual conversions were a lot harder at the time)
Lol, even a Holden red 6 cylinder. I know of several weber fed 235 strokers that make a good 300hp. 300hp is 300hp in anyones language, is a badge on an engine you cant see while driving the car important when you have 300hp in an 1100kg car?

Its ok, even I wouldn’t have done that, it would have been funny, but I wouldn’t do it. Maybe when I am a bit older and have really lost my marbles.

So the 1UZ-FE 4.0 Quad cam alloy V8 was the weapon of choice.

There are a lot of people who say pffft to the 1UZ, they are boat anchors etc. The HP/KW figures they produce are not spectacular. 350nm in less than 1100kg is what I was looking at.
E36 M3 type torque combined with E30 weight to me is a nice equation.

[DTM190]

So it started



In went the 1UZ mated to a Toyota Corona 4 speed, yes 4 speed. They are as tough as nails and using a 3.25 ratio it will be good enough for me and I can change to W series Supra or steel case Celica 5 speeds in future if I feel the need. The box was a fully recoed one at the right price. I can also swap to an R Series turbo supra box or even a 6 speed Getrag out fo the JZA80 Supras and these boxes are rumoured to be almost identical to an E46 M3 6 speed.



Engine in

I look at this pic and think of how I am looking forward to hearing a V8 noise bellow out



First delay. Doing the right thing. Advice to everyone, ALWAYS look out for #1, ALWAYS.

7 months of sitting idle due to me "lending" my flywheel to "someone".

Lets just say a deal that went sour ended up with me taking the car home and doing alot of the work that was supposed to ahve been done my someone else.


So I had been plugging away again with the car, working late at night, getting the swine flu from working until stupid oclock slowly getting things done and collecting goodies


The last of the sound deadening removal




Some interior paint



Have changed the panel inserts to black now to go with the contrast theme of the interior, matching in with the seats more.





Painted headlining black



New tiller, bit of a mix and match for the look I was after, again with contrast



Didnt want white guages but wanted a lift, brighten up the instruments, didnt want to retro fit an aftermarket brand gauge so went with MHW silver gauge faces.



Some new door trims



Some bling, against my 15inch purist ideals with regards to E30 rims, I just had to have these rims. 17x7 front and 17x8 rear FR17 Simmons

Trial fit for some inspiration



Mtech1 rear wing purchased (now fitted)



I also pulled suspension apart, all new ball joints and some bushes, new front Bilstein shocks, cleaned and painted most compnents,





Second delay. 29cents guys.

29 cents is the average cost of a condom.

Do not trust the pill lol.

The fiance is now pregnant. Not what I had hoped to hear but no regrets.

I could have had the car on the road by now but I would not see this when I come home at night.



Wouldnt swap him for all of the cars in the world, honestly.

Third delay. So just as things were settling down with his birth the car was at that stage about to go to have brake lines made when my dear mother passed away. It happened within a 24 hour period from her collapsing. That happened in March so the last thing on my mind was a fkn car and not something I thought I would be dealing with at 34.

I am still not over it but in her memory I am trying to be happy, remember the good times and do lots to keep busy.

R.I.P. Faye Lorraine Barker 23/11/48-21/03/09

Not alot happened after that for a while, car got pushed into the garage and sat.

So lately I have been getting fired up again trying to stay busy so brakes were the mission as the booster was NOT going to fit and I didnt like the idea of fitting a smaller booster.

So after much discussion and thought, I went with twin boosters in the boot with bias valves fitted to both front and rear lines



Master under the dash on passenger side,



Making the custom lines is something that I was confident in doing, I had drawn up the circuit but considering I had to go from master to boosters, through bias valves, then to front and rear brakes, and considering the pressures that are created i left the lines to a professional.

In the end it was a combined effort with me assisting Paul after hours.

I was extremely proud of my efforts in making the under dash bracket for master myself, all of the bracketry for the boosters in the boot as well as the bits I did with the brake lines.

Pics of the lines running up the electrical channels



Through to the boot (still havent fitted grommets)





Instead of using the brake line that comes in a roll, we used stuff that comes in straight lengths. Watching Paul do some of these lines reinforces why its better to pay people to do some things. I think I would have wasted 20 metres of line doing it myself.

So we bled them up, one small leak on the left front which was at the caliper and nothing we had fabricated, tightened the hose (I must have loosened months ago when doing suspension), re bled and not one leak.

With a t piece temporarily set up using vaccum off another car, the pedal feel is so much better than I expected. Not too hard like when using a 25mm/1inch master on an E30 normally.

You can never have enough low offset 4x100 rims in my opinion so when these came up, Drew was nice enough to pick up them up for me.
One being damaged, I sent it off to wheels in Ballarat hoping just to get the rim endge good enough to be balanced, came back looking like this



I bought them thinking that they were genuine SSR rims, they are made in Japan but they arent the SSRs I thought they were but they are an interesting fitment.
15x6 et15.
195/50-15s on them look like 205/50-15s on 15x7s so I have some Kumho 205/50-15s to fir to them which will fill the arches nicely and look dishy. I like changing wheels like shoes.

Photo does not do wheel justice and I will be painting centres either black or delphin, anyway, back to conversion

So this week has been exhausting (that was for Alan), the system has been started. I only have one dodgey pic of the front half tacked together so I will wait until tomorrow arvo when most of the system will be all tacked together ready to be tig'd together.

Running 2.5inch stainless to cats, after cats merging into single system, 2.5 stainless hotdog for some bark with more 2.5 stainless to the rear muffler which is also stainless Xforce twin tip.

Will post some pics when exhaust is a bit closer.

So I deleted last thread as it annoyed me seeing other projects overtake mine but now its progressing and we are getting close to firing it up, I thought I would redo the thread.

The other distraction has been the 325i I picked up, I said in OZLSTs thread that my mrs would kill me for having two projects at once lol,

I was wrong, she even came to Sydney with me to pick it up

I will start a separate thread for that one, lol,

[Ade]

Loving your work on this one, mate! Nice!

You're right, you know, sticking with the M20 is a bloody expensive way to go ~ I'm only doing it because I'm weird and have this "thing" about wanting to do a car that BMW "might" have done as a hotter version of the standard format. TBH, you need to spend thousands on the engine to get what in today's terms are not huge power figures in NA form. I reckon your project is shaping up nicely indeed and look forward to seeing more of it.

As a sidenote, sorry to hear about your Mother. Truly dreadful. I was 34 myself when mine passed and we knew it was coming but it still is something you just never expect.

[V]

Man I forgot how long you have had this car for. Some good times were had. Do you still have a pic of when we had mine, yours, ADJ's and Jakes in your front yard?

[cplagz]

Good to see you get off your ass and post a new thread you lazy good for nothing so and so

I still remember driving around Melbs in this using an extension cord as a seatbelt and jumper as a seat cushion because you "forgot" to put the rear seats back in for me! ..... haha

[DTM190]

Ade, if money was no object and I had more patience I would have worked an M20 to within an inch of its life. I think they are a great standard engine (why the 325i will just cop a few minor typical mods, exhaust, air flow) but not the best to mod living in AU,

Still have it somewhere V, crappy pic tho

Seems like 100 years ago that we test drove it that night hey!

Lol Marc, what about you burning your feet in the passsenger seat pmsl. No carpet FTMFW!!

A funny thing about this car is not only the amount of parts that have come out of it into other ECCAers cars but also the bits in it from other cars in ECCA that have gone into it.

anyhow, off to finish tacking the exhaust together, hopefully that will be completed today and it can get tig'd together off the car over the next few days.

[Rory]

great job on the car so far. looks quality.

[davey]

A funny thing about this car is not only the amount of parts that have come out of it into other ECCAers cars but also the bits in it from other cars in ECCA that have gone into it.

THE ECCA project?

Seriously nice work man, great read.

[cplagz]

Lol Marc, what about you burning your feet in the passsenger seat pmsl. No carpet FTMFW!

Haha yes ... forgetting to wear my shoes was not the best option.

[Ade]

THE ECCA project?

Someone made an observation on another thread that they felt ECCA had the best range of projects going in terms of both variety and high quality. I agree. There really is a load of the quality work on this board and something for everyone's taste. It says a lot about the community, I reckon, when such a wide variety of work is embraced with equal interest and respect for the work being carried out. ECCA really is an equal opportunity modding board, I reckon, and all the stronger for that.

[Ade]

Ade, if money was no object and I had more patience I would have worked an M20 to within an inch of its life. I think they are a great standard engine (why the 325i will just cop a few minor typical mods, exhaust, air flow) but not the best to mod living in AU,

I tend to agree. When I first had a drive of a few (back in 2006/07) i was impressed on a number of fronts and I thought that they stood up well against the competition of the day that were found in cars that I was interested in for my own project, ie. Porsche 944, 20valve NA Quattros, etc. Unfortunately none of the engines are a really viable engine to mod in Australia (unlike the situation for out European friends).

PS: I must admit that you've got me thinking about removing some of the sound deadening again, sort of in keeping with the lightweight theme that I've only followed through on in a small way thus far.

[davey]

PS: I must admit that you've got me thinking about removing some of the sound deadening again, sort of in keeping with the lightweight theme that I've only followed through on in a small way thus far.

I've been wondering about this. How much of a difference does removing the deadening make, with regards to road noise penetration?

[cplagz]

Road noise is definitely increased, but I can only comment with no carpet also.

10kg of weight saving is the equivalent to 1 extra HP .... or so I read somewhere.

[Ade]

It's been a while since I checked but I think it's around 15-20kgs? In-cabin noise does become a factor however but if you redo/re-lay your carpets with some of the new underlay materials available it's certainly something you can live with from what I understand. Mind you, a lot of people like the noise. Can't say I blame 'em. Also, some people only do a part removal of the deadening. That might be a better option.

Someone here did a breakdown of weight loss in E30s:

http://www.dtmpower.net/forum/e30-3-...oss-guide.html

[DTM190]

I was hoping to get down near 1000kg but have added a few things, rear 1/4 trims, centre console, floor panels for the front, an en extra brake booster, Mtech1 rear etc.

A couple of new bits

Recaro to have as a drivers seat alternative to the fixed back



Thought I will be needing these variety of 205/50-15 and 205/55-15.




I should have taken pics of the different rolling diameters.

2 x 205/50 Dunlop R's, smaller rolling diameter by far
4 x 205/50 Kum-Ho's, noticeably larger than dunlops
2 x 205/55 Yokohamas, alot closer in size to the 205/50 Kumhos than any tyre size calculators will say.

My point being when playing with tyre sizes, total rolling diameter, width and tyre shoulder can vary dramatically between brands.

Exhaust taking shape, pretty happy with it and the job, only thing I would have done different is having the 3 bolt flange turned so that one bolt is not at the bottom but I compared it to the 325i and the whole system sits tighter underneath so wont be a prob.







So the rear muffler appears to hang down and poke out alot further than I would have it if I was not going to be using a rear apron if anyone wonders with the next pics.







Was done to match the BBS rear apron that I haven't finished chopping up yet



What is it with this car looking like a 4wd? They are Mtech1 rear springs!



Has been handy having it that high moving it around on trailers and trucks.

Anyhow, wrapped to have this done, removing just the flywheel issue would have meant this was done 7 months ago.

Getting there