Project swap-a-crate

[Phatputer 3]

My summer project.

Swap the M20B25 and Manual gearbox into the PFL Coupe

Take the M10B18 from the Coupe -> install it into the 4 door PFL

Engine out of the Sedan -> dropped then cam belt + pretty much all the seals replaced on the engine before installation into the coupe, complete exterior clean-up

Gives me a chance to clean the engine bay's of both cars.

Reasoning = I love the coupe, I have spent too much time of panel beating and painting and making it all nice, didn't want to go through all that again on the 4 door.

The 4 door was a cheaply acquired car, originally obtained as a parts car but it became road worthy with $500 worth or parts which included the warrant and rego.

Short term I will keep the 4 door and do some panel work and get it all tidied up, at which point I will pass it onto someone else who is keen on a project.

Current progress

[Phatputer 3]

Finally completed all the various festivities and getting to visiting family and friends, back to it.

Spent an hour or so pulling the engine out from under the car today, engine back clean up tonight then the other car starts getting attacked.

[sp8s 1]

Wont you have to cert both cars?

[Phatputer 3]

The Coupe will need to be certified, no doubt about that due to the increase in engine size

The 4 door, technically probably has to be as well, although its a downgrade in power with what are bolt on parts, I will be attempting to not need to, at some stage I can sell it as a 325 chassis for someone else to replace engine in.

[ezrabmw 0]

looking good,i am cosidering doing the same i have a 323i(with frontal impact though)was a great engine and want to put it into one of my 318i coupes,the 318i is a great wee motor but if you have been driving a 323i or 325i its hard to look back,best of luck on the project

[Phatputer 3]

Thanks, checked up on rules in regards to Certification,

Basically even though its a downgrade in regards to power I would require a cert due to different engine types.

That said, if I put a 320 M20 in it, I wouldn't require the cert

However, changing the springs / suspension beyond stock / replacements that match factory spec does require certification although generally fairly lenient as long as you aren't riding on the ground.

[Phatputer 3]

Oh look, a subframe out and cleaned

The M10 stands alone

Engine bay cleaning.. Grrr should have just reinstalled the subframe and pulled the car out of the garage

[Jacko 2154]

Looks shweet, cleaning engine bays is a bitch.

[Phatputer 3]

RAIN BLOODY RAIN

All day it rained, would have been nice to not have a muddy gravely driveway for a whole lot of work.

Both up on their hind legs this morning, also pulled the pedals from both cars, that was a fun task in itself, also think I may need a new master cylinder

Lots happened between last photo and this photo

Engine dropped and dragged out from under the car, lots and lots of stuff disconnected and put aside

Various interior parts pulled apart

As a bonus, I got into the glove box of the Coupe that had a broken latch, this had been locked on me for about 3 years, found some stuff I had been looking for

I'll just put this over for a while

Edited January 6, 2011 by Phatputer

[Phatputer 3]

Got called into work today, frustrating when I have lots of leave and can't seem to take it.

Probably for the best anyway, rain was heavy and would have frustrated me trying to pull stuff / inspect the 4 door shell.

So had a late start today so pulling a few things off the engine.

Pulled the dissy cap, along with the leads off, pulled off the exhaust manifold, plugged the holes, pulled the injectors and intake manifold... Job was tricky enough with the engine out, hate to do that with the engine in the hole.

[Phatputer 3]

Right, on the cards for today was LOTS of cleaning, repeated, sanding polishing, masking and painting.

I will update later tonight when all the paint has dried and I can unmask

[Phatputer 3]

Right, couldn't resist

[bmw335i 16]

looks good mate, howlong did it take you to mask up all the lines on the intake and rocker cover? you clouldhave painted it all black and sanded it carefully with fine sandpaper and a block. mighthave saved you a bit of time?

[Phatputer 3]

I thought about doing it that way, but honestly it would have taken me a lot longer trying to be careful on the paint.

Only took about 15 - 20min per item to mask up and cut out with a sharp craft knife, its easy as you already basically have ruled lines to go by.

The sanding was the part that took the longest

First step:

100 grit with a sander -> take it from rough to a flat surface

400 grit with a sander -> take it from flat surface to a smooth flat surface

1200 grit wet n dry -> take it from smooth surface to shiny smooth surface

cut n polish -> takes it to a really nice shiny surface.

Then washed all the crap that comes off the wet n dry and the cut and polish, took thinners to the whole lot to remove any remaining grease, then masked and painted.

Edited January 8, 2011 by Phatputer

[antil33t 90]

Tasty, Nice work!

[Phatputer 3]

Another day, another missing tool

Spent the day back in Dunedin acquiring spare parts from the wreckers + ordering a few new parts, that took up the morning although attempting to get home required the acquisition of a battery charger and 3 hours sitting at my flat watching movies while waiting for the car to charge.

Did eventually get home with an armful of gear

Started work late today

Pulled the gearbox, clutch and eventually the flywheel off, need access to the rear seal

Front -> reinstalled the old cam belt attempting removal of crank bolt, gave up and manufactured a custom bmw tool to allow me to do the job.

Below was used to remove the fly wheel, used on the opposite side to remove crank bolt

SUCCESS

Cleaned and new seals installed, I burnt the old ones out

Installed, and I did notice the f**ked up seal, this was corrected and checked again and again

[Phatputer 3]

Successfully long day or work, lots of small things, many more seals and gaskets replaced.

Burnt out the camshaft and rear crank seals, just easier that way

Camshaft seal ready to be installed

New water pump and tensioner installed, double checking everything lines up,

Timing belt installed, checked, reinstalled, checked again

Rear main crankshaft seal, there was a fair bit of oil getting through somewhere on this unit

Tightened all bolts and nuts on the front as pre reversal of removal

Cleaned flywheel and clutch, these had been having a few issues engaging due to oil getting between the two.

Old gearboxes which have been taken apart make great alignment tools

Front back together

Spent a fair while pulling the sump off, lots and lots of 10mm bolts

I then spent the next couple of hours removing the old gasket from under the engine

Mmm, clean(ish)

New gasket and reinstalled onto engine

Gearbox was cleaned as much as I felt was useful and installed back onto the back of the engine, slipped in like it had never left.

Also replaced the thermostat and thermostat housing gasket, cleaned the injectors and replaced all the O-rings

Edited January 12, 2011 by Phatputer

[Forrest 35]

I'm about to tackle replacing a cam seal and rear main seal, are there any special tools I will need? Do I need something like that tool you made to get the crank bolt off?

Did you just use a blowtorch to burn the seals out?

Thanks for the help.

Edited January 12, 2011 by Brams

[Phatputer 3]

Well, Torx key - for whole cambelt change to allow removal of rotor, then after that its all 10's 13's 12's and a 22 for removal of crank bolt.

Umm, some people remove the crank bolt by attaching a strong arm to it, levering it off the body of the car, then turn the starter motor quickly.

You will need a couple of torx-e type sockets to get the gearbox off, then the stanard torx to get the clutch plate off, make sure you have an alignment tool of sorts for the clutch as you will need to take this and the flywheel off to get to the rear seal.

There are a couple of gaskets one for the front seal housing and one for the rear, probably a good idea to grab these as well.

In regards to burning them out, who knows, I just found it the easiest way of getting them out, burn them, while the whole thing is still hot give them a quick tap with a hammer and screw driver to get them out.

Reinstall in reverse, bit of sealant round the outside and oil the inside before applying.

I used the old seals onto of the new ones to reinstall to I wasn't doing any damage to the new seals. found the intermediate shaft and camshaft seals just pushed in, the crank front and rear needed a bit more persuading.

[Phatputer 3]

Now back to project

Spent the day in Dunedin relaxing, also took back some torx keys that were too small and ordered front sway bar link ends, picked up some paint for the exhaust. Antil33t also provided me with a better than the condition of mine rotor and dissy cap.

Installed new clutch master cylinder

High temp exhaust paint, might as well get rid of that rustic look

Swapped back shifter linkage from the one the garage installed, the one that came with the replacement gearbox that had different shift arm and links etc, also had only just replaced all that with new things to tighten everything up, oh well, its restored now.

Spent some time cleaning up the top half of the engine, and a very small amount of time cleaning up the bottom half, who really cares when you can't see that part.

That's it for today, lots to do tomorrow, intake and valve cover to go back on to conclude the engine work, then a few things on the subframe. Onto the remaining engine wiring after that.

[Forrest 35]

Thanks Dave, best of luck with the rest of the project

[bravo 35]

Cam bolt - I put a long bar on the front of the crank so that it touches the ground and can't turn. Then undoing the cam bolt with the cambelt still on is easy. You can use an old cambelt like a filter wrench instead if you like.

Replacing the camshaft seal is easy, just be careful not to scratch/score the alloy seal housing as it will leak if you do. Press the new seal in carefully.

[Forrest 35]

^ Cheers Graham, legend!

[Phatputer 3]

Few updates for this mornings work while I have a coffee

Exhaust manifold and new gaskets on

Valve cover with new gasket installed

Distributor cover and leads all cleaned up and reinstalled

Intake cleaned up

Intake manifold reinstalled with new gaskets, all looking like and engine again

Injectors all plugged back in

[thorburn 121]

That is looking very tidy.

You have set a great pace. Gives me a bit of inspiration to hurry up