E30 Racecar Engine Swap.. with a difference..

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2963]

After a lot of searching and a fair bit of research and preparation I am now at the stage of starting the physical engine swap in my E30 racecar. I've had a lot of fun in the E30 series over the last 5+ years, but it has become apparent I am not going to get anywhere near the front of a race that has a level playing field in terms of the cars. So I am moving over to the Open Class 2 Litre Championship giving me more scope to develop the car to get an 'edge' in that area.

Pulled the old M20B20 out with minimal huffing and puffing...

Now left with a hole to be filled with something a bit lighter that produces a lot more power..

A number of racers have gone down the M5x route with various levels of modifications to the internals with quite a bit of success and there a lots of road cars out there with the same conversion, but I have decided to go for something a bit different. For different read more expensive and a lot harder to get hold of, with nowhere near the same level of spares available in NZ!!

Just need to get this little baby into the hole..

Its an S14B20 with a Getrag 265/5 Dog-leg box out of a E30 320iS which I brought in from Greece, for those that don't know this is basically an E30 M3 engine which was de-stroked to get it under the 2-ltr capacity to avoid heavy taxes in both the Portuguese and Italian markets. This one has been re-built with new seals, gaskets, bearings, light skim and head-work, bores honed and new rings.

Also added some additional sump baffling to prevent oil starvation which can occur in race conditions with the S14 engine..

Still lots of things to work out, plugging in all the electrics and getting it to run properly with the E30 body loom, exhaust headers which are an issue (320iS were all LHD so steering column gets in the way), propshaft length, oil cooler, radiator and cooling fans, etc.... so will post up more as I progress.

[Ace Of Spades 51]

Im going to have to pop over and have a look at this beast... epic.

[yng_750 247]

damn that looks good

[qube 3570]

This things gonna be sweet!

[_ethrty-Andy_ 2136]

very cool Jon

[Nobimmer 694]

Hell yeah

[Apex 693]

Good idea. Will sound epic!

[KillerX 40]

Very Nice

[Ahmedsinc 414]

Interesting the S14 produces near identical figures to the M50B25, though I imagine with less weight and a freer revving motor.

ALMOST a shame this isn't going into a road car

Love it. Where the hell would you find parts if the worst happened?

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2963]

Thanks for all the positive comments! It's been an idea in my head for a long time, now starting to take shape in reality. You're right not many bits around in NZ, I have managed to find a couple of bits locally thanks to Ray @ HellBM and Kayne at KBM but it's sure not as easy as the old M20 (or as cheap...). Luckily BMW still offer most S14 parts as new which is pretty good on a 20+ year old motor.

90% of the parts are the same between the 2.0ltr and the more common 2.3 and 2.5ltr engines, only the crank, rods and pistons are different which helps with used parts availability, lots of stuff around in the USA and Europe still for these and lots of tuning parts as well!

Couple of pics from the engine build showing the different rods and pistons..

I have also changed all the coolant hoses for new ones, plus most of the rubber oil pipes as a little more insurance against possible issues. After a couple of delays at the week-end it's all ready to go in the hole, so hopefully some more progress pictures in the near future...

Edited October 22, 2013 by E30 325i Rag-Top

[hybrid 1044]

Have a wee chat with conrad.

M3motorsport.co.nz

[Nobimmer 694]

Hey what are you doing for the ECU? Or are you going s14 loom and ecu?

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2963]

Yeah, std ECU and loom for now, no money in the budget for aftermarket computer at the moment, on the list for later (along with pretty much all of Conrad's gear Josh!)

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2963]

A bit slow with the updates, but here are a few more pics...

The new engine and box are now in the hole..

Lots more room around the engine than with the M20 lump, and sits further back, and more balanced over the front sub-frame which should all be good for better turn-in and stability under brakes?

So now trial fitting and connecting everything up to see what goes where, and what I am missing, gradually having to buy lots of small bits and pieces to get it all to fit together.

M3 radiator with new hoses - straight bolt in fit, no problems!!

Not so lucky with the driveshaft - managed to slide it down to the right length, but the output flange and guibo on the 265/5 box is a bigger size than the one on the ZF box I took out, so need a new driveshaft flange hopefully it is the same as some other more common BMW models - fingers crossed.

Next up on the list, sorting out the exhaust headers and seeing what needs to be done to get clearance around the steering column past the two secondary pipes. I have a 50/50 header and would like to avoid too much cutting and bending if possible!

[hotwire 352]

Looking good Jon BUT - you should have painted the engine bay first...

[ashmill 68]

Jon

Have a chat to Peter Robinson, His Ravalia M3 is currently RHD - you will get an idea of the shape of the headers from his car.

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2963]

Cheers Grant, I did think about stripping everything out and giving it a fresh coat of paint, but was hoping to get it done a lot quicker than this - so went for the can of degreaser and a rub-down. It is supposed to be a race car after all!!

Things have stalled a little of late due to cash flow problems, but fingers crossed will get a bit of a boost in the new year. Latest little issue was with the header tank, I was hoping to use the "zeppelin" shaped header from a pfl E30, but as you can see from the pic, this still fouled on the engine..

So I had to get a proper M3 / 320iS header and hoses instead, will also mean moving the battery into the boot or inside the car... more $$$

Thanks Bruce, good idea I will give Peter a call!!

[hotwire 352]

Header tank - what about a F/L one? - sits in left front corner. oops, just seen - to late...

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2963]

I did have a F/L header in there with my M20 L-jet, but all the plumbing connections on the S14 are over on the LHS, I didn't fancy jerry-rigging something up with coolant hoses going all the way across the engine bay - recipe for disaster written all over that one.

Just wait until I get around to the electrics Grant - then I'll be keeping you busy!! I have managed to find most of the wiring information and plugged most leads into things which fit, but I'm sure there's gonna be some fun when I flick the switch for the first time. I mean, what is an "Evaporative Purge Valve" supposed to do when it's at home??

[ashmill 68]

Battery into the boot a piece of cake with the cable from a 325i. Give Mike Mosen a call, he has a 325i in stock.

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2963]

Thought it was time for a bit of a progress update, although progress has been a bit slow - still waiting for funds to become available to get someone to sort out the headers and driveshaft - and I have just been sorting out the little fiddly bits and pieces.

Mounted up the additional 3 relays that sit on the firewall, also tidied up the wiring associated with them.

Header tank is now all ready to go into place, with all new hoses, once I have got the battery cable in place (I will talk to Mike before Taupo - cheers Bruce!!) I will fit it in as I need to fabricate up a couple of small brackets to hold it in place as they are missing from the standard E30 shell.

Ordered the missing Barometric Pressure Sensor which is used by the ECU for the fuelling, and fitted this in it's correct home by the AFM. Should have been simple but was quite fiddly due to the size and shape of the sensor and the connector - ended up not quite factory but not too rangi either.

Trial fitted up the headers to see what sort of clearance there is for the steering column, and as you can see from the photo there is bugger all. (Again good idea Bruce - I will try and get a look at Peter's Ravaglia). The good news is you can get the headers on and off without having to take the engine out of the car, just need to loosen off the sway bar to get just enough room. So now I know I won't have to take it out again I have been connecting a lot more hoses and electrics up permanently.

[e38king 1]

have only just come across, looks awesome Jon! Looking forward to the updates.

[hybrid 1044]

Awesome Jon .. thanks for posting this up .. most people just dont

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2963]

No worries Josh, no secrets here! I wasn't sure if many people would be interested...

Progress is still slow due to lack of funds and time, but doing a few more bits and pieces as I can, will post some pics up now.

[E30 325i Rag-Top 2963]

Oil cooler now all sorted. The S14 always ran an oil-cooler, even in the road cars, so pretty much a must have for the race car, even in this mild state of tune.

Luckily the cooler radiator fitted is the same as the one used in the E30 325i so managed to get hold of a used one of those (cheers Silver Fox). But, the oil filter and feeds for the cooler are on the other side of the engine from and M20, so had to get a new set of hoses to join it all together!

First problem - the holes for the mounts were missing from the cross-member on the race car. Luckily I have an E30 front cut with the holes in, so measured off that to mark up where they need to go.

Needs slots for the retaining clips to fit through - so had to mark out the slots, drill round the edge with a small 3.0mm drill then snip out the centre piece, which gives enough room to file out the correct shape.

Then a quick touch up of the bare steel with some paint to hold off the tin worm, clips in and mounts screwed into place - lined-up first time, all done!!