e46v12 477 Report post Posted January 4, 2022 (edited) Happy New Years to you all. I dedicated myself the 4 stat days to crack on to the headers and man it took alot longer than i expected. 3 solid days and ive almost got the drivers side done. There were a few hiccups and requirements that i wanted. Nuts to be accessable by a socket which 7/8 of the nuts are and that all 4 pipes would go on the underside of the steering shaft. which meant it was going to be tight. Busted out the new band saw and what a life saver it was with straight cutting and the amount of pie cuts i needed to do. Also installed the slimmer steering shaft from a f series car, works a treat. this was the first attempt to the 3rd and 4th pipes. i redid them as i wasn't happy with the design. Thanks Team Edited January 4, 2022 by e46v12 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cement 871 Report post Posted January 4, 2022 Looking awesome !! Wish I had a band saw and had gone with pie cuts instead of the donut sections !! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
e46v12 477 Report post Posted January 5, 2022 (edited) @Cement thanks david, it beats cuting it up with an angle grinder as i was doing. well worth the investment as im helping my mate do his exhaust too. But you live and learn, one thing i wish i knew earlier was i should have used my spare motor to help in aiding getting the tight bends sorted. It wasnt till i had the 3rd cylinder pipe to go that i put the whole thing on the spare block and made things 100 x easier to see and mock up. Edited January 6, 2022 by e46v12 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wrs 120 Report post Posted January 5, 2022 Now that's truly incredible dedication - I'd hate to be welding that many small sections. What an effort!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
e46v12 477 Report post Posted January 6, 2022 Thanks @wrs warren im quite enjoying the challenge and can;t wait to try and weld this thing up. Granted im sure ill blow a few holes through the thin areas. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cement 871 Report post Posted January 6, 2022 Forgot to mention the other day my top tip would be to fully weld small sections as you go ... I tacked mine up until complete and the fit was beautiful, then welded them after and the distortion was massive !! Means another operation now to correct so the pipes go where they need to and meet at the collector properly etc. No doubt you have the same deal as mine where some clearances are in the sub 5mm range. Your cuts look really square with no gaps which will help minimise, likewise if you are using mild steel. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aja540i 1906 Report post Posted January 6, 2022 the mild steel shouldn't be too bad for distortion (compared to stainless) but that is a sh1t load of welding in some tight areas, I have always gone for donuts for that reason, and have always been happy with the outcome. Are you going to TIG it or MIG? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
e46v12 477 Report post Posted January 6, 2022 (edited) @Cement @aja540i i plan to tig weld and i forgot to mention that i plan to sperate the 360 pie cut some where half way or in 3 sections and will weld it that way then just mark it with something so i can realign back up later and weld it fully together. Yeah theres no way i could weld the 3rd pipe as is. Edited February 10, 2022 by e46v12 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cement 871 Report post Posted January 7, 2022 Nice nice ... good call on using mild steel !! Could probably have ceramic coated mine twice for what I have spent on argon alone 😭 Other things I've learned to be REALLY useful is good lighting (i use a mountain biking light on my hood) and a way to hold the tubes in all / odd angles. I made do with blocks of wood, the vice etc which was not ideal ... would have been a much tidier job if i was really comfortable and had some sort of (non-existent) arm you could clamp the work piece in and move it in 360 degrees etc. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
e46v12 477 Report post Posted January 30, 2022 Hey Everyone So I finally got the left hand side all tacked up and ready for full weld which ill do this coming long weekend. Drivers side has been fully welded up, a little tip my engineer told me was to use stainless filler rod instead of mild and what a difference it made with the splatter and holes I was getting with the mild filler rod. Im quite pleased with how they turned out, good pratice for when i do the V12 ones. Thanks Team 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
e46v12 477 Report post Posted February 8, 2022 Hey Everyone So managed to get the passenger side header all welded up, made a start on the exhaust back. Also picked up the box sections from the engineer that i will be welding in the car to be able to bolt the driveshaft hoops up to. Thanks Team 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cement 871 Report post Posted February 8, 2022 Headers look so good !!! I think there is a definite relation between total degrees of twists and turns to coolness I'm talking with my certifier at the moment about my driveshaft hoop as I'm trying to integrate it with the trans mount ... looks like you've already got it sorted but i just put a render up on my build thread if you'd like to see the direction I'm hopefully going. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
e46v12 477 Report post Posted February 9, 2022 @Cement Hey David yeah there is something cool about a spaghetti designed set of headers. I just had a look at your hoop design and its looks very professional. I'd say you will have no issues with that design. I pretty much did the same thing with my X5 manual swap i bolted the 1st hoop ontop of the gearbox x member. My certifier just said as long as it meets the requirements of metal thickness, right bolt sized used and within 250mm of the the U joint it would pass. Im doing it my way so i also dont have to go through the floor. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
e46v12 477 Report post Posted February 21, 2022 Hey everyone So managed to get the last of the exhaust done and driveshaft hoop bolting points welded in. Working on getting the hoops themselves made over the week. So not much left to do other than the sump pan and wiring then we should be good to go. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Braydon 40 Report post Posted February 21, 2022 Been catching up on the entire thread, some awesome builds you have going on, and impressive work. Especially those manifolds, great job! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
e46v12 477 Report post Posted February 22, 2022 Thanks @Braydon yeah i'm pretty please on how they turned out. Hopefully be a master at them by the time i do the v12 ones. The most satisfying part is i didnt have to fork over 3-5k for someone else to make them. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
e46v12 477 Report post Posted May 7, 2022 Hi Team Long time no post, just been a bit slack with the updates but still trucking along with the projects. So bit of a big change in plans with the oil pump. When i bolted the X5 pump for a test fit the pick up was going to be way to low and clearance was going to be a massive issue. So back to plan A which is to use the n62 pump which im pretty much 80% through. Lucky for me the headers just needed one runner slightly hammered in. The sump itself had to be machined 3-4mm Bolt hole had to be slotted 5mm inwards to line up the hole. Found that 4 connecting rod bolts were fouling on the oil pump. got the angle grinder out and took off about 2mm of material. Exhaust painted Rolled the guards to fit the 18x8.5 square set hamann wheels Really can wait to get this car going. Thanks Team 3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
e46v12 477 Report post Posted August 30, 2022 Hey Team Long time no post, Still waiting on the two engineers to get the v12 motor and the n62 sump sorted so in the mean time I thought I would share as this is also e46 related. Picked up this pretty clean 2004 330ci earlier this year. Over the past couple weekends i have done the 420g manual swap which is a converted smg box from Kayne Barrie and finished tacking up the custom headers. Still to go subframe plates, install coil overs and adjustable lower control arms, rest of the exhaust, pedal box and few other small little things. Hopefully the other project stuff will be ready by the time I've finished with this car. So glad i had a spare motor to build these headers out of the car. It also took me a solid 4hrs to cut 2x ice cream containers worth of pie cuts and deburr them too. I also swapped the Hamann wheels for some BBS rk to go one the 4.6 v8 sedan and finally pulled out my ACS wheels that will be for the M3. Both sets will be powder coated at some point. Thanks Team 4 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
User Name 19 Report post Posted September 1, 2022 I would like to say awesome work and its more effort than people think. Also thanks for showing the build along the way as if it wasn't for a head injury 6 years ago that f*cked my world up i would of had both my BMW projects built and going, also your close by and a member so might have to get some info off you where you sourced the rebuild parts from in the future Hoping one day to have my M73B54 in a special project (rather than using it for doing burnouts, once i get some new coolant hoses and hope the heads not leaking haha) and my E28 is the other one which i nearly got pushed into putting the v12 in there as they fit (Its all pipe dreams to i can work again hopefully not another 6 years but who knows with head injuries and life) Keep up the hard work, its a project and no doubt if you ever sold it there is a world market available and i do hope you keep it real as some of the v12 owners like one i got mine off it was like getting blood from a stone and wouldn't even sell me any parts off there other v12 that was living in the backyard not even running. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cement 871 Report post Posted September 1, 2022 Love those headers 😍 I can appreciate how much work that is ... and will still be !! Are you going to break the tubes off to fully weld them ? Hope they distort less than mine did, it really messed things up from the perfection that they were in tacked state !! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
e46v12 477 Report post Posted September 1, 2022 @User Name yeah im more than happy to have a little catch up. I see your in Levin as i travel through to Otaki often to visit my parents so could pop on in and check out your projects. In all honesty the headers are a lot of work but these ones took me two days to tack up which was way faster than i was expecting. Maybe having done the v8 ones help me find some short cuts like using the spare block to mock etc. @Cement So the primaries tubes are just tacked on the flange and the collectors aren't welded on yet, I've made a bracket jig to hold the collectors where I need them and the primaries are just sitting in them. I have separated the tubes away from the flanges and spent a couple hours a night welding them up with only one more to go before I can weld it fully up which hopefully will be this weekend. I really want to try and get the whole exhaust done this weekend as I'm very curious to see what a home made full exhaust system sounds like. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
e46v12 477 Report post Posted September 5, 2022 (edited) Hey Team So got a bit done over the weekend. Finished welding the headers with O2 bungs, Full exhaust finished and tacked ( ran out of gas so couldn't finish it) Spray painted the headers and oven baked and made a start on the subframe plates. Thanks Edited September 5, 2022 by e46v12 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MD13 494 Report post Posted September 5, 2022 Nice clean oven you have there 🤣 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
e46v12 477 Report post Posted September 5, 2022 2 hours ago, MD13 said: Nice clean oven you have there 🤣 haha thanks Michael. I purposely brought that oven for baking parts in. cost me $50 off trade me. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
e46v12 477 Report post Posted October 3, 2022 (edited) Hey Team So further along the build with pretty much 2 more things to do before i put it up for sale. The front bumper to be resprayed then cert. Subframe plates done Diff mounts changed O2 sensors covered with some heat reflective tape Coilovers installed Braided clutch line and pedal box Solid mount shifter and dssr installed New door rubber seals install Hood lining redone Full exhaust fully bolted up Electric fan and manual radiator swap M3 strut brace Will post a short video of cold start and drive by once the car is fully legal. Thanks Team Edited October 3, 2022 by e46v12 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
