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Project: BMW E21.



Dan will be cheaper, of the manifolds of boggs I have seen, I think Dans are better made, and of utmost important when picking a company to provide parts for, or do work on your car, he has a pretty face.
 
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So, last night I got the confirmation email that the E21 will be one of the features in the February edition of BMW Car Magazine.

Goes on sale in January.
 

Rob

ClioSport Moderator
Well done northerner. I properly love this car. It's a great car for having something special, that looks special, yet doesn't cost the earth and isn't extortionate to maintain.
 
Yup, it's not been cheap to build, but in theory, once the new engine is in, it'll be reasonably cheap to own and a fairly pleasant thing to drive.

At the moment, the overheating M10 that's in it, is more of a chore than anything else, watching the temperature gauge instead of the speedo isn't much fun.
 
Purchase of the car: £1,800
Rough build cost: £6,000

That build cost includes a fair few tools that I didn't have, probably to the tune of £800 or so, which I guess you could discount from the cost.

I've still got the engine swap to do, which should come to about £1,000 to £1,200 then a few bits like interior retrim etc, probably another £1,000.

Its hardly expensive by restoration standards, but it's also not been a cheap as chips thing.

Ive done a lot of the work myself, so I've controlled costs a fair bit. In all, I'm happy with what I've spent, I don't look at it and think about the money, which is the most important thing IMO.
 

Rob

ClioSport Moderator
I didn't mean it was cheap in the slightest mate, but VS buying a 20k old Porsche that you could admire on the drive, this is a lot cheaper and as you say, should be cheap to run!
 
Yup, plus, I'm pretty confident in saying I won't see another S1 on the road, in Topazbraun.

A £20k Porker is common by comparison.

I like rare things. :eek:
 
Time for some updates I guess, starting with the water leak that's been plaguing the car.

I took the carpet up and decided to remove the old tar on the floor of the car, which unfortunately revealed this:

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Which was caused by this small hole in the top corner of the seam between the firewall and the inner wing:

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So yeah, slightly annoying to find some rust. That said, I've found the leak which is great news, and the rust that I found isn't all that bad. I've got a welder now so hopefully I'll be able to put it right myself without too much work.

Anyway, moving on. I got my new 6 cyl. subframe and took it apart ready for the powdercoaters. Bolts were typically old and stuck, so the angle grinder was needed to remove the engine mounts.

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So yeah, progress should begin to ramp up over January, I'd like to have the M10 out and the M20 on the engine stand before the end of the month. After that, I'll give the M20 some TLC, a few bits powdercoated/painted, then start thinking about getting it in the car.
 
So today, BMW Car Magazine landed on my doorstep. One of the features this issue is a certain 316 restoration :eek:

I have to say, I'm really impressed by the layout and the quality of the feature, which covers no less than 5 pages! (It's my first mag feature, I'm sure you can tell!)

Anyway, a few photos to show the layout and how it all looks :)

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I'm chuffed to bits over it, I really am!

Anyway, moving on, tonight the wings, grilles and valance came off, ready for the removal of the engine this weekend :)

Bonnet will come off on Saturday once my cover arrives.

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Need to source a timing kit for the M20 so I can change the timing belt, and while I'm there... ensure the timing is set correctly.

More updates to come soon :)
 
This weekend I removed the engine, with the help of Jon, Christopher, Joey and Oli. Was a dream to work on, not a single nut or bolt stuck, even the manifold and exhaust came off without the slightest of resistance, very impressed.

The Saturday was a day of removing parts; prop, exhaust, loom, cooling system etc. Then on the Sunday, we set about removing the engine and gearbox.

Jon and I grabbed some photos along the way:

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Then got the car wired up to a Garrett :D

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Need to start work on the M20 (which is now on the engine stand) over the next few weeks. Want to get the engine bay tidied up too, including paint.

Exciting times :)
 
  182
Dude!

Not been on here for a while so missed the mag feature, congrats! :D

Without reading back (sorry, I'm lazy today) what are you doing with the engine?
 
  182
In short, he's got a M20 to go in. Same as yours!

Ohhhhhh, nice!

I will advise two things: carbon housed induction kit and a scorpion exhaust system. This ensures 1,000,000 smiles per mile. (but horrendous mpg as you want to hear it's epicness at all times).
 
Ohhhhhh, nice!

I will advise two things: carbon housed induction kit and a scorpion exhaust system. This ensures 1,000,000 smiles per mile. (but horrendous mpg as you want to hear it's epicness at all times).

Don't think he's decided on the exhaust anyway as the exhaust manifold will need to be modified to fit around the steering linkage.
 
Yeah, exhaust is my issue, E30 manifold won't fit round the linkage, and E21 manifold won't fit the E30 engine (needs porting).

Likelihood is I'll butcher an E21 manifold and then have a custom system back from there.

In terms of induction kits, I'll have to see what fits, but I want something nice and throaty.
 
So today Jon and I worked on the M20, getting it stripped down and cleaned up. We lost some time when we had to move the engine out onto the drive to get it under the gazebo to avoid the rain, but other than that, everything went well.

Started off like this:

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Manifold off:

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Inlet removed and timing cover off:

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Timing belt removed:

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Waterpump removed and cleaned up, new tensioner fitted and timing belt replaced:

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All cleaned up and ready for the painting and refitting of the ancillaries/brackets/etc:

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Thoroughly enjoyable day working with a mate, on an engine. Perfect :)
 
The head looks awesome in that last shot. Just putting together the time-lapse I got of today. A bit gutted there isn't as much footage as I would have liked, but I need to sort out the battery limitations.
 


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