Rubens e21 320/6 build

[ruldal]

Hello.

Was online in here back in 2010 but the car i went for back then was so rotten it could not be saved

I have now been offered this car in a trade off with a old Mercedes i currently have



The car is a 320/6 carburetted version (i would rather have wanted it to be a m10 but i cant afford to be picky and is originally fitted with a 5 speed gearbox wich is a big plus. Its also fitted with 30mm springs and bilstein shocks. Theres a bit of rust mainly on the body, but the underside and the interior is close to mint condition. I even like the retro 80´s wheels It has originally driven 153.000km (95.000 miles) and i will be the third owner of it

The car is a Bavaria model, so headrests in the rear and all the trimmings

I am still all set up for making it into a gruppe 2 replica, so this will include the complete gruppe 2 bodykit with wide arches and front airdam.

I don´t like the 6 cylinder front that much , so one of the changes i will make will be to get my hands on a single headlamp front grille.

Anyways, hope you like it, i will take ownership in the end of May this year, and by then i will post alot of pictures, and more info on the car

[Jeroen]

Nice, congrats on the new buy they and welcome back! Nice project plans, what are the plans for the engine? 4 pot of 2.7 stroker or M50 or or or?

BTW where are you located?

[ruldal]

Hello Jeroen.

I am located in Denmark But this seems like the only dedicated E21 forum on the web

Regarding the engine i am not sure. It depends on alot of things, firstly i need to get the car through the MOT so the original engine needs to run great, so ill start out with new filters, oils, coolant, a new timing belt, and a new set of sparkplugs, cables etc. Then see where it goes from there
A M50b20 or maybe even a 25 could be awsome, but as i understand it require some work, and i am not sure how to go about fitting webers or other carburattors on that engine. The original item is old, so if i want to tune it i recon it will need a complete overhaul from top to bottom.

Anyway, the plan is to firstly have the engine running smooth and reliably, then bodywork and interior will be getting alot of attention. The engine will be one of the last things i will begin to play with, if it keeps running problem free

Cheers, Ruben

[Jeroen]

Good, start with the chassis, brakes and suspension first and then think about what to do engine wise, there are some nice upgrades possible without too much work I guess, check out the variety of projects here on the forum. Keep us posted!

[ruldal]

Good, start with the chassis, brakes and suspension first and then think about what to do engine wise, there are some nice upgrades possible without too much work I guess, check out the variety of projects here on the forum. Keep us posted!

Exactly my thoughts. Suspension is -30mm jamex springs and with bilstein shocks. So i will not be doing anything to this if they are in good condition. However i was thinking of getting a complete set of new poly bushes for the entire car both front and rear as the old rubbers propably will be old and at the end of their rope.. I then would like to take a look on the brakes. I want to install a adjustable brake bias box but this is easy. Also i would like vented front discs. As 323 calipers propably isnt easy to obtain, i am looking for other ways to get vented front discs and calipers to fit.

Then the body will need some attention (gruppe 2 bodykit) and a bit of rust here and there. I also am planning to install some sort of racing fuel cap (a real one) etc..

So if the engine is running properly i will not be doing anything to it before the other stuff is settled

Cheers, Ruben

[ruldal]

I have just renamed the title of this thread as i will make it a build thread

I just visited my 320-6 and gave it a good look over. I will get it home in the last half of may this year, so i am looking forward to a summer holiday where i will be building my E21 What a great way to spend my holiday

I figured i´d post pictures on in here of the progress. I think it could be fun, but maybe also educational for both myself and maybe even others.

The car is in basic a 1980 E21 320-6. Its on of the last ones that came with carburattor. It has 5 speed gearbox, and its a Bavaria model wich of course means that it has all the trimmings and extras that was available, like headrests on the rear seat etc.

The car has been standing still for about a year, but the engine sounds perfect.

The car has new brakes, new wheelbearings both front and rear and the engine have recently gotten the whole roundabout with new plugs, fresh gaskets, fresh oil and filters, new radiator and hoses, etc etc. So engine is in mint condition.

The interior is also in mint condition so i will take very few steps here, and those that i will take will be with the outmost respect for the style of the E21 (first thing to do is to remove a very modern looking steering wheel and replacing it with a old sports one that fit the era of the 21 better.)

The body is where my main focus will be. I have just picked up the following parts:

2 x new front wings
2 x new side indicators
2 x new quaterpanels
2 x new rear flares

The car has alot of rust, not underneeth but in those places the parts are for. The quater panels are really bad, so are the front wings. Everywhere on the car there´s some kind of rust that needs to be fixed. So alot of work await and i am using this time to aquire the parts needed.

I will also build a 2 headlight setup on the car for the simple reason that i think it looks better

I hope that i can afford a Gruppe H kit for the car, and the correct wheels to go with it. If so i will not need to use the new rear flares i have purchased.

I will upload some pics of the parts i bought tomorrow. Untill then here are som pics of the car.











It really does look better on the pics. Will put up some detailed photos later in may when i get started

The basic plan is a racing look ala 1970´s. Nothing modern (or too modern) on the car. I would really love to put a Gruppe H kit on it from the start, but that require the wheels to fit the kit, so i better start looking I will be repainting the car, and i will not be painting it the original colour. I think i might go for a plain white, maybe with a single satin black racing stripe, and some satin black details.

Please comment, and let me know what you think. As this is my first E21 all input is very welcome

[Jeroen]

Well, we'll get into the details later, but your plans are just like I would like to have my retro racecar, if... hahaha

[ruldal]

Hello Jeroen. Yeah almost But with more of a retro look like this

[ruldal]

So, got all the new parts sorted. The list is expansive, but here goes:

New front wings x 2
New quater panels x 2
New rear flares x 2
New Monroe shocks x 4
New steering knuckles x 2
New side markers x 2
Complete engine gasket set
New oil pan + gaskets (is the oilpan originally red on BMW ?)
New timing belt + spanner
Original steering wheel
Original air filter box
New front member bushes x 2
New oil filter
And some other stuff that i need to check out

All in all parts worth something like 1000£ that followed the car I actually don´t have to buy parts for the car to make it ready for MOT this summer, so i am very happy







My little garage is beginning to look like an auto accessories shop

[ruldal]

A small update.

Found a adjustable coil over guide on the stanceworks webpage i thought i would try out. So i got hold of the rear coil overs from a Golf Mk2 (front ones are on their way here).

Rearwise nothing really needs to be done. The biggest issue is the question wether the bottom mounting knuckle will fit the E21. If not i will make them fit by making new mounting plates for the car. The top end of the coil over will of course be paired with the top part of the E21 strut.

The Golf mk2 struts as they arrived



So after a little stop in my media blasting box



A quick comparison shows that the rear strut should be direclty bolt-on.



As you can see the yellow one is E21, and it is a little shorter. However that is limited by the shocks movability in and out. The threaded part on the Golf strut goes down further than the original E21 spring cup by about 12-15cm so it should be possible to lower the car a bit. I am not going for superlow, but i want it just right, and that is why i am going for the adjustable coil overs.

The front ones will need some work though, and i need to cut the shock tube on the E21 and weld on the threaded part from the Golf Mk2 using the springs for the Golf as well.

More to come

[ruldal]

Tomorrow i am taking the car on delivery I am very exited.

I have gotten some new parts for the car while waiting too. Some more coilover suspension parts from Golf 2 and 3 so now i have plenty to make my own set. I have also purchased several time typical stickers for the car (Weber, RH Alurad, GETRAG etc).
A set of brand new single headlights also landed in the house earlier this week

So i am ready, bring it on

[ruldal]

Finally, late last night i drove the car home. Drove like a dream by the way.





She´s had better days, but this state wont last long

A good look over and i have a to-do-list. Its a long list, but not impossible.

Major things to take care of is rust, and the engine. The car has not been running for 1½ years so all gaskets needs to be changed. So does timing belt etc.

Rust wise the car has issues, but its not that bad. As i will use Gruppe 2 fender flares, the rust in the flares does not need fixing as this part will simply be cut off. But one of the front wings is in a terrible state.



Out with the old...

After a good knocking over by "o´l hobb" some rust (but not much) was discovered (enough so that i will remove the other front wing just to have a check).







Will start on that tomorrow maybe

A quick test fit of the front wing



I will propably need a new front valance .. Someone ought to make theese in fibreglass

[ruldal]

Spend about 2 hours fixing the inner front wing.

Its been a while with the welder, but hey thats why they make grinding discs



Gave it a coat of matte black Hammerite after this pic was taken

[ruldal]

Bit more work.

First off a pic of the finished and painted inner wing.



Then it was time for the side sill...



This thing is so ugly...



Only one thing to do.



This is just a rough removal of the sill. I will go into details later. As you can see the inner sill is rusty in the bottom, and that also include the floor flange. I am cutting everything off, welding in a new lower part for the inner sills, welding that on to the floor plate, and then the outer sill will join this later.



A fresh piece of sheet metal



I have to do it in like 4 or 5 pieces as my sheet metal cutter cant take pieces any longer But it beats clipping it by hand

[ruldal]

Bit more rust work







Inner sill almost half done Then i will need to make a rather big rust hole in the front footrest, and also discovered a massive hole at the rear seat floor.

I thought that if i was lucky i wouldn´t have to take the interior apart, but seems im not lucky..