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Right time to put up a bit of a thread on my E21, bought it back in august it think of some lad the far side of limerick forget where now, it was stored in a shed for the last 6 years and in that time it got a full respray, under it completely stripped back and under-sealed again. new bonnet front bumper from Germany.

pics of it on the way home,









and when i got it home







it didnt take long till i got the itch and had to start doing some thing to it, so i smoked the front light and side repeaters added a splitter lowered it on spax i think shocks and springs, and tried out a few different sets of wheels,












wasnt happy with the wheels so changed them again













and as she sits now



sorry pics a bit crap taken off the phone

Then i decided i didnt have enough power it one of the first m20s in it so its about 120bhp but it takes to long to rev up for my liking

so i went off and got my self one of these





then i just went for it,







a little help required



and out it popped







tided and cleaned things up a bit





retaped all the bay wireing,



cleaned the gearbox and sealed up the input shaft in case of fureture leaks











then time to remove a engine from donor car








[hr]
belt need when you remove power steering and a/c of a M50b25







figured out if i fitted engine the sump would be a way to low so put on my brave trousers and set about cutting

























new rocker cover seal kit




m20 fly wheel bolted on no need to skim as it was a early model








got the sump done and pick up pipe



welded the pipe first but it didnt work at all to brittle for my likeing so got some chemical metal and more pipe and got it sorted








Then finished welding the sump first time on a tig so it doesn't look great






Also got these for the rocker cover bolts. Don't want any leaks on this one

fitted new shorter fan belt as i won't be using the ps pump or the action unit


Then i fitted the water temp stat out of the old m20 so the clocks will get the right reading.



Then took the m50 starter apart and tried fitting the starter cog off my old m20 starter but it was to long. So after a bit of ebaying i found the right one for it.
Im using the m50 starter as the old m20 one is nackered and weights twice as much




Then got my act together and fitted the modified sump and dip stick




Then i out on the m20 engine mounts they don't go where the m50 ones were they bolt on nearer the fly wheel. Then i figured out i had forget yo change the pilot bearing and Christ was it hassle to remove it. Tried the greass trick didnt work then tried the wet newspaper that didn't work either so got the die grinder at it and after about a hour i got it out


Then i fitted the m20 clutch and pressure plate.

Then lobed it into the car to see what the next problem would be.





Then figured out sump was hitting the steering rack and sub frame so need taller mounts might go for the hockey pucks yet will keep it firm and stop it from hitting the rad caus i doubt there will be much room. That's all for now

Wow! That's a way to start! Well documented and quite some work done! Not far from first run or?

Thanks sir!

Good work!

What did you use to convert your starter? I'd like to lose the m20 one myself.

What are you doing for exhaust manifold and system?

e21-Mark wrote:Good work!

What did you use to convert your starter? I'd like to lose the m20 one myself.

What are you doing for exhaust manifold and system?

The starter i ordered a gear off ebay for a new type m20 starter so should be hear soon to see if it works as for exhaust i have a 328 of am52 got not sure what i have to for yet for it to work but will post picks

BTW hope we can agree on moving this thread to the Modified section because of the M50 engine?

Thanks got the comment it should be started soon hopefully all depending on parts. Ya no pro move away.didn't know where to put it

Top work

Yea nice one. It's not straight forward that engine swap.

A bit more progress dis evening. Stopped the sump from hitting the subframe i took out the old m20 mounts and scavanged the ones out of the e34 touring around the back. There eccentric or some thing like that i forget what's its called. Aka the bolt isn't in the middle. So i ground if the it or nipple that stops them from moving as i had to move them so i could line the engine up to the center of the bay. And they worked got it within 3mm and i was happy with that.

M20 on the left and the m50 from e34 on the right


The engine mounts in place
The right one

The left one

And then the clearance of the sump might have to grind a small bit off the wings on the back of the sump to make sure it clears the rack.



Have the rack removed so i can get axis to them wing things.

Till next time

K a bit more done got 328 manilfolds better flow and easier to modify to clear the rack.

The the cog arrived for the starter but it was the wrong one so did a bit of back street butchering on it and took the m20 one apart



T
Then took the m50 one apart in the same way and out the m20 cog into it put it all back together and welded it up and it worked and its well tested.



So i then moved on to the wiring and fuel pump as i don't have a rad that will fit yet
The wiring wasn't bad at all the only problem i had was the ews delete chip. I put it in the ecu and the m50 turned over but no pump. So re checked all connections and nothing wrong. Them grouned the pump really and the pump started working every Time i cranked but still no joy. So i took all the ews box key and sender out of the e34. And connected it in and still no joy so i walked away.
E34 pins to e21


E34 x20 connections



Then the ews e34 connections


And all the wires just done temp for now will be removing all not needed ones and tidy every thing up next.



So then with all the news connected and original chip still nothing. So re checked every thing one more time made no changes and then it fired right up and can't figure why or how and don't care its alive .

So next is tidy all wiring and get a rad and fit it. Till next time



sent in from some where far out there

Happy days! It's always a momentous happy occasion on 1st fire up.

Good work.

First fire up is always a great occasion happy out for now. Nearly there and summer will be hear soon

So started tiding up the wiring to day. Serious pain in the ass but just got to do it. Hears a few pics of progress do far

How it was





Ecu was far side of car in the e34 so striped out all cables i didn't need and routed every thing in behind the bulkhead to the glove box where the ecu and realys shall now be located







Then i decided to make up the e21 to x20 connector

What i started with







And the finished article





That's all for now folks