Hey
So i'm building an E21 from scratch. It has already been blasted with glass and currently is being welded with new panels and sills.
It's an EU 318. My car is street oriented but I still need more power than M10 for kicks.
Now i'm going to ditch the original M10 in favor of either M52B28(alu) or M54B30. I was thinking of M42 or M44 aswell but probably could not live with the sound of 4pot. So probably will swap to M54B30 (electronics are a non issue for me).
So i'm thinking of what to do with the rear end, obviously the type 168 differential is not a good match for M54B30 and they are hard to come around aswell in case i break it, so aswell are the driveshafts. I also definitely want to run disc brakes in the rear and highly likely a 5x120 all around.
Right now I have a couple of options with the rear:
1) Could stick to E21 rear end with Type168 differential, running 4x100->5x120 adapter plates and VW brake conversion with E30 discs. Possibly sourcing LSD element and converting Type168 to LSD. The downside is that I'm screwed with the driveshafts and would need to run used driveshafts or brand new from the dealer in case they break. Would probably be easier than running E28 rear end.
2) I could quite easily source E28 whole rear end and do the conversion. This would come with a Type 188 differential which i could probably source an LSD more easily. Also SKF still makes repair kits for the driveshafts which are more beefier aswell. Then i would also have disc brakes but i would probably want to run VW calipers for the handbrake reasons anyway.
What i'm most concerned about with E28 rear end is the wider track. I have only seen one example with pictures that floats around the forum and I have not seen many posts regarding this. Has anyone realistically done the conversion and has pictures on how the car after that? I do not mind running higher ET wheels but i definitely do not want the plastic extenders for the fender liner. With very high ET I could run into issues with the wheel running into some components... I would def run some wider wheels.
For wheel alignment i would possibly do something with the rear axle aswell so the camber&toe are adjustable (there is a kit sold for this aswell with eccentrics).
What i'm most interested in is experience of others...
Thanks
