M20B25 conversion lives!!!!!!!!!! Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay

varden · Post by **varden** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 4:41 pm

mk1300 wrote:How much was the clutch? Did it come with a clutch aligner?

Cost me 550 notes which is horrendous cos i paid $380 for an exchange twin plate clutch set up for my ford XB coupe in 2001

No clutch alighner, I've got a universal clutch alignment tool from my ford days.

Thayat wrote:Good work mate. Am in a similar position myself. 320/6 on axle stands, 2.7 motronic awaiting clutch to go in. Then the wiring nightmare.

Keep the progrss pics coming.

Cheers mate

, hey I'm a kiwi myself, from Palmerston North, whats premium over there right now? $1.78 a litre?

I'm not looking forward to the wiring either.

Thijsse wrote:You name the m20b23 underpowered, but the extra 20 hp wont get you much further!

Why not use a m50 instead?

For the low low cost and the relative simplicity of the conversion this is the way to go for me, I'll have the whole conversion squared away for less than 2 weeks pay, not to mention all the e30 goodies I accumulated on the way.

CHEAP horsepower, whereas if i chose the M50 route for a comparative 2.5 vanos engine the gains are equally small over the M20B25 and the end cost is not easily defined from the start of the project.

I'm not one to start a conversion and throw money at it till it works, forget that.

An M50 conversion would be a nightmare by comparison, i read a26 page epic M50 into RHD e30 conversion on an Aus euro forum and thought "Theres no way I'd want to tackle that."

mbad7 · Post by **mbad7** » Fri Jul 17, 2009 1:39 pm

Hot dawg!!! U guys Down Under,really have to piss some hard cash for these parts!!! Just for comp., that clutch set is about 200€ over here,that translates to roughly 300$ AUD...

Madhatter · Post by **Madhatter** » Fri Jul 17, 2009 2:01 pm

dollar isnt quite that good, closer to $400 AUD, was buying the euro in the 50's

. Thing about buying in europe (or even the UK) is that your international shipping is vastly overpriced, probably double the cost when compared to shipping parts similar distances from the US.

nige21 · Post by **nige21** » Sun Jul 19, 2009 2:01 pm

Thanks mate, i got a similar quote, just under 500 which was about double what i was expecting!

Goodluck with the project, I am building a m20b25 at the moment which i hope to shove in my '21 the summer. Will be interested to see how you find it.

varden · Post by **varden** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 6:30 am

I have taken a look at my rod joint where all the slop seems to be.

And it seems that this joint is missing a small plastic disk that keeps the rod joint under tension.

I checked out realoem.com for the expanded diagram and item 14 is missing from my selector assembly.

Question now is do i go to Bunnings and buy some assorted plastic or rubber washers or do i go to BMW on the off chance that they even have this tiny part for my car??

varden · Post by **varden** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 6:47 am

Well I've gone back to the shed with a collection of rubber tap O-rings in hand and it seems that two O-rings packed into the joint gives just the right amount of space to push the pin back in with no free play in the joint what so ever.

I hope it works......

It seems BMW have replaced the original rubber disk with a plastic one.

Will these o-rings decay quite rapidly taking me back to square one?

I might vas them up before i reassemble....or i might call into motorline BMW tomorrow to get the part.

--ALPINA-- · Post by **--ALPINA--** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 3:50 pm

If your gear stick is floppy, its becuse inside of the picture 2 there should be a small piece of foam where the pin goes thru.. change that foam... replace it ... and you will have a tight select.. also other parts, like the small washers and clips

I did that and its nice and tight...

J

varden · Post by **varden** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 4:12 pm

Thanks ALPINA, the o-rings went in exactly where you suggested, confirming my suspicions about the shifter slop.

--ALPINA-- · Post by **--ALPINA--** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 5:04 pm

Your welcome dude, below is a link to the shifter from Realoem.com

You need part number 14 to stop the gear shift being floppy.. its a small yellow foam piece... you push this into the gear shift rod joint, and your look like its been welded? has it? if so get a new one.....

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do ... g=25&fg=05

J

ac/dennis · Post by **ac/dennis** » Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:08 pm

Do as Jimmy says and replace all the other linkages and washers too. It ll make a really big change in the stiffness of your gearshifter.

varden · Post by **varden** » Wed Jul 22, 2009 6:41 am

Well it seems the sensible thing to do is rebuild the whole shifter assy, esp since i refitted my shifter linkages together today and noted that there was still plenty of lateral slop in gear despite my bodge o-ring solution.

Due to this part being well worn.

I called Motorline BMW and the two main parts were $60 and $70 ex Germany so for that price I'll go NEW thanks!

I turned up and talked to one of their parts guys and ended up ordering everything but a new gear stick and shift plate. The bloke went away and drew up the invoice and came back with a look of apprehension that suggested that i wouldn't like the total cost.

Turned out to be $287 for all the parts, which was FINE BY ME!!!!

Woooo!!! No more shifter slop!!!

I just have to wait 2-3 weeks for the parts to come in.

varden · Post by **varden** » Thu Jul 23, 2009 7:02 am

Late breaking news, I found another e30 donor car for even less than the last e30, this ones a 325e tho, but the plus is this one is a manual.

Dunno what I'm going to do with it yet, but it will be good for a 2 door e30 320i conversion down the track.....

For now it can sit next to my e21.

varden · Post by **varden** » Sun Jul 26, 2009 5:33 pm

M20B25 is IN, well its bolted up to the engine mounts at least.

New clutch kit is installed, i stripped the wiring harness and inlet manifold off to minimise damage to components and aid instillation.

So far so good.

--ALPINA-- · Post by **--ALPINA--** » Sun Jul 26, 2009 9:29 pm

Looks good, but i would have degreased the bulk head and hammer paint it black so it looks good before the engine drop, and also paint the block black..... basically detail the engine bay......

Will look nicer, but nice job so far!!

J

varden · Post by **varden** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 2:21 am

Hmmmmmm....detail the engine bay.....

I had all the best intentions but my 535i e34's clutch packed up last Thursday and now I'm forced to ride my bike to work despite having TWO registered cars.

So I'm giving this project the hurry up til i can find a mob that can supply and fit a clutch for me....no joy so far.