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recently i did plenty of miles. cos of this - one of engine valve stem seals decided it didnt want to do its job anymore and now the car smokes more than a rasta!

Thought that id better get on with the engine swap - progress isnt up to the standards of some of you guys. It was raining lots and there has been plenty of headscratching and pondering.

heres some pictures











the e34 is so well built that it actually took two days to get the engine out without damaging it!

I jumped on its roof afterwards though. :p

I moved the 5 series outta the way then started stripping the front off the e21. It seemed to take forever - stupid rusty bolts.







as most of you lot know, the m50 engine sump sits way too low when you use the stock 323i e21 box due to the angle so I sent the sump off to be modified. the sump has been made shallower and then a wing added onto the side to keep capacity up.

heres a pic of matey welding it up.



I actually forgot to take a pic of the sump - but will do tomorrow! I havent also taken pics of stuff I did today such as replacing the front subframe with the 323i one, removing the battery tray and general cleaning.

Stuff left to do.

modify the oil pickup tube (needs shortening)
fit a fuel return line.
put the fuel pump on and wire it up (theres no mounting lugs!)
battery relocation to the boot - 5 series cable just fits - only just lol
fit new clutch kit / flywheel / pilot bearing
put the engine mounts on.
wire up rad fan
take off old prop / fit the m20 prop.
when the qauiffe LSD diff arrives ill have to stick that on as well.
fit power steering pipes (this is easier then i thought!)

Good work mate - keep going!

where abouts are you doing this? you need a hand?

Good work dude. Surprised at the Valve Stem Seals though because you engine is low mileage

I know. its shit cos it think I did it by sticking one of those mini rocker breathers on n it caused too much pressure build up.

managed to finally get all the little bits n bobs ill need. my quaiffe LSD is on its way to me and then its a simple matter of fit the engine / gearbox . diff - bit of wiring and then a couple of other small jobs then its onto the exhaust builder.

Hopefully i aim to have this all running by the end of the weekend.

I am going to see how it goes - if the engine dies then meh plenty more m50 / m52 engines are available.


heres what an m50 looks like upside down and with no sump on.

looking good so far nas... gone be a pretty quick beige 316 soon
i take it thats your black rx7 in the back ground?

Good work. I see the old sump has cooling fins and the new one doesn't. Will you keep it this way?

An extra oil cooler for the increased oil capacity/cooling along with a higher pressure oil pump may help?????

dannyboy wrote:looking good so far nas... gone be a pretty quick beige 316 soon
i take it thats your black rx7 in the back ground?

Danyboy - nah thats not mine its my mates (his is a knightsports - mine was a mazdaspeed) - its yet another car we were going to build up but my mate sold some of it to fund a trip to Oz. - The shell has roll cage etc, upgraded twin turbos - it ran 450hp at 1 bar before the engine blew (dodgy oil pump) - it wieghs in at 1250kg so as you can imagine while it was working it was insanely quick and instant power at any revs.

The 560 SEL Merc you see in the background we will have to restore one day - its not too bad nick though so should be easy - its all custom interior with blue n white leathers - its a right gangster - has had the engine seen to as well i believe - you wont believe how fast that thing goes makes a nice V8 noise too.


Danny043 - your right the fins increase the surface area of the sump and help cool the oil. I was shocked to find that the m50 didnt donor didnt have an oil cooler ?!!

I wanted to keep the fins but the guy welding it said it wont make too much difference - in any case I am going to run an oil cooler at one point - but im going to see how good the oil pressure / temp is like with the aid of some nice 80's VDO gauges. like so

i remember "trying to chase" an rx7 twin turbo many moons ago....(my 1990 abbott tuned 900 turbo 16v).... ouch that hurt my ego when i was 24!!!!!!
the mercs a very cool car.. my friend owns a 560 sec amg with the old skool penta's ,boomarang and all... pity his is a death trap!!!...
i would still go for the oil cooler and uprated pump if you can, my first m30 engine lunched itself within 10hrs of picking it up.+4 yrs waiting= not a happy bunny!.... oil pump and high oil temp (i didnt have oil cooler or oil pressure/temp gauge ).. build it right 1st time is my motto.... then try to kill it off..

What did those gauges come out of Nas? Me like.

they are out of an stolen / partially burnt out 84 audi coupe, i found it round the corner from my student digs back in 2001. my mate ripped em out for me. I forgot about the then found em again in me mum n dads shed a few months ago

mark they are golf ones if i remeber correctly, the audi 80 are the best looking ones but they all do the same job!! mine below are the audi 80..






J

where did u get the sensors Jimmy?