bmwe21.net forums

Jason_323i wrote:Are you using the e24 airbox and taking and taking a cold feed from the front of the car, due to the heat buildup i would only use a cone filter if you can sheild it from and heat soak.

Unlike my latest E32... Someone's bolted a cone filter straight onto the AFM, it sits directly over the exhaust manifold! Why someone did that I don't know... Hot air intake FTW

I like this project Mark, should be epic.

Well things are progressing - slowly but I've done pretty much all I can myself now and am currently ground to a halt while I wait for parts etc. The manifold - despite the stupidly expensive price tag - seems to be taking ages and won't be ready till the 1st November! I almost went with their exhaust system too but as it wouldn't clear the Alpina diff cover etc, there seemed no point. Dave @ M-tech will be getting a bespoke system built instead so there shouldn't be any issues with clearance etc. As the manifold is done in 50mm pipe, I think I'm going to stick with that for the whole system and retain twin silencers 323 style. I know it's more weight but as it came from TWR that way it makes sense to keep it original looking. If not, I would quite fancy side exit like the County Cars in some of those photos. It would sound awesome!

The original head is long gone so I'm looking into getting the replacement flowed etc. This is all a learning curve for me as a) I'm no mechanic b) I only have a basic understanding of what goes where and does what and c) my budget / savings are all but gone. Were I just looking to get the car restored to sell at some vastly inflated price it wouldn't matter as I'd know the money would be coming back again soon. However, it's a keeper and if I'm going to do it, I want to do it right. So, with the head, I am looking to maximise it's efficiency without throwing bundles of cash at it. I'm thinking mild porting & polishing, new camshaft and re-build with new rockers, dual oil spray bar etc. I know I could go balls out for big power etc and maybe fit a later head & pistons etc, but I want to retain the feel of the original car that TWR built. The bottom end seems in good order but it makes sense to give the bores a freshen up and I also have an e34 M5 clutch & flywheel to go on. The flywheel is considerably lighter too! I'm fortunate enough to have a choice of camshafts and it depends which I use as to which injection I run? Ideally, I will go with the later Motronic set-up which will still look period while giving better performance & reliability. As long as I can get the same sort of power as TWR did, which was about 240bhp, I'll be happy. 250 and I'll be happier still!

The interior is the job I can do myself. Well most of it anyway. The seats were recovered when the car was just a 4 months old. Why? I have no idea. The only Alpina C1 parts that were deleted were the side decal set and rear spoiler although the spoiler was eventually retro fitted. I don't know if Alpina cloth was part of Recaro / C1 specification? Anyway, they are still in BMW cloth and are mint. The carpet was gone so I have bought a nice replacement which I plan to dye black. I don't know what colour it was supplied with but I like black and it's one detail that will hardly detract from the overall look. I have an early Alpina steering wheel & gear knob ready to go on and replace the early e30 item. I also have Alpina clocks. Sadly there were no extra gauges for oil pressure, temp' etc so I may fit the same sort as are in my daily. They can easily be fitted without having to cut or drill holes anywhere and I like the security of knowing things are ok. The headlining was removed although I have got a perfect replacement that is still nice and white. I'm going to get a professional trimmer to fit it though as it looks like a bitch of a job and not one I want to attempt.

The first job though, is to get the car on a spit and turn it on it's side prior to treating and protecting the underside. There is a particular chemical ( I don't know the name? ) that acts like an etch primer. You spray it on with a schultz gun and it changes colour as it cures, from green to a satin black. It's an almost rubberized finish that protects from stone chips etc too. The shell has survived really well for the past 30 years and I want to be sure it stays that way. While the cars on it's side we can also replace fuel & brake lines as well as poly bushes throughout. There is also a whole front end to be fitted and painted but it makes sense to fit the engine first. It also means the chassis rails have their ends exposed and can easily be rust proofed. Then there's new hoses, rad etc. The list goes on.... Final job will be to re-fit the bonnet, wings & bootlid and paint where required before getting the rims refurb'd and fitted with decent rubber. The LSD will be up for checking and an oil change too.

If I'm honest, I don't think I really understood just how much work was going to be needed in getting this car back as it should be or just how much it was likely to end up costing either. Mind you, if it was just about cost I don't think I would have bothered anyway. I would have just bought something already done! I can't wait to be able to drive this car though. I feel like a kid in the weeks before Christmas!

Very interesting reading; you now have an idea of what I'm going through with the Luger. I've made a detailed plan of what I'm doing which constantly evolves as I see new ideas I want to integrate. It's one thing doing mods to a daily driver/car that's one the road already, but you & I are managing projects, involved ones at that.
The big difference being I'm a pretty decent mechanic with a workshop and I'm doing 80-90 % of the work myself, for cost reasons and for the fact that a lot of details I know would be hard for a third party to do to my taste. Your car is of course mostly a restoration of a rare car with some period improvements, a tough challenge if ever there was one and a lot different to say, restoring an MGB where parts and info are available in abundance.
You're surely gonna blow some people away with that car. Kudos in lorryloads.

Well it seems the camshaft that was amongst the spares that came with the car is actually an early Kent cams profile and not a Schrick as was originally fitted afaik. I'm going to fit the slightly more aggressive Cat cam instead I think? Once I've decided upon which head to go with?

The quote to have the manifold treated internally and externally in black ceramic coatings will be £240 + VAT. This is their "Racespec" specification for maximum thermal insulation and corrosion protection internally. The problem is that they have a 2 week turnaround which will take it past the date it's going into the exhaust people. It's not cheap but it would protect the expensive manifold. Anyone know any other places that do it?

www.camcoat.com

2 week turnaround doeesnt seem all that bad to me for a coating service.

It's not so much their turnaround, although it's hardly a long process, but the fact that having to wait so long for Fritz' supplier means it will be mid November before the manifold is finally ready to be fitted.

Finally got the steering wheel I was after.





It even has the TWR embossed centre pad although I prefer the look without it.

Is that our old friend the Momo 4-spoke wheel as in the Alpina 4-spoke wheel (amongst others)? Looks a little smaller in the rim, although I like the centre pad.

Yes, although it's identical size there are some subtle differences.

Well the good news is that the replacement head, that came with the car, was given a clean bill of health after being pressure tested. It's had a light skim and is having e34 inlet valves and a bit of flow work prior to fitting the Cat camshaft. I opted to go with the Cat camshaft for 2 reasons. It's a slightly more aggressive profile and it's compatible with the later Motronic injection.

Dunno how I missed this thred cos must have read nearly every other one this weekend! Thats an awesome motor you got there mate. Gotta be one of the rarest incarnations of an e21 that exists!! How much do the big engined Alpinas go for then? I tried to find an old ad on google but aint much info out there. Saw one for a 4 pot car but it was about 12 grand and if I woz gonna spend that dough it would need to be a 6 pot. Not that I'm gonna spend that much tho. Anyway 0 to 60 in five and a bit seconds is mental!!

Decided to do a bit of mix'n'match with steering wheels and boss' this weekend. At first glance the drillings to mount the wheels with the allen bolts look identical. When I actually undid them all there was actually about 1 or 1.5mm difference. Not much, but enough to stop the allen bolts winding in straight. In the end I used a jewelers file and ''adjusted'' things slightly. With the Alpina wheel and the TWR wheel side by side, you can also see the slight differences between the two.



Once I had got all 6 bolts started in their thread, as here, I just took the time to wind them in a half turn each in turn, so they went in evenly.



All I need to do now is clean it all up and repaint the bolt heads. I know it might not be 100% original but its far closer than the early e30 Alpina wheel, that the car came with, and the TWR engraving is a nice touch. The leather is mint too.





@e30racer - I'm not sure of B6 values? They're more common on mainland Europe though so maybe the others can help?

B6 is a 2.8 right?? or did they do a 3.5 to?? Mind you I cant find either!!

AFAIK Hartge & TWR were the only 3.5 conversions? All Alpina B6's (2. were LHD I think? I think someone bought one in Sweden earlier in the year? It was about £12 000 I think? - that might be totally wrong and just my memory playing tricks though! There's a black B6 that the guy brought to the Ace Cafe last year and it looks absolutely ''as new'' condition. I'm guessing you'd be looking at £20k plus?

Has anyone else got an idea of Alpina values?

Hartge and TWR made 3.5 conversion. Alpina made 2.8 from the E28 528i in the E21.

I got the alpina from sweden. An e21 B6 2.8 with 3.5 alpina B9 engine in. I got that car for a nice price, but have to put in some more to get it ok again. I have to overhaul the engine and there are some job on the chassi. Not bad, but not so good as I want it.

I know of alpinas with tax reports of 35K euros.