Question for a engine upgrade

[fistaccio]

Hello, i am from romania i have e21 318 and i want to put a 2.3 engine on it. because of the few spare parts in my country i cannot find a m20 engine deck, does anyone know or has modified a m10 deck for a m20b23 to fit, i specify that i have the engine supports. please give me advices, if it is recomanded, if the m10 deck can sustain the weight of a m20 engine, etc. thanx and sorryy for my bad english.

[e21-Mark]

Do you mean engine mounts when you say deck? Do you mean the rubber bits your engine sits on in your car?

[murran]

he probably means the 4 cyl subframe (deck?) taking the 6 cyl engine?

[e21-Mark]

Ahh, yeah, think you're right.

[fistaccio]

if you say so... subframe it is. the one that the steering box is mounted, i have the rubber bits (i called them engine supports ) for the m20, and i wanna know if i could make the modification to put them on the m10 4 cyl subframe ( called by me deck :p). if someone made this modification , please tell me if is worth it. Or, dont laugh of by experience and knowledge, how can i distinguish a m10 from a m20 subframe, maybe i have one and i dont know.

[murran]

its a steering rack, not a box.
"supports" are generally the aluminium legs that bolt to the side of the engine block.
engine mounts are the rubber bits with threads on either ends.

the only thing id say about using an m10 subframe for mounting an m20 on, is...... that the engine mounts in there standard position on the m10 subframe are going to be in the wrong place to drop on the standard supports on the sides of the m20 engine.
so, your left with the choice of changining the subframe to an m20 one...... or altering the m10 subframe (cutting and welding) to alter the position of the mounts to match the m20 one...... or making your own supports to match the m10 subframe that bolt to the sides of the m20 engine (more cutting and welding bits of metal).


anyone have a picture of an m10 + m20 subframes next to each other?

[fistaccio]

ok, so i have the supports and i can weld them to the m10 subframe, what else do i need to fit the m20b23 on my m10b18??? i heard that i have to change the clutch cylinder.. is it right... i mention that the engine is complete ( engine, gearbox,etc )

[Mihajlo]

you do not have to change the clutch cylinder

[fistaccio]

can some one make me understat, show, or how i distiguish the difference between a m10 and m20 subframe???

[nas80]

i compared them and there looks to me like they took the m20 as a base and then stuck an extra bit on the right hand side to make the subframe more narrow to fit the smaller m10. (that will be the drivers side on your car). they are very similar, i suggest getting the angle grinder out / custom mounts.

[fistaccio]

i compared them and there looks to me like they took the m20 as a base and then stuck an extra bit on the right hand side to make the subframe more narrow to fit the smaller m10. (that will be the drivers side on your car). they are very similar, i suggest getting the angle grinder out / custom mounts.

can you explain what do you mean by " getting the angle grinder out / custom mounts" because my english is not professional. 10x

[rob0r]

Obviously the subframes are similar, the 4cyl has the big horn mount as mentioned. The 6cyl has some slightly raised platforms instead. I've cut the horn off my 4cyl subframe to make custom engine mounts for my M42 and M50 conversions. The 6 cyl subframes are common enough to find and are easy to swap in, which would save messing around with custom mounts.

4cyl subframe


When I cut the horn off...
Mount today...


Gone tomorrow

[fistaccio]

can you put a picture with what you put instead of the m10 horn, for the 6cyl engine, and how you positioned it, because i really dont trust the welding.

[rob0r]

Sorry, I used that subframe to create a custom subframe for an M50 engine rather than M20. If you're fitting an M20 I really would find the right subframe and engine mounts.