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Thanks again to murran, DrJim and Nas for all the help yesterday.

(For anyone who read the other thread and doesn't know what happened - the replacement motor was probably the worst example of engine neglect any of us had seen. Thick carbon coating on every surface under the rocker cover, didn't look like the thing had seen an oil change in years! We took some pictures which I'll upload one day for you to gawp at )

I've priced up getting some temp transport and tbh with the cost of insurance lately (£1400 a year on a 1.0L Micra - even with 4 years NCB! WTF!) that's not gonna be an option - relegated to public transport for a while!

I think the best option might be to do some sort of rebuild on my original motah - at least I know that has been looked after! Could also make use of the cunifer pipe which Murran routed as my primary fuel feed to replace the crappy copper stuff on there. Prevents all the messing about with a new fuel pump too.

W&N are currently doing a sale on M10 service kits which is handy; http://www.wallothnesch.com/e/ange/fram ... loffer.htm

So my proposed plan is;

- One day at the unit removing my sump/manifold/clutch from the dud motor. Also remove head from original motor to be tested and skimmed if necessary. If there's time, do any jobs that may be prudent on the bottom end.

- Once the head is back, take a day to reassemble motor with new gaskets (and perhaps any other little jobs.. valve stem seals?) and reattach the sump/manifold/clutch.

- Final day - get the engine back in the car and all hooked up (hopefully this should be plug and play)

Does anyone have any opinions on this? As usual - all advice appreciated!

Cheers
Jason

OR.. The second option; Buy another used engine. Very wary of this now obviously!

Have you had a response from Boyd about the problem engine yet?

I think rebuilding your current engine is te safest option, may cost a bit more than another pot luck used one, but at least you'll know for sure that it's OK.

To his credit he rang me early this morning after I messaged him last night. He said he'd like to see the pictures but if I want a refund then we can 'work something out'. Fingers crossed!

Hopefully it'll turn out OK with Boyd then.

We need to locate an engine reconditioners, get the bores honed, head sorted out with new seals etc. If we can find somewhere suitable it might cost less to get them to do the whole lot than to do bits of it your/ourselves.

Your car was only partially mobile under its own steam anyway, so this off the road time is not the end of the world.

I don't know any cheap engine rebuilders, the guy who did mine for the slug was expensive but good. Then again without the porting, new pistons, overbore, full bottom end balance, ECU remap etc it may not be as bad as I am imagining. I suggest you see what Murran has to say, he probably has contacts.

ive never seen carbon deposits in an engine like that before! thats not had anything like oil changes it should have.
personally id be looking to get some of your money back on that engine youve bought and hang on to the injection if possible.
i dont believe chucking money at your old engine is worth it.

shit, just spotted that my mate pete is selling this....
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BMW-E30-E21-3 ... 415d33c455
wish id have known! ring him up and ask him about the service history. see if he'll whip the cam cover off and look at the cam etc.

if its ok, pay him and i'll pick it up and bring it over in the landrover on sunday. ask him about a 4 cyl e30 intank pump too.....

ive messaged him on ebay, not got his phone anymore tho.
if your interested reck send him a message!!

in fact reck, wasnt it you who bought that weber off him ages ago?

That looks and sounds like a good plan Murran.

Think going with a different engine is still the best bet. The costs would rack up in no time rebuilding one. Whats the story with the first one you bought? Hows comes it was so bad?

Sounds like a plan indeed! I tried ringing him last night but no answer.. He text me back a bit later on saying he'd already spoke to you Murran, but I was asleep by that point. Did he tell you anything about it?

The only thing that worries me is the ad says it's untested and there are bits missing. Maybe we could nick a couple of bits off the no-go engine.. But weren't there two kinds of injection system used on E30 M10's around that period?

Gonzo - Paid £350 on the understanding it was rebuilt 5 years ago (even got sent receipts for the work). We noticed a crack in the cam cover just before it was lifted in. Popped it off and the inside was a mess - if it even was rebuilt 5 years ago, it hadn't had an oil change since then by the looks of it.

Brrrrr horror story, good luck with getting another one!

Thats a right b**tard mate Is there anychance of getting your money back ?

Hopefully Gonzo. We'll see what happens. The chap seems to be quite reasonable atm and so I won't name his company. However, if I fail to get my money back I will make it my personal mission that every classic BMW enthusiast reads the story and sees the pictures!

Back to more immediate issues - Anyone know the best place to get hold of an E30 in tank pump in good nick at short notice?

I bought a brand new pump off ebay last night as it occured to me that mine was a bit noisy, the one I had in the slug was noisy and then failed so I decided to get a new one to fit into the baur. I thus have the bracket/level sender etc plus a used slightly noisy pump. Your best bet is e30zone to get one with the wiring bits attached, but if you can't get one you can have my old one and spare bits. No warranty at all though.

jim, the generous good lady wife says i can come fit your baur stuff on sunday if im "earning money for the household".
you mentioned your working sunday and would need a precise time to meet and let me in..... what time would that be? shouldnt take too long maybe 4ish hours to fit the springs/master cyl once on the ramp. was there anything else you wanted doing? have you had a look at what's ping'ed off on the gear linkage?

if reck does buy that engine then i'll bring that too and try to get it chucked in if possible..... will there be anyone around to drive the forklift?