bmwe21.net forums

Hi all,

Just a quick introduction for tonight since it's 11.51PM as I start this post; I'll post up more bits and pieces over the next few days.



My name is Clinton and those of you in the facebook group will have seen my incessant but rather slow progress updates posted on my blog at http://www.e21build.com

Basically for those of you that don't know, I'm putting a 4.0L SOHC inline-6 from an Australian Ford Falcon (1998-2001 "AU") with a fresh reco and sizeable reground cam (which should net somewhere in the vicinity of 150-180rwkw although I never had it dynoed in the previous car, I do know that it was enough power to keep LS chev powered Holden Commodores at bay) into a 1979 Reseda Green 323i. The car in question has the full BBS body kit (front lip, side skirts AND rear spats) and ROH wheels which look to be similar to Zender Turbo wheels.






Body wise, a few rust spots have started to appear around rubbers and mouldings, but I'm putting off working on those until the car is at least drivable. Since it's only going to be a track car and not a show car, the repairs for this will be pretty quick and "near enough is good enough" - I live too close to the ocean for it to be worth fixing properly as it would just rust again somewhere else soon enough if I did!

Anyway, as stated - I'll post more over the coming days, but it would be nice to get some feedback as I've found this method of updating people (I.e via a dedicated website) seems to have a major downside in terms of forum discussion involvement.

Happy Shark-Nosing!
- Clinton

Hi and welcome to forum!

That is quite a lump to put in the front of an E21! How much does it weigh?

Quite an amazing job going on there- noted that the engine is upright and it will still fit in? Is it drysumped?
We were discussing the reasons why BMW canted over their engines -

I want those zenders!

Upright, normal sump. There's still a heap of room for manifold etc - intake piping will probably have to be custom made to clear though as it doesn't look like my existing setup from the Falcon will fit without cutting a hole in the bonnet (I'd rather not, at this point)

Engine weight is not that dissimilar to the original motor; both are cast iron blocks with alloy heads. I don't have anything actually capable of weighing them to find out exactly but they don't feel all that much different if you're trying to slide them around on a concrete floor. I guess the proof will be in the pudding once I finally get it running! The beauty is that these are a bit of a torque monster which should be good for drifting.



You can just see the bottom of the bellhousing here which is in-line with the lowest point of the sump; hopefully this gives some idea of ground clearance (or lack of).

oooo perfect for a Holset HX35
sump clearance may be an issue, but there are cheap ways to make a dry sump to solve that.
do you have any sound clips on you tube??

I had a Garrett GT3540 in a previous falcon, had 211rwkw by 3500rpm but threw a rod through the side of the block pretty quickly (I think within 10,000kms of building it!)

I've got a set of FPV (Ford Performance Vehicles) turbo conrods and pistons here from a newer motor which will fit this motor if I do turbo this motor down the track though.

I've got a couple of videos up:

The first is from when the big cam was first fitted,


And this one is shortly before the motor was removed for transplant to the E21:

Here's more info on the engine I've installed:

http://www.e21build.com/2013/03/introducing-motor.html

Basically my build is all blogged at e21build.com (my site)

I've just done a bit of metalwork on the trans tunnel:

http://www.e21build.com/2013/03/ticking ... hings.html

I'll eventually get around to summarising the progress thus far in this thread - but for now if you're interested then by all means have a read through the blog.

http://www.e21build.com/2013/03/filling ... unnel.html

I deleted some of your posts on BMWE21.net's Facebook. Please collect some info in one topic or start an album there instead of multiple posts at a time. Thanks in advance and keep up the good work!

Hi Jeroen

Sorry about that, I normally post the links as I put the content on the blog/progress with the build. It's not normal for me to get so much done in such a short time so usually these updates wouldn't be stacked so closely together!

OK no prob, in that case I'd just pick a major update to draw the attention, from there everyone will be able to see what more has been done I guess...

http://www.e21build.com/2013/04/the-heat-is-on.html

Basically just discovered I've got around 3 weeks to get this road-drivable (not registered though, I'll get a permit to do a single trip) as I'll be moving house.

http://www.e21build.com/2013/04/frenzy-night-2.html

got the boot finished, exhaust mounted and remote battery cut off done

started doing the pedals.