E21 Group 2 Build - Turbo S54, E46 running gear

[brettkcherry]

EDIT:

Double post deleted. Thread starts below this one.

[brettkcherry]

Hello all,


This is my first post on these forums and I hope to make it a good one. I've been working on this project for a few months now, sorting out a lot of details and options and now finally feel like I've got a final product in mind and am ready to post about it here. So, here goes...


I bought this 1978 320i in August. She was running and in pretty good shape. I really wanted a Euro spec so I didn't have to mess with changing the rear bumper area (more on this later on). Couldn't find a Euro for a decent price so ended up with this one. $1,100 after returning the motor (not needed by me) to the owner.
tquL2XO.jpg16458.jpg16460.jpg


Some stuff was in rough shape but most of it was being torn out anyway, so didn't bother me. A few rusty areas, nothing unfixable.
20150819_151438.jpg


Fugly US bumpers off. Already lookin' better!
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.... Only letting me attach 5 links per post (wtf?). So this is it for now...

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test...

not allowed to reply to my own post?

[hotdish]

Post in random topics until you get to ~fifteen posts, then you shouldn't have any spam restrictions. Before that your posts may have to be approved by an admin.

This build sounds epic, I can't wait to see the rest.

[brettkcherry]

Post in random topics until you get to ~fifteen posts, then you shouldn't have any spam restrictions. Before that your posts may have to be approved by an admin.

Ah yes... been awhile since I've been "new" to a forum. Thanks for the reminder/tip.

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More pictures:

Garage mates! :-D



Interior stripped. This was a royal PITA! The sound proofing material was stuck as hell on there. I spent a good 4 full days in here with a MAPP torch and putty knife. Still left massive residue as you can see.



Motor being pulled. Saw SOOO many opinions online on pulling from the top vs dropping from the bottom. Top worked out just fine, 30 minute job.


Engine bay empty but lookin' rough, for now anyway.



This corner is going to be interesting to remedy :-/

[DavidD123]

This looks awesome! Excited to see how this goes!


My e21 has the same trunk seal rust. I was lucky enough to find a forum member parting out a car that didn't have rust there. I'm sure you could do the same if you didn't want to fabricate it, judging by the scale of this project I don't think you'll have any problems fabricating it!

[brettkcherry]

Post in random topics until you get to ~fifteen posts, then you shouldn't have any spam restrictions. Before that your posts may have to be approved by an admin.

This build sounds epic, I can't wait to see the rest.

Thanks hotdish for the advice and encouragement. Looks like a mod approved my posts now, all is good.

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This looks awesome! Excited to see how this goes!


My e21 has the same trunk seal rust. I was lucky enough to find a forum member parting out a car that didn't have rust there. I'm sure you could do the same if you didn't want to fabricate it, judging by the scale of this project I don't think you'll have any problems fabricating it!

What sections were you able to replace from? Just that corner or the whole panels? I could fab it up but I don't have the kind of metal working tools at my disposal to shape it up correctly, there's lots going on in this little corner. I hadn't really thought of pulling parts off another car as the rear quarter is part of the unibody. I'm curios how yours turned out.

There's also this: http://www.wallothnesch.com/heckabsc...-41-08-04.html

But I don't want to buy a whole rear panel when it's just this section that's rusty....

[DavidD123]

What sections were you able to replace from? Just that corner or the whole panels? I could fab it up but I don't have the kind of metal working tools at my disposal to shape it up correctly, there's lots going on in this little corner. I hadn't really thought of pulling parts off another car as the rear quarter is part of the unibody. I'm curios how yours turned out.

There's also this: http://www.wallothnesch.com/heckabsc...-41-08-04.html

But I don't want to buy a whole fuckin rear panel when it's just this section that's rusty....

I had someone cut off the trunk metal, I'll have to weld it in my car. I couldn't find aftermarket replacement trunk seal metal. It seems only the tail panel and full quarter panel are available. Unfortunately neither of them on walloth & nesch accurately shows if it includes any of the trunk seal metal. Either way, fixing it correctly is going to require welding.

[brettkcherry]

Group 2 flares and front lip proved very hard to find. There was nothing off the shelf domestically (I'm in Seattle) so I was forced to purchase from abroad. There were a couple options, I ended up getting a full set from MC Racing in France. Their product is great and arrived surprisingly fast. Their response time was not the best, usually a few days turn around time, but they are clearly fluent in English so nothing was "lost in translation." Prices, even on the shipping, were reasonable.

They sell a couple options for the E21, these flares were the "15 inch" wheel version. The front lip is designed to match up with the 13inch wheel version so you can see that it overlaps a bit on the end. Will need to be trimmed.

The rears add just over 4.5 inches of width and the fronts add just shy of 4 inches. With a slightly modified coilover placement I should be able to run 12 inch width wheel in the back.

[Tom D]

hey bret, watch the language please, we don't want the moderators hanging around here.

[brettkcherry]

Oh. Really? Is this a censored forum?

My bad. I'm used to using adult language on the Internet, didn't realize this forum frowned on it. I'll keep it kid friendly :-)

I edited my posts to be in forum rule compliance. Thanks for the heads up.

[sbcrockett]

welcome Brett! looking forward to your progress. there are a few of us E21 folks in the Seattle area, so always good to meet more!

[brettkcherry]

welcome Brett! looking forward to your progress. there are a few of us E21 folks in the Seattle area, so always good to meet more!

Thank you for the welcome. Very rarely do I see fellow E21 drivers on the road here so it's nice to know some exist! Thanks for sayin' hi.

[Tom D]

the pacific northwest probably has the highest concentration of E21's in the nation. my theory is during the late eighties/nineties many of the 'yuppies' from southern califorina moved north, taking their bmw's with them.

brett, could you weigh the power train. if you only have a bathroom scale that and a 4' lever is good enough, i can show you the math

[320iAman]

Hi and Welcome to the forums, this will be a cool build, thanks for sharing this E21 build ,,

Heres a E21-Norway Build 1000 HP-Turbo s54 with SXg!!load of trophies

BMW E21 1000 WHP S54 3.2L Turbo by Jaas Performance in Norway.

The adjustable boost reminds of Hartege street turbo mods, Germany had ordinances then -low boost in city limits-High Boost-autobahn only, you'd see at that time people pulled off the side of the road entering the autobahn make the changes to High Boost---lol...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uPPxK6VrZE



Randy

Take your tolerances to the limit, you wont regret it and its about the same cost its all in the new materials and equipment that do sanding, leveling,cutting ect, they like doing extended precision.

[brettkcherry]

the pacific northwest probably has the highest concentration of E21's in the nation. my theory is during the late eighties/nineties many of the 'yuppies' from southern califorina moved north, taking their bmw's with them.

brett, could you weigh the power train. if you only have a bathroom scale that and a 4' lever is good enough, i can show you the math

Which parts of the powertrain are you wanting measurements for? I'd be happy to do it for you. I'm actually planning on getting a set of car scales, but if I don't I'd love to get "the math" from you.

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Hi and Welcome to the forums, this will be a cool build, thanks for sharing this E21 build ,,

Heres a E21-Norway Build 1000 HP-Turbo s54 with SXg!!load of trophies

BMW E21 1000 WHP S54 3.2L Turbo by Jaas Performance in Norway.

The adjustable boost reminds of Hartege street turbo mods, Germany had ordinances then -low boost in city limits-High Boost-autobahn only, you'd see at that time people pulled off the side of the road entering the autobahn make the changes to High Boost---lol...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uPPxK6VrZE



Randy

Take your tolerances to the limit, you wont regret it and its about the same cost its all in the new materials and equipment that do sanding, leveling,cutting ect, they like doing extended precision.

I love this car. Seeing it opened my eyes to the possibilities of this powertrain/chassis combo.

However, I will NOT be pushing out 1000 hp.

My goal is to have a car that will a) actually hookup under power b) run on pump gas and c) have a very usable powerband (read: good bottom end as well as mid and top end).

Thanks for posting the link.

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Spent some time removing the factory seat mounts. They are spot welded on so it's a bit of a process to get them off. Plasma cut most of the material out, wire wheel the surface so you can see the spot welds better, punch a center mark, drill each one out and then polish down the material that's left over. A bit of filler before painting will smooth it out perfectly.








I also patched a pretty nasty and large rust hole.

[epmedia]

Hi and Welcome to the forums, this will be a cool build, thanks for sharing this E21 build ,,

Heres a E21-Norway Build 1000 HP-Turbo s54 with SXg!!load of trophies

BMW E21 1000 WHP S54 3.2L Turbo by Jaas Performance in Norway.

The adjustable boost reminds of Hartege street turbo mods, Germany had ordinances then -low boost in city limits-High Boost-autobahn only, you'd see at that time people pulled off the side of the road entering the autobahn make the changes to High Boost---lol...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7uPPxK6VrZE



Randy

Take your tolerances to the limit, you wont regret it and its about the same cost its all in the new materials and equipment that do sanding, leveling,cutting ect, they like doing extended precision.

Wholey Smoley. That gives a new meaning to "Tail Happy".

[hdx]

What did the flare kit and shipping end up costing you?

[brettkcherry]

What did the flare kit and shipping end up costing you?

It was 564 Euros total (185 of that was shipping), which at the time came to $638. Shipping was less than a week.

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The main points of the cage are done. I'm leaving door bars and rear cross out for now as I still have some work to do in the interior and want ease of entry and exit.







Fitting the seat and steering





Patching up the front valance to cover where the US spec bumper attached.

[OLD MAN]

I like the flair kit - but for me they stick out too far. I am thinking that 1.5 to 2.5 " of flair would be enough, as with today's tires 12" wide to me would look cool but to hard to find and not needed with newer compounds of today.

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Liking the tube work and body patching, what is your goal for the car, street driver or track car? I ask because the glass work may not hold up to street use and people leaning on it to look at it.

[brettkcherry]

I like the flair kit - but for me they stick out too far. I am thinking that 1.5 to 2.5 " of flair would be enough, as with today's tires 12" wide to me would look cool but to hard to find and not needed with newer compounds of today.

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Liking the tube work and body patching, what is your goal for the car, street driver or track car? I ask because the glass work may not hold up to street use and people leaning on it to look at it.

12" wide will not be hard to find as I will be running 18 inch wheels, with 5 lug (full E46 M3 rearend). I'll need as much width as I can get so it'll stay hooked up *crosses fingers*.

Thanks for the compliment. It will be a street legal time attack. Would love to do some hillclimb racing but haven't been able to find any events that are even remotely close. I hear what you mean about the public messing them up, risk I'll have to take.

[brettkcherry]

Now for the fun stuff!

E46 M3 front and rear suspension, subframes, steering rack, diff, axles, hubs, brakes and wheel sensors for traction control; everything but the springs and shocks (It'll be getting custom coilovers on all four corners). And of course the future beating heart: S54.

[Tom D]

brett, the E21's unibody is a flexible flyer, especially when compared to an E46. if you're going to do this for real then you're gonna need more then a simple 6 point roll cage. i would start by attaching the B pillars to the bar, its the weakest point of the body.

[brettkcherry]

brett, the E21's unibody is a flexible flyer, especially when compared to an E46. if you're going to do this for real then you're gonna need more then a simple 6 point roll cage. i would start by attaching the B pillars to the bar, its the weakest point of the body.

Hey Tom. Thank you for your input. The cage as it sits now is only about 50% finished. Connections to the front shock towers through the firewall, gussets attached to the B pillars, harness bar, cross bars in back and of course door bars are all going to be put in later. I have not finished mocking up the rear end and am not sure how much of the trunk floor and rear seating area will need to be modified so I've left a lot of the cage undone for ease of entry and exit while working. I may even have to fab a rear tubed tray for the diff and subframe to mount to, similar to the photo below, which will certainly add to rigidity. The plan is to make this project as "for real" as possible.

[Tom D]

.........Which parts of the powertrain are you wanting measurements for..........

generally I'm curious as to the weights coming out and going in, particularly an aluminum M54.

i just weigh an 81 M10B18 complete with trans and it's 457 pounds, so thats the weight you just pulled.

since most bath scales can't measure over 350 lbs and your engine is heavier then that, its just a matter of using a simple machine to help, a lever to be specific.

the math is quite easy. with one end of the lever on the ground and the other end on the scale, place the engine somewhere in between, measure the distance from the pivot to where the engine is placed, the total length of the lever and the weight posted on the scale, then do the math.

the lever is four feet long, the weight is placed one foot from the end and the scale reads 100lbs. the ratio is 4:1 and therefore the total weight is 400lbs. likewise if the lever is 5 feet long, the weight placed at 2.5 feet from the pivot and the scale reads 300 lbs then the ratio is 5:2.5 (2:1) and the actual weight is 600 lbs.

the above is a class 2 lever and the one used most for weighting, but if you want to lift something you would use a class 1 lever. this is where the weight is placed on one end, you work the other end and the pivot goes somewhere in the middle. the math works like this;

the weight is 600 lbs, the lever is 4' long and the pivot is placed 1 foot away from the weight and 3 feet from the end your pushing on. this example would yield a mechanical advantage of 3:1 and the effort need to raise the 600lbs would be 200 lbs.

[brettkcherry]

generally I'm curious as to the weights coming out and going in, particularly an aluminum M54.

i just weigh an 81 M10B18 complete with trans and it's 457 pounds, so thats the weight you just pulled.

since most bath scales can't measure over 350 lbs and your engine is heavier then that, its just a matter of using a simple machine to help, a lever to be specific.

the math is quite easy. with one end of the lever on the ground and the other end on the scale, place the engine somewhere in between, measure the distance from the pivot to where the engine is placed, the total length of the lever and the weight posted on the scale, then do the math.

the lever is four feet long, the weight is placed one foot from the end and the scale reads 100lbs. the ratio is 4:1 and therefore the total weight is 400lbs. likewise if the lever is 5 feet long, the weight placed at 2.5 feet from the pivot and the scale reads 300 lbs then the ratio is 5:2.5 (2:1) and the actual weight is 600 lbs.

the above is a class 2 lever and the one used most for weighting, but if you want to lift something you would use a class 1 lever. this is where the weight is placed on one end, you work the other end and the pivot goes somewhere in the middle. the math works like this;

the weight is 600 lbs, the lever is 4' long and the pivot is placed 1 foot away from the weight and 3 feet from the end your pushing on. this example would yield a mechanical advantage of 3:1 and the effort need to raise the 600lbs would be 200 lbs.

That... is incredibly simple, as you said. When I have the motor in hand, being shipped at the moment, I'll be sure and weigh it out.