81 320i auto with no clear direction

[captain awesome]

I picked this up a couple days ago for $250.



VIN checks out good, so no worries there and the manufacture date shows 11/80 so I'll have to do some more digging on that.

There's some rust in the trunk area, drain plug area on the floor pans for both sides, and some of the other usual spots, but so far no areas that are cosmetic. Here's a quick photodump.







Driver side trunk rot.



Original color

[Thecatmilton]

That is like my Sapphire Blue car. Low mileage, auto, with a blown engine though instead of rod knock. I swapped the engine and converted it to a manual transmission. I am going to paint it soon. Here is some of the progress on it. https://www.reddit.com/r/projectcar/..._320i_project/

[320iAman]

Welcome to BMW E21 Forums

Randy

[captain awesome]

Took a quick video of the knocking last night. I'm debating pulling the pan to check bearings and see how bad it is or just picking up a known good m10 instead. Future turbo or m42? Lots of decisions to make. Definitely need a manual swap. I'll post up more details when I get another minute.

[Somjuan]

I'll take that six series off your hands!

Welcome to the forum! Plenty of helpful folks here, lots of spare parts, and no shortage of humor

[captain awesome]

Not for sale but I don't mind showing it off.

0579D4F7-64D1-40CA-AB42-3C9C1686CCE3.jpg

[Thecatmilton]

The hardest parts of the manual swap for me was swapping the pedal boxes due to the steering rack and removing the driveshaft flange bolts on the rear diff.

[captain awesome]

Unfortunately this car is staying parked for the next month or two while I finish building my garage. Once that's done I've got some maintenance on the e24 that needs caught up on and then it's go time. I think I'm going to pull the interior and suspension to get the metal patched up first, then focus on body work. Hopefully I can pick up some parts here and there to help do the manual/m42 swap. I'm also debating building some coil overs.

[cgifool]

is that front bumper just painted on the spoiler? did a double take on that.. Looking forward to seeing how you fix the trunk

[John Adkins]

Good candidate for a rat rod conversion...opportunity to use your imagination while spending few dollars.

[captain awesome]

is that front bumper just painted on the spoiler? did a double take on that.. Looking forward to seeing how you fix the trunk

From what I can tell yes. The trim is just adhesive backed rubber that's stuck on. Eventually I'd like to go full Euro bumpers, but for now I'm not sure what the plan is.

Good candidate for a rat rod conversion...opportunity to use your imagination while spending few dollars.

It certainly has little potential for a full restoration. Essentially I'd like to make a good canyon carver for the local Ozark Mountains.

- - - Updated - - -

Forgot I had another video of the knocking.

[captain awesome]

So I picked up another m10 for spares from an 84 318i for $100. Was running when pulled and appears to be in good shape. Well I failed to do any research on the differences between e21 and m30 stuff. Good news is if I decide to go EFI and MS2 I've got the injector rail and manifold. I need to do some more reading on the major differences and if I can use this without major modification.

I also may have acquired another e21, this time being a gold slick top auto 80 320i. It's a barter sorta thing with an acquaintance of mine so we'll see how that pans out. Whichever one ends up being in better shape will get my attention.

[epmedia]

I think that knocking is probably a broken rocker arm. If it's been ran too long like that, the camshaft probably has a bad lobe too. Be sure to find all the broken pieces.

[captain awesome]

I'll pop the valve cover off and see what's going on in there.

Also what's up with me needing to be approved to post still?

[epmedia]

I'll pop the valve cover off and see what's going on in there.

Also what's up with me needing to be approved to post still?

I forget how many posts are needed; 10, 15 or 25. Just keep posting meaningful stuff, in other threads too.

[hotdish]

I forget how many posts are needed; 10, 15 or 25. Just keep posting meaningful stuff, in other threads too.

or just post in off-topic. i think it's 15

[captain awesome]

I'm now hauling around the new m10 in the back of my Montero until I get a cherry picker or borrow one from the FIL.



Was trying to find some sort of decoder for the VIN on the block but most don't appear to make sense for the numbers.



Also noticed these battle scars on the lower part of the block from what I assume was some stuck bolts someone cut out? I assume it's still runnable, but I have my doubts.

[captain awesome]

So the more I look into keeping the m10 and doing a turbo, the more I want to just plug in an m42.


Here's my reasoning:

I can find a 318i manual in decent shape for $1500-2000. Pull the parts I need, and then sell what's left to recover some funds. I may lose the mechanical speedo, but I want to do a full aftermarket cluster anyway. As long as the donor car is in decent condition I should be running and driving for very little money and good usable power N/A. I know finding an e30 version is going to be tough to find, so I've gotten used to the fact that an e36 will have to be my starting point. Whether I swap to e30 parts is yet to be figured out, but it's an option.

If I stick with the m10 I have a ton of different options, but they all require lots of money. A full rebuild with any hop up parts will run more than the full m42 swap and that's not including me needing to do a 5 speed swap if I keep it N/A. The turbo idea sounds great, but I know it takes time to develop a good usable system, and that cutting corners to save money doesn't help. Putting a turbo on the m42 sounds like more fun anyway.

Just thinking out loud.

[Tom D]

Just thinking out loud.

that's why you're so awesome, captain.

here's some encouragement for you.

[WantingAfunE21]

that's why you're so awesome, captain.

here's some encouragement for you.

Drool.... just went online and renamed my savings account "M42 fund"

[captain awesome]

I'm sure soon enough I'll need to start picking your brain on the swap Tom. I've been reading a lot of your posts about it, and it's pushed me in that direction. It's the voice of reason I think.

Another thing I'm trying to sort out is suspension mods. I would like to go coil over for full adjustability, but I'm not sure if it's going to be really beneficial enough to a street car. I've thought about doing some HPDE but it's currently just a pipe dream. My e24 has H&R springs, Bilstein sports, decent tires, and some poly bushes here and there. It's better than when I got it and it's streetable so I'm kinda leaning that direction.

[captain awesome]

Found an m42 with a five speed attached for $400. Recently serviced, lots of new hoses, etc. Comes with ecu, all the bells and whistles plus the driveshaft. It was pulled from a 91 318is for an m30 swap. I should be picking it up on Monday. I found an m10 with a 5 speed from an e30 I could trade some parts for but I think I'm going to hold off on any more m10 stuff for a little bit.

Now I need to read up some more on the m42 swaps and see what I got myself into.

[Tom D]

good job, thats a great price

[captain awesome]

Do you have a thread for your m42 conversion anywhere Tom? I've been reading sonoma's but sometimes it's good to have multiple sources.


Edit:

Nevermind, here's a ton of them including one you put together.

http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...6#post27280816

Back to reading.

[jaredmac11]

If you go to Sellick's thread, he has compiled most of every M42 swap that's been done. You got a good price on that. I paid $500 for just the motor, ECU and harness, with a few other goodies. Still got a lot more to grab thats going to stretch my budget. Fortunately I have a friend with a ton of E30 M42 parts.

Here is Sellick's thread.
http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...ick-s-M42-swap

I wonder how many of these swaps included an M42 rebuild. The guys over at M42club swear these engines need some pretty critical work (main bearings, timing case rebuild) that I never saw in any of these swaps. Im going to be performing at least a timing case rebuild, possibly bearings.