.:Spring Swap:.

[sonomaGTLN2]

Same one! I've known of Neek's M42 conversion for quite some time, but your build has encouraged me to get on with it and ask questions. I'm trying to gain as much knowledge as possible and hopefully the engine will be in within the next few weeks... fingers crossed. Thanks for your reply on M42club and keep up the good work

Rob (England)

Thanks. It was ultimately my buddy Jake who put one in his '02 that prompted me to do this. So far so good!

[dblsprt68]

Are you useing the original m10 front subframe or is that an m20? I want to do this later on my car, but not until I get a good sized shop to work in. It sure does look good in there! Keep us posted. David

[rob0r]

Any progress lately? I've finally started doing mine, the engine is dropped in though I still have to make the mounts. The IS gearbox bolted up nicely after slotting the IS gearbox mounts, and the IS prop has bolted up near perfectly. Luckily it seems that there are no steering clearance issues on RHD cars, except its a bit tight when getting the engine in place.

The engine is exactly where I want it, just need to make those damn mounts! I tried to post a photo, but it seems I'm a new member...

[sonomaGTLN2]

Are you useing the original m10 front subframe or is that an m20? I want to do this later on my car, but not until I get a good sized shop to work in. It sure does look good in there! Keep us posted. David

Thanks man, the M10 subframe. I used pics of the M20 to get an idea of where the mounting points were at and it helped line things up. It also helped that i have an extra M10 subframe around to use for a template.

[sonomaGTLN2]

Any progress lately? I've finally started doing mine, the engine is dropped in though I still have to make the mounts. The IS gearbox bolted up nicely after slotting the IS gearbox mounts, and the IS prop has bolted up near perfectly. Luckily it seems that there are no steering clearance issues on RHD cars, except its a bit tight when getting the engine in place.

The engine is exactly where I want it, just need to make those damn mounts! I tried to post a photo, but it seems I'm a new member...

Lately i've been piecing things together. Basically the fuel system is done, all i need it to wire the pump. Got a radiator and MAF. Put the stainless steel header on. My trans is about 1/2" short from the driveshaft so I may try doing a spacer on the guibo for the time being. Might just end up having a new driveshaft made, but a friend of mine has access to a water jet, so I could have some cut. I am still looking for an alternator, trans crossmember and E-Fan. Also looking for E30 engine relays (though i think the generic ones will work I'd still like the originals).

email me your pics and i can post them up.... pfen9326 (AT) AIM.com

[sonomaGTLN2]

Recent searches on Ebay have been fruitless in finding a limited slip for a prudent price (something i wanted to put in during or nearly after the M42 swap). Then my 2002 buddy picks up a lot of 2002 (and a few E21) parts from a guy in Ohio and says "hey man, there's a disassembled LSD for an E21 here too. So I asked him to put it back together then I'd buy it. Then I go his house and check it out, it's painted up nicely and all of the seals and bearings look virtually brand new, he said the previous owner had done all the work up to assembling it. Lo and behold, I can now have the privilege of "jacking up the rear end and seeing both wheels spin at the same time". This will definitely go well with the M42!

Being that the stamped "S" has now been painted over and the tag is missing, I still trust it is an LSD because there is an S stamped into the casing on the side near the pinion shaft, but regardless, the output shafts spin in unison.

Not sure if I'll leave it silver, but it will probably be that way the first time i put it in the car, maybe it'll look good.




As for the M42 I've been busy the past few weeks, so I havent had much time to work on the car. I've got an alternator and E30 trans crossmember coming, as well as an air filter kit. Right now I'd say I'm a month behind schedule, but as soon as the wiring and last few accessories are mounted up, it should be running. At that point I'll focus on the gauge cluster and when that is complete the car should be on the road.

[sonomaGTLN2]

BIG UPDATE!
I did a little digging and found out the connector from the M10 engine harness that goes into the fuse box has all the circuits i needed to run the M42, so I made a conversion harness. I will get around to posting the schematic sometime, but here is a picture.


After that i plugged it into the car and motor harness and tidied a few things up. Lo and behold, it turns over! At that point i couldnt hear the fuel pump prime like i thought it should but i was getting spark...so i thought there was a problem. I called my buddy Jake up ("JakeB" M42 powered 2002) and he came over to check it out...needless to say, everything was working fine after we probed things so i went and got some fuel and filled up the tank. Then it fired right up! The idle was high though but I eventually found out it was because the throttle plate was sticking a little bit so I oiled it up and it was good.

I am uploading some youtube videos but they havent processed yet, so as soon as they are through I'll post them on here.

Note this is an open header, i will soon have a flowmaster or some other muffler on there so i dont blow my ears out.

This project is by no means finished, but this was definately a huge hurdle...now just the small things that need to be taken care of. Special thanks to theneek, jakeb, my buddy janko, my buddy josh, the guys on M42club forum for parts, and the other people who helped me out with this.

EDIT: Video 1
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fQCFor0Nyo[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4FaSdzYGI8[/ame]

[wayfast]

sweet

[mrbobian]

Nice! But I want a vid of you break-stand'n it roasting both of them rear tires off with that LSD you got

[TheNeek]

well done!

[BoomerDJ]

Nice! But I want a vid of you break-stand'n it roasting both of them rear tires off with that LSD you got

i need an LSD

[sonomaGTLN2]

Haha thanks guys. The brakes are pretty soft right now though, I need to either adjust the rear ones more or re-bleed the system. I havent put the LSD in yet because I don't really know how I'd adjust the rear brakes and know that they are both adjusted the same...but It will be going in soon...Overall im relieved everything is working now!

[sonomaGTLN2]

Took the car out for another spin today. I didnt really GET on it per-say but stretched it more than i did yesterday. It really moves well, but i definately need to do a front end alignment. Found out my cooling system wasnt bled good enough so I bled it and everything was working fine. I picked up a magnaflow muffler today with attachments for a quick-to-build side-exit exhaust, but i quickly stopped work on that as i got the wrong size to fit on my header. Oh well...the open header deafness is getting old and i think im running slightly lean because of it, so i won't be driving it much until that is resolved. The brakes are feeling better today, that or i'm just getting used to them...but i will bleed them again anyways.

[TheNeek]

where did you mount the o2 sensor?

[sonomaGTLN2]

where did you mount the o2 sensor?

It was on the downpipe towards the back of the header (not the stock header), under the passenger's feet area. If the o2 sensor is bad/miswired will the motor still start?...either that or maybe my airflow meter is sticky.

[TheNeek]

The engine will still run without the o2 sensor. It will be a little rough, that's for sure, usually at idle. It's a 3 wire unit which means its heated, so mounting it super close to the header isn't required. I've had trouble with mine because I mounted it too close to a exhaust joint. The joint leaks a little and throws the reading off. I've always been curious if the factory pipe after the header would work, my motor didn't come with one.

Pics of your aftermarket header?

[sonomaGTLN2]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/89-91...spagenameZWDVW

Thats basically it but mine is stainless. Right now i just have it going through a magnaflow out to side but its still too loud...i'll have to take it to an exhaust shop and have them fab one up that goes out the back with resonator and muffler combo. So far so good though, seems to be running better now with the exhaust on.

[87xjsc]

You mentioned you were going to work on the gage cluster; I was wandering how far you were going to go as to hooking up the complete dash and stuff working. I have been working on this conversion for a while and have traced all of the connections for the e30 speedo and tachometer. If you are interested I can email you the prints on the wiring from the e21 to the e30.

[sonomaGTLN2]

You mentioned you were going to work on the gage cluster; I was wandering how far you were going to go as to hooking up the complete dash and stuff working. I have been working on this conversion for a while and have traced all of the connections for the e30 speedo and tachometer. If you are interested I can email you the prints on the wiring from the e21 to the e30.

Hey man,
Thanks for the reply. I was going to do a full custom cluster, but when i found all I needed in the fuse box body side connector I am just running the neccessary signals from the motor to the dash through that. The water temp and oil/battery dummy lights work fine, but I cannot get the aftermarket tach to work (VDO Vision series). The E21 tach has never worked with me as the owner, so thats when i got the VDO. My buddy Jake is using the standard 02 tach and it was plug and play...

[todor]

Nice work!

Does anyone know how the electronic signal for the tach works? Does it do something like pulse once per cylinder??? Does it need to be different for 4-cyl and 6-cyl cars? Does the aftermarket one have any "setting" related to number of cylinders?

[sonomaGTLN2]

Thanks man. I ended up making an op-amp circuit to drive the VDO tach. Seemed like the ECU wasnt supplying enough current to drive it. After that it moved, but seemed a little slow. I havent really played with it after it started moving, so it could just be a calibration type thing. I'll keep the thread updated. Not sure if its one pulse per rev, but its the same signal that the 2002 tach looks at because jakeb's 2002 tach works flawlessly with the 02 signal.

[87xjsc]

Im in the process of installing the complete gage cluster out of a 91 318is along with the engine and trans, Iam trying to fab the mounting for the chopper wheel in the rear axle housing to get a true speedo signal . if all that works i will have the complete electronics system working (i.e. tach, speedo, fuel consumpsion indicator and oil and service indicator) im not shure how to post pics yet so when i fig it out i will postem.

[sonomaGTLN2]

Well guys I put the LSD in this weekend and man the characteristics of the car have changed. Doing a minor launch on a corner, i spun the tires and almost lost control...need less to say, i haven't really ever driven a car with an LSD with skinny tires and its taken a little getting used to. I put in an aftermarket VDO tach and speedo, still need the speedo pickup, then i'll take some pictures. They integrated rather well into the E21 cluster and I got the tach to work after making an op-amp circuit to keep the voltage in check. Took the car into an exhaust shop tonight and they are doing all the pipe bending and hanging i need...should be done tomorrow. After all the work I did on this car, I am going to be looking for a shell that is in good condition to swap everything over eventually...the car has a few rust issues underneath that concern me slightly. Oh well!

[BoomerDJ]

man why do you have good luck with LSDs =[ oh well glad to hear everything is working out ok cant wait to see it running perfect, post some vids when youve got it

[mrbobian]

Yes, videos are a must!

And glad to see your LSD is acctually put to use. My car is so underpowered that it dosn't even matter that I have one haha.