Helmut the e21

retoropak

Damn its been almost two months since the last update.

i got distracted building my welding/shop table. 1/4" top 2x3x1/8" tube. Nice and solid. Good enough for some light duty welding

Helmut and welding table by w grync, on Flickr

I pulled the second fender, finished front coilovers and welded the lolipop mounts. i put some contours in and my car looks like crap. Waaaaaay too big

Untitled by w grync, on Flickr

I am changing plans and will roll on 15x7s with some skinny 205s this season (if it ever comes out of the garage this season).

Since my car is wider front and back by roughly 30mm per side the standard e21 offsets do not work anymore. and finding high offset 8-9" wheels with 5x120 pattern is almost impossible. I could build some splits but it would probably cost more than my car is worth.

I got set of these for $40. Just need some paint. 15x7et20

Untitled by w grync, on Flickr

Oh and i just ordered a nice an light flywheel (6-7lbs) to accept my 7.25" tilton clutch. I suspect some terrible clutch engagement characteristics. It will be chirp the tires or stall and nothing in between.

Lastly i had to shorten e36 tie rods to get the toe in check.

I cut, welded and added some sleeves to prevent shopping cart mode in the future.

Helmut and welding table by w grync, on Flickr

retoropak

Another month and another update. I refinished style 7s and wrapped em with some cheapo toyos 195/45/15s.

This thing sits low

Good thing is I plan to run some 16s which will be 1-1.5" taller. Either way there are no chances to run the 3" exhaust under the subframe. There is not much space for the 3" over he subframe either. I suspect some side exits in the future.

I had to redo the whole rear subframe because I messed up the angles of the diff. Diff cover was too close to the floor. Fortunately I had e21 and e28 subframes lying around. Quick chop and weld and now its good to go with the diff sitting at much better angle.

I also test fitted the m42. It is a rear sump setup and I will definitely need to chop some oil pan off to get the head to clear the firewall.

I will most likely have to vert mount it if I will ever want to turbo it. Also it is pushed so far back that the first exhaust runner is uncomfortably close to the firewall and strut tower/inner fender and slanted situation is not helping at all. Also a lollpop mount and arm might be a bit in the way of the downpipe.

I got my Australian engineered, made in Taiwan chromoly flywheel from Rama. This thing is so light that I thought that I got an empty box.

Flywheel weighs 5.5lbs and flywheel/tilton 7.25" twin is right at 13.5lbs. Drivability will suck big time.

retoropak

I figured out my swaybar situation. I got a set of e30 ST bars 22/19mm front fits pretty good. I will link the front to the strut housings just like e36m3.

I started chopping the oil pan and should weld something up this or next week.

I got a new torch: ck tl26 I might need the whole 200 amps to do 1/4” aluminum for the oil pan. The torch that came with my thermal arc is ok but the cables are way to heavy and stiff. New ck feels much better. Its still air cooled. I might get the water cooler at some point.

I also ordered the ECU. It is Maxx ECU race unit. https://www.maxxecu.com/products/race

It has everything that I will need and more.

What is your opinion on the lcd dashes? I would like to run a dash instead of bazillion of gauges. I would like to have the ability to see timing, e85 concentration in addition to boost, o2, oil pressure and whatever else I might need at the moment. Having al the information in one area also helps. You can also program whatever alarms you need and it will pull everything from ECU via can

I like the aim dashes but the only option to have 10" dash is to go with their PDM unit. Haltech is not bad, there are couple other that are not bad but not sure about the support. ECU mater ADU is very nice but quite expensive.

ASTROCHIMP

Not sure how much help this will be. But I found this today while browsing around bimmerpost looking at digital gauge options for my e90. No clue how good they are and the website has a really scammy name. But it claims to mate up to the maxx ecu.https://customdigitalgauges.com/products/race-cluster

retoropak

ASTROCHIMP said:

Not sure how much help this will be. But I found this today while browsing around bimmerpost looking at digital gauge options for my e90. No clue how good they are and the website has a really scammy name. But it claims to mate up to the maxx ecu.https://customdigitalgauges.com/products/race-cluster

I’ve seen it before. Their universal dash that talks to maxx ecu does not have bmw graphics but i am sure they could load it.
I am not sure about the support tho.

I like aim’s flexibiity with CAN. You can define your own can protocols. Also aim has multiple pages that can be swapped. What i dont like about most dashes is that you cant use your own graphics . Most of em have predefined graphics and will allow only changes to some parts of the graphic and maybe a font size and color.

Maxx Ecu has built in bluetooth and they have app for apple and android. I dont know how responsive the gauges run on a tablet would be.

YoungCR

Wheels turned out great, what paint did you use? I wish the style 7’s came in 16” as well.

SteelBlue

YoungCR said:

Wheels turned out great, what paint did you use? I wish the style 7’s came in 16” as well.

Would run these on my car if they did.

retoropak

YoungCR said:

Wheels turned out great, what paint did you use? I wish the style 7’s came in 16” as well.

Duplicolor cheapo laquer from Oraily it comes in quart size cans.

I sprayed that with smaller touchup gun 1.0 tip. Just stirred it and shot it.
i was too cheap to buy a clear to go with it so i followed with rattlecan clear. I dont expect it to last.

I will run em just for one season to see if i havent screwd something up with suspension. If the car survives first season i will get some 16s with some beefier tires.

SteelBlue said:

Would run these on my car if they did.

I would love to have em in 16x7 and 16x8 or even 8/9”.

retoropak

I did some sway bar fitting tonight.
Where do i connect the links?Control arm as in e30 or strut tubes as in e36m3? Any pros or cones to either setup?

I also got some goodies

KaiserRolls

retoropak said:

I did some sway bar fitting tonight.
Where do i connect the links?Control arm as in e30 or strut tubes as in e36m3? Any pros or cones to either setup?

id go for strut tube. I’ve ran both setups. When I was setup to control arm, I would bend the adjustable endlinks, they would bind, the bar wasn’t in a great position either because the adjustable endlinks were so short.

Currently I’m mounted to strut tube, way more adjustment to get the bar in a better spot, links don’t bind, etc

retoropak

Thank you sir.

KaiserRolls said:

id go for strut tube.....,

I whipped front bar mount today. Temporarily mounted the bar and the control arm link is a no go. Its too short and at weird angle. I will link it to the strut tubes.

I also did one of the rear diff mounts and started to fit the rear bar. Looks like the rear will fit quite nicely.

retoropak

I just welded the m42 vert mount oil pan. I hope it doesn't leak. I will fill it with water once it cools down and leave overnight.

retoropak

So i water tested it and found 3 pinholes. Welded em shut and no more leaks. I got the drain plug bung and 10AN for turbo drain ordered will weld em next. Also the oil pickup will need some slight chopping and welding to fit correctly.

Do you think I should baffle the pan since there is no sump for the oil pickup?

Don't mind the welds, looks like shit but will hold. For my excuse last time I welded aluminum was 2 or 3 years ago.

I ordered poly rear sway bar bushings and mounts and stock diff bushings. I should have the suspension ready for paint sometime next week.

I might even drop the motor in this month.

Depending how bad the exhaust situation is going to be I might skip the headers and whole NA nonsense and go for turbo manifold right away. Stock m42 should be able to put 200-250 without much problem.

KaiserRolls

I would think baffles are a good idea

retoropak

Last week I test fitted the motor with the new pan. It looked cozy in there almost too ”sr20” looking when it sits straight.

Two feet clarance in front of the motor for that 4” thick intercooler or maybe ac condeser🧐

retoropak

I finished the front suspension. Sway bar links are done. I painted the front subframe, strut housings and spindles.

I’ll finish welding rear subframe adjusters today and paint the rear tomorrow.

Next will be the engine bay prep and paint. I will also need to paint rear wheel wells.

After that I can start fitting the engine.
I got a mixed feeling about the vert mount. It will give me much needed clearance on the passenger side but will put the shifter 2-3” to the left.
I can chop and rotate bellhousing but that will be not ideal in case i will ever have to replace the gearbox.

YoungCR

Good lookin' hardware.

retoropak

New hubs and dust shields. I also have a set of reman calipers and brackets. 286mm brakes will do for now. I will look into some 4 pot wildwoods if the stockers will end up not sufficient.

Freshly painted rear subframe

I really like that SPI epoxy primer. Works great

And the part that I did not enjoy at all. Hate the prep work.

I need to wait for the radiator (e36 318i) to get the brackets fabbed and welded before I paint.

I will hit it with two coats of epoxy followed by couple coats of single stage urethane.

retoropak

I did another test fit of the m42 last weekend and the gearbox will not clear the tunnel at least not tilted 30 degrees.

So in order to vert mount the m42 i will have to cut and shut the transmission.

The plan is to use ordinary angle grinder mounted on a jig/stand that will move/slide on the flat table where the transmission will be bolted. I don't need a lot of precision at this point. I will need a gap between the two pieces to weld it properly anyway.

What is important is to have the transmission perfectly centered/ coaxial with the crankshaft and to do that i am going to use the throwout bearing guide tube that bolts to the gearbox

Below is the picture of the guide tube with a bit bigger tube slipped over it

the larger tube has perfect ID (1.5”) to fit snugly over the guide tube and 60.5mm OD to fit the main bearings. I will weld it together and use it to center the transmission.

Then a pass or two on the outside and another one or two from the inside should hold the bellhousing without much problem.

Stay tuned. I should have it bolted in the car soon.