Helmut the e21
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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. -
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.
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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.
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It felt wierd for a moment to chop perfectly good zf320 but oh well got to do what you got to do.
This is how much it will rotate.
A little angle grinder holder. It is also nice to have a flat table.
chop chop
And rotated.
Now i need to pull my m42 block from e21 bolt the transmission and weld the bellhousing.
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You are a crazy man, Wojtek! Looking good
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I finally found a driveshaft and test fitted transmission and motor. It came out that i made my oil pan 0.5" too long and will have to redo it.
A bit of CSB mount relocation will be required
I started some engine mounts. I also ripped the whole wiring harness and will redo it along with the new fusebox.
I cleaned up and painted rear inner fenders and applied some brush on seam sealer for some extra protection.
E36 steering column is a pretty good fit. I will gain a cruise control stalk which I will need for some dash display controls.
Initially I got garagistic e30/m20 mounts but they are bolt thru which I am not a big fan of. I ordered the revshift mounts.FCP shipped my radiator mounts and engine mounts and I should get em by Monday. I will finish the mounts next week and will modify the oil pan. Radiator and intercooler will be next.
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Is that just a universal fuse box?
It is LittleFuse EPC . https://www.littelfuse.com/products/dc-power-distribution-modules/configurable-pdm/epc.aspx
Two separate buses, 9 relays, 27 fuses should be more than enough. Uses ip67 TE connectors
I also thought about this busman/Eaton but it has relay on every circuit.
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3 months later............
I had to redo the whole subframe. There was not enough room for decent size sump. Engine is mounted to the frame rails anyway so the middle section of the subframe was cut and pushed towards the front of the car. Don't mind crappy welds, once I hit it with some pretty epoxy paint it wont look that bad anymore. It seems that I can tig aluminum better than I mig steel.
Here is the oil pan that I hat to cut a little bit to sit flush with the subframe.
I also put together lower radiator mounts. It uses stock e36 plastic mounts that sit on steel brackets welded to the frame rails. There is enough room in front of the radiator to fit 3" intercooler.
I also got a new daily driver. I got rid of my xc70 and got F32. That b58 and zf 8spd combo is amazing.
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Since the engine sits upright the stock m42 manifold (e30) or ugly e36 one won't work anymore. Miata folks are adapting honda intakes with pretty good results. After some research I decided to get a Honda b series manifold and try to fuse it with m42 intake flange. Spacing is the same +/- 2-3 mm so it should line up fairly well.
It will get bosh DBW throttle body either in 68mm or ill go size up to 82mm if it fits.
Its a pro series so I expect some pro results
. Sadly It will sit upside down so that beautiful logo wont be visible. 
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I tried honda B series manifold and it sat too low. Then I tried volvo whiteblock without one cylinder and it was a bit off spacingwise and also sat too close to the firewall.
I figured its time for some custom manifold. I got some trumpets, plenum and a bit of a runner pipe. Flange is also on its way.
In the meantime I started wrapping up some other bits.
I welded shock mounts for the trailing arms. I started working on oil pickup and also threaded some holes for the windage tray. That cheapo oil pan came with windage tray mounts without any threads. Also internal oil pickup passage has a burr that obstructed 40-50% of the opening.
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I finished transmission mount.
Stock fuel tank wouldn't fit with e28 rear subframe so I had to trim it a little bit.
I started mocking up intake plenum to see if it will fit with a stock booster. The verdict is: I need boosterless brakes. I will try to fit floor mount Wilwood pedals and if it wont work I might go with firewall mounted ones. There is just not enough room for a booster even e90 one with vert mounted motor.
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And intake is almost done. All tack welded and ready to be finished. I got some 1/4" plate to do the end cap and to add some reinforcemnt for vacuum fittings.
I will use bosh motorsports dbw throttle body. I am shooting for anything between 350-500whp. I think that 68mm throttle should do. The next size up is 82mm but I worry it will be too twitchy and drivability will suck.
Holesaw setup to cut 3" holes for trumpets
A little mockup with two runners to check the position of the plenum
All 4 runners in.
Fuel Rail
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