Helmut the e21

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.

retoropak

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.

retoropak

Transmission is welded on the outside. I will finish welding the inside tomorrow

Bellhousing bolted to the block

Magic wand

All bolted together

And welded

The Full Banana

You are a crazy man, Wojtek! Looking good

retoropak

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.