TWR BMW

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e21BMW

Original Poster:

16,205 posts

173 months

Friday 4th February 2011
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Well I finally managed to trace my TWR's baby sister. :thumbsup ( I believe this car was destroyed by fire? )

It's 2.8 engine was bored and stroked by Racing Services in Twickenham by Ken Brittain and Spike Anderson. Now BBR iirc?



The County Car rear spoiler was based on the e9 CSL, a copy made by TWR as the original BMW parts were too expensive for Tom Walkinshaw! (He was Scottish after all) The front was based on an elongated Alpina spoiler designed by Peter Stevens ( of McLaren F1 fame), fitted with self tapping screws- easy to repair, BMW wanted TWR to use the Motorsport one, I think they cost around £150.00 whereas our one was £6.00 from tooling that cost £90.00!

I'll post more details as I get them.

e21BMW

Original Poster:

16,205 posts

173 months

Saturday 12th February 2011
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M30 head is back from the engineering shop with a nice bit of flow work and bigger inlet valves. It should work a treat with the 6 branch & free flow system.







I think we're finally onto the bodyshell next? smile

AV12

5,305 posts

208 months

Saturday 12th February 2011
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clap

Chunkychucky

5,954 posts

169 months

Friday 11th March 2011
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Any updates to add? Really interesting.

e21BMW

Original Poster:

16,205 posts

173 months

Saturday 12th March 2011
quotequote all
I'm off over to check progress on Monday 21st but we are supposed to still be on schedule for having the car at Mays BMW show at the Ace Cafe in N London.

I've decided to fit Gaz coilover suspension so that I can play with ride heights and corner weights in an effort to try and make up for the extra weight of an m30 engine over the usual m20. Obviously all the original parts will be kept should we want to return the car to original specification.

I'll be sure to take my camera on the 21st and will take some more detailed photos of the whole car.

Oi_Oi_Savaloy

2,313 posts

260 months

Thursday 25th August 2011
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Hi E21 - is there an update on your project?

Podie

46,630 posts

275 months

Thursday 25th August 2011
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Oi_Oi_Savaloy said:
Hi E21 - is there an update on your project?
Was mentioned in one of the Classic carmags this month...

Oi_Oi_Savaloy

2,313 posts

260 months

Thursday 25th August 2011
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In a bid to try and save for a holiday I've stopped buying car mags (it was getting a little out of hand - I was buying far too many, never mind the subscriptions). I missed it - how's he getting on?

e21BMW

Original Poster:

16,205 posts

173 months

Thursday 25th August 2011
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Podie said:
Was mentioned in one of the Classic carmags this month...
Really? Which one?

Hopefully, we are only 6 or 7 weeks away from an MOT. I have just bought triple 45's but am going to wait till it's all up and running before I look at sympathetic mods. The 45's were an option.

As things stand, all the parts have been sourced, paid for and collected. The engine is currently being assembled and the body just requires minor work and the new bootlid.

I would have liked to be rocking up to shows in it by now but we are trying to do the job properly whilst keeping to a realistic budget. I don't have huge pots of cash sadly.

I will try and get some more photos over the bank holiday though.

Podie

46,630 posts

275 months

Thursday 25th August 2011
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Classic & Sportscar, September 2011 - P32.

Mail me and I'll send you a screen shot.

e21BMW

Original Poster:

16,205 posts

173 months

Tuesday 30th August 2011
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I've been going through the service history and figured this lot made interesting reading.




























[b]My car advertised for a £21 995
[/b]


Isn't that about £67K in todays money?

e21Mark

Original Poster:

16,205 posts

173 months

Sunday 30th October 2011
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Progress! The shell is nicely protected once more.



Gaz supplied some of their finest coilovers.



Alpina brakes have been fully refurbished.



I've got a lot of love for a triple Weber 45 set-up.



There's a whole lot more to come.

Chunkychucky

5,954 posts

169 months

Saturday 5th November 2011
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Great to see some progress! smile

Originally would it have been on the standard 635 Bosch injection setup with some Alpina internals?

e21Mark

Original Poster:

16,205 posts

173 months

Saturday 5th November 2011
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No, Alpina didn't use the m30 3.5, they stuck with a 2.8 in the B6 and internally they were pretty stock. TWR went their own way in using the 3.5 and it was the head & cam that were modified. I could have stuck with the old Bosch injection but it would have been too restrictive. Webers were an option which is why I went for them. I want to make the most of the work that's been done on the engine.

Chunkychucky

5,954 posts

169 months

Friday 11th November 2011
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Cool, should sound superb with the triple Webers on it smile

sidaorb

5,589 posts

206 months

Sunday 13th November 2011
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Loving this article, especially things like the old pics of TWR's factory in Kidlington which is just around the corner from where I live. Has also made me dig out a briefcase I have full of TWR memorabilia (I used to own a Volvo 850 T5R) just to check if there is any mention of the BMW, but alas no.

Nick3point2

3,917 posts

180 months

Sunday 13th November 2011
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This is some great reading, I will pass it on to some colleagues who worked at TWR and then moved to Renault F1. Some of them were there for some time, I'll ask around if any of them have any info.

e21Mark

Original Poster:

16,205 posts

173 months

Monday 14th November 2011
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That would be great. Now that the car is finally progressing to the point it'll soon be running again, I'm keen to get as much information on TWR & BMW's connection as I can.

e21Mark

Original Poster:

16,205 posts

173 months

Wednesday 23rd November 2011
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Well things continue to progress. Just a bit slower than I would like but you can't have everything I guess. Anyway, AH Fabrications came up trumps with the bespoke rad & fan. It wasn't cheap but I wanted the extra efficiency afforded by an alloy rad.





Braided hoses naturally.



As work is progressing and we'll soon be booking the first MOT in 21 years.

I also managed to find a third big block TWR e21. The rumour was that the third car, a 2.8, had been broken for parts after a fire. Then a few months ago, when doing a Google search, I found an old post from a chap looking for a new gearbox for his TWR. I searched his other posts, profile etc but couldn't find anything more than his name. I made upteen phone calls, wrote letters and put up posts on forums. I also mailed everyone of the name on Face Book.

Last night I got a message confirming that I had found the right chap and he still owned the car! Amazing. It seems it was built by Tom Walkinshaw for a certain Mr Frank Sytner. Hopefully, I shall be speaking to the owner very soon and I shall ask for some details and photos. Its great to know the car still survives and that all 3 cars could potentially be back together sometime in the future.

JCW

904 posts

207 months

Wednesday 23rd November 2011
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Impressive restoration. Any idea on the vehicle's weight?