Capri GTT... V10, 550bhp

[andygtt]

8bit said:

Maybe I'm missing something here, but will the ratios in the M3 box work well with the M5 engine?

The M3 box was actually used in the US in the M5 as their manual option.... gearing will be fine either way.

[andygtt]

e21Mark said:

Can't help but think a regular stick shift would suit the car better.

My Missus hated the paddle shift.... so car will be a regular stick and clutch regardless of box used.

but 7 speed manual has this nice ring to it

Im not done trying... I will see if I can get the hydraulics working on it 'on the bench', then see if I can shift it and decide from there.

I was thinking very simplistically, simple H pattern set of switches:

Push into first = trigger solanoid to put into 1st
Pull out of first gear = trigger same solenoid to take into neutral
pull into second = trigger next solenoid to put into 2nd
push out of second = trigger same solenoid to put in neutral
etc etc

Maybe I am over simplifying it lol

[andygtt]

spoil sport... ok I'm sold, when can you have an automated prototype ready lol

[andygtt]

Probably my only hope to use this box is to find someone who can adapt the gearbox ecu to run stand alone in some way.... The complete smg system was new and I have 2 gearbox ecus.

[andygtt]

spoke to them originally... they wanted £6.5k to use the electronics on the engine and smg box hence i've gone stand alone.

looking more and more likely that know one can run this box stand alone for realistic cash.... I'm sure someone will come up with something eventually as its a bullit proof box and electrical issues on the M5 related to the box means there will be more and more of these 7 speeders come on the market.

[andygtt]

warsteiner///M3 said:

I know someone who can sort the electronics out for this engine and gearbox.
I've almost finished my second v10 conversion now. both times I've used the m3 manual gearbox, as its my preferred choice, but the smg3 could easily have been used.
there's a couple of other parts that would have to be fitted (to keep the dme happy), nothing major, brake vacuum booster and sensor, and the ekp fuel control module / twin pumps and sensor, and the throttle pedal, but you have all the parts on your 'breaker' anyway. using the original dme, you can use the obd port and use the diagnostics function.
send me an email if your interested.

very interested indeed... have sent you an email

[andygtt]

Managed to get some garage time over the weekend, my focus has been on ride height / stance... After much tweaking I have managed to get the car another 1inch lower than before and only 5mm higher than I originally wanted before the engine stopped play.

Therefore it was time to start modifying the arches, for my double wishbone suspension design I want the car a specific width and track and I don't want rubbing despite close wheel arch gaps... Ive started with the rear as this wheel position is fixed (I can vary the front a few inches if needed).

So I set the car to ride height, marked the new position of the arch, cut it out and remade it... the arch had to go out 10mm and come up 50mm.
I wanted the arches to look subtle rather than catch your eye as the goal of the body mods is to make it look like it left the factor like it.

Im happy with the look, gives me plenty of room in the arch for 2.5inches of bump... next step is to bond the quarter panel on permanently and skim it all with filler to get the finish perfect as the FG panel is far from perfect.

arch marked and ready for cutting.


new arch fabricated with a skim of filler




quick blow over with primer to get an idea of the shape.

Edited by andygtt on Tuesday 27th March 13:00

[andygtt]

ZX10R NIN said:

Here's an idea to cure you're gearbox issues why not use the Manual Gearbox that you get in the American spec M5's that way you don't have to go through the agg of getting the SMG working.

The manual box used in the US M5 by BMW were the M3 box... this is my fall back plan to use this box

[andygtt]

So little update... after some long discussions with people that have done conversions like this I have decided go full BMW electrons route, retaining the original DME, clocks, dash, even going to use the door and window electrics.... This means I have the 'option' of using the 7 speed box now.
The biggest stumbling block for the SMG has always been my wife... she hated the flappy paddels in my M5 and was insisting on an H pattern manual.

So in an attempt to change her mind I have swopped in our sensible new JCW mini for another M5
Ok so thats not the only reason I have bought another one, truth is I loved my M5 and really wanted to get it back on the road, now its officially dead I felt the urge for another.



Done quite a bit on the capri, although it doesn't translate into impressive progress in pictures... I finished off the rear driver inner steel tub and then bonded on the X pack arch and have been filling and flatting it back to get a perfect finish, also worked on getting the door ready for taking moulds and have again filed and sanded the roof to get it close to perfect. Bodywork does take an absolute age and doesn't help that its not one of my strongest skills.





Also bought some new wheels for the Capri.. think they will suit it nicely

Edited by andygtt on Tuesday 27th March 15:51

[andygtt]

e21Mark said:

andygtt said:

So in an attempt to change her mind I have swopped in our sensible new JCW mini for another M5

That's incredibly thoughtful of you. She's a lucky lady to have someone who's so considerate of her needs.

To be fair she always uses the Q7 anyhow... I was left with the mini as it was simply too small for the school run and I hate the mini lol

[andygtt]

they wheels are Rota Grid's from rare rims.

[andygtt]

Not done huge amount to the Capri as mainly focusing on the Noble, however it did mean that the noble was going to be on axle stands for a few months so I wanted to get the primer on the capri body that I had worked on so far... I have spent a week designing and shaping the rear arch and smoothing out the window surrounds and you would never know it wasn't how it left the factory. Means I got it right and am very happy

Door is very close to me taking a mould, next job will be to turn the car around and replicate the wheel arch exactly on the other side of the car which should be a faster process, won't start until the work on the noble is complete.

Edited by andygtt on Tuesday 27th March 15:30

[andygtt]

Thanks for all the responses, i don't find bodywork that easy and have to keep painting it so i can look at it to see the areas i am not happy with. Getting the lines right is very important for me as they will be directly transferred into the moulds, i will be 'dulling' the line down on the rear quarter to match the door, I have left it sharp so that its easy to take measurements from to get the other side the same

I will be taking moulds of the entire car including the roof door shuts etc etc...

[andygtt]

RichGault said:

Good stuff,Inners as well?

I will be doing some of the engine bay and the door shuts etc, won't be replicating any of the underside etc.

[andygtt]

So been wavering and am thinking I might bin the V10 and instead put the V6 in that I've spent so mch time developing in the noble to much more power and torque than the V10 and I know it well.... I've even developed ITB and carbon plenum for this engine this year which I hope will sound good.

Only downside is noise... The v10 would have sounded awesome.

the V6 is a ford 3.0L unit seems fitting as well.

Edited by andygtt on Friday 12th August 21:54

[andygtt]

The issue with the V10 is cost and reliability, the V10 I have is 100k plus old and worth 4-5k.... The V6 would be all new and therefore much more likely to be reliable.

I can't afford to have the v10 fully rebuilt as that would cost another £10k on top, and I want to go for a brand new registration.... Currently the only positive for the V10 in my mind is the sound, not sure that's enough.

[andygtt]

I'm making the body and chassis from scratch so it will all be new regardless of what direction I take engine wise.

it will rund double wishbone suspension and bespoke uprights etc all round so again will all be new

[andygtt]

Max_Torque said:

andygtt said:

The issue with the V10 is cost and reliability, the V10 I have is 100k plus old and worth 4-5k.... The V6 would be all new and therefore much more likely to be reliable.

I can't afford to have the v10 fully rebuilt as that would cost another £10k on top, and I want to go for a brand new registration.... Currently the only positive for the V10 in my mind is the sound, not sure that's enough.

I suspect, that the boggo V10 will be MORE reliable than anything you have made at home. There are thousands of M5s and M6s world wide with high miles, and yes, some of them are suffering issues, but generally, considering they are daily drivers (which your crapi isn't going to be....) they are pretty robust!


I've also no idea how much a V10 costs from a breakers, but i bet you could buy another s/h one for a LOT less than it will cost you to build the V6, where just a set of rods and pistons is going to be £3k if you're using decent ones!


ie KEEP THE V10 !!!

I have 2 of the M5s, the black one failed and was not cost effective to repair, so I took the engine out and started building a Capri around it.. I bought another to replace it and that has just failed, vanos solenoids, these are a wear item and there are 4 of them unique to the E60 M5 V10.... On 1st July this year BMW put the price of these up from £82 plus vat each to £870 plus vat each.

So to fix just one tiny usually cheap element it's £4K and they are a know poor design apparently.... This has tainted me using this unit.

A V10 from breakers is £5k ish

[andygtt]

Escy said:

I'm confused, earlier in the thread you were measuring up the engine bay, talking about steering rack location, etc so it sounded like everything was being shoehorned into the Capri shell. Now it's going to be a spaceframe with the Capri shell dropped onto it?

True, and then after that in the thread I realised if I followed that route it would end up on a Q plate so changed direction. :-)

The body will be full carbon which I will be making.

[andygtt]

PhillipM said:

andygtt said:

I have 2 of the M5s, the black one failed and was not cost effective to repair, so I took the engine out and started building a Capri around it.. I bought another to replace it and that has just failed, vanos solenoids, these are a wear item and there are 4 of them unique to the E60 M5 V10.... On 1st July this year BMW put the price of these up from £82 plus vat each to £870 plus vat each.

So to fix just one tiny usually cheap element it's £4K and they are a know poor design apparently.... This has tainted me using this unit.

A V10 from breakers is £5k ish

I machined some pulleys and new covers up for the racer for that reason, just removed the VANOS completely.

I am very interested in your experiences as this was another option, im guessing you locked the cams in high rpm timing.... What was the low down power like, was it massively down on power?
After all my Capri will be 800kgs lighter with a manual box.