Discussion
I had a 318is that I gave to my late step son Jim. We both loved that car and as you say, the M42 is a cracking engine. I also had one in my old E21 track car, with a dogleg box and 4:1 LSD. It used to pound around Brands Hatch all day and never missed a beat. So much fun. 
My M20 flywheel and starter arrived today as well. The flywheel needs a little machining so I may as well lose a little more weight from it at the same time. I'm about to go online shopping for a new clutch although a stock E30 325 one should be fine as the M44 won't be that much more than an M20 325 makes and the 02 is significantly lighter.
I think we are just about there with regard to parts now. The adjustable front top mounts are in the post and although I want to upgrade the brakes there's no urgency as the stock ones are pretty good, so long as everything is working as it should. I may as well upgrade the pads to something like Hawk though?
Weather like todays sunshine really makes me miss having the 02 on the drive. I can't wait for it to be finished and ready to use.
My M20 flywheel and starter arrived today as well.
The flywheel needs a little machining so I may as well lose a little more weight from it at the same time. I'm about to go online shopping for a new clutch although a stock E30 325 one should be fine as the M44 won't be that much more than an M20 325 makes and the 02 is significantly lighter. I think we are just about there with regard to parts now. The adjustable front top mounts are in the post and although I want to upgrade the brakes there's no urgency as the stock ones are pretty good, so long as everything is working as it should. I may as well upgrade the pads to something like Hawk though?
Weather like todays sunshine really makes me miss having the 02 on the drive. I can't wait for it to be finished and ready to use.
Glad you enjoyed it. I like forum as a way of documenting car builds and there are a few on PH that have inspired me over the years.
In between working from home I'm trying not to get too distracted looking for alloy brake reservoirs and strut braces!
Or old school race car liveries...
Or other 02's with just the perfect ride height...
Or thinking back to this time last year when mine was still in one bit...
In between working from home I'm trying not to get too distracted looking for alloy brake reservoirs and strut braces!
Or old school race car liveries...
Or other 02's with just the perfect ride height...
Or thinking back to this time last year when mine was still in one bit...
Finally made some progress with the fuel rail on the ITB thanks to making use of the Z3 that I robbed for it's engine. Everything was spaced perfectly and there is just some final fettling needed now. The good thing is everything is OE BMW so decent quality. I just need to sort the fuel line and the vacuum hose for the servo. Overall though, I'm pretty happy with how it's all starting to look. Once everything comes back out and is powder coated it should look pretty sweet.
Ideally I'd like the block like this eventually.
Keeping an eye on the future, I managed to secure a genuine Matter roll cage. I'm thinking I'll most likely go with the ''pig cheek'' arch kit then also.
Ideally I'd like the block like this eventually.
Keeping an eye on the future, I managed to secure a genuine Matter roll cage. I'm thinking I'll most likely go with the ''pig cheek'' arch kit then also.
Edited by 1602Mark on Saturday 25th April 15:10
A bit more progress this week. The radiator is in and properly mounted now, along with the coil packs. I've had to order the leads from Magnecor so am keeping my fingers crossed that they're still working.
The suspension is in now too, although it'll obviously want the geometry sorting. The LSD is still to be picked up from the engineering shop where it was built up.
It's getting closer though.
The suspension is in now too, although it'll obviously want the geometry sorting. The LSD is still to be picked up from the engineering shop where it was built up.
It's getting closer though.
Thanks. I'm really looking forward to finally getting it back again. When I bought it, I though I was getting a car that was mechanically done as the last thing I wanted was another money pit project that would sit in ARM's workshop for months. Hopefully though, now pretty much everything bar the steering has been replaced, it'll mean I can rack up a few thousand miles over the summer.
I've still not been able to mess with tyre sizes and see if I can get the Minilites under the standard arches. I've fitted lower camber plates and adjustable top mounts, so at least there's some adjustment available up front now. I imagine there's a little more clearance to be had if I roll the rear arches but it may be that I just have to wait till the 'pig cheek' arches go on instead?
The newly fabricated front subframe and engine mounts all need to go off to be powder coated but I'm not sure if the plan is to get it all fired up and mapped first? I'm looking forward to seeing how it runs on the S54 throttle bodies? I know that some people say they're too big for the M44 and they're not great at low revs, making drivability a bit hit and miss. If that's the case I guess I will just have to see if that can be addressed when mapping or possibly play with the length of the velocity stacks? Just how possible that actually is though, I have no idea? I'm not after ultimate power gains and really just want reliability and a good induction noise.
Anyway, I've waffled on enough.
I've still not been able to mess with tyre sizes and see if I can get the Minilites under the standard arches. I've fitted lower camber plates and adjustable top mounts, so at least there's some adjustment available up front now. I imagine there's a little more clearance to be had if I roll the rear arches but it may be that I just have to wait till the 'pig cheek' arches go on instead?
The newly fabricated front subframe and engine mounts all need to go off to be powder coated but I'm not sure if the plan is to get it all fired up and mapped first? I'm looking forward to seeing how it runs on the S54 throttle bodies? I know that some people say they're too big for the M44 and they're not great at low revs, making drivability a bit hit and miss. If that's the case I guess I will just have to see if that can be addressed when mapping or possibly play with the length of the velocity stacks? Just how possible that actually is though, I have no idea? I'm not after ultimate power gains and really just want reliability and a good induction noise.
Anyway, I've waffled on enough.
The ITB's are getting close to being finished now..We had intended using the S54 injectors in the Z3 rail but they sat too far from the inlet ports. (or so I'm told as I know as much about injectors and spray patterns as Mr Trump does about super-duper rockets!) As a result we are going with Vauxhall VXR type long injectors and hopefully that will solve the issue.
Just ordered some new gauges from Racetech and am thinking an AFR gauge might be a sensible move. I'd planned on getting one of the O2 turbo style gauge pods that sits alongside the binnacle but the shipping cost in ridiculous. £70 for a piece of plastic! I'm hoping I can find a European supplier instead.
The only other thing I've been doing is looking to try and find the widest rim I can fit under stock arches? I know E30 BBS 15's will fit, but I really wanted to stay with 13's. I guess 14's might be a compromise?
Just ordered some new gauges from Racetech and am thinking an AFR gauge might be a sensible move. I'd planned on getting one of the O2 turbo style gauge pods that sits alongside the binnacle but the shipping cost in ridiculous. £70 for a piece of plastic! I'm hoping I can find a European supplier instead.
The only other thing I've been doing is looking to try and find the widest rim I can fit under stock arches? I know E30 BBS 15's will fit, but I really wanted to stay with 13's. I guess 14's might be a compromise?
Well the ITB set up is just about finished now and we ended up using the longer injectors, as opposed the the OE s54 ones we'd planned on using. The fuel lines are all in and we opted to go with a 1 litre swirl pot in the boot and 3 bar pump. The battery is also boot mounted now and I'm hoping that overall the weight will be pretty evenly distributed. I may actually go with one of those rear strut brace and battery tray combo things? I very much doubt they do much in the way of bracing but they're a tidy solution.
I've also opted to ditch much of the OE wiring, although being as the car is nigh on 48 years old, there's not a huge amount of wiring anyway! I'm also going to replace the tired auxiliary gauges with 52mm Racetech items. I figured oil pressure, oil temp and coolant temp should be enough? The only other thing is the rev counter, but hopefully the OE one will still work OK even if it isn't overly accurate. I'll fit a simple shift light at whatever level I set the limiter, or just before anyway. Another bonus of having a left hand drive 02 is the availability of the occasional period accessory. In this case, an Alpina style dash mounted gauge pod. Mind you, they're out of stock despite being £95! Why a piece of plastic should be £95 is beyond me but they do look good. I could import one from the US but they wanted another £70 for shipping!
At the moment we are stuck waiting on the plug leads from Magnecor. Once they get here though, I'm pretty sure we should be close to firing the MM44/1.9 for the first time and I'll finally have a 16v02.
Once the engine is running and mapped, it'll all come back out again to be made to look a whole lot nicer. I'm hoping to make it resemble a Schnitzer M12 from period. Well that's the plan anyway. I also have a couple of interior bits that I am going to refurb' when I get time.
I've also opted to ditch much of the OE wiring, although being as the car is nigh on 48 years old, there's not a huge amount of wiring anyway! I'm also going to replace the tired auxiliary gauges with 52mm Racetech items. I figured oil pressure, oil temp and coolant temp should be enough? The only other thing is the rev counter, but hopefully the OE one will still work OK even if it isn't overly accurate. I'll fit a simple shift light at whatever level I set the limiter, or just before anyway. Another bonus of having a left hand drive 02 is the availability of the occasional period accessory. In this case, an Alpina style dash mounted gauge pod. Mind you, they're out of stock despite being £95! Why a piece of plastic should be £95 is beyond me but they do look good. I could import one from the US but they wanted another £70 for shipping!
At the moment we are stuck waiting on the plug leads from Magnecor. Once they get here though, I'm pretty sure we should be close to firing the MM44/1.9 for the first time and I'll finally have a 16v02.
Once the engine is running and mapped, it'll all come back out again to be made to look a whole lot nicer. I'm hoping to make it resemble a Schnitzer M12 from period. Well that's the plan anyway. I also have a couple of interior bits that I am going to refurb' when I get time.
Thanks, I appreciate your comments.
We're at a point now where there are a couple of mounting tabs that need welding on the ITB / fuel rail and we can then load a base map and (hopefully) fire the M44 for the first time. The diff is back from the engineering shop now, having had the new LSD fitted, so hopefully that'll be back in the car any day now also.
The Matter full cage is on its way from Greece now also, although I don't plan fitting it till next year and the same goes for the wide arch kit. I'm getting impatient for getting it up and running now though. It's been a good few months since the old M10 let go and it's frustrating spending the cash I have for something I can't use. I'm sure it'll be worth the wait though.
We're at a point now where there are a couple of mounting tabs that need welding on the ITB / fuel rail and we can then load a base map and (hopefully) fire the M44 for the first time. The diff is back from the engineering shop now, having had the new LSD fitted, so hopefully that'll be back in the car any day now also.
The Matter full cage is on its way from Greece now also, although I don't plan fitting it till next year and the same goes for the wide arch kit. I'm getting impatient for getting it up and running now though. It's been a good few months since the old M10 let go and it's frustrating spending the cash I have for something I can't use. I'm sure it'll be worth the wait though.
Fuel rail is now sorted, along with the vacuum take off for the servo. I intend having all these parts powder coated once we fire it up and get the mapping done.
The ITB (or one of them) is very slightly pissed, which is slightly annoying from an OCD perspective.
Overall though, I really love how it's coming together. Once the engine bay is repainted and the engine block and ITB are all powder coated (satin gold) with crackle black cam cover and alloy catch can, brake fluid reservoir etc, it should be even better. I want to lose the blue Samco hosing for the velocity stacks too.
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