Motors I'm building my own car... UPDATE - Stoneliegh 2013

Thanks for the comments!

BTW - I've now uploaded the images to my webspace (Thank you Pipex - You're so kind to fix the FTP after being told 3 bloody times it was down! My FTP access was down all weekend, hence the flikr)

So those of you that couldn't see anything should be able to see the pics now.

 

Great job so far GOO.

Was just wondering, can/will you cover the gear linkage on the underside with a rubber gaiter of sorts. I remember mine had one iirc

 

Probably not, as the donor BMW didn't have a cover over the linkage. Looking at other builder's cars, they haven't bothered either.

 

Come on, the anticipation is killing me and probably you too. You know you want to start the damn thing.

 

I've been trying to persuade him to do that since the day we dropped the engine in....

He keeps on going on about fuel tanks and pumps etc... I tell him we've got a gallon bottle and gravity - what more does he want...

 

Several bar of fuel pressure.

 

Busy day in Voice Support then Iain?

I'm waiting on an infusion of cash before I can do anything else - shouldn't be to long now....

 

Come on give us a update I need another hit.

 

Goo has said elsewhere on the forum (I think), that he now has the cash he needed for the next part of the kit, but the manufacturer has temporarily shut down to move factories over December.

 

Arh. Starting to feel like a junkie going cold turkey

 

Correct. I'm hoping to get cracking again in the New Year

 

Looks good Goo, I can't wait for another update. It sure will be a good kit car

 

New year - New parts, new order with Marlin!

Yes, I know it's been a while since the last *real* update, but as I explained elsewhere, I've been waiting for funds to come available for the next round of parts and bits from Marlin - only to find that Marlin are having problems with their factory move.

Anyhow, I've put my order in with them, now I have to wait for until they've got themselves sorted out. In the meantime, I've started on a few jobs I've been meaning to do for a while, and got some bits in that Marlin don't supply.

First up, the oil cooler and oil lines:




The oil cooler will sit in front of the water rad, with the hoses running back to the oil takeoff plate. The cut end hoses will slip onto the metal pipe outlets and be secured with double jubilee clips. Once this is in place, I can get the oil in that I've also got waiting. It'll be better off in the sump than in the plastic bottle on the garage floor...

I've also got a new water pump and thermostat housing. I've got those because in working out how I'm going to run the coolant lines, I've realised that the pump I have has two many inlets. This is due to the header tank being on that side of the engine in my donor.



Newer e30s had the header tank on the other side of the engine - and hence had different pumps. This is what I need, as the header will be on this side of the Sportster.



I also realised that the thermostat housing was missing a spigot. The old housing had a plastic spigot that one of the hoses attach to. When I dismantled the engine, the plastic pipe broke off, as it had got very brittle with age. I'd forgotten all about it until I started mentally running hoses... And of course, you can't buy just the plastic bit.



The new thermostat housing had some port holes that need plugging - I only realised this once I got home and hadn't bought the plugs. Luckily, I had some plumbing blanks in my box which fitted!

This is the important bit though:



The missing spigot!

I'll be changing the water pump over the next couple of nights - sounds an easy job, but most of the front of the engine has to come off. And that means removing the radiator so I can get to it - so it'll get a bit involved! I'll leave the oil cooler for the weekend.

 

I just love reading this thread, the detail you are going to is just amazing and makes me wish I had a garage to build a car in too!

 

Hurrah! Another marvelous update!

 

We've been waiting....

 

Been a while since I posted, I love the progress! Fantastic project, I wish I had the room and money to build my own car! Fantastic thread. Keep it up, can't wait for the next update.

 

... WOW!

Can't believe I have missed this thread all this time it's been on here.
This is looking great man; you've done some great work. Hope you get the new bits and bobs soon as this thread proved to be ideal for work-time browsing - the hours litterally flew away.

That engine really came out beautiful, and really gave me the ideas and inspiration I have been lacking. I might have to strip down my own beamer this summer to do up the engine as I'm sure it would appreciate it. (I drive an E32 735i by the way, which I will turbocharge as soon as I can find a reasonable 'puffer' to put on it - already have the manifold.) Oh, and I agree with the other guys on here suggesting you get a cheapo chip off eBay. I got an old second-hand Alpina chip for mine, and whilst not being turbocharged at the moment the difference could be felt - particularly in 4th and 5th. Besides, it would only set you back about $30-40.

Excellent work, keep it up and best of luck to you.

 

Been following this thread for a while, enjoying every update. I understand when you say changing a water pump is more trouble than people think, tried to change my first one at the tender age of 12, everything went well until I tried to restart the engine only to fin I'd messed up the timing (couldn't get it back after that). Before you ask... it was my parents old car (was going to be scrapped) that I decided I wanted to get running and razz it round the fields lol.

Looking forward to the next update.

 

Its been a productive weekend - I've installed the new water pump and the oil cooler.



The new pump has been bolted on with a new gasket - taking the old one off pretty much did for the 'old' one (which in itself was new not so long ago! )



As you can see, I had to take of quite a bit of the front of the engine off to get to it - the alternator bracket, the timing case, the distributor and its rotor and all of the pullies.




After installing the pump, I put the oil cooler in. It's held in place by four rivnuts set into the crossmember. It has four spacers to raise it up slightly to clear the brackets the hold the main raidiator. These are just 10mm pieces of aluminium rod (the same that I made the ECU stand offs out of) with a 6mm hold drilled through the middle.



The oil lines where screwed on, and then run back to the outlet & inlet on the engine. The lines where slipped over the metal pipes from the old lines and secured with two hose clamps. They're just left loose at the moment. Once the steering rack is in place (the lines loop over it before running back), I'll clip them up some how to the chassis.

That done, the oil circuit was complete - so I filled the sump with oil, and then used a drill to spin the oil pump sprocket - that got the oil flowing through the oil system, and to all the bearings. That should mean the engine is fully lubed up before I even turn it over.



After putting the pump on & the cooler, the covers went back on. I also span the engine over by hand a few times to make sure that when the cam belt went back on I hadn't knocked the timing out.



I then put the hose on that runs from the thermostat down to the pump.

Originally, there was supposed to be a plastic clip that attached to the lifting eye that kept the hose from flapping around. It was missing on my engine - so I fabricated a little bracket to do the same job.




The final job was to attach the top hose from the thermostat to the top radiator inlet. This was a standard BMW hose, but as it's a different radiator to the one in the donor, it had to be cut down in length a bit. After that, it fits perfectly.



You may have seen in the pics some other hoses that have been installed - these are small pipes that run hot water from the engine block to the throttle body. The only other hoses that need to be installed on the cooling loop is the hose down to the lower radiator outlet, some new heater pipes (the old ones are manky and perished at the ends), the header tank & the header return. I've ordered the new heater pipes from BMW, and the other rad pipe will be a long, generic flexible pipe with a 180 deg bend - it'll make more sense when you see it...