engine and drivetrain M20 Swapped 2002's - Roll Call!

[kid2002]

Ahh I see what you're after.

[dcmackintosh]

It's great to see updates on people's builds.  I bought mine already converted and love driving it.  I was curious about the weight, so I backed into a closed truck weigh station.  1,300 lb on the front axle and 1,200 lb on the rear, with me (190 lb) sitting in it and close to full tank of fuel.  The weight distribution is then 52/48, which is pretty good.  Mine is a '72 and also has an IE glass hood, which helps.  No radio, no headliner, no hoses to the heater, which I need to take care of sometime.  It's got H&R springs, Billstein Sports, and IE bars, and the car pushes and eats front tires and is also quite rough riding.  I'm interested in what others are using for springs, if you've got a well-balanced setup. 

[kid2002]

That is good info.

What tires/wheel set are you running?

Thanks for sharing.

[dcmackintosh]

What tires/wheel set are you running?

 

 

15x6 Panasport Minilites, 195/50-15.  Nice and light!  I forget what tires are on there now, nothing special.  They're done, though, and I'm trying to decide between Kumho Ecsta ASTs (by far the cheapest and I like them on my Miata), S-Drives, DZ102s, or g-Force Comp-2s.  The car could use more tire, but I love the wheels and I'm not prepared to add flares now.  Not a lot of grip does make it fun. 

[Poon]

dcmacknitosh, does your hood still have the belt line trim? I've been thinking of getting a fiberglass hood as well, but I'm not sure if the glass hoods can still use the trim.

My car under steers as well. Corner hard and it pushes the outer tire. Before I put swaybars on the car it even had enough body roll to lift the inner tire. Just need to give it more throttle in the corner to get it to oversteer

I have 195/50 15 S.Drives and while I think the tires are great, the sidewalls are really wide and they fit wider than most other tires. On my 15x7 Rota RBs I have a bit of poke in the front with the tires.

I have Ectsta ASTs on my E28 and they're just ok. S.Drive is a better tire for sure.

Personally I would give the Dunlops or Gforce's a try.

[dcmackintosh]

dcmacknitosh, does your hood still have the belt line trim? I've been thinking of getting a fiberglass hood as well, but I'm not sure if the glass hoods can still use the trim.

My car under steers as well. Corner hard and it pushes the outer tire. Before I put swaybars on the car it even had enough body roll to lift the inner tire. Just need to give it more throttle in the corner to get it to oversteer

I have 195/50 15 S.Drives and while I think the tires are great, the sidewalls are really wide and they fit wider than most other tires. On my 15x7 Rota RBs I have a bit of poke in the front with the tires.

I have Ectsta ASTs on my E28 and they're just ok. S.Drive is a better tire for sure.

Personally I would give the Dunlops or Gforce's a try.

My car doesn't have any of the trim except for the rockers. I'm not sure what would be involved in using it with a glass hood. Stick-on would work, of course.

I can easily drift the car powering out of 2nd gear corners, but I'd still like it to be better balanced. I've got the IE bars set on soft up front and hard rear, but I still need stiffer rear springs and maybe more front camber. I'm debating coil-overs, but it's more money.

Good tips on the tires, thanks.

[13]

Keen to see how my 205 coopers work on the 15's, some people say that its almost a bit too much tire for the car, I felt happy with the old 145's but knew with the extra power I was tossing in with spraying an m20 and possibly boost later on, it might not be a bad idea to have a bigger contact patch

[Growly]

I know this topic has been beaten to death but most the info on the subject (at least what I can find.) is REALLY outdated.

 

I just picked up a 1976 Auto 2002. The head is trash. Block is rusty.

 

I'm an E30 guy. I know M20's pretty well, and actually just finished up a 2.7i (325i head on a 325e block and pistons.), fresh clutch kit, lightened single mass flywheel, M50 Injectors, and Motronic 1.3. Currently that engine is in a pretty ratty E30. I'm ready to get rid of that shell and throw the M20 into my new to me 2002. I've been dreaming of building this car for years, and now this 2002 finally fell into my lap. (Got it for free. )

 

So here's what i'm looking for. I'm used to a thriving community of Enthusiasts. I'm used to R3Vlimited.com and E30tech.com, Tons of current/new info on the new and old swaps and common issues! This message board seems to be the best so far i've found for the 2002 chassis and I like what I see here.

 

Who's done this swap? Who currently has one and drives it pretty regularly? What info about the M20 swap is just hear say and what is the actual truth? Buy mounts or make my own via the PDF file i've seen floating around? G260's, how much work is needed to make them fit?

 

I'd love to take as much as I can from the E30 and use it in my 2002. I want to avoid having to shorten the driveshaft and i'm okay with doing some modifications to my trans tunnel. Just want to keep things clean and well thought out.

 

So there is my welcome. Happy to be here, and very willing to learn. 

Thanks for your time,

Paolo

 

PS. I'll post a photo tonight of what i'm working with. 

The car is an automatic. I have a pedal box and four four speed transmissions. haha.

The car is an automatic. I have a pedal box and four four speed....

Is it possible to switch transmissions? I have a manual transmission but I don't like driving manual on hills especially when I come to a stop. I'd rather use an automatic.

[kid2002]

Guys, i'm finishing up my wiring and am driving myself nuts over the starter wiring.

 

I have a 1976 automatic 2002.. obviously the automatic has been yanked out in favor of the g260.

 

I'm looking for a black wire that goes to PIN 50 on the ignition switch. Easy enough, issue is the wire that goes to PIN 50 on the ignition switch in my car is BLACK w/ GREEN stripe - that wire goes into a connector housing with a relay.... confused as hell at this point. I think this relay has to do with the fact that this car was an automatic.. something about having to be in park or neutral before starting the car.

 

My question is this, which wire coming out of the relay should I splice into for the Starter Signal wire on my E30 harness? Would I be okay with just throwing this relay out and running a black wire from PIN 50 from the ignition switch to the Starter Signal wire on the E30/C101 that i'm wiring up? Everything else is matching up just fine with the research i've done, just this one thing is throwing me off. Thanks guys!

 

I've got pictures to share but for whatever reason I can't post them from Google...

Edited March 15, 2015 by kid2002

[Pierre]

You have to ditch the relay since it won't get a signal from the transmission to allow the starter to be activated.  You could bridge the connector that was hooked up to the auto trans selector fooling the relay to think it's always in Park or Neutral thus allowing the starter to engage but why add complexity when there is no real purpose?

Or you can connect the relay wire to the brake circuit preventing the car from starting if the brake pedal is not depressed, or or a switch hidden somewhere that could act as a theft deterrent.

[kid2002]

Okay, the simplest thing for me at the moment seems to be to just disconnect the BLACK with GREEN striped wire and run a new 10g black wire from PIN 50 at the ignition switch to the C101? My mind tells me that would be the simplest way! I don't need any of that safety stuff.. lol

 

Thus "ditching the relay"? 

 

Lots to share when I get a chance, I need to find a good way to host these photos..

Edited March 15, 2015 by kid2002

[luismpr]

Why hasnt anyone used a g240 from the e30 m42 instead of the larger m20 box? It would bolt up, work, and take the power from an m20. Other than having to mess with the shifter linkage being cocked 10 or so degrees. That's the route I'm gonna be taking as I definitely don't want to have to make a new trans tunnel. Also does anyone have an extra set of mounts so I can go ahead and get my project moving? Lol

Edited March 15, 2015 by luismpr

[Pierre]

The G240 tranny from the M42 does not bolt up to the M20.  That was my understanding from several people who claimed they have tried.  It will bolt up to the back of an M50.

I had an M20 engine and M44 transmission next to each other once.  The bolt patterns do not match.

If anyone here has successfully bolted up a G240 from an M42 on the back of an M20, please chime in.  And I don't mean those who heard that it works.

If the g240 fits on the back of an M20, does that mean that the M20 tranny would fit on the back of an M42?  If so, then why didn't BMW just bolt that tranny on the E30 M42 instead of creating a whole other transmission for the M42?

[luismpr]

Its my understanding that an e30 m42 trans does bolt up. It does sit at a different angle however. Now its also my understanding that e36 m44 trns and m42 ones are different and cannot be interchanged. I haven't actually tried this yet but have spoken to several knowledgeable people who have confirmed that the 240 m42 trans will bolt up to the m20. That last question is like asking why didn't they bolt up the m20 trans to the m50. They are interchangeable but I assume packaging and gear ratios played a good role in that. I will be trying this fairly soon to comfirm

[kid2002]

Well I guess you'll/we'll find out then.. You gonna check for us?

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