engine and drivetrain M42 swap - DONE!!

[pklym]

May I ask, what route did you end up using for fuel lines? Did you use the stock return hard line for the supply? If not, where did you source your fuel line?

Thanks,

Peter

[Barrosco]

I know that's what I did for the feed, Peter. I'm pretty sure I've got a soft line running alongside the hard line for the return. I'll probably bend up a hard line for the return at some point if that's the case.

[tashakes]

My car had a previous FI conversion on the M10, but the way it is set up is a new supply line (rubber, hi pressure) from the tank to the engine, and the hard plastic line used for return,  I am replacing the plastic one for another hi-pressure rubber for the return, I do not trust it, it is almost 40 years old and has already cracked in one section. 

 

I would recommend running 2 lines and not using the plastic one.

[tashakes]

So one more very late follow up.  I originally left the 02 shifter in there.  After living with the slop for 4 years, I finally got fed up and installed the E30 shifter and secured the platform correctly.  What a difference.  Now the shifts are crisp and direct, and the shifter bounces back to the 3-4 gate in neutral as it should.  This is how it should have been done from the get go.  I think the hole for the shifter rod at the bottom of the 02 shifter is bigger than the rod pin, so the shifter amplified the slop at the bottom from about 1/2" to about 10" at the shifter knob.

 

The moral of the story:  use the E30 shifter!  Now maybe I will look into a short throw....  maybe.

[TobyB]

Z3M shifter will shorten that right up for you.

 

But they are expensive,

 

I bought a $20 'short shifter' off ebay, and am happy.

 

t

 

[bianchini]

@tashakes

do you have any cooling issues with the electrical fan NOT covering the whole radiator? I always thought you needed a fan to cover the whole side or a cover to divert flow.... I am doing a different swap, but I will have the same type of coverage with fan and radiator. 

 

 

[tashakes]

21 minutes ago, bianchini said:

@tashakes

do you have any cooling issues with the electrical fan NOT covering the whole radiator? I always thought you needed a fan to cover the whole side or a cover to divert flow.... I am doing a different swap, but I will have the same type of coverage with fan and radiator. 

 

 

 

None at all.  The fan sucks air and is usually only needed for slower speeds or congestion.  I am sure the fan runs while going down the highway, but not sure it does much as the airflow is great.  You should not have any issues.  I bought the largest fan I could fit that came with a thermoswitch from eBay and has worked perfectly.

[DaveDel82]

13 hours ago, tashakes said:

 

None at all.  The fan sucks air and is usually only needed for slower speeds or congestion.  I am sure the fan runs while going down the highway, but not sure it does much as the airflow is great.  You should not have any issues.  I bought the largest fan I could fit that came with a thermoswitch from eBay and has worked perfectly.

 

I can confirm this as well... I have the same set up. I only hear the fan come on if I am sitting at a traffic light too long. I have a 12' spal pusher fan, doesn't cover the whole radiator. I wired mine to the stock e30 radiator therm switch... No issues

[Harv]

I can’t stress this enough. +1 for the throttle linkage to be mounted to the body and not the motor/transmission. 

 

John

[jimk]

On 4/10/2015 at 9:22 AM, pklym said:

May I ask, what route did you end up using for fuel lines?

Outside the car please or it's a death trap.  If it has a leak for any reason, it WILL spill in the car.  

[tashakes]

2 hours ago, jimk said:

Outside the car please or it's a death trap.  If it has a leak for any reason, it WILL spill in the car.  

100% agreed.  I replaced the original plastic line a while ago with a hi pressure rubber one and routed it under the car the same as the feed line.  

[tech71]

Great stuff here, compression is not so good on the orphan survivor.  100 to 105, thats a bit low isn't it?

Pic is my barn. Engine/trans is from 91 318is that got hit in the rear. Got all the stuff on Jake Bs list. 

[irdave]

15 hours ago, tech71 said:

Great stuff here, compression is not so good on the orphan survivor.  100 to 105, thats a bit low isn't it?

Pic is my barn. Engine/trans is from 91 318is that got hit in the rear. Got all the stuff on Jake Bs list.

 

Yep, that's low.  On the minimum side you could do a leak down test and see where it's leaking; on the maximum side rebuild it into a hot-rod motor...

[Nashstey]

On 11/27/2014 at 11:58 AM, tashakes said:

As a follow up, I got the autosportlabs tach adapter working. I had already bought it and gave it another try. Pretty easy setup, tach side of the board goes to the tach wire on the 02 that used to go to the coil, and coil 1 on the board goes to the c101 wire from the M42 ECU. For $15 shipped and after frying the MSD $70 adapter, i could not resist. http://www.autosportlabs.com/product/tach-adapter/

 

Does the autosportlabs tach adapter work with the existing 2002 tachometer?

regards, Diego

[tashakes]

1 hour ago, Diego Garcia said:

 

Does the autosportlabs tach adapter work with the existing 2002 tachometer?

regards, Diego

 

Yes, it does, just use the #1 port on the adapter for the ECU wire, and the other one goes to the car's tach (coil) wire.