'71 2002 M20 Conversion

[cjreents]

Just a quick update for anyone stumbling onto this blog... I've been troubleshooting some electrical issues over the past few weeks/months.

Starter Issues:

The car all of a sudden would not start. So, I replaced the starter and it worked like a champ for a couple weeks. Then again, it wouldn't start - clicking but would not turn the engine over. I got out the multi-meter and found about a 1/2 a volt present on top of the engine (intake manifold). The engine is grounded to the body at the oil pan and I remember some posts from E30 forums that some had to ground the top of the engine as well. I grabbed a piece of wire, attached it to the throttle cable bracket and the other end to the body of the car. Turned the key, and the car started immediately.

Alternator Not Charging Battery:

I found that the alternator would not charge the battery unless I rev'd the engine to 4k rpm's. I tried 3 different alternators (some new, some used) and the same issue persisted. I finally discovered that the "L" on the instrument cluster was burned out. Apparently, this is part of the circuit and a non-functioning warning light will not allow the exciter wire to become "excited". Replaced the bulb, and the alt. is now charging the battery upon start-up.

[scottiesharpe]

Can you please post some pics of how you overcame the interference between your Ireland sway bar and your oil pan?? You had mentioned spacing it out, but I didn't catch how you solved that problem. Thanks!

[cjreents]

Don't have a picture handy, but I simply added some washers between the mount points on the car and the sway bar... thus dropping the bar down another 1/2" or so.

Hope that makes sense...

[cjreents]

Here are the pics you requested...

I had to cut a portion of the crank nut off to clear the radiator... I think most others have had to do this as well.

I probably have about an 1/2" of clearance between the head and the top of the firewall (drip well).

Driver side mount.

Passenger side mount.

Bell housing clearance at the tunnel. Difficult to see but there is probably an inch or so between the top of the trans and the tunnel.

This is my second trans and there is probably only a 1/4" between it and the center-link. The bottom of the bell housing on the previous trans that I had installed was shaved back an 1" or so by the previous owner. I've thought about doing that here, but have not got around to it...

[cjreents]

Got heat?

I didn't and just recently the fan even quit working... time for the dreaded heater box rebuild.

Over the past couple of years, I had gathered a couple different heater cores, and found an entire heater box w/core and controls from a squarie at a local pick n' pull. In the end, I ended up using a later style heater core with the larger inlets/outlets along with the later heater valve.

As far as the fan motor, I found one for a Porsche 911 that was less than 1/2 the price of a direct replacement. Part #0130007081 and I ordered from Autohausaz for $55 which included free shipping. Turned out to be identical to the 2002 heater fan motor... just had to reverse the polarity to spin the fan in the correct direction.

Three piece dash removal (Remove cluster, remove steering column surround, unscrew all screws from lower dash including those behind the steering column and the two nuts at either end. Remove heater hoses from dash, pry top dash up until two screws on each end are exposed. Now you can pop out the lower dash):

Bezels:

Remove these two screws to remove bezels:

Early box on left, Late box on right:

Rusty heater valve:

Early heater core on far left, later style (bigger inlet/outlet) middle & right:

Made a bracket for the heater valve as the plastic was cracked:

Cleaned w/ new foam and grommets:

Heater fan motor (from Porsche 911 - part#0130007081). Perfect fit!

Complete (and it works perfectly)!

Repainted bezels:

[creede]

Looking great! How well does the heater work now?

[cjreents]

Not sure yet, just finished installing it last night and haven't had the car warmed up long enough to feed hot coolant through the heater core. I'll keep you posted...

[s99]

What would you say you spent total money wise?

[Pierre]

Actually two.

What did you use for a clutch line between the master and slave cylinders?

What did you use for a throttle cable?

Thanks.

[cjreents]

Actually two.

What did you use for a clutch line between the master and slave cylinders?

What did you use for a throttle cable?

Thanks.

1. I had Oil Filter Service (in PDX) make a line, which is basically a break line that I connected to the existing hard line using a coupler.

2. Lokar (bought from Summit Racing).

[Pierre]

Actually two.

What did you use for a clutch line between the master and slave cylinders?

What did you use for a throttle cable?

Thanks.

1. I had Oil Filter Service (in PDX) make a line, which is basically a break line that I connected to the existing hard line using a coupler.

2. Lokar (bought from Summit Racing).

Great. Thanks.

[cjreents]

I swapped out the e21 323i radiator for a brand new Scirocco rad that I bought from autohausaz.com for less than $60. I had to cut out a bit more sheet metal to make it fit... then added a new piece of metal to cover the radiator and fan.

The Scirocco radiator has two plastic tabs at the bottom of the radiator. I bent a couple pieces of metal then drilled holes for the tabs to rest in:

At the top of the radiator there are two slots on each end. Again a couple pieces of metal welded to the cover piece... they slide down into the grooves on the radiator:

I used SPAL radiator fan mounts (#30130011) to attach the fan to the radiator.

[Meintii]

any updates on this fantastic build?

[Meintii]

any updates on this fantastic build?

[cjreents]

Car's been running great... not too much to report. Drive the car 30 miles round trip to work and back when it's not raining and get her out on the weekends when I can.

Next up is a 1985 M535i which I've had for about a year now. Haven't touched it yet - it needs a ton of work...