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Brockzilas e21 320/6 BMW build


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Hi guys.

I'm new here and am really enjoying the vibe.

I have recently got my self a new toy

an 1981 320/6 E21 BMW

IMAG0202.jpg

Thanks to Campbell for looking after after it so well prior to me buying it off him.

Photos to come. Just charging my phone.

Plans are to try and swap the rear over to 323i disc brakes, LSD, and maybe a engine swap to the 2.5.

But for now it's carb rebuild time.

Weber specs said that this carb is the worst carb ever built and that they should all be sacrificed to make space for something that actually works

Good luck to me

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Soo. The carb is still on. Took it out for a drive on the weekend. About 150 km of motorway and round town.

A good drive and a bit of trashing seems to have calmed the running gremlins. It will still be rebuilt, I have the parts and I'm keen to soda blast it clean also.

More pressing at this point are the non captive rear springs. Previous owner put in Jamex springs and them too short, bu about 12mm. Makes bug bangs when accelerating hard over bumps..

Previous owner has a set of 323 rear shocks for me, am looking in yo lengths hoping I can sort this.

I did spend saterday in the garage, I only just moved and have been having issues finding stuff in a garage full of boxes

So I got on trade me and brought this. Units cost me $1 and the bench cost me $15.

IMAG0201.jpg

Left the sink in for cleaning and what not. Lots of room for storage and working. Very happy.

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  • 2 months later...

Ok 

 

Sooo 

 

Its been a while since i haev updated this.

 

no real work to speak of at this point, 

 

Just some cleaning and driving. 

 

Fixed a oil leak from the sump not being tight enough and at the same time cleaned and scrubbed the motor and box of all the crap left over from a long term oil leak. 

 

Currently have the seats out to inspect the floor for rust, found a few little bits but nothing needingto cut the floor out so just a few patches so im happy with that.

 

Am currently rewiriing the sound box

 

I also tore the gear knob off in a moment of vigirous gear change. need to get on to that soon, real soon. 

 

Just trying to get it back in to driving condition for next wednesday night now. 

 

UMMM mexacali fresh!

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  • 3 weeks later...

IMAG0314.jpg

Boot spoiler fitted. Note to all .Do not leave masking tape on longer than needed. Thus thing was taped up years ago and tgd tape dryd out and it took quite some effort to get off .

IMAG0317.jpg

Steering wheel thanks to crownwag I'm planning on encasing it in leather if any one has a source of lamb skin please let me know.

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The back seats are baddly Sun damaged and are falling apart.. was ugly . So a simple fix. I got a couple of microfiber blankets from da warehouse. Simply lifted all the secure tabs fit the factory covers and cut and streached the microfiber/flease over the seat and secured it using the factory tabs. A good clean temp fix to hide the ugly ripped up old seats.

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  • 3 months later...

So no updates for a while as I have reached a major hurdle. 

 

I don't have the car in my hands at this point.

 

I took it to my mechanic (Shane at Terry Smith .GC ) for a WOF. He highlighted several areas where it would fail a wof, not just little things. Major things like chassis rust and uncaptive springs and decayed brake lines.  He did not start the wof, just highlighted the faults and asked how it already had a WOF as many of the faults are not the type of thing that appear over night.  Like the crayonn cross over the chassis rust, meaning it had failed at a test station in the past .

 

He told to take it back to the previous mechanic who had performed work for the PO and given it a wof. 

 

So I took it back to the at this point nameless work shop .  

 

Who gave it a WOF no questions asked . He even said to the guy doing the WOF "I know every fault on this car, don't write any thing with out seeing me first"

 

So I got a second opinion in the form of a AA test so I had a indeppendent opinion of the car.  

 

Same story. The Aa tester wanted to report it to the ltsa on the spot.  I convinced him not to.

 

I called then nameless mechanic and had a chat and pointed out the highlighted major fails.  Then emailed im photos

 

I told him that I was about to sell the car and that I could not sell it in good faith as I know it is not up to WOF standard. He said "oh I did not know you were selling it(like that matters, my pregnant wife rides in this car it needs to be safe)  Also said one of the major point s for me buying the car was the WOF from a shop with a well known reputation for BMWs , and that this was the second time he had missed major faults on the car.  

 

He asked for the car to be dropped of so he could look at it. 

 

This was over two weeks ago. I have called and emailed , but no reply to my communication.  

 

I hate waiting. I'm not sure what I'm trying to do here, but this guy has a duty of care to perform safety checks oh cars,  this car is not safe.

 

and I can't sell it as a goood wofed car knowing it's faults.  

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But in other news 

 

I have recently aquried a e21 323.  It's a bIt of a mystery, it's been in storage for over 10 years,  But the more I dig in to it the more bog and rust and repairs I find .  I'm waiting to find out what is happening with the 320/6 before I get in to the 323.properly .

 

Baby is on the way so funds are going to be tight.  I'm currently getting my MIG set up, buying some epoxy primer , panel steel wire Wheels and cutting disks so I can chip away at the body with out costing much in $$  just time. And even that willl be in short supply .

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  • 3 weeks later...

Got the car back. 

 

The mechanic has fixed the rust and the rear springs and a couple of other things .

 

He did the right thing so I'm happy .

 

Have decided that the 323 is going to be to much work for me. its savable but im time short and having a child in the new year.  I have seen to many projects stop and die in this situation. The black car is on the road and driving so not as likely to end up in that situation. 

 

So progress 

 

I shot out and collected a full e28 rear sub frame and arms, as well as a 3.6 LSD mid case diff (bmw diffs come in small, mid and large ) the small case in the e21 are weak and the axels are well known to be made of tin foil. E28 will easy hold 300hp. 

 

I think I have also sourced a set of e12 front hubs, allowing me to change the front end over to 5 bolt. I could fit the e12 brakes if wanted , but I'm going to try to fit Holden vt - vx calipers and maybe discs.  They are not difficult to run on the std hubs but I have not seen any one run the e12.and Holden combo. The avalibility to the parts on the Holden will be easier and cheaper.

 

Also pissed that I missed a set of recaro fishnets on trade me this week.  Went for only 100.bucks 

 

So I will have a set of 17s 4x100 et20 for sale in the future .

 

But will be looking for a set off a e36 5x100 with a high off set .  

 

Photos to come soon .

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IMAG0526.jpg

 

The e28 rear end that is going to be cleaned up and cut down and fitted in to the e21.  There is a LSD to go with it. I have ended up with two subframes and 3 seTs of trailing arms. Once I know what I'm doing the extras will be up forsale .

 

Will post a link to the swap for any one who cares how to do it. 

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  • 1 month later...

Still no major work under taken.

A couple of things.

It might only be a little thing but I swapped out the black painted kidneys for a nice straight crime set. I think it looks much better.

I have brought Berjjs old coilovers, will be picking them up end of the month when I make my final payment to murry.

I have been buying parts.

Midcase lsd.

IMAG0609.jpg

Integra typeS seats

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and

a m50b20. 2.0 ltr 6cyl dohc with vvt(vanos) Will go in to start allowing me to set up exhaust cooling and wiring . And this Wil give me another 30ish up.

Here is a bad photo

IMAG0607.jpg

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What's the best way to clean up seats?? These Honda seats are in real good condition .But need a couple of marks cleaned off them.

I normally use the foam and it works well but I don't like the idea of the resedue from the cleaner .

Also .Here is a pic of the new chrome kidneys .

IMAG0605.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Wow

I thought it would make a diffrence but it's I did not realise how much.

I fitted new plugs and the carbon core leads off the donor car.

It's so much easyer to drive. The old leads were wire core and the resistor caps were falling apart. It was a baztard to drive slow. Now the hesitation has gone , it's almost civilised to drive. It's got a bit more balls and I hope it uses less fuel.

In other news I need a couple of 5x120 pcd wheels with a low offset. Steels or space savers are fine.

And any one know a supplier of auto grade carpet by the meter?? I saw a thread where a guy used what looked like what autodec might use. He then formed it with a heat gun. But he was in the UK. I can't buy molded carpets and I'm changing my floors to drop the seat height.

Thanks forreading and any ideas any one might have.

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  • 1 month later...

Just put a deposit on these of the kind and generious Mateja. I have no idea if the offset will be correct, but it will be better than the wheels I currently have for after the 5 stud swap. They should not interfere with the tirods or coil overs.  Will need flairs though .

 

25776370195_ce2bae25cf_c.jpg

 

And here is a pic of the bbs spoiler . 

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  • 5 weeks later...

no pics yet, but im collecting a m52b28. For those of you who are not up with the BMW lingo. 

 

Its a 6cyl all alloy 24v Vanos(vvt) 2.8l motor out of a 1998 E36 328. Is should make in the region of 210Hp after i fit the intake of the motor i currently have. and it weighs about the same as my factory motor, so should work well with the coil overs i have. 

 

i also got a getrag 220, now i have the 2.8 im considering selling the getrag and getting the ZF and just do it right first time. 

 

a e34 m50 sump also arrived recently. 

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So I spent the day pulling the donor apart. 

 

Pulled the rear arms (now the property of duddly for his 2002) and subframe out. Fuel tanks, drive shaft. Basically starting from the back and working forward.  Also checking out what's good on it that I may be able to use as rust cuts for the black car.  I'm not having much luck with the latter. This is one very rusty car. But the drivers floor looks to be good, not much else. 

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