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Been fiddling with the e28 over the last few days to try and sort out the little things. Firstly trying to sort the idle and TPS. Thinking that the TPS may not be working, I took the one from my eta motor and swapped that on. Didn't test drive it and went straight to the meet on Sunday, then to a friend's after. The car didn't feel quite right and then after driving for a bit when I hit WOT it would cut out completely. Then it just started randomly cutting out. Turns out that the ETA TPS actually reads the opposite way, so when I was hitting WOT it would register idle and obviously cut out. Then I did some retesting and it seems that the original TPS does infact register idle, it's just that the stopper on the throttle body was adjusted to the max (to compensate for the ICV), that even with the TPS adjusted all the way, it wouldn't click to idle mode. Anyway, that one is back in now and car runs much better, but I still suspect that it doesn't register WOT, due to the fact that one, it get no ohm reading between the two pins, and when driving it doesn't quite feel like it. Secondly I discovered that the issue is not actually the ICV itself (thanks to Ben for testing it) but that all the pins are getting positive power. I don't imagine this is meant to be happening so there may be a wiring issue. Investigations to follow. Another issue that just came up last night after driving a bit is the clutch pedal started to get vibrations. Then, coincidentally after I gave a friend to test drive it, a terribly loud squealing noise started coming from the clutch area. It only happens when the clutch is being depressed. But now the vibrations seem to be gone. I suspect this is the throwout bearing. And I can't blame my friend, I was with him in the car and he didn't do anything I wouldn't have. Haha. Also, today I went from a hot air intake to a warm air intake. I will find a better solution later but it's better than before. Now, for some memorable moments from the swap: Ben wasn't a big fan of my radiator fan. Hahaha ha. Ha. Some late night shenanigans.

I've been finishing off the last few jobs over the last couple of days. Most of the wiring is now tidied up. The electric fan is wired in and I got it working on the factory radiator switch. It's still not quite as tidy as I'd like but it will do for now. I also have a few small issues to sort. One being that the car doesn't really idle. It keeps dying if you let off the gas when coming to a stop and when I unplug the ICV, nothing changes. I think when it was in the e34, the throttle cable was just adjusted to not return the throttle fully, keeping it idling. I have also done this for now as a temporary solution until I figure out what's going on. I also have my suspicions that the TPS is not working. I get no readings on any of the pins at any point, so might swap it out for my one on the Eta which was new. My other issue is 2 days ago the car wouldn't start without being jump started by another car. I charged the battery and my jumper pack but it only worked for the first 2 starts and then didn't again, and my jumper pack can't jump it either. I have a feeling my ground for the battery isn't good enough, will investigate this tonight. It kind of renders the car useless if I need another to go along with me everywhere, hahaha.

First start video:

She's back on the road. Had a few small issues today while getting it going. The rear calipers that I put on from the e34 were actually seized so I had to swap the e28 ones back on. While not a big deal, it's something I want to get sorted so will look for other e34 ones later. Might be luck to get some vented ones. Other than that, everything was pretty straight forward. I had to make a temporary bracket for the accelerator cable as the e34 sleeve is not quite right so didn't reach with the factory mount. So I will try to find a cable that does work. Next jobs will be tidying up the wiring and finishing that off and wiring the fan in. Also need to install my new cluster. Also going to order a new heater core and redo flaps as I currently get no hot air. Does anyone know if they are RHD and LHD specific? Can't find any information on this. Overall I am very happy with it, goes so much better then the eta ever dreamed of. It has a slight miss and a bit of a bog on take off, I think this motor needs a proper service such as new plugs etc. But even with this it goes very well. And does mean as burnouts. And that concludes this weeks episode: How to do an M30 swap in 2 weeks (and a day if you want to be picky). Up next: Conclusion is an illusion; nothing's ever 100% finished. Also might have a special live appearance from Highway Patrol. They grow up so fast.

Got the car started today. My friend has the first start video so will post when I have that off him. All that's left to do is: Bleed clutch and brakes Hook up one final coolant hose I forgot to do Wire in electric fan I'm planning to drive it home tomorrow, will try get some videos of it driving.

I apologise for the lack of updates over the last few days, I've been busy working on the car. It is now all physically back together, drivetrain, exhaust, brakes, engine etc all done. All coolant hoses etc are hooked up. I have also relocated the battery to the trunk using e36 parts. Tonight and over the weekend I will be doing the last few small jobs and doing the wiring. The plan to have it driving by the end of the weekend looks very realistic. More to come soon.

Cool, will definitely keep it in mind should this happen again (which I very much hope it doesn't, but no doubt will).

All I have to say about last night is this:

Oh, haha. Thanks man. That's exactly what I did and now it's out. But the left hand thing is a good idea, that I didn't think of.

Yeah I found out about the subframe from some guys on Bimmersport. Sort of wish I knew that eariler but you live and learn and all that. Yeah please show me about the cluster. I just pulled the batteries out and hoped it would work (I read somewhere that it should).

I like where this is going. That would've been my plan for an E21, m50 or m52.

Yeah, I've got a plan. We shall see tonight. I will either have an update saying the motor is back in or a complete disaster. It's in alloy. I don't really fancy pulling the head off and having to get all the new gaskets etc. Will see how my revival plan goes and if that fails then I might have to. Either that or go with a v8 instead.

I decided to put my Sunday off to good use and do some work on my new cluster. Pulled it apart and removed the batteries. I don't care if the SI lights don't work if it means the cluster lasts longer. Unfortunately the batteries have already leaked a bit so I'm hoping this cluster works fully, I haven't tested it. Painted the needles red and polished the clear cover on the front. I wanted to remove the red lense for the lights that light up the cluster to get a white light, however I found out that it's moulded into the top of the cluster so it's going to take some work to do. I'll work on that once my other cluster is out so I have a spare to mess with.

Went in on Friday afternoon to do some more work and things were going well, on track to have the engine in the car this weekend. Until I went to swap the exhaust manifold to the e28 one. This is where things came to a halt, much like a stance car that has hit an unforseen bump. So 9 of the studs came out nicely, either stud and nut or nuts came off. But 3 didn't want to play along, snapping under the nut. There was some stud protruding so I thought it was in luck. However this was not the case. I tried doing the double nut trick, welding the nuts to the studs, vice grips etc. Either the stud would not budge, or it just snapped, leaving me nothing to work with. Still, not the end of the world, time for the drill. So I went about trying to drill them out, which went well on 2 of them, however on the third, the drill bit snapped inside the hole. If my emotions at the time could be expressed in an image, I think this would be fitting: The offending obstruction that will need extraction: If this wasn't enough to set me off, I went to try and buy some tools I thought might work to try and resolve this sinkhole of a situation, such as carbine tungsten drill bits to hopefully drill through the drill bit, every shop I went to was either closed or had nothing. So not only do I now have extra expenses and the awaiting of a very unpleasant task, but my weekend is also wasted as I couldn't do anything further. Which has also delayed my driveshaft as I can't drop it off to be modified until I am sure how long it needs to be, which I need the motor in for. So there you have it. Here I was hoping I could show you all how to do an M30 conversion in a week. Might be 2 weeks now.

I once read someone calling it "the factory optioned bitches package", haha. Might have been someone on here. But yes, I agree with you, especially on the Mk1.

That's what the dealers order in for some reason. They believe that's what people want here. It's been discussed a few times on VASK. Just for information, there are a couple but very few mk1 2 doors around, I have an early one myself. There is also actually a 2 door mk1 Jetta which is for sale at the moment. Few more mk2 2 doors, few mk3 2 doors and very very few mk4 on.

Found an E36 radiator that fits perfectly between the chassis rails so made some mounts and now it's in. Also fitted my engine mounts and adapters. The adapters needed a couple of small alterations before everything lined up 100%, somewhat like a custom-made suit, if you will. Also sideways mode has been activated with the installation of the LSD: I also replaced the center bearing in the driveshaft but the front needs to be modified as it's not the same as the e34 one, meaning it doesn't like up with the guibo. And this one's entitled "A new perspective":

Saw and update, was looking forward to see 4wd and turbo. Left disappointed.

That's exactly what I plan to do now. I was just curious as to the rule.

I spoke to my friend who does WOFs and he thought it would be an issue without engineer's report etc. Plus some other things I found suggested the same. Here is a photo, the red lines are a general indication of where I'd be cutting. However it won't really work anyway as the bottle outlet would probably be too close/in the chassis leg with more than in inch recess so it invalidates this whole procedure.

Not much in the way of actual progress despite most of Sunday spent on the car and 5 hours last night. So on Sunday, 2 hours were spent on removing the old rear subframe bushes which we finally managed after a lot of sawing, hammering and verbal threats. Thank you to Jibs and my friend Johnny for the help. The new ones just slid in thanks to my forward thinking and my friend's commercial fish freezer which I left them in overnight. So with that done and rear subframe back in, I went to fit the e34 trailing arms which apparently 'would' work. Well. After having to do a bit of clearance making on the rear subframe seam lip to get the bigger arms to fit, I finally bolted up the arms and all looked well. Until I walked out from under the car and had a look at the side. Behold before you, maximum stance. There was a good 10mm difference in toe just from the edges of the hub. That is where I left it for the day. And, in the process of all this, one of my e28 handbrake cables somehow got mangled so now I have to wait for the new ones to arrive. Went back yesterday and removed the e34 hubs to swaps the e28 ones back on and pulled the brakes off the e34 ones to now put on the e28 hub. And in the process of removing the slightly seized on discs, I sent the hammer right into my knee and am now very sore. But I carried on. Once that was done, I proceeded to remove the steering box, with the help of my still sick friend (the guy just won't give up), to replace with the lower mileage e34 box with again 'would' work. Well. Got the steering box off after a good hour of hammering only to realise that the idler arm spline is different. Ok, not such a big deal. I put the steering box in the car to mock up the lines as one has to bent for it to work. Well it's a pretty slim chance of stretching the line to get it to fit, and being the high pressure line, I didn't want to take any risk. So swapped the newer e34 uni joint onto the e28 box and put it back in. Another few hours wasted. And the steering box is probably screwed now. At least I managed to cut a big hole in the front, which was some consolation. But that is also bitter sweet as the e34 radiator I wanted to try and use fit perfectly width wise. Then I looked at the car from the front. 50mm too tall. Luckily the radiator that came out of the parts car does fit so it is a backup. Moral of the story: E34 trailing arms do NOT work. E34 steering box is not a bolt in upgrade/solution.

Seems I have found an answer to this and it's a big NO. Which is what I thought.

Will be there.

What's the rules on making a hole in the chassis leg to fit a larger radiator? Want to use an e34 radiator in my e28 but it is slightly too tall. If I could cut a small section out of the chassis legs right at the front behind the slam panel, it would work. Would this be a problem? EDIT: Obviously not all the way through the chassis legs, just on the inside top edge.

Made great progress today. Started at around 10am, by 1pm the engine, gearbox, driveshaft, diff and exhaust were out. By the end of the day I also removed the rear subframe, control arms and complete hubs. Almost got the steering box off but I gave up and went home before I got it fully off. Tomorrow the plan is to change out the rear subframe bushes and put it back in along with the e34 trailing arms, hubs and brakes plus do whatever else I can. At this rate I'm starting to think there is a possibility it will be going by next weekend. Big thanks to my friend Gancen who, depsite being sick, was up and onsite at 8am to give me a hand to pull the motor. What a champ. By the way, the eta motor, gearbox and diff are for sale for those interested.