My M5 engined, Touring car wheeled, air bagged suspension'd E36 Coupe

[DER E30]

Kool! Looks like the shifter came out real nice!

THis is such a neat build! Love the way the S62 looks in there! Keep up the good work!

[Tuck&Poke]

I saw this build years ago on another forum and lost track of it, so glad to see there is still progress being made. Love the work man, inspirational honestly.

[mr_robs]

A friend just sent me the link to this, took the last 30 minutes reading it. Incredible work! Can't wait to see more updates.

[andy318is]

Thanks for the comments guys, really appreciate it :-)

Hopefully more updates soon!!!!

[andy318is]

Nice little parcel arrived this week at work for me in the shape of my dry sump and breather tanks

Always looking for alternative options I stumbled across Rob @ RSM Engineers through ebay (seller name rsm-alufab http://myworld.ebay.co.uk/rsm-alufab) he had listed some very nice looking sump tanks, breather pots and a whole load of other hand fabricated parts for auction, liking what I saw I dropped him a phone call to discuss what I was after..... after a decent chat, it turns out that RSM made the oil tanks for Top Gears Hoverscraft / Transit last series!! 8)

Anyways, back to business.....I needed a 3 gallon sump tank with very particular sized fittings to suit the sump pump I've on order as well as a breather tank outlet suitable for the 400 brake of the M5 engine. I must admit it was really refreshing to find a company who will take the time to listen to what the customer actually wants and then not feel the need to start plucking numbers out the air when the terms 'custom and bespoke' get thrown into the mix! :-)

My sump tank is wider in diameter (to keep the height down) than the usual items RSM make so Rob explained that he'd need the make the new tooling to form the top of the tank which wasn't a issue, I asked for larger in & outlets for the oil and breather take off, again no worries at all! Larger outlet on the breather for a 25mm filter, done.

The order was agreed and 5 days(!!!) later they were ready for courier dispatch!

I'm looking for other areas of the project I can get RSM involved in because their works pretty faultless!..... turns out they can back purge and tig stainless steel so my manifolds might well be going to them for final welding!! :twisted: 8)

[DER E30]

Those are nice looking parts! And it sounds like awesome service too!

[Jorgen]

Usually not a fan of conversions like this, but dayum, that attention to detail and everything. Waiting for this to be finished!

[andy318is]

Things are moving on in the right direction :-)

A couple of weeks ago I picked up my modified e36 M3 propshaft, the old M3 input flange was cut off and the S62 old welded on and then the whole thing balanced :-) well happy with with work, its been trail fitted and pleased to say I can use a tape measure! LOL



On to a job that I've been working on the last couple weekends. To free up some space around the back of the engine for the manifolds I've had to do some work to the position of the steering column by basically moving where it comes through the firewall as low as possible. Also make up a new bottom link again to free up some space by doing away with the rag joint, I used 2 OE universal joints and made a shaft to the necessary length, stuck them together and job a good'un! The acid test will be when I refit the engine so it might not be a complete success! LOL











Dropped at my desk this week was my new compact alternator from http://www.Mechman.com. Long story short, the old alternators too big to fit between the chassis rails so I went on the hunt for new compact alternator. All the usual small units were like 40 amp! with the standard M5 alt being 120 it was clear I had to find something larger, especially as I've got the ICE install to consider! Google turned up Mechman, a few emails passed and an order placed for one of there 170amp universal units, I could have gone 240amp or even 320 but with the size of the crank pulley the 170 will give me better output and idle.

Looking forward to getting it mounted!!!

[loekaaz]

Congratulations! You just managed to make me subscribe to an E36 build thread... Something I promised I'd never do

[andy318is]

Things are ticking along nicely at the moment, as always the coldest time of year is when I get the time to head down the garage!!

So whats new....my Peterson 4 stage dry sump pump, filters and pulleys turned up from across the pond!



Work on the engine has stopped for a couple weeks while I'm waiting for my crank pulley / pump drive adapter to be made.... will make sense when you see it :-)

In other news I got all the bearings pressed into the centre lock hubs so I could get the car sat on it wheels so I can work out the laid out height for the air ride....





Once that was done I got the rear bags mounted, rear suspension arms modified and welded so I could finally get the new rear arches welded in to banish the 'euro' flared arches once and for all!







Once I finish tubbing out the inner arches that's the bulk of the bodywork complete!!! Got the front arches to work on a little more and after that can start filler and priming!!

Another small area that got addressed with an area in the bay I wasn't happy with, where the old heater pipework used to run it left an awkward looking area that needed cleaning up further..... I might still do some more work but its a definite improvement





Also been buying more bits and pieces..... 1" breaker bar & 2 1/2" socket :-D

[Tuck&Poke]

What torque spec are the centerlocks designed for?

[Ratcliffe33]

Cant wait to see what this is going to look like! Looks awesome now!

[andy318is]

What torque spec are the centerlocks designed for?

The wheels or hubs?

[way2fastx3]

This this is going to be on point! Keep up the good work dude.

[Tuck&Poke]

The wheels or hubs?

Wheels