Dlux BMW E21 build

[Erik D_lux]

Spent the weekend trying to finish up everything in the rear end. I got everything done besides getting the half shafts installed. Emergency brakes installed, new brake lines throughout made, camber and toe set, half shafts rebuilt. Another 30 min or so and I should be ready to move on. I have about 6 weeks into this rear end/fuel lines/brake lines. Amazing how long everything can take.

I had to address the lower shock mounts. The E21 uses a 10mm bolt and the E28 uses a 14mm bolt. This makes it so the shock wont go on the 14mm bolt obviously. The E28 also uses a single sheer setup (which I ****) so I wanted to see if I could strengthen it up a touch since its going to have to be spaced approx 3/4" to clear the high off set and width of the wheel.

When I was mocking everything up and cycling the suspension by hand (shock not attached) I found that the shock would reach a pretty good bind when fully compressed.

So, I set off to fix all these issues. My fix was to cut off the ends of the coilovers, put some rod ends on for the misalignment and then make some spacers that press into the E28 housing, sleeve the bolt and make it stronger. In hindsight, I would have made the spacer with a bit more meat towards the rod end to help strengthen the bolt even further.

From left to right
Stock setup, rod ends that I am going to modify to, 14mm bolts, 10mm bolt, 10mm shock lower mount after it was taken out.



After modifying for rod ends. Really close to the same height as the E21 setup gave



Both shocks done



Spacers made. You can see the part that will press into the E28 housing and strengthen it up.







Then here is a shot at full compression. Maybe 1/16" of room between the shock and wheel?



Full extension



I really wish there was a super simple way to make a uniball on the top of the E21 shock like it is in the front. I dont like the idea of getting misalignment out of a shock by stressing the rubber bushing.

Lastly, going back to the driveshaft, I had to make some spacers. The threads in my adapter are 3/8" bolts and the holes in the flange are .433" or 11mm so I made the little spacers to take up the slack.

[DawsonLiri]

Nice work!
That rubber guibo's delete sound very nice and interesting.

[Erik D_lux]

I was tempted to just run it. I have made a couple and ran them with no issues but this one I decided to have balanced.

[Fruttolo]

Dude, that driveshaft is cool, did you balance it yourself or you gonna bring it to a shop?

[Erik D_lux]

I really enjoy reading this. Compliments on the rear subframe, turned out awesome! Also, really impressed with what you did to those halfshafts, good info and idea. Thank you and please continue to amaze us!

Thanks man!

[Erik D_lux]

Dlux BMW E21 build #48

http://www.stanceworks.com/forums/showthread.php?102392-Dlux-BMW-E21-build&fbclid=IwAR0ppbHhvMrrRQ-HJh9LWVebSumghx3ROtZNU5rvJTWdMBm2L0Gu3JsnlUE

Drive line parts came in. I am really stoked about these parts!





I was able to find an adapter for the transmission side. The adapter gets rid of the rubber guibo (which I am not a fan of) that is huge and IMO creates problems. Its a solid aluminum part that mates to a 1350 series Spicer flange. One of the best parts of this is that it has a smaller diameter than the rubber part it replaces. If you remember I had really tight clearances there, now, I have zero worries.









On the diff side, I found a flange that mates to the stock BMW flange and it carries a 1310 series Spicer joint. I cant tell you how stoked I am to have a driveline that uses all Spicer parts and a standard Spicer slip joint!

I really like the fact that I can find these parts in the middle of nowhere and there is no chance of them becoming obsolete like many of the BMW parts.

Strong, cheap, easily replaceable or modified. Right up my alley.

Parts used in order from trans to diff:
Driveshaftshop Part Number: CTSPL6 trans flange
Flange Yoke 1350 series, 4x .438 Holes on 3.750BC, 2.750M pilot 3-2-119
U-Joint - Outside Snap Rings SPICER 1350 Series 5-178XS
Tube Yoke 1350 series, 2.500 X .083 W tube 3-28-47
2.500" x .083" Tube
Tube Shaft Ø1.375x16 spline, Ø2.500 X .083 Tube 2-40-1711 Slip Yoke 1310 series 1.375x16 spline 5.375 Centerline to End 2-3-128KX
U-Joint - Outside Snap Rings SPICER 1310 Series, Greasable 5-153XS
Fort Wayne clutch and driveline BMW flange adapter to 1310 1310 SERIES - BMW STYLE DRIVESHAFT 4 BOLT CONVERSION FLANGE YOKE - SKU# R2-2-4811 Rockford driveline

I did have to modify the BMW flange to fit the BMW diff. The website says that the pilot hole should be 1.849" but mine measured 1.861" so it obviously didnt fit. I also had to take a hair off the length of the pilot. I am not sure if I got a bad one or just the way they are?

[gnmzl]

I really enjoy reading this. Compliments on the rear subframe, turned out awesome! Also, really impressed with what you did to those halfshafts, good info and idea. Thank you and please continue to amaze us!

[Fruttolo]

Black undercoating always makes stuff look better

[Erik D_lux]

I spent the weekend installing the fuel lines/pump/filters, brake lines and sub frame.

Subframe all welded up.




You can see the subframe and how I pushed the mounts in. If you remember, most will cut the stock E28 subframe right at the mounts, flush with the mount. So, all that gap you see there is how much I moved it in.





I figured out a simple way to install the stock E28 sway bar. I simply put it on the bottom of the arms instead of top like stock and then put the torsion bar along the subframe after making some simple mounts. Its almost like it was supposed to mount like this. Pretty perfect fit and good geometry for the end links and torsion bar.






Subframe with poly bushings, painted and ready for install. Last picture of the subframe on the floor. LOL. I promise.




I decided to do the bearings on the trailing arms. I read online that people said it was a horrible job. I just thought they did not have the proper tools or know how. No. Its a horrible job. LOL. I took me about 8 hours and thats with everything already apart! I am glad I did it though. After taking the old bearings apart, they were due for sure.



I ran poly bushings throughout the subframe and trailing arms. I really like the idea of a firm feel on all these parts but one thing I dont like is the idea of the squeaking coming from them. I put in some zerk fittings to I can grease them if they do start to squeak.



Another thing I noticed when putting the poly trailing arm bushings in is that they are offset, just like the stock bushings. If you needed the wheel to come in a hair more, you should be able to install them back wards and it could bring the whole assembly in? Looks good for almost .200". This might be a good idea for me depending on how the tire clearance looks.






Whole under carriage is not undercoated. I really like the black undercoat vs the stock blue.

Rear end is in and painted. I just need to finish up with half shafts when the rebuild parts get in, brake lines to the trailing arms and e brake lines.

[Erik D_lux]

More work on the rear subframe. I tore off all the mounts and started again.

I put the subframe back in, camber and toe are now good to go, zero binding. Should be good, right? No. I dont like where my wheels sit. They are just a bit too far out.

Ideally I think a et47 wheel would have fit best, problem is that if youre looking for an et47 wheel,they are not in abundance and harder to find for sure. Its a pretty deep offset wheel. I am not getting new wheels.

So, knowing that I wanted to make my et41 wheels work and looking at my subframe, I thought "I want this setup to be as ideal as possible, no compromises" That conflicted with me knowing this could screw up other fitments such as my half shafts.

Screw it! YOLO! I want this to be as good as I can get it, even if it means a lot more work.

So, I took it back out from underneath the car (AGAIN!) and I cut off all the mounts, made new ones and this time, I moved all the mounts as far inward as I could on the subframe. The inner mounts are almost touching the diff mount.

I put the subframe back in (AGAIN!), measured camber, perfect, toe, perfect, wheel fitment in the wheel well, PERFECT!




Perfect, right? Well, no, now my half shafts wont fit as expected. LOL. My minimum length is right around 16.937" and minimum the shaft would compress was right around 17.063". About .125" I need to take off...





I actually might have been able to get away with it. They only bound up at full extension of the shock but I dont want to run that way. Time to figure out how to modify the half shaft.

I took the shafts apart and to my surprise, and I saw a couple of openings to shorten the shafts. Here is a shot of what youre looking at stock...





Notice, the raised lip on the back side that provides the stop. Also notice the front side and how the splines are proud and do not engage fully. This is where the beauty will happen.

Now look at the back side again. If you look in at the splines, there are raised splines that do not even engage. This measures .150"





Now, the catch here is that the measurement above of .150" is more than it should have been. It should have been close to .080". If you look at the shaft, there is a void on the shaft where the stop is of .080". So, the gear that slips over has an unnecessary .070" that does not engage. This again is where the beauty will happen.



I thought for sure these parts would be hardened so much that I could not machine them. Nope, they are actually super soft and really easy to machine.

I took off .200" on the inside of the gear. If youre following along, thats only .050" of spline engagement since .150" above was not used stock.

Stock left, machined right.



The gears can now slide further on the shafts by .200". I did this on both sides so now we are taking about the gears sliding .200" per side or the total shaft should be .400" shorter than before over all.

Stock



After machining.





Since the gears and splines will now go all the way to the bottom, I had to clear out the .080" space right above the stop so the splines would slide over. I took .040" or 1mm off this space.



.900" worth of gears spline engagement after machining



.866" of shaft spline engagement




After all installed, the gear slides past the top of the splines approx .100". So, doing the math, I should have .766" of spline engagement after the mods. Stock would have had .794". So, all this modding, I lost approx .028" of spline engagement. Pretty much nothing.

Math:
Bottom of splines .080" not used
Bottom of gear splines not used .150"
.070" (from above) of available .866" splines, .794" used, stock
Modded, all bottom splines used, top .100" splines not used from .866" available, .766" used.



It really seems like BMW planned for this to happen. Too perfect.

If you needed to go shorter, I think you would be fine. I might dare to take it another .125" per side? I dont think that would hurt strength too bad but I am not sure. Thats another .250" or .650" shorter from stock.

In the end, I got a half shaft that is .400" or just under 1/2" shorter than stock. Since I only needed .125" or 1/8", I am good to go. I put it in the car and it seems perfect.

Final length compressed



So, unless somebody can see something I missed, I will hopefully be welding up the subframe this afternoon.

[gnmzl]

Just finished reading the FJ thread, thanks for sharing! I have to say, this is more than impressive. "Good job on building it" is not enough, you killed it there! Can't wait to see the e21 in action now.

[Erik D_lux]

Oh wow, now I need to know more about the FJ! Do you have a thread on it somewhere?

On a side note - people have an issue grasping a concept: this is your car, you paid for it, so you do whatever YOU want to it. And that's it!
Personally, I love what you do to that e21. As stated previously: your ideas, your execution and skills simply amazed me and showed me how blind and wrong I was about my perception of the e21 platform. Come to think about it - I might have been wrong about any platform and/or make I let slip by because of not liking this or that.
Also, your post about the engine made me read some stuff about it and frankly - what a great choice! If there were more of those over here, I'd want to swap one into my DD.
Congrats on doing what you want and how you want it.
Please keep delivering amazing updates.

I did a couple of build threads on Pirate. Keep in mind, this is about 13yrs ago so a lot has changed and its when I was just learning how to fab.

https://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/toyota-land-cruiser/539980-wtf-d_lux-up-winter-mods.html

Yeah, thats a great way to put it. Its your car, do whatever you want!

Thats exactly the way I see it too. If I want a cool ass car, there isnt much out there except super high end super car stuff that I would be 100% happy with. If youre not happy with it, change what you dont like.

I "grew up" reading Pirate (that's how I learnt english actually) so I fully support images like this one that and the vortex were the bees knees when forums were still relevant

I am still stuck in those days somewhat. LOL Vortex and LS1. Man, those were some good motors!

[Fruttolo]

Yeah, its somewhat familiar I suppose. I used to have a 1972 Toyota FJ40. Those guys didnt like when I cut that up either. LOL

I "grew up" reading Pirate (that's how I learnt english actually) so I fully support images like this one that and the vortex were the bees knees when forums were still relevant

[gnmzl]

Oh wow, now I need to know more about the FJ! Do you have a thread on it somewhere?

On a side note - people have an issue grasping a concept: this is your car, you paid for it, so you do whatever YOU want to it. And that's it!
Personally, I love what you do to that e21. As stated previously: your ideas, your execution and skills simply amazed me and showed me how blind and wrong I was about my perception of the e21 platform. Come to think about it - I might have been wrong about any platform and/or make I let slip by because of not liking this or that.
Also, your post about the engine made me read some stuff about it and frankly - what a great choice! If there were more of those over here, I'd want to swap one into my DD.
Congrats on doing what you want and how you want it.
Please keep delivering amazing updates.

[Erik D_lux]

Yeah, its somewhat familiar I suppose. I used to have a 1972 Toyota FJ40. Those guys didnt like when I cut that up either. LOL