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Tub finally back on the chassis

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milemarker60

milemarker60

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Finally got the tub back and mated to the chassis. All went incredibly smooth with the marriage and the M3 Engine looks even better in its restored home. Anyway, a few pics are attached below but more can be seen on my photobucket site in the "tub-chassis" section.

https://s115.photobucket.com/albums/n310/milemarker60/

Droppingiton-2.jpg


EngineBay.jpg
 
Looks great , Betcha can't wait to get it on the road! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/hammer.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/england.gif
 
It started out a lot cheaper than it ended up. I paid $3,500 for the S50 M3 Engine (only made in 1995 OBD-I) and transmission delivered to my house from a salvage company in GA. I added an 11lb aluminum flywheel, larger MAF, header, custom sst exhaust, cold air intake and a custom chip made by Jim Conforti for my specific application without cats. Unfortunately, at first fire-up once installed in the frame, it swallowed one of the #2 intake valves which in turn caused catastophic issues.

The good news is that the salvage yard stood behind the engine and covered most of the damages. At this point I fugured I'd go ahead and completely overhaul the unit and tweak it a little more. I added larger injectors, some mild head dressing and balanced it. Kind of a shame to have to do on a 75K engine but that's life.

Sidenote: After o/h'ing a multitude of Brit Engines, I was totally amazed at how easy this BMW engine came apart and went together. CAD, German Engineering, wonderful!!!

I'm figuring it's close to 300hp at the flywheel. Once all together, I'm going to run her on the dyno to see what's making it to the ground.
 
Wow, I hope you have some pretty solid motormounts. Not much room if that lump starts getting loose and felxing one way or the other. Looks good though. Keep us posted.
 
That looks real good. Nice project you have going on there, but I'd like to know how much of a problem is it going to be to snake the steering column through there?? It doesn't look like there's much room. Or is it all open under the intake??
 
Actually, that is one of the main reasons I went with a straight six rather than a V8. Believe it or not, the steering shaft fits right under the intake and the rack is still where the factory intended. I have driven a v8 TR with borgesn steering components (lots of u-joints) and it felt pretty good but really wasn't something I was interested in. I was dead set on keeping the complete steering system and geometry in its original place.
 
man that looks like a modern engine compartment, absolutely no room to spare. congrats, i'm working on a body off and can't wait to mate the tub with chasis again....its been so long.
 
Looks like a car that needs to be shipped, like the one in auto ad, to Germany where speed limits are not an issue.

While I would really like a set up like yours, the budget just isn't there. However, I am curious about the undercoat, how applied and with what.
 
I had the inside, bottom and ext inner fender wells shot with Rhino Lining by a friend of mine that owns one of their franchises. I know I added about 50lbs but I saved much more than that on the engine swap plus I wanted the sound deadening and anti-rust properties of this stuff. It really came out better than I had thought.

After media blasting, I had my body guy do all the required welding then epoxy prime. At this point I masked off what I wanted Rhino'd and had it shot. Then back for the final Imolla Red II (BMW M3 Color).
 
I'd love to see the look on the face of the wise a-- that pulled up next to you wanting to race after you blow his doors back to the other side of Kansas with Toto.
 
That is amazing, Dave! When finished, will it be a Beemer with a TR body or a TR with a Beemer engine. One has to be impressed with the amount of engineering that you have in that setup. Can't wait for the final pics.


Bill
 
OK, Dave. Now that I'm home and have time to really study and appreciate what you've done, I've got to know what you installed AFTER setting the tub on the chassis. There seems to be no way to get the inner fender wells down past the MAF sensor and throttle body on the left side of the engine.

I'm just curious and marveling at your work. Maybe you can become the HDVA of Beemer Engine Conversions.
 
First, let me answer the radiator question. I am using the factory BMW M3 radiator. Amazingly, it sits down into the lower front cross member/skid plate perfectly. BMW designed the lower mounts as simple rubber blocks that once secured to the chassis, locate and press into the bottom of the radiator as a mount/isolator. It does angle/slope back to the rear of the car at the top unlike factory install. This was necessary to close the hood. At the top, I cut some sheet aluminum into proper shapes to form a shroud. Again, thanks to BMW engineering, this shroud simply presses into the top of the radiator making the top mount. Probably not explaining this correctly but I'll post some pics when I get that done. Way down the line. The Master's electrical kit goes in next.

As far as what had to be removed to drop the tub on... I pulled the intake and that is it. Everything else was able to remain installed including tower brace, valve cover, wiring, steering shaft, etc.

Thanks to all for the kind words.

BTW, I firmly believe this to be a Triumph. I read the discussion a couple of months back asking when a Triumph is no longer a Triumph and I believe that the soul is still here in the car. As a matter of fact, before I started I asked it if it wanted a transplant and it undeniably said yes. Doesn't BMW own the Triumph name now anyway?????
 
Dave, I am impressed with your project. I can't wait to see the end result. However I do have to comment about your praise for the BMW engineering. My 1992 S10 pickup uses top and bottom rubber mounts for the radiator and the AC condensor. Also there is no comparision between a vintage British engine and a modern BMW engine. Other than using the same names for general components there is very little in common. It is like comparing the small block Chevy from 1955 to the engine in a 2006 Z06 Corvette.
Certainly BMW has some splendid offerings so to do many manufacturers. Credit is due to enginering in general not just German engineering.
 
I absolutely agree. CAD / Modern Engineering Practices have improved most all aspects of our lives not just limited to products from Germany. This particular project has been specifically helped by the Germans (BMW), Americans (Fix, Good, Hurst, Keller, Masters, McCracken, Munson, Pike, Schumacher, Yutani), Japanese (Nissan/Infiniti) and undoubtedly the Chinese and Taiwanese. BTW, names are listed alphabetically and I'm sure I've forgotten to list a few.

Didn't mean to imply there was anything special about BMW vs others. Simply, they did an awesome job designing an engine for my TR6.
 
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