74' Hillclimb project

[brentspud]

hey guys,

firstly i just want to say hi to everyone, im new on here, im from Australia.

im 19, about to start second-year civil engineering at uni, and im finally ditching the 'hand-me-down' car and im about to buy my first car which im very excited about:

paid the deposit today, and on saturday i make the 600km drive to go and see the car for the first time. the guy is selling the car to me for $1500 AUD, which is around US$1300, because it had a cracked cylinder head.

this is the part where you guys help. my dad and i are pretty keen on building a hillclimb car that would also be a nice daily-driver. im not looking for maximum kW, nor do i have endless money. i want to build my new 2002 into a really nice handling car, that idles nicely at the lights, isnt too loud, can be driven in traffic, but when i decide to take it on the open road, i want to be able to put the foot down and have some fun. i've read some of the FAQ's which have been more than helpful, but i want to hear from some of you and your experiences.

with regards to the engine, we'll fix it and get the car running (after stripping the car of course) and then for the next couple of years ill be keeping the original engine in it, but i'd like to see some minor modifications happen, perhaps a pair of sidedraught solex/webers and a cam grind. can anybody help me with jet sizes for 40 or 45mm webers?

also, if you can help me with info you have on the following:

- the all-favourite 6 cylinder conversion, and whether to go for the M20 or the M50

- diffs: LSD's and a ballpark figure for diff ratios with the standard M10 engine

- suspension packages that offer firm road holding

- big brake upgrades

- rollcages

- 40mm/45mm Solex/Weber carb info

even if you just point me in the right direction, post some links, pictures, anything, i appreciate your help. thanks guys!

cheers,

brent

[thambone88]

sup brent, my name is tyler from NorCal. I too am new to this and just bought my second car. I am 18, going on 19 here in August and in college as well. Good luck.

[H_Krix]

Just my opinions here, but the car I'm building currently sounds very similar (at least in goals) to yours. Drivability, but fun when I want it to be.

- the all-favourite 6 cylinder conversion, and whether to go for the M20 or the M50 --- Go M20 here. It's been done, the kinks are worked out, and there are even some pre-made parts (motor mounts and the like) to help you.

- diffs: LSD's and a ballpark figure for diff ratios with the standard M10 engine --- not my forte, so i'll let someone else handle that.

- suspension packages that offer firm road holding --- Many here suggest Eibich springs and Bilstein Sports / HDs. I had KONIs before, and they did alright with stock springs. Ireland Engineering offers some very nice swaybar kits, and if you're going to go with a Strut Brace, check out the W&N ones - top quality. All of this will make a very firm (but livable) street ride. You can look into urethane if you want something stiffer, but even replacing stock rubber bushings will help a ton.

- big brake upgrades --- check the FAQ Section for the "Volvo Brake" upgrade on the front. 320i larger drums can be fitted to the rear with relative ease, and this will do fine for the street. Also check out Lee's handiwork at http://www.massivebrakes.com/ if you want something to drool over.

- rollcages --- are actually less safe in a street car due to the lack of a helmet while driving day-to-day, which could potentially turn a small accident into a larger one if your skull hits the cage. If you're hell bent on one, I'm not much help. I thought about it once, but shelved the idea.

- 40mm/45mm Solex/Weber carb info --- if you want nice idling, its gonna be rough with twin 45's. even 40's will be a bit rough in city driving. A 38DGES is a good in-between for practicality and performance. The big daddy solution is Fuel Injection - check out Finkbuilt's site - http://www.finkbuilt.com/blog/megasquirt/ - for a little more info on that.

Welcome to the addiction. Looks like you've got a nice base to work with.

[oz_tom]

Just my opinions here, but the car I'm building currently sounds very similar (at least in goals) to yours. Drivability, but fun when I want it to be.

- the all-favourite 6 cylinder conversion, and whether to go for the M20 or the M50 --- Go M20 here. It's been done, the kinks are worked out, and there are even some pre-made parts (motor mounts and the like) to help you.

Agree completly - Its slightly harder to source a good M20 in Oz though so it might take a decent search to find one. Stroker 2.7 may be some fun with the eta block and 325i head. Certainly would be good for hillclimbs. Great torque!

- diffs: LSD's and a ballpark figure for diff ratios with the standard M10 engine --- not my forte, so i'll let someone else handle that.

Ill try and field this the best i can. LSD's in Oz are a) Not readily availible and Usually $1k+ unless you strike lucky. I think 3.91 is what most are ive seen down here

- suspension packages that offer firm road holding --- Many here suggest Eibich springs and Bilstein Sports / HDs. I had KONIs before, and they did alright with stock springs. Ireland Engineering offers some very nice swaybar kits, and if you're going to go with a Strut Brace, check out the W&N ones - top quality. All of this will make a very firm (but livable) street ride. You can look into urethane if you want something stiffer, but even replacing stock rubber bushings will help a ton.

Bilsteins and Konis are much of a muchness quality wise. Koni's are cheaper down here and Bilsteins are cheaper in the US from what ive heard and discussed. Are you looking to go with coilovers? If so, ground control make a very nice kit but its pricey. IE also make the kit as H_Krix mentioned along with all the other things you would need.

- big brake upgrades --- check the FAQ Section for the "Volvo Brake" upgrade on the front. 320i larger drums can be fitted to the rear with relative ease, and this will do fine for the street. Also check out Lee's handiwork at http://www.massivebrakes.com/ if you want something to drool over.

Enough said

- rollcages --- are actually less safe in a street car due to the lack of a helmet while driving day-to-day, which could potentially turn a small accident into a larger one if your skull hits the cage. If you're hell bent on one, I'm not much help. I thought about it once, but shelved the idea.

Im not much help here either. I think your best bet is finding someone who can weld and help you with it.

- 40mm/45mm Solex/Weber carb info --- if you want nice idling, its gonna be rough with twin 45's. even 40's will be a bit rough in city driving. A 38DGES is a good in-between for practicality and performance. The big daddy solution is Fuel Injection - check out Finkbuilt's site - http://www.finkbuilt.com/blog/megasquirt/ - for a little more info on that.

Im not much of a carb expert but twin 40's would be the way to go (if you dont go efi) for a mix of street/track use. Piss poor economy though. The 38DGES as mentioned if your leaning more towards street though. As far as a cam goes - nothing over the Schrick 304 if you want it on the street. My 300 degree one idles fine and its only street driven. Dont know about quality though and i really dont know of its origins.

Welcome to the addiction. Looks like you've got a nice base to work with.

+1 and I think you can get him down a bit more though, afterall, the engine doesnt work. I wouldnt go more than 1k and even that would be pushing it. Myself and other members on this board in Oz have picked up running, driving cars for 1k and under that are solid.

Good to see another Melbournian on the board too Where are you located? Are you part of the 02 Registry?

Cheers,

Tom

[felix_666]

Hey brent,

I've just ordered a bunch of suspension parts from IE to sort my 02 out which is also in Melb. I'll let you know how that works out and looks once i get it. Good to see another Melb 02 fan.

cheers

Will

[oz_tom]

What setup did you decide on in the end Will?

Tom

[TMK-001]

Welcome! I am in your neck of the woods also. Good luck with the project.

[brentspud]

thanks for the help guys!!

after the drive to adelaide and back on saturday, the car looks pretty good! only a couple of small patches of rust, and no holes, which is good. no dints whatsoever, so it should be fairly straight-forward.

ive decided to ditch the rollcage idea for now, and im interested in the megasquirt conversion, and call me old-school, but i only really want to fork out the money for EFI if i can get individual throttle bodies, to get the classic look. which brings me to my next question, where can i get ITB's, like the TWM ones in the FAQ section?? and my dad wants to know if a 525 5-speed can be adapted to fit, because he apparently has one spare somewhere!

oh btw, im located in templestowe.

cheers guys,

brent

[oz_tom]

thanks for the help guys!!

after the drive to adelaide and back on saturday, the car looks pretty good! only a couple of small patches of rust, and no holes, which is good. no dints whatsoever, so it should be fairly straight-forward.

ive decided to ditch the rollcage idea for now, and im interested in the megasquirt conversion, and call me old-school, but i only really want to fork out the money for EFI if i can get individual throttle bodies, to get the classic look. which brings me to my next question, where can i get ITB's, like the TWM ones in the FAQ section?? and my dad wants to know if a 525 5-speed can be adapted to fit, because he apparently has one spare somewhere!

oh btw, im located in templestowe.

cheers guys,

brent

Thats good it looks pretty rust free Brent - we're lucky we dont have salt on our roads!

With ITB's - Dave Pineda on this board is an authorised dealer for Dbilas and they make a very affordable set. He goes by the handle 'dapbmw'. He also makes many fibreglass parts - turbo flares, front spoilers and such. Id be keen to see how you go with the MS as i want to undertake this a little way down the track.

With the gearbox, i dont want to answer because im not 100% sure so ill leave it for someone else to field. To help them though, which model 5 series is it off and what year? If you want a 5 speed its quite easy to find one off an e21 - see the Faq write up.

Btw, Im not too far away in Surrey Hills. Theres quite a large group of us in Melbourne too. Are you part of the 02 Registry?

Cheers,

Tom

[brentspud]

finally got the car back on friday, after 21 hours driving in one day, i was pretty stuffed on the weekend!!

pulled out all the seats and carpets on sunday, as well as door trims and rear trim. this weekend's project is to pull out the block and send it off to the machine shop.

- the car is pretty rough under the carpets, so ive been letting it air out at every opportunity, but it looks managable.

- there's a problem with the door locks, the buttons won't go up or down and are jammed open, has anyone else experienced this problem? and if so, is there an easy fix for it?

- has anybody adapted an s14 head onto a standard m10? im assuming it has a different timing case, so any help would be appreciated!

thanks guys!

p.s. i signed up to the 02' registry the other day

[oz_tom]

finally got the car back on friday, after 21 hours driving in one day, i was pretty stuffed on the weekend!!

pulled out all the seats and carpets on sunday, as well as door trims and rear trim. this weekend's project is to pull out the block and send it off to the machine shop.

- the car is pretty rough under the carpets, so ive been letting it air out at every opportunity, but it looks managable.

- there's a problem with the door locks, the buttons won't go up or down and are jammed open, has anyone else experienced this problem? and if so, is there an easy fix for it?

- has anybody adapted an s14 head onto a standard m10? im assuming it has a different timing case, so any help would be appreciated!

thanks guys!

p.s. i signed up to the 02' registry the other day

Wow, big haul Brent - Well done!

If its looking a bit rough under the carpets, just check to make sure there isnt any rust lurking in the floors - very common place.

I believe AlanM on this board (in Queensland) has undertaken the s14 head approach so he could race in a particular category. Hes probably the best person to talk to about it.

Good to know your part of the Registry now - Fingers crossed for a Dandenong drive in September! If your having any large problems, Doug is a great guy and will always be willing to help out.

Cheers,

Tom

[brentspud]

hey guys,

haven't updated you on any news lately, largely due to the fact that i've been trying to concentrate on uni as much as possible.... but here are a few photos:

On the way back from Adelaide:

With the carpets out:

The dirty dirty engine!

Finally got the engine onto an engine stand last night, as well as all the seatbelts and carpets have been taken out, so now the only thing left in the interior is the dash, which will probably be coming out soon so that i can get the cracks fixed.

mechanically the car is great, it's got a brand new Sachs clutch which looks as if it's only done 50km or so. the gearbox and diff come out this weekend, and we start the long process of eliminating the rust =S

[oz_tom]

Nice work Brent - Its great fun having a project like this to take your mind of uni!

Tom

[Skippy_the_Bush_Kangaroo]

That engine looks a little cleaner than my old one, but not by much!

good luck with it

[brentspud]

haven't updates in a while, so i thought i'd let you guys know where im up to. things have been a bit slow lately, waiting for my new job to start so that i can really get started. since my last update, the following has been done:

- dash removed (the FAQ section was a great help here!) underneath it is REALLY clean, and around the front window seal is really clean and rust free. also fixed odometer and cleaned the gauges and the plastic lens. noticed that the plastic lens must be pretty scratch-resistant because after 33 years, there isnt a single scratch on any of them.

- removed rear quarter windows as well as the chrome piece below it to reveal a large amount of rust. fortunately it hadnt gone through.

- gutted the rest of the interior, all thats left now is the heater box, pedal assembly and the steering problem (having trouble with steering column, seems to be jammed on the splines on the steering box end) i wont take out the headlining, i cant be bothered fitting another one, and plus its in really good condition so theres no point.

- managed to remove all the exterior trim without damaging them, including the gutter mouldings. all fasteners are removed, and ill be ordering a stainless kit from the FAQ soon. fuel tank was also removed, and we discovered it was full, and being the opportunist i am, managed to save myself $50 on petrol this week =D

- started on removing the rust. havent had any scares so far, and the only holes are in the sills (for now we'll cut them out and fiberglass them over until we can get it done properly) and on the drivers side floor, around about where an LHD pedal box would be, if you know what i mean. started with behind the rear number plate and worked my way forwards with the wire wheel, being careful not to cut too deep. luckily there were no holes in the boot, around the fuel tank was really clean, but removed all paint from the spare wheel area, and just worked from there. afterwards i brushed on some rust converter/primer, so within the next few weeks i can start on the filler (there was HEAPS on the bottom of the doors) and then i can start painting/sanding etc.

- disassembled the engine. crankshaft journals are unworn, havent measured the bore yet, so we're not sure if we need new pistons and a rebore yet. slight corrosion on the head around water jackets, but nothing that's too expensive to be fixed. dad (project mechanic) is impressed with overall design of the M10, and even more impressed with how new mine is (its only done 96000 kms!) still need to assess what we're going to do about pistons. he's pretty keen to rebore and get some higher compression pistons.

no photos yet, as there isnt any REAL progress happening at the moment, but the next thing to happen is the front and rear subframes are coming out, as well as the gearbox and exhaust, at this stage its still a case of getting the thing clean, before we can decide what to do next.

a few new ideas floating around, including running dual clutch/brake fluid reservoirs, braided brake lines to replace the rubber ones

(im not usually a fan of braided lines, i think it looks a bit tacky and 'look-at-me' when its all over the engine bay, but if its brake lines then i guess you cant see it anyway)

oh also, ive decided on a deadline for this project...March 1st, 2008. i decided on this date because i want the car to be running in summer, let's see if that not too unrealistic!!