engine and drivetrain 2002 engine upgrades or swap

[atbus]

I recently bought a 74' 2002 that i am fixing. it has a 76' motor in it with a 32/36 weber carb, but i am either looking to maybe turbocharge the engine in it or swap it for a newer 3 series engine, possibly an M motor. I am handy with a wrench, but dont have ready access to a welder. i was wondering if anyone had any suggestions or ideas about what i should or how i should approach this task. any other ideas are welcome too

[Paul7002]

Other swaps are possible but get significantly more complicated. Of course, anything is possible with enough money.

Also plenty of turbo experience among the board members here. Again, Use the Search function.

[cam1602]

It would help if you clarified your goals. Will you have race class restrictions? Need to pass Smog tests? Will it be a daily driver or towed to the track (or some where between)? What about all the stuff you need to do when you increase the power such as more cooling, better brakes, better suspension, rest of drive train? A health M10 is not bad and good value for the money without going crazy. An S14 is really cool and can be very reliable but can also be expensive especially when consider all of the other stuff (trans, diff, cooling, upgraded suspension and brakes to handle the increase in power). With enough time and money, almost anything can fit. Depending on the ultimate use of the car, you can dramatically increase the power to weight ratio by making the car lighter.

My Lemons racer weighs in at 1900 lbs with full 6 point roll cage and other reinforcements. At 1500 lbs, the car could really scoot with a stock motor.

Good luck

[atbus]

i am making a daily driver with a bit more power just for the sake of my desire to drive fast,i dont want to do anything too outrageous but still something to add some more umph to the car. i briefly looked into the m10 and s14 ideas, and the s14 idea caught my attention. I do plan on improving the suspension and the breaks with the new power, but am still trying to figure out what i wanna do with the motor, which then will help decide what goes into the rest of the drive-train, the car is has an antique license in virgina, the vehicle only requires a self inspection for the antique license, so i dont think i have too many limits in the law's reguard. but i do plan on it being my daily driver, something a bit more economical and speedier than my jeep, i am refurbishing the interior and getting the seats recovered, and am currently working on sanding off the paint so that i can get it painted (which a shop will do so that it looks nice). i hope that helps clarify what my goals are for this 2002

[c.d.iesel]

....and how much MONEY you care to spend ??

best, easiest, and smartest swap is using a M3 S14 motor

[cam1602]

i am making a daily driver with a bit more power just for the sake of my desire to drive fast,i dont want to do anything too outrageous but still something to add some more umph to the car. i briefly looked into the m10 and s14 ideas, and the s14 idea caught my attention.....

The S14 has the cool factor and it fits but can cost a lot. If money is not an issue, then the S14 is the way to go IMHO. If you just want more "umph" as you stated, then why not keep is simple. High performance rebuild with more compression and cam, header, ITB induction, 5 s/p trans upgrade, LSD with a 4:30 gear should realy wake it up. To round out the package, true adjustable coil overs all 4 corners and upgrade the brakes. Not as fancy as the S14 but should be able to do at a fraction of the price and have a good package.

[caps02]

I've been toying around the idea of converting my car to a biodiesel using a 524td drivetrain as my basis, but I wouldn't know where to start. I'm beginning to think our little cars are on the up value-wise, so anymore (my mods be damned) I'm thinking it's prudent to keep the basics of the car closer to its original configuration. I'm definitely leaning towards a performance rebuild of my numbers-matching M10 motor.

[BarryA]

I've been toying around the idea of converting my car to a biodiesel using a 524td drivetrain as my basis, but I wouldn't know where to start. I'm beginning to think our little cars are on the up value-wise, so anymore (my mods be damned) I'm thinking it's prudent to keep the basics of the car closer to its original configuration. I'm definitely leaning towards a performance rebuild of my numbers-matching M10 motor.

would be to start with an E21 - they're still fairly common, still cheap, and in the rest of the world, they came with two versions of the M20 from the factory (323 and 320/6) so everything is available "off the shelf" to do an M20 swap, and there's quite a bit more room to work with in the engine compartment.

In addition, E21's had a split fuel tank arrangement, with the two halves connected by a large diameter tube under the driveshaft, which would make it relatively easy to set up a dual-fuel system - regular diesel in one tank, Bio in the other.

[73malaga]

I have been happy with tii pistons/dist and 38/38.

DD runs well, stop an slow traffic, not a hot rod.