Pinging Burgerman and Dave Plowman..

Right, the reason I'm pinging you two is I have an idea.

I know a Rover V8 goes into a BMW E30 pretty easily, so that is on the agenda (no, not the turbo one from the Rangie).

So, with me being a lover of cheap engine transplants and torque I'm gonna do it the cheapest, easiest way possible.. as usual.

My E30 is an auto.... which means it uses the ZF4HP22. My Rangie is auto.... which means it uses the ZF4HP22.

I quite like autos, and it'll probably annoy some of the E30 'scene' if I leave it auto, but bolt a 4.0 Rover lump in. I know the Rover lump, it's lighter than the M20 engine and one hell of a lot torquier.

Looking at the 'box in the E30, the front end is identical to the Rangie one, so if I bolt a Range Rover bellhousing to it and use the Rover torque converter it /should/ save me a shed load of grief with the whole job. Provided the V8 doesn't sit too far back or too high in the bay.

Kickdown cable looks pretty much the same, speedo drive is off the diff on the E30 anyway, the 4HP22 has a 300 lb ft limit which a standard 3.9 / 4.0 V8 won't trouble anyhow. The ZF sump, dipstick tube mounting ('box end) and everything other than the output end of the box looks identical on the two.

Thing is, would the Rover torque converter fit the BMW 'box?

Oh, with the Rover lump being as light as it is, it'd quite probably get me 50-50 weight distribution instead of 51-49 or whatever a Touring is, and having seen a Rover engined, 400 bhp E30, the engine seems to sit nice and low and further back in the bay so that's a bonus as well.

Reply to
Pete M
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I can give you sort of chapter and verse as I thought fitting a 4HP22 would be the easy route to a 4 speed for my SD1. And bought a complete unit.

The snag is RR engineered things so it fits between the existing engine and transfer box centres. And the main body of the ZF is shorter than the manual. So they simply made up a longer bellhousing and spaced the torque convertor off the driveplate. On an RR etc this didn't much matter - but on the SD1 the longer bellhousing fouls the bulkhead by a large amount. This may not be a problem on the E30 which likely has room for a longer engine than the RV8.

As regards which basic box to use - I'd go with the RR one and after removing the transfer box, the BMW tailshaft *should* bolt straight on.

If you don't have a RR box, you'll need the TC from one and all the spacers/adaptors as well as the bellhousing. If the RV8 is a manual, probably the drive plate and possibly a crank centre bush cange

Yes - even with the extra length of the box over what's strictly needed the C of G of the RV8 might well still be further back than the original 6.

Since it's not practical to chop such a large bit out of the SD1 bulkhead I'm thinking of a different route. Namely fitting a ZF 5HP**. These don't have a removable bellhousing - but I have a spare from a GM 180 so it will need a cut and shunt job. Others have done the same using an Aisin Warner four speed - but if I'm going to these lengths I'd like a 5. Aftermarket ECUs to control the ZF in a non standard app are available from the US.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Looking at their relative positions in the RR and E30, I don't think it'd be much of an issue.

I'm probably going to buy a dead Rangie or Disco for the motor. That way I 'll have the full EFi set up, ancilliaries etc.

Sounds like fun. My last SD1 was a Vitesse manual, and I miss it.

Reply to
Pete M

If and when you finish it and you flog it before you go to Czech, I will be interested :) If you don't finish it and flog it before you go to Czech and it still has the original engine, I will still be interested :)

Reply to
fishman

If you want it as it is, come and get it. Needs a steering rack as the one on it is leaking severely and I've not had time to sort it.

Reply to
Pete M

I've got a Rimmer re-con laying around with near zero miles. I picked up a new better make at an auto jumble. I'm open to offers - Rimmer price 86 quid exchange.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Rimmer do bits for BMW E30s??? :-o

Reply to
Pete M

Ah. You shouldn't have mentioned your Vitesse. ;-)

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Poo I thought it was working correctly! One of my Lancias had a leaky rack (apparently pregnant/recently sprogged women share this problem). Anyway I poured a bottle of Slick 50 power steering fluid in, which all got soaked up and then topped it up with ordinary power steering fluid. Never troubled me again!

Reply to
fishman

It is, other than the PAS fluid leak. I'm gonna fix it in the next week or two hopefully...

Reply to
Pete M

I used the slick 50 PS fluid (not the fluid additive) on the Saab 900, it worked a treat on that too.

Reply to
Elder

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