Shoot, I've been saying that he should get the 99 E39, though it would be "too big" for him. He wants a car to bring to the track/autocross. Would a E46 ZHP be the ideal car for him?
I'd like a bit more understanding of the parts of an engine because I'm a bit skeptical of doing something like that. What parts of the engine are affected by mileage? I ask because I am not too keen on reusing any parts of my engine if I get ANY work done on it. The reason for that is that it's very high mileage and if I do engine mods, then I will probably be going to the track more often. I don't want to subject mechanical parts that have over 300k on them to that kind of stress. Sure, it's been well maintained, but I'm not too interested in risking it if I'm going to be spending some money on engine mods. That's why I wanted to buy another engine and swap it in; it would have less wear-and-tear on it and consequently be more keen on handling spirited driving. These parts that you're selling; is the condition of them mileage-based or would they be good regardless of mileage? As in, even if they have been on an engine with 400k on them, they would be the same as if used on an engine with 100k?
I rebuilt the head about 60,000 miles ago. It got new valve guide seals, but not new guides. I would have run it longer, but the bottom end had about 260k on it and the rings were not in happy shape. It used a little oil, but not much. If you were doing a rebuild, I would go for bearings on the crank and new rings at least (depending on how your bores measured out.) The head came from a car with 140k IIRC (he didn't change his belt in time.) Really, the things you need to worry about are cam lobes and rockers, valve guides, bearings, and rings. All the other parts, it pretty much does not matter how many miles as long as the car was reasonably well maintained. You can probably find a pretty low mileage eta bottom end, clap on my cylinder head and be good to go for many years on or off track. If you buy a used motor with low miles, though, you would still be well advised to replace the head gasket and the oil seals/gaskets while it is out. We had to do a head gasket on an 88 325i with 20k on it 3 years ago. For those, the age matters as much as mileage. I'm rambling, did I answer your question?
I just realized how badly we've derailed this thread , close to the 400 post mark btw. Seemed to take a while to get to 100 and then it was like a downhill sprint after that.
Yes. Unless you want to take payments on the M50 instead, I don't think I'll be doing the 2.7i. How much power does the 2.7i yield? I want to keep it as straightforward as possible, because the only shop that I want to afford to do engine work is the shop that doesn't specialize in BMW. In fact, I don't know if they'd know where to start with a 2.7i conversion... AND, it would still require me to use parts from my engine. You don't have any other engines that might be worth buying, do you? Nobody else is willing to accept payments.
Botond, take it to my mechanic. He will give you a deal because you know me. I wouldn't trust a non-bmw shop installing that head in your car. For crying out loud I'll give you $100 credit or whatever come January. My mechanic's labor rate of $88.50 may not be the best deal, but you pay for his quality. He has repaired Maserati's, RR, Ferrari's and were talking about 60's vintage. He knows his stuff. Thank GOD I work for him a few hours a week. I get to see all his projects and know whats going on. If I had the knowledge of Paul (Moosehead) then I'll be working for him full time even though I have a 4-yr degree.
I know the quality over quantity argument, but guess what: I ain't paying a large labor rate for a swap that I'm not all that interested in. If I was doing an M/S50 swap then I would definitely go to him, but to pay for labor on something that I don't entirely want (327i swap vs. M50/S50 swap) then I'm hesitant to have the swap done in the first place. If it was the entire 2.7i engine that would be swapped into it, then maybe, but to reuse parts of mine and pay for labor is a waste.
My 2.7i was up around the 190 mark, I would guess. Acceleration was hampered by the huge flywheel and the 3.25 diff (the porting biased the motor to the top end of the rev band.) I believe I can get ahold of a good 2.7 bottom end if you want or just rebuild mine for you with new bearings/rings/seals if you are seriously interested. I had a 3.0L crank and rods that I was going to try, but sold that off. You could maybe do a 2.8 M50 crank or maybe even a 3.0L M54 crank if you wanted to make serious single cam power. The big bonus is the weight distribution is unchanged, you can use your gearbox, and the price tag is cheaper. I got a 4 year degree too, but working as a mechnic was actually more profitable for a time. Now I mostly just vaporize stuff. Our shop rate is $75 per hour. You know you could just drop the car off to me and I'll take care of it for you. We only charge 20 hours for an engine swap. Won't happen any time soon, though, I am very busy shooting electrons at things.
That is a great rate. Botond, get the swap done at Paul's shop and give him all the beer he wants. $1500 for the swap is a good deal. Then get the E36 M3
That is a VERY good rate, considering you in particular specialize in BMW's (am I right on that one?). Honestly, if you allow me to work on it with you, I would definitely consider driving all the way down to Virginia from where I live. I think you're in Virginia, correct? Either way, if you are willing to let it be a learning experience, I would definitely pay you that amount. Hell, I'll even tip ya. Allowing me to be around itself is worth the experience. If you'd say "Nah, go to your hotel and see me in the morning", then I'd just say screw it and not bother. This is really important to me to be around when a swap is being done. Whoa, hold your horsepower there, buddy. It's either a swap for the E30 or the E36 M3 and leave the E30 stock. I could use that $1.5-2k spent on a swap towards payments on the E36...
Depends on how long you feel like waiting. I may have time in the spring to work on swapping a motor with you. We'll see. In the mean time, jut keep your oil changed, timing belt fresh every 60k and save your pennies and you should be fine. Never know when I'll need a place to stay up north.
A place to stay while you work on the engine swap? No need; I could drive down there. I'd quite enjoy the road trip there and back.
That Isetta was hanging around too much with Barry Bonds, Gary Sheffield, Jason Giambi, Sammy Sosa, Todd Helton, Greg Vaughn, Roger Clemens, Jose Canseco, Brett Boone and Brady Anderson.
