Mark
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Posts: 3,818
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Nov 30, 2010 23:32:01 GMT
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A chance look at the bay of e, and a subsequent e-mail and Miss Marple'esque detective session have brought about the purchase of a very rare e21. When I say very rare, what I really mean is very, very rare. In fact, it is one of 3 known cars and possibly one of only two known survivors. Anyway, the car in question is a TWR 335. A 323 converted to 3.5 m30 with a liberal sprinkling of Alpina parts. The link below takes you to a write up from the era when the car was new. farm5.static.flickr.com/4029/4354348089_69161bb601_b.jpgfarm5.static.flickr.com/4032/4355091964_c941825df3_b.jpgThe specification includes 3.5 m30 engine, Alpina gearbox casing and LSD with extended cooling fin cover. There are also Alpina spoilers and a Recaro interior. I still have work to do before it will be back on the road but it should be a bit of a beast with 240bhp and loads of torque. The boot floor, rear turrets & beneath the rear screen are all spotless with no rust or rot. The head has been removed to allow the bores to be inspected and there is no wear to speak of. There certainly no ridge at the top of the bores and the bores themselves are in great condition. Before I fit the new front panel etc, I am going to take the chance to paint and detail the engine bay. The is a brand new custom rad all ready to slot in. There is a brand new head which I plan to have flowed before I fit the Schrick cam to compliment the bigger valves already fitted. It's being built up to 240bhp specification. You can see just how little room is left between the block and the bulkhead. I'm going to fit a tubular manifold and exhaust system. Hopefully, I have plenty to do before I need to worry about that though. Obviously there are staggered Alpina rims which will also be refurbished at some point. I'm not going to stress too much about cosmetics though. I'm more concerned with getting it mechanically sorted. The pretty stuff can wait. I've decided to keep all the period ICE and fit it here rather than in MIB. I think it'll make a nice final touch to the mint Recaro interior. The next job is bringing it home and putting it in my garage. As luck would have it, I've finally found one just around the corner! Once it's here I can start writing a massive ''to do'' list. The interior is Recaro but they've trimmed the seats to match the doorcards etc. I was unsure about the authenticity of the steering wheel however, it seems it is the one supplied by TWR. With regard to the period ICE, I have managed to get the final missing components and now have the amp and pre-amp to match. I just need to decide which speakers to go with although that's a way off yet.
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Last Edit: Feb 4, 2012 21:15:05 GMT by Mark
BMW 320d (fridge on wheels)
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Mark
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,818
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Nov 30, 2010 23:34:32 GMT
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Well I was able to get over to M-tech this morning and Dave got the TWR up on his ramp so that we could go over it with a fine tooth comb. Apologies for the picture quality and poor light and an i phone camera are a bad mix. Anyway, the whole shell is 100% rust free. In fact, it has to be one of the most solid E21's I have come across personally. The fact that a previous owner has laboriously removed all the underseal with a scraper means that there are no hidden surprises. This is the only blemish along with a rear corner of the bonnet that has a little ding that's happened whilst in storage. Certainly nothing to worry about. The metal around the diff remains rust free and the cover and fins should clean up nicely. Obviously the LSD with get fresh oil. The suspension all seems to be in good order and looks to have been fully refurbished in recent years. The springs are progressive rate. The brakes look awesome too. I'm guessing the fronts were taken from the 635 that donated its engine. The hoses with be replaced with braided items along with new fluid & pads. The gearbox will obviously get fresh oil too. The internals are a combination of 6 and 7 series ratios combined with the standard 3.45 diff. The bootlid has been replaced for some reason but this is also mint so just needs painting. Apart from this and some localized repairs, that should be about the only paintwork needed. The gutter trims, rear windows etc all need to be replaced and / or re-fitted. All the wheel arches are spotless as are the doors. In fact, the doors look factory fresh inside and out. The boot currently contains a load of parts. There's a brand new head, polished rocker cover, polished inlet manifold and assorted other bits and pieces. There a brand new cam and the original Alpina strut brace remains too. There are certain bits I am still in need of but that's mainly interior trim. Dave @ E21 Revival has supplied me with a decent carpet ( thanks Dave ) and I have an early Alpina steering wheel as was originally fitted. The staggered Alpina wheels will get new rubber once the wheels themselves have been refurbished. Rather than just fit the engine I got from Jason, we have decided to rebuild the original, blueprinted TWR engine instead. If, further down the line, it looks as if it's too far gone we can always revert to the original plan. It just makes sense to get the original engine up and running again. As soon as the cars running we can get the front end on and think about the first M.O.T in 21 years!
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BMW 320d (fridge on wheels)
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Mark
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Posts: 3,818
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Nov 30, 2010 23:35:37 GMT
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As it's raining and I'm stuck at my desk I thought I would do a bit more research on the cars history and it's previous owners. I'm having the head pressure tested prior to having it flowed this week. I'm leaning towards having e34 inlet valves fitted but as I know very little about M30 engines I am having to rely on other people. This was the bill given when the car was returned as a C1. The conversion to 335 was another £8K. TWR's factory back in the day. Spot the C1 in the background. It looks like an early car going by the chrome door mirror? I spy the 2 County Championship cars over there in the back-ground. Those rear wings were rather large. I've managed to contact someone who bought all of TWR's parts stock when they'd finished working with the E21. It seems as though all those ''identical'' 323 engines might not have been all they appeared.
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BMW 320d (fridge on wheels)
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Mark
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,818
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Nov 30, 2010 23:36:31 GMT
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Alpina / Momo wheel but also has TWR engraved on it thus. I thought you might also enjoy this...
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BMW 320d (fridge on wheels)
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Mark
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,818
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Nov 30, 2010 23:37:41 GMT
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Decided to do a bit of mix'n'match with steering wheels and boss' this weekend. At first glance the drillings to mount the wheels with the allen bolts look identical. When I actually undid them all there was actually about 1 or 1.5mm difference. Not much, but enough to stop the allen bolts winding in straight. In the end I used a jewelers file and ''adjusted'' things slightly. With the Alpina wheel and the TWR wheel side by side, you can also see the slight differences between the two. Once I had got all 6 bolts started in their thread, as here, I just took the time to wind them in a half turn each in turn, so they went in evenly. All I need to do now is clean it all up and repaint the bolt heads. I know it might not be 100% original but its far closer than the early e30 Alpina wheel, that the car came with, and the TWR engraving is a nice touch. The leather is mint too.
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BMW 320d (fridge on wheels)
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Mark
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,818
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Nov 30, 2010 23:38:26 GMT
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Well a bit more progress as parts arrive. The manifold arrived which means the exhaust can be fabricated. The head is currently being flowed and they quote a 23% increase in flow rate, plus they are machining the inlets to accept the slightly larger e34 valves. New guides, rockers etc and Schrick cam complete things with the head. As the original additional fan no longer exists, the good people at Kenlowe stepped in with one of their 14'' fan kits. Thank-you Kenlowe! There is a manual adjuster which is far easier to use than the alternative which meant fiddling around with an electrical screwdriver. The M5 clutch & flywheel pretty much completes the engine and transmission side of things. The last person to actually have the car on the road said that he has the original air-box that TWR fabricated. By all accounts, it's pretty basic but it will still be nice to replace another original part. If it cannot be found I will be on the hunt for a local fabricator to knock something up. Anyway, here's another photo I thought you might like?
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BMW 320d (fridge on wheels)
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Mark
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,818
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Nov 30, 2010 23:39:18 GMT
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Last Edit: May 18, 2011 11:39:56 GMT by HARDCORE
BMW 320d (fridge on wheels)
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Mark
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,818
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Nov 30, 2010 23:43:19 GMT
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Well you're just about up to speed with progress so far.
The 6 branch was temporarily fitted to allow the guys to build a nice, twin 3'' system and the next thing will be to get the engine back in one piece. There's a nice new cam from Cat Cams and the head is being flowed with larger e34 inlet valves.
I've also got a set of slave wheels to fit so that I can get the staggered Alpinas in for a full refurb'.
If only Christmas wasn't going to get in the way!
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BMW 320d (fridge on wheels)
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luckygti
Posted a lot
I need to try harder!
Posts: 4,912
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Lovely, great find. Sure we've had one of these on here not so long ago, but I could be wrong. Looks to be in lovely condition, no strike that, positively solid condition
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lovely car you got there
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stefan
Posted a lot
If it isn't broken fix it till it is
Posts: 1,598
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nice motor that
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POWER IS EVERYTHING WITHOUT CONTROL
1985 Honda jazz 1997 Saab 93 convertible 2010 transit 280
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Lovely!
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Click picture for more
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the ultimate new e21? i love it!
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Great build, i'd love a 335 myself The block/bulkhead clearance is about the same as on stock 320/325 e30's I recall reading about alpina(?) 335's had the bulkheads "fixed" with a sledge, think that was on e30's though.
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Mark
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,818
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Clearance is definately minimal. It does fit though...just! The main problem seems to be heat transfer to the floor and bulkhead. The carpet gets remarkably hot from what the previous owner tells me. I plan to use foil mat under the carpet as well as ceramic coating the 6 branch exhaust manifold. Hopefully, there might be room to squeeze in an extra heat shield too? Another thing to help would be an alloy rad but the regular rad I have is new so it's kinda hard to justify the added expense right now. There are a couple of other 3.5 converted e21's but they use the e12 gearbox & diff iirc? This car has a bespoke Alpina box with a combination of ratios taken from the 6 and 7 series. They did run the first car with an open diff' but mine was built with the 240bhp spec ( as opposed to 218) and it has an LSD. Combined with modern, sticky rubber it should make it pretty quick off the line.
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BMW 320d (fridge on wheels)
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Very much like the car!
Can't really read the text though as the brochure pics are all stacked beside each other and making this an incredibly wide thread!
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Mark
Posted a lot
Posts: 3,818
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Just moved pics so hopefully that's a bit easier for you?
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BMW 320d (fridge on wheels)
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it is, thanks, and was able to read up what's going on. Inspiring me towards my own E21... must get a move on!
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will
Posted a lot
Posts: 4,023
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Oh, now that's a bit special. Great purchase that man.
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Wow what a find will be the ultimate retro street sleeper!! I do love a good e21, wish I never got rid of my e21 323i! ;(
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Sig pic too big!
83 MK1 Golf 1.3 Driver-sold 83 Mk1 Golf GTI Pirelli-sold 95 BMW 520i Individual-sold 94 BMW 525i Sport-R.I.P 04 Audi A4 1.9TDI 130-55mpg:)
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