Jon Stroup motor swap

#1

Jon was here this weekend and we swapped out the motor killed at RA last month. We put in a low mileage bottom end, with I-J scraper and a baffle, and a fresh head. We worked hard for 6hrs yesterday, thank god the garage has AC, and got it all done except for coolant and electrical. Then we went to a ballgame. No really. After not having a single bite to eat all day we walked a couple blocks to the stadium where the local minor league baseball team plays, and luxurated in beer and dogs.

Challenges and points of interest:

Jon’s car is missing the two little hooks that help hold the shifter carrier in at it’s rear anchor point. As a result the anchor point hands down a big and the driveshaft has been wearing away his shifter. We jury rigged something to hold the rear of the shifter carrier up a little higher but it probably won’t last.

The tranny slave cylinder was only being held on by one nut and it was ready to fall off. I can’t for the life of me imagine how the clutch worked with the slave almost off of the bellhousing and at a 45deg angle.

As usual I put the intake manifold on and then realized I’d forgotten the bitch tube, so that was a redo.

Jon’s clutch disk was worn to a mm’s thickness so we replaced both clutch disk and pressure plate. It was necessary to do that only once, and not 5x like my previous effort.

There were only 2 wires going to his starter solenoid. Odd.

My air compressor sucks.

#2

Shifter…take a piece of 1" or so polyurethane and drill a hold for a 8mm bolt. Drill a corresponding hold through the floor and the shifter plate. Bolt poly spacer in middle. Done=Win. CB

#3

Chuck, can you elaborate? I don’t understand.

#4

The shifter console usually bolts to a bracket behind the trans. Simply throw that away, drill a hold for an 8mm bolt and bolt the end of the console to the body with a 1 1/2" thick piece of poly. Bolt head will be behind the shifter boot hole. CB

#5

We may be talking about different things. I’m talking about the rear of the shifter carrier, not the console. The bracket is part #8 in this diagram, altho the diagram has the bracket upside down. The two tangs that go into the bracket are missing so it droops down. The fastening point on the body for the 8mm bolt is beat up both because there’s too much force on it with the tangs being missing but also it’s just plain beat up from getting bashed on at some point in it’s past.

http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=1113&mospid=47309&btnr=25_0074&hg=25&fg=05

We drilled a couple small holes in the transmission tunnel and put a stainless steel flextie down thru the drilled holes and then thru the holes in the bracket where the tangs should go, and then back up. That will keep the bracket held up a bit so the shift carrier won’t droop down as easily. It’s only a bandaid tho. Those SS flexties don’t stay tight very well in my experience.

#6

OH!! I have the older sheet metal console so doing what I explained on your setup is not possible. CB

#7

Is it possible realoem is right and it was installed upside down on Stroup’s car? It’s hard to believe they would have it oriented wrong in the diagram.

#8

Is it possible realoem is right and it was installed upside down on Stroup’s car? It’s hard to believe they would have it oriented wrong in the diagram.[/quote]
I can’t tell if you’re kidding or not. Pls advise so I properly calibrate my sarcasm.

If you kidding the response would be .

If you’re not kidding, I’d assure you that having R/R’d our engine and tranny as a unit 4x in the last month, and having R/R’d the tranny alone 5x in the last month, I am now one fully trained shifter carrier bracket installer.

#9

It was a genuine question.

Please take this as good natured ribbing, but you didn’t R/R the engine and tranny a bunch of times because you got it right the first time. :wink:

#10

[quote=“Steve D” post=67427]It was a genuine question.

Please take this as good natured ribbing, but you didn’t R/R the engine and tranny a bunch of times because you got it right the first time. ;)[/quote]
Yes, but it was the clutch I was having problems with, not this bracket.

Look at the diagram in the RealOEM link. At bottom right of part #8 there is visible a little square hole. It’s twin is obscured but would be at bottom left. Under the tranny tunnel, kind of under the ebrake handle are two little hooks. Those two little hooks go into the holes into the bracket, but only if the holes are at the top of the bracket, as opposed to the pic. If you put the #8 bracket upside down such that you don’t use the hooks, then the bracket won’t be anchored very well and the the shifter carrier (part #1) will droop. This will allow the shift lever to contact the driveshaft.

#11

Before the jabs get worse. Scott is right and it is upside down in the photo for some reason. The two slots in part number 4 need to go on the top side and there are two hooks at the top of the transmission tunnel that go in those slots:

#12

I hope Ranger knows I have much respect for his hard-earned knowledge and skill (if not for his sanity or judgment :laugh: ).

All I want to know is are Ranger and Stroup going to be at Road Atlanta in a a couple weeks?

In true Ranger fashion, my Miata is sitting on jack stands without a cylinder head. I managed to remove the head. Let’s see if I can put Humpty back together in time for August…:blush:

#13

I’ve been away for a few days from the forum (working), so did not respond right away. Ranger and family were great hosts. He’s right about the baseball game; the Savannah Sand Gnats kicked butt, beating the Macon Braves in a single A thriller;)
We did good work. Ranger has the engine swap ballet down. No serious blood. Minimal time wastage. Saturday was hard work; Sunday morning was a cruise.

Upgrades for me: fresh engine; O2 sensor; fresh clutch; fixed the shifter bracket; and some other bits/pieces. See you at RA!