my dad and i have this 320A {1976}
we picked it up for $1000
it is the carby model, with the injected head, but no injection.

i was going to put a 13bt into it, but im getting attached to this motor.

story goes like this.

went fine for a few months, then the blower fan started to play up. no biggy
the gauges started to get a bit funky, didnt take much notice - just thought it was electrical issues, but it was running fine, so i ignored it.

then the temp gauge would just peg at full hot, i thought it was more electrical issues - as the radiator wasnt that hot.

so i drove it more, like about 3000kms more. BUT it turns out the temp gauge was reading correctly, the thermostat had jammed shut.
i was driving it around with the motor boiling away, and i had no idea.
so dad bored out the thermostat, worked well

but now the head is stuffed, leaky valve stem seals.
it detonates on the oil.

the question is:
what the hell do i do??
just a new head?
or do i get my power fix from this motor and scrap the rotor idea??

initially i want NA if im doing the stock motor.
so if some one could come up with some form of budjet build up, that would be great.

the motor has done 125,000 miles {200,000kms} including the cooking incident.
the bottom end seems fine, but as part of the build i will re-ring it and throw in some new bearings. i wont hone or bore it unless it is ABSOLUTLY NESSACERY.

i will go efi in a few years, so for now it is carby.

when i go efi, i will be going turbo - and a fully built motor :buttrock

thanks for reading all this, and thanks for your ideas.

Since it sounds like this is the car you drive everyday, I'd stick with adding a turbo to your original engine. That way you don't have to worry about the trials and silliness involved with a motor swap...those are always more of an adventure than you expect them to be. I think you should rebuild the engine that is in your car with low compression forged pistons, a ported head, HD valve springs, etc. That way you'll be set to run a turbo when your wallet can handle it, and in the meantime you'll just have a really tough little engine.

Nick

sorry, in all my ramblings, i never mentioned - the car is now off the road.
the head is that stuffed, that once the oil warms up, it detonates that bad - it sounds worse than a diesel.

is there a way to get a twin cam head onto this block??
as i understand, this is the block that BMW used in F1, and made stupid amounts of power with?

if i use the stock bottom end with a new head and cam combo, what is a good rev limit??

Sure, but you'll need to reroute the oil passages...and use custom pistons with an s14 crank. For the price of an s14 head, intake manifold and injection/wiring harness, etc., you may as well just buy an s14. But you can buy several 320i's for the price of an s14 :confused. I'm not sure how many cfm an m10 head can flow, but I've seen vids of 500hp m10 drag cars. The s14 head is for people who want stupid levels of power, or racers who need the DOHC motor in a 2.0 racing class.

useing the crank and custom pistons is not to bad. this way it becomes a stroker,and you can bore the block to"i think 92mm" or somethin like that. this is what i have in mind for my turbo project.rerouting oil pasages sounds like hell!! and i think the name s14 alone adds 5-6 hundred dollers more than what the part would cost if it was for the m10.lol

good luck:buttrock

For the near term get your head checked out by a good machine shop. It may not be cracked, just a blown headgasket. If it is cracked just find another head, be sure to match it to your pistons, there were a couple versions of pistons and heads and they don't all work well together.

For an inexpensive build of the m10 I recomend:

A 290 (or so) degree duration cam
A good performance valve job
Intake and exhaust porting if you can find someone that can do it and you can afford it.
A good header and custom exhaust using quality freeflowing performance mufflers.
The best carb system you can afford-the Weber 32/36 carb commonly used is NOT good enough for serious performance. The 38/38 works well though if you spend the time to get it jetted correctly.

This will make you some reasonable power.

When the engine is apart check the piston skirts for excessive heat and wear.

To see what I'm running and get info on headers, porting, EFI and more visit my website at:

http://www.e21motorsports.com/kendanielson/

ken

nice headers, as a bit of a science geek, ill check out the books you recomended.

i was considering using a 38-45mm sidedraught webber for induction duties, and with the motor slanted like it is - i should have a goodly amount of room.

do you have a good suggestion for a rev limit??

im also a toolmaker/welder, so i will be doing all the fab work - as well as the mechanicals. the only thing i cant do myself is port the head.:(

does anyone have any idea on the stock piston to valve clearance??
or a max lift for the stock valve train - i know the SR20 {nissan} has issues, and i dont want to run into these same problems.

someone must be running a big fat cam.


carn blokes, can anyone at least point me to a book/website that will give me the tech info i am looking for??

I don't have experience with a single sidedraft on the M10, but have driven many with the dual sidedrafts. Sounds tits and goes like stink when set up well. Mileage sucks. About what you would expect.

Rev limit? Heck, I will be using the stock rev limit until I beef the internals a bit. (rod bolts, etc).

Ken's site mentions some inexpensive valve spring setups that allow a good deal more lift. Also, check out Schrick, Web Cams, and Elgin, as they all seem to have quality cams and good tech.

Dunno on pist-valve clearance as I haven't installed a monster cam yet and probably wont.