Greg's Gold 1991 240GLE wagon B230FT-to-be

Ex850R

Maybe a 3" cat in case you copy the downpipe , make a jig so 3 inch ones can be made off?

I would make some stainless ones if you want. I'm committing to build stuff....

My downpipe is 2.5 inch...I’m anxious to see how it clears everything in the RHD. My dad has a 3 inch downpipe on his LHD and everything is very tight!

Paul_Roodenrys

There are several places online that sell mandrel bends and straight sections, I've had absolutely no experience with exhausts apart from repairing holes in the exhausts on my BMW bike with fruit cans and rivets (worked for a while). I'm wondering if, theoretically, at least I could assemble an exhaust from bits using clamps?

I’m embarrassed to say it but my dad had an exhaust system on his 1800ES that was about 50% clamps LOL!

Come to papa! Finally bringing my 88 740T engine and M46 back home after loooong term storage in Wayne's mum's shed. Will get stuck into this engine swap/manual conversion after I get the yellow 245 on the road.

Got the engine/trans back home. Need to reassemble my engine crane so I can unload it...job for tomorrow. The shed is starting to look like a tip shop again. Time for a clean-out!

Gave the gold wagon a wash the other day. Can't wait to get stuck into the turbo conversion...need to get the yellow 79 done first. Grrr.

I was telling @Andoria about this planned engine swap today...when he said his +T was the longest-running project, I went back thru my pics and realised I've had my turbo engine/trans since August 2004. Yikes! Maybe 2021 it will go into the wagon? Not if I keep pulling other cars apart. Need to get stuck into another one of MY projects one day LOL! In fact, looking at the pic below I can see that when I bought the 740T, I didn't even have the gold wagon yet (the supercharged 88 240 sedan and my long-gone Amazon wagon are sitting in the shed at our old house in Williamstown). Time flies when you're having fun! Wish I had kept those wheels!

Grrr...been accumulating parts for this swap for over 10 years. I had set aside an immaculate pedal box, but didn’t put it with the bits for the swap...just had it with my box of misc pedals. What do I do? Sell it to somebody in NZ. Now gunna have to look at the rather daggy one I accumulated with a large lot of parts last year and see if I can patch it up. Moral of the story: never sell anything - you might need it some day!

Roinik

I'll be pulling one next weekend if that helps - with extra bits ;-)

Hi Ian. Yes, thanks if the pedal box is in good nick I wouldn’t say no. Like I said I have one but I think it’s fairly well-used. I have the Torquay wrecks coming as well (I think 3 of them are manual) so I’ll be pulling the pedal boxes from them, but probably will try to sell with the transmissions as manual conversion kits. Look forward to catching up when we can - we plan to pick up the first car tomorrow - the white 79 (?) wagon. Hopefully some of the parts off that will be for you. Remains to be seen whether much of it is salvageable.

Well, the wagon was due for the brake fluid change so I put it up on the hoist and removed the wheels a few weeks ago, thinking maybe now’s the time to get started on the turbo swap. I am in need of motivation! The cold weather doesn’t help. I’m also struggling with the best way to get the engine out. I know you can get it out the top, but since I have the 2-post hoist, I was wondering about dropping the whole engine and crossmember. Seems like it wouldn’t be that hard if I make up a wood frame on some furniture dollies…I could let the car down onto the frame, undo the crossmember and other necessary bolts, then just raise the hoist and let everything sit on the floor on the framework. Thoughts? I guess it would mean disconnecting the 2x rear brake pipes from the junction block, as well as the master cylinder from the booster…and struts would come down too (would make up something to hold them in the vertical orientation so they don’t fly outward. Thoughts? My dad pulled the engine and trans out of his 240 turbo project using an engine hoist and balancer without removing the bonnet or the front end panels. Maybe that’s a lot easier. I could remove the bonnet…front end panels much harder to remove on the 91 as the whole nose cone would have to come off since the upper rad support is spot welded, so that’s a no-go. Damn, I forgot about the AC…it works fine (although compressor is leaking oil) so I don’t really want to de-gas it (has Hychill in it now).

Then, how far do I go on the 740T engine and gearbox that’s been sitting in the shed for about 18 years? Replace all gaskets and seals as a minimum…should I pull the head? Hmm…I don’t really feel like I could be bothered…

Back to my wine! :) Hope everyone is staying warm!

jamesinc

I did it that way one time, I think it is easier pulling out the top. I've had an engine and trans out in an hour that way, without a hoist. Disconnecting brake lines isn't hard I suppose but it is messy and you have to bleed them after, before you can enjoy your fresh turbo redblock - such a chore!

And then obviously you have removed the crossmember and the struts and you will probably have altered your wheel alignment

Yeah you’re probably right. I do need to bleed the brakes, but thinking about how massive it is to remove the whole suspension and crossmember, it does seem a bit crazy and possibly dangerous with all that weight etc. and centre of mass shifting on the hoist. I think I may pull the bonnet off as a precaution then I don’t have to worry as much about being able to get the engine up high enough. Every time I pull an engine out it seems like the top of the hoist wants to go thru the bonnet. One of the nice things about that 740 hinge design I guess! :)