Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms BMW E21 Build

I'm working hard on her becoming a stunner

The automatic bell housing has now been bead blasted




Now both bell housings (manual & automatic) are ready for the next stage.

We have a roll cage update.
I'm really pleased with how this is progressing. Loving how tight the cage tubing is to the body shell.







The reason for the masking tape is for working out the correct angle needed to allow for the easiest access but with safety/rigidity of the roll cage kept.



You will probablly of noticed that the original rear parcel shelf & bulk head have now been removed. The reason why will be obvious very soon.

Managed to source a BMW E12 (5 SERIES) diff running the ratio we wanted of 3.9:1. The only problem is the fact this is an open diff. An original E12 LSD diff is very rare & if you can find one for sale they are very expensive.

I should mention the reason for using the E12 diff & not keeping the E21 diff.
The E21 diff had a huge problem of over heating back in the day when the E21 was raced. I've read quotes & scene pics of the diffs glowing red etc, this was because the diff casings were very compact which meant they couldn't hold much oil. Alpina did release a bigger rear panel which would allow the casing to hold more oil & it was heavily finned but over heating did still occur.
The E12 diff is relatively straight forward swap with only small modifications required to the rear subframe.





Now this diff will be fully stripped, all the internals checked, reused or replaced with new items. The casing & drive shaft flanges will be bead blasted & re-plated.
Hard to imagine looking at it now but this diff will look brand new once completed.
I have sourced a very well known UK company to make me a LSD & internals, their products are already used in high class motorsport.

Bit of gunk and T-cut that will come up a treat!
Don't know much about BMW racers so the E21 info was new (mind you I seem to know less and less as the years go by!).
Probably not new Quaife internals then?

Correct this time not Quaife even though I have used their products in the past & they have operated faultlessly.

Update on the shell, I think you will agree its beginning to take shape now.

The roll cage is now looking amazing but still a little way to go until its finished.





The mount for the fire extinguisher bottle brackets is now installed.



Here we can see the pedal box is mounted on a raised custom mount.
The top steering column location bracket has been made & joined onto the roll cage.
The Summit Technologies switch box mount has also been secured onto the roll cage brace bar that runs behind the dash board.



I hope you like this update. Any questions please ask.

Looking good!

+1

Thank you. It's taking a lot of time & effort. I'm having to do a lot planning in my own free time.

Currently prepping about how I'm going to go about doing the dash board layout