B34/35 engine height and closing hood.

[Roger S]

Finally finished up the plumbing on top of the intake and attempted to close the hood. I noticed the cold air plug sits about .5" too high to allow it.

Has anyone else experienced problems with engine height and hood closure on their engine swap? I was brainstorming with HBChris and the conversation ended on the motor mounts. Mine are not new but fine but if they were new, the engine would sit even higher. I have to take a photo of the driver side mount but it's in comparable condition. Never mind the mounting bracket, I thought it might drop the engine but Chris shared it was for newer blocks (not needed) and was not the solution.

If you've encountered or seen the same height issue, any remedies? I'm thinking that a shorter engine mount might be in order.

Does anyone have a new e9 motor mount they can measure and post? Also, do you know off hand if BMW made a shorter motor mount for comparable weight or heavier engines?

Thanks in advance for the insight and assistance.

 

[Roger S]

I came across this thread which speaks to other mounts but I'm curios about the lowered height before going and buying parts to occupy my parts bin. Maybe this post may jog the memories of @sfdon, @Rek, @lloyd and @inovermyhead?

Original thread:
https://www.e9coupe.com/forum/threads/excessive-engine-movement.29378/page-3

@lloyd posted a variant of what appears to be an s14 mount, has anyone used it? Does anyone recognize what the green one is with the metal cap? This screen shot is from the same thread cited above.

Thanks in advance for any insight.

 

[sfdon]

I’ve done dozens of swaps. 15 cars at the shop now.
No problem with cold start injector.
Shorter motor mount will create a bigger brinelling problem in your ujoints.
I’ll be in the shop in 1 hour- I’ll measure brand new mount for you.

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

Hi Roger, hold on to your question Don (above) will be in my shop on Friday. I recently put a 3.5 l. engine with FI (as yours) into my e9 and it looks a little high. The foam actually touches the top of the engine. EVERYTHING under the hood is new so I (we) can give you a definitive answer to your question over the weekend.

 

[Roger S]

Thank you, Don and Peter. I have new foam on the hood as well but it appeared as if that was inconsequential.

 

[sfdon]

Pics for you....

 

[sfdon]

This is a Csi ....

 

[Roger S]

Thank you. If you notice my blue clip is sitting higher than the csi set up. I started to pull it off and turn it but thought better of it as this swap is supposed to be straight forward.

 

[Gransin]

Thank you. If you notice my blue clip is sitting higher than the csi set up. I started to pull it off and turn it but thought better of it as this swap is supposed to be straight forward.

Are you sure it's the cold start injector that's hitting the hood? I have the same blue connector and cold start injector on my coupe, and when I installed my hood for the first time, it wouldn't close enough.
It was a little difficult to figure out what was actually hitting, but it wasn't the cold start injector.
In my case it was this seal in the engine compartment, I had bought a new reproduction seal, which is/was too high and stiff.

The second part to hit the hood was the L-jet airfilter box, looks like you have the same box? Had to remove it and get it to sit a little bit lower in the engine compartment.

Just my $0.02

 

[Roger S]

The .02 cents are appreciated. The hood wasn't closed enough for the seal to get in the way. That can of worms will probably become an issue but is expected. Regarding the air box, it's not installed and was not in place when the hood was not closing. It was placed back in to close up the car until its next okay date. The picture was taken as an afterthought to illustrate the clip concern.

NYCCSI recommended marking the highest point with chalk and identitying exactly where it rubs. Similarly, I noticed that the driver side of the hood bracket pinched the paint so maybe a tweak is in order.

Back at it in a few days. SFDon recommends backing off the mount idea as it will only bring about other concerns. In summary, it's supposed to fit so it's back to it but still looking forward to Peter's observation with his b34.

 

[Gazz]

Check to see if where the bonnet hinge folds is striking the wheel well, on either side. You should see a mark or dent if it is.

 

[Ohmess]

When I had that style of strut bar in my car, the mounting boss at the end of the bar was hitting my hood.

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

Hi Roger- I'm taking shots now, this is the hood resting on the rear hooks

 

[Peter Coomaraswamy]

When I take a plank and lay it across the highest point of the engine I have just over 1/2 inch clearance on the fenders (last pic). I also put some paper towels on the intake and when I closed the hood the throttle position screw poked through the towel (first pic)- so in relation to the hood that seems to be the highest point. The fan height is also shown in the second picture.

 

[Roger S]

Check to see if where the bonnet hinge folds is striking the wheel well, on either side. You should see a mark or dent if it is.

Thank you, I noticed a "pinch" in the paint on the drivers fender. I mentioned it in my last post and thought the image was in my initial post in the thread. Anyway, it wasn't but you're on point. I'm going to adjust and report back.

 

[Roger S]

When I had that style of strut bar in my car, the mounting boss at the end of the bar was hitting my hood.

Chris, I heard that complaint before and almost scrapped the bar on the Polaris. I found that the light switch above the torsion bar was sitting a little high. Adjusting it allowed the hood to close better but I'm still not satisfied with the middle section. I know some take a 2'x4' to it but I've decided to live with it for now. Thanks for chiming in. Hopefully these comments help others.

 

[Ohmess]

Chris, I heard that complaint before and almost scrapped the bar on the Polaris. I found that the light switch above the torsion bar was sitting a little high. Adjusting it allowed the hood to close better but I'm still not satisfied with the middle section. I know some take a 2'x4' to it but I've decided to live with it for now. Thanks for chiming in. Hopefully these comments help others.

Roger -- I think that style of strut bar worked fine when originally introduced, but problems arose in more recent years. I think the original manufacturer no longer makes these, and whoever makes them now does not make them as well. The mounting bosses on mine are noticeably higher than those on an older version that a friend of mine has. My thought fits with what Jay Leno describes as the "hollowing out" of brand name goods in his videos.

I jettisoned the hollowed out part and went with a different type. https://www.e9coupe.com/forum/threads/daddywad-strut-bar-group-buy-final-results.25286/