Nocd

[Elysian]

Didn't get it started today. The wiring harness is about 90% done, started real early and worked till I was burnt out.

[Elysian]

Wrapped up the engine harness today. I salvaged the O2/Fuel/Main relay another E30 harness, those are working properly, and I have the minimum wiring from the C101 working currently. I kept the rest of the wires in the C101 for now, I want to see how much I can get to actually work properly.

The Megasquirt powers up, the fuel pump relay seems to be functioning properly, and I checked anything else I could check. I was tripped up by the TPS for a moment. It wasn't working at all, so I did some investigating. I accidentally wired the 5v reference wire to the pin next to it. Fixed that and got 5v from the reference to ground, but not to sensor ground. Once I connected sensor ground to ground I was able to figure out the TPS wiring (had the wires mismatched) and get that working perfectly. I still need to give power to the injectors, then the harness is 100% done, at least for now. I may get the wires where I want and shorten some portions of it, right now it's comically long.

Go figure I get it working on a rainy day.

[Elysian]

No start today, but got a LOT done after the rain cleared up. Made custom spark plug wires for the LS coils with 90 degree ends at the spark plug. Got all the wires run, intake installed, and got the starter wired up, or so I thought... Couldn't get it to turn over, it got dark so I wrapped up. Came in and realized the E30V8 guide isn't great for a Megasquirt setup. I'll hopefully have the starter up and running tomorrow after work.

[Elysian]

Got the starter to kick over, only to realize I have the wrong starter. Mistakenly thought the Explorer was 157 tooth. Going to grab a starter on the way home.

[Elysian]

The things you learn when you actually do research... I have the wrong bellhousing... Or I have the wrong clutch/flywheel, but finding the correct bellhousing is a bit easier/cheaper than replacing the clutch/flywheel.

There are 2 302 T-5 bellhousings for sale now in my area, for $50 and $65, so I at least have options... Minor setback I guess.

[Elysian]

Wife picked up the $50 bell housing for me tonight, was way up north near where she works. It's the right part, fits the starter locating plate I bought a while back and thought was the wrong part. Will try to swap everything out this weekend.

[Elysian]

Today was... an adventure...

So the new bell housing doesn't fit the transmission I have, totally different bolt pattern. Apparently that's a thing that happens. I called the other guy with the bell housing and checked it out, same exact bell housing, same problem, wrong bolt pattern. So I'm stuck with the 3.8 bell housing, because it matches my transmission.

Because of that, I've ordered a 167 tooth flywheel, I'm going to see if my clutch setup will fit on it. If not, I'll order a clutch too. Going to try to sell off the clutch/flywheel I currently have if that's the case...

Also, while checking the fuel system for leaks, I found that injector 1 is stuck open. You can see that in the intake runner in the picture, full of fuel.

Pics:





Pardon the rat's nest wiring. I had to pull my tape job on the harness apart to troubleshoot. I'm ultimately going to wire up my own main relay, fuel injector relay, and O2 sensor relay. To unbolt the transmission, I had to drop the whole front subframe. Gonna be crazy getting it back up, but I did get an engine lift plate from the guy with the $65 bell housing that didn't work, so that will help get it back in. I needed to drop the subframe anyways, I have spacer plates that will put the engine lower in the bay.

[Elysian]

Clutch/flywheel is sorted. O'reilly had the parts in stock, using a pickup clutch/flywheel, and got a military discount. Just finished bolting the subframe back on, I'm beat. Still have some things to button up in the morning but I ran out of daylight an hour ago. Subframe spacers brought the engine down a smidgen, which is helpful.

Oh, and I figured out where my transmission was binding on the trans tunnel... The shifter is aftermarket and doesn't come close to fitting through the hole, so it was just pushing up on the tunnel. Cut a bigger hole for that.

[Elysian]

Everything is bolted back on. I also took the time to swap in the correct E36 M3 control arm on the drivers side. Still haven't 5 lug swapped the passenger side. The wheel sits a lot more centered now. I'm going to start looking for another #1 injector. Probably not going to work on anything till next weekend.

[Android1]

Just out of curiosity, what happened to the '86 325e (the car in your original post)?

[Elysian]

Just out of curiosity, what happened to the '86 325e (the car in your original post)?

It's in my backyard, it'll get the rebuilt M20 when I'm finished rebuilding that.

[Android1]

Ah, you are doing a double swap. That makes sense.

I find your thread very interesting, even though much of the car terminology goes way over my head. The funny thing is that I never looked at it until last weekend.

[Elysian]

Ah, you are doing a double swap. That makes sense.

I find your thread very interesting, even though much of the car terminology goes way over my head. The funny thing is that I never looked at it until last weekend.

Yeah, I've had that car so long, I can't let it go I'd like them both to be running driving cars.

[Elysian]

Minor stuff today, even though it took all day. Wired in a new main relay, then figured out a few things, one being an issue with my wiring that was popping a fuse, the other was the starter wiring. The autos have an extra relay, and for whatever reason my jumper at the auto shifter plug wasn't working anymore, so I deleted the starter relay and traced all the wires, connected everything together properly, and got to hear the sweet sweet sound of 302 turning over. Even without firing, could hear the exhaust pulses, they sounded good. Excited to get more done.

Tomorrow I'm going to start early (after I mow the lawn), replace the fuel injectors with the new set I ordered. Then I'm going to check that the fuel pump relay is operating properly, as well as the O2 sensor relay. After that I'll work on getting the Megasquirt working properly, and maybe even attempt a first start.

[Elysian]

Went for the first attempted start today, but the battery is dead so only got a couple of cranks. Charging that right now, might try again later.

[Elysian]

Not getting an RPM signal from the crank sensor, so need to figure that out, might just be a dead sensor.

In the meantime, I have a 22 x 19 x 3" all aluminum Summit radiator on the way, will fit in the core support. Link:

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sum-381324/overview/

[Elysian]

LKQ Labor Day sale is this weekend, so I went and grabbed another WC T5 from a 3.8 Mustang. The donor car only had 75k miles on it, and paid $114 after tax for it.

[Elysian]

First start!

[yt]d-9oD3HZFFI[/yt]

Won't idle currently but got some revs out of it off camera. Don't want to run it too much without a cooling system.

[Elysian]

Since l was able to get it running , I decided to move on to the remote brake booster.




This part was pretty fun to install.

Here is a longer video of the motor running.

[yt]SUABnqz_zEk[/yt]

[kytprice]

Sounds good! That's going to be a beast when you get it all lined out. Can't wait to see it. Any idea what kind of horsepower we're talking about?

[Elysian]

Sounds good! That's going to be a beast when you get it all lined out. Can't wait to see it. Any idea what kind of horsepower we're talking about?

My goal is 400hp at the crank, we'll see if my heads will flow enough for that. The cam is good for it, but I'm using the Ford GT40P heads, which are the best flowing OEM small block heads Ford ever made, but I'm not sure it's enough.

[Elysian]

Worked more on the brakes today. Cut the brake pedal up at the pivot, moved it over about 12-15mm, then welded the attachment point for the brake booster to the other side of the pedal. Almost worked that way, but I mounted the booster slightly too close to the firewall, so I've been working on the clevis' to shorten it there. I don't want to have to cut/weld the 300mm.de rod, but I might have to. Also seam sealed the 300mm.de plate at the wheel well.

Was going to work more, but it started raining, so that's where I'm leaving off for the day. Very close to having a functional brake system!

[Android1]

Worked more on the brakes today. Cut the brake pedal up at the pivot, moved it over about 12-15mm, then welded the attachment point for the brake booster to the other side of the pedal. Almost worked that way, but I mounted the booster slightly too close to the firewall, so I've been working on the clevis' to shorten it there. I don't want to have to cut/weld the 300mm.de rod, but I might have to. Also seam sealed the 300mm.de plate at the wheel well.

Was going to work more, but it started raining, so that's where I'm leaving off for the day. Very close to having a functional brake system!

If you think about it, the brakes are even more important than the engine!

All joking aside, it sounds as though you are making good progress on the car.

[OverclockN']

Nice work! Good to see it's finally running.

[Elysian]

The lollipops I need for the front suspension are on the way, they'll give me enough room to run my exhaust.

https://store.garagistic.com/bmw-per...Arms-Treehouse

Got a coupon code for 20% off from Garagistic yesterday so figured no better time to order them. I'll be able to finish up my front suspensions this weekend, assuming it's not raining too bad.

[Elysian]

Damn these look great.

I also have amassed the parts I'll need to run a hydraulic clutch on the T5, using a Datsun slave cylinder as outlined in someone else's build on bimmerforums.com...

[Elysian]

Got a lot done today. Started by running the clutch hard line, looked at what it will take to make a hydraulic clutch mount.

Moved to the front after that, finished the 5 lug swap, installed steel braided brake lines, and swapped the stock steering rack for a Z3 2.7 lock to lock rack.

Found a pinhole leak in the oil pan, Already have the new pan here so I'll work on that sometime in the near future.

Next on the agenda will be reinforcing the 318ti rear subframe I have, that way I can finish the 5 lug swap. I also want to reinforce the spare front subframe I have, possibly do a tube setup similar to Arc Asylum, I can have the tube bent at work. Will think about that.

[Elysian]

So much poke. Wide body will be wicked with these wheels.

[kytprice]

You're about ready to hit the drift scene!

[OverclockN']

So much poke. Wide body will be wicked with these wheels.

Nice. You get use to it after a while. Although it's a much better idea to get the wide fenders and prevent the sandblasting.

[Elysian]

Nice. You get use to it after a while. Although it's a much better idea to get the wide fenders and prevent the sandblasting.

I've got a Rocket Bunny Pandem kit already. The problem on this car is with this much poke on stock fenders I literally can't turn the wheel, it will rub damn near instantly.

[Elysian]

Radiator arrived last night, looks great.




Checked it loosely in front of the car, looks like it will work, will come down a bit low, but not lower than the oil pan. Picture obviously not at install height



Might work on fitting that this weekend. I'm going to wind up needing hood pins if this works out, as I'll have to remove the hood latch up front to fit it. I'm going to use the AeroCatch hood pins I think.

[Elysian]

Finally got some time between rain... Welded the castors onto my welding table, and tack welded my new oil pan to it so this time it won't deform while I'm modifying it. Started hacking, and welded an inner support to the oil pan, will give me some metal to weld to in that corner, hopefully make it less likely to burn through.



That's when I ran out of argon. Gonna have to pick some up tomorrow. A storm also started building up.

[Elysian]

Ordered the JagsThatRun Heavy-duty driveshaft flange for BMW V8 engine swaps, as well as a Spicer yoke for the transmission end. Will have a driveshaft built that uses 1310 u-joints, going to try to get it in queue at a local shop this week.

[Elysian]

Got some work in today. First thing I did was put an endoscope down a spark plug hole to make sure there was no contact between the valves and the pistons. So far so good.



Then I started working on the fan and radiator. The fan is from a Ford Fusion.




Have about an inch of clearance.



So started working on the radiator. Welded in some metal that I could use to actually mount the radiator. Still a work in progress, but a good start.



And the radiator sitting in its new home.



I had to cut a hole in the top of the core support for the fill hole, but that's not a big deal. I also had to remove the hood latch, I'll patch in some new metal next time. Need to go grab some self etching primer, don't want this stuff to rust.

[CurrentlyPissed]

Need to go grab some self etching primer, don't want this stuff to rust.

BMW's don't rust.

In all seriousness looks great, coming along. Any idea when you plan to be done? Trying to hit a date?

[Elysian]

No, just bumbling around when I can work on it.

[Elysian]

I'm not a great welder, but I'm pretty happy with how this came out.




Have a lot more reinforcements to weld in, but this is a decent start.

[Elysian]

I'm no welder, part deux...

Welded in the camber/toe adjustment setup for the rear subframe, then rust converted and primed.

[Elysian]

Productive weekend. I finished the replacement oil pan and primed it, need to do a top coat with engine enamel. It's ugly, but it doesn't leak, I left it sitting with water in it for over an hour.

I also started taking the trailing arms apart, got one fully disassembled, started to strip it, and welded on the reinforcements. I welded the plate reinforcement top and bottom... My welds aren't too awesome, somehow I can color in the lines but can't weld a straight bead to save my life. I tried going over the first bead again, and it just wound up more crooked, and got some porosity...



Oh well. I still have another one to do, maybe it'll come out better. Need to prime and paint this one, but have one more small plate to do.