Z3 LS1 Swap

[setho1993]

Oh my!

have you stopped grinning yet?
fj..

I second this

[FinnNiks]

Awesome swap! That is going to be an absolute blast!

[MrTorque]

Holy crap that is bad ass!

[PbFut]

Welcome to the club.

[NavyF4]

Jeez, does that ever make me miss my Z06.....

[JoeZ]

Jeez, does that ever make me miss my Z06.....

Miss my car too

[illiano]

Perhaps I'm a purist, and perhaps my prejudice for corvettes shows through, but If you want v8, why not go s62? Would've been an epic swap too. Regardless, respectable build indeed.

Tony

[MDICTED]

Perhaps I'm a purist, and perhaps my prejudice for corvettes shows through, but If you want v8, why not go s62? Would've been an epic swap too. Regardless, respectable build indeed.

Tony

The E30 and E36 guys gave me the impression that GM is significantly less expensive than any BMW swap. I think any build can be awesome.

[Jps239]

What's the total cost of a swap like this?

[fok]

Perhaps I'm a purist, and perhaps my prejudice for corvettes shows through, but If you want v8, why not go s62? Would've been an epic swap too. Regardless, respectable build indeed.

Tony

LS* is much more tunable than S62 especially on your side of the pond where the tuning market for them is huge.

Top marks........LS1 and Z3, a lovely combination IMO.

[foostboost]

First start...

http://youtu.be/gH4T0GGcqg8

stop teasing us and post driving vids

[LSXZ341240]

New to the site and figured I'd post a little about my build . I'm almost finished my Z3 with a 6.0 LQ4. Engine has a set of 823's LS3 heads and intake. Brian Tooley stage 3 turbo cam and springs with harden push rods! All Arp bolts of course. Transmission is a tr6060 6 speed and we made custom mounts our selfs for the engine and transmission. 80mm billet wheel turbo with T6 flange. Hydro dipped valve covers timing cover and intake. Car is going to still keep A/C. I'd post picks but I'm not seeing a way to do so.

[fallguy]

i think you need more posts before you can post pics. if you want to email them to me i can post them. Let me know ill PM you my email.

[Venom13132]

great build. I built myself a 1995 RX-7 with LS1 back in 2007 and did three more for other people. I sold that car years ago to go back to school. Now I am out of school and have an M Roadster. I hope do LS swap mine next year. I had a samburg kit in my FD and it was great quality. I may have to look into his E36 kit as well.

How was the wiring? Are you using all the stock gauges for everything? It has been so long since I did that FD I don't remember all that I did for wiring, but I used all the mazda gauges and had to use a Dakota Digital Box to correct the speedo, that was all.

[fallguy]

The z3 gets the speed signal from the differential. So that makes it easy.

[Venom13132]

The z3 gets the speed signal from the differential. So that makes it easy.

hah oh yeah. I actually knew that one after buying parts to do a dual ear mounted diff!

Sounds like the wiring is pretty simple then.

I don't know if I missed it or not. Did you do anything with your steering shaft due to the headers? was there any issues there?

Are you running power steering?

On the RX-7s I built I deleted the ABS and with a proportioning valve and I went with a manual steering rack. The RX7 is maybe just a tad lighter than a Z3 or the same weight so no power steering wasn't a big issue. The LS1 power steering pump was a little too much for the Mazda rack and just deleting it was an easier option.

Are you running AC? I didn't have AC on my 7 but I think I would like to have AC on the M when I do it.

[fallguy]

I'm no pro at the ls swap stuff. I'm just collecting parts at this point.

Some people swap to a flaming river steering shaft for extra room. I think it depends on the headers you run.

AC seems to fit. Guys use the gm compressor.

Power steering guys use the f body steering pump from most of what I see.

[Venom13132]

I'm no pro at the ls swap stuff. I'm just collecting parts at this point.

Some people swap to a flaming river steering shaft for extra room. I think it depends on the headers you run.

AC seems to fit. Guys use the gm compressor.

Power steering guys use the f body steering pump from most of what I see.

The fbody steering pump should fit with no issues (not sure with the addition of forced induction). but might need a lower pressure spring installed (or cut the one that's in there), plus custom lines are probably necessary.

I haven't heard of the Flaming River Steering shaft. I know Vorschlag makes one (pretty expensive). I have looked into the CX racing products and they don't seem to use one with their headers. I haven't seen what samburg has available.

The F body AC compressor should fit just fine as well, but plumbing and wiring could be messy. (was more than I wanted to deal with on my RX-7)

[fallguy]

I believe the Vorschlag shaft is just made from flaming river parts. I don't know what if any savings are to be had building it from flaming river parts. The u joints are not cheap.

[Venom13132]

I just came across this swap kit I had not seen before. Seems a little high in price but looks quality from what I can tell.
https://www.sikky.com/product-catego...kits/e36-kits/

They offer a custom oil pan and filter relocation due to the oil pan. I personally would just use the Fbody pan. The way they have it mounted would make for messy filter changes!

[fallguy]

I keep telling people about these mounts

http://getoffmylon.blogspot.ca/p/blog-page_4.html?m=1

He is a member here, the price is too low for the quality IMO. I have a set of them and I would of built them the exact same way. His trans mount is really nice with lots of clearance how he made the isolator sit in it.

[Venom13132]

I keep telling people about these mounts

http://getoffmylon.blogspot.ca/p/blog-page_4.html?m=1

He is a member here, the price is too low for the quality IMO. I have a set of them and I would of built them the exact same way. His trans mount is really nice with lots of clearance how he made the isolator sit in it.

awesome, Thanks for sharing

[gmushial]

I keep telling people about these mounts

http://getoffmylon.blogspot.ca/p/blog-page_4.html?m=1

He is a member here, the price is too low for the quality IMO. I have a set of them and I would of built them the exact same way. His trans mount is really nice with lots of clearance how he made the isolator sit in it.

I don't see where he sells them... but am very impressed with the rational thought that went into the design and implementation.... I think on that alone I'd buy his vs anyone else's.

[Venom13132]

I found him here on bimmerforums and send him a PM. I will report back on here with what I find.

[PbFut]

Those mounts look good and probably way stronger than needed. The bracing on the engine mount could present challenges with running your fluid lines and such.
Especially on the left with oil and power steering lines, headers and steering column, it gets challenging to find a path for everything. The mount is right in there as well.
Its all a big puzzle. Fun to do and rewarding when done.