Well, since all M3 LS swap related items have stopped until mid March/start of April, I decided to make a roof rack for my subie that way I don't have to fold the seats down.... Yeah, I could've just bought a roof rack, but I'm bored as hell and made one for $70.
Made it much easier to work in a 30* garage, got it up to 55-60 within 10-15 minutes!
Very basic roof rack, just studs welded to 1" square tubing with a top piece holding down the snow boards
Studs shooting down so I can make a cross piece to clamp it.
General idea
Another general idea, going to finish it today and paint it black.
Boring winter... Atleast there's ice racing, snow drift and go-karting lol
Roof rack done, works great.
Ordered the following for the LS swap.
-LS1/T56 engine wiring harness
-PCM from a 1999 Z28
-PS pump w/pulley
-PS fluid reservoir
-PS lines
-Waterpump
-SLP 160 degree thermostat
-Thermostat neck
-Tensioner w/pulley
-Alternator
-Alternator bracket
-all bolts (zip tied in the correct location for you, not a puzzle)
-Serpentine belt
Next on the list is P/S lines, headers + y-pipe and then I gotta figure out how I want to do my intake and cooling setup.
I have 2 ideas.
1) The traditional way. Use E36 M radiator and pull intake from the headline on either side.
2) Go the camaro route, using a large intake in the middle to suck air from the kidneys and get a half sized radiator.
I want to go route 2, but route 1 is cheaper!
Those heaters are the best! my tiny garage at school gets up to 60 when its below freezing out side. Love the work cant wait till ya get back to the M3.
Whats behind you doesn't matter
Black E36 M3 - Blackbird
Silver 2007 New Body 2500HD - The Judge
Hell yeah! Friend and I built Cafe Racers 2 winters ago with that thing, it's awesome.
You and me both! Once the snows melts M3 will move into my garage and I'll start installing parts.
Not much to update. Accessories and wire harness come in today. Hopefully at the end of the month or early next month I'll be ordering the swap headers and some more wheels+tires to roll the car around on come spring time in 2 months!
Headers and Y-Pipe ordered! God this snow needs to melt -_-
sorry if you mentioned it but I didn't see where, which motor mounts are you using for this project?
- Brad
fantastic build.
what are your plans for the driver's side header and steering shaft?
what did you do about the brake booster & abs module to make space for the LS?
in for the thaw. we got less snow, but it's still cold in Indy and my build is waiting on parts. i just hate winter.
Headers are also from CX Racing, so they are designed with the steering shaft and ABS module in mind. The mounting kit I have offsets the engine to the passenger side to clear the ABS module, losing the ability of running A/C but I don't need that. Brake booster/ABS shouldn't be an issue.
that's rad.
hope it doesn't put too much deflection in the driveline and cause vibration/wear issues down the road.
again, awesome build.
look forward to you finishing it up getting on the road/track.
I hope so too. In the spring I'll be taking a few careful measurements to make sure it's as straight as possible. There shouldn't be much driveline movement due to all the solid bushings.
Today the headers and y-pipe came in! Going to either ceramic coat them or DEI heat wrap them, not sure just yet.
Another nonBMW engine BMW ruined. Great.
Curious in what way do you consider it ruined? its lighter than the motor it replaces, which means better weight bias and handling, it makes more power than the motor it replaces which is obviously good for lap times, its cheaper to maintain which is great for anyone that actually does more than park the car in a showroom and it returns as good if not better fuel economy? what part of the car is ruined in your mind?
- Brad
Are LS made by BMW ? No. Car is not pure anymore.
Of Course LS is cheap in USA.
if any non-bmw part ruins a bmw, then every suspension upgrade ruins a bmw.
every lightweight panel ruins a bmw.
every aftermarket gauge to ensure the health of your bmw, in fact, ruins a bmw.
crack your windshield? better get a bmw replacement or your car is ruined.
let's try being realistic about ruining cars.
He's from Europe so he probably doesn't understand how crappy the S50/2 motors are here in the US. Had we got the euro motor, I probably wouldn't be swapping to an LS1.
3.73 came in! Hopefully end of March I'll be able to drop the diff off to get rebuilt and to have this installed.
Ran some simulations on the final drive for two of the three tracks local to me, looks like 3.91 is the optimal gear with 3.73 just barely behind. Pretty happy with the decision. Might even sell the 3.73 for a 3.91!
- - - Updated - - -
Not only are the higher gear ratios faster, they also spend more time in 2-3-4 gears. The 3.23 I currently have puts me into 1st gear quite a few times!
3.23
3.73
Does anyone know if this piece can be used to machine down to BRAAPS specs for the BMW master?
http://www.speedwaymotors.com/LS1-an...ing,25017.html
What program are you using to help select gear ratio? thats a pretty slick setup!
- Brad
Optimum G's program called Optimum Lap
http://www.optimumg.com/software/optimumlap/
Ordered up my tires and this weekend I'll be ordering my 17x9,5's wheels!!
Modified the clutch adapter, so that's taken care of. Also installed my 750# springs with helpers, though I feel that I may end up being too tall in the rear, we'll see.
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