Member
Hey guys,
I've been a member on here for a little while, never posted anything (just your average lurker), but my time has come.
When I originally joined I had a 1995 325i and it wasn't in bad shape. I did some maintenance (fuel filer, oil change, some bushings, etc), threw on a couple bolt ons, added some Mishimoto pieces (since they rock), did interior stuff, and put on a set of over fenders since I always wanted to do a set, but never had a car they were made application specific for.
Long story short I did what I wanted to do to get it right, and it was time for the next big thing; forced induction. That being said I had been in the market for a 240sx as well and I had the e36 on CL as a feeler looking for a trade. A kid came along with what was essentially a FBO ka24de on a clean chassis (a quarter panel and some paint aside) and made a trade. If you're thinking "why would you trade a e36 for a 240" you're not going to like where this ends up lol
Had the 240 for a while, got a set of Work Cr-Kais on it, some other little visual bits, and did some painting. The 240 ended up on CL as a feeler, just like the bmw. This time I was set on forced induction. If I wasn't making a trade for something with a turbo, I wasn't making a trade at all. A couple people tried to buy it and some tried to trade for the wrong things, but I decided to keep it since I did like it after all, and why not drop a SR into it? The night I decided on keeping it I went to take the add down, but before I knew it I got distracted. That same night (about 2-3 hours later) a guy asked if I'd make a trade for a 1jz swapped Cressida that was in running/driving condition.
At long last, a turbo! I told him I was obviously interested and I went to see the car. It was a 1991 MX83 and it was a California car prior to making it's way east. It's legitimately rust free but a running and driving swap car still seemed too good to be true. Contrary to my beliefs it runs and idols great, doesn't leak any fluids, and pulls just like it should. (gauge cluster isn't hooked up but that's it)
Recently I had a stupid idea and I'd love to see it come to life (as I know it's been done before)... Pull the motor + trans out of the Cressida and sell the shell. Once that's done, get another e36 to take it's place, and give the 1jz a home in there.
As I said, I know it's been done before. On the other hand I really can't seem to find a ton of info and I'd like to arm myself with as much knowledge as I can before I make any other moves on this. Excessive has swap mounts for the motor, and it looks like I can get an r154 trans + swap mounts for it, or custom fab some solid mounts for the w58 I have now (which I don't necessarily object to since it will be cheaper). Seems like the drive shaft is custom fab or bust, and wiring specialties has a harness.
Clearly the list of 4 parts isn't all I need for the build, but I was just curious if anyone on here had done this before and had any insight. Just trying to figure out where I can expect to run into hiccups other then "the whole way through" lol.
Anything anyone can offer is much appreciated. I know a lot of people talk of swaps without anything to show, but I'd really like to do this, and I pretty much have all the resources. Help me waste my time making this car!
Thanks guys!
If I missed some info please don't hesitate to ask!
Member
Im also planning on doing a 1jz swap soon-ish into my e36.
My plan seems pretty similar to yours. I was looking at running a ZF instead of an r154, mainly for cost and fitment reasons. Have you considered this at all? I know Collins performance makes an adapter plate to run a getrag/zf behind the jz motors. Should be able to lightly modify the stock trans mount to fit.
What's your plan for the ecu? Stock jz for the motor and the BMW for everything else? Or full standalone? Save a bunch of money with the stock ecu, but I'm not sure if the tuning benefits from the standalone is worth the premium.
You get a single turbo VVTi or stock duals?
Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk
Member
Ayee, I'm not alone!
I really haven't thought about the ZF, and the bit of thought that the r154 has gotten has been pretty minimal too. Solely on the fact that if I start changing transmissions, I'm only going to drive costs up. If the w58 wants to let go in 6mo - 1yr after it's in then so be it, I'd just like to get it up and running for now as dumb as that sounds. When you say "fitment reasons" are you referring to the trans to chassis, or the trans to motor?
Plan is the stock ECU since I know what I have right now works perfectly together, and the motor is all stock and in great shape. I'm also not looking to make crazy power so that only seems like another reason to stay stock. (right on the 300hp mark should be sweet and easy)
It's a third revision vvti so it's a single turbo. Figuring it came out of a Soarer.
Last edited by e36craig; 08-24-2017 at 02:12 PM.
Member
Coolio, yea my power goals are 300-350 at the wheels. So light bolt ons and a good tune pretty much. I was talking trans to chassis. The r154 is a massive trans, especially when compared to a stock BMW trans. I'm pretty sure you can still make it work, but more effort than I would want to put in...Originally Posted by e36craig
As for the w58, I hear nothing but complaint about them, but if you have it, might as well run it till it blows.
Personally my plan is to buy an auto vvti-1jz as they are considerably cheaper without the r154, then just run a ZF with a more or less stock driveshaft, maybe slightly shortened depending on the overall length of the engine/trans assembly.
As for the ecu, I'm probably going to have to find one off a manual anyways, so I may just end up going standalone, but I need to do more research on that one.
Mechanically this swap seems to be fairly straight forward, with kits for most things and plenty of room for it. I would be doing the wiring speicalties harness aswell, which simpifies everything but quite a bit.
At this point, just waiting for my beaten motor to blow, and give me some more time and cash to get everything together.
Looking forward to watching your build, make sure to keep us all up to date with pictures! Good luck!
Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk
Member
Hm, I'll definitely give the ZF some more thought then, especially if it fits nicer, thanks for that!
I've heard plenty of complaints about the w58 too (pretty much only complaints), but I was thinking on the same "if you have it you may as well" mind set and it seems healthy so I wasn't too worried for now. But I guess there is always the "if you can't afford to do it right the first time, can you afford to do it twice?" or whatever the saying is to contradict that.
Speaking on experience from the 240 I had, you might not need a m/t ECU so if you can get one super cheap with the motor it might be worth trying. That car was originally born as an auto and was converted to manual. It had the same ECU it did the day it came out of the factory and the car didn't seem to care one bit. It would idol funny for like 2 seconds when you first turned the key occasionally, but a quick gas pedal tap and it went away. Never looked into the issue since it really wasn't serious, so I guess the intermittent funky start up could have been something else, but I have no reason to believe that since to the best of my knowledge it was mechanically sound.
I am gathering some extra funds too (can never have enough lol) and waiting for a decent shell to come up on CL. In the meantime, I think I better start getting the motor out of the Cressida and sell that thing!
Pictures are a must, hope to see some from you too!
Member
Try the engine swap forum. I have read of the 1 and 2 jz to E36 swaps over the years there. You can also turbo an m50, m52, s50 or s52. With just a thicker head gasket, they are good for 500-600 rwhp. Much more with rods and pistons. My e36 has been turbo since 2010.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks