E30 daily driver LS swap

[jon volk]

Made some good progress today. Finished the driver side header modifications. Extended it to the sway bar area because messing with bolts or vband clamps right next to the steering link is just stupid.





Started on the y pipe to mate up with the rest of the exhaust.



Welded in the new battery tray. Going to spray it with Duplicolor Arctic White for a close enough match.



Finally starting to look like a car again.



Surprisingly the ride height hasn't changed at all even with the iron block.

[TipsyMcStagger]

What exactly is that aluminum cylinder you're using for the coolant expansion tank?

Tipsy

Started working on a coolant expansion tank. Stole the idea from Samberg and making a tank that will bolt to the passenger side cylinder head.

[jon volk]

Leftover cut-off of a bottle/tank extrusion. I used to work in the custom shop at Moroso somewhere close to 10 years ago. These would be in the dumpster by the hundreds. I had a few dozen but this is one of the last in my stash.

Basically the bottom half of one of these....

[MtekJosh]

Hell yes. My favorite model of e30 in my favorite color with my favorite engine on my favorite wheels. Get out of my mind. Lol

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[jon volk]

Quick update. Mostly waiting on USPS and Fedex at this point for more parts.

I wanted something clean and configurable for power switching so I'm using an ssVec fuse/relay box from Eaton. Turned out to be a really nice piece. Also relocated the battery to the trunk with OE stuff from a coupe.





Made a quick coolant crossover pipe from some scrap leftover in the bin.


Also have a new C101 connector and pins. Just waiting on the rubber boot cap and thatll finish off the engine to chassis wiring.

[TipsyMcStagger]

It's a shame you do such hack work (sarcasm).

Tipsy

[jon volk]

Got my ECU all mounted up. It actually bolted up to the factory Motronic mounts and fit with some minor cover/glovebox trimming. Enough real estate under the cover for my bluetooth adapter as well.



Got my passenger side header squared away. It's from a 5th gen Camaro shorty set. One runner took a little massaging for the frame rail clearance but it was pretty minor. Exhaust should be finished up this weekend.


Intake pipe and coolant tank finished up. Had to use OE style hose clamps since everything is so narrow.



Lower radiator hose setup. 135 degree silicone bend, 1.5 u bend, 1.5 straight coupler


Bent up some hardlines for most of the trans cooler run. Way cheaper than AN hose.

[squashman702]

Lower hose idea is genius. May have to steal that from you if I can't get anything off the shelf to work for my E36 with the SBC radiator.

[jon volk]

Tomorrow will be one month since I started. Getting to the final stretch. Filled the motor with oil. All the wiring, minus some battery power connections, is finished up. Just need to install my shift kit in the trans, source a 2.79LSD and install some hose clamps, air filter, trans cooler and radiator fan. Used an F-body power steering hose and just welded the banjo fitting off the old BMW hose. Finished up the exhaust as well.

[jon volk]

Fired it up on 7 coils today. Freshly motivated to finish the rest of little stuff. Trans is still empty so didn't let it run for more than a few seconds.

https://youtu.be/VtamjhBMZDA

Also took the M3 out for a rip today.

[jon volk]

Pretty much a diff, driveshaft, silicone coupler and throttle cable away from doing burnouts. Topped all the fluids off and let it run for an hour or so. Didn't get over 186 holding the motor at 4k rpm for awhile. No higher than 181 at idle. Just running the stock radiator with a 16" Spal pusher.

Can't wait to get it back on the road every day.

[jon volk]

Got ahold of a 2.79 open diff for $50. I was going to weld it, but saw there were ebay knock offs of the Phantom Grip style "lsd" conversions and picked one up for $55 shipped. I've used these before quite a few years back doing turbo MR2 spyders and nobody wanted to pony up for a Quiaife diff. They werent perfect, but they put the power down for cheap.

As long as I can get a customer's turbo M3 off my lift this weekend, I should be on the road sometime next week. Had to trim some hood bracing to clear the intake pipe but everything fits now.

[squashman702]

You are a machine.

[doktor b]

You are a machine.

This is exactly what I was thinking today when I was working on my own swap.
"how TF does Jon Volk get these swaps done so fast and cleanly?"
major kudos for a second excellent build.

[jon volk]

it's just planning via spreadsheet and binge spending haha

[TipsyMcStagger]

it's just planning via spreadsheet and binge spending haha

Having done it before (having experience) never hurts either

Tipsy

[squashman702]

it's just planning via spreadsheet and binge spending haha

What do you do for work?

[jon volk]

What do you do for work?

Im a Product Manager for linear actuators at Warner Linear.

I used to own 666 fabrication half a decade ago. Kept my shop and equipment since I dont have a garage at home. I occasionally take on side work, but mostly just play with my own stuff.

[e30polak]

Can't wait to see the vert doing burnouts! You need to get another driver to do tandem burnouts in your white, LS powered BMWs!

[jon volk]

Can't wait to see the vert doing burnouts! You need to get another driver to do tandem burnouts in your white, LS powered BMWs!

I'll definitely be doing a photo shoot with both this summer. I'll need to teach the wife to do burnouts in the e30 with the car seat in the back for said shoot.

[squashman702]

Im a Product Manager for linear actuators at Warner Linear.

I used to own 666 fabrication half a decade ago. Kept my shop and equipment since I dont have a garage at home. I occasionally take on side work, but mostly just play with my own stuff.

I had to google that first part.

The second part explains the mad fab skills. Is your shop in Milford? I lived in New Haven (Westville area) and worked in Bridgeport for a bit a few years ago.

[jon volk]

Has some initial issues to deal with. The original 2.79 open diff I installed ate the pinion bearing within 4 miles. I can only assume it was dropped at some point for how fast the cage disintegrated. I bought a 2.79 LSD and that has been good. The trans fluid also developed a pepto bismal hue indicated the converter or trans had water in it. I tore the trans down and rebuilt it and did the required mods to make it a full manual deal. Good thing I tore it down as the frictions had started to delaminate from the backing plates.

Drove it to work this morning and coolant temps never got over 183. Cruised at 3k rpm 75 and made the 60 mile trek without issue. Ill probably go to a hydroboost setup in the near future. Not a huge fan of the manual brakes so far.









Machined center support for better fluid flow on the direct feed mod.


Shit that washed off all the hard parts as they were cleaned.




Machining the pressure plates to get .050" of clutch clearances. I didn’t want to wait to order thinner steels, so this was the easiest way.






Reunited with the rest of the Alpinewies

[NoShow20x96]

Very very awesome work dude. We are going to make a cost-efficient step by step video how to LS your e30 in the near future.

[jon volk]

Been daily driving the car all month. Finally had a chance to weigh the car. Comes in at 3160lbs. Prior to the swap it was 3020. Late model verts arent exactly light.

Ordered a Vbox sport so Ill be able to get some data on the car. I also need to finish buying the last of the nitrous parts I need.

[B10 BITURBO]

So great