First time LS swapper, first time e46 owner.

[LM7E46]

As the title suggests, I am beginning the first LS swap of my life. I have done a lot of engine replacements before, but each of those was replacing an engine with the same engine, or nearly the same (acura motor into a honda). I've been a technician for the passed 4+ years, mostly with toyota.

Why I chose this direction for my project has to do with a couple factors. First, the e46's look really good. I've always thought so. So simple, yet so attractive. And, in my area anyways, there is a plethora of broken down, dirt cheap, straight bodied e46's for sale. This was another big factor in my decision making. I found the perfect candidate for what i wanted to do, talked the guy down a couple hundred, and brought home a 2003 325ci coupe, Steel Blue, automatic, E46 with a blown headgasket for 700$

IMG_3355.jpgIMG_3356.jpg

The engine i chose was less because of my preferences, and more because of availability. This was because the motor I would've chosen first (LQ4/LQ9 6.0) was already cleaned out of every pick and pull, or waaaay out of my price range when sold privately. So i found an LM7 at a pick n pull that seemed to be in good shape, and brought it home for 275$ with the wiring harness, manifolds, and power steering pump.

IMG_3400.jpg

So i'm going to start tearing apart the e46, getting it ready to be fitted with this LM7. At the same time i'm going to be breaking down the LM7, measuring oil clearances, bearing tolerances, deck/head warpage ect. and installing a new cam, flat top pistons, and whatever else it needs to get it tight and right. My end goal being a car that I can take to the drag strip, go drifting in, or race in time attack, and SCCA type races. I do not plan on driving it on the roads. It will be totally gutted, and fitted with a cage (at some point). First i'm just going to worry about getting the motor properly mounted into the car, and getting it running well. I'll be posting updates as i make progress, and likely asking some questions if i can't find what i'm looking for with the search function. So far i've found this forum very helpful, and i appreciate everything that everyone has shared.

[motorV8ed]

That is great! I will look forward to seeing this project progress.

[Lantz]

Can’t wait to see the progress!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[LM7E46]

Thanks for the support guys!

I made some progress today, and I'm really excited about the project in general. Today i got the blown m54 out of the coupe, as well as the transmission, and removed everything that might be of value from the motor. Alternator, powersteering pump, starter, intake manifold, and cat's/headers. Then i loaded what was left of the motor in the back of my truck to take back to the pick n pull i got my lm7 from for the 50$ core refund. The motor came out really smooth actually, i was surprised. I took the whole front clip off and let the subframe hang down by the struts/hubs. Once the motor was cleared a ways away from the fire wall i hopped down below the car and unbolted the transmission, supporting it with a floor jack. I had to do this because my garage isn't big enough to roll the engine hoist back far enough to clear the transmission from the car. Wasn't a big deal, a lot easier with room to get at the bell housing bolts. Whole process from start to finish, probably six hours.

IMG_3362.jpgIMG_3364.jpgIMG_3371.jpg

[AdamBath]

Check the rear subframe mounts closely for cracking if you haven't already. Don't want to put a big motor into a car with bad subframe mounts, if they're beyond repair anyways...

[LM7E46]

Thanks for the tip! I haven't done a thorough inspection of the rear subframe mounts yet, but i was planning on doing a re-enforcement of some kind before the maiden voyage. I've read a bunch of different threads on the topic, and i haven't yet decided weather i want to build my own re-enforcement plates or buy the kit from ECS or somewhere similar. I've seen examples of people going both of those routes and I'm still trying to decide which is right for me. I just recently bought a welder and i've been practicing a lot. Building little convenient tools and stuff for the garage. For example, i just finished these jack stands that i welded to the vehicle position dolly's from harbor freight. I then welded plates to the top of the jack stand (without the fork inserted). The plates have holes in them the same distance apart as the studs for the sway bar mounting spots. That way I could secure the chassis to these rolling jack stands, and move the car around the garage without having the subframe, LCA's, ect. ect. installed just so that the dolly would be supporting the vehicle by it's wheel. Here are some pictures:

IMG_3421.jpgIMG_3422.jpg

The first picture isn't great but it gives you an idea of where i have them positioned, and the subframe is bare, I only installed it to give myself a good place to jack up the vehicle. The second picture shows where i put down the welds. I know they're not the prettiest welds in the world, but I'm very new to welding. Those were probably the tenth - fifteenth welds i've made in my life. I tested them all by standing on them, and hitting them with a hammer. Not with all my strength, but enough to verify they wouldn't snap off easily. Being able to push the car around the garage is a convenience that I couldn't do without when deciding to undertake this project or not. But now i need to make two more of these jack stands so that i can drop the rear sub-frame!

[mrallande5020]

Another one here wanting to see you'r progress as-well!

[LM7E46]

Made some progress on the LM7 today, and couldn't be happier with the condition this motor is in! Safe to say that i got lucky, and that 275$ was a great deal for this long block. I got the heads off, cam out, oil pan off, and baffling. I then numbered all of the rod caps, and one by one removed the cap, cleaned all oil residue, put down a strip of plastic gauge, and re-torqued the cap to spec. Each rod cap had an oil clearance perfectly within spec. (Spec: .0008" - .0025" Average measured: .0017") The journals looked great as well, no major scoring, doesn't look like i'll need to have the crank polished or anything.

Some pictures during tear down:
IMG_3403.jpgIMG_3404.jpg

The plastic gauging, first is of a rod bearing, second a crank main I believe. Either way, all the bore/journal bearing tolerances were perfectly within spec, and i will be able to run standard bearing sizes w/ my new king bearings. I just ordered them after finishing up all the measuring.
IMG_3407.jpgIMG_3408.jpg


Also ordered a set of flat top, 4.8 liter chevy v8 pistons for higher compression. I'll post a picture of them once i get em. Also on the way are some cam bearings. Once i get these parts I'm going to be taking everything to the machine shop for installation of the cam bearings, and swapping the rods from the old pistons to the new pistons/wrist pins. (Captured wrist pin, not something i want to try and swap myself)

Thanks for all the support and I'll post updates as I continue to make progress! Feel free to leave any thoughts, criticisms, advice or tips that come to mind. All will be appreciated as this is my first LS swap and first E46!

[AdamBath]

Thanks for the tip! I haven't done a thorough inspection of the rear subframe mounts yet, but i was planning on doing a re-enforcement of some kind before the maiden voyage. I've read a bunch of different threads on the topic, and i haven't yet decided weather i want to build my own re-enforcement plates or buy the kit from ECS or somewhere similar. I've seen examples of people going both of those routes and I'm still trying to decide which is right for me. I just recently bought a welder and i've been practicing a lot. Building little convenient tools and stuff for the garage. For example, i just finished these jack stands that i welded to the vehicle position dolly's from harbor freight. I then welded plates to the top of the jack stand (without the fork inserted). The plates have holes in them the same distance apart as the studs for the sway bar mounting spots. That way I could secure the chassis to these rolling jack stands, and move the car around the garage without having the subframe, LCA's, ect. ect. installed just so that the dolly would be supporting the vehicle by it's wheel. Here are some pictures:

IMG_3421.jpgIMG_3422.jpg

The first picture isn't great but it gives you an idea of where i have them positioned, and the subframe is bare, I only installed it to give myself a good place to jack up the vehicle. The second picture shows where i put down the welds. I know they're not the prettiest welds in the world, but I'm very new to welding. Those were probably the tenth - fifteenth welds i've made in my life. I tested them all by standing on them, and hitting them with a hammer. Not with all my strength, but enough to verify they wouldn't snap off easily. Being able to push the car around the garage is a convenience that I couldn't do without when deciding to undertake this project or not. But now i need to make two more of these jack stands so that i can drop the rear sub-frame!

Sounds like you've put some thought into it, look forward to your progress.

[LM7E46]

Made some progress in the last couple of days. I'm still feeling really good about this motor. A motor I literally pulled out of a junk yard. Donor vehicle was a 2001 Yukon, and someone had already removed the transmission. Even with the HUGE amount of time savings that provided, i wouldn't have picked that motor if i noticed evidence of sludge/milkshake residue under the oil cap, or excessive metal on the drain plug. I found neither while inspecting, but, as i'm sure you all know, that doesn't mean that the crank journals aren't scored, valves burnt, guides damaged ect. ect. Hell, there could even be a bent rod w/out anyway to tell until you open up the motor. (I didn't think to rotate the motor by hand while it was in the yard, i now realize how truly lucky i am for not performing that one extra step).

Tear down continued on the cylinder heads, and inspection of the valves, and their seats. Valves/seats will need to be lapped, but not a big deal. No major pitting, or a burnt valve or bent stem. Before I took the heads off, but after I had all the push-rods out, a thought came to me. I could very easily perform a leak down test and not have to worry about where the motor is in relationship to it's valve events, since they would be closed regardless. Not that it really mattered, because I was in the process of rebuilding the motor anyways, but maybe it'd give me something to look out for. All eight cylinders held pressures 15% within one another, and they ranged from 70% - 85%. (or 30% - 15% leakage, depending on how you want to look at it). Could've been better, but i really can't complain. There were no obvious differences between all eight with regards where the roughly 20% of air was leaking to. Just thought that was worth mentioning in case anyone is in the market for a used motor, and wants a quick way to verify compression before making a purchase.

Here are some before and after pictures of the cylinder heads before I hit them with the 'soda blaster' (a snap on media blaster made specifically for sodium bi-carbonate). It works well! just makes a serious mess, gotta do it outdoors.

IMG_3425.jpgIMG_3426.jpg

After getting the mating surface and the combustion chambers with the valves in, I removed the valves (squirting a little engine oil on the stem before pushing it through the guide), and blasted the intake and exhaust ports as best i could. I still need to go back through with oven cleaner, then hot soapy water. I'm going to wait to do all that until after i polish up the ports a little bit. I don't want to remove much material, just wanna smooth up the surface of the ports and the casting lines a little bit. If you guys have any experience porting/polishing these heads and think that i should take some material off I'd really appreciate the input!


IMG_3427.jpgIMG_3428.jpg

Here's a picture of the cylinder bores. I've measured them with my dial caliper, just to see if this motor had been bored out already, and if the bores were out of round at all. Everything checked out, so i was thinking I'd do some light honing. What do you guys think? I'm going to ask the dude at the machine shop what his opinion is, although, I'm afraid he might be biased towards making more money. But if you guys think they need it, then i'm not opposed to getting them cleaned up professionally, or even punched out a little bit. But I do oppose spending money that i don't need to.

KBDB4803.jpg

[Tim Mc]

Our experience with our L33 was similar. The machine shop stated we shouldn't even disassemble the engine even with 120,000 miles. We did anyway for educational purposes (and engines are fun!) while adding a cam/valve springs (super smooth idle Crane) and the most basic refreshments (bearings/rings/seals/pumps). Back together and puts down just under 400 CHP and 6500 rpm.

We have no experience on the heads (ours are untouched), but now days without a flow bench to confirm improvements, I'd shy away from grinding on them unless removing a casting line, etc. Easier to just order a set of CNC ported for relatively inexpensive cost - one of our next steps.

If you bore it, believe you can just take it to the LS1 displacement...but costs really ramp up on these engines.

[mrallande5020]

I don't think you need to hone the cylinders from the looks of them. Mine were glazed so i went ahead w/ the ball hone 400 grit.

[LM7E46]

Our experience with our L33 was similar. The machine shop stated we shouldn't even disassemble the engine even with 120,000 miles. We did anyway for educational purposes (and engines are fun!) while adding a cam/valve springs (super smooth idle Crane) and the most basic refreshments (bearings/rings/seals/pumps). Back together and puts down just under 400 CHP and 6500 rpm.

We have no experience on the heads (ours are untouched), but now days without a flow bench to confirm improvements, I'd shy away from grinding on them unless removing a casting line, etc. Easier to just order a set of CNC ported for relatively inexpensive cost - one of our next steps.

If you bore it, believe you can just take it to the LS1 displacement...but costs really ramp up on these engines.

That's awesome that you were able to make that amount of power! That's just about what my goal is for this motor, so it's great to hear that you made that amount with minimal machining/modification/ect. I REALLY appreciate the input.

Where did you get your cam? Did it come with the springs? I've been shopping around and I'm having a hard time making a decision. Ideally, I'd like to get the cam and the springs all in one package.

- - - Updated - - -

I don't think you need to hone the cylinders from the looks of them. Mine were glazed so i went ahead w/ the ball hone 400 grit.

Thank you for the input! If I end up honing it i'll just do a little light honing myself with the ball style honing tool i got.

[Tim Mc]

Article we based our Crane 210 cam decision on:

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/ls-cam-test-comparison/

We only honed, new file fit rings, bearings, valve springs - did add new rockers and pushrods, but likely weren't necessary.

Note: it was 400 HP at the crank...equates to 340 at the wheel on a Dynojet in our situation. It is a very smooth idle camshaft - might suggest going to one step higher. It is very easy to tune though and mileage is excellent!

End result post:

https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...5#post30150095

Our build...although an E36, has many similarities:

https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...or-with-LS-T56

We had a ton of fun - enjoy!

[LM7E46]

Thanks for the advice on the camshaft, I'll definitely check that out!

Got a lot done on the E46 side of the project the last couple days. I got the interior completely gutted, including the wiring harness, rear deck lid/seats, and all the trim pieces in the trunk. It's amazing how much wiring went into this car. I wouldn't be surprised if it weighed 100 lb's, including the engine harness. After removing it, I began harvesting the larger gauged wires from the harness. This was not a pretty process, but I couldn't let it go to waste, or receive pennies on the dollar to recycle it while it was still insulated. Definitely not going through the trouble of stripping it down to bare copper to recycle. Because this is a track only project, i thought that designing and assembling my own harness would be simpler than tapping into the factory harness and attempting to remove that which i wouldn't need. The amount of circuits that i need to make the car the way i want it is a fraction of what existed originally. I figured, staring at the mound of wires on my garage floor, that i could save myself a fair amount of money on wiring by isolating long sections of wire that were of an appropriate gauge from the BMW harness and cutting them out. Then, what's left over i'll box up and if i need anything from it i can go cut it out of the nest.

Here's a picture of the car with the dash, crash bar, hvac box, and steering wheel out. In the process of removing the harness.


IMG_3419.jpgIMG_3420.jpg

Here's some pictures of the harness in a heap on the garage floor, and the fuster cluck of isolating the wires i wanted.


IMG_3432.jpgIMG_3433.jpg

Some of the components i ordered for the process of building my own harness. I feel like such a nerd for getting excited over this stuff...


IMG_3434.jpg

[LM7E46]

Article we based our Crane 210 cam decision on:

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/ls-cam-test-comparison/

We only honed, new file fit rings, bearings, valve springs - did add new rockers and pushrods, but likely weren't necessary.

Note: it was 400 HP at the crank...equates to 340 at the wheel on a Dynojet in our situation. It is a very smooth idle camshaft - might suggest going to one step higher. It is very easy to tune though and mileage is excellent!

End result post:

https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...5#post30150095

Our build...although an E36, has many similarities:

https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...or-with-LS-T56

We had a ton of fun - enjoy!

Nice build! definitely some similarities. I'm sure i'll be spending a lot of time going through your build to get ideas/direction on mine, as i have with several other builds so far.

[LM7E46]

Some pictures of the interior completely gutted.

IMG_3448.jpgIMG_3449.jpg

I was looking around at different options for a couple parts of the interior set up and i'm wondering if anyone has any experience with these. The first is a trunk block-off/rear seat bulk head to go in place of the rear seats. I really like the idea but the price seems a bit steep for what it is. If the metal were thick enough i'd like to think it would stiffen up the chassis a little bit. While there's no wiring/ecu/battery in the vehicle i'd like to get as much chassis stiffening done as possible. Reason being that i plan to weld in some support/chassis stiffening braces and i don't like the idea of welding on the chassis with modules grounded to the medal that i'm putting my welds down on. I'm going to do some more research on how to accomplish this, but here's a link for that block off plate.

http://www.hardmotorsport.com/hard-m...-filler-panel/


the same company offers another product that i will likely purchase because I think they look cool, and one of the pieces (the bit that goes where the radio was) would provide an aesthetic and functional place to mount some switches.


http://www.hardmotorsport.com/hard-m...l-kit-bmw-e46/

[LM7E46]

Got the rear sub-frame out. I wish i could say it was a graceful process, but the assembly kept getting hung up on the front mounting studs. I sprayed WD-40 all down the studs, but it was no help. It wasn't until I removed the transmission jack completely from under the diff and just jacked up the farthest back point of the rear sub frame to push down the front part. This slid the front bushings down the studs far enough until wham! sub-frame out. It didn't fall far, and there's no obvious damage to any of the components. I'm not really worried about it. I got the gas tank out as well, and other than some heat shielding and some noise suppression mats under the car, the chassis is completely stripped bare. I inspected the mounting points for the rear subframe and luckily no cracks yet. I do intend to weld in some re-enforcement. I'd like to build them myself, and by the look of the kits offered by ECS and elsewhere, it doesn't appear that the metal used is very thick. I mean, one company's installation procedure includes bending some of the metal plates to fit the form of the car... I've got some 12"x 12" 16 gauge steel laying around, I was thinking maybe i could make that work.


IMG_3435.jpgIMG_3436.jpg


Here's a picture of how i put the car back down onto my wheel dollies after i had the rear sub-frame out. I drilled some holes in the dollies, and bolted a piece of plywood across the two of em, i then put three 2x4's, each about 2-2.5 ft. long, laying longitudinally to the car. I lowered the car down so that the spare tire well rested on these 2x4's, and then ran some screws through the spare tire well into the 2x4's. I was actually amazed at how sturdy this hack ass idea came out to be. (I know this is some janky ass ghetto shit, if you'd like to make fun of me please don't hold back, as i'm already amused by the whole dolly situation as it is and i'll get just as much enjoyment out of your jokes as you do)


IMG_3444.jpg

[motorV8ed]

Got the rear sub-frame out.

Nice work!

I was actually amazed at how sturdy this hack ass idea came out to be. (I know this is some janky ass ghetto shit, if you'd like to make fun of me please don't hold back, as i'm already amused by the whole dolly situation as it is and i'll get just as much enjoyment out of your jokes as you do)

I actually thought it was a pretty elegant solution! Maybe that says more about me than about you...

[LM7E46]

I pulled the trigger on a camshaft/valve train set up after days of going back and forth, torturing myself with the idea that i should try and spend as little as possible. That strategy of spending as little as possible has worked out for me in the past, but never when it comes to something as important as this. I'm trying to learn from my past mistakes, so i finally gave in and made a purchase.
I ordered, directly from Comp Cams, their 'NSR' Drift Cam, with a .541 lift, 233/243 duration, LSA : 114 deg. and a power range from 3k-7.5k. The 'NSR' stands for 'no springs required' however, with a power range that goes well into the seven thousands, I wasn't considering going without valve springs. Here's a link for the cam its self.

https://www.compcams.com/nsr-drift-2...en-iii-iv.html

The spring kit i ordered looks like a nice one, i'm super excited to get the kit and install it on my cleaned up cylinder heads. It's a .580 Max lift, beehive ls6+ kit, with retainers, keepers, and valve stem seals. Here's the link;

https://www.compcams.com/0-580-max-l...retainers.html

I figured if i was going to do this valve train thing right, and truly call it reliable at 7,000 rpm, I'd need to also perform the trunion upgrade. Comp Cams offers this kit for a pretty reasonable price, and it even comes with the install tool so i can press the new bearings in using my vice. Looks like a solid kit, and it'll definitely help me to keep from worrying when i'm out on the track pushing high rpm's for extended periods.

https://www.compcams.com/gm-ls-oem-r...tion-tool.html




I actually thought it was a pretty elegant solution! Maybe that says more about me than about you... [/QUOTE]


The more I think about it, and the more i push the car around the garage without it shifting on the wooden platform, the better i feel about the set up. Thanks for the words of encouragement!

[LM7E46]

Wow, two months already since the last time i posted. For a 'first-timer' I'm feeling pretty good about my rate of progress. Especially when considering the amount of components I'm fabricating myself, and the extent to which I'm modifying the car its self. If i haven't stated this previously, my intended outcome for the vehicle is a purpose built, track only, drifter and SCCA race car. Probably will go to the drag strip also for shits and gigs. My goal for the finished product is an e46 that is as stock-looking as possible on the outside, and fully equipped race car on the inside. Roll cage definitely, sometime down the road, as well as many other major modifications, and with such a long list and so much to do, I was having a hard time sticking to one task until it's done before moving onto something else. I was bouncing around a lot at first, and if i were to remain doing it that way it'd add months to the project I'm sure. Plus, I could see myself making things waaaay overly complicated if i were to continue jumping from one thing to another. I wan't to keep things simple, and get this car running. There will be plenty of time down the road to over-complicate this project.
(Just a little bit about what I've learned, and what my goals are)

The progress I've made:

So i got the engine all put back together, with the new COMP cams valve train (that costed more than the motor and car combined). Torqued the heads down, rocker arms, ect. ect. Then I started suspending the motor over the engine bay to get an idea of where i wanted to weld in my motor mounts. Before I welded the mounts down to the subframe, i welded on some 3/16" thick plates to the subframe, for a nice flat surface to which i can weld the mount brackets. And the extra thickness also meant I would be less likely to burn through the base material when I made those welds. Here's some pictures of the finished product;

IMG_3565.jpgIMG_3569.jpg

(please don't make fun of my welding, i'm very new to it)


I'll have pictures up of everything else I've gotten done over the past two months later tonight when i have more time. Got some situations i could use some feedback on. Lemme know what you think of the mounts!

I'm aware that I'm going to need to modify the driver's side headers to allow for a steering shaft, I'll get into that more later.

[LM7E46]

I don't know how common this is in the BMW swap community, I haven't even seen much of this anywhere, so hopefully this helps out anyone who's doing a swap, or a major rebuild of any kind.

Just like a lot of people, i wanted to keep my accessory drive system as simple as possible. As few pulley's as possible, within reason. Obviously wanted to save as much money as possible. I'm far from an outsider for these ideals, and the main route i see people going to combat these issues is with an electric power steering pump. The most common of which being the MR2, electro-hydraulic pump, commonly mounted in the trunk, that will run pressurized hyrdraulic fluid to the front of the vehicle, allowing for the retention of the factory rack and pinion (in many cases at least). This doesn't appear to be a bad option at all. My only beef with this route is the high pressure hydraulic lines. Because even if the pump were mounted in the vehicle or under the hood, still would need to have some high pressure lines built specific, or buy some expensive lines/adapters/ect. ect. . . . . fuck that.

As a mechanic, i was aware of the existence of fully electric assisted power steering units, fully contained in the steering column. (Especially as a toyota technician, because that's all that the Prius has been using for over ten years). But it's not just the prius, the corolla and yaris also have similar units, and now a days the whole line up uses electrically assisted power steering. (besides 4runner, Taco, and Tundra).

Someone smarter than myself has found out that there are specific models and years of Toyota, Nissan, and even Saturns' that can be operated in a 'fail-safe' mode, without CAN-BUS communication from the other modules in the vehicle, and while in fail safe mode, the EPS control module only needs an ignition power source, a ground, and a heavy gauge power and ground for the steering motor. The assist will be the same regardless of the speed you're going, but based on the reviews i read on LT1 (i think it was LT1) that doesn't seem to be an issue.

Here's a picture of the prius steering column tucked under my chopped dash. Can't really see much, but i'll take some more pictures later and post them, and if anyone has any questions feel free to ask away. I thought it was a really good option, and I'm glad i found out about it. The column from pick 'n pull was 75$ with the control module.


IMG_3538.jpg

[Matt330LS]

I'll be following along. My project has been underway for quite awhile as time and budget allow. Fully stripped, caged, fuel cell, LQ4 based 408. Have a mountain of parts waiting to be installed when I get back into the garage.

https://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/s...reet-track-rat

[LM7E46]

Finished all the measurements for my custom wiring harness. I'm going to run the wires through the fire wall in two places, about 8" from one another, directly behind the intake manifold, and pretty well out of sight. These two grommets will only contain the EFI harness related wiring, and the heavy gauge starter wiring, cooling fan wiring, and headlight wiring will all enter the engine bay else where. I'm going for a partial wire tuck, and semi-shave. To go balls-out, best-in-show style bay shave/tuck would mean that this car wouldn't be done anytime soon, especially given the fact that this is my first time doing body work on any vehicle, and my first time doing a wire tuck as well.
As far as the shave goes, all that i've got done is cut out the two sectioned off areas behind the front strut towers. After a couple of hours of grinding, i realized i could just drill out the spot welds for the pieces of sheet metal I want to remove. Would've been nice to figure that out soon, but oh well, could be worse also. I've also filled in a couple big holes in the fire wall using 16 gauge steel sheets. The original hole on the passenger's side for chassis related wiring (I think), and the massive hole on the driver's side where the factory ECU used to live. The huge HVAC hole I plan on patching as well, but for this one i'm going to use much thinner aluminum, making it easier to mold into position. I'm also going to build a template, out of cardboard or something, then use this drill attachment I just ordered to get an exact cut, producing a piece that is the same exact shape as the hole, but with maybe a 1/2" overlap around the perimeter. I'll then use either rivets or small sheet metal skrews and seam sealer to mount it. I can't decide if i want to do some extra support bars running vertically down the gap, for extra mounting support.
Once all the major fabrication is done in the engine bay, and I've stripped all the old paint, and done all the sanding that i can bare, I'm going to smooth everything out. Before starting the sanding, for some of the smoothing, I'm planning on using my welder and just running little beads along certain seams. Then hopefully, the goal is to use as little bondo as possible to smooth the rest out. And, again, not going for perfection, just something more visually appealing than what was going on under there. I plan on using truck bed liner as the finishing paint, for the strength and resilience it'll provide. Just regular black though, not that cheesy, custom color truck bed liner i've been seeing people use on the bottom half of their 4 door lifted 2014 jeep wrangler on low profile tires.

Here's some pictures of what i'm talking about, and I'll post more as progress is made. Lemme know what you think about the truck bed liner idea, and if it's something you're certain i should steer clear of for whatever reason, please don't hesitate to let me know!

IMG_3572.jpg

IMG_3573.jpgyou can see in this one to the left here, That heavy gauge wire is going to go through the firewall there, and down into the fender there, and then run along the sub-frame to the starter, and at the starter it'll split off and run back down to the sub-frame, and over to the alternator, where i have a low mount configuration set up. I'm pretty stoked about how that worked out, because i feel like it'll be fairly discreet, and decently practical as well. Fellow LS swappers, how are you routing your heavy gauge wire?

IMG_3574.jpgthese two holes will be the entry points for all of the EFI related wiring going into the engine bay. I can't wait to finish putting that harness together to see how it'll look. I'm using Raychem DR-25 to sheath the majority of the harness, with Raychem SCL to seal off the branch points and where ever the DR-25 comes to an end. I'll definitely post pictures of the harness building process as I make more progress.

[Matt330LS]

I don't have all my wiring routing figured out yet, but my intent at this time is to use the existing factory holes to run everything. The area you have drilled for your EFI wiring I'm saving for an Accusump. All my wiring subject to change as I actually install the Holley EFI.