Biggest engine swap?

**theonlyiceman53** · 02-04-2021, 12:41 PM

I'm finishing up this swap and wonder if it's been done before? It's a 454 big block Chevy with a 700R4 GM transmission with high stall converter, AFR heads and Comp Cam. It's almost finished with a few minor (or not so minor as they are BMW issues) issues to sort out with the biggest one being the fan motor. I saw two wires going down to the fan so I figured it was just a matter of actuating a relay or adding one if it was too integrated with the ECM. I noticed that itty bitty little wire going down to the fan and figured it was a temperature sensor or something like that. Oh no, of course it couldn't be easy as I found out that there is a fan module mounted with the motor. Not a lot of info on what that signal is but it sounds like it might be a PWM signal so I ordered a generator to try and actuate it without having to pull apart the front end yet again to swap out for a normal fan. At least now I know how to hotwire a BMW! And no I won't share.

Yes, I know the rear will probably disintegrate at some point and I know it destroys the balance of the car. This is for my enjoyment and frankly for the challenge. I put Chevy V8's in British cars and when I saw the engine bay I thought it would be relatively easy. No such luck and about every part had to be fabricated except for the exhaust. I left the stock exhaust and tied it into the header collectors. It is spooky quiet but if it is too restrictive I'll remake them in a a larger size tube. The headers are hand built on the car and required the left to be fabricated in two pieces in order to clear the steering shaft. It also required shorty spark plugs to get enough room. That gives you some idea as to how close everything is. It took much longer than I first thought but still not bad as I started in August. If work and life didn't get in the way it could have been done a bit faster. It took a few things to be done twice as it didn't go exactly to plan.
Cheers,
Bill