Well I have been thinking about this project for a long time. Since mid 05 at least. So this project has taken awhile to gain momentem. However, things are finally starting to come together So I may as well put together a build log post.

I was inspired to build this car by people that had done it like V3automotive, Mike Collins and Terry Fair. I wanted a project that had been done before and seeing that some others had done it gave me courage to proceed.

I started looking for a car to buy. This sounded simple but I live in rural Virginia. Buying just about any pickup truck I would want would be easy but an E36 BMW for a fair price not so easy. I actively looked for a year for a suitable car with in a couple hour drive of my house. I wasn't having luck. I found one listed an hour a way that seemed like a good candidate but it got sold before I could buy it. I was ready to forget the project all together when I saw a car on e-bay about 2 hours away with a buy it now for $1600. A horrible idea to buy a car off e-bay sight unseen but I did it anyway to get the project going. It was kind of rough but for that money I didn't expect too much. I bought the car in July of 06. Surprisingly the car ran. One of the reasons for doing this project was to have a larger car to drop my kids of at school (my current car was an rx-7). I decided to start driving the car while I looked for a good deal on a LS1 engine and researched some more.

As it turned out John Carp had a car built for him (https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=474890). Sadly he crashed the car and totaled it. He ended up parting the car. From John I bought the exhaust, Motor mounts, trans and motor mounts, radiator, fan, Driveshaft and misc parts. The picture of the parts is attached. The steering rack never did make it to me. No biggie as I already had one of those.

To install the motor using these parts would still require custom headers and a modified oil pan.

When I went to buy the car to my surprize I found it ran and drove fine. I decided to drive it home instead of tow it on the dolly I had bought. However, with no plates a police officer that I met along the way suggested I put it on the dolly. The old rusty pathfinder towing was the same truck that towed my Rx-7 home for it's swap. Good old pathfinder.

 

So I got this great idea that maybe the guy that bought Johns engine wouldn't need the custom oil pan. I contacted him and he was using the engine for an Rx-7 swap. I was able to buy the oil pan from him. I wondered about what happened to the headers. When looking on this site for LS1 engines I happened across a post from Matt Potter who had bought the headers and decided to resell them. It must be fate that I have these parts. I bought the headers from him. This project was looking easier all the time.

Finally this June I bought the motor and trans assembly. A 2002 with a 6 speed. Just under 19000 miles on it. I had bought a trailer hitch to add to my BMW so I could tow canoes and bikes. I decided to install it and use the BMW to tow home the motor from the freight terminal. Seemed fitting.

 

Ok. Now this is where the fun begins. The motor mounts I had purchased were solid mounts. I was making a street car so I decided to make some mounts with some compliance. I used urethane small block chevy mounts some 1/4 plate and some 1.5 x 1.5 tube to make some new mounts.

Here is a pic of the modified oil pan (which required some minor trimming of the windage tray).
Modified vs non modified

Windage tray trimed

Pan installed


Motor mount passenger side

Motor mount driver side

 

Ok school is out so I don't need the 4 door so I pulled the BMW motor.

After lots of reading on this forum and hunting on the net I finally purchased and recieved the parts to make my remote clutch bleed line.

attached


I also made the power steering line. This was my first time making AN lines. I thought it turned out well and was kind of fun.

 

pimptastic

 

Looks like a powerfull swap Thaniel, figurativly and literaly. I have a few questions:

Are your motor mounts gonna offset the motor like the Nash setup to make room for the steering linkages or have you found and alternative?

Will you use the mustang powerbrake setup or keep the bmw vac setup?

Is this gonna be a budget build (Somthing I wants to do) or all out kind of thing?

 

congrats on the the progress thaniel. Keep the pics coming and all the best

 

Very cool!....

I've thought about doing this swap to about the same car (I need 4 doors as well), but still need to get my current swap fully sorted, build a garage, etc.....

Do keep us posted on your progress.

'JustDreamin'

 

Budget build.....Is there such a thing? Originally that was my idea. I had planed to make everything I could myself and try and keep costs low. However the projects budget seems to keep growing and I found some excellent deals on some premade parts. I still to try to be reasonable about my spending but reliability and comfort of the ride can not be sacrificed. This will be a daily driver and break downs are not allowed

The motor sits in the engine bay different from the Nash setup. It will not be using the Hydroboost brake set up. The BMW brake system, including the ABS will stay.

I'll post some pics once the motor is mounted. Until then Here is a picture of the motor mounted to the cross member outside of the car.

 

Looking good so far!

 

Ah looks like you moved the engine more forward then the Nash setup. I guess this will allow the steering linkages and vac resavoir to clear the header and engine. Are you concerend about the weight distribuiton now?

 

The weight distribution change is very small. I haven't done the exact calculations but with rough numbers I'd say it's a change of less than 10 lbs more on the front wheels. On a 3,000 lb car a 10 lbs shift is .3% change. Also my subwoofer in the back will more than compensate

 

Awesome project! Looking forward to updates.

 

What are you doing for your tranny brace? I am getting ready to do the same thing but in a E30. Looks good so far

Beau

 

Thought I'd give it a test fit. I didn't install the driverside header.
Sorry about the mess....I've been busy

Nice and tidy underneath

Clearance with the firewall. There is some but not a lot.

Clearance with the brake booster is TIGHT. However it doesn't touch.

 

Looks great!

 

man that is awsome. im a bmw tech and i am a hard core ls1 guy. i get so much **** at work i cant wait to show this. who cares if the new m3 comes with a v8. im mite start looking for a used e36 i think we have one at work that got flooded.

 

just want to see the progress.

looking good so far.

 

simple amazing!

soo there was no cutting of anything?? it just slotted stright in there???

Chris.

 

So far nothing on the BMW chassis has been cut. I may remove some useless brackets and open up the shifter hole a little but I think that is going to be it. Very tight but it does fit.