Well, not if I screw up driving in the new cam bearings the way I just did. Did a dumb thing. Didn't test the fit of the cam before I assembled the block.

I was talking to my machinist friend and he says that cam bearings not right after replacement in LS is a common thing, even for him, and he does hundreds of them. So learn from my mistakes, be careful.

 

This sounds like a no brainer...

Andrew

 

I am very excited to watch this build! Good luck with it!

 

Got some progress on the engine.

Since it's now going into an E36, got the F body pan. What a difference in the price compared to the custom E30 $1,200 pan. Brand new F-Body pan ... $75.
Built a 3 door baffle. Repurposed truck oil pickup tube for F body.



Engine coming together





Built accessory drive for the alternator. For the time being, I'm going with the truck spacing because I already have the truck parts, just need to move them around.
At this time, I need to decide if I want to go with a conventional power steering pump or a Volvo electric power steering pump like the one I have in my Corvette. I would have gone with the standard power steering that came with the L33, but I can't get the pulley off. Anyway, here is where it's at so far.

 

CAM SPECS: 218/224 .553”/.553” 110. Had to get slightly longer pushrods as a result of the cam swap.
I'm going with a low, short runner sheet metal intake. I don't need the low end torque that trucks need in this lighter car, so short runner for now.

 

Where do you get a new f body pan for $75?

 

f-body pan

 

Thanks ordered one just because

 

So I decided which way I'm going with the power steering pump. Since I don't have another volvo electric pump laying around and I had the one from the L33, I'm using that one. I tried in vain to separate the pulley from the pump. So instead I too a BFH to the aluminum truck accessory mount to get access to the screws the hold the pump. Once the pump is out, it's no problem getting mounting screws in and out.

 

Swapped the complete mechatronics from the donor DCT with the bad clutches into the good DCT with the gutted mechatronics.



While I was in the donor DCT, I checked to confirm if the clutches were really bad. By the looks of the grease on the snap ring, it had never been opened. I opened it and checked the clutches. They look almost new. Two of the steels had a 1/4 inch discoloration but were not warped in any way. So I think there was some other issue with this transmission and the owner just assumed it was the clutches. It may have just been fluid leakage. In any case, I now have a decent set of spare clutches and DCT parts.

I also checked the clutches in the DCT I'm going to run. The clutches and steels looked brand new. Good sign.

 

I always wanted to build an engine test stand. The place where my son works was throwing out some industrial shelving that got whacked by a forklift. There were enough good pieces for the start of an engine run stand.
I'd like to wire and test the engine and trans on a stand. Then when I know the harness I've made up and the engine and trans are all good, I'll drop it into the car.

 

Ordered a LS1 Cathedral port low profile sheet metal intake on EBAY.



Only problem is the vendor shipped an LS3 rectangle port one, hoping no one would notice. My guess is that there is no demand for LS3 aftermarket ones because if you have an LS3 engine, you don't need an aftermarket intake. So I returned it for a refund and ordered from another vendor.

The new one came in. Looks exactly the same except for the port configuration which was Cathedral. I did a very slight port matching port to match my intake ports.

 

Decided to change water pumps from the LS1 truck pump below.



to an LS3 pump.


The reason for the swap was I didn't like where the hot coolant port was on the truck one. The will negate the need for a crossover pipe and make the hoses more direct. The LS3 pump has the same accessory spacing as the truck pump.

Only difference was the mounting for the serpentine tensioner. Using the LS3 tensioner mounts with the LS1 tensioner makes it 1.5" to far forward. So I milled the pump's mount down .75" and also milled the tensioner mount .75 and it now fits perfectly. I'm only using 2 bolts to keep it in place instead of the three. I don't think it will make a difference.




Tapped a hole in the back of the coolant outlet for the steam port connection.

I am using the DBW throttle plate that used to be on my Turbo C3 Vette. If you follow my Vette build, you'll remember that I put a smaller valve body on there. Since this is an N/A setup, it will benefit from the larger throttle body. Fits right on there. I'm going with a DBW because the computer will blip the throttle for shifts.


Took an old oil galley plug and drilled and tapped it to make an LS oil prime port

 

Found a radiator from an old BMW E30, I had laying around and put it up on the test stand.

I'm using the BMW brushless PWM fan mounted to the front (not back as in the car) of the radiator for the test stand. Should be fine for testing








Got the fuel tank, pump and regulator installed and built the mount for the back of the transmission. All the parts for the engine/transmission test stand bolt on so I can tear it down for storage when I'm done.

Got the whole thing up on jack stands. I'm getting so much lazier.

 

Swapped the alternator's regulator from a 4 wire to a two wire PWM programmable regulator.

 

Built fuse box for the test stand. I'm likely to keep the ignition on for an extended period of time while playing with the ECM software. I don't want the wideband heater on all the time that the engine isn't running and the ignition is on. So I added a relay to control the Wideband heater that will be controlled by RPM. For example, less than 300 RPM wideband 12V heater supply is off. Same for the fuel pump, but I'm assuming that the ECM will take care of that.




I pulled the trigger on a MaxxEcu Race ECM with the flying lead harness. This ECM can control the engine and BMW DCT transmission using the OEM transmission wiring.

 

I am eager to get feedback on the MaxxECU. I have a customer going down the exact same path in a 69 Camaro with a rowdy LSA engine.

Andrew

 

Same path as "DCT"?

I'll let you know. MaxxEcu has tunes you can download for LS1, LS7 and LSx. They also make plug and play LS harnesses.

 

Yes, same path with DCT.

Andrew

 

Very cool
You better get familiar with CANBUS messages. Are you going with the M3 Shifter and drivelogic switch or CAN pushbuttons or other?

I'm going to try to build a touchscreen to replace the shifter and drivelogic and gear display.