E36 LS3 / TR6060 Swap

You gotta break 'em in early....that way they never have a chance.

Self etch primer on all the bare metal spots.

Flares now have the first coat of high build primer

Engine bay almost done.....

Felt good to finally put the trunk all back together.

Front end together....headlights will come out when the fenders and what not get painted. Just wanted to get everything fitting together.

Brought it outside and washed off all the grime from months on the lift. Going to get an alignment in the morning.

Rear on this side is (was) a bit low. Already raised it to match the other side.

Looks good. I assume its moving under its own power. how does it run?

yes moving under it's own power. Runs great!

Shop that I do alignments at had to reschedule me so not much driving today. But another shot video... I wasn't the one in the car so the revs are pretty low. Next time I'll get some better ones.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXDmAn7r4bo

Quieter than I thought it would be!

I put my Miata under the cover for the first time and my daughter got upset until my wife told her the Miata was sleeping and that was its blanket.

Car is looking good. Pretty much done it seems.

yup pretty much done...paint and a few little things to wrap up.

Car is back from the alignment now. Feels a lot better than when I drove it over there..... Off to get plates on it so I can drive it and put some miles on it. Work out any bugs.

Cleanest the garage has been in months.

Well the car is now on the road and usable. I will be getting some good video once the car is painted but HOLY ...well e36 M3.... this thing is amazing. Wicked fast, handles great, sounds amazing, yet very composed and civilized.

Wow.... Can't show any pictures to say how amazing this car is.

jakeb wrote: Well the car is now on the road and usable. I will be getting some good video once the car is painted but HOLY ...well e36 M3.... this thing is amazing. Wicked fast, handles great, sounds amazing, yet very composed and civilized. Wow.... Can't show any pictures to say how amazing this car is.

very very nice

here, let me try

haha perfect

Working on AC lines...

This is how they started.

I sent the lines out to an AC place to have a fitting brazed on that I can crimp to. This is what came back. I bought a few different fittings as I wasn't sure what just would work.

High side line down at the condensor.

Hoses coming off the compressor

Low side line that will be crimped.

I had an issue when driving it that I blew the fuel pump fuse. I remembered reading somewhere that the wiring to the fuel pump is fairly small and when upgrading to a bigger fuel pump it can draw more power than the wire can handle. So I ran a new 14 gauge wire from the front of the car at the fuel pump relay back to the fuel pump.

As you can see the stock wire is A LOT smaller than the when is feeding the new pump.

I also really didn't like having the splice in the tank so I ran wire direct to the pump with a connector outside the tank. I punched the pins out of the pump housing and ran the wire right through.

Black tape on the one wire is just so I can tell which is ground.

In the car.

Then wire ran up to the front use a fuse at the relay.

Just in case, FYI. The discoloration of the red/power pin on the underside of the fuel pump is a warning. The pin in my E36 had gotten hot enough to melt the plastic and gas was pooling in the recess of the external connector. How did you seal the new wire using that pathway? Inside? If you smell gas and can not find a leak, check under the inspection cover. Mine scared the c..p out of me when I found the gas.

I pushed the pins out and drilled the plastic out so the wire is a pretty snug fit. I might fill the cavity with silicone or something...

I just looked at an old picture and it is discolored like that from before. I am amazed how small the wire is.

Some experience with this -- your typical rtv won't hold up well to the fuel below. I mixed up some epoxy (glue) and worked that around the wire and (in my case) metal housing. Worked great. Have also used JB Weld in similar circumstances. The rtv softens over time (a few days in my experience) - so it seems ok at first. Also, the wire insulation needs to be rated for submergence in fuel....or the same thing can happen to it. Last - the fuel line inside needs to be SAE30R10 - rated submersible in fuel.

Thanks for the tips. The wire is automotive grade wire rated for fuel, oil, etc. Not sure if it is designed to be submersed in fuel. The Fuel hose came with the fuel pump (TRE) so it is good to go.

I will check where to get the submersible wire and probably replace just to be sure.

Starting to prep to paint..

All bagged...preped...floor wet...ready to go

Basecoat down

Putting down the clear

Clear is done...

All the plastic and tape pealed off

Looking forward to the final product.

AC lines crimped

I didn't like how much the trans was moving around on the stock rubber mount so I added this poly insert.

Added an M60 cover to make it look as OEM as possible.

All the trim is back on... My DSLR was dead so the really nice pictures will have to wait. Car still needs to be wheeled out and detailed...but some pictures out in the sun.

Still need to put the M3 badge back on.

Great job! With the BMW cover on it it looks very stock though I would have probably put a GTO one on there for fun.

Its a masterpiece!

thanks guys

To the cover...the owner wants it to look OEM.

Looks awesome.

Are you happy with your trans mount shifter decision?

Beautiful work, once again! I see it sitting there ready to go, and I want badly to take it to an autocross...