ls1 e28 build

Hard to tell from the pics but is there any sort of rubber/urethane puck between the engine or mounts or chassis for vibration/DD purposes?

Amazing build, really inspiring!

Very very small update....its been a busy week

I am going to run 2 12" puller fans this way everything will clear.

I will have a fan should waterjet and then powder coated. It will look something like this... I will weld some studs on it for the fans to mount.

Mounted the GM fuse box next to the BMW fuse box. no picture of that. Hoping to have some time over the next couple weeks to put into it.

Picked up another car and engine for a swap down the road...92 volvo wagon and then a 4.8 truck engine and a 4l60e automatic. It will be my wifes DD eventually. It actually drives nice as it stands now but is pretty slow.

A pic of it..

yes there are stock e28 535 mounts between the subframe and the mount arms off the engine.

With the birth of our son and then my wife being in a lot of pain after delivery progress slowed down a bit. Things are starting to get sorta back to normal and figuring out when I have time to work on things.

I got a few things done recently.

Had the fan shroud cut from 14 gauge sheet metal. Welded some bolts to it and had it powder coated. No picture yet from after coating as it just got done and I haven't picked it up yet. It should work out really nice. I'm not sure yet how I am going to run the fans...either just one on for "low" speed and then both for "high" or both on slower in low and then full speed when high...not sure yet. Any suggestions?

I really hated the look of the panel the covers the heater fan and wiper motor so I pealed off all the rubber coating and had it blasted and coated.

But because now it was just a thin piece of metal I was worried about noise so I added some sound dampening material to the back side. It was pretty amazing how much different it sounded before and after the material.

And then how it looks on the car...

compared to....

moved the heater valve...it would have fit in the stock location but it would have been hard to service if needed.

mounted one of the camaro fuse boxes to hold the extra fuses and relays. The camaro actually has 3 fuse boxes, one in the dash and two under the hood. This is one of the underhood ones and I am repinning it to my liking.

Working on finishing up the rear end rebuild. The rear diff is a 3.25LSD which might change to a 3.46...I had the 3.25 so it is worth trying first.

I have a week off after this week and I am hoping to get mostly everything else done. Ordering all the AC bits tonight and should be able to order the driveshaft by the end of the week. Then I will have to do a bunch of wiring.......all figured out just need to do it and make it look nice. Slowly but surly it is moving ahead.

Very very nice. Making me jelly.

i don't want this thread to stop. everything that's happening here keeps getting cooler and cooler. i love that you're going to DD this as well.

I'm loving the build, its making me really want to pick a 6 series and do the same thing lol

Need to modify grill on badge ... G///M

With fans (and much else in life), doesn't efficiency go down the faster you spin it? So you'd get more are movement with less volts (and waste heat) running both fans slowly rather than one fan fast. Also, it seems to me you'd get better flow >through< the radiator with both fans running slowly.

David

My blower motor plate thingy is in the trunk. I can hear every single tap of the lifters. Does the engine noise decrease a lot when it's in place?

Taiden: I would think with that panel off you would get a fair amount of sound becasue the heater fan is open to the cabin pretty much.

DWNSHIFT: Yes that is the plan to run the fans slower...with a BMW fan resistor in line with the low circuit. This will more than likely the route I will go

ScottyB: YES this will be my DD when its done. Hopefully running in a few weeks.

Ordered the bits for the intake piping (it's going to be very tight. I will have to do some reshaping of some 3.5" pipe to get it to clear the radiator and belt tensioner....)

Also finally figured out an upper radiator hose. I had been looking for something off the shelf but I wasn't having much luck. The problem is that the outlet on the engine is 1.25" and the inlet on the radiator is 1.5"+ . So I will have rubber on each side and then a piece of 1.25" tube with one side expanded out to 1.5".

Working on all the AC connections and the fittings I will need. I "adjusted" the stock GM metal lines coming off the compressor. aka bending and twisting slowly. I will have the pressure switch brazed into a beadlock fitting. New AC crossflow AC condenser is in route.

I think I am just about settled on a exhaust setup...still a little unsure tho. I want it quiet for the most part...under cruising conditions and light throttle. I am ok with a bit more sound under WOT. The plan is 2.25" cats through a spintech dual in single out 3" to the biggest magnaflow I can fit. The space for a muffler at the back of an e28 is odd...the muffler will be vertical. It anyone else has some proven quiet LSX exhaust setups let me know.

I got the fan shroud back from the coater and was able to see how it all fits last night.

A little more work done.....

I was having trouble finding an upper radiator hose that would work. So I just used the camaro hose at the engine and then part of an e36 upper hose at the radiator with a piece of alum tube between the two. One side of the alum tube had to be expanded. The tube will get coated gloss black.

Made the air intake....4" to 3.5" elbow, slight 3.5" bend to 3.5" straight and a little bracket to support it to the engine. Weld has been sanded down and the entire thing will get coated gloss black.

New Cross Flow AC condenser

A couple small brackets to mount to the factory locations

Rebuilt rear end ready to go in

and in

Style 5s to be refinished..... Still not sure on colors. What do you all think? polished lips, satin black centers? polished lips, grey/silver centers? silver coated lips, black centers?

Sooooooooooooooooo good.

Looking great. I like polished lips on style 5s - gloss charcoal center.

like these?

This thread oozes coolness. Part of that is how incredibly fast this car is coming together. Way to go, and keep it going!

David

jakeb wrote: like these?

Yeah, do em' like this!!

Just to throw this out there, but on the radiator shroud wouldn't you want it to flare away from the radiator a bit (1/2" - 1" or so) to allow airflow through the radiator at the locations other than where the fans are? As it sits it looks more like a blockoff plate for a good chunk of the radiator. Something like this:

pigeon wrote: Just to throw this out there, but on the radiator shroud wouldn't you want it to flare away from the radiator a bit (1/2" - 1" or so) to allow airflow through the radiator at the locations other than where the fans are? As it sits it looks more like a blockoff plate for a good chunk of the radiator. Something like this:

more importantly than that, I believe the shroud should stand off at least 3/4" to allow the fans to suck air through the entire radiator.

thanks guys...I feel that it is moving slowly lately. I normally move really fast on projects.

The shroud is a little bit off of the radiator. Maybe a 1/2" or so across the face of it. It is hard to tell from the pictures. If there isn't enough flow I will change it a bit. I don't have a ton of room between the engine and the fans so it is a little tricky.

Wheels are all split apart. I am going to take the centers to the powder coater tomorrow. Planning to do them just like the above picture. I plan to get the clear coat stripped off over the next couple days and start the polishing process.

All the AC parts came today so I started getting the lines figured out.

Seems like a pretty quick build to me - then again I get these little stall out periods that can last for months - I get distracted easily.

In reply to Taiden:

That's what I was trying to convey, I just didn't describe it well.

In reply to jakeb:

Let me just say that I'm seriously impressed with this project in general and the way you're plowing through it in particular. This sure doesn't look slow to me, but I tend to be very slow and deliberate in my projects.

I see what you are saying now

Jake... I can't stop thinking about this swap.

Promise me this. If I start a swap thread, it's your job to find me and... well... either help me or stop me.

hahaha, I promise. But it won't be to stop you.

All the exhaust parts came today...

I modded the manifolds a bit more. Now they both exit under the car with Vband clamps. Still debating if I should have them sand blasted and ceramic coated or not. They are just stock 98 fbody manifolds hacked up. Maybe just paint with some high temp black...or silver. What do you think?

I am hoping to build the exhaust system tomorrow if I can find some time. It really should go together fairly quickly.

Dropped the style 5 centers off at the coater today and started stripping the clear coat off the barrels. I need more stripper and also some vinegar to clean the bolts. Just with the clear coat off they look 100% better.

Driveshaft is ordered and it should be made tomorrow and on its way to me soon. 3" aluminum