BRAAP

Amen! Speaking of which, I have been planting the seed in Rons head that when he gets the M-pawward Z car running, that he needs to sell it to me. That engine was incredible in my 3300 lb BMW, but in an S-30, that weighs 600-700 lbs less! Powerband is in the same range as the L-6 just LOTS more of it everywhere, so the Z should still retain 99% of its character, feel, sound etc!

Aaron! I’ll let you DRIVE the car when its done, on the twisty roads around our place no less! But you can't tell DAD! Savvy? LSx powered E-36! My current desktop pic, reminder to get “mine” done!

Sparkplug heat range?

Gary, NICE! Love your 5.. I forgot to mention. If my father stops by, please do not mention that I have started the V-8 swap. He drove the car with BMW engine and when I mentioned the LSx he almost got mad and told me I'd ruin the car that it's perfect just the way it is. I want it to be surprise... Please pass it on to Dustin..

Playing a mental video in my head of this educational experience..

Here’s one for ya! Pulled into a local Minute Mart, Troutdale OR, to pick up a couple Fosters last night, (not my favorite bier, just good bang for the buck). When I come out, I see this black E36 sedan pulled in next to me. First thing that caught my eye was the el-cheapo wheels, then the badging on the driver fender was glaring at me! Glaring at me so intensely I had to fire up that wonderful iPhone camera! I quickly put my delicious beverages away and made a complete orbit of the E-36 expecting more wondrous nuances. Passenger side devoid of any badging, trunk badging was OE 325i, Ricer muffler with small hole, but HUGE diameter tip! HAZZ to be a previous Honduh owner, now arrived financially with his Honduh-esque Bimmer and its “V”-6!

For a typical 2 valve aluminum head engine, that is correct. Keep in mind this for the L-6 which is quite a bit more detonation sensitive compared to other 2 valve aluminum head designs, and compression ratio is a key player in that! In my experience and what I've gleaned from others experience here is that generally, the L-6 will only tolerate 1.5-2 full points less static compression ratio for its detonation threshold at full maximum power producing ignition timing on premium pump gas, N/A or boosted! http://forums.hybridz.org/showthread.php?t=125186 There are a few exceptions that have been able to follow the typical static compression ratio and not rattle, blow head gaskets or bust pistons, but those are not the norm. Regarding dynamic compression, that figure really only applies at engine cranking speed and idle. Once the engine starts to rev with a radical race style cam, the engines BMEP actually becomes greater than if a milder cam was installed, (more torque is more BMEP), as it nears torque peak due to more efficient cylinder filling, i.e. dynamic compression “pressure” becomes greater, not less, (hence the grater torque figures), regardless of the “calculated” ratio. Again the calculate dynamic comp ratio only applies at engine speeds where ram charging is not taking affect. Granted, the wilder cam will offer more detonation resistance vs a milder cam due to other attributes dynamically taking place, but that attribute is small in comparison vs the added BMEP, so it's a compromise. HOTROD magazines have started yet another myth with calculated dynamic compression ratio being “the” detonation resistance factor, when they forgot to mention the added BMEP at elevated RPM’s. At any rate, with more aggressive cams, that 1.5-2.0 points less static C/R the L-6 will tolerate starts to drop to 1-1.5, etc. At some point, the cam just becomes to radical and the compromise in static C/R for the intended gasoline must be made. Back to the question at hand, as has been questioned already, ones definition of “streetable” is going to be different from another. This is really one of those subjects that is like the visual aesthetics of a particular car. It really lies in the eye of the beholder, or in this case, the seat of the driver. When giving advice for an ideal camshaft, I try to leave out my person perception as much as possible and only quote what qualities the cam would give the engine so the end user can discern based on his/her own taste if that is what they want or not. Some might prefer the most radical lopey peaky power band and call it street able, others may say only stock cams are street able. What others have said regarding the “attributes” of that spec, I agree with. Whether or not the original poster deems that as “street-able” is entirely up to him. Hope that helps, Paul

What's pokeman?

Not so fast hot rod! Even after someone mentioned the rules for posting parts for sale, as soon as you made that minimum post count, you violated those rules in all of your ads, which are now gone... Bumpity bump bump...

Yeup! Good eye Nizz...

Oh yeah baby! Love the look.

Discuss...

Good stuff Tony. One question though, as it applies to the L-6 for guys wanting to build a little more power, (N/A or boosted, example is N/A) Lately I've noticed quite a bit of interest in guys wanting intently focused on increasing compression ratio only, even just a little, some for stock applications, as means to increase performance, particularly the N/A crowd. Guys wanting to go from the 8.3:1 to 9.5:1, even 10:1. I have been steering them away from focusing so intently on the C/R increase as that little bit of a power bump from just the mild C/R bump alone, (if it didn't rattle at full ignition advance), is not going to come cheaply. I've been trying to steer them towards other avenues, leaving h low comp ratio to avoid the rattle demons. Linking this thread as an approach to allow a real bump in compression that would be worth while jumping up to, ratios that the L-6 should be able to run with pump gas with full ignition timing without rattling. By rights, an aluminum head 2 valve engine on premium pump gas should be able to full ignition timing with 10.5:1, even 11:1 compression ratio. I have seen Iron head GM small BLock run 9.8:1 on premium pump gas, no rattle. Aluminum head L-6 generally will rattle at that level proving itself to be more sensitive than most to audible rattle at such comp ratios, (I am referring to the US spec Z car heads, not the MN47 or non us offerings). You mention fast burn chamber designs with matching pistons, leaving the stock cooling paths as is. I agree that the fast burn design helps, but with the money and time spent on what it would take to achieve a fast burn chamber form the available US Z car heads and matching pistons, with the L-6’s sensitivity to detonate so easily, wouldn’t the engine still be riding that fine edge of the envelope, possibly crossing that line say on hotter than normal days, heavy stop and go traffic, more than usual bugs/dust on the radiator fins, etc? Depending on the budget, parts availability, etc, it seems that in some instances, maybe even more often than not, that a simple rudimentary version of the external bypass, say just the #5 and #6 bypass to the T-stat housing would be a more cost/time effective approach for the typical US L-6 build vs the custom head, pistons etc? Along with that, wouldn't that also allow added buffer room for those really hot days in stop and go traffic etc? Your thoughts?

Almost there… ’97 BMW M-3 sedan, Daily driver. LSx M3 build thread... LM7 w/ported heads, ’00 Vette cam, LS6 springs, LS1 intake, WOLF V-500 Engine management, T-56 trans. After the initial bugs get worked out, will be building mild 6.0L, seriously considering the single plane crank in the 6.0L block. Flat crank thread.

LOVE IT! Thanks..

My apologies. I was referring only to its visual appearnce. I agree, the car is mechanically a very well engineered incredibly fast masterpiece. A Volvo body that is correctly proportioned would look good, but that example is "visually ugly in my opinion. My point is why bother with a moniker badge! Scratch build a visually flowing body that matches itself proportinately. Not a factory car that is unrecognizable without a badge on the grill! Even NASCAR retains some symmetry in its visual proportions even though they all look the same?!

No problem Clive. Glad to hear you got it running. Now thats funny..

Found a new one... Last three posts were reviving long dead threads... This one earned a custom avatar as well. . Crack open a cold one..

Are you apart of the reVolvonation?

Has anyone seen such an abortion rival this? A professional competition vehicle? Why bother with a moniker in the grill? SAAB would be more fitting don’t you think? And to think, it is supposedly BMW powered!?!? Double face palm!

Wow, my last update was a week an half ago?!?! Truth be told, I’ve been lazy the past week and a half, not much physical progress. Went out to the shop and looked over the car a bit, looked over the pan/x-member a bit, glanced at the cruise control, pretty sure I found a cool new location for the ABS module, found a neat little reverse switch mod, (reverse switch on the trans is REAL close to the trans tunnel), drank more than few FOSTERS’s over that period… This whacked out work schedule I’m sure has had some influence on the lack of motivation as well. Positive motivation is this the BMW is my daily driver, so in the mean time I have been driving Plan “B” and Plan “C”, (Plan “B” is an ’85 Scooby-Doo GL wagon that was given to me for free, 200,295 miles on it now, engine starting ticking pretty loudly this week, plan “C” is my ’90 Chev full size Ext cab 2wd parts/shop/farm truck!) With Plan B looking like it needs a new engine, (engine swap of course, EJ22), the LS 7/8 powered M3 must move forward… The only news currently is that I am wavering on an EMS. I currently have WOLF V-500, like the system, very powerful, was in my ’93 Nissan 300-ZX, will run the LSx as well, but Vi-PEC is also very VERY VERY intriguing. Sooo much so that I am considering ordering it. I might keep the V-500 for another project or sell it. What I do with the V-500 depends on my how my budget unfolds over the next few months, but I am seriously considering the Vi-PEC system. Bang for the buck, both compare nicely to the uber-exotic offerings with 8 channel sequential ignition output, tons of user definable inputs and outputs, VVT control, GM idle air control, Staged injectors or blending of for those running exotic fuels such as Meth blends, race gas in separate tanks, etc. Tons of boost support for those of you addicted to boost with built turbo timer, etc. Vi-PEC supports drive by wire. I ran V-500 on my ’93 300-ZX before I sold the car, I like the user interface, controllability, and mostly the consistency in how the engine ran vs the OE Nissan EFI! Ran smoother, crisper throttle response, seamless, no sacrifice in MPG! Support for the WOLF when you have questions is a bit awkward, Vi-PEC on the other hand has it’s own dedicated forum, dealer support and the owner will even help you directly! I understand the GM PCM is very stable and seamless when properly tuned, I have no qualms in using it and encourage others to use it, especially if running N/A and stock or with mild mods. Plug and play and highly tunable. If you are planning to boost and are serious about boost and Engine management control of a boosted engine, the GM PCM will work, but you’d be better off going aftermarket stand alone! Screen shot I took of the WOLF V-500 when I had it on the ZX. Spark map for the VG30DE

That is, was, the EFI relay! Looks like he kicked pretty good!

Diagrams for what exactly? The L-24 is identical to the L-28 in its footprint, mounting, accy drives, etc. It goes directly in place of the L-28.