Crash

Nice, Spartan. The plastic mock-up block... How heavy is it and where did you get it from? I've never heard of this before. I look forward to seeing how the bellhousing works out for you because I have no idea how much clearance it actually leaves. I'll have to cut the firewall no matter what, but the less I have to cut the better.

Yeah. For the past 2 years, I've seen the E36s going for about $5K-ish running. I bet a good body donor car with engine issues would be an easy buy. I've seen pics of LS1 Z33s around. Pretty cool looking, actually. But I still like the Z32 more. I'd LOVE to get a really beefy LSx in a Z34 as they're my favorite body and interior as of yet. But I we won't be seeing those for cheap any time soon and I still really love the drive and feel of my Z32.

Well, yeah, I'd have a problem cutting up a clean car too so I totally understand. The BMW E36 with an LS1 is one of my friends dream cars. If he had the cash, he'd be building it as we speak. It's a pretty cool swap and I've seen videos of them do extremely well on the track. LSx motors are seriously awesome motors, so anything they can be fit into they should be put into! The S2000 would be a cool swap. I've heard of it being done before, but never seen it with my own eyes. I look forward to what you plan to do. Meanwhile, I'm still saving some $ to start my project. Hopefully in the next month I can start purchasing the parts and stripping down my car.

BTW, Braap. Thanks for taking the time to post up these pics with the details and editing on them!

$2500 for a new LQ4 turn-key motor?? Of course they're too good to be true. That'd be nice, but you've got to expect that kind of price on a motor with around 44K miles on it.

Ah. Damn, I wish I had my Trans Am right now to see what those ports on the manifold went to. LOL I'll have to look at my friend's tonight to see what they go to. I know I can do a T splitter too as an option. I just wouldn't want that to affect the item it's already being used for. I think one goes to a sensor to tell the ECU to advance timing. The other I can't imagine where it'd go. EDIT: Yeah, you're right. Where that vacuum port sits on the back, there may be something I'm going to want behind the firewall. I'm going to find that other page I saw the cut made and see what they removed.

I thought about that vacuum line too. The thing is that I'm pretty sure that one goes to the brake booster. (I'll have to recheck) Notching the firewall to fit that line wouldn't be that big of a deal. As long as I'm already there, it shouldn't be too big of an issue. I saw another Z32 conversion where they had to cut in a small rectangular area to fit that line, but I can't recall what they said they were using it for. I imagine that if they kept it and went through all the work for it, it's likely important! LOL (Though, if I have any unused vacuum ports hanging around, I'd rather to that route. Worst case scenario, I can get an electric brake pump sold for electric cars to handle that.) I saw that the heater lines needed to be moved in the LT1 conversion on this forum too. I figured that wouldn't be a big deal at all. There's definitely a lot of room between the block and the firewall. I'm wondering what the consequences are of moving the block so far towards the firewall though? Heat?

Ah. You're right. I totally forgot about that. I will be cutting the firewall for mine because I figure to alleviate the multiple minor head-aches, it's best to deal with one big one. I see how the standardy F-body shifter is in the right spot. That was somewhat worrying me so that definitely puts me at some ease. Since I'm using the McLeod bellhousing, I shouldn't have to cut the firewall as much. The cut will be lower and (hopefully) more narrow so I can fit everything under the dash right back in.

Braap, After you noted that the shifter would be a few inches too far forward, I started looking around for a remedy for that because even if I set the motor back 2-3 more inches, the shifter will still be too far forward. So that got me thinking about how to manage that with out a retardedly long bent shifter because that would make the shifting weird. I was looking at the 04 GTO shifter on the T56 and it appears that they're relocated back about 3-4 inches (maybe more?). If that were the case, that'd solve another one of the issues you see with the motor being too far forward.

What's amazing to me is that the LSx is the #1 used motor for swaps because of its power-to-weight and its physical size. It's actually kind of shocking to see that it's problem to fit into this chassis. I still look forward to the headaches of getting this project done, though.

HAHA! Shaggy... You love dem z31s, huh?

I agree. And if the manifolds you make custom turn out to be perfect and even flow well (or at least match the stock manifolds) it may be worth it to make a few sets to sell since that would be the deal breaker if you do in fact get the oil pan and positioning to work out. As you'd pointed out, that aftermarket group (forgot the name) is looking to make a kit. This may be the icing on the cake.

That looks like a good 2 1/2 - 3 inches. I'll likely be setting the motor as far back as the stock motor. So that's about 2 to 2 1/2 inches further back (I think). I assume that'd actually cause a few issues with the steering rack actually... Thoughts?

If the motor is set back to where it'd normally be, do you think the down pipe would clear the steering shaft? I don't really know how many inches forward your motor is sitting.

Wow... Looks like the manifolds will solve quite a few problems. Does this mean it's still on?

That IS a pretty nice Z31 and I'm not a fan of those models at all. I'd still rather do the conversion to a Z32 because of it's suspension and styling. But if I had to go back a generation, that Z31 looks really temping. Even in that color.

Why not get that bellhousing and sit the motor back just a little further? That may solve most of the problems and you shouldn't have to cut into the firewall. The bellhousing wraps close around the clutch (maybe 1/2" off total) and it's mostly flat. The biggest benefit is obviously that it's a shorter bellhousing, but it's also SIP. There's also the option of the quicktime bellhousing too which looks much smaller (and it's a lot lighter) which may get the job done as well. But it's not SIP and who knows what may happen if the flywheel came loose! Either way, two options for moving the motor back a little more and not molesting the firewall. The McLeod bellhousing is what I've chosen for my swap for the fact that it's SIP, stronger, and readily available everywhere. $450 isn't bad when it may be removing the need to dice up the firewall. (Maybe just a little tapping from a rubber hammer?)

WTF?! Bleak??? You mean you're not going to do this project now???

Ah... That's him!? I've been seeing those motors all over eBay. I wasn't thinking about buying one because I'm looking for a motor/trans combo and because his prices are kinda stupid. But now that I know, I won't consider him no matter what. Thanks for the heads up.

Wow.. I knew that GM made it so you couldn't go WOT all the time with the LS2 GTOs, but smaller exhaust too??? Geez. The power steering hard line shouldn't be a big problem, but clearing the steering shaft might be. I think the LS2 Vette manifolds are going to be the winner in this.

Synthetics are too thin for a high mileage block, IMO. I wouldn't use Synthetic on anything with more than 100,000 miles. It'd just be a waste.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_Corvette_C5 <-- According to this, 73" wide. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nissan_300ZX <-- 2" narrower than the C5.

Pretty sure that the C5 Corvette was around 62" wide. I know it was about 8" narrower than the Z32 which is around 71". Edit: Nope, the chassis itself is 63", but with wheels/body it's 73". Funny, I was just asking B if he was going to post his Datsun up when it was done. Guess he didn't get a chance to decide on his own! LOL

Gotcha... I'm only getting rid of the post-cat O2s... The pre-cat O2s are really required to make the LS1 run right if you're not going carbureted. A/F is key to make the LS1 run top at all RPM (from my experience) so I'll likely be getting a wideband gauge as well.

Awesome. I was just looking at those manifolds again today. If they work out, those are the ones I'll be going with as well. I'll have a few more options - manifold-wise - because I'm sitting the motor back further, but the LS2 Vette manifolds look perfect. The only thing that really needs to be done is to plug up that EGR hold in the center of the collector. (Or are those the O2 bungs?) I'll keep you posted as well on my project as soon as I can kick it off. First thing's first; handle the financial crisis over here. I'm hoping I can start next month. I got my fingers crossed. 260DET, yeah, this thread is only my daily-visit check list.