I have a huge headstart on you and you'll still be done before me. Plus I'm redoing a lot on my swap.
4G63 in an e30 seems like a great combo!
Huge intake manifold and brake master cylinder interference. I thought about going to a Wilwood pedal setup like some of the V8 swap guys do, but I think cutting up a sheet metal intake manifold to clear everything is the most cost effective solution.
Once I took the intake manifold off and set the motor into the chassis again to get a better idea of how things would line up without the master cylinder interference issue, things looked way better. My main areas of concern, oil pan/cross member and shifter position, looked really good so I'm happy with how the motor will sit. The firewall shouldn't interfere too much with my routing of the water from the thermostat housing either. Motor mounts will be a bit more cantilevered than they were in the Chevette but I'll just over build them and call it good.
Completed the transmission mount tonight. There were some weird angles on the crossmember but I used a piece of angle iron bolted with suspension bushings from Oriellys on the cross member and then welded square tubing to that. That allowed me to offset the angle and get the square tubing perpendicular to the ground. The transmission side was also angle iron bolted to a boss on the tail shaft. It's not ideal but it gets the job done and should provide the needed flex to keep the steering wheel from shaking like crazy.
Started mocking up the engine bay to see where things will fit and what needs to change. The downpipe is too close to the firewall near the transmission, it doesn't quite touch the heat shield on the insulation but it's too close. It also runs too close to the floor where it ends. I cobbled the downpipe together at 2am with scrap tubing for the racecar, so I've been meaning to make a new downpipe for a while. The intake also needs to be adjusted but the pipe that's on there has been cut apart multiple times so I will also need to start fresh there. I plan on running the air filter behind the headlights but want to hook up the oil cooler to check how fits with everything.
I took some time to prep the interior for cutting the new shifter hole location on the tunnel. I removed the center console and removed the carpet in the approximate location for the T5 shifter. I also traced the shifter mount under the car to give myself a template for cutting. Luckily I'm running a short shifter, it will be close but it should clear the dash when shifting into third.
Cut a new hole in the tunnel and clearanced the console for the T5 shifter. My hand doesn't hit the dash in 1, 3, or 5. Now I just need to figure out a shift boot, shifter knob, and what to do with the patch panel over the stock shifter hole.
Stripped the Chevette of the parts I want to use on the BMW. I'm doubtful I'll run the surge tank as I don't want to deal with the routing for it and the low pressure pump is on its way out. I'll run the rest of the -6 lines from the tank to the rail though. Brakes are Corrado rotors with a Wilwood Dynalite calipers, they should come in handy to slow things down after I get into the boost.
Is it a custom adapter plate to use the 4G63 engine with the T5 trans?
Yeah, it's from a guy named Bill Hincher. He's based out of Ohio, I found him on the Project Zero G forums. Super smart dude who makes these custom bell housings for multiple transmission options. They're very reasonably priced for what you're getting too.
I like this build, I want to see how this turns out.
Very cool. I was tempted to buy your 4g stuff for my 318Ti project
The best and worst part of building a car, doing the research. Figured out what I need for my front brake lines and the fitting for the clutch master line. Pegasus racing has everything required at the best price and I don't even need to make any AN lines. I have a pretty good system down for AN but the hose with a lining is still not my favorite.
-3 brake lines
Chassis side fitting.
Caliper side fitting.
Clutch master fitting.
I also have exhaust fabrication materials, power steering delete, intake manifold, and a wiring harness on the way. Still a few more parts to buy but the list grows shorter.
Intake manifold arrived today. It seems like a pretty good value for $250, the flange in pretty thick and the welds look decent. The "velocity stacks" made me chuckle at how pitiful they are, luckily I'm not super concerned about airflow. Now I just need to cut it in half and have it welded back up.
Added the merge pipe for the wastegate to the downpipe today. Fitting the smaller pipe to the curved section of the downpipe was pretty tedious but the fitment result was worth it.
Attached the radiator, it's just a simple strap of aluminum but we've used that style on racecars many times with success.
I like the "forming" on the "velocity stacks."
Yeah, I need to have the rear of the plenum clearanced an inch or two for the brake master and I'm tempted to have the piping cut off flush with the bottom of the plenum.
Worked on the car for a couple hours today, sadly it was mostly pointless and I didn't make much progress. I tried modifying the fuel pump hanger for a Walbro 255 I had left over from the Galant but that wasn't possible. I tried a couple configurations but couldn't find a workable solution that would fit into the gas tank. Lost a couple hours on that and ended up just putting the old BMW pump back in, I'll just mount a 255 inline and draw through the stock pump.
I did cut the intake pipe and get the MAF mounted. Not very exciting but it is a little progress.
Started work on the wiring harness for the chassis side of the motor swap. I felt kind of bad chopping up the BMW harness but I don't need anything related to running the inline 6, so it had to go.
BMW harness up top, Mitsubishi harness on the left, and cut Mitsubishi harness on the right.
BMW harness undergoing surgery.
Pigtail ready to be wired up.
Looks good! I like that you're reusing the OEM plugs on the BMW harness.
Thanks! Yeah, I figured it was the cleanest and easiest way to interface the motor harness with the chassis harness.
Removed the factory fuel pump and test fit the high flow one from the Chevette. I'll have to mount a plate to the factory fuel pump mount but I should be able to use the factory feed line and wiring pigtail. Good news is that a 90° off of the fuel pump should work fine going to the fuel rail.
Finalized the fuel pump mount after removing the oem rubber mounts and bolting in an aluminum plate. The location is close enough to utilize the factory wiring as well, so the wiring is nice and tidy with a grommeted pass through in the floor. I did screw up the preparation for the fuel pump rewire by not thinking things through and cutting both the power and ground in the body harness. I only needed to cut the power wire to tie into the relay. Not a terrible mistake but the final result won't be as clean as it could have been. I also ran the -6AN feed line into the engine bay to prep for the fuel pressure regulator installation.
