1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"

[Fair!]

Re: 1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"

After a very busy week we found some time last night to tinker with the LS2. After a few hours of work the flywheel bolt issues have been resolved, the clutch/pressure plate were assembled, the trans re-attached to the motor, and the motor+trans installed back into the car. Thanks to Matt P for coming in to volunteer late last night with Brian and me.


ARP 12 point, reduced head flywheel bolts worked like a dream.


C6 Z06 clutch and Pressure Plate went on with new factory bolts, without a hitch.


Always looking for a shortcut we stabbed the T56 trans into the engine out of the car and then stuffed it in as an assembled unit.


We popped the front end off and dropped the K-member (20 minutes of work) to make the install SO much easier.


Brian nudges the motor+trans in place while Matt "supervises"


Working underneath I re-connected and routed the transmission harness, we attached the motor to the mounts already on the K-member, then with a jack raising it upwards Brian and I re-attached the K-member and LCA "lollipops"


Motor is bolted back into place - that's a good stopping point.

Now all we need to do is plumb the new oil cooler and Accusump, add a few more gauges/sensors, pop in the new injectors (42#/hr), reconnect everything from before (fuel lines/regulator, coolant hoses/radiator, various wiring) and then bolt on the front end. We have a bunch of other projects we're going to tackle soon as well - fire system install, DASH2 digital dash, relocate the battery and add a remote kill switch, add side and center window nets, and more. Once the car is fired up it goes to DP for a re-tune and dyno pulls. We want to get it together before the Vorshlag May 31st Test-N-Tune at Mineral Wells - to break in the motor out there and then get to a track event soon after.

Stay tuned for more.

[Fair!]

Re: 1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"

May 14, 2009 update: We had some volunteer help (DaveB!) last night and logged a few hours on the LS2 install. We're putting the motor in but making a number of updates so it is taking longer than we'd like. We got all of the LS1-to-LS2 updates done (an add-on harness from Scoggins Dickey makes it easy). Headers are in there now so we can mock-up the Accusump and oil cooler lines. Front end is back on, driveshaft is in, swaybar and suspension reinstalled, starter and wiring on, all wiring harnesses re-connected, and the new 40# injectors are in.









All the sensors are in the new motor (except one Hanchey broke last night!) so I'm gonna be wrenching on it this weekend installing the new Accusump, oil cooler, and lines. Once that's done its... ready to fire? Its close. :cool

[hancheyb]

Re: 1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"

All the sensors are in the new motor (except one Hanchey broke last night!) so I'm gonna be wrenching on it this weekend installing the new Accusump, oil cooler, and lines. Once that's done its... ready to fire? Its close. :cool

I deserve that one. Fair said, "watch out for that sensor when you put the header in...." The rest as they say is "history".

[Fair!]

Re: 1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"

Latest updates: Well we've knocked out all of the tedious re-installaiton steps and now its just down to the new upgrades: new radiator, new gauges, new oil cooler and Accusump. Its taking a longer than we had expected to properly lay out the oil line plumbing/wiring and mount all of the main components, of course. We put in a couple of hours Tuesday night and a few minutes today, after the new aluminum radiator arrived.


L: Headers are back in. R: Then the dual 3" Y-pipe


We finally installed the Vorshlag/DP T56-E36 hydraulic TOB with remote bleeder and custom quick connects


Fuel system is all plumbed up again


After consideration of a bunch of factors the massive 3qt Accusump is in


Oil cooler mounts at top and bottom are rigid. Need to clearance the bumper ever so slightly


New aluminum radiator is 60% bigger than the stock BMW unit we had, which never overheated on the 340whp motor

OK, Hanchey and I are gone for a week to Germany and Holland, so we'll pick back up next weekend and wrap this thing up.

[Fair!]

Re: 1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"

Updates: We've been pretty busy with traveling both overseas and domestically, and racing almost every other weekend. Last week we had our first weekend off in a while so I tinkered with the Alpha car a bit on Saturday and Sunday.



Saturday I built this aluminum right side dash panel insert (I'll paint it black before I bolt it in place). It goes where part of the factory glove box and 2 HVAC vents went. We're going to install a new aux circuit breaker into this panel. I then dyed black, modified and reinstalled part of the center console and shifter cover. We need this in place to run in the "Modified" class for Redline Time Attack, and it only weighs ~2 pounds. I'll make more aluminum panels to fill the giant gaps in the console then install the new oil temp and oil pressure gauges into them. Looks more like a "real" car again with these two faux interior bits back in place.



Next I did a little interweb searching and found a great place to mount the sensor for a Autometer Oil Temperature gauge we're adding. The factory F-Body "oil cooler block-off plate" has a cast hole that's made for this - its very easy drill this hole thru and then tap it for a common 1/8"-27 hole for aftermarket oil pressure/temp sensors. Took like 5 minutes and it was done - thanks for making it easy, GM! This plate bolts to the motor right above the factory oil filter.

Lastly, there were several stainless braided -10 AN lines for the oil cooler and Accusump plumbing.








Canton oil filter "sandwich adapter" with two -10 AN lines for feed/return to the oil cooler + Accusump circuit

Got these wrapped up, just need to make one last line to the Accusump... then its ready to fill with fluids fire up? Tuesday night we're attacking the last of it.

[cledbetter]

Re: 1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"

Cant wait to see it terrorize more parking lots!

[GoDog]

Re: 1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"

Are going to take it to the Divisional in CS

[Fair!]

Re: 1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"

Are going to take it to the Divisional in CS

Well... no. 2 reasons:

1. The Alpha car might be together and running in 2 weeks but it won't be re-tuned, sorted or remotely ready for any serious competition (Divisionals)
2. We have an obligation to Yokohama bring the EVO to MSR on June 20th. We got another set of free tires as a bribe, as well as free track time all day, so it was worth it.

[Fair!]

Re: 1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"

Update: Brian, me, DaveB and SeanB worked about 3 hours last night and got a lot done. Not a lot to show but we're even closer.



The Accusump was disassembled, all fittings were Tefloned, re-assembled, wired, pressure switch installed, and plumbed.



The last -10 hose was built and routed through the firewall (through a grommet) to the Accusump. Brian wired up a new custom LS2-to-BMW dash gauge water temp sensor and checked the LS2 oil pressure sender as well. Dave re-worked the glove box panel I made and added mounting holes, spacers so that it sits flush, and then cut out a spot for the new aux wiring circuit panel and relay box (not shown) to mount.



Brian was on the lathe making some prototype parts from Nylon for a Mustang coilover kit (rear spring seat adapters) and had a huge chucnk of material left over... now he is machining a new shift knob for the Alpha car. "You know race cars always have custom Nylon shift knobs...", he says.

[Fair!]

Re: 1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"

Updates: We've hacked away at the car a couple nights a week the past two weeks... so many little changes and upgrades, ack. Here's a little bit of what we've done:


Made this convoluted little bracket to hold the MAF. Attaches to new radiator


Mounted aux fuse panel/relay circuit added... kinda boring, I know

Had this big gaping hole in the reinstalled center console/shifter cover. Looked like a good spot for gauges so I took a piece of thick paper, made a template, traced it to an aluminum sheet, and cut it out. Used an air nibbler and band saw and left a bit of an overlapped edge that was "fine tuned" on the 12" disc sander, for a better fit. The bend was a little tricky but I faked the large radius bend pretty good by clamping the piece in a vice with aluminum jaws at 3 points and giving it a shove. Once bent the dimensions on top "got long" and it was trimmed to fit. Cut the holes for the 2-5/8" gauges with a 2.5" hole saw and went the rest of the way with an air grinder and aluminum bit. Made the "back face" clamping brackets using a trick I saw on MuscleCar, a fab show on SpikeTV - just a little piece of scrap with a tapped hole and a bend.









While I whittled away for hours at the new aluminum panel. Brian wired up the aux circuit breaker, stealing power from the main buss on the passenger side firewall + the "ignition on" wiring. He also added the spark plugs, plug wires and heat shields (only needed on two wires). He then hooked up the oil pressure gauge all except for one missing ferrule. A tick more wiring left on the Accusump (just need to mount the on/off switch) and its finally ready for fluids? How many times have I thought that...


Need to mount that dangling OBD-II port to the dash panel (used for programming the ECM). Center console sitting in place until gauges and 12V power port are wired

More soon... hopefully some engine noises!

[Fair!]

Re: 1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"

Update and dyno graph:



Dyno numbers: 488 rear wheel horsepower and 450 rear wheel torque.



Didn't do any work to the car over the July 4th weekend, but I did drive it on some back country roads... wow. It now makes 50% more power but is 100% louder.

[Fair!]

Re: 1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"




Brian's first test drive... scaring the livestock!

[GotCone?]

Re: 1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"

nice graph guys. Has to be a blast.

[Fair!]

Re: 1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"

nice graph guys. Has to be a blast.

Yea, its pretty nice.

The guys that tuned the car said there's another 30-40 hp left... everywhere... with an intake manifold + throttle body change. That'll push it well over 500 whp, but then we'd have to add ballast for TTU, so we're going to "lock it down" as-is for a while.

[Fair!]

Re: 1992 318is / LS1 aka: "Alpha E36 LS1"

Car is a handful... just spent 3 days autocrossing (SCCA Divisional) and realized the "you can never have too much horsepower" adage is wrong - we now have too much in this thing for autocrossing.



Driving this car last weekend was the most fun I've ever had in a car with my clothes on.

Only issue we had all weekend was the serpentine belt kept wanting to come off. It did come off on Friday at the practice, so we tried 3 new belt lengths until we found the shortest that would fit. It still partially came off again during runs both Saturday and Sunday, so we have to find a better solution. The problem is likely the spring loaded belt tensioner and the increase engine speeds (7000 rpm+). K-Tech makes a manually adjusted belt tensioner that you can tighten and lock in place - I'm ordering one today.


edit: ordered!