*Updated & only kinda shitty now!* The definitive 5.0/302 swap guide

[jalopi]

i haven't read into the EFI setup yet, but i got the impression from nick that the way to go is megasquirt if you're doing that. i have heard that matt is a nice dude, but the advice he gives in his guide is poor... or great, depending on whether you want your car ghetto or not.

most of the info i needed for the swap originally came from him and how i've either had to fix it or want to fix it. just take your time, don't be afraid to spend some money and you'll have a really nice and reliable car at the end of the day.

[omarquez510]

Jalopi, I agree that the swap guide isn't the cleanest. Some steps were shortcut and sometimes it looks like things were rushed through. Nothing against matt. His website is the reason i decided to take my project on. His guide had tons of info when I started my build a little over a year ago. I still think the guide is worth getting just to see what youre up against.

I'll try and keep my build thread updated so all these folks can learn more about the swap. I also want to help shed some light on EFI swaps. Im starting to realize there are a lot of carb setups. I think most people do this for simplicity.

[89 5.0]

The link to my build is below.

Factory Ford 5.0 EFI is super simple and cheep. Tunable with a chip and MAF.

Brakes on mine are 540 parts which worked out very well. Don't cut corners and you will be much happier with the finished project and it will be much more reliable to boot.

http://forum.ih8mud.com/atlanta-custom-creations/467412-89-bmw-e30-5-0-swap.html

[e30_302]

Did you make that additional diff mount yourself?

[jalopi]

I did my setup with a carb because:

A. I'm lazy and didn't feel like running a ton of wires

and

B. Cost effectiveness. I started from scratch scratch, no electronics, just a short block. It cost me approximately $550 for my entire fuel and intake system - I have my doubts that an EFI setup could be done for the same price once you account for tuning software, sensors, wiring harness, intake, ect.

[e30_302]

Carb's are so simple and flexible. I wouldn't have anything else on a track car. With a wideband O2 sensor you can really dial them in. Out of the box they're close but a little lean for the thrashing we do.

[89 5.0]

With O2 sensors EFI adjusts itself.

Either way you can't argue with carbs being cheep. I planned to run EFI from the start so i bought a running and driving 93 LX 5.0, 5 speed for $2K. Once you subtract the value of all the other parts i got from the car, as well as the cash I got from the shell, I have less than $500 in my entire engine and wiring. Are these accounting rules for the Grassroots $2014 challenge? I don't want to know how much i really have invested in the car but I do know that it is a blast to drive.


The axu diff mount came from someone in the northwest that sells LSx swap parts but i don't remember who at the moment.

[jalopi]

Aaah, that's probably Garrett (I think that's his name anyway) he was the first dude to make a legit swap guide/parts for the LS.

Also...

lean

What carb are you running? I've got a edelbrock 1406, 600cfm that I just ordered a calibration kit for. Makes plenty of power but goddamn does it run rich - WOT is around 10:1 for me. Thinking I can get a bit more power if I bring it back to 12-13 :pimp:

[e30_302]

Holley's. Out of the box the ones I've used are about 13-13.25:1 at WOT. I shoot for 12:1. Your power's off about 20% and probably feels lazy at 10:1.

[jalopi]

Jeez... you really think I'll pick up an additional 20% in power? That'd be awesome. Going to MA Motorsport sometime next week for some dyno time, still haven't worked out whether they'll let me swap the jets/rods out after my first pull.... I think I'm just gonna swap everything in before I go though.

Also, does your Holley have roughly the same design as the edelbrocks? My AFRs spike up to 16-17 as soon as you go WOT from a partial throttle, but almost immediately drop down to 10-11 (there is a minor stumble at this time too). I've got the linkage for the acc pump maxed out on its pegs, did you have to change the metering rod springs? Thinking that maybe putting a stronger spring in there will let the metering rod open up earlier, keeping it from going lean.

[e30_302]

I have -0- experience with an Edelbrock. On a Holley I would fix that with a bigger accelerator pump shooter.

[danval]

Hey you guys. Tons of great info here. Im glad i came across this thread before going and spending lota of money on all this stuff. First of all. Anybody has the procesure and guide to connect all the 5.0 engine harness to the e30 harness? Thanks

[89 5.0]

http://oldfuelinjection.com : Has all the 5.0 wiring diagrams that you will need.

http://shark.armchair.mb.ca/~dave/BMW/e30/ : has all the e30 diagrams.

[danval]

http://oldfuelinjection.com : Has all the 5.0 wiring diagrams that you will need.

http://shark.armchair.mb.ca/~dave/BMW/e30/ : has all the e30 diagrams.

Hey man! Thanks for the links. I see you already finished a 5.0 swap. So if i get stuck, hope i can ask you for advise lol. Thanks again

[IronFreak]

heads up guys, figured some of you might be interested.

Massive Booster Delete