Some project pix

[kroberts]

I've been busy. Engine and wiring, doors, driver's seat, back windows, A/C plumbing, stereo, most of the interior, lots of trim, all complete...done...finished.

So I drove it around the 'hood. Sounds like shit! Six cylinders through an open header will gag a maggot! The suspension is freeking stiff, I like it. Trans is making a squeaky noise, I think I need to bleed the clutch some more (at least I hope that's all it is)!

As soon as I get the passenger seat in, I'll install the fenders and skirts. I'm going to hold off on the front bumper until I get the A/C charged. They may need to get to the evaporator.

Here's some pix.

[Bimmerista]

Just out of curiousity....what color is that?

[etxxz]

clean clean swap man damn yo!! i didn't know it was you who covered the abs pump with the injector cover it does look real good in that pic.

[Sean]

Did you relocate your ABS? (is that what's in the battery tray?)

[kroberts]

Color is called Techno Gray. GM/Saturn color.

Yes, I relocated the ABS to make room for an aluminum airbox in the now vacant corner.

Thanks.

kr

[Hartge_H27]

how hard was the abs relocate.

[kroberts]

Well, first you have to come up with a way to safely mount the pump. BMW thought enough of it to mount it with rubber isolation mounts. I cut a .125 thick sheet of steel out to fit on the battery tray then fabricated legs using the factory mount cups. I located it to clear the hood latch arms.

Second, you need to make a new wiring harness. I cut back about a foot from the pump plug and spliced in enough new wire to connect the plug-end to the cut. I used some 20 gauge wire I got from the avionics guys at work. It's VERY efficient wire, not the stuff you buy at Pep Boys. I used thicker gauge stuff for the power lead. Before I made the final terminations, I slid on some heat shrink tubing. You can buy it in bulk lengths from quality electronic supply shops.

Then you have to bend up a new set of lines. I bought straight lines from a local auto-parts store then cut and flared them to the correct length. BMW uses a metric ISO bubble flare, not a standard SAE or AN flare. I cut up a bunch of short tubes to practice flaring. I didn't have a single leak, however, bending and fitting these tubes really kicked my ass. It tried my patience, I cussed a lot and threw things. I ran the lines from the pump to the factory hose brackets.

The cover I made was just an after-thought, Patent Pending:D

It was a big job for me, and it took a while.

I wish I had a scanner, I could show you the inspiration for this project. Evidently there is BMW shop in San Diego Ca. called Frank Fahey Motorsports. They built a red E30 M3 cabrio-clone for a guy and put an S50 in it. The customer spent $80k on it according to the magazine article. Fahey relocated his pump, I tried to copy it.

kr

[matt]

Did you price out doing the lines yourself vs buying them pre-flared from BMW.

You can get brake lines in any length you might want from BMW, and all you have to do is bend them and screw them in.

Anyway, I love the look.

[Drew325is]

Well, first you have to come up with a way to safely mount the pump. BMW thought enough of it to mount it with rubber isolation mounts. I cut a .125 thick sheet of steel out to fit on the battery tray then fabricated legs using the factory mount cups. I located it to clear the hood latch arms.

Second, you need to make a new wiring harness. I cut back about a foot from the pump plug and spliced in enough new wire to connect the plug-end to the cut. I used some 20 gauge wire I got from the avionics guys at work. It's VERY efficient wire, not the stuff you buy at Pep Boys. I used thicker gauge stuff for the power lead. Before I made the final terminations, I slid on some heat shrink tubing. You can buy it in bulk lengths from quality electronic supply shops.

Then you have to bend up a new set of lines. I bought straight lines from a local auto-parts store then cut and flared them to the correct length. BMW uses a metric ISO bubble flare, not a standard SAE or AN flare. I cut up a bunch of short tubes to practice flaring. I didn't have a single leak, however, bending and fitting these tubes really kicked my ass. It tried my patience, I cussed a lot and threw things. I ran the lines from the pump to the factory hose brackets.

The cover I made was just an after-thought, Patent Pending:D

It was a big job for me, and it took a while.

I wish I had a scanner, I could show you the inspiration for this project. Evidently there is BMW shop in San Diego Ca. called Frank Fahey Motorsports. They built a red E30 M3 cabrio-clone for a guy and put an S50 in it. The customer spent $80k on it according to the magazine article. Fahey relocated his pump, I tried to copy it.

kr

I'd love to do this...nice work! Between the ABS pump and cruise control the intake side of my engine bay leaves very little room for induction...all the while the empty battery tray sits empty, mocking me :(.

[kroberts]

Did you price out doing the lines yourself vs buying them pre-flared from BMW.

You can get brake lines in any length you might want from BMW, and all you have to do is bend them and screw them in....

I dont think that method would work here. There's was no way to tell exactly what length I was going to need. How would you measure them? I suppose you could bend a model, measure it, then order the nearest OEM line. What happens if you f**k up a bend radius? You end up having to order another line and wait. I screwed up a lot of lines at $4 or $5 each. Not really a big deal.

YMMV

[loonibab325i]

Kenny, as I said before your car is freaking amazing, you should be very proud!

I have seen this car in person, I shit you not when I say this thing is MINT. I swear I didn't see a single zip tie, this shocks me.. for my whole motor swap includes a value pack of zip ties of different shapes and sizes.

Did he mention he spent near 800 $ on a brand new bmw wiring harness? now that's just baller status.

Kenny, I can't wait for your car to be 'complete', even though we both know no car will ever be finished :P

Mad props.

-Abe.

[kroberts]

Abe, what I spent on the wire harness isn't important. I sure wasn't happy about having to do it.

kr

[loonibab325i]

Just using it as an example of your work mayne.

Me, and many others on here get the cheapest-used wiring harness we could find.. haha.

-Abe.