24V Swap Build Thread

[kid325e]

Cheering from the bleachers. You're the reason i'm currently holding onto my iX. Keep it up broski!

[dylhaus]

Got some more work done on the car today. Ended up not needing to remake the power steering high pressure hose, but instead flipped it around to have the 90 coming out of the rack instead of the pump. I ordered another banjo fitting and a 45 degree female to male adapter to get it to fit. My friend also finished welding the driver's side strut tower brace to the bracket that I had received from classicdaily for the swap. Still need to come up with a solution for the PS reservoir though. Cut off the old air box and cruise control bracket to make room for the intake, but I'll need to trim the middle hose for it to fit behind the headlight. I'm not sure whether I'll keep cruise control or not, It'll be a tight fit wherever I put it.

Another idea I have is to eventually move to the RRD ITB kit for S50 and carbon airbox if it will fit. The E36 front strut towers look more vertical like the ix, but I need to get measurements to be sure, worst case I know the S54 intake fits or I run ITBs with air socks on them.

[Panici]

I'm not sure whether I'll keep cruise control or not, It'll be a tight fit wherever I put it.

I tucked mine under the dash. Top left in the picture.

[dylhaus]

Painted the bare metal left over from the welding

I tucked mine under the dash. Top left in the picture.

That's awesome, are there instructions on how to do that?

[Panici]

That's awesome, are there instructions on how to do that?

I just went for it. You can see the bracket I bent up to aim the cable at the firewall.

Only note in my build thread:

Ran the cable through the old cruise wiring grommet.
Will shorten this cable and use the new throttle body compatible end from the E36 cruise control.

[dylhaus]

Nice, I'll give that a try once I have everything together, but it might stay deleted if I end up going the ITB route. Yesterday I finished getting the hoses clamped on the feed/return lines for power steering, just need to buy a 23mm wrench to tighten a couple lines. Also removed my driver seat to swap the inner seat rail for an IX rail that I purchased. Currently debating whether to try first startup with my 413 DME and sssquid chip that I had made, or finish installing the sensors for my stand alone ECU for first start up.

[dylhaus]

Going to try for first start this week. Purchased a flexible dip stick that I'll mount to the passenger side strut tower probably, and decided to move the P/S reservoir to right behind the passenger side front headlight so I'll need to route new feed/return lines for that. Will update with pictures this week

[dylhaus]

Long time, no update but I've made some good progress. First, I made the change to go down to 16 wheels since the 17s were too tall, we'll see how they line up once the car is back on the ground. Next, got the dipstick attached but I need to figure out why it's leaking near the elbow fitting off of the oil pan. Had my friend plasma cut a bracket to relocate the power steering reservoir, and I rerouted the lines across the engine bay along the steering rack. And finally, found headers that fit without modification. They're Schmiedmann shorty headers and they clear the firewallI Overall not too expensive, the other option were the VAC motorsport shorty headers which also should work since these fit and the rear section sits further back on these.

A few weeks ago I was able to get the engine cranking, and I'm figuring out a few more wiring connections prior to being able to actually start up. Once that's done, I can reassemble the front end which I've been itching to do.

[rzerob]

Great job. Keep up the good work.

[dylhaus]

Dip stick was leaking so it's been removed and capped for now. Found out the company Suspensia sells an inner ball joint that is the WRONG size for the front control arms so I had to source and install a NOS set. Getting the remaining parts installed for the front end this week and filling the front diff with fluid prior to sending the car off to have exhaust done. Also will try to get the brakes and clutch figured out by the end of the month. For the additional/replacement sensors I'll be running, I purchased a second 413 DME connector end to depin and splice onto wires.

For the front control arms I'll eventually figure out a group buy for some custom made ones that use ball joints that are available on the market and some additional adjustment.

[dylhaus]

Exhaust is done. Ended up having to modify the supersprint mid pipe to fit properly, but it turned out pretty well. Regarding wiring, I checked the pins on the harness I had installed and they didn't match up to the electrical troubleshooting guides I had so I bought another harness, so that should hopefully solve some of the inconsistencies that I saw. When disconnecting the harness that's currently in the car, the intake manifold is pretty stuck so I'm going to have to figure out how to remove it. It's crazy hot in AZ right now, we might break our record of consecutive days above 110*, so who knows when I'll be able to get back to it.

Edit: forgot to mention, whichever strut inserts come with the yellowspeed coil overs make the car sit waaaaay too tall in the front. I'm at the lowest adjustment point and there's around 6 inches of arch gap. I found another person on facebook with them on their IX and they had to drill and tap all the way down through their strut tube housing to get the adjustment they wanted. I would avoid buying them again if I could redo it, but I'm talking to their customer support and they're planning on sending out shorter strut inserts than the 280mm that came with the set.

[dylhaus]

Little update; couldn't work on the car much this summer due to the heat and the job I was at not paying very well. Just got another new job that does pay well and decent morning weather to work on the car.

• I had the correct harness the first time. The issue was that I had two of the same sensor when it came to cam/crank position sensors, so now I have the proper sensor and all the connectors on the harness are accounted for.
• The issue with my intake being stuck on was a nut that I missed lmao
• Contacted yellowspeed and they sent me shorter replacement strut inserts free of charge. The car now sits much closer to the height that I wanted
• I had to space out the front wheels a few mm each side to clear the brake caliper, not sure if I'll have to do the same to the rear
• Currently having a pin machined to hook up my brake pedal to the new master cylinder, should have it back this week
• I will definitely need some sort of skid plate to protect the oil pan, going to see if the same fabricator that did my exhaust can make something similar to the hikfab skid plate

[kid325e]

Nice - sounds like a few small issues that just needed sorting out. The Intake Mani issue cracked me up, sounds like you may be on the home stretch, at least for a first start video!

[dylhaus]

Another little update;

• Finished (mostly) getting the brakes sorted. Pin was machined down and brakes are bled. I am going to replace the return spring for a little more snappy return on the pedal
• Clutch slave cyl wasn't bleeding and I have found that it's gone bad. A replacement part should arrive next week

I should be able to work on the car quite a bit over the winter with all this great AZ weather. Hoping to solve the rad fan clearance issue next.

[dylhaus]

Happy holidays everyone, just another little update. Clutch is bled now, new slave cyl fixed the issue. After my trip in late November I haven't really been able or motivated to work on the car, but I should have time next week to do a few things, namely first startup if everything goes well. Wishing everyone progress and success on their projects in the new year!