Frank's E30 M60 V8 Swap Build Thread

[Garageaholic]

alright guys. I'm 100% done with the swap now,... Will post videos and updated pics soon!

Give a man some time to live his life!

[bongo78]

Awesome project :) . Everything done right.
I will be starting my swap once I get the donor 740i 6spd from our seaside (fully documented tread will be started). I got tired of my M52B28 swap once everything was done to my liking the car felt sluggish hence more torque is needed. I hope to be as fast as you because want to enjoy the car this summer.

[slammin.e28]

damn that was fast frank. Good job man. Cant wait to see some vids

it is on the road and running, post a video now frank...

yes post a video.

video!

x2

:)

dis dis dis!

[dude8383]

video!

x2

:)

[Unearth078]

video!

[iamsam]

yes post a video.

[Swanny]

Was just talking to Art in endicott and heard you got this out on the road....Ummmm damn!

[F34R]

It is on the road and running, post a video now Frank...

[Denny]

You were absolutely right on both points. Thanks for the help

Sorry I haven't posted progress in a while. Im almost completely done with the whole car. Doing exhaust this wkd (finally).

Damn that was Fast Frank. Good job man. cant wait to see some vids

[dirty30]

Im almost completely done with the whole car. Doing exhaust this wkd (finally).

Nice!!Can't wait to see the progress.

[Garageaholic]

You were absolutely right on both points. Thanks for the help

Sorry I haven't posted progress in a while. Im almost completely done with the whole car. Doing exhaust this wkd (finally).

[dirty30]

I know that this question is embedded within a sea of photos, so hopefully someone will see it. What is that wire with the red heat shrink near the loophole with the label on it? I couldn't get continuity to neither ground nor + power.

That wire is the secondary air pump relay 12v supply. It feeds that 50A fuse. You can remove all that mess. I also see you have the unloader relay wire grounded. Check to see if you have continuity from the small ring terminal on the starter to that small wire you have grounded on the strut tower. Your X20 connector will probably be empty on pin 15.

[flyboyx]

i just read through this and i wanted to say nice build. i wanted to add a couple things that i thought might help out.

the driveshaft: i parted a z3 m roadster for my s52 swap. the front part of the driveshaft appears to be the same length as the part you had custom built. i know this won't do you any good, but it might be something to think about for others that follow your path.

engine stalling issue: i don't think the stalling has to do with not having the exhaust hooked up. just plug in the o2 sensors to the wiring harness so the computer gets an input from them. for obd1, it should run for at least 30 secs to a minute before it starts acting funky searching for o2 sensor input. it is more likely a vacuum leak problem or a fuel pressure issue.

welding: it takes a good deal of practice to make good quality welds but most of the ballgame is simply figuring out the machine. i have a pretty nice mig with a new tweco gun that i can almost always make good professional welds with consistently. some time ago, i borrowed my buddies, cheap ass harbor freight 120v welder. the wire feed through the gun was really inconsistent. i pretty much found it impossible to make a decent weld with that machine. i finally gave up on it, bit the bullet and rewired the garage in that house so i could run my 240v 50 amp machine. i was back to almost perfect welds again.

my purpose for relating this story is that i am wondering what type of machine you are using? it could be that if you have a cheap welder, you have feed problems with it as i did.

if you do have an inexpensive machine and you still have quite a bit of fabricating to do, i suggest scouring craigs to see if you can find a good name brand machine used for a good price. in my case, my mig is an older airco that i bought off craigs for 300 bucks. it even came with an extra 45lb spool of wire. as soon as i got it, i bought the tweco gun with a 15 foot cord off ebay for 150.00. i couldn't be happier.

[2002maniac]

nice progress! I'm sure you'll have it driving in no time.

[einarsss]

hell yeah! Its has been fun to follow this build :) gratz on the startup