LS1 / T56 DD e28 BMW Build

[jakeb]

yeah I think bright is needed too. Maybe orange? blue?

[FunfGan]

Awesome work! Cant believe how quickly this is coming together...

[LuckyHenriksen]

That looks right at home in the bay!

[e30austin]

I remember when this car was for sale on MyE28. Was hoping someone would pick it up and do something badass with it-- and you have!

Subscribed and waiting with popcorn.

[LJ851]

Perhaps it's just the angle of the pictures but ... does the hood close?

[jakeb]

Yes the does indeed close. It looks like the throttle body shouldn't clear but I tested in multiple times. There is maybe an inch or two above the throttle body and the hood.

This car will be a multiple stage build....first stage is all the mechanical stuff. Engine, all the suspension will be gone through (actually already upgraded), e34 540 brakes are waiting to go on, brake lines, wheel bearings all the way around, etc etc

Stage 2 will be interior, sound, etc. The interior is actually pretty solid as it is but the seats will all come out, intense clean, leatherique / re dye, nice sound system, sub under the rear seat, etc

Finally I will repaint it. It is very solid as is but the paint is pretty dull.

I also have a set of e39 style 5s waiting to be refinished and go on. Maybe just as is this summer and refinish next winter. We'll see.

Really no update today. Did some christmas shopping and took a day off from the garage. I might go out there later still and straighten up and possibly make the trans mount. I am going to see if the camaro driveshaft might be able to be shortened and used with the JTR flange. Make things a lot cheaper

[jakeb]

Another small update....
I didn't get a TON done today but made some headway and the engine is now 100% mounted and its weight is supported by the car.

I was also busy making the parts needed for m42 mounts. I sure do love my band saw.

Trans mount was a bit tricky because each side of the body is at a little different angle and height. It is only tacked right now. It will get fulled welded when the engine comes back out. I will also trim a lot of the extra angle off it and add some gussets between the angle and the flat bar. I might see about drawing it in cad and have a piece piece cut and bent.








I will need to "clearance" the tunnel in a couple spots





This is the skip shift solenoid, it will get removed


Sitting down on all 4, no weight on the lift




peaking out...


A few more general pictures of the engine...man I am happy how it looks in there




I got a set of vette manifolds to try. The driver side manifold on the drivers side will not fit for sure. The outlet is directly on top of the steering box. But....the passenger side on the drivers side does fit and the pipe can go out between the motor mount and alternator. With some heat shielding. It is still pretty tight but juuust might work. I have a couple other ideas to try. I might try a 02 camaro passenger side on the drivers side and also might check on an escalade drivers side on the drivers side. There is one brand new at the local advance auto for only $80. Worth looking at.


Brake master cylinder clears...close but clears. That is still the 2002 booster...going to try the stock one again and if that doesn't work I will run a porsche 944 booster.


I tracked down an e31 rear diff cover and going to see if I can mount that up so the diff is supported from both sides.


Drive shaft length is figured out so I can order that. Really all that is left to fab and figure out is the exhaust, coolant lines,`electric (fan(s)), AC stuff, wiring (which is all pretty easy and documented already)

Soon everything will come out and the suspension will all come down to get powder coated, etc etc. The t56 needs some work to the reverse gear syncro. Then it can all go back together.

So far so good!!

[jakeb]

Some work done today (morning was spent making m42 mounts for people).

I picked up a set of CTS-V manifolds yesterday to test....they didn't fit. The c6 vette manifolds fit but are REALLY close to the frame rail. I also have to run the passenger side on the drivers side and then would have to loop the pipe back around the motor mount. So....I have a set of 98-99 camaro manifolds on the way that are stamped steel that I can cut up and fit how I need. I am hoping they are here by the end of the week....we'll see tho.

On to the pictures and update...

Bought a new "toy/tool" yesterday


Dropped the gas tank...it wasn't leaking but it wasn't far off. 26 years is pretty good on a tank I would say.



Dropped the rear subframe and all the front suspension. Still debating what I am going to do for suspension. A lot of the parts are already new which is excellent! New bilstein sports, etc.
Either stick with the springs that are on it...eibachs in the back, cut 535 in the front or go with an adjustable coilover setup.
It is getting rear subframe adjusters from Ireland.



I am really happy with how little rust I am finding. The worst of it is in the front corners where the jacking points are. There are some spots that need to be cut out and new stuff welded in. I am thinking I will clean it up as much as I can without getting too deep into it and then take care of it the right way this spring/summer.

A couple pictures showing how solid it is. Any small spots of rust will get cleaned up and painted with some POR type paint.







The diff mount has seen better days...I doubt these get changed very often.



The rear subframe assembly is pretty much all apart. The plan for the next couple days is to get everything taken apart and ready to go to the powder coater. I am hoping to have the exhaust manifolds by the end of the week so I can get that figured out. Then the engine can come out and I can clean up the engine bay while I wait for parts and the parts to get coated. The goal is to have it running by early February.

[jakeb]

Back to work so not as much can get done....but here is a small update.

Struts are all broken down, reinforced the sway bar connection.
Rear trailing arms are all broke down waiting to go to the powder coater. Ireland subframe adjusters are on the way

The pressed steel 98 fbody manifolds got here and the passenger side is a PERFECT fit. I may still add an extension and a vband connector rather than the HUGE GM flange.

I cut the drivers side manifold up and added a 2.25" bend/downpipe to get down past the steering box. There will be a vband at the bottom where it can tie into the rest of the exhaust. It was a bit tricky to make it so I can get the manifold in and out with the engine in the car but it is working out.

Here are a couple pictures of the exhaust manifolds.
Passenger side




Drivers side....
only the flange cut off, dumps pretty much directly into the steering box. not going to work...




A bit more "trimmed" and things are fitting better




Where it will exit


Then I will tie the other pipes in..


The drivers side isn't optimal but it will work. Not too many options on the drivers side. The heat shield will go back over the drivers side manifold to give a little heat protection to the master cylinder....as it is close.

The engine will come back out this weekend. I can finish welding the transmission mount. Make the engine and trans mounts look a little nicer before they go off to be powder coated. Front subframe is going to get reinforced where the steering box mounts (common braking point) then it will go to the coater. About to put in a big order with blunt....

A bunch of wiring to start on...clean up the engine bay. Figure out if I should stick with the stock e28 AC condenser or get something updated...

Coming along tho

[FunfGan]

This is so awesome, glad to see you're reinforcing things the first time around.

[MR 325]

Great work so far, I love it! I am sad to see the cut out radiator support though, I really feel like you could have wiggled it in there without doing that! Either way, love it.

[jakeb]

There is no cut out of the rad support....that is how the e28 are from the factory.
Here is a picture of the plastic that covers it.

[2mAn]

nice work sir. definitely teaching others the right way to do things. cant wait to see how this goes

[jakeb]

Swapped the stock e28 booster back in and look at that...it fits. I had to spin it around so the vacuum port is closer to the outside of the car but running a stock booster is a plus. The one downside is to replace the booster I have to just about pull the engine.




Once I knew the booster would work the engine came out of the car. Dropped the subframe and welded in the steering box reinforcement (no picture). So that is ready to go off to the coater.

Cleaned up the engine bay a little bit. I am still up in the air if I am going to rip all the sound insulation off the firewall and replace it with something new. yes or no?

before...



after...





There is a little bit of surface rust in the battery tray...so that needs to get cleaned up and painted with some POR and painted over with some color to match.

Cleaned the mounts up a bit and fully welded the trans mount. Also made some jigs...anyone want a set of e28 ls1/t56 mounts? send me a PM

[jeswaw]

Read the whole thing with ENVY. Good build so far!