Imans LS1/T56 1987 325es

[iman53]

Okay so im finally getting to the fun stuff for this winter.
I picked up a tesla ibooster a couple weeks ago

Finally got around to pulling my chase bays BBE out and test fitting this. I pulled the rear mounting plate off so that it could be rotated however I thought it could fit. also took the master cylinder off just to make it easier to move around.





As you guys can see it is an extremely tight squeeze, it's resting on the header and basically touching the strut tower. I may be able to make new motor mounts and move it up and over just enough that it'll work. It's gonna be really tricky. If you guys have any suggestions id appreciate it!

Im also not set on using the ibooster, id be interested in making a remote mount setup as well if anyone has the e34 stuff for sale.

Another thought I had was trying to find a super thin booster that could slip behind the head, I've got about 2" of space between it and the firewall. Could a booster even be that thin and still function well?

Any input you guys have would help me out

[tyeler18]

Your engine looks like it's taller than mine with sikky mounts. Which headers are those? Looks like that would work with a sikky setup in my car which gives me hope. Slot the holes in the firewall to offset it some? Now i need to order one

[iman53]

Looks like that would work with a sikky setup in my car which gives me hope. Slot the holes in the firewall to offset it some?

Lucky you! im gonna try to drop the motor down with some new mounts, maybe a combo of that and slotting the firewall will give me enough room. Ive got custom headers in the car, not made by me. Im waiting to get some heat in my work space before I really get to it.

Curious to see if the ibooster will work with sikky mounts though!

[iman53]

I made a little bit of progress this weekend.

I pulled the motor mounts and got the engine supported where id like it to be. Mounts still need to be re done.

Here's what the mounts look like. Has anyone seen them before? They look like they were made by a company because there's a part number stamped on the bottom. I don't remember it off the top of my head but ill get it if anyone is curious.


I had to "clearance" the headers a little to clear the steering shaft and the subframe but here's about where my ibooster will sit. It doesn't have the mounting plate on the back because i still need to drill holes in the firewall but you get the idea. also looks like my coil packs won't fit in the stock location so ill have to figure something out there.


I started to try to modify the engine mounts but i realized my engine mount ears on the subframe were all bent. So i dropped the subframe out and welded these plates on.
I couldn't do it on the underside because of the subframe because there's already a plate there. my guess is they bent because of the weird motor mount design.





I just threw some paint over these so I've gotta wait till they dry before I can throw it back in the car and keep going with the mounts.
Does anyone have any tips on how to make them? I've never attempted it before.

As for the Ibooster goes what do you guys think about having an adjustable bias valve for the rear brakes? is it unnecessary work or is it worth it over the stock one? Im gonna stick with the chase bays front brake lines because they're already there and I've had no issue with them. So ill be able to just adapt the master to -3an and hook it all up.

[iman53]

After I got the subframe back into the car I went ahead and made some new motor mounts. I dropped the motor down roughly 3/4 of an inch and leveled it out better than it previously was. Here's what they look like. I feel like they're a much better design than what I previously had, but Im no professional. They're still out of the car because I'm waiting to paint them, not sure how ill go about that because it's like 15 degrees every day, and id rather not spray paint in my house.


I also test fitted the radiator I got from speedway motors. It looks a little tall so I may return it and get a shorter one. However, the water pump is basically inside the radiator so I'm going to also need a shorter water pump which is an easy fix. I just need to get an LS2 or LS3 pump depending on how I decide to route the rad hoses.


On the plus side with my new engine mounts, I gained a little clearance between the driver side header to the frame rail which was too close for comfort before. It also looks like the Ibooster will fit for sure once I re-drill the holes in the firewall! I had to grind off a little nub on the side of it because it was hitting the valve cover but all should be good now. heres photos of that nub I ground off.



Making slow progress but better than no progress

[iman53]

I haven't posted in a while, its harder to keep this updated than I thought it would be! But Ive made some decent progress, ill make a couple of posts about what I have done so far. I still have a decent amount to do before its drivable this summer.

After making the new motor mounts I pulled the top end of the motor apart.
I replaced the 243 heads with 799 heads. swapped the cam for a texas speed torquer V4, the valve springs and pushrods were also replaced with texas speed parts. Replaced the Oil pump with a Melling High volume pump and the timing chain with an LS2 chain. Upgraded the rocker trunnions with a BTR kit as well. Here are some photos from that process.









The long block is completely reassembled at this point!