E39 Build: 6.0 LS. Coils. Burnouts.

[nsogiba]

Finally the spool lid can be put back on. It took me a few tries to align it with the bolt holes in the spool case, all while making sure the I used the same method that I did installing the ring gear. Use bolts to get it started a few threads in, then remove bolts. The friction of the spool lid is so great that it won’t go anywhere once you remove the bolts. The key was to tighten them all equally (1 turn at a time or so) to make sure each end of the lid came down roughly at the same rate.


The cover is cocked in this picture, one of about a half dozen attempts to get it aligned perfectly. Once it’s close rotationally I used a rubber mallet to further seat the cover. It won’t ever fully seat without the bolts because the tension of the Bellevue washers resists that.


The bolts were pretty nasty. Remember, these were inside the spool lid, which is inside the main diff case, and somehow shit still got in there (in a bath of oil as well). I cleaned the threads with a fingernail, rag, and brake cleaner.


Before reinstalling the bolts, I blew out the threaded blind holes with compressed air and found a nice little specimen of OEM threadlocker.


Bolts partially snugged down, about 25 ft-lbs with Red Loctite.
[img]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8521/8540184786_4a43a85d9d_b.jpg/img]

It really takes some torque on the bolts (evenly of course) to bring the cover down and compress the spring washers.


I torqued to 25 ft-lbs first pass, then about 60 ft-lbs second pass.


At this point it’s all ready for new races and bearings, that’s happening tomorrow morning.

weather is getting nicer. was able to work on the car with the door open for the first time in months.



exhaust is done. CTS-V manifolds, stainless 2.25" mandrel piping



oil pan is on. it was warm out so my fiancee decided to help out.
[/QUOTE]

Manifolds are finally done, painted with VHT Flameproof header paint





Luckily I didn’t have to trim any of the OEM manifold heat shields to fit the exhaust. Forgot to snap a picture of those bolted onto the manifolds.

My rebuilt Stage 2 T56 will be here Friday, along with the Diamond lightweight flywheel. I’ll bolt up the flywheel, Diamond Stage 2 clutch/pressure plate, and hopefully install the motor for the last time this weekend.

Also ordered a Tick speed bleeder to bleed the new system quickly and easily. I still need to figure out whether the new 4th gen F-Body clutch line can be modified the way the E36 guys do, since the E39 master may be different.



Ordered a 1330 slip yoke locally, it came in yesterday, test fit it today, and of course it's the wrong one and doesn't fit. I am going to return it and go to another, more competent shop locally (Denny's Driveshaft).

Also wrapped up the clutch line. Rather than modify the camaro master cylinder fitting to match the BMW, i just had a local hydraulic shop mate the 2 lines. Installed and fits perfectly. I also installed the Lokar throttle cable; the outer sleeve was the perfect length, but the inner line was just a tad too short, so $5 later, a bicycle brake line trimmed to fit finished the job. I finished up the pedals, put them all back together, and we're good to go. I would have bled the clutch but didn't have any spare fluid on hand.



I rebuilt the driver's side engine mount to clear the alternator, and was inspired to get creative with the sharpie...i think it was the brake cleaner fumes







These also came in. I need to buy one of those 45* filler necks so the oil filler cap lines up with the cover.




T56 came back from Texas Drivetrain



and it all went together smoothly.



Then, my daily driver decided to surprise me on Thursday morning



It was broken into 5 pieces, and shredded that tire. I grabbed a replacement spring from a junkyard and had it on the road again later that day.



getting closer. I took a week off from work to make progress on the car and blow off some steam overall.

Corvette FPR and filter installed

Cooling system done. No leaks, but it'll really be put to the test once we I fire it up. Here is the final routing I went with.


I also replaced the front sway bar end links as they had been clunking since I bought the car.

Received the last reducing coupler I needed for the intake, so that's all set. I'll be using a section of 3" SS exhaust pipe I have laying around to extend the filter as close as I can to the factory cold air intake ducting in the bumper/fender. Probably going to paint it wrinkle black.

The biggest task of the week was working on wiring. I had to add a few pins/wires to the BMW cluster to be able to accept analog GM tach and coolant temp signals, since the cluster originally got those signals from the DME (now gone) in CAN-BUS. The pins are unlike any other small cluster pins I have seen, but a trip to the yard found me a fistful of these crown shaped connectors out of a white E36. Oddly enough, all the other BMWs there had the common L-shaped pin, both older and newer. I must have spent 2 hours looking for them, but finally got them. I also need a BMW coolant sensor pigtail, but I couldn't find one of those at the yard either, unfortunately.

I went through the GM harness again and removed a handful of circuits I missed the first time around. It's unbelievable how many useless wires and connectors are included in every harness, but I suppose it's easier/cheaper to build them that way as an OEM rather than customizing each harness to each vehicle. Even after thinning it out, the whole mess was still just a huge ball of wires, so there was no chance of laying it on the motor in a clean manner. I spent a day or two on the living room floor disassembling the harness wire by wire, labeling, and separating all the wires. It still needs a bit of cleanup, but it's 90% there. Now it's just a matter of sitting the fuse panel and PCM connectors in their places in the engine bay, and routing/shortening the wires exactly as I like. Time consuming, but much neater and more efficient than trying to untangle on the spot.

Once the GM harness is in and hooked up to all the usual crap, I can make the BMW/GM connections, and once the PCM comes in, I can hopefully fire it up for the first time.

Still need to finish the rear diff and have a driveshaft made before it's driveable.

[nsogiba]

good work being done here, i too plan on LSing my e39. keep the updates coming!

The car is actually done. Stay tuned for the rest of the build.

[nsogiba]

the last i'll see of the internals, hopefully for a while.



brand new from GM, 2004 LS1 GTO deflection tray and oil pickup tube installed


i also pressed in the freeze plug to block off the original van dipstick hole, which is cast into the block. the new GTO dipstick pokes through a hole machined in the oil pan. i would have installed the dipstick too, but it goes on after the exhaust, which Breetime is still welding up for me.

E39 M5 LSD Reassembly

diff case before:


case and cover soaked, scrubbed, cleaned, painted:


Reassembled the spool yesterday.

Let’s get started.


I’ll be using this stuff for break-in. It was the cheapest stuff. I’ll probably run Redline or Royal Purple when I change the oil in it a few weeks in.


Soaked clutches and discs (double bagged it)


I assembled everything with the ring gear bolts facing up, obviously. That will be the way I refer to “up” and “down” while assembling.


First inserted the oil control ring, with these ridges facing down.


Small diameter spring washer, with the narrow cone end facing down.


Another oil control washer, with the ridges facing up this time.


Bellevue washer, narrow cone end facing down.


Next, a clutch.


A detail of the friction surface.


Now we install the center spool rotating assembly. I took this picture during disassembly, but it’s a good illustration of how it all goes together.



Then, a “crown cap”, with the friction surface facing down, and the V notches facing up (exactly as I have it in this photo).


Slide the dog ears into the grooves, and make sure it’s seated down all the way. You can see the teeth of the clutch disc poking out underneath the crown cap.


Inserted one of the main side drive gears, just as shown.


It slides in on a film of gear oil.


Assembled one of the “dog bones” with planet gears. Tough to keep together as the gears want to slide off on that film of oil.


The teeth mesh nicely with the main side drive gear, and it all self-aligns.


Same goes for the next dog bone, just upside down.




Everything is a mirror image from now on, starting with that second dog bone assembly. The “line of symmetry” is between the dog bones.

After the dog bones are together and in, the next main side drive gear goes in, teeth down.


You can see the drive gear teeth meshing with the dog bone planet gear teeth.


“Crown cap” goes next, notched V side down.


The ears of the crown cap fall nicely into the slots machined in the main spool case. Very tight tolerances so it all slides down slowly on a film of oil.


Another clutch disc


And the teeth line up nicely with the end of the main side drive gear.


Followed by a dog ear friction disc, which slides nicely into the slots.



Bellevue washer, narrow cone end up

It probably didn’t matter but I kept all oil control washers and spring/Bellevue washers side specific.


Oil control washer, groove down


Small diameter spring washer, narrow cone end up


Followed by the last oil control washer, groove end up.

[nsogiba]

Differential Rebuild - March 2013. E39 M5 case, E46 M3 ring and pinion, fresh bearings, seals, clutches, and friction discs throughout. Everything that could be replaced, was.

spent the last few days tearing down and cleaning the M5 diff.

the victim. got a good deal on it, but it had no service history, condition was listed as "we left this sitting outside for a year with no output stubs in it, no warranty, etc etc".



whoever pulled the diff didn't unbolt it, they just sheared the mounts. this car was probably in a severe wreck for them not to care like that.


differential side of the driveshaft.


sheared differential end of the driveshaft.


internal spool


E34 540i flanges


the output covers before removal. output shims are underneath.


keeping each output shim with its respective cover


old output seals, to be replaced


internal spool removed


hypoid pinion gear. i thought you needed a press to remove it, but i was able to get it out with a rubber mallet and piece of wood.


Once the spool lid is removed, there’s always the top oil washer that sticks to it.


Dog bones and gears.



Half of the clutch discs and “pressure plate” as I call it.


Exploded view of the spool internals.


Bagged and tagged.


Spool with all internals removed.


OEM 3.15 ring gear removed.


Lots of loctite used in the OEM setup.


Output cover, bearing race, and seal removed


Output cover cleaned up a bit.


I laid the 3.62 ring gear on the spool case and gently tapped it on with a rubber mallet. It went on about 80% of the way and then just stopped. I used the bolts to pull it fully on in an alternating pattern to avoid cocking it, and then removed the bolts to clean them up.


I laid the case with the cover side down, put a few wood blocks under it to catch the pinion, and tapped the pinion out after removing the nut with the impact.


Pinion seal being removed.


Front pinion bearing


Front pinion race


3.15 pinion shown “as assembled” with old bearings.


Rear pinion race and pinion shim.

[royalife]

good work being done here, i too plan on LSing my e39. keep the updates coming!

[nsogiba]

March 2013

Rented the PS pump pulley puller (what a clusterfuck of a name). Used the impact gun and it made very quick work of the truck pulley. It was rusty and nasty so I scrubbed it, wirewheeled it, put a coat of wrinkle black on it, and let it dry overnight. The main garage door in our apartment is being replaced over the next few days, so I rolled the car outside, progress will be slowed. In the meantime I'll try out the installer portion of the tool and see how it works pulling it onto the F-Body pump. At that point there’s no reason I can’t button up the accessories for the final time and order a belt.

A generous Bimmerforums member sent me a few extra freeze plugs for the dipstick hole on the block.

CTS-V manifolds fit very well. The passenger side drops right in. The driver's side rubbed on the steering shaft. The previous owner was nice enough to cut the cats off after the post header flange, like this, which makes fab easier:



Jacked up the front of the car so the wheels were off the ground and had Melissa turn the wheel lock to lock a few times. The steering shaft is square where it hits, so it only rubs at each corner of the square. I removed and flipped the post manifold pipe stub 180*, and it's VERY close to the steering shaft, but some convincing with a large diameter pipe and BFH will clearance it. Another big plus was that the OEM heat shields don't interfere with anything. The PS line that runs along the driver's side frame rail is very close to the manifold, but I think a few minutes with the torch should bend it right out of the way. It is covered with heat-shielding from the factory, but I don't want to risk cooking the PS fluid.

The plan for the next few weeks:

-Finish fabbing manifold pipes that connect to OEM ball flange. I’m only going to tack this up as fully welding it is above my skill set.
-Remove engine/tranny, send T56 off to TDP to be looked at. Order Diamond light flywheel while Jason has it.
-While trans is gone, assemble pushrods, rockers, install valve covers
-install oil pan, pickup, and deflection tray
-change rear cover gasket and rear main seal
-Install DBC pedal from 528i in car
-work up some sort of throttle cable
-clean up and paint the engine/trans mounts
-disassemble and rebuild the M5 Diff
-buy a yoke for the end of the trans

Once the trans comes back in I can install the flywheel, PP and clutch, and mate the engine/trans for the final time.

knocked out the whole exhaust in one night. $100 CTS-V LS6 manifolds, $20 worth of mandrel bent 2-1/4" mild, and some leftover straight pieces from my old Spec V ebay header. and 4 beers.



pulled the motor, trans, and mounts last night for what should be the final time

replaced the RMS and rear cover gasket on the motor

pulled the slave cylinder, shifter, and bellhousing off the T56, wrapped it up, tomorrow it takes a little trip to Texas to be rebuilt



3.62s are in, donated from E46 M3



We’re getting some “nice” weather (not 20*F) this week so I’ll be spending some more time chipping away at things.

Last night I got a few things done.

Removed AC lines, made up a small aluminum block off plate for the lines going into the firewall/evaporator to prevent them getting gunked up with dirt and such. While I was at it I removed the secondary air injection pump and the AC dryer, both in the fenderwell. I’m left with 2 nice big holes there now so I may use one of them for some fresh air to the intake.

I also buttoned up the front accessory drive. I had routed the belt incorrectly, so I fixed that and make sure it all rotated smoothly.

Finished cutting the threads on the shifter with the die, installed the locking nut and knob. If I ever end up with spare time when it’s all done I’m considering making a 2nd shifter handle (same brushed finish, but taller) for fun.

Soaked the engine bay in purple power, gave everything a good scrub. Also cleaned and reinstalled all the heat shields around the front thrust arms that I had removed when pulling the M62.

Cleaned up the valve covers and intake manifold with purple power as well. Halfway through the first valve cover I realized it was started to eat some of the wrinkle finish I put on there, so I may have to respray it.

Installed the rocker pedestals, rockers, pushrods. Gave the engine a few partial turns and they’re all moving smoothly. I didn’t expect any PTV problems with my stock LS2 Vette cam and milled heads but it’s nice to know for certain that I’m good.

My T56 arrives in Texas for the rebuild today, so I’m expecting a call late this week or early next week. In the meantime I still need to buy a pilot bearing (small f-body style one) and new slave cyl, as well as an f-body clutch line since it fits the BMW master with some modification.

In the meantime I may jump in headfirst and start rebuilding my M5 diff. After doing much research I’m more confident about rebuilding the LSD portion. Setting up the ring and pinion is a different story though, I will leave that to a professional.




removed the stock BMW DBW pedal.



brake and clutch master cylinder connections.



incredible amount of insulation in this car. the carpet is bonded to regular style yellow foam, and underneath is a hard-expanded foam in light green.



the pile of shit within the car grows...



installed the standard DBC plastic pedal



the stock hydraulic connection to the 540 clutch master cylinder.

[nsogiba]

oil pan disassembled, had a coworker weld it up and leak test it. i also cut the required portion of the baffles


all assembled.


extent of the notch.


clusterfuck, i removed almost all the circuits that aren't necessary.


auto trans plug and the 2nd O2 sensor plug ditched.




Listing of circuits that I removed. Some were not in the PCM connectors (since the van was not 4WD among other options), so those are labeled "NOT PRESENT".

BLUE
17 DK BLU 1225 Transmission Fluid Pressure Switch Signal B (A/T)
18 RED 1226 Transmission Fluid Pressure Switch Signal C (A/T)
25 TAN 1671 HO2S Low Signal - Bank 2 Sensor 2
28 TAN/WHT 1669 HO2S Low Signal - Bank 1 Sensor 2
30 LT GRN 1478 Coolant Level Switch Signal (empty 2006+) (NOT PRESENT)
32 BLK/WHT 771 Transmission Range Switch Signal A (A/T)
34 WHT 776 Transmission Range Switch Signal P (A/T) PCM can be programmed to accept a SINGLE WIRE park/neutral signal on this PIN, if no trans mounted range sensor is present
53 GRY 720 Low Reference (TRANS)
56 WHT 1579 Fuel Temperature/Composition Signal (L59) Flex Fuel Sensor (PCM SHOULD BE PROGRAMMED TO REMOVE FLEX FUEL FUNCTION)
65 PPL 1670 HO2S High Signal - Bank 2 Sensor 2
68 PPL/WHT 1668 HO2S High Signal - Bank 1 Sensor 2
72 YEL 772 Transmission Range Switch Signal B (A/T)
79 WHT 687 3-2 Shift Solenoid Valve Control (M30/M32) NOT PRESENT
GREEN
2 BRN 418 TCC PWM Solenoid Valve Control (A/T)
3 TAN 1465 Fuel Pump Relay Control – Secondary NOT PRESENT
6 RED/BLK 1228 PC Solenoid Valve High Control (A/T)
8 LT BLU/WHT 1229 PC Solenoid Valve Low Control (A/T)
16 GRY/BLK 1694 4WD Low Signal (KEEP IF USING STOCK TRANSFER CASE IN A 4WD APPLACTION, WITH VSS ON OUTPUT OF TRANSFER CASE. NOT PRESENT
22 RED/BLK 1230 AT ISS High Signal (4WD w/MT1)
23 DK BLU/WHT 1231 AT ISS Low Signal (4WD w/MT1)
42 TAN/BLK 422 TCC Solenoid Valve Control (M30/M32) NOT PRESENT
47 YEL/BLK 1223 2-3 Shift Solenoid Valve Control (A/T)
48 LT GRN 1222 1-2 Shift Solenoid Valve Control (A/T)
51 YEL/BLK 1227 TFT Sensor Signal (A/T)
52 BRN 2391 HO2S Heater Low Control Bank 1 Sensor 2
53 RED/WHT 3223 HO2S Heater Low Control Bank 2 Sensor 2
54 PPL 1589 Fuel Level Sensor Signal - Primary
62 GRY 773 Transmission Range Switch Signal C (A/T)
63 PNK 1224 Transmission Fluid Pressure Switch Signal A (A/T)
73 DK BLU 1936 Fuel Level Sensor Signal – Secondary NOT PRESENT

LS6 CTS-V manifolds get here Monday, I’m really anxious to see if they fit. If not, I am falling back on the tubular steel Camaro manifolds and will get to work on those.

Didn’t feel like wasting hours and gallons of gas running around finding M16x2.0 stock for a pulley installer tool, so I bought a “kit” on LS1Tech for $20 shipped, that showed up yesterday.

Placed an order this morning with Rockauto.

Plugs (Bosch Platinums at a whopping 74 cents each, gotta love closeout)
a new wire set (the originals were probably fine, but the engine only came with 7, and they looked like dog shit)
2 oil filters (the bottom end was never apart and doesn’t need to be broken in, but I plan on still doing an oil change after a few miles to wash out the beer can tabs and condoms that probably fell in during the 5 months the motor was apart)
LS1 main belt tensioner (I should have bought a belt too, but forgot). For now I’ll be running without AC until I can figure out the wiring. It isn’t imperative to the car doing heaters so I’m not too worried about it.

Also ordered with Summit:
ARP Crank Balancer Bolt
ARP Pressure Plate Bolt Kit
ARP Flywheel Bolt Kit

I have a ton of bolts left over from when I disassembled the motor, so I’m reusing the valley cover bolts as exhaust manifold bolts.

Also snagged a new titanium 11/32” bit so that I can drill and tap the boss on the block for the F-Body alternator bracket.

I didn’t like the look of the square shifter rod so I grabbed some ¾” round stock on lunch and will re-make it tonight. The square shit was only about ½” thick and just looked so ghetto. I still want a tall shifter, just with better quality/finish. If I had access to a lathe I’d chuck it up and clean it/polish it but a wire wheel will have to do.

The OEM BMW coolant temp gauge has the same threads as the port on the GM head. You can thread it right it. The threads don’t engage fully, but people use a sealant without issues.



A few pics I forgot to add.

LS6 intake went in last week, all torqued down. I should have cleaned it up a bit before installing it but it’s not a big deal.



Bent up a new shifter rod. No pictures of the finished product as I still need to clean it up with a wirewheel, but it already looks a lot better than that square rod I initially made.



Getting better with prep for welding


The shifter looks similar to this Viper setup, a thick rod with the ball right on top. Beefy.


spent a few hours today, some progress and some setbacks.

started off with remaking the shifter stick. the only square rod was ugly as dick. It has a brushed finish and looks a ton better. I laid a bead about halfway up the stick, to act as a retaining ring that'll stop the leather boot from sliding down.




installed a new front main seal in the front cover, new front cover gasket, and installed it all finger tight onto the motor

threaded the M16x2.0 stud into the crank to get ready to pull in the F-Body Balancer

my torque wrench only read to 150 ft-lbs and i needed at least 230-240, so i rented one from Autozone. also grabbed another M16x2.0 nut to double nut the stud to be able to pull it out later.

threw in the ARP crank bolt (which is reusable, unlike the OEM TTY bolt), but it requires an oddball 12pt 27mm socket, so i'll pick one of those up tomorrow afternoon.

i also installed the F-Body water pump, belt tensioner, and alternator bracket (which required drilling and tapping the blank boss cast in on the truck style blocks for one of the bolts). once i tighten down the crank pulley for the final time it'll be nice because i can finally install all the front accessories and finish assembling the valvetrain (rockers, pushrods, and finally install the valve covers). once those are on, i'll wirewheel the coil packs because the steel brackets are rusty, and those can go on too.



that all fit fine and dandy, but unfornately i had a massive brain fart when i went to install the alternator and realized that the rear of the alternator interferes with the driver's side engine mount. it's nothing earth shattering but it means i will have to trim that mount and reweld a plate in place. shit happens.

[nsogiba]

February 2013

decided to not use a GTO shifter since using a steel bar gives me the flexibility to bend the shifter however i want as well as shorten and lengthen it.

final engine placement. measured pinion angle for the final time, centered motor left to right both at the crank snout and at the trans output.



compound angle i'll have to cut


beginning of driver's side mount. the notch is to clear the steering box bolts. it's 2" tube steel.



been busy over the last few days.

3 cutoff wheels, a lot of 2" tube steel, lots of trial and error, and we have mounts!

everything as of now is just tacked into place for 2 reasons:

1: my 115V welder doesn't have the balls to penetrate the thick wall steel
2: i'm a really shitty welder

i will be grinding down the mounts and wirewheeling them to prep them for full welding, which i'll have one of the guys at work do.



looking at it now, that trans mount looks a bit crooked. tomorrow i will realign it and re-tack.





test fit mounts, driver's side


passenger side


ready for welding. my little pea shooter 115V MIG wouldn't even penetrate at all so i had it done by a pro at work.


prepped the block for heads. scraped them of all material and cleaned with mineral spirits.


new OEM GM MLS 6.0 headgaskets, nice pieces. new head/block dowels since the old ones disappeared. new ARP head bolts torqued down in 3 passes to their specs, not GM's.


figured i'd put the intake manifold on too since there was no reason not to.


i had the mounts fully welded today at work and they came out awesome.

the motor still needs to come out to get all new front and rear cover gaskets and main seals, as well as to have the pan welded up and GTO pickup installed with windage tray. but, it's in.





well of course there's a goddamn problem...i was so concerned with clearing the steering arm (which is a moving part about 3/4" underneath the oil pan) that i totally disregarded hood clearance. it's not terrible but i may need to figure out something creative.



room for days in the rear.




truck manifolds didn't fit on either side...but i'm keeping them, since i might boost this sucker at one point.

have to start the headers next. i have a pair of used shorties i can hack up and modify. i also have an old tubular stainless header left over from my SE-R Spec V that i can chop up. Always prefer to use what i have rather than buy new.

junkyard engine, transmission out of a wrecked Camaro, mounts made out of steel that was pulled from a scrap bin...i'm sensing a trend here

cleaned up the front cover, valve covers, and the coil brackets.



shot them with wrinkle black. just threw them on, it looks ok. i was shooting for a more wrinkly finish, but they may still be curing.



got the shifter all situated. i like the height of it, if it proves to be a PITA to drive with it's 2 bolts to remove it and cut/reweld. the weld ring underneath the knob will be ground down. i also want to use round rod instead of the square stock that i used for a cleaner look in cabin. this was for mock up.

the shifter height and knob is certainly yeehaw!







good news, the hood closes over the intake.

[nsogiba]

December 2012

Nothing much to report, just little things I'm getting together.

Sold both my BMW diffs (2.81 and 3.15), both MAFs, the base rails of my roof rack, and the Camaro (rear sump) oil pan.

I received my ARP head bolts, GM MLS 6.0 headgaskets, LS1 harmonic balancer, starter, water pump, and GTO oil pan over the last week. The top end of the engine is ready to go back together, but the machine shop lost the dowels in the heads, so I had to special order 3 of those (1 was left in the block). Can't assemble it until they get in this weekend. Once I do get those I can finally put the heads back on and torque them down, as well as replace both front and rear main seals as well as a ton of other gaskets I bought. At that point I can put the intake manifold on, and it'll start to look like a real motor (good timing, because I need to know where I'll have issues for fabbing the motor mounts).

On Saturday, I put the car on some 2x6s I nailed together to raise the car off the ground at all 4 corners. I eyeballed the rough dimensions of the cut on the GTO pan and notched it, test fit, and found that I still need to notch the horizontal portion some more in order for the nose of the motor to come down a few more degrees. With the shifter roughly where it needs to be, the engine is pointing 6* down at the back--I am going for 3*. Having a digital inclinometer accurate to a tenth of a degree is awesome. The motor/pan is resting on a 1" board, so maybe it's a bit overkill as far as spacing from the crossmember, but I am assuming the new stock rubber engine mounts will squish down some when the weight of the drivetrain comes down onto them.

My right angle grinder backing plate fell apart, and Home Depot was already closed, so I wasn't able to finish trimming the pan. Today on lunch I went to the store and picked up the proper backing plate/ring along with an 11/32" drill bit, which I'll need to drill out the boss on the block for the alternator to mount to. I have the LQ4 truck alternator as it came with my motor, but is it the same type as the LS1 style? It looks like any old small car-style alternator. I'll have to see if there's a part number on it and cross reference to see if I can reuse it. I'm still on the hunt for a cheap OEM LS1 alternator bracket.

Buying a used LS1 power steering pump was ehhhhhhhhh, so I found a nice cheap one on Rockauto and grabbed that. I still have to find a pulley. Might yank the pulley off the truck PS pump (if I even still have that in the piles of parts) and see if it's the same diameter (I would assume so).

I had the sheet metal shop at work punch me out a few engine plates, bolted those to the motor. I also grabbed some short lengths of 2" square thick wall tube steel out of the scrap bin, those will be used to make up the driver's side mount around the steering box. I did a rough "from memory" sketch on CAD at work of the driver's side mount. The passenger side will be easier, should be just one length (straight shot from the engine plate to the rubber isolator). My little farmhand MIG welder is wayyyy too shitty to actually weld all the way through and get full penetration so I'll just be tacking the shit out of it and having the shop at work weld it all up for me. exhaust should be okay to weld due to the thinner wall pipe, I'm just a crappy welder, but this will be good practice.

Should have some spare time tomorrow on my day off to finish trimming the GTO pan, maybe start to cut up the tube steel to make the mounts.

playing with fitment



i was thinking about this for a plate when i'm done...




finished cutting up the pan, it clears the crossmember now.







slapped it on the block.

placed a 1" thick piece of wood under the pan to simulate space between pan and crossmember, and a 1"x1" piece under the pan on top of the steering linkage.





unfortunately, the motor needs to be forward enough to make the oil pan happy above the crossmember, but this makes the shifter pissed off. it's about 3" forward of the shifter hole in the unibody. had to modify the stock shifter to allow the rear of the trans to come up vertically as much as possible, to give me the right driveline angle. it was hitting the inside of the trans tunnel, making the rear of the trans point down at a 8* angle. i might use a GTO shifter (offset to the rear by a bit compared to the Camaro one).

stock:


moved the shifter rod down "one hole"


cut a top inch or so off, bought me some room.





slapped the inclinometer on the bottom of the car on the frame rail, only place where the car was parallel with the ground.





that's with the nose pointing up.

after cutting the shifter i got this.




rough height in the bay. rotation along the crank axis is a bit off obviously but i'll fix that the next time i work on the car.



January 2013

so, let's begin with tonight's pleasant atmosphere! before i fired up the heater it was 32, as i finished up for the evening i snapped this.



i really wasn't happy with the pinion angle, and the only thing that could give was the shifter moving up into the tunnel. so i enlarged the shifter hole forward about 3-4".

fun fact....burning tunnel insulation smells like pickles



so this places the engine fore/aft roughly where it will be, give or take half an inch.

head to AC line:


tight spot by the steering box, 2" square tube is very very tight, i will end up notching the mount around there to avoid any contact if/when the motor moves back and forth.




this gave us a better angle than last night. remember that i'm subtracting 1.2 degrees of the car's nose pointing up.



grabbed some stock from the scrap bin at work and put a 90* bend in it with the vise. cut up the stock shifter rod (where the knob threads on) and welded on the threaded portion to the stock. i purposely left it tall so i can cut it down later to my liking. i actually really like it tall, gives it that old muscle car feel.



with das boot on it:



tomorrow i'd like to finalize the location of the motor and start to make the mounts

[nsogiba]

End of November, 2012

M62TU removed from E39.

















yeah buddy. next up is engine bay cleanup.
[/QUOTE]


a member on BimmerFest asked to see the LQ4 and the M62 side by side. keep in mind that the M62 is fully dressed, with all front accessories and belt drives, ready to plop right in. the LQ4 has the heads and intake just sitting on the motor not bolted down, and is missing the headers, front accessories and etc, and a ton of other things.

however, if you look at just the basic engine architecture, the difference in size is pretty striking. remember, the BMW V8 is a 4.4L, the GM is a 6.0.




See ya later M62, it's been really fun.


[QUOTE=LQ4-E39;16977509]Things are looking up!

found a T56 from a 2002 Camaro SS in Pittsburgh just 3 hours from me. It's said to be in good working condition and includes trans, bellhousing, crossmember (though i wont use that) and hydraulic slave.

best part is it's under $1000! so, my fiancee and i will be hopping in the station wagon and going on a day trip to grab it.

i will end up rebuilding the trans to be on the safe side, but this is great news because this means i can finally start mocking up the mounts and pan.


Also, heads are done. Klispie’s shaved them down .026” (cc’d to put me at 66cc). They did a really nice job cleaning them up and repairing one of the exhaust bolt holes. I installed the LS6 yellow springs and retainers with my homemade tool (let me know if you’d like to borrow it) and they look good.





Spend some time running around town yesterday picking up flange head metric bolts for the T56-motor connection. Fastenal and a local specialty contractors supply store did not stock them, but Sears Hardware did, go figure.


Mated up the motor just for fun. I'm going to mock up the mounts once I settle on an oil pan (still need to think about that one) and while I'm taking care of the harness and wiring, I'll have it sent out to have Jason @ TDP look over it. Super nice guy, by the way.




Laid the heads down on it just for mockup. The next step is to buy all the gaskets for reassembly, the motor is ready to be put back together.


I put it in the bay just for sh*ts and giggles. For some reason at the time (maybe it was the fact that I was tired from work all day, or had a few too many beers) I was convinced that the shifter was supposed to line up exactly with the hole. I didn't have an oil pan mounted at the time, but if I did, it would not have agreed with that idea. I'll get into the garage tonight and play with it some more.






Measuring driveline angles will be crappy, because the nose of the car only is on jackstands. The car is too low when it sits normally, the engine hoist legs hit the lower control arms when plopping the engine in. May just have to take the angle of the car and then subtract it from my measurements.

[nsogiba]

October 2012

Been busy with little bullshit. Working on friends cars, etc. My biggest hurdle is having a 2nd car right now, so that I can pull the motor from the BMW. I have my eye on a nice automatic ‘98 Legacy Outback Limited with heated leather. I have been spoiled by the creature comforts of the E39.

LS6 Yellow valve springs came in. Need to put these on the heads.



Sold my winter wheels to a guy in Rochester, was a nice relaxing drive.




Put my fiancee’s cat in the oven, she was a fan of that.



So back to the automotive portion of things…

My friend let me test fit his Style 65s. super wide and lots of rubbing.



Made good use out of the old stock LQ4 Van cam.



Beginning to clean up the block better. After some wirewheeling.



next important step: buy a winter vehicle so the BMW can come off the road!



2000 Subaru Outback 109K miles
2.5 Boxer 4-cyl, 5 speed, AWD
Power and heated cloth seats, heated mirrors, heated windshield
some nearly new Dunlop snow tires on it

taking the BMW off the road and registering the Suby this weekend.

So, my fiancée was at her class last night for 4-5 hours and I had some time to get in the garage.

Made my own valve spring compressor tool with some crap I had laying around. How it’s supposed to look:



Not pretty but worked like a charm. How mine looked:



The valves started to come out with the aid of the beer of the evening. Pardon the grinding flakes on the bottle from me making the tool



Then the tenant in the lower apartment stopped by and offered me some whiskey…



So with the springs, retainers, valves and keepers removed from the heads, they’re ready to go to the machine shop. Just need to find time.

I still had the itch to do something so I grabbed a roll of tape and half empty can of plastidip and went to town on the winter car.



Drying, peeled back the badge



So, before

And after


Mid November 2012

[nsogiba]

Here's my build. I'm Norb - an engineer with a hobby of building things for fun. I do all of my own work, am self taught, self funded, self motivated. Over the course of this swap I moved in with my girlfriend, got engaged, changed careers, bought a house, etc. Lots to juggle.


Cliff notes:
Bought the car bone stock with some issues in September 2011. 2001 540i/6 Sport. Black on black leather, power everything, rear power shade, rear side manual shades, heated seats, all the goodies.
Beat the car around for 2 years after playing with an intake, a QTP cutout, and LOTS of general maintenance. I finally got fed up with the costly parts, maintenance, and lack of easy power upgrades.

Decided to get to work.

I have this build thread on various other forums, so I've taken a majority of the info from those.

September 2012

i love the M62, but:

-not enough power
-too complicated
-too expensive to fix
-Vanos is knocking hard
-no potential for making easy cheap power

So, after researching, I've decided to go with a truck/SUV style motor due to price and availability over the more popular aluminum candidates. I like the idea of higher compression for NA application, so I will be going with an LQ9 (6.0 iron block, aluminum heads). seems that they are most readily available in 2002-2006 Escalade, so i'm searching for one now. tranny will be T56--anyone have any recommendations as to where to look for one besides car-part.com? maybe LS1Tech?

i have my eye on a local LQ9 from LKQ, but they want a $350 core charge. i obviously have no motor to give them to avoid that. for those of you who used LKQ, did you pay this charge?

i will be fabricating my own exhaust and mounts. will use Camaro SS manifolds and adapt them to the OEM exhaust, like rao did.

i have no clue where to start off with wiring. all i know is that i'll need the Escalade PCM (or can i use any fbody PCM?), and the harness. i'm stupid when it comes to electronics.

picked up a few parts to kick things off.



came off a 1998 Trans Am (guy upgraded to a F.A.S.T. or something)



it came with a drive by cable throttle body--i will probably have to use a drive by wire depending on the PCM i end up using. not sure yet, i guess it's based on compatibility/ease.

i'm in the process of cleaning the oil pan. this is "before". it sat for a long time. came off a 98-02 F body. not sure if it'll fit, with the crossmember, but i guess i can always modify it. (i have access to a full fabrication/sheetmetal shop at work). it was a good deal so i couldn't turn it down.



removed the baffle for cleaning...see anything unusual besides the dirt?





this is my first time inside one of these motors, so i will have questions about things as i go along. oil level sensor? the dark red cylinder on the end of the sensor is loose and flopping around. is that normal, or will i have to replace it? maybe i can snag the one off the LQ9 truck pan when i buy that.



can someone tell me more about the oil pan gasket? it is bent in a few places and the rubber has separated from the steel in a few places too. i'd replace it, but it looks to be riveted to the pan in 2 places. don't get it.






oh, and here's what it's going in.



hope to do many many more of these.



September 2012

Found a motor just an hour away last night. Drove out there to inspect it-6.0L block, Al heads, no problems. Turned over by hand.

Came out of a 2003 Chevy Express van. 134K. The seller drove the van before pulling the motor, but I plan on running it on the engine stand before tearing apart the top end.

Includes whole motor, PCM, entire engine wiring harness, truck intake and pan and all truck accessories (of which I can hopefully sell most of them to recoup some costs), intake, maf, throttle body, all for a pretty good deal (not to mention delivered to my garage!)

She definitely needs cleaning up but I'm happy with it for what I paid. It's being delivered today. I need to buy a stand/crane asap.




Got the motor in finally. I had the seller deliver it and bring his crane to unload it, and to hook it up to my engine stand. I unfortunately bought the wrong length bolts for the engine stand – to – block, so for now it's sitting on a tire.

Began by removing the wiring harness (which is uncut except for the "body harness"), which should be useless to me (Chevy Van specific). Bagged and tagged everything that was plugged in-the rest I'll have to chase down and find out what it does. I'm terrible with wiring diagrams, so I guess now's the time to learn. The PCM has the "green/blue" connectors….from what I had read on LS1tech, this will play a part in tuning later on.



Then started pulling off all the accessories off the front. What an easy engine to work on!!! All bolts are either 8mm, 10mm, 13mm, or 15mm. this means I can have 4 sockets/wrenches on my rolling stool and not have to go back to the toolbox over and over again. Awesome design. Pardon the terrible work area-this is in the garage in my new apartment, I'm in the process of moving right now, so my main tool chest, benches, etc are all still back at the old place. I can't wait to bring over my welder….there are 3 broken exhaust manifold studs on the heads that need to be removed, approximately .75" above the surface of the head (yay!). I'll tack a few nuts on and pull them out.



Started cleaning the heads. They really do shine up nicely, but I have a long way to go. The block paint is peeling and rusty in places, so I will be wire-wheeling it down and painting it high temp black.



Pulled the left valve cover for fun. Looks pretty clean for 134K.





Threw the manifold on for fun.



The E39 "Fritz" watching me work….my girlfriend named him that (she wanted a strong German name). She always said "he's on the fritz" when the cooling system and crap was going wrong. We named her B7 A4 "Gretchen".



Spent most of yesterday after work moving things to the new house and unpacking. I really **** moving, because you do so many little things, and it doesn’t look like much…

Pulled the truck oil pan, baffle, and pickup tube off, scraped the block surface with a razorblade

Pulled the valve covers on each head and removed all 16 rockers, pushrods, and rocker bolts, bagged and tagged everything



I realize how crappy my pictures are coming out, I need to bring my good camera over.

Pile of stock parts continues to grow.



My workspace (work in progress in itself)



End of September 2012

haven't updated in a bit...waiting on parts to come in

went to the dyno with a friend...made 282 whp, 302 tq. M60 Manifold, cone filter, open cutout before the Y-res, and 3.15 open diff.



made some purdy sounds while on the rollers



best friend's El Tee Juan T/A put down 325whp/355tq. f*ck yeah 'Merica



scrubbed the heads, got more gunk off them. need to find a machine shop to mill them for me.



wirewheeled the valve covers. before and after.



installed LS2 cam. installed timing set (new HD LS2 stuff) and oil pump. timing this thing was.........too easy...felt like i was doing something wrong as there were like 3 steps.