Kato Kids BMW M3 powered 71' 240Z

[KatoKid]

That is awesome. Can't wait to see some more progress on this. Also are they pieces of wood between the cross member and frame?

 

Rat man, well spotted they are bits of wood. I needed to lower the crossmember to get the ideal driveline alignment. I used wood spacers just to get the set up right and Ive had alloy ones made last week but haven't picked them up yet.

[KatoKid]

One question. is it mounted in the final picture or just sitting over the hoist? Is it centered if mounted?

 

It is in its final position in the photo and no its not centered. The whole drivetrain (eng/gbox/diff) are set off to the drivers side by about an inch and a half, as they are with the L series from the factory. My choice of guibo joint (rubber donut) at the gearbox output means the crank/transmission centreline needs to be pointing straight at the diff pinion shaft as the guibo wont tolerate any angle.

 

You could centre this engine but would need to use a standard M50 sump or modify the 3.0L M3 sump as it would hit the T/C rod bracket on the LHS chassis....and you would have to convert the gearbox flange and tailshaft to use cardan joints. But why would you when it doesn't need to be centred.

[KatoKid]

The WRX rack conversion moves the shaft from the steering column to the rack outboard a fair way, which is good because it provides much needed exhaust room but also puts the shaft right on the chassis rail. You could leave it but engineers wont like it so I tweaked the base of the steering column across towards the centre of the car to give some clearance between the chassis rail and the shaft that runs down to the rack. Just had to redrill the 4 holes on the plate at the base of the column that bolts to the firewall.

 

All good.

[KatoKid]

Speaking of engineers.....I had an appointment with these guys http://www.enkelman.com.au/ today.

 

Some of you may remember a guy called Mayhem on here, had a white 260 with an RB25DET in it? I had spoken with him just before he sold the car and he had a good experience with Enkelmans, I figured if they were happy to sign off an RB then the M3 engine should be fine. Before I even purchased the M3 engine I had spoken with Bernie at Enkelmans and he was happy to give the OK to proceed in principal.

 

In the meantime I had spoken with Jamo and Sirpent and was considering using Paul Bottomley but was put off by Tom's (Handsandwich) reception from Bottomley so decided to suss out Enklemans in person. Up till today I had only spoken with Bernie on the phone and that was nearly two years ago so I was keen to meet him.

 

Bernie was very professional without being over authoritative, he asked lots of questions regarding all aspects of the conversion. The more we talked the more he relaxed and I found him to be very personable. I had stressed to him that I wanted the conversion to be bolt in and be fully reversable and he appreciated why. He demonstrated a good understanding of Z's and BMW's which was good.

 

After a thorough discussion I asked him to come and look at the car and he said there was no need, he was confident that I was doing everything required and he said to bring the car down when it was finished and he would inspect it, do a brake test and that would be all that was required!

 

You bloody ripper! No torsional tests or chassis mods required!

 

Bernie even asked if I was going to go with coil overs.......my original plan was to get it engineered with standard springs and convert to coil overs later but he confirmed that coil overs are legal and he is fine with them....so coil overs it is straight away.

 

I also asked about emissions and he said there was no requirement to test and clarified that I don't even need to run cats. Yipee!

 

Overall I'm very happy with the way it went and based on  my experience today I would be happy to recommend Enkelmans.......so far.

 

And a final note, Bernie confirmed that NCOP VSB14 has been in force in Victiroa for nearly 12 months now.

 

[luvemfast]

That's great news Dave 

 

[Gyra]

Just reading the ncop specs for engine upgrades, it says the maximum displacement will be Original mass (kg) x 4 for cars between 800kg and 1100kg. I recall a 240z was just under 1100kg (dry weight?)

So this means the maximum size engine swap for a 240z is now only around 4.3 litres?

 

 

Theres more info herehttp://www.infrastructure.gov.au/roads/vehicle_regulation/bulletin/pdf/NCOP3_Section_LA_Engine_01jan2011_v3.pdf

 

 

G

 

 

 

[KatoKid]

240Z = 1045kg so 4.1 Litres

[Gyra]

Hmm, mine is a 72 auto, 2450 pounds (1111 kg)! Which places it in the next bracket (original weight x 5) So I "could" go for a 5.55 litre engine...

Interesting stuff - it would seem to make Tim's 6 litre conversion a rare breed.

 

 

Anyway, sorry for hijacking your build thread. Awesome work, and it has inspired me to get back into working on my car.

 

 

G

[KatoKid]

Did this today....... http://www.viczcar.com/forum/index.php/topic,12030.msg123132/topicseen.html#msg123132

 

Worked out pretty well and Ive got adequate clearance to the rocker cover.

 

Also a shot from inside of the base of the steering column.

 

[KatoKid]

Wiring time!

 

In the first pic below you can see how the standard engine wiring harness is housed in a big ugly plastic box, which in the M3 engine bay hangs from the firewall and sits over the back of the cylinder head. The box doesn't look out of place in the M3 engine bay as there are plenty of other plastic trims and covers but its wrong in the Z bay. I want to keep the engine bay as clean as possible without going to the extent of completely hiding all the wiring, in addition the +ve and -ve cables to the battery are on the wrong side and the other issue is that the plastic box sits right where my bonnet catch bracket is......so time to redo the harness.

 

I need to bring the battery cables across to the correct side, route the main harness down and behind the cylinder head so it cant be seen and then bring the main ECU plug, relays and the plug that normally connects the engine harness to the body harness inside the cabin. These also need to be easily unplugged for engine removal.

 

On the M3 the ECU, relays and harness plugs are all in waterproof compartments in the engine bay and understandably so as there is probably 120 wires all up, this results in a very thick harness that I need to bring through a grommet and like Peter Allen the trans tunnel is the best place to do it. After lots of research on the interwebs and 3 trips to pick a part I found a good grommet which came from a 2002 BMW 535. The shape and OD is big enough to get the bulky plugs and relays through and the ID is just the right size for the harness.

 

[KatoKid]

I still need to do a final tidy up of the harness and add some split conduit but it all sits well and will look OK when its all done. Once the airbox is in place the only thing you will see in the engine bay is the battery cables running across to the battery in the approximate position of the last photo.

 

The next thing will be to mount the ECU, relays and all the EWS security bits on an aluminium panel above the passenger foot well.

[KatoKid]

....approximate location of battery cables.

[Sirpent]

Hey David

 

I have to say that engine looks sweet in that bay, just works in all the right ways visually, just a question, couldnt you run the battery cables into the bulkhead along the inside of the wiper plenum chamber and the pop them out at the tray point, would just look neater.

 

Sorry just my $0.05 worth.

 

Cheers

 

John

[PZG302]

Looking good. even thogh my next project is completely different there is still some great ideas to pinch.

[KatoKid]

couldn't you run the battery cables into the bulkhead along the inside of the wiper plenum chamber and the pop them out at the tray point, would just look neater.

 

I could, but as stated from the word go I'm trying to keep the car as original as possible and try and make the whole conversion as reversible as possible. I did cringe when I took the grinder to the tunnel but half an hour to cut a piece of sheet and weld it back in will see it rectified back to original. Cutting holes in the plenum isn't something I want to do just for the sake of hiding the battery cables. The -ve cable also carries all the wires for the diagnostic plug which is massive and while I could make a connector plug so I could unplug it and draw it back through the plenum for engine removals it just isn't warranted. They battery cables will be barely seen anyway once the airbox is in place.

[PeterAllen]

David - Ferrari V12s carry the ignition leads in an aluminium tube attached to the rocker cover which I have replicated (see photos). You might want to consider something similar along the firewall for the battery leads. You could run it from behind the cylinder head to underneath the battery bracket. Just a thought. You can paint it to blend in with the body colour (see real Ferrari).

[KatoKid]

Peter.

 

Its scary how similarly we think! That's pretty well what I'm envisaging doing, dependent on how visible the cables are once everything else is in place. I still reckon they will barely be noticeable given how low down the firewall they are.

 

PS. Love your gate fabrication....and I don't mean garden gate.

[benny]

looks awesome dave... but why split conduit?? Please use the flexible mesh style you have on the rest of the loom it looks so much nicer!!

[Fairlady Z]

Lookign very good. havent checked this in a while. lots of progress. cannot wait for next stage

[KatoKid]

looks awesome Dave... but why split conduit?? Please use the flexible mesh style you have on the rest of the loom it looks so much nicer!!

 

Would love to Benny but that would mean de-pining the whole lot so not going to happen. I ended up using cloth Tesa tape to bundle the loom up, its a bit lumpy and bumpy because there are so many grouped power and earth connections that come together in different places. The best solution would be to completely remake the whole harness but I'm not confident enough to do this and the reality is that it will mostly be hidden by the airbox so it can stay as is. I will still run the +ve and -ve cables in something like Pete suggested.

 

I'm rapped with how well the grommet in the tunnel works. Still need to tape a bit further but otherwise all good.

 

In the M3 The engine harness is connected to the body harness through a very large plug called the X20 connector. This connector is way to big to try and bring in through the hole in the tunnel so Ive replaced this with a generic 12 pin plug as I only need to bring 10 wires inside the cabin.

 

[KatoKid]

I cut up some 3mm alloy sheet to make a mounting board for the ECU, EWS bits and relays. Used the fan mounting points on the RHS and there is a single 5mm captive nut on the firewall (no idea what its used for) for the other side.

 

Drilled and tapped two holes to mount the ECU and cut the original plastic relay mounts from the M3 fuse box and riveted that to the plate. The relays now just clip on. Its tight for space and the fuse box and the speed simulator will need to be mounted on the side kick panel.

 

Still need to make all the connections from the ignition switch and the EWS box to the 12 pin connector but that can wait.

[Sirpent]

Looks like someone wants a Christmas present where they can sit in the new Z seats they recently acquired, hold onto the steering wheel, turn the key, fire up that beast and get one step closer to putting into drive and launching out of that shed 

 

Nice David, as always 

[Fairlady Z]

me like proper conversion. all nice and neat how Nissan, Datsun erm BMW would have done it and better.  Great work David.

 

youtube clip if you get it started for xmas. we celebrate with you. 

[KatoKid]

Dont get too excited guys....I doubt this will run in the car until after it comes back from the panel shop in final colour. Im just building it up to near driveable so I can do all the brackets and fabrication work that will need to be done to ensure no cutting, grinding, drilling or welding after it comes back in colour.

[SS30RR]

I'll say this again. You have no idea what your in for : ).

 

I had an E36 3.2L M3 and it was scary fast on the freeway and in general. With 300kg less weight.....FK ME!!!! you will shet your pants son!!!! hahahhaha.