KatoKid

I think we can do a swap. Cant vouch for how good the 3.7 is though.

Good work garvice. I was faced with the same problem if I was to use the Getrag 6 speed in my conversion. The 5 speed ZF fits exactly in the same position as the original crossmember and is a nicer shifting box so that made the decision for me.

On the subject of 6 cylinder exocita.....http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php/topic/91348-tvr-speed-six-engine/ Thius looks the goods but too hard to find and too many $$$$$

Way to go John. Very happy for you. I know the gestation period has been long...... just hope the birth isn't too painful! Any idea when the new baby will land down under? This will be an epic build and very appealing for its uniqueness. David

Bloody hell....you are one determined individual! Big effort and Im sure you will sleep well when its finished knowing that its totally rust free. Must be hard to keep the motivation up but keep going as it looks like youre about to turn a corner. Well done!

I wasn't happy with the clearance between #6 primary pipe and the steering shaft. Spacing the engine/rack crossmember down to get the driveline alignment correct also had the undesirable effect of moving the steering shaft even closer to the chassis rail, it was already close as a result of the WRX rack installation so I needed to gain some clearance from the chassis rail by moving the base of the column up and towards the exhaust which in turn bought the #6 primary pipe closer to the steering shaft. Its been bugging me all day thinking about if I can get some more clearance so I ripped out to the shed as soon as my daughter was in bed. I unpicked the tack welds and slightly deformed the pipe near the collector just enough to be able to lay the #6 primary pipe hard on top of the #5 primary previously there was a gap of there of about 5mm. With this closed up it bought me about another 10mm of clearance in total. Now I'm happy, just hope the engineers are too when the time comes!

Thanks guys. Yes please pics Dimitri.

Craig. Just saw this and dont know if youve had yours replaced yet but I can strongly recommend a business called For A Windscreen, Mark Marley on 0418 374877. This guy does all the work for Porsche Australia and many other prestige dealers. David

Hi all. I'm at a place with my project where I need to make a decision on exhaust design and am seeking some guidance. I'm using the factory headers which are a paired 3 into 1, each finishing with 2" collectors. In the E36 M3 application and in fact most performance BMW applications they use 2" full length dual pipe systems and all the aftermarket systems are also full length dual pipe systems so I figure there is a good reason they do this given the weight penalties. To replicate this I would like to go with a full length dual pipe system but wont tolerate a low hanging exhaust and unless anyone tells me different I doubt I could fit a 2" dual pipe system that tucks up high enough and provides the room for resonators mid way in the tunnel and still uses the original single muffler location etc? Anyone got any pics of a dual pipe system like this? So I reckon I'm stuck with merging the 2 x 2" collectors into a single system but don't want this to be too restrictive or terrible to live with (must also meet noise limits for engineering and rego). From a common sense stand point I thought it would be worth comparing total cross sectional area of the various options: Factroy 2 x 2" is 6.28 square inches. Single 3" is 7.06 square inches Single 2.5" is 4.9 square inches Single 2.25" is 3.97 square inches In my mind single 3" is overkill and will hang too low and be obnoxious to live with anyway. 2 1/4" is too small so looks like 2.5" is the best option. I know Adam (Brown Hornet) has done a lot of research and is going this way but Ive also seen comments from OP on booming and resonance issues they couldn't solve, mind you this was with L series engines. Feel free to chime in with suggestions. Thanks

Peter A. I always envisaged I would have to do something like a bellcrank arrangement under the dash but Mike is very resourceful and has come up with some great very short MC options that may work. For simplicity sake and time I would prefer to go with a conventional set up if I can make it work without too much drama. Time will tell.

Yep, will probably have to provide some shielding. I haven't shown it in the photos but they do come from the factory with comprehensive shielding, butt ugly though! Mike, I only have 70mm to the back of the head so allowing some room for movement means 60mm is practically the longest I can go. I may be able to mount the MC with the flange inside the cabin but may then run out of pedal stroke.

Who did you use for the blasting Mark? Happy with the job?

Which engineers are you using Fu?

Clearance....

Next up was the exhaust. I really hoped that I could use the factory stainless steel headers and the first thing I checked once I had the engine roughly located in the car for the first time was to see how they may or may not fit. The headers are a separate pair of 3 into 1's and reassuringly it looked like the front would fit no problems and the rears would only require some massaging of the #6 primary which sticks out at a ridiculous angle compared to the rest, this is to clear the steering shaft as it was fitted in the E36. I figured that all I needed to do was cut the #6 primary near the collector and further up near the cylinder head and rotate it towards the engine, easier said than done as I had to figure out the axis on which it would rotate at the collector and then where and what angle to make the cut further up. I was pretty nervous and had a couple of beers before I took the saw to the pipes and fortunately I arsed it in on the first try. I still need to fill in the wedge I created at the collector but a quick tack (thanks to everyones advice on tacking stainless) and trial fit in the car revealed that I had adequate clearance. I might try and squeak a bit more clearance tonight as its I suspect the engineers will want more room between the pipe and the steering shaft. Here's the thread for my Subaru power steering install http://www.viczcar.com/forum/index.php/topic,7174.0.html

More...

With the trans mount and RT mount finished the drivetrain is now sitting in its final resting place. This is a big milestone for me as it is the culmination of many months of research, worry and second guessing. I'm very happy with the critical driveline alignment, its an interesting exercise in understanding what manufacturers go through when designing cars. As it turns out it's a piece of luck that the original L series and diff is offset to the RH side as this provides the clearance between the M3 sump and the tension rod bracket on the LH side chassis rail, without this offset the sump would need some cutting and shutting. Here's some better photos of the engine mounts in its final position...... the bottom of the sump is at exactly the same height as the bottom of the engine/steering rack crossmember. The transmission is very tight in the tunnel with it being located well over to the RH side and as high as possible, there is only 8mm or so between the top of the trans and the tunnel at its tightest point. Should be enough room to allow for the engine torquing over on acceleration, the heavy duty rubber mounts will help here. I still need to install the shifter which is remote body mounted but think it will be OK. The cylinder sitting over the LH engine mount racket is the oil accumulator for the Vanos system.

Thanks for the kind words John. Got the trans crossmember finished on the weekend.

Damn, that Arizona sump is cheap for what it is. Expected much more $$$

Mmm...mmmm yes please. Dyno sheets to come???

Dimitri has R33/R31 combo, anyone know what MC he's running?

Thanks all, especially Wayne G. Wayne, assume you use normal argoshield with the steel wire when tacking? Further to the subject, can anyone recommend a source for stainless mandrel bends in Melbourne?

Ok, call out to all you welders out there. I need to modify my factory BMW stainless steel headers slightly to fit so will need to buy some stainless mandrel bends and then cut to fit and then tack weld in place so I can take the pipes to someone who can TIG them properly for me. Ive got a good Lincholn MIG but dont want the expense of having to buy wire and gas just for a few tacks so have few questions about the best and cheapest way of doing this: 1. Is there such a thing as gasless stainless MIG wire? 2. Can I use normal argoshield mild steel gas with stainless wire just for tacking. 3. Will normal steel wire and gas allow me just to tack? If yes will it cause problems when they go to TIG properly latter? Any other suggestions on how to get this done? Thanks. David

More good progress last night.....got the trans crossmember pretty well finished, just need to gusset for strength and add a spacer on the right hand side where it bolts up to the floor. Made a template from 1mm sheet and then transferred that to 5mm plate. I don't have metal folding brake so used the drawbar of the horse float and a sledge hammer...got the job done surprisingly well, just don't tell the missus I took some paint off her beloved float in the process! Crossmember only took a bit over an hour to get to this point, was surprisingly easy, in fact the whole conversion from a mechanical standpoint will be pretty well bolt in and very easy. Picture shows the trans in its final position to achieve the driveline alignment required.