Blunttech e12 LSx / t56 swap

jakeb · Post by **jakeb** » Sep 27, 2012 10:23 PM

Small update...
Here is the difference between an LS1 intake and LS6 intake. The LS6 is on the left. They look the same on the top but on bottom the LS6 is flat...it is bigger on the inside and good for 15-20hp on it's own.

On the engine

Power steering/hydroboost lines are made

Other things done or at least figured out but no pictures of...
throttle cable
power steering/hydroboost return lines (they have to T into each other)
Drivers side exhaust manifold bolted on for the last time (I love putting things on for the last time)

jakeb · Post by **jakeb** » Sep 29, 2012 1:14 PM

Saturday lunchtime update.

Hard to really get pictures of this..but it all the high pressure lines from the power steering pump to the steering rack and the hydroboost. The T you see here is the return from the steering box and then from the hydroboost.

Lines coming off steering box

Connection at the pump

Oxygen sensor bungs tacked in...just need to fully weld
Drivers side..

Passenger side...added an extra here in case I want to log some data with my wideband and HP tuners.

Shifter coming up through...using the stock camaro stuff for now.

jakeb · Post by **jakeb** » Sep 30, 2012 6:17 PM

Plugging away...

O2 bungs fully welded and the remainder of the exhaust is painted with high temp paint.

Throttle cable bracket

Where it connects to the e12 lever. The throttle lever on the e12 normally is much lower and pointing down. It actually pushes when you push down on the pedal and uses a bunch of linkages up to the throttle body. For it to work with a cable it needed to pull... I was able to rotate it so the arm was pointing up and make it into a puller.

Then it loops around the intake.

Where it hooks to the throttle body

The coil for cylinder #7 had to be moved a little bit

GTO engine covers...they will need a little trimming on the drivers side to fit but they should work nicely

unt0uchable · Post by **unt0uchable** » Sep 30, 2012 6:22 PM

Looking slick as usual. Can't wait to see a video of this beast tearing through some gears. Keep it up Jake!

jakeb · Post by **jakeb** » Oct 01, 2012 10:43 PM

thanks man!

Started on putting the engine harness back together.

Lay it back on the engine and start plugging wires in.

Pull them together and tape every time a wire goes in or out of the loom.

Just keep going along

That's a lot of wires....

Looking better....

jakeb · Post by **jakeb** » Oct 04, 2012 8:34 PM

Took today to try to wrap it up....wiring is taking longer than I expected. But progress none the less.

I laid the harness back out on the engine....now off the engine and repinned to the connectors. Looking like the PCM will reach into the glovebox.

Rewrapping the harness

Laying it back out on the engine

Still more to clean up...wires can be tied into the e12 harness now..

The extra fuse/relay box.

Intake is coming together

Now I wasn't expecting that filter was going to be that big....

Both of these filters have a 3.5" inlet.... The one on the right really isn't that small either.

The filter I ordered is just about the same size as my head.

jakeb · Post by **jakeb** » Oct 07, 2012 5:06 PM

More wiring....engine side is done and all wrapped up for the most part. Still need to connect the grounds. Next up I can tie the LSx harness into the BMW harness. The e12 has some weird wiring so I am trying to track down where the fuel pump feeds from.

Some pictures....

Made the hole bigger going into the car

PCM connectors reach without extending wires!! very good
You can also see the wires separated coming from the extra fuse box.

You can't really see but where the wires turn towards the inside of the car I make some little marks with a marker so I can keep things lined up.

Then just like a cooking show...20 minutes in the oven and we are done

OBDII Port and other wires that will go into the cabin, CEL, VSS signal for speedo, power/ground for speedo, and one extra power line. (wideband for tuning if needed)

Wires over at the drivers side where they will tie into the fuse box. coolant temp, oil psi, tach, fuel pump, 12v switched, start signal

Just another angle showing the routing.

Jelmer538i · Post by **Jelmer538i** » Oct 08, 2012 1:41 AM

Looks like its almost ready to run!

1st 5er · Post by **1st 5er** » Oct 08, 2012 9:47 AM

jakeb wrote: That's a lot of wires....

I think I'd rather have a tooth pulled.

jakeb · Post by **jakeb** » Oct 08, 2012 10:09 AM

Yes it is getting really close to being able to fire it up

jamesohoh7 · Post by **jamesohoh7** » Oct 08, 2012 10:11 AM

1st 5er wrote:
jakeb wrote: That's a lot of wires....

I think I'd rather have a tooth pulled.

pulled then surgically re-implanted upside down ... would STILL be less painful!

jakeb · Post by **jakeb** » Oct 08, 2012 10:13 AM

haha, why do people hate wiring so much? It's really NOT that scary. Once you spend hours upon hours of reading and looking at schematics.

Post by **Brad D.** » Oct 08, 2012 10:40 AM

jakeb wrote:haha, why do people hate wiring so much? It's really NOT that scary. Once you spend hours upon hours of reading and looking at schematics.

I'm the same way. I don't really get the general fear of wiring that so many have. Dare I say I actually enjoy wiring.

jakeb · Post by **jakeb** » Oct 08, 2012 5:45 PM

Little bit by little bit....

Wires going to the crank sensor, starter solenoid, and gauge temp sensor. Wraped in heat tape as they are all pretty close to the exhaust. That is how GM does it as well so...

New harness tied into the e12 fuse box. These wires will get wrapped.

AC pressure fitting that needs to be brazed together

A couple other things done but no pictures...or really pictures required.
Negative cable to block/battery
fuel line connected

tn535i · Post by **tn535i** » Oct 09, 2012 8:28 AM

jakeb wrote: sound deadening on the firewall

covered with some heat reflection stuff

Been watching this and have a question about the sound deadening and heat reflection material. What have you used here. Looks good and might consider on our e30 project. That rubbery piece of stuff from our cars wasn't worth trying to re-install.

jakeb · Post by **jakeb** » Oct 09, 2012 8:30 AM

It is two different products. First a stick on sound deadening type material. Dynamat style...lots of different brands out there.

Then the heat reflection stuff I use is DEI Floor and tunnel shield. I get it from summit racing.

jamesohoh7 · Post by **jamesohoh7** » Oct 09, 2012 12:31 PM

Brad D. wrote:
jakeb wrote:haha, why do people hate wiring so much? It's really NOT that scary. Once you spend hours upon hours of reading and looking at schematics.
I'm the same way. I don't really get the general fear of wiring that so many have. Dare I say I actually enjoy wiring.

Once you let the smoke out of the wires, it's really hard to get it back in is all...

jakeb · Post by **jakeb** » Oct 09, 2012 11:14 PM

Plugged the PCM in about 30 minutes ago and powered it all up. PCM primed the fuel pump and is working. Did a read entire with HP tuners so I can pull out VATS and other unneeded things. VATS is like EWS in the BMW world.

I did have one issue with how the unloader relay works...when I turned the key to on (not crank) the engine started cranking. I used a start relay because that is how GM does it and the fuse/relay panel I got came wired that way. I will just have to run a wire direct to the starter solenoid the way BMW wants it. Easy fix....

e12 with an OBDII Port connected to a laptop.......

tn535i · Post by **tn535i** » Oct 10, 2012 8:40 AM

Since the key 'run' position sends power to the unloader relay coil it gets immediately energized but only de-energized when you apply power to the starter solenoid since the unloader coil is actually grounded through the starter coil. So the unloader 'unloads' when you apply power to the starter coil. If you put the GM start relay in that position it probably gets enough power from the current passing through the unloader relay coil to energize the GM relay. You probably already figured that out.

You will have to split out the BMW unloader relay and take it to the coil energize output of the GM relay to get the unloader to work as intended I think. Then apply the start signal to the GM start relay. A separate wire from the BMW start may still be tied into the unloader in the harness. If you just run a separate wire to the GM relay you would have the same problem. If you lift the start altogether from a grounded termination then the unloader relay will never energize. Or will you just eliminate the GM relay?

Hope I said that right. You probably know this anyway.

Anxious to see this going and following your progress.

jakeb · Post by **jakeb** » Oct 10, 2012 8:44 AM

I plan to just run the start wire direct to the starter like BMW wants it. Then the unloader will get ground when not in cranking mode. I checked the start pin on my e28 with the c101 unplugged and I was also seeing 12v so it is the same as the e12.

jakeb · Post by **jakeb** » Oct 11, 2012 8:04 PM

Intake setup is made...the filter might need to change to something a little smaller...not sure if the hood will close. But it will work for now.

jakeb · Post by **jakeb** » Oct 13, 2012 12:21 PM

It's running!!

I can never remember how to flip the iphone to get the right orientation for youtube....

Either way here are a couple videos. I will get some better ones eventually.
The little light in the engine bay is a oil pressure light. You can hear it quiet down once the light goes off.

This is the first start
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39tCSraGwUE&feature=plcp

A little blip...you can hear a slightly choppy idle from the cam.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tv6A3z0JotU&feature=plcp

1st 5er · Post by **1st 5er** » Oct 14, 2012 4:20 PM

That makes it all worth it.

Congrats.

Mark 88/M5 Houston · Post by **Mark 88/M5 Houston** » Oct 14, 2012 10:08 PM

Great sounding E12 there sir!

jakeb · Post by **jakeb** » Oct 15, 2012 6:06 PM

thanks guys, glad it is running! After a little research it looks like the pushrods are a little short. So I have a set of 7.450 on order. The ones in it now are 7.400. That should add a bit more preload on the lifters and quiet down the valve train some.

Worked on the AC lines today.
These are the crimped low side to compressor (short line) and high side from compressor to condenser.

In the tool and pre crimp

post crimp

Entire crimping tool/setup

Heater hoses also done...AC lines feeding up to the drier (not connected yet) and the low side to the evap.

Bad picture...but where it goes up front..

Other side before it goes to the condenser.

Hooking to the condenser

jakeb · Post by **jakeb** » Oct 18, 2012 8:28 PM

Master cylinder is back on....getting those lines all hooked up was a BITCH. Mostly the ones on the bottom. Hard to push up and turn at the same time.
Either way it is hooked up......#5 coil will have to be relocated a little to clear the reservoir.

Upper radiator hose and efan. I looked for a single hose but couldn't find anything to do what I wanted/needed. So two hoses with a coupler will work. efan is a 16" puller...high and low speed controlled by the GM PCM.

As luck would have it the lower hose worked out being the left over piece/bend from the upper hose hooked to the radiator.

alternator/belt/etc are all on

jakeb · Post by **jakeb** » Oct 19, 2012 7:53 PM

New sway bar mounts tacked on. Once I am happy with them it will get fully welded.

I was able to get the end link connected...it is at a slight angle. When I go to have it aligned I will look it over a bit better as the weight will be fully on the wheels and I can see how everything is sitting. End links are not fully tightened as well.

blurry pic but it is coming along....

jakeb · Post by **jakeb** » Oct 23, 2012 11:24 AM

So the e12 has a mechanical speedo.... The t56 does not have a speedo drive but it does have a VSS sensor and the PCM has a VSS output.

So....electric speedo conversion.

Electric VDO Speedo glued to the old metal face.

New face on the left...to be glued to the gauge on the right. The stock e12 needle will get pushed on.

Glued on...the bottom little white bit with get trimmed off. I just needed something to hold onto while it was being glued

Will reassemble into the gauge cluster later today.

Jelmer538i · Post by **Jelmer538i** » Oct 23, 2012 12:08 PM

Nice speedo! I like it when people think about things like this!

jakeb · Post by **jakeb** » Oct 23, 2012 8:32 PM

Speedo is done...

I was going to mount the odometer/trip button in the under column panel but then I noticed how the odometer reset worked for the mechanical speedo.

Add a button..

All put together

In the car

How it all works..... I think it came out pretty stock looking.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-d8tOvXeekl

MyE28.com

MyE28.com

Blunttech e12 LSx / t56 swap