Haus of Guru: The Ultimate Car Build Off (Page 46/58)
Charlie64 SEP 16, 11:12 AM
bmwguru SEP 16, 02:05 PM
I took Charlie's car to the outskirts of town and took some pics near the abandoned factory and other rural areas. I've probably put about 300 miles on this car in the past two days.

















[This message has been edited by bmwguru (edited 09-16-2012).]

ConvictedRedneck SEP 17, 11:55 AM
Looks great and sounds like it drives awesome. The gearing on the F40 doesn't sound nearly as short as everyone seems to indicate.
bmwguru SEP 17, 06:54 PM
the gearing feels very close to the Getrag.
jim94 SEP 17, 08:48 PM
Thanks for the ride in my old state of NJ. .nice video.
bmwguru SEP 29, 03:58 PM
So, Charlie's car was ready to go home and it started getting slower. I did a compression test and leakdown test and our worst fear had come true....we lost cylinder #6.

The sad part is it was still faster than most 3800 Fiero's on only 5 cylinders.



I spent two days and got a low mileage series III short block and switched all his parts over. Since Charlie is a good friend and customer (even with his Mercedes-Benz), I bought him a present for his short block as long as we were digging that far...The XZP cam.



All assembled and ready to drop back in...







Should be on the road again Monday. We also modified Spec's slave cylinder shim. It rattled really bad. If I have to do another 3800s/c/F40, I will either make my own shim or make my own flywheel.

Dave

[This message has been edited by bmwguru (edited 09-29-2012).]

bmwguru SEP 29, 04:03 PM
I smoke test every engine for vacuum leak before I drop it in. The ZZP aluminum valve covers seem to interfere with the 42lb injectors and sometimes have o-ring leaks.....just keep an eye out for that if you are running that combo.

Dave
bmwguru SEP 30, 03:33 PM
I went tothe shop this morning and installed the drivetrain. I pulled the fuel pump fuse and cranked it until I got oil pressure. Installed the fuse and it fired right up....and sounded mean. I'll be playing with the Go-Pro this week with this swap and another swap that I am almost done with...should be good for a few videos.
Dave
Charlie64 SEP 30, 04:38 PM
Now that's what I call dedication. This whole experience has been very enlightening. When I had the original swap done back in 2004 I was told the engine came out of a 2004 Grand Prix. I was not aware back then that 2004 and up GPs had the series III engine. Our best guess is the original swap came from an 02 or older with quite possibly a lot of miles. At least now I can say it has been done right!

When Dave said he had a surprise for me had no idea what he was talking about, but very pleased with what he's done. I won't be able to attend the Lititz show this year since I'll be traveling, but Dave knows he's more than welcome to take my car there and "REPRESENT" if he decides it's ready. Hoping to make Pete's next cruise and pick up a camera like Dave's. Guess I'll go stare at my wheels still in the boxes in my shed and drool over my tires at the tire shop.
bmwguru SEP 30, 05:25 PM
your original pcm came from a 1999 Grand Prix. I can't be sure if that was the year of your motor, but it was definitely a series II. The 2004 Grand Prix's can have a block stamped series II, but will have the series III blower and heads.
The replacement engine was from a 2005 Grand Prix. The junkyard was baffled when I told them that I would be stripping it down to the short block and I wanted a "professional warranty"....basically my word that if there was an issue with the short block, they would not try and say it was my fault. I had to get the motor built and running in a reasonable amount of time for this as well. I performed a leakdown test on it and it runs nice....so we should be set.

Dave