finished install of the halo headlights and the bumper ducts
Small block chevy v8 swapped z3
- Thread starter Marquisz3
- Start date
finished install of the halo headlights and the bumper ducts
Update cars currently at 850 miles and everything’s genuinely running great, but I’m taking the time to take some things apart and fix a few of the spots that bother me this weekend (it’s pretty much just the exhaust setup)
also while the front end was off I decided to just make a shroud for the radiator fan, temps have actually been really good but it was a while I was in there
Currently I mocked up a bit of piping and it seems like this exhaust setup is going to work, initially I had two dumps I made with small cherry bomb mufflers but that was just to get it running while I tested the entire setup, now I’m getting around to routing it backwards through the car and with a good muffler so it isn’t very loud, the biggest issue happens to be the steering shaft even with the low profile one there isn’t a lot of room to work with So I intended to emulate a turbo setup and basically hood the drivers side forward and around (I’m gonna shorted the pipe too don’t worry so it’s not close to the rad) and dump down the passenger side where I do actually have clearance and connect it with the passenger header
I haven’t taken the drivers side off yet but for an idea of what I ran on each side
Gonna probably finish it up tomorrow my vband clamps get here so I’ll be able to properly weld up the exhaust together and have a permanent rear exit (also finally getting around to putting my rev limiter in my distributor this weekend)
also while the front end was off I decided to just make a shroud for the radiator fan, temps have actually been really good but it was a while I was in there
I haven’t taken the drivers side off yet but for an idea of what I ran on each side
Gonna probably finish it up tomorrow my vband clamps get here so I’ll be able to properly weld up the exhaust together and have a permanent rear exit (also finally getting around to putting my rev limiter in my distributor this weekend)
Attachments
Got around to fabricating the connection point now all I need to do is make the U shaped pipe fit up with the vband clamp and run it back to the rear, might just reuse the stock piping from the z3 for now for ease of setup just gonna replace the muffler
My old jeep has the exhaust that ran around the front of the engine. May have looked a little odd but it made for a very tight arrangement with no clearance issues.
Nah. Do a proper job
How did you know
exhaust officially routed backwards just needs a midpipe and a muffler
Attachments
Still gotta make a midpipe to muffler setup but the front end of the car is back on and I painted the exhaust and headers as well as threw a bit more on the block
Just hit over 1100 miles on the setup new plate is on and I’m going to be hooking up the heater hoses to the heater core this weekend
Oh I realized I never updated it btw I just reused the stock muffler and midpipe and added a second cherry bomb to help quiet everything down but the exhaust does run all the way back now I’ll end up attaching some videos down the line but not much louder then a stock z3 imo
Gonna do a few prints of variations sometime this week but got the measurements done for the center console switch panel area so it can all be in one piece
first test print done on the lower portion everything fits around the shifter well and redesigned the upper half once its done ill make a separate thread and release the files if anyone wants to modify it for their setup top two pieces are on the printer and should be on the car tomorrow
i also got around to tidying up the bay and putting my new air cleaner on
Gonna make a few tweaks to the dimensions but overall pretty happy with the center console setup
Got around to running lines to the stock heater core, and vacuum bled the entire system the car now has heat again and the stock blower fan works as well
Update on the project, currently have to get multiple surgeries and life kinda hit as it does, everything’s all good on my end but I have someone coming to buy the sbc350 z3 today so this is most likely the end of this thread at least but if there’s any questions about the swap I’m still going to be around to answer, never fully gone just gonna come back with a cleaner chassis and a 454 big block next time is what I’m telling myself lol
I, for one, enjoyed your thread and have it bookmarked in case I decide to put a v8 into my ReBody.
Now isn't that an idea for a new project for yourself? A Cobra based on a z3 chassis with a 427?
I did look into the KOBRA body kits even with this chassis lol but I definitely think when life works itself and I can apply all of the smaller things I’ve learned on the chassis a big block in a cleaner car, definitely pushed a new kind of setup forward documentation wise at least so not only do I know I can do it but it is now proven 100 percent doable, affordably, reliably as well as still maintaining all of the stock creature comforts I’ll end up making a really in detail cost list alongside the prices I sold all of the stock parts for just in case anybody was looking directly for an idea of what all went in to the cars cost wise (spoiler it’s cheaper then a stock semi clean 6 cyl at least where I live)