Small block chevy v8 swapped z3

[Marquisz3]

Also I never addressed the driveshaft setup specifically but they do make a REALLY nice product (the only other swap piece besides the driveshaft I purchased everything else was fabbed by me

But it’s a differential adapter that fits the faces on small and medium case diffs for our z3s but lets you run a super common 1310 u joint, I just ran it to a 1350 slip yolk I had for the th400 trans dropping the driveshaft off to get corrected today though as it was a bit too long

 

[Marquisz3]

Definitely plan on going back to stocks in the front unless I’m at the drag strip because the smaller wheels leave very little clearance for the front bumper

switched over to the stocks and repainted the front bumper with oem matched spray cans( made another thread if anyone wants info SUPER impressed by the color match

that being said is anyone super knowledgeable in suspension I’m currently looking into options specifically for the front to just hold the weight and possibly raise the front just a slight bit preferably some sort of bolt on coilover set

 

[Marquisz3]

Luckily the other forum members are super knowledgeable I ended up ordering a set of e36 front shocks for a 6 cylinder (this car was originally a 4) and the reinforcement plates so once those get here I should be able to raise the front up or at least minimize the drop when not running the drag tires on the rear

also ordered a custom plate through my state, my last one took like 2 months to get here but at least the plate will match the car

 

[Marquisz3]

Well guys it’s drivable and I’ve been driving it all afternoon driveshaft fits great I’ll attach driving videos

 

[Marquisz3]

Compilation of driving clips from today Driving video

 

[Marquisz3]

Within 24 hours I’ve fit 212 miles of

sriving

 

[Delk]

That sounds like quite a shake down test. Must be happy it's running.

 

[Marquisz3]

That sounds like quite a shake down test. Must be happy it's running.

Oh absolutely, and unbelievably impressed with the drivability, I made sure both the trans and engine mounts retained bushings so the vibration is about what the original motor was, it has plenty of solid power and maintains temps well, overall very happy with the outcome so far

 

[Duncodin]

What's with the Gas station pumps? Diesel or Marine? You fill up there you won't be doing many more miles - I did that once. Only noticed after filling up before driving. Had to wait 2 hours for the breakdown service to come and pump it out.

 

[Marquisz3]

What's with the Gas station pumps? Diesel or Marine? You fill up there you won't be doing many more miles - I did that once. Only noticed after filling up before driving. Had to wait 2 hours for the breakdown service to come and pump it out.

Oh don’t worry I didn’t fill up there it’s just a really pleasing spot for photos with how the lighting is and it being standalone lol

 

[Marquisz3]

This might answer one of the questions you guys are pretty interested in, what is the weight of the car now with the swap, and how much different is it compared to a stock model
z3 roadster 2.8 man tranny = 2844 lbs
z3 m-roadster = 3087 lbs
This is what I found as far as comparable stock weights on the models, for this first weigh in I did it with the drag radials on the car, also keep in mind this car is not gutted I have all the original panels and sound deadening and even the amplifier

keep in mind in these photos I am in fact on the platform as well so subtract around 155 and the wet weight comes right out to 2900 lbs lighter then the z3m and only 100 pounds more then the stock inline 6 model

 

[Duncodin]

Did you get the front/rear weights?

 

[Marquisz3]

Did you get the front/rear weights?

No I plan to later on the place local to me just has the big drive up one that doesn’t specify

 

[Delk]

Becareful about discussing Z3 weights. You dont even want to begin down the rabit hole of discussing the pros and conns of removing the rear bumber weights from the car.

 

[Marquisz3]

Becareful about discussing Z3 weights. You dont even want to begin down the rabit hole of discussing the pros and conns of removing the rear bumber weights from the car.

That’s fair I’m not a super weight focused individual I just did it more for the sake of the thread and proper documentation, just so that it’s out there the rough difference between a street build like this and a stock street car

 

[Duncodin]

No I plan to later on the place local to me just has the big drive up one that doesn’t specify

Thought you might have driven the front wheels onto the weighbridge and made a note of the weight before driving the car on.

 

[Marquisz3]

Thought you might have driven the front wheels onto the weighbridge and made a note of the weight before driving the car on.

Definitely gonna do that next time when I switch to the stock rear wheels

 

[Marquisz3]

Update from the week currently got 430 miles on the dash

added a mechanical fan, e36 six cylinder sedan front shocks and took the slicks off just for fun and driving the shocks absolutely leveled out the front of the car, also finally replaced my right window actuator and put the door card back in

 

[Marquisz3]

got around to putting the interior back back together and made a little temporary aluminum plate for in between the shifter but overall is driving really well I plan on getting a new intake setup and looking into those 3d printed ram air fog light ducts to make something kind of cool for the air cleaner

 

[Marquisz3]

More progress on the setup
Put a carb spacer on and heat wrapped my fuel line

I’m currently working on reworking the intake to a dual cone setup instead of the normal air cleaner but I got the files for the fog light intake from erikkson designs(gonna make a separate thread regarding the intake ducts so people have more info about them)

first print for testing

got two of these that can rotate the angles anywhere up to 90 that fit pretty well

I’ll send finished photos of that setup later in the thread this is more of a mockup for the ducts