Oh man.... modern Euro overhead cam engine, electronic fuel injection, fibergl***, polished aluminum and chrome, cheap chinesium copy parts.... all the things you guys don't want to see on this site A pictorial of my in-progress build. Version 2 of a similar previous build you'll see in the background. Speedway Motors bare T frame Speedway Motors '25 T body w/ door 90's BMW DOHC 4.4L V8 BMW 6spd manual transmission 70's Jag IRS Re-pop '32 Ford grill shell (Two upper halves) Re-pop '32 Ford Headlights DIY Open Source EFI, Independent Throttle Bodies We are currently caught up to my progress thus far. The engine sitting in the frame is an early 2000's M62TUB44, the first iteration of their variable intake cams. The variable cam timing bits are problematic, as well as the timing guides for this year. At this point it's in for mock-up and fab, the plan is to combine these two engines into one: One an early 90's M60B40, the other a late 90's M62B44 without variable cam timing bits. The earlier V8's cams and double row timing chains on the later, larger displacement, 4.4L variant. You may have noticed a distributor above, the EFI does use individual coil-on plug ignition coils that are located under the name plate on the valve covers. The distributor is a gutted Ford points piece and the ignition wires are cloth wrapped guitar speaker cable with two 16ga stranded copper wires. I am sending the ignition coils +12v and +5v trigger through the "ignition wires" and the coils ground at that mounting on the cylinder heads. The current focus is hanging those large GM wilwood calipers off the Jag center section, using modern generation Jeep/Fiat 12" vented brake rotors: Once the rear diff is ****oned up I plan to focus on cleaning up and getting the the engine together. Thanks for checking out my project. If this is your kind of build, or just morbidly curious, please check back for updates.
Hi @Mykk ! You know I'm following! BTW, I was in town 3ish weeks ago on a Saturday and saw you zipping around.
Saw your other build on the other site, read through it and got ideas. You might consider mentioning it here. I forgot what you called it over there…
Thank you for the warm reception. I tried an idea that I can now file under "You don't know if you don't try it" It's just not the right look for this build: ...if one were building a sci-fi racer, modern style, big wheel roadster. The wing would be right at home.
If you were to fit some polished, more vintage style cam covers, I think it'd fool a lot of people into thinking it was something old. The motor, even as it is, looks far better than I'd have ever expected.
Perhaps do something to the cam covers so that it doesn't look like there is something missing? My first instinct would moreover be to lose the coil packs and rig a distributor somehow. But the design ethos in this build is a bit different. It looks like @Pete Eastwood 's invaluable thread on cowl steering is gone. That's a loss; I've had occasion to link to it before. I suppose hitting your head against a brick wall trying to impart basic principles of geometry eventually becomes tiring. But please do a search. The topic has been discussed intensively on the HAMB.
Moving forward on the project: Pushed the car out of the shop supporting it's own weight. Feels like a milestone, despite that everything is loosely bolted together in a state of mock-ip Starting on the engine project: Purple Power & Pressure Washer will only get so far on 32 years worth of grime and oil leaks. I'll get back in there with brushes and elbow grease once things are torn down. The engine on the left is a 4.4L, the engine on the right is a 4.0L. The 4.4L has the higher displacement and nikasil cylinder lining, the 4.0L has longer duration & higher lift cams and uses the desirable double row timing chains. Early 4.0L's used alusil cylinder lining that reacted poorly to the sulfur content in U.S. fuels and would loose ring seal and compression. I try not to tear into the rotating ***embly of these engines if I can help it. If the engine has comparable compression & leak down on all 8 holes I clean them up, transfer the cam & timing hardware. Set up my own cam timing and run them.
Saw your post over on the Bucket forum. I'll say it here. German engineering loves high torque and pressures. It seems excessive in many cases. They also love many fasteners over a few. In the past couple decades, they have embraced plastics as much or more than everyone else. It might work for volume production cost savings that are not p***ed along to the customer, but is horrid for servicing over the life of the vehicle. I really enjoy your adventures in the re-engineering of the BMW V8, but can't bring myself to embrace the mad complexity they embody. Being able to phase the cams like you have shown, going from a smooth idle to a 'hot rod' rumble with a twist of a knob or push of a ****on is amazing. I applaud the reverse engineering and exploiting the capabilities of the hardware and software. But it strikes me as the mechanical ****og of the Mustang dash that can adjust through 900 different colors. https://www.cjponyparts.com/resources/s550-mustang-digital-dash-cluster-guide I'd end up with something pleasing and leave it alone. Mad props to you for digging in and sharing your learning!
It´s so cool to watch you building a hot rod BMW V8. I agree with RodStRace, I love the simplycity of lets say a 327 Chevy and a mildly warmed up one will be equally powerfully as a 4.4 BMW V8. But these things are made to cruise easily at 130+ mph all day long for 200kmiles or more. Maintainance is absolutly mandatory. I have friends that are BMW engineers who even own old American iron themselves and love our old cars for their simplicity and good performance. Quiet a few are studying LS engines closely and admit, BMW never made a V8 the could touch the LS. after all they, and we, are all cars guys. Have fun in your build, I´ll show it around if you don´t mind, hahaha
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