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  • #76
    Excellent work! So often we see these grand scale projects start up and eventually they're never to be heard from again. Glad to see you're keeping your motivation! Also, not sure if it's on your agenda or not, but have you considered any kind of sound deadening material now that you've got the interior completely stripped? There's several cost effective spray on deadeners that are simple to apply. I know you're concerned about keeping weight down, but just thought I'd ask! Keep up the good work.

    Comment


    • #77
      Thanks man! Yeah the forum is pretty dead these days, but I'm trying to keep things alive! I will be painting the interior with a black chassis paint eventually, but no sound deadening. This thing is so far from a comfortable street car at this point, it would really be counterintuitive.
      Beautiful Beast- 1997 PGT in process of becoming an SC/NA Beast...
      Elo- 1990 BMW 325i weekend car
      Brunhilde- 2003 BMW Z4 3.0 6-speed daily driver
      The Beast- Sleeping in the junkyard...

      Comment


      • #78
        Took a break from working on the PGT yesterday to pick up a new stablemate...

        2003 BMW Z4 3.0i with 69k miles... gotta say I'm pretty stoked. I'll let the pictures do the talking.


        Beautiful Beast- 1997 PGT in process of becoming an SC/NA Beast...
        Elo- 1990 BMW 325i weekend car
        Brunhilde- 2003 BMW Z4 3.0 6-speed daily driver
        The Beast- Sleeping in the junkyard...

        Comment


        • #79
          Hey brother!
          I have a similar car, Z4 3.0i from 2003.
          Here it is next to my Probe under the cover !

          Comment


          • #80
            Twins!
            Beautiful Beast- 1997 PGT in process of becoming an SC/NA Beast...
            Elo- 1990 BMW 325i weekend car
            Brunhilde- 2003 BMW Z4 3.0 6-speed daily driver
            The Beast- Sleeping in the junkyard...

            Comment


            • #81
              So not much documentation of the work I've been doing as it's all been pretty slow and tedious and there's not all that much to see. Running the required sensors for the MS and trying to figure out what wires/circuits I need to include, what amperage the fuses need to be, and what gauge the wiring needs to be. Hoping I can get some input on the community as I have a few questions going forward, that I want to make sure I do right so I don't have a diagnosing nightmare on my hands in the future.

              First things first, a little something came in the mail the same week that I got the Z4. Rather hilariously I was so distracted by getting a new car, I forgot this was even coming!

              As some of you have likely seen, there has been a set of ZE heads with full Ferrea valvetrain available in the for sale section. Now I have ZE heads, Colt Race 218 cams, and Interprep valve springs already... but for the price, I figured what the heck.


              Box was mangled from the international shipping, and kind of worrying.

              Well there's certainly a head in there!


              First head looks good


              Second looks good... but wait?


              This was claimed to be bolt on and go, however there is what appears to be molten chunks of aluminum spewed out on and around the intake valves in on cylinder. I can't imagine it will be that big of a deal with a little bit of cleanup, but still, not something you want to see on heads you just plopped a good chunk of cash on.


              Also not great, are the partly threaded in bolts on the exhaust ports that were apparel bent during shipping. Here's to hoping I wont have to rethread those.


              Oh well, that's a project to address at a later date.
              So back on task, After wiring the MS specific sensors, I started into the other pieces of MS wiring (MS power/ground, wideband controller, fuel pump, wasted spark, etc) and quickly realized I would need a graphical representation and step by step instructions to make sure I did this all correct... so Adobe Illustrator and research came into play.

              MS supporting inputs/outputs diagram


              Which leads to a couple questions to confirm I've come to the correct conclusions.
              1)Assuming a PGT firing order of 1,2,3,4,5,6 and a wasted spark firing order of A,C,B is this the correct orientation for the spark plug wires?


              2)It's suggested that the +12v to the ignition coils should have a 15-20 amp fuse protecting the circuit, however the +12v wiring to the wasted spark coils is like 18g, which from my research I should be running 14g-12g. Am I looking at this wrong?

              3)Is it correct that the fuel pump wiring (at the pump) is: +12v=black/brown dots, Ground=black/white stripes? Keep in mind I'm bypassing all the stock circuits/relays/etc and running my own, so all I'm looking for is the wiring closest to the pump (but still inside the car).
              Beautiful Beast- 1997 PGT in process of becoming an SC/NA Beast...
              Elo- 1990 BMW 325i weekend car
              Brunhilde- 2003 BMW Z4 3.0 6-speed daily driver
              The Beast- Sleeping in the junkyard...

              Comment


              • #82
                doesn't look like it was shipped. looks like they tied the box to the back of the truck a dragged it all the way

                Comment


                • #83
                  I am curious as to how the molten aluminum got on the chamber head and none of the head appears to be melted. Must have been cheap arse low melting point aluminum pistons that melted long before the head showed any signs. Looks to be still use-able to me. Take care removing the bent bolts and perhaps you will have a set of very nice heads without much work involved.

                  Good job on the work! Keep the pics coming. I need inspiration to keep moving myself. It often seems so much more enticing to kick back in the recliner and turn on the TV -than does -turning wrenches, cutting knuckles and getting greasy!
                  Success is a measure of determination!
                  Bonneville Dreamer-(AKA Purple Pimp Mobile)
                  $500 Gas-Electric-Gas Reconversion/Restoration
                  Mini-me & 500k "Old Gal" RIP
                  Restoration of a legend

                  Comment


                  • #84
                    Yeah, the boxes were in pretty poor shape. Had apparently been dropped in water at some point? as they were soggy in certain areas. Overall I'm not particularly stoked, but I certainly think theyre useable, and if not I can at least swap the titanium stuff over to my extra ZE heads.

                    My guess is pistons as well... melting and throwing up onto the intake valves.

                    I see you're doing to KLZE Porsche! Keep at it! I sometimes wonder how people seem to get things done so quickly and how it takes me such a long ass time, but I know that if I keep at it I'll get there eventually! I just want this damn thing to run again!
                    Beautiful Beast- 1997 PGT in process of becoming an SC/NA Beast...
                    Elo- 1990 BMW 325i weekend car
                    Brunhilde- 2003 BMW Z4 3.0 6-speed daily driver
                    The Beast- Sleeping in the junkyard...

                    Comment


                    • #85
                      Continuing with the glacier-like speed of this project...

                      Realized I needed an actual cutoff switch if I want to drag race this car, which I do. Looking in the stock battery tray area there are 2 large holes looking up at you, one that sits pretty much directly above the new battery location, and another perfectly sized for a cutoff switch and a few inches from the positive battery terminal. And so begins our journey.


                      First created a template to cover the large hole


                      Then placed the battery cutoff to see how it would need to be mounted


                      Cut the template out in metal sheet


                      And went ahead and did one for the passenger side as well


                      Cut pieces to fit the cutout


                      Gave em a good tacking


                      Fits like a glove. Required a slight rewire down below, which was quickly and easily addressed. Final welding, grinding, and painting will come at a later date.


                      Figured I'd also post of the MS wiring as well. As can be seen the wires for the wasted spark coils, IAT, injectors, and TPS all run on the drivers side of the engine


                      Then join with the CLT and CKP sensors (which run down the passenger side of the block) and pass through the stock engine harness opening.


                      And how it all looks right now, MS fully powered and wired. The spool of wire on the right side is the excess from the MS harness, and there is excess from the MS3X harness as well. These will eventually be removed when the full feature set is installed and running correctly.


                      Next update will have the fabrication of the wasted spark coil bracket, ignition wiring, testing the MS to make sure the sensors are all reading correctly, and fingers crossed... A FIRST START!
                      Beautiful Beast- 1997 PGT in process of becoming an SC/NA Beast...
                      Elo- 1990 BMW 325i weekend car
                      Brunhilde- 2003 BMW Z4 3.0 6-speed daily driver
                      The Beast- Sleeping in the junkyard...

                      Comment


                      • #86
                        just my .02 cents but wouldn't be better if you put the cut off switch in the rear of the car instead of under the hood

                        most cars that catch on fire the fire 99% of the time start in the engine bay and if its a fire under the hood and you have to reach thru flames to get to it

                        because opening the hood gives the flames more oxygen when in turn could cause a even worser fire



                        not trying to tell you how to build your car just sharing some reasonable thought

                        good luck on the rest of your build

                        Comment


                        • #87
                          Yeah, to be clear the cutoff is literally just to pass inspection at the drag strip and to completely cutoff the power for long term storage. For me it has nothing to do with cutting the power in case of a fire, which I have switches in the cabin that basically take care of that.
                          Beautiful Beast- 1997 PGT in process of becoming an SC/NA Beast...
                          Elo- 1990 BMW 325i weekend car
                          Brunhilde- 2003 BMW Z4 3.0 6-speed daily driver
                          The Beast- Sleeping in the junkyard...

                          Comment


                          • #88
                            Well today certainly had it's ups and downs. I started off determined to get the coilpack mounted. I had purchased the coilpacks, 36-1 crank pulley, spark plug wires, and camshaft sensor years ago and forgot if they were all from a Millenia/626, or just random pieces from a junkyard. I had originally been planning to make a bracket, and was about to head off to OSH to purchase the required materials when it dawned on me that I should check and see if the bracket that came with the coilpacks would fit. Sure enough it did! So with a quick cut of an extraneous piece, she was good to go!




                            I had spent some time mulling over the question of how the coilpacks would fire and what sequence to order the spark plug wires, but now that I realized this was likely all from a KL engine, I figured I'd just try to route things like stock. The coils were all numbered as well as the spark plugs, so it was pretty much a no brainer!


                            Tried to start it only to find that the battery was dead. To keep it quick and simple, I spent the next few hours charging the battery, discovering that the most recent cutoff switch I had installed never actually cuts-off, found that I STILL seem not to be getting a signal from the crankshaft position sensor (which was basically the basis of this entire project! **** me!), and realized that my current battery doesn't have enough juice or can no longer hold a proper charge.

                            While doing that I also purchased a sheet of 1/8" ABS plastic and cut it to make the drivers side door cover


                            And welded up the exhaust turndown


                            Which, btw, this welder is totally ****ed. Something is seriously wrong with it and I'm realizing this 3 year warranty isn't much good to me if I have to ship that damn thing half way across the country to get it fixed! Haha, I'm having a day if you can't tell!

                            Anyway, got the battery on the trickle charger right now hoping that a slow and low will help charge it a little more fully. Plan for tomorrow is to swap out crank sensors to see if that fixes the signal problem, and lacking that I'm going to try adjusting the pots in the MS3. The idea that the pots need to be adjusted on a pre-built MS3X just seems wrong to me, but maybe it's common? I mean, I'm getting literally NO signal from the crank sensor. Ah well.
                            Last edited by proboner; March 11, 2017, 09:59 PM.
                            Beautiful Beast- 1997 PGT in process of becoming an SC/NA Beast...
                            Elo- 1990 BMW 325i weekend car
                            Brunhilde- 2003 BMW Z4 3.0 6-speed daily driver
                            The Beast- Sleeping in the junkyard...

                            Comment


                            • #89
                              Well good news folks! After trying a different VR sensor with no success, and switching around the orientation of the signal and ground wire, I finally bit the bullet and pulled the MS3X apart and turned the r56 VR trim pot counter-clockwise a few turns.

                              I had been hesitant to do this because the MS install in my old 93 never needed a trim adjustment, my previous adjustments of the MS2 in this car hadn't really done much to help the signal, this new MS3X box was brand new and unmolested (which I wanted to keep it that way), I assumed that even if the trim was out of adjustment there would have to be SOME sort of signal (and the trigger logger was picking up absolutely nothing), and with the expansion board and v3.57 components it all seems much less adjustable (which slightly freaked me out for fear of damaging something). Anyways, turned her over and to my great surprise and excitement it logged a rather decent looking signal! Little bit of noise but that is surely something I can adjust out.

                              As stated, the car didn't start, but in reality I'm still not 100% sure that the fuel pump is actually turning on or that the wasted spark is wired correctly. Anyways, just too excited not to say something to someone who understands my plight! (as sweet as my girlfriend is for listening to the absolute jibberish I spout at her about my car, she obviously has no clue what I'm talking about)

                              Oh, and after trickle charging the battery last night at 3 amps, it's performing MUCH better today. So that wont need to be replaced... which is great. And in another bizarre twist of fate, I think the cutoff switch may actually be cutting off now? And it was like an 80 degree day today and I got to ride around in the Z4 with the top down! Today was a good day.
                              Last edited by proboner; March 12, 2017, 08:39 PM.
                              Beautiful Beast- 1997 PGT in process of becoming an SC/NA Beast...
                              Elo- 1990 BMW 325i weekend car
                              Brunhilde- 2003 BMW Z4 3.0 6-speed daily driver
                              The Beast- Sleeping in the junkyard...

                              Comment


                              • #90
                                Small update while I wait for my Quadspark to show up at which point the car WILL run.

                                Installed the turndown to the end of the exhaust


                                Measured out the mounting points for the drivers door panel


                                And drilled the hole/installed the screws


                                Now i just need to finish removing the tar that was on the door skeleton, prep it for paint, paint it, apply the cf vinyl to the panel, and resintall.
                                Beautiful Beast- 1997 PGT in process of becoming an SC/NA Beast...
                                Elo- 1990 BMW 325i weekend car
                                Brunhilde- 2003 BMW Z4 3.0 6-speed daily driver
                                The Beast- Sleeping in the junkyard...

                                Comment

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