318 GM swap questions

[tjts1]

I believe what he means is that the car will lose its great (almost 50-50) weight ballance, not that it will lack performance

Look up the weight of an LS1.

[christophbmw]

that Z3 would have looked better with a bmw quad turbo V12

[2002maniac]

Look up the weight of an LS1.

The OP stated that he wants to do a 3.8 swap.  that would be quite a bit heavier than an LS1

[1991 E30 M42]

Why stop at a V8 if your going to kill the balance of the car anyway

[thebigbadyeti]

Thank you 2002 maniac for understanding my thoughts on the subject. If memeory serves me correct, and believe me i am not speaking with the confidence of jesus, but i think that the CAST IRON SUPERCHARGED 3.8 from gm weighs more than the superb ls2. I think the ls2 may actually weigh less than bimmers sixes... but a 3.8 swap is nonsensical in my opinion.

BY the way tjts1 i was knocking the weight of the 3.8, not your precious lsx i actually like those motors.

[gearheadE30]

Many of the new LS- motors are aluminum, and are actually very light for the massive displacement. I'd be more worried about chassis twist with the massive torque...

[tjts1]

Why stop at a V8 if your going to kill the balance of your check book anyway

fixed! :p

[christophbmw]

Many of the new LS- motors are aluminum, and are actually very light for the massive displacement. I'd be more worried about chassis twist with the massive torque...

plexiglass windows . i forgot where i saw it but some guy on the internet put a blown 350 in a 2002 or something (i forget it was like 2 years ago, i saw the video on the i-net) but anyways he was doing the 1/4 mile and he blew out like 3 windows or something from chassis torque.....it was wicked!

[kramerica5000]

A buddy of mine just bought a wrecked s2000 with a perfect motor for $5400. As noted above, that's less than what it would cost to get about 200hp from the m42, plus you picked up a wrecked s2000 you could part it out and prolly break even. I have no idea what it would take to pull off the swap, and I wouldn't try it myself . . . but it did make me think: 240hp bone stock, similar weight, totally reliable . . . not bad.

Here's one that was stuffed into an e36 in some quirky Japanese show.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCo00asduEQ

[thebigbadyeti]

ooo. now thats interesting... wish i didnt hate hon duhs... but that is really a nice thought. (no sarcasm)

[D. Clay]

Many of the new LS- motors are aluminum, and are actually very light for the massive displacement. I'd be more worried about chassis twist with the massive torque...

Definitely given the look of those two frame rails on the Z roadster in the picture above. Soft tops are notorious for flex to start with.
One source gives the weight of an LS2 with all the accessories at about 448 pounds. Then you would need a little more weight in a transmission to handle the extra power.
How much does a 3.8 supercharged motor weigh? An M42?

[christophbmw]

Definitely given the look of those two frame rails on the Z roadster in the picture above. Soft tops are notorious for flex to start with.

ha, now that you mention it, i remember "getting on it" in a newer 2.5 Z3 and watching the whole windshield frame flex......you could actually see it move :eek:,  but then again i was pretty sidways at 30mph doing a speedshift to 2nd .