s54 Can i drop one in?

okay - inquiring minds want to know ... what are some of the highlights that must be accomplished in order to do this?

1. anything stick out as a serious fit issue?
2. getrag 265 (5 speed) ... or different tranny?
3. i presume the battery is now in the trunk
4. what exhaust manifold / header did you use?

what else?
 
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Barry,

can you put me in touch with whoever owns the car / did the work on the car? or did you just run across the pictures?

scott
 
Wow, still has a huge brake booster in there- but looks closer to the firewall- in for a penny-in for a pound I guess. And looks like a pound well spent. Don- your thoughts?
 
No interior shots

Could this be the e46 that most say would be easier to graft an e9 skin on, rather than an e9 with S54 transplant?

Not likely, but what an awesome adaptation!

Need to see more for sure!

Can't help but nitpick- original carb intake vent hole is out of place. All else impeccable and so clean, it looks like a stage prop. Just my .02
 
A very de-cluttered engine bay; I love the cleaness of the install and I am sure it will be a hoot to drive. However, I am not a fan of all the plastic of the motor; it needs something to make it more visceral. I have a 2013 MSport 328i which is really beautiful on the outside, but I never open the hood to take a look at the motor; it's plastic and boring. I open the hood on the coupe all the time just 'cuz it looks so good under there.
 
BarryG said:
Scott


http://www.castromotorsport.com is doing the work. I follow them on instagram and saw there post this morning.

I'm sure they can fill you in with what they have done to the car.
Also i don't see any Headers in the pic, thats got to be a tight fit.

Barry
Click to expand...

Actually Jeff Tighe of TPMotorsports in Costa Mesa did the install. Castro made the air box and installed the intake. All the challenging work was done by Jeff who also used to work for Carl Nelson at La Jolla Independent. I've seen the car in person and to my recollection has a 6-speed to go along with that beast of a motor. Jeff was involved with the whole restoration and overcoming the challenges of installing a contemporary engine in a 40+ year old chassis.

Edit:
I need to add that according to Jeff, Castro also did the stainless exhaust system which he says is a work of art.
 
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There are a number of places that are reprogramming the stock S54 ecu, so that would be pretty straightforward. Wiring would be easy too as there really isn't much to tie into the car. It would be no different than a B35 install. The modifications to the oil pan, subframe, steering, etc. may be extensive though. Would like to see that engine bay from the bottom to see what was done. The 6 speed tranny is big too, so if it was used, something may have been done to the tunnel.
 
Thanks MB for pointing out that Jeff Tighe did the "heavy lifting" on this install. Jeff is genuine good guy that does some simply stunning work. Pity is that his name isn't more readily visible for all to see. One of the "best kept secrets" in the greater So Cal area and a great shop to work with.
fL

OCCoupe said:
Actually Jeff Tighe of TPMotorsports in Costa Mesa did the install. Castro made the air box and installed the intake. All the challenging work was done by Jeff who also used to work for Carl Nelson at La Jolla Independent. I've seen the car in person and to my recollection has a 6-speed to go along with that beast of a motor. Jeff was involved with the whole restoration and overcoming the challenges of installing a contemporary engine in a 40+ year old chassis.

Edit:
I need to add that according to Jeff, Castro also did the stainless exhaust system which he says is a work of art.
Click to expand...
 
man I love this ! really glad to see that done , and looks well done . I know from putting one in my E12 its not an easy job , so double kudos to them .
Any one know if they used the electric throttles ? That was were I had one of the biggest problems on mine . I was going to go that route with my CSL build but I scored the s38 and decided to go period correct , kinda wish I had gone with the s54 instead , they really are neat motors .

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Outside of mounting a DBW pedal inside, keeping the electric throttles is just a matter of connecting some wires. Most of the ECU remaps appear to keep them.

For reference, I installed the S54 in my E30 (now sold). Vanos, DBW, and a fully functioning stock ECU were maintained.
 
I am doing an s54 swap on mine. We have done most (definitely not all) of the hard work of the fitment/adaptation already. We opted for a 5 spd as it fits better ... and anyway we are using a higher gear differential over the 3.62 that typicially comes mated with the S54. The 6spd really only gives you an overdrive gear. With the longer final drive, the first 5 gears will be stretched so I don't expect to miss the overdrive.

We also did an extensive coilover conversion on the rear. Now we are sandblasting/prepping the body and then the fun begins of restoring the cosmetic parts, finalizing some of the details, and putting it all back together!
 
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