242 Turbo LS blah, blah, blah

kcpaz · 01-23-2022, 03:28 PM

Started out as a completely stock car with 150Kmi. Bought it with the intention of using it as a daily driver, and then "some day" do an LS swap. Well... it ran well for the first few weeks, and then it started running like garbage. Spent a bunch of time and resources trying to fix the issues, and determined that I had no interested in working and maintaining on a K-Jet car... so out with old, and in with the new.

The goal was to build a nice driver, with good power and reliability. Saving money where I could, but spending money where it matters.

Didn't take any pictures of the car with the OEM Virgos on it. It needed new tires anyway, and since I had a set of Style 42's from a previous BMW project (free), and some new take-off tires from a FR-S race car build (free), these were mounted so the car could be driven/rolled around.

Also swapped out the original seats for some seats that came out of the previously mentioned FR-S (free). Made the car so much better to drive

Stock engine bay. Looking back on it now, I sort of feel bad about "hacking up" such a nice example of a relatively rare car. I didn't realize how what I had at the time. I just bought the car because it reminded me of the many Volvo 240's that my family had growing up. I wasn't really a "Volvo guy"

kcpaz · 01-23-2022, 04:00 PM

I never really liked the look of the coffin hood cars, so I sourced a flat-hood conversion and some quad-rounds

Radtap · 01-23-2022, 04:18 PM

Fix that k-jet and get it running good while building your motor and gathering parts in the meantime, not a whole lot to these systems and once they're going they don't stop going. Damn minty car though!

Edit:spoke too soon

kcpaz · 01-23-2022, 04:24 PM

The engine is an aluminum 5.3 (LM4) out of a Buick Rainier with 148k mi that I able to source for $500. Since that's what I was able to sell the Volvo engine for, I consider this engine a freebie. Unfortunately the Holley manifold didn't fit under the hood, so I sold that and bought a Speedmaster unit. I decided to use the GM Performance CTS-V accessory drive kit. Expensive, but I didn't want to waste time piecing together a bunch of used stuff

STS engine mounts to get it bolted in, and then I modified the stock trans mount to work with the TR6060 trans that I was able to score for $800. It had a very small puncture in the tail housing that I was able to weld up without removing anything.

I had a left over (free) Bimmerworld shifter from another BMW build that I was able to retrofit with an adapter plate, and a hybrid shift rod.

I had a left over radiator core from a production run for another vehicle, so I made up a custom double pass radiator that uses the OEM mounts.

kcpaz · 01-23-2022, 04:42 PM

Started fabricating the hot side of the turbo kit. All of the material is 304 stainless and fully back-purged. Apparently I didn't take very many pictures of this process. The turbo is a Garrett GT4092 with twin scroll housing. Wastegates are TurboSmart Comp-Gate 40's, recirculated back through the exhaust to keep things quiet. THe post-turbo exhaust is 3.5", and it was a very tight fit between the firewall and trans bellhousing. Some hammering may have been involved...

[img]htt[img]https://i.imgur.com/HFs44bpl.jpg

kcpaz · 01-23-2022, 05:00 PM

Intercooler system started with a Garrett bar/plate core (18"x11.2"x4.5"), and a bunch of 3" aluminum mandrel bends, silicone couplers, and a Turbospart Raceport BOV. I'm beginning to think I have ore pictures on an old phone (I started this build in 2016) because I don't have any pictures of the intercooler itself on the fab bench.

kcpaz · 01-23-2022, 05:22 PM

Rear suspension. I wanted to stick with OEM style rear suspension rather than do the whole coil-over thing, but I wanted to have adjustable suspension. So, I modified the lower arms, made custom upper arms, and modified the OEM panhard bar to make it adjustable. Then everything got poly bushings and rod ends were applicable. The axle is of course a narrowed 8.8, tubes welded to the housing and everything straightened after welding, and I reused the Volvo brackets and reinforced/boxed them. Because the car was meant to be a daily driver, and will never really be lowered all that much, I decided to beat the hell out of the transmission tunnel to make room for a one-piece aluminum driveshaft. At full bump, its a VERY tight fit.

cosbySweater · 01-23-2022, 05:38 PM

Awesome work man!

kcpaz · 01-23-2022, 05:41 PM

The rest of the exhaust system is made up of more 3.5" tubing, a resonator, and a giant muffler. Since the car is intended to be a daily driver, I wanted the exhaust to be quiet and drone free. Also, it makes the car even more of a sleeper

As you can imagine, getting 3.5" tubing up and over the axle without hitting anything was a challenge, but at full bump, everything barely clears. I even built a mid-section with a high flow catalytic converter just in case I ever needed to pass emissions. This was before I decided to move to South Dakota. Since I had donated the original gas tank to the 242GT project that I had just aquired, I bought a new tank, and modified it to make more room for the exhaust tubing.

JohnMc · 01-23-2022, 05:55 PM

Good stuff!

I left my old 3" exhaust on the car (with 2 mufflers). It's somewhat stealthy off boost, it's not all that loud. Of course, it sounds like a V8. But the wastegates are hooked up to screamer pipes that dump out in front of the front crossmember, so it's not as corked by the 3" exhaust. But it gets loud and nasty sounding with the wastegates open.

kcpaz · 01-23-2022, 06:07 PM

Fuel system. I modified the OEM fuel pump housing with AN fittings, and made it so I could mount a Walbro 450 pump. That feeds fuel to a Radium Engineering surge tank (more on that later), which houses two more 450 pumps that feed a pair of Aeromotive fuel rails, and Injector Dynamics ID1050 injectors. Then, an Aeromotive fuel pressure regulator before the fuel returns through a flex fuel sensor.

For the cooling system, I decided to use an OEM expansion tank from a C6 Corvette because it seemed to fit the space well, then made a fan shroud for two SPAL puller fans. The engine bay is really getting crowded at this point.

Lower intercooler mounts, which also double as engine oil cooler mounts.

One of the last pictures of these two before moving to SD

KwikBrik245 · 01-23-2022, 06:09 PM

That is some beautiful work my friend. I look forward to seeing your progress

kcpaz · 01-23-2022, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnMc

Good stuff!

I left my old 3" exhaust on the car (with 2 mufflers). It's somewhat stealthy off boost, it's not all that loud. Of course, it sounds like a V8. But the wastegates are hooked up to screamer pipes that dump out in front of the front crossmember, so it's not as corked by the 3" exhaust. But it gets loud and nasty sounding with the wastegates open.

I've tempted to delete the big suitcase muffler. Sometimes I wish it was louder, but I always talk myself out of it. Maybe I'll find a way to add an electric cut-out some day.

Radtap · 01-23-2022, 06:17 PM

When you upgrade turbos can I have that beautiful manifold? I got a couple V8s that could use some Chinese bois

kcpaz · 01-23-2022, 06:27 PM

I ran V70R calipers up front with the STS brackets, but I wanted to be able to run the V70R rear calipers too. Whipped up a quick bracket for the 8.8 axle, and drilled the axle shafts for the BMW bolt pattern. Make a hubcentric adapter to go from the Ford diameter to the BMW diameter, and used BMW E46 rotors and bolted everything up. For engine management, I went with an AEM Infinity ECU and wiring harness. Then modified the stock cluster housing to be able to mount an AiM MXS display behind the original lens for a stealth look. Then it was a simple CAN connection between the two and a GPS antenna for speedo. All of the analog dash gauges are functional as well.

kcpaz · 01-23-2022, 06:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Radtap

When you upgrade turbos can I have that beautiful manifold? I got a couple V8s that could use some Chinese bois

HAHA, I'll let you know.

kcpaz · 01-23-2022, 06:46 PM

Pulled everything out. Resealed the engine. Had the heads surfaced. Lapped the valves, replaced valve stem seals, installed PAC 1218 springs and Sloppy Stage II cam. Added ARP head studs, OEM LS9 twin disc clutch with aluminum flywheel to work with the 6 bolt crank. This clutch holds all the power, but allows for super smooth engagement, and a super light pedal push just like a modern, stock car. I also took the time to repaint the engine bay, and wind a boat load of header wrap around the hot bits of the exhaust.

oldschoolvolvo · 01-23-2022, 06:47 PM

Cool project and nice fab work.

kcpaz · 01-23-2022, 06:58 PM

Some final assembly...

kcpaz · 01-23-2022, 08:07 PM

Lots of boring details later, it was running, and moving under it's own power again. In August of 2019, it was finally ready for dyno tuning. Also decided to quickly recover the rear seat with some material I had laying around. Eventually I'm gonna have the all of the seats recovered so they all match. The dyno results...
Some Youtube videos beols

On 91 pump gas, it made 587whp, and 534lb/ft
On E85, it made 706whp, and 638lb/ft

https://youtu.be/GoCqOsua9Ew

https://youtu.be/SQjYUjxmzYo

https://youtu.be/w3A3Vjcdl5s

https://youtu.be/ha4yNweX_Dc

https://youtu.be/gTCFT5kOHqw

Stiggy Pop · 01-23-2022, 09:19 PM

This is a relentless barrage of amazing looking work

2turbotoys · 01-23-2022, 09:23 PM

Nice job, looking great! The must have been a Holly mid or high rise manifold, I fit the low one under my hood. You are going to hate that header wrap in a couple years when it turns to itchy dust lol.

Posting it all in one day makes it look easy, I know it isn't. Thanks for sharing.

kcpaz · 01-23-2022, 09:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2turbotoys

Nice job, looking great! The must have been a Holly mid or high rise manifold, I fit the low one under my hood. You are going to hate that header wrap in a couple years when it turns to itchy dust lol.

Posting it all in one day makes it look easy, I know it isn't. Thanks for sharing.

Two years and 13K mi in, and the header wrap still looks like it did on day one. I sure was itchy installing it though. The DEI stuff seems to be way higher quality than other brands. I've had good luck with it on race cars too.

2turbotoys · 01-23-2022, 09:38 PM

I used DEI on my last turbo build, it lasted about 3 years of daily driving before it started to turn bad. Then it was such a pita to get off lol. I probably wouldn't have noticed but the bolts holding the turbo on started to loosen every time I drove the car and I was wrenching around the wrap all the time. I'm ceramic coating next time.

Like I said, very nice work! Love it, would love to go for a ride.

kcpaz · 01-23-2022, 09:41 PM

Once the car was usable for daily driving, I did little things here and there in my boredom. Started with tucking the bumpers, and adding some PIAA driving lights that I had left over from another project. Then replaced the mismatched headlights with some LED H4 housings/bulbs. and completely rewired the headlight with proper relays. Still need to trim the upper bumper rubber to make it 100% but I'll do that when I shave the bumper beams.

I was also getting tired of people asking me "what year BMW is that?" so I found some decals to fix the center caps on the wheels.

01-23-2022, 03:28 PM	#1
kcpaz Board Member Join Date: May 2016	242 Turbo LS blah, blah, blah Started out as a completely stock car with 150Kmi. Bought it with the intention of using it as a daily driver, and then "some day" do an LS swap. Well... it ran well for the first few weeks, and then it started running like garbage. Spent a bunch of time and resources trying to fix the issues, and determined that I had no interested in working and maintaining on a K-Jet car... so out with old, and in with the new. The goal was to build a nice driver, with good power and reliability. Saving money where I could, but spending money where it matters. Didn't take any pictures of the car with the OEM Virgos on it. It needed new tires anyway, and since I had a set of Style 42's from a previous BMW project (free), and some new take-off tires from a FR-S race car build (free), these were mounted so the car could be driven/rolled around. Also swapped out the original seats for some seats that came out of the previously mentioned FR-S (free). Made the car so much better to drive Stock engine bay. Looking back on it now, I sort of feel bad about "hacking up" such a nice example of a relatively rare car. I didn't realize how what I had at the time. I just bought the car because it reminded me of the many Volvo 240's that my family had growing up. I wasn't really a "Volvo guy" Last edited by kcpaz; 01-23-2022 at 04:05 PM..

01-23-2022, 04:18 PM	#3
Radtap Board Member Join Date: Dec 2020 Location: Sweat zone, Arizona	Fix that k-jet and get it running good while building your motor and gathering parts in the meantime, not a whole lot to these systems and once they're going they don't stop going. Damn minty car though! Edit:spoke too soon __________________ Feedback Last edited by Radtap; 01-23-2022 at 04:33 PM..

01-23-2022, 05:55 PM	#10
JohnMc PV Abuser Join Date: May 2004 Location: St. Louis	Good stuff! I left my old 3" exhaust on the car (with 2 mufflers). It's somewhat stealthy off boost, it's not all that loud. Of course, it sounds like a V8. But the wastegates are hooked up to screamer pipes that dump out in front of the front crossmember, so it's not as corked by the 3" exhaust. But it gets loud and nasty sounding with the wastegates open. __________________ '63 PV Rat Rod '93 245 16VT Classic #1141

01-23-2022, 06:09 PM	#12
KwikBrik245 Board Member Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: Cleveland, OH	That is some beautiful work my friend. I look forward to seeing your progress __________________ Daily: '91 245, B230F/M46 P-type, '93 Dana 30 '88 744, Twin Turbo LS1/T56, Grizzly locked Dana 30.

01-23-2022, 06:47 PM	#18
oldschoolvolvo Board Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Lancaster, PA	Cool project and nice fab work. __________________ -Mike ~~1998 V70 T5~~ 1979 242 DL 16v \|Feedback\|

01-23-2022, 04:00 PM	#2
kcpaz Board Member Join Date: May 2016	I never really liked the look of the coffin hood cars, so I sourced a flat-hood conversion and some quad-rounds

01-23-2022, 04:24 PM	#4
kcpaz Board Member Join Date: May 2016	The engine is an aluminum 5.3 (LM4) out of a Buick Rainier with 148k mi that I able to source for $500. Since that's what I was able to sell the Volvo engine for, I consider this engine a freebie. Unfortunately the Holley manifold didn't fit under the hood, so I sold that and bought a Speedmaster unit. I decided to use the GM Performance CTS-V accessory drive kit. Expensive, but I didn't want to waste time piecing together a bunch of used stuff STS engine mounts to get it bolted in, and then I modified the stock trans mount to work with the TR6060 trans that I was able to score for $800. It had a very small puncture in the tail housing that I was able to weld up without removing anything. I had a left over (free) Bimmerworld shifter from another BMW build that I was able to retrofit with an adapter plate, and a hybrid shift rod. I had a left over radiator core from a production run for another vehicle, so I made up a custom double pass radiator that uses the OEM mounts.

01-23-2022, 04:42 PM	#5
kcpaz Board Member Join Date: May 2016	Started fabricating the hot side of the turbo kit. All of the material is 304 stainless and fully back-purged. Apparently I didn't take very many pictures of this process. The turbo is a Garrett GT4092 with twin scroll housing. Wastegates are TurboSmart Comp-Gate 40's, recirculated back through the exhaust to keep things quiet. THe post-turbo exhaust is 3.5", and it was a very tight fit between the firewall and trans bellhousing. Some hammering may have been involved... [img]htt[img]https://i.imgur.com/HFs44bpl.jpg

01-23-2022, 05:00 PM	#6
kcpaz Board Member Join Date: May 2016	Intercooler system started with a Garrett bar/plate core (18"x11.2"x4.5"), and a bunch of 3" aluminum mandrel bends, silicone couplers, and a Turbospart Raceport BOV. I'm beginning to think I have ore pictures on an old phone (I started this build in 2016) because I don't have any pictures of the intercooler itself on the fab bench.

01-23-2022, 05:22 PM	#7
kcpaz Board Member Join Date: May 2016	Rear suspension. I wanted to stick with OEM style rear suspension rather than do the whole coil-over thing, but I wanted to have adjustable suspension. So, I modified the lower arms, made custom upper arms, and modified the OEM panhard bar to make it adjustable. Then everything got poly bushings and rod ends were applicable. The axle is of course a narrowed 8.8, tubes welded to the housing and everything straightened after welding, and I reused the Volvo brackets and reinforced/boxed them. Because the car was meant to be a daily driver, and will never really be lowered all that much, I decided to beat the hell out of the transmission tunnel to make room for a one-piece aluminum driveshaft. At full bump, its a VERY tight fit.

01-23-2022, 05:41 PM	#9
kcpaz Board Member Join Date: May 2016	The rest of the exhaust system is made up of more 3.5" tubing, a resonator, and a giant muffler. Since the car is intended to be a daily driver, I wanted the exhaust to be quiet and drone free. Also, it makes the car even more of a sleeper As you can imagine, getting 3.5" tubing up and over the axle without hitting anything was a challenge, but at full bump, everything barely clears. I even built a mid-section with a high flow catalytic converter just in case I ever needed to pass emissions. This was before I decided to move to South Dakota. Since I had donated the original gas tank to the 242GT project that I had just aquired, I bought a new tank, and modified it to make more room for the exhaust tubing.

01-23-2022, 06:07 PM	#11
kcpaz Board Member Join Date: May 2016	Fuel system. I modified the OEM fuel pump housing with AN fittings, and made it so I could mount a Walbro 450 pump. That feeds fuel to a Radium Engineering surge tank (more on that later), which houses two more 450 pumps that feed a pair of Aeromotive fuel rails, and Injector Dynamics ID1050 injectors. Then, an Aeromotive fuel pressure regulator before the fuel returns through a flex fuel sensor. For the cooling system, I decided to use an OEM expansion tank from a C6 Corvette because it seemed to fit the space well, then made a fan shroud for two SPAL puller fans. The engine bay is really getting crowded at this point. Lower intercooler mounts, which also double as engine oil cooler mounts. One of the last pictures of these two before moving to SD

01-23-2022, 06:17 PM	#14
Radtap Board Member Join Date: Dec 2020 Location: Sweat zone, Arizona	When you upgrade turbos can I have that beautiful manifold? I got a couple V8s that could use some Chinese bois

01-23-2022, 06:27 PM	#15
kcpaz Board Member Join Date: May 2016	I ran V70R calipers up front with the STS brackets, but I wanted to be able to run the V70R rear calipers too. Whipped up a quick bracket for the 8.8 axle, and drilled the axle shafts for the BMW bolt pattern. Make a hubcentric adapter to go from the Ford diameter to the BMW diameter, and used BMW E46 rotors and bolted everything up. For engine management, I went with an AEM Infinity ECU and wiring harness. Then modified the stock cluster housing to be able to mount an AiM MXS display behind the original lens for a stealth look. Then it was a simple CAN connection between the two and a GPS antenna for speedo. All of the analog dash gauges are functional as well.

01-23-2022, 06:46 PM	#17
kcpaz Board Member Join Date: May 2016	Pulled everything out. Resealed the engine. Had the heads surfaced. Lapped the valves, replaced valve stem seals, installed PAC 1218 springs and Sloppy Stage II cam. Added ARP head studs, OEM LS9 twin disc clutch with aluminum flywheel to work with the 6 bolt crank. This clutch holds all the power, but allows for super smooth engagement, and a super light pedal push just like a modern, stock car. I also took the time to repaint the engine bay, and wind a boat load of header wrap around the hot bits of the exhaust.

01-23-2022, 06:58 PM	#19
kcpaz Board Member Join Date: May 2016	Some final assembly...

01-23-2022, 08:07 PM	#20
kcpaz Board Member Join Date: May 2016	Lots of boring details later, it was running, and moving under it's own power again. In August of 2019, it was finally ready for dyno tuning. Also decided to quickly recover the rear seat with some material I had laying around. Eventually I'm gonna have the all of the seats recovered so they all match. The dyno results... Some Youtube videos beols On 91 pump gas, it made 587whp, and 534lb/ft On E85, it made 706whp, and 638lb/ft https://youtu.be/GoCqOsua9Ew https://youtu.be/SQjYUjxmzYo https://youtu.be/w3A3Vjcdl5s https://youtu.be/ha4yNweX_Dc https://youtu.be/gTCFT5kOHqw Last edited by kcpaz; 01-24-2022 at 12:17 AM..

01-23-2022, 09:19 PM	#21
Stiggy Pop Board Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Granville, MA	This is a relentless barrage of amazing looking work __________________ '79 242 943 pickup

01-23-2022, 09:23 PM	#22
2turbotoys Salaminizer Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Reading pa	Nice job, looking great! The must have been a Holly mid or high rise manifold, I fit the low one under my hood. You are going to hate that header wrap in a couple years when it turns to itchy dust lol. Posting it all in one day makes it look easy, I know it isn't. Thanks for sharing. __________________ Feedback thread https://forums.tbforums.com/showthread.php?t=144924 1978 242, 5.3 L33 1979 242, MS, R brakes 2006 V50 T5 AWD @ 17 PSI

01-23-2022, 09:38 PM	#24
2turbotoys Salaminizer Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Reading pa	I used DEI on my last turbo build, it lasted about 3 years of daily driving before it started to turn bad. Then it was such a pita to get off lol. I probably wouldn't have noticed but the bolts holding the turbo on started to loosen every time I drove the car and I was wrenching around the wrap all the time. I'm ceramic coating next time. Like I said, very nice work! Love it, would love to go for a ride.

01-23-2022, 09:41 PM	#25
kcpaz Board Member Join Date: May 2016	Once the car was usable for daily driving, I did little things here and there in my boredom. Started with tucking the bumpers, and adding some PIAA driving lights that I had left over from another project. Then replaced the mismatched headlights with some LED H4 housings/bulbs. and completely rewired the headlight with proper relays. Still need to trim the upper bumper rubber to make it 100% but I'll do that when I shave the bumper beams. I was also getting tired of people asking me "what year BMW is that?" so I found some decals to fix the center caps on the wheels.

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