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Canadian 1984 244 DL B21A/B6304 project log.

As much as I'd hate to see you pull the plug on the B6304S+T,
go 2jz.
You already have the trans/driveshaft.
I definitely don't have the funds for a $4k JDM 2JZ. The NA models are a dime-a-dozen in the local yards, but swapping to a naturally aspirated JZ isn't really going to solve any problems, lol.

The only reason I'd consider a 1/2/3UZ or LS is the fact that I'd have all the torque I wanted for daily driving, and the factory ecu would be easy to wire in. Both of those engines are pretty easy to find for reasonably cheap up here.

I'm just being emo, ultimately. I'm going to stick with what's there...one way or another :).
 
Went for a drive to try out a few things...and had an interesting time.

1) I relocated my wideband bung to be further down the downpipe, and that resulted in no change in readings. I also swapped out the sensor for a 'generic' off-the-shelf 17025 from Amazon, which seems to be the LSU 4.9 sensor of choice for all the wideband manufacturers. I can now confirm that it is a perfect match to the original sensor in the AEM wideband. $60 CAD on Amazon (not Bosch) vs. $120+ CAD for the AEM one...and it came in one day...so I know who wins that match.

2) Stopped on the side of a country road about 15 min from home to do some tuning...and the firmware in the ecu went corrupt somehow. The Speeduino I'm using is partially of my own design, and maybe there's some power issues or noise. Luckily I had made a patch harness to go from the Speeduino ecu to the MS2 I was using last year...and I had thrown it in the car before I left. I had been planning on trying it out if issues persisted, so I plugged it in and drove home. It looks like I'm sticking with it for now, because I really just want to drive my car and the tune that is in it is PERFECT. I perfected it last year, so the car is back to being turn-key again.

This is in NO way a bad review of Speeduino ECUs. What it IS is a bad review of my own handiwork when it comes to ECU building when I don't have a recipe to follow. The proper DIY Speeduino kit is probably a better option than the homemade PCB-thing I made. I just want to enjoy my car for now, so the experimenting will have to wait until winter :).
 
I definitely don't have the funds for a $4k JDM 2JZ. The NA models are a dime-a-dozen in the local yards, but swapping to a naturally aspirated JZ isn't really going to solve any problems, lol.

The only reason I'd consider a 1/2/3UZ or LS is the fact that I'd have all the torque I wanted for daily driving, and the factory ecu would be easy to wire in. Both of those engines are pretty easy to find for reasonably cheap up here.

I'm just being emo, ultimately. I'm going to stick with what's there...one way or another :).

The correct answer is NA 2jz with a thicker HG.
$500-700 all day long plus a $150 manifold and a HX35 or something
 
Is there something I'm missing? What's so special about the NA 2JZ, I mean, outside of the fact that anything 2J has a massive amount of scene tax applied to it now. Nobody up here wants them even though the local junkyard chain sells all engines for $399 tax in. The one near my house has three or four IS300s of various years, and the engines are all still untouched.
 
After an unfortunate ID10T error with my CORE4 speeduino ecu...it's back up and running :). Check out www.diy-efi.co.uk for neat stuff like the CORE4. I wanted a smaller form-factor speedy ecu, so I got one of their brain modules and made my own header PCB to hold the MAP sensor, VR conditioner, and ampseal connector. James, the owner, had me back up and running in no time flat...even though it was totally my fault, lol.

Let's just say when you try to custom modify your credit card-sized SMT ecu...don't. Luckily some instructions were given to repair the damage, and the work went much better than the original modification attempt. I can't say enough good things about DIY-EFI.

Yep, seems like an ad...and I hope more people shop there. :).
 
Is there something I'm missing? What's so special about the NA 2JZ, I mean, outside of the fact that anything 2J has a massive amount of scene tax applied to it now. Nobody up here wants them even though the local junkyard chain sells all engines for $399 tax in. The one near my house has three or four IS300s of various years, and the engines are all still untouched.

You can add a turbo to an NA 2j and make enough power.
But, since you got speeduino back, stay the white block course!
 
I think so. I have nothing against the whiteblock, and it certainly makes more than enough power for me. Major issues tend to send the mind whirling off into the ether, thinking that MAYBE another swap would solve all problems. We all know that's pretty much a lie, but it sounds very convincing at the time, lol.
 
The other day I picked up a decent M46, and have a big order from IPD coming to fix it up. It sounds counter-productive to possibly swap back to the original engine, but I tend to swap engines every couple of years just to keep from getting bored. I have everything I need to swap to manual, since it was originally a BW55 car, so I may start that in the fall. That would mean I'd have some whiteblock swap stuff for sale...if anyone's interested ;). Homer mounts, a functional (but basic) +T6 log manifold, etc etc. It still all depends on my whims I guess, but it's looking likely.

...oh yeah...carb(s) would be involved too.
 
Nothing is definite, but I know myself pretty well. When boredom sets in...engine swaps happen. It's running really well right now, and I'm enjoying using it, but...y'know...idle hands...

The biggest part of all this is that I want to swap to manual. Whiteblock manual swaps are NOT cheap, but swapping in a readily-available redblock/M46 combo, is. All OEM parts, bolt-in simplicity.
 
Yes, you could go back, but, why? Just either do the BMW swap or maybe go with a CD009, if you don't want to get a M90.

If you do decide to revert the car to a redblock, I would seriously consider not going back to carbs. Find a nice B230F, drop a K cam into it, drop it in with LH 2.2 and your M46. It'll be nowhere near as fast as the whiteblock, but it'll be somewhat fun to drive. About 123-125 hp net. Had that exact setup in my parents' old '85 245DL, but with the 3.31 rear axle. It was quite fun to drive from 2000 rpm on up to the 5800 rpm rev limiter, whereas the stock M cam runs out of steam around 4500 rpm.

Something that can't be said about a 102 horsepower carbed B21 that requires fiddling every once in a while to get it to kinda run well.
 
Why not buy a bmw gearbox and adapter plate?

These bmw boxes are quite cheapie and good, adapter plate etc shouldn't be to difficult.

We don't get the good BMW boxes like you guys do, and the ones we do get come from cars with 2.95:1 rear end gears usually. A standard 5spd from any BMW post-E36 would have me cruising at 3000+ RPM at 100 kph :(.
 
Yes, you could go back, but, why? Just either do the BMW swap or maybe go with a CD009, if you don't want to get a M90.

If you do decide to revert the car to a redblock, I would seriously consider not going back to carbs. Find a nice B230F, drop a K cam into it, drop it in with LH 2.2 and your M46. It'll be nowhere near as fast as the whiteblock, but it'll be somewhat fun to drive. About 123-125 hp net. Had that exact setup in my parents' old '85 245DL, but with the 3.31 rear axle. It was quite fun to drive from 2000 rpm on up to the 5800 rpm rev limiter, whereas the stock M cam runs out of steam around 4500 rpm.

Something that can't be said about a 102 horsepower carbed B21 that requires fiddling every once in a while to get it to kinda run well.

It wouldn't be about power, cause if it was, there would be no way a non-turbo Redblock would be an option, lol. It's about the sound. I've had dual-carbed cars in the past, and even the sound at low RPM makes me giggle in happiness.

With the 3.73 rear end in my car, any BMW swap (while interesting), would have me cruising at 3000rpm+ at 100kph. From where I live to virtually anything of interest (or even uninteresting), I have highways to take. A CD009 up here goes for $1k, which, when added to an $800 adapter kit, an $800 flywheel, and a $700 clutch kit (not to mention the hydro conversion bits), is cost-prohibitive. I'm done spending thousands of dollars for something that I'll eventually swap out anyway, lol.

Nothing is definite yet, and the car is running great right now, so I'm just currently talking to hear myself talk I guess.
 
I did the T5 conversion to my whiteblock. $250 adapter plate, $300 for a V8 T5, $25 for a flat 850 flywheel, $55 for the disc, and i think $80 for a NOS 850 pressure plate. pilot bearing $20ish. You do have to come up with a clutch actuation solution for it, I think most people are using hydro throwout bearings.

Later on i did score 3 V8 T5's for $150 for all. If you shop around alot you can score deals.

CD009's blow up too, they aren't bulletproof like everyone says they are. At least with T5's you can buy the rebuild parts.
 
Awesome Project. Inspiring.

Just Saying Hi! :)

Looks like we're into the same stuff, 3D printing, electronics, 240s, and also in Ontario.
I'm planning on making my own Speeduino board at some point instead of re-installing my MS3x, think it would make a fun video. Plus I'm going to add some other stuff to it. Maybe we could bounce some ideas around.

Here are some of my builds, haven't done any videos about my 240 yet though. https://www.youtube.com/seanhodgins
 
I'm way, way behind you on the whole "whiteblock in a 240" track (hey, at least the engine is in the car), but that hasn't prevented me thinking about how I'd get a manual behind it, and from what I've read, there are some decent BMW-sourced options that we actually got here in North America.

See if my benchracing makes any sense:

I'm running a 225/50R16 on my car (24.9" diameter), the stock E90 335i runs a 225/40R18 (25.1") and the difference in tire diameter seems comparable enough to my admittedly ignorant self. The final drive from the 335i is a 3.08 (though the M3 runs the same gearbox with a 3.85). To the best of my knowledge, the highest ratio Volvo offered in the 240 was 3.31, but I believe you can get aftermarket Dana 35 3.08 sets as well. Plugging the GS6-53BZ gearbox ratios into here:

https://www.blocklayer.com/rpm-gear.aspx

With a 3.31, that'd put you at almost exactly 2500rpm @ 100kph in 6th gear, which seems pretty reasonable for highway speeds.

This option does, of course, require cutting and welding together the AW30-40 bellhousing to the BMW transmission, and I'm sure that's not trivial depending on the tools you have access to. But the overall cost would likely be well less than a CD009, it sounds like it fits without tunnel bashing and you can even buy a bolt-on transmission cross member from the Swedes:

https://www.anderssonsteelspeed.se/...alk-bmw-zf-6vxl-diesel---volvo-240?tm=webshop

No way it's as cheap as an M46, but at least you get the keep the sweet inline six you spent so much effort getting into your car.
 
I did the T5 conversion to my whiteblock. $250 adapter plate, $300 for a V8 T5, $25 for a flat 850 flywheel, $55 for the disc, and i think $80 for a NOS 850 pressure plate. pilot bearing $20ish. You do have to come up with a clutch actuation solution for it, I think most people are using hydro throwout bearings.

Later on i did score 3 V8 T5's for $150 for all. If you shop around alot you can score deals.

CD009's blow up too, they aren't bulletproof like everyone says they are. At least with T5's you can buy the rebuild parts.

Up here in salty Canada...WC T5s from foxbodies are ~750-1000 CAD. They're not readily available, so a cheap T5 is never an option. It would be a rebuilt one, because there's no way I'm buying a 1000 dollar used box. Anything pre-2000 is a no-show in any of our yards, and manual is even rarer. It may be a cheap swap in other parts of the world, but it isn't here. Remember, our dollar is only worth 0.70 when compared to yours, so a 250 dollar adapter is 400 here.
 
I'm way, way behind you on the whole "whiteblock in a 240" track (hey, at least the engine is in the car), but that hasn't prevented me thinking about how I'd get a manual behind it, and from what I've read, there are some decent BMW-sourced options that we actually got here in North America.

See if my benchracing makes any sense:

I'm running a 225/50R16 on my car (24.9" diameter), the stock E90 335i runs a 225/40R18 (25.1") and the difference in tire diameter seems comparable enough to my admittedly ignorant self. The final drive from the 335i is a 3.08 (though the M3 runs the same gearbox with a 3.85). To the best of my knowledge, the highest ratio Volvo offered in the 240 was 3.31, but I believe you can get aftermarket Dana 35 3.08 sets as well. Plugging the GS6-53BZ gearbox ratios into here:

https://www.blocklayer.com/rpm-gear.aspx

With a 3.31, that'd put you at almost exactly 2500rpm @ 100kph in 6th gear, which seems pretty reasonable for highway speeds.

This option does, of course, require cutting and welding together the AW30-40 bellhousing to the BMW transmission, and I'm sure that's not trivial depending on the tools you have access to. But the overall cost would likely be well less than a CD009, it sounds like it fits without tunnel bashing and you can even buy a bolt-on transmission cross member from the Swedes:

https://www.anderssonsteelspeed.se/...alk-bmw-zf-6vxl-diesel---volvo-240?tm=webshop

No way it's as cheap as an M46, but at least you get the keep the sweet inline six you spent so much effort getting into your car.
When I build stuff, I try really hard to keep from having to order hard parts or rely on machine shops. It's a personal choice, because I've been scammed too many times over the decades, lol. The Canadian dollar is also 0.70$ when compared to USD, so even getting stuff from europe becomes cost-prohibitive for us here.

As far as gearboxes go, here's my (and only my) logic: I can get BMW 5 speeds from the local yard, they're quite frequent and easy to get. 6 speeds are a no-go :(. My rear end gear ratio is a 3.73, and I can't find a 3.31 near me. I'd prefer a full rear axle housing/diff so I didn't have to get anything set up by a shop. The 3.08 rear gears are for the 1030 diff carrier/housing, so essentially the smaller gear/pinion setup. Not sure I want to pay the big bucks getting one from Bakaxel.se, then getting it set up and installed, then worry about it breaking.

I try to minimize costs when I can (see username), but at the same time indulge my obsession with building cars for myself. That's why I swap engines frequently, lol.
 
Awesome Project. Inspiring.

Just Saying Hi! :)

Looks like we're into the same stuff, 3D printing, electronics, 240s, and also in Ontario.
I'm planning on making my own Speeduino board at some point instead of re-installing my MS3x, think it would make a fun video. Plus I'm going to add some other stuff to it. Maybe we could bounce some ideas around.

Here are some of my builds, haven't done any videos about my 240 yet though. https://www.youtube.com/seanhodgins
Howdy, fellow Ontarian!
Sure, glad to help :).
 
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