HiPSI

iTrader: (2)

I have an issue with your condescending tone wanganstyl. This is an open forum with a lot of similar interests and if you are willing to share your knowledge and experience then its invaluable. However if you are going to speak to people like that then maybe you need to go back to your elitist bmw forums, because it won't be tolerated here.

Answer the questions because you genuinely want to help and add to the community.

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

Just updating for others, the clutch kit you can buy online from ABC adapters appears to have a spaced out part for the pilot bearing as part of a custom flywheel.
I think there are a few ways to tackle this problem, and will worry about it when I get there in the future.
https://www.facebook.com/abcclutch/p...type=3&theater

sebasc300

Bumping this thread in case anyone was considering buying the eBay adapter.
The European guys pretty much warn that the eBay adapter is crap and will need modifications to make it work. Also the pilot bearing issue would need to be resolved as that ebay seller does not include a spacer. Ask me how I know

http://www.driftworks.com/forum/engi...onversion.html

I bought the adapter and I can attest that the quality is indeed crap. I had to drill a hole for the transmission-side dowel and 2 of the studs were poorly welded on to the adapter which resulted in them sheering off during a test fit. Not to mention that several studs were not level which prevented the trans from properly mating to the motor.


If anyone has successfully run this ebay adapter or knows of anyone that has, please bump this thread.

sebasc300

Update: I spoke to a guy in Poland who quoted me $250 pre Shipping for what appears to be a proper adapter plate kit with pilot bearing centering pin.

Here is what he emailed me:

"Hi,
My adapter is complet with the centering pin for input shaft and all screw to assy adapter on negine 1JZ or 2JZ and gearbox M50/M52/M54 and bearing.

For 1 pcs the price is 204,00EUR and shipping cost to Sweden is 29EUR

If you decide to order I need advance payment 25% of total cost. The rest when parts are be ready to delivery."


Here is his website:
https://translate.googleusercontent....RFpRs1fmaH0ssQ


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I think I'll pull the trigger on this in the coming weeks. I'll keep you guys posted.

m1k3yg

Bump.
I'm looking to do this with my jzs147. I contacted ABC and I don't think I'll be going with them. The gearing on the zf is pretty interesting, I owned a 328i with a zf trans recently and I liked the gearing. Rough calculations show me that 5th gear would end at about 135mph. Pretty nice for my use IMO. I contacted this place in California called wilcap and they have done a bunch of different adapters. Hoping to get an answer from them soon. I'm able to get my hands on a grenaded 2jz block so I could even try to mock things up myself. As of today, an e36 5 speed getrag or zf goes from roughly 100-200 bucks. So the price is pretty awesome. I didn't read through the whole thread but I'm hoping someone figured out the cross member situatution

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

If you can find someone who can make a good adapter I am sure it would be a hit, I myself want one but am interested in the E46 6speed. The ZF is a great option also its hardier, much cheaper, and more available. It looks like there is a length difference between the 2 boxes as well. A ZF and a 2jz grenaded block would be the easiest way to get it mocked up, and it would work for bolting on all the m3 boxes mentioned.

crossmember no idea but custom shouldn't be that hard, it seems finding a good adapter stateside seems to be almost impossible.

m1k3yg

Now that you mention that, the friend that I'd be getting the transmission from has some buddies in Europe that CNC the adapter plates. He's planning on putting together a kit to sell stateside that would be somewhere around 600 bucks and that'd be for the adapter plate and trans included. Haven't heard much more about him getting the plates over here but I'm trying to get one done locally. There's a guy on the r3vlimited forums that drifts an e36 with a 2jzgte mated to a zf trans. But he cut off the original bell housing and welded an r154 bell housing. I considered that as well, but seeing how those bellhousings go for 300+, it seems like a better idea to just get the plate for almost the same price without butchering parts and making future replacements harder than they should be

sebasc300

I'm very happy to see some new activity in this thread. I spoke with Brett Collins of 'Collins Adapters' about making a kit for the ZF320 5 speed found in the E36 M3 and a ton of other cars.

He informed me that he's very interested in producing at least (3) adapter plate setups for the JZ and LS motors. I happen to have a spare ZF320 lying around that I will be personally delivering to him next weekend so he can start working on the kit.

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Research has shown that the only adapter kit on the market right now that will allow one to run stock BMW clutches is the kit offered by 'Fulrace' of South Africa. They quoted me $1k before shipping for the custom adapter plate and flywheel:





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The ZF320 adapter will be compatible with the Getrag 420g from the E46 M3 since they share the same bell housing pattern, You'll just need to swap out the clutch in favor of the M3 spec clutch.

I also mentioned the 540i Getrag 6 speed transmission to Brett, since they can be found for under $500. I'm hoping I can get my hands on one of these in the coming months to have him make an adapter and flywheel for this transmission as well.

Additionaly, it would be really nice if he can create an adapter kit for the ZF 6 speeds.
The ZF 6 speed found in the 335i is rated for more torque than the Getrag 420g, so it may actually be a stronger transmission.

I think the main attraction is the ZF320 since they can be found for $150 all day long and can pretty much handle what an R154 can while having a far more refined shifter feel.

HiPSI

iTrader: (2)

I kinda dropped the idea of this transmission but now that Brett collins may be involved that would be a turn key setup.

I'm curious where the shifter lands on all these transmissions, how long they are from the bell housing to the shifter.

Do they have speed sensors in the transmission?

sebasc300

From the front of the bell housing to the center of the shifter on an E46 spec ZF320 measures roughly 30".

E36 measures at roughly 27"
E39 measures at roughly 34"

The E46 spec is ideal for SC/MKIV/IS swappers

BMW mounts the speed sensor in the Diff.

Hiboost

I be very interested in the 540i 6 speed gearbox adapter for 2jz. I got a spare 2jzgte motor sitting in the garage for quite some time and only thing holding me back from swapping it is the cost of v160.

m1k3yg

Is the fulrace setup tested do you know? That flywheel looks massive, I'd imagine it'd affect performance unless you have high power numbers. I checked their site and it seems all they do is automatic setups. I'm also steering towards a 6 speed out of an e39 540, just because the zf is physically shorter and I figured it'd suck to mount it properly. plus a 6 speed would suit my GS300 better in my opinion

e21jps

Im no expert on this exact conversion but i have raced both BMW and JZ engines and done lot of playing with gearbox conversions on both, plus engineered and built a few other conversions too. A couple important things come to my attention straight away!!!

1. I dont care what anyone says this conversion is very unlikely to work using any std bmw flywheel, for a start there is a big offset problem, you only need to take a look at how deep the custom flywheel is in the picture above. You see the JZ engine has the crank recessed back into the block somewhat and the bmw has the crank protruding out from the block add to this the fact there is an adapter plate as well and you can see the bmw box will be maybe 2" further away from the end of the crank!! so pilot bearing, throw out bearing clutch spline will all be totally wrong!!

2. JZ engine has the starter bolted to the block, BMW has the starter bolted to the Gearbox. both in the same location so unless you want to chop the mounts off the block then your using the JZ starter so for the bmw ring gear to have the right number of teeth, right tooth profile, right diameter AND right offset to work??..... sorry thats just too many variables for it "to just happened to be perfect" lucky it is a relatively easy fix. You will need to run a flex plate / ring gear from a JZ auto trans under what ever flywheel you use, std starter fits works all good! I often do this with a little top hat shape flywheel and tilton race clutch, works perfectly but not suitable for street use, maybe a larger version could be machined up to take an m3 clutch or something?

Possible the bmw flywheel can be spaced right out with a flex plate against the crank for the starter and run 4" bolts......good luck and god bless if your pushing any big HP with that set up!! Personally i prefer my feet to stay attached to my ankles and you still have a problem with the pilot bearing

Hence the only real solution is to either cut and shut two bell housings which is perfectly fine but ONLY IF its done correctly with jigs and milling machine etc. Or use something like that expensive looking custom flywheel above!

Worth doing its a match made in heaven!!! and once you have the parts then swapping replacing or upgrading will be easy forever. Bmw are fantastic they way they kept the same I6 bell housing bolt pattern for about 30 years!!

jkpgt96

iTrader: (1)

Subscribed. This would be great to see happen, especially a plate for the zf320 and the e39 get rag being that it is less than half of the price of a e46 m3 unit. All those are much smaller than the cd009 so fitting the. would be much easier in numerous chassis.

Maximo018

I can't wait to see someone try/complete this stateside.