Cement

I should quit spending to get mine running and just buy a trailer so i can tow it to some meets before i can cash out my kiwi saver and get it completed

Thank you for the kind words gents Hopefully once things are complete it will look pretty OEM in terms of fit and finish, that's the goal at least. Not much in the way of photographic progress to report of late bit I am achieving some pretty satisfying pieces, really cool to start seeing the engine and car go from two separate things to being somewhat integrated now !! Wired up transmission so now have functional reverse lights and neutral switch Wired up ignition on so can use the key to power up engine electrics Run all cables inside the cabin that need to go there from the back side of the 'secondary' Deutsch 31 pin connector Planned where the OBD2 connector and Arduino will be mounted Located wires for oil pressure and alternator lights to the dash Next up will be finalisation of the wiring inside the car ... fuel pump relay trigger, brake switch, power supply for Arduino, CAN connections, dashboard bits etc etc

Gold I'll happily let them park in the drive way and setup a comfy chair for them along with a supply of tea and biscuits for an all day stake out !! Then we can half any cash payments as a side hustle woop.

I'm looking to get something once the car is finally on the road and was considering this unit here (Viofo T130) as its low profile, multi camera etc ... not 4k but I'm not sure its needed to get the gist of things, obviously you want to be able to get a plate and have good night vision etc. https://www.techadvisor.com/review/viofo-t130-review-3812733/

I've done the same and its turned out to be a waste of time. We have a handful of habitual excessive speeders that go past our place, I have a couple of security cameras and have worked out average speeds over a 30m stretch ... highest I've seen was 109kph (its a 50 zone, residential street). Tried to get a hold of our community constable and the person I ended up speaking to recommended that I go to a station and file a formal report, which they then have to follow up on and actually go and see the driver etc, providing you have registration of course (which I do). I thought the main offender was going to take a holiday to the big house recently as I saw police at his place with their guns out aiming over his fence etc 😲 Alas I have seen him since.

I feel this is the perfect time to temper the road rage with some soothing commentary from Ogmios and his school of zen motoring

I'm scrolling ... hanging out for those after pics

Wow, that clock !! No wonder Germans have a reputation for being on time

Another really satisfying milestone here getting the engine bay wiring virtually complete !! Just need to wire the back side of the 'secondary' plug which will have all of the wiring that will head into the cabin.

Wish I'd done this on the plug i have already wired up ... maybe I'll de-pin the whole thing at some point and deal to it. Anyhow, here is what i will be doing for the 'secondary' plug for the remainder of the ECU wiring. Cost effective solution for tidy wiring labels !! Sheet of laser print stickers plus clear heat shrink

Maybe there is additional width in the lower control arms etc to give an overall width increase along with some changes in geometry ?

Looking for the other side of the connector pictured ... looks like i sold mine with the engine and loom that came out of the car. Will go to the starter motor solenoid and something else i think. Just need the connector and as much wire still attached as possible.

Level up achieved !!! Finally completed the wiring to a 'functional' state. Now to get it tidied up and map out the additional plug I will need to make the harness removable. Can't wait to get to the point where it can all be wrapped and finalised !! Wasted literal days trouble shooting the last two issues, both simple explanations / solutions in the end: My mobile diagnostic app NCSIII was showing the accelerator pedal (BMW item) sensor voltages as the same when they were measuring correctly on the wire. There are two independent sensors which have differing voltages (one is half of the other). Finally located a note in the service manual stating the diagnostics are expected to show the same / adjusted voltage reading. Fuel pump relay signal would never fire. The service manual (EC section) notes ECU pin 22 is an 'output' which should show battery voltage for a second after key on (pump priming). Turns out the ECU actually sends pin 22 to ground when activated !! I guess its 'outputting' ground in a way and when measured with the full OEM wiring it would indeed show 12v. Tricky

So a fair bit of progress to report lately, mainly due to having caught covid and being in isolation downstairs with the rest of the family upstairs. Lucky for me the garage is conveniently located ... downstairs Also very lucky I've had a mild case and that it looks like we've managed to keep me from infecting other family members. So essentially all of the Nissan power wiring is complete in the engine bay now along with sensor wiring needed to power up the engine (electrically speaking only). Thats things like the gas pedal, fuel tank temp sensor, OBD2 connector, neutral switch etc. While in isolation I've also managed to get my Arduino happy with 2x CAN bus shields attached so I can pull from Nissan land and push to BMW land ultimately. Now that there is power on the engine I've also been able to start capturing CAN messages from the engine ECU in preparation for coding up the translation. Just today I found an awesome resource with all of the PID's and byte representations from a 370Z so that will be a massive help. Also have been progressing the transmission mount by 3D printing some mockups and checking clearances etc. Waiting for a new hotend for my printer to try and get the ASA filament printing properly (more temperature needed i suspect). I've constructed a thermostat controlled 'hot box' for the printer also to try and solve warping issues using ASA. Its a little on the sketchy side so will be a 'print while we are home' only solution. Onto the pics ...

That's awesome, looks like a plastic cover !? So good hahah

Just a FYI shout out really in case anybody is looking for VERY tidy manual E92 M3 coupe. Tis a mate of mines so would be nice to see this awesome example go to a good home. https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/cars/bmw/m3/listing/3505383296

Made up a little plate to fit my three rivnuts to mount the fuse and relay box ... worked a treat and saved having to buy an expensive tool. Credit to @M3AN for the initial inspiration in the tools for hire thread Got the box mounted up all good and have started terminating wires into it !! Once this is done I can jig up some temporary power and validate I've not stuffed up anything fundamental.

So I have completed the power distribution as far as the new fuse block and relays go ... only waiting on some smaller 18ga terminals for the 12 way distribution block mounted on the underside to finish up everything that hangs off the ECM relay. Not sure if I mentioned previously, but the aim of this setup is to: Separate the BMW / car side almost entirely from the Nissan engine side. There are some interactions left over like gas pedal, fuel pump signal, starter signal and stop light. Ensure the engine harness can simply be unplugged from here and the ECU(s) in order to be removed. In the factory situation there is the 'IPDM' (Intelligent Power Distribution Module). Next up have to mount the attachment block to the car and complete the engine harness side of the wiring connection !! Exciting Spoke to my certifier today also and he gave the green light for my transmission cross member with integrated driveshaft loop so thats a win ... can start back on that. As well as the dry sump pump final mounting design as the new crank mandrel also arrived. ps: Relay bases I got are incompatible with the relays so have wired them direct for now. They may stay this way for ever unless the terminals decide to fall over after some heat cycles !

This is a great watch, very soothing but only 3 episodes so far https://youtu.be/lo3tSswZV7Q Asa far as regular YouTube channels go I really only watch Sarah-n-Tuned and Skid Factory now as my tolerance for over commercialised click bait lessens. Or folks who's only goal seems to be to use their channel to fund a collection of super cars etc.

Anybody in Auckland have a rivnut / rivet nut / nutsert tool for hire or borrow ? Just need up to M6 for a half dozen fittings.

I'm just not sure why but i had to watch it all, so good 🤣

Cheers @Braydon its coming along slowly ... looking a bit like a spaghetti monster but should be able to tidy it up nicely I hope. Have had to order some additional terminals to complete things. There will be two additional relays and a distribution block (downstream items from ECM relay) to mount to the real printed block when its completed tomorrow.

Have started assembly of the power distribution on this delightful yellow printed prototype. The real one is printing as we speak, about another 24 hours to go 🤯 Then I will have to see how the PETG goes with the engine bay heat ... once the thing runs. I have some ASA filament but need to upgrade the hotend on the printer to try and get it printing properly etc. The last of the electrical parts arrived this morning also so once the 3D printing has completed I can forge ahead !!

Got my electrical pieces, so I can now start to lay out the power distribution. Buying from Waytek Wire meant there were some minimum quantities so I've got plenty of 'spares' of some items

Headers look so good !!! I think there is a definite relation between total degrees of twists and turns to coolness I'm talking with my certifier at the moment about my driveshaft hoop as I'm trying to integrate it with the trans mount ... looks like you've already got it sorted but i just put a render up on my build thread if you'd like to see the direction I'm hopefully going.