JBDs B3 CQ

[landfill]

Nice history with this one.
Glad you got her back. Also
the white b3 coupes are my
favorite.

You have to do the s2 bumpers
with the black bottoms.

[jbrentd]

Nice history with this one.
Glad you got her back. Also
the white b3 coupes are my
favorite.

You have to do the s2 bumpers
with the black bottoms.

Thanks, me too. It does have a euro S2 rear and a euro V6 coupe front bumpers. It'll stay with that combo unless I come across one helluva deal on an S2 front bumper.

[jbrentd]

Just in time to celebrate getting the coupe back on the road, I found my long-term swap solution...lol. Wish I had found it first, but that's how it goes sometimes. I learned a lot with my first swap. A friend and I went in together on a donor car and we picked it up last weekend. I'll be taking the 3B and other parts needed for the swap and he needs body and interior stuff. The 3B is completely stock, from what I can tell. Once I get this 3B home, I'll slowly start cleaning it up and planning for the conversion, but I'm not in a big hurry now that she's running.





The donor is at his place. He enjoys this stuff and made quick work of removing the 3B for me. Got a pic from him today, he’s already pulled the engine, engine harness, ECU, fuse panel, fuse panel harness, down pipe, altitude sensor, airbox, intercooler and piping, radiator fan, and some other stuff too, I’m sure.

[jbrentd]

Spent some time in the garage last weekend. Replaced a leaky NLA fuel line. Had to make one.



Also started flushing the cooling system. While the car was idling, I did some clean and organizing to make room for the 3B. I grabbed my old radiator to throw it out. Glad I gave it good look because I noticed I never took the NLA lower rubber isolator off.



Snapped a couple pics too.

[Nollywood]

Time to get that 3B in there!

[jbrentd]

Time to get that 3B in there!

Gonna take my time cleaning it up. 7A is running well and will probably overhaul the suspension and brakes soon. Got the 3B home a couple weeks ago.

[jbrentd]

Have just been working on odds and ends, lately. And driving the coupe a couple times a week to/from work. The no voltage issue at the hall sensor has come back many times lately, but each time, I just have to wiggle the connector at the ECU and it fires right up. Just one of those quirks I'll have to deal with until I do the swap, I guess.

Got some Euro bits in the mail. 3B S2 intercooler and crossmember and an RS2 fan shroud to go with the 3B high powered fan. I need to figure out the wiring side of this.







And finally got around to flushing the cooling system, before adding some g13. 1st one on the left was just water. 2nd one, I ran some Prestone flush product for about 5 hrs of driving time.

[landfill]

Nice, whose your source on the
fan shroud and the crossmember?

[jbrentd]

Nice, whose your source on the
fan shroud and the crossmember?

I got those from Martin.

[landfill]

Cool, I was referred to him too.

[jbrentd]

Cool, I was referred to him too.

It sounded like he had a few used shrouds.

[jbrentd]

Installed the Bravo radio (IND-600BT). Love it so far, especially for only $22.



And I spent a little time yesterday adjusting the ride height. I ran out of adjustment in the rear and there's another 2+ inches of adjustment on the fronts. So, it looks like I'll be swapping the front and rear springs...probably when I install my stash of AKM bushings.

Front set up...


Rear set up...


How it sits currently...

[jbrentd]

It’s been a while, but round 2 of the engine swap is underway. At least the car is running this time around (knock on wood), while I work on the 3B tear-down/refresh.













Part of the oil deflector






Couple questions. 1) Is the oil deflector absolutely necessary? I found about 6 pieces of it in various spots. Neither of my 7As had one. 2) There's a piece blocking the nut that secures the distributor collar. How does that come off?

[Ruffiano]

oil deflector is absolutely not necessary. never seen that on any of my 7a or 3b heads, but that is a large pop rivet, seems like you could just cut it off.

[jbrentd]

oil deflector is absolutely not necessary. never seen that on any of my 7a or 3b heads, but that is a large pop rivet, seems like you could just cut it off.

Thanks. That's what I ended up doing to the rivet. I wonder if that would indicate that the distributor has never come off? Looks like something that would be there from the factory or something.

[jbrentd]

Picked up the head from the shop on Friday and spent some time in the garage over the weekend. Got it torqued down per the ARP instructions. Also started the process of cleaning up the block in preparation for the POR15 engine paint.

[weirdinside]

looks awesome!! going with an RS2 turbo/different turbo or sticking with the stock 3B turbo?

[jbrentd]

looks awesome!! going with an RS2 turbo/different turbo or sticking with the stock 3B turbo?

Thanks. Plan is to put the 3B in stock to start with. But I question that choice after I put the exhaust manifold back on. Gonna be a PITA to get it back off with the engine in the car.

I did pick up a Volvo K24 for a good price recently, just in case. Later on, I might convert to COP and switch to a tuned AAN ECU.

Some updated pics...

Engine primer


Silver top coat

[jbrentd]

If you can't tell, I work slow. But here's where things are now.

Received a few parts from the UK and Germany, like coolants and intake hoses, oil lines and heat shield. Still waiting on an S2 air box.







Have been cleaning and painting parts. And a friend of mine powdercoated a few things for me.











Found a manual HVAC airbox to swap in while I have the dash apart.



And I’m starting to mock up the cooling system. My donor 3B didn’t come with a hardline for the heater piping. So, I am doing something similar to what was on the donor, but with new hoses.



S2 3B Oil return at oil pan extension


Combination of 7A and 200 3B breather system


S2 3B charge hose and TIP piping. Had to make due with another off the shelf product in the bypass piping. Not ideal, but it should work.

[morris400]

Looks good man, great colour choices.

[jbrentd]

Looks good man, great colour choices.

Thanks! I hope they turn out as good when all assembled and they do in my head.

[jbrentd]

It's been a why since I updated this, but some progress has been made.

Here's how the 3B is currently sitting, while I work on the suspension and other stuff.



I am replacing all of the bushings...solid for the subframes and poly for the rest. This was not fun.



Cleaned up the rear diff. Here are some before and after pics.





Also completed applied POR15 to a bunch of the suspension parts.





Cleaned up my homemade coilovers. While I was at it, I swapped the springs front and rear, added the helper springs, and fitted the AKMS/Verkline top mounts.



Next were the wheel wells, which were quite nasty. There was also a decent amount of overspray on the wheel well liners from when I had the car painted.

[jbrentd]

Hit a bit of a bump in the road. Came across some rust on the interior side of the floor pans, so I have been trying to deal with that.

After removing the sound deadening material




After the degrease and metal prep steps




After POR15




After laying some heat/sound material

[DUBDAWG]

Great build, What an awesome journey. Hope to see more.

[jbrentd]

Great build, What an awesome journey. Hope to see more.

Thanks. Some parts have been more awesomer than others, lol.

[jbrentd]

Some more updates...

Rear suspension and brakes are pretty much done.





Cleaned the carpet. It’s not perfect, but much better than before. Rust stains are tough to get out.









It feels like I went 10 rounds with it, but the 7A harness has been removed. Could have used a couple more hands.



And I stripped down the 7A harness in preparation of the swap. There's not much left of it after removing all of this. Working on the 3B harness now...then I will merge the two.

[landfill]

Man makes me want to get working on mine. I gave up on toys for awhile.

Some great TLC going on there. Looks really good!

[jbrentd]

Man makes me want to get working on mine. I gave up on toys for awhile.

Some great TLC going on there. Looks really good!

Thanks! Yeah, my time and effort on this project ebbs and flows from time to time, but I try to get out in the garage a little bit to keep things fresh on my mind. I would love to see what you have going on your project.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jbrentd]

​Just a few updates. The 7A and 200 3B harnesses are 90% merged, just have a few splices to make in the car.

Engine is out...again. This time with the transmission. So, it’ll get a good cleaning. Working on the engine bay now to prep it for paint.



Battery tray is out and the wiring and new battery are in.

[DUBDAWG]

Love the clean install. I'm surprised you didn't clean the shit out of it before u put it back together.

[jbrentd]

Love the clean install. I'm surprised you didn't clean the shit out of it before u put it back together.

Haha, thanks. If you’re referring to the engine bay, I am in the process of prepping it for a new coat of paint. Have to get rid of 30 years of caked on crud though first.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jbrentd]

Dealing with more BS not related to the swap...rust on the door sills this time. I forgot to take pics before I started. The before pictures are from 2014, so it had gotten worse since then.





Also spent some time to continue cleaning the engine bay. Gonna hit it with a fresh coat of pearl before the 3B goes in.

[landfill]

Nice, I have to respray my bay yellow.

You didn’t contemplate cutting out the battery tray?
It gave me a lot more room in the engine bay and better
access to the back of the turbo, downpipe, engine area.

[jbrentd]

Nice, I have to respray my bay yellow.

You didn’t contemplate cutting out the battery tray?
It gave me a lot more room in the engine bay and better
access to the back of the turbo, downpipe, engine area.

Is your coupe ginster?

I only left that one side of the battery panel in case I wanted to mount something on it. Maybe a catch can or something.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[landfill]

My bad didn’t see that last pic.

[jbrentd]

Engine bay touch up is done. Man, that was a tone of work...do not want to do that again.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jbrentd]

Parts are making their way back on to the coupe...finally.

Brake and Hydraulic system components



Made a bracket for my fan resistor pack and high speed relay





Made some new fender well flaps



Power distribution in the engine bay. I think all I have left on the power/ground front is to make a new ground wire for the bell housing and to change the positive terminal on the 4 awg wire to the starter.

[weirdinside]

really clean power dist. solution! this project is turning out really nice, i'm excited to see it on the road :-)

[jbrentd]

really clean power dist. solution! this project is turning out really nice, i'm excited to see it on the road :-)

Thanks! Me too! I hope to have it running this summer…just need to find more time to work on it. Spring and summer bring a lot of stuff to do around the house.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jbrentd]

Progress has been SLOOOWW!! Pretty typical for me in the Summer, with the heat and lots to do around the house. I’ve also started the process of building a dedicated detached garage/shop. I hope to break ground in September. But here are a few small updates…

Test fitted some new wheels. TSW Revos, 4x108, 17x7 et45. Plan was to paint or powder coat them and use a 10mm, 15mm or 20mm spacer.



But then these Ultraleggeras popped up locally, so they will be staying and the Revos will be sold.



I recently picked up a Kamei armrest. Think I might paint it grey and recover with grey vinyl or leather. It'll be nice to have an armrest in the coupe.



Not pictured, but the transmission, front subframe and front suspension are all installed.