The engine is in. Runs great. Makes 5th gear usable. One thing I will say it is definitely not as smooth as the 22r, but that was expected. What was a surprise was the radiator. I have a 4 core radiator that was used with the 22r and it was just enough to keep that little guy cool. I took the radiator to a radiator shop to have the ports moved and was informed the 4 core was a high efficient unit, the fins are closer than in a standard unit. That I did not ask for when I had the radiator redone years ago. The dude at the shop told me that the radiator should cool better than a 2 row 1 inch core aluminum radiator. I don't know if he was right but can say that little radiator cools the 4.3l better than it did the 22r. The gauge rest at 180 deg and does not move even with the ac on.
I still need to fix the tach, a couple of water leaks and the fan controller.
As seen in the above pic, the upper coolant hose is missing. The story behind that is I bought a DCC fan controller after it failed the second time I decided to go with the relay approach. I have a couple of 80 amp relays to drive the fan and three 50 amp relays to duplicate a Volvo controller. The third relay is just for a air conditioner signal. I welded a piece of tubing with a 14X1.5 mm nut to accept a BMW coolant switch. Then cut the upper radiator hose to accept the switch/tube assembly. Now what is left is to build the relay box.
