240SX VQ Swap - Project S13 V-Spec with VQ30DE from Maxima.

[Soravia]

Just bought a Maxima V6 with 96K for $195 plus shipping. Was told that it was running from a car that got hit on the side. But I think I'll look into rebuilding the engine top to bottom and change the cam timings to be more aggressive.

[Soravia]

Very interesting find.

VQ35DE (RWD) lower intake manifold.Left - Non-RevUp, Right - RevUp.

[Soravia]

After more research, I found out that the 1995 VQ30DE have no OBDII and that 1999 VQ30DE and later have NATS anti-theft engine immobilizer from Nissan that requires electronic keys and stuff.

I'm going to save myself all the trouble and go for 1996-1998 manual ECU. Instead of NATS, I think I'll do something else.

[Soravia]

MY VQ came in today! I'll post better pics tomorrow. These were taken by my crappy phone cam.

[Soravia]

Bigger PIX!

The V6 3.0 Liter with potential 250HP!

Water Pump.

Upper oil-pan needs to be changed.

Starter sits on trans side?

Oil filter is where it shouldn't be, at the front on a RWD.

Intake manifold taken off. It has 6 bolt holes but only 4 are used to secure the manifold.

Intake manifold has oval ports, not great for intake tubes but good for injection port.

Manifold gasket is a rubber. 1/4" thick rubber.

PCV hose connection to the intake manifold.

IAVC and all the rest are all in one plate right next to the throttle.

Inside of the throttle body. Do you see what 96K miles of having EGR next to throttle does?

[Soravia]

I'm trying to decide on what to do with the intake manifold.

Option 1) Ghetto Super Ricer. - Cut into the firewall.

Option 2) Rich Super Ricer. - Buy Kinetix Stainless Steel manifold for $900.

Option 3) OEM Hood Cutter. - Buy a stock 350Z intake manifold and cut 2 feet hole in the hood.

Option 4) Budget Fabber. - Cut the stock soft aluminum manifold and weld in tubes.

Option 5) Super Fabber. Machine Throttle, Manifold, IAVC flanges on mild steel and put them on custom tubes.

Which is the best idea?I have the budget for all of the above options except Super Ricer.
Modified by Soravia at 12:19 AM 4/23/2008

[Soravia]

I'm going to Budget Fabber since the preset budget limit of $2,000 prevents me from buying a $900 intake from Kinetix.

Here are some progress.

This is the original manifold.

It has this nasty bend restricting air flow.

So I used this.

Results.

Now the inlets are ready for mods.

[mirochuki13]

Nice progress. Fabricating the whole manifold would be cool but I guess really time consuming. $2000 is a really tight budget. How much did you get the engine for?

[Soravia]

The engine was $195 off ebay. But there was $125 shipping from Ocala area to the warehouse my project is at. So it comes out as $320. No Tax! LoL

On Ebay, you can get those engines for $250 range plus shipping. I jut got something close by for easier return shipping if the engine was shot dead. Luckly, when I pulled out the dip stick the oil was pristine. Someone changed oil reguraly before they got t-boned. :P



here is the low down of the projected cost.

VQ30DE engine = $3005 Speed ECU = $50Wiring (usually not on the engine) = $100MAFS (usually not on the engine) = $50350Z Aftermarket Exhaust manifolds = $100Fabbing the intake manifold = $100Fabbing the motor mounts = $50350Z upper oil pan = $120350Z Clutch Kit = $300Custom Aluminum Driveshaft = $300

The rest is for 6-speed 350Z transmission. Hard to get at that low price but not impossible. Or I could just fab the bellhousing on the KA 5-Speed onto the VQ. All it takes is drilling out the aluminum anyway.

[Soravia]

BTW, anyone know how to take off that damned torque converter?

[Soravia]

My other S13 getting a new battery.

[Soravia]

5 Speed ECU and Harness just came in a radiator box.

No cuts on the harness.

[Soravia]

Dirty valve covers after 96K miles and cheap oil.

Top

Brake Cleaner and scrubbing pad.

Will use a cordless drill and wire-wheel on the insides later on.

Painted Semi-Gloss Black

[Soravia]

Dirty cam.

Dirty Intake

[OutToWinPAHC]

Looking good.... My cousins 2001 Maxima was stolen, wrecked and he has it back now... 56K on the motor. I might pull it and save it to put in my S15 (GMC truck). But I'm curious to see what you end up doing with motormounts before I make the effort.

[Soravia]

Right now I'm in the process of rebuilding the engine. Cleaning out the crap and putting on new seals and gasket to be exact.

I'm about 50% done on the intake manifold Super Ghetto mod. It's pretty ugly right now so I'll post pics once I'm done with a final product, then you'll see what it took to make it.

The engine mounts are none issue to make. The real issue is the position of the engine inside the engine bay.

[Soravia]

This is a custom intake for Supra with 2JZ turbo.

I'm trying to make a custom intake in similar fashion. Minus the 2K price tag. So far, I've spent about $99 in parts and supplies for the intake manifold. Tools not included.

[Soravia]

After cutting off the pluem from the intake, I put generic steel exhaust connectors over the intake runners. The end of the runners are taped with masking tape so that JB-weld poured in from top won't seep out. JB-Weld is not a putty.

Here you can see what I did to prevent JB-Weld from dripping into the intake. Having a diry intake helps because the accidental drops of JB-weld would later come out as you take out the carbon and soot build-up.

Here is JB-Weld. Depending on the temperature, let it sit for 15 minutes to 30 minutes before you apply it to the manifold. Otherwise it is very hard to handle using a knife, more like a ranch dressing than mayo. You can use hot running water and paper towel to clean it off the knife. Before applying JB-Weld using alcohol or brake cleaner to clean the intake manifold is recommend. No sanding is needed for the manifold as it has lots of bumps but sanding with low grit sand-paper is recommended for the exhaust pipe connectors.

For twin runners 3" Internal Diameter pipe is needed and for single runners a 2.25" ID pipe is the best. I made a mistake of using a 2.25"ID to 2.5" ID when I put it on. It makes un-necessary space that would create air-flow turbulance.

[Soravia]

After JB-Weld sits in, there were some rough angles for air-flow. I used QuikSteel putty to make a smoother surface. QuikSteel hardens within 15 mins so you want to make them all at once and apply to the entire runner to get best results, not one at a time for each corner of the runner.

This is QuikSteel. It can be drilled, sanded, etc. Holds up to 500' F.

[Soravia]

I used this to clean the intake runners. An extension was used to reach far inside the runners.

You can see the difference in the picture.

[Soravia]

I cut the exhaust extensions too short in a failed attempt to match the three longer runners to the single shorter runner. So I had to weld in more pipes. I should have had an extension welded to the shorter pipe and made it much easier.

The pipes then get welded to this plate of steel. It is welding rated 16GA thickness. I should have gotten 12GA but I was concerned about the weight.

[Soravia]

This is after the extended pipes were cut and welded to the plate with drilled holes.

I will be smoothing the insides using QuikSteel. It is cheap and cost like $3.59 a piece.

You can see the heat-warps on the steel plate. 12GA would have held better. Or I could have slowed the welding process and let the plate cool. Spraying water is not recommended and will cause cracks on welds.

[mirochuki13]

Should look really nice once all of the excess JB Weld is cleaned up.

[Soravia]

I'm planning to use sand and paint over and then use turbo heat-wraps and paint over once more for looks as well as reducing heat transfer.

[tfreker]

that was the worst spoiler ive ever seen in my life

[RustspecS13]

You should research more on the VQ swap, its been done a few times before but Broaner was one of the first to do it in an S13 and Thanial (SP?) did the VQ30DE-K in the FC.

One thing that thanial did was cut the DEK intake just like you did, and JB weld it back together with the plenum half flipped so the TB was facing forward. It was much easier for him because the DEK intake is plastic, and the major source of the HP difference. The intake cams are actually smaller and the exh cams are different, but the varible intake runners are what counts. You can just get the manifold and use it on your DE and get more HP then a "true" DEK.

Broaner just cut his firewall and used a regular DE. Hes crazy and his s13 weighs in at around 2000lbs, so his way isn't for the feint of heart.

I don't think the pathy intake will fit under hood but sadly Ive never seen a VQXX in a s13 in person.

Its really nice to see another VQ swapper. Ive got a VQ35DE from a G35 to swap in, but I really need to start finding/buying the other things I need like transmission and clutch and management. Im going megasquirt though so I dont have much issues with wiring.

And I doubt you'll be able to get the 240 HUD working with the maxima ecu. Might be possible but make sure you have a working hud or you fix it and test it in a KA powered s13.

Oh and for 3.5L option, you can use the 3L timing cover and timing equiment (and cams or redrill 3.5L cams) and have a full 3.5L controlled by a 3L ecu. It will just need tuned SAFC at MINIMUM. Theres ALOT of maximas running around like that.

I might even swap on 3L timing cover because I wont be able to use VTCs (i forget what the G35 calls its cam timing system) initially but megasquirt is getting more developed and should beable to control them soon.

Hit me up on aim if you have any questions or just want to chat.

~Alex

[Soravia]

Thanks. I'm also planning on a DE-K once I'm done but the DE-K manifold is a little taller so I don't want to throw my effort and money into something that won't let me use a stock style CF hood. (I'm going to paint the CF hood too)

I'll also try to cut and fab on the stock pluem. But that's for later.I'm looking up on using a 300ZX 5-Speed instead of the 350Z 6 Speed. It'll need fabbing to fit but has better fitment for the S13 chassis. I'm looking up on the gear ratios right now.

6MT"6MT" is a shorthand way of writing "6 speed manual transmission"

What are the gear ratios?1: 3.794:1

2: 2.324:1

3: 1.624:1

4: 1.271:1

5: 1.000:0

6: 0.794:1

Transmission Gear type: 5-speed manual with overdrive Clutch: Hydraulic (vacuum assist) 1st gear ratio: 3.214:1 man / 2.785 auto 2nd gear ratio: 1.925:1 / 1.545 auto 3rd gear ratio: 1.302:1 / 1.00 auto 4th gear ratio: 1.000:1/ 0.694 auto 5th gear ratio: 0.752:1 / na auto Reverse gear ratio: 3.369:1 / 2.272 auto Final drive ratio: 3.692:1 Viscous coupled limited slip differential
Modified by Soravia at 1:07 AM 5/31/2008

[s13gebala]

once again im drunk and work tmr. LOL

idk if ur gona hange it but that wing and stop light poping out oif ur trunk is soo ****ing ricer..if you roll with that id be disapointed i mean thats just silly on that coupe take t off and get a stock one :] have fun with ur build brotha

[Soravia]

I'm pondering the idea on using a KA or SR 5 speed on the VQ30DE. Does anyone know if the throw out shaft from the KA transmission will work with a 5th gen Maxima clutch?? I only have a torque converter on my engine so I don't know how a clutch will go with the shaft from KA trans I have.

thanks

[maik21]

i like when custom parts shows up !!