Hey NICO! I'm new to the forum and need some help! "Tweener" and I turn 30 next year and I am looking to make him new again with some freshies! He's been good to me for 10 years, time to make him "newer" again.

Looking to buy the following parts. If you have them or know where to find them I am interested! WIll pay $!!

1. STILLEN Strut Tower Bar preferably (or Jeff Williams)
2. Stillen Intake
3. Impul ECU preferably (or NICO ECU) working obviously

I am open for any other performance mods you guys have too or other suggestions!

Will be posting a thread and videos once I get the parts. Stay tuned!

Best wishes on all 3. Stillen strut Bar Took me 10 years of searching to find the 1 I have. Managed another without hats last year. Stillen intake. Have yet to see one for sale. The impul ECU is probably the easier. But still very hard to find. Yahoo auctions japan once in a while one will pop up. 300-400$. BTW. How would any of these make your 30 year old car "newer". Was once into the "let's mod" this car but at its age, just maintain it throughly and aggressively so you can keep it as long as you can.

Thanks for the input BCC93QT. I have a Stillen Intake already, just looking to get another. I will check the Yahoo auctions Japan for some of the other stuff.

I'm in the process of doing a top to bottom improvement. I am getting suspension, brakes, wheels, minor engine work and other stuff done to it. I've taken good care of it for this long and it took care of me. Want to make it feel newer again and keep it running strong.

If you have or know where I can get parts please message me.

Who's turning 30....you or the car? j/k it would seem both.
Please confirm that you have the metal backed chain guides?
you have the 'wide ratio' RE4R03A. That's a good thing, once you address the (lack of) 1st gear start.
Search for a TCU from a '93

@3Q Jay. Haha! Both. We have the same birth month and year. Bought the car as a 19th birthday gift to myself. It is only right I make it awesome again.

I am ordering the metal chain guides from VH eperformance. That was going under the "minor engine" stuff. Is there anyone else you would recommend to get them from?

Will do! Do you mean a TCU or ECU? Thanks again.
This forum is awesome with the help!

Trans control unit
I don't have a better answer on the chain guides, I have not personally done that job, as my earliest build date is 07/93 (metal backed). You could likely get OE Nissan parts from Japan, but it's a bit of a hassle, so perhaps VH perf is the best option there.
I would recommend you address that urgently. It's a ticking time bomb for your engine if they are the original nylon parts.
Don't forget 270 lb-ft on the crank pulley bolt to tighten. good-n-tite isn't sufficient due to friction drive on oil pump chain. Might want to get a ring gear lockout tool to hold engine from turning during that massive torque-down.

PS-the old-timers here are prolly biased for sure, but this forum (and it's archives) are still THE knowledge base for the G50. Nobody knows these cars anymore but for a few.

Gotcha. Thanks. I am searching for that right now.

Appreciate the advice. I will order the chain guides today.
https://www.performancevh.com/product-p ... -chain-kit
Just in case anyone else asks...

I have followed this forum for years and it has been a huge help fixing the minor issues (fuel pump, fuel filter, etc.) I have had over the years. It is great and the guys on here have been really helpful.

3Q Jay wrote: ↑

Sun May 24, 2020 11:13 am

PS-the old-timers here are prolly biased for sure, but this forum (and it's archives) are still THE knowledge base for the G50. Nobody knows these cars anymore but for a few.

Seems you and Heath are the only old timers left. Oh wait.... I think I'm officially old myself... ER

@3QJay I found a TCU for a 1994 not a 1993. Will that work or nah?

MiSTER.Cherry wrote: ↑

Sun May 24, 2020 11:39 am

@3QJay I found a TCU for a 1994 not a 1993. Will that work or nah?

hmmmm. I had a cross reference by part number years ago, but can't find it now. anyway, the 94 would have 1st gear start for sure (mine does), but both of my physical gearboxes have the short ratio 1st and 2nd gear (higher gears--lower numerical ratio). that may affect the TCU, but I'm not positive.
I'd say hold out on your search for the time being, as you can always mash the throttle, or slap it into first from a standing start.

Heath may have one. I have one from my 93 but have yet to decide if I want to put it in my 90. Was trying to keep it as stock as possible. I dont mind dropping it in 1st on the rare occasion I want to run it WOT

Cool. Thanks again guys!

@BCC93QT if you or this "Heath" fella want to sell the part I am open to discussion.
@3Q Jay I ordered the chain guides. Hopefully the get here before my engine seizes up lol.

I don't know if I will find a stillen or Jeff williams strut tower brace but I did come across this old thread:
http://www.q45.org/fstb.html

Will this FSTB work with a little bit of modification or does it have to be the specific one mentioned in the above mentioned post?
https://propartsusa.com/products/Megan- ... 98QAvD_BwE

Thanks again for the help guys.

Heath here. The 94 TCU will work. The 93 is considered the "correct" one because that was the only year that came with first gear start and had the same gear ratios - but lots of people have used the 94 one and been happy with it. 95 will also work. I seem to remember 96 being a no go. I don't think I have any spares.

This one is listed for a 91-92, but it's the right part number for a 93. It probably came out of a donor car that had been swapped out in the past, and they didn't check the part number. I'd be all over this mod. It's the best performance mod for the money, and it should make your transmission last longer. The part number for the 93 was 61036-64U20 or 64U75. I've never seen the second one, but it was a special countermeasure part to address shift shok problems that the dealer techs could try.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/113733731474

Thank you so much! I owe you guys some Bourbon! (I'm from Kentucky lol)

If I were POSSIBLY going to do a trans swap and turn mine in to a 5 speed with a z32 bottom end. Could this still be used on that application?

I bought the part https://www.ebay.com/itm/113733731474 anyway lol. Still want to know about the trans swap?

Bourbon is the shiz

MiSTER.Cherry wrote: ↑

Tue May 26, 2020 7:27 am

Still want to know about the trans swap?

I believe what Heath is saying is that the donor car you bought the 64u20 from, someone had swapped the "93" TCU into a '91 chassis previously, doing the mod that you are about to do.

couple of other points....
You will pull the front cover to do your guides/chains. It does not appear that the VHperf kit comes with a new front crank seal.
Change that out while you have the (lower) cover off.
Read up on old posts and get the FSM if you don't have it. You want to make sure you don't disturb cam timing during the job.
remember that part of the head gasket on each side is sandwiched between the upper and lower front covers. Don't F it up.
use a very small amount of rtv sealer where the covers abutt the gaket.

On your trans, don't want to give you too much to worry about at once, but I'd also highly recommend installing an RV size stacked plate trans cooler between your ac condensor and rad. I also use a magnefine in line to augment the factory filter (which I believe your '91 does NOT have from the factory, unless someone already retrofitted.

Gotchya! Thanks @3QJay. I ordered this part:
https://www.infinitipartsdeal.com/parts ... 60u00.html for the seal

VHPerformance has one as well:
https://www.performancevh.com/product-p ... t-seal-kit

One is $10, the other is $60. Don't know if that will effect performance in the short and long run...but I digress.

I am certainly an amateur car mechanic. Can you explain a little bit more of what you meant by:

an RV size stacked plate trans cooler between your ac condensor and rad. I also use a magnefine in line to augment the factory filter

It looks like the more expensive one includes a rear main seal too. I wouldn't pull the transmission to replace it unless it's leaking badly.

MiSTER.Cherry wrote: ↑

Tue May 26, 2020 10:29 am

Can you explain a little bit more of what you meant by:

an RV size stacked plate trans cooler between your ac condensor and rad. I also use a magnefine in line to augment the factory filter

Sure.... The 90-92 transmissions (maybe even 93, not sure) were famous for overheating...probably for lots of reasons-second gear start, heavy car (relatively), and only a single tube 'cooler' located in one of the two radiator side tanks.
The kouki's addressed this in part with the add of a second tank cooler in the rad (and 1st gear start). But for good measure, a lot of us have added an external tranny cooler as well.
example:
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/hda- ... uEQAvD_BwE
https://magnefinefilters.com/
It looks like the magnefines now come in a steel sealed casing...the old ones could unscrew so you could remove and clean/reuse the magnet if desired. Probably people found they could replace the pleated paper filter element for $2 or less, and so MF had to 'fix' that.......

PS- I'm partial to Woodford reserve, but Blantons is nice for special occasion, and I even drink Jim Beam black label (extra aged) as the 'tuesday afternoon' libation....

My personal elixir of choice is Wellers. It goes down too smooth! :

Great! Thank you so much. I will order that pretty soon as well.

I am waiting for the TCU and Timing Chains still. Getting the exhaust done in a few days. Still buying suspension parts right now. (that's what my poor car needs the most right now) 30 years of wear. The rubber bushings are no more

I know 300zx parts are the way too go according to this old post: https://www.nicoclub.com/archives/q45-p ... nce-2.html

I have still not found a suitable FTSB yet. Called Stillen, they didn't want to do business lol.

I found this option online for a 2000 nissan maxima that maybe with a little fab could work?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Jdm-Front-Uppe ... SwGFVehQvh
Got the idea from: https://www.q45.org/fstb.html

If not it is only $40...and I can share with the forum

Any other advice would greatly be appreciated!

I know the "Jeff Williams" bar was a modified Maxima bar, but I'm not sure what he was changing.

I looked at the ebay bar linked--it appears to be adjustable width, good.
You will need to drill a hole in the hat. It also looks like the bar height might be a little different. as long as not too high so you can close the hood......
on the silver '94, I have about 3/8" clearance between the transverse cavity of the upper plenum and the strut bar, so width of the bar (fore/aft) and height of bar above the hats are also considerations.


Question for Heath on TCUs....As I drove the '94 this morning (68u10 TCU) I was reminded of how when rolling gently to a stop, the trans shifts 3-1 at closed throttle, not 3-2, 2-1. This has always annoyed me (acknowledged that it may extend trans life by requiring fewer valve/clutch pack/band cycles), and interestingly, the '97 (FGY33) when I had it did the 3-2, 2-1.
So my question is: do you know if the 64u20 (or even the countermeasure 64u75) shift 3-1 or 3-2,2-1 at closed throttle?

I honestly don't know. I haven't noticed any weird downshifting.

Q451990 wrote: ↑

Fri May 29, 2020 10:47 pm

I honestly don't know. I haven't noticed any weird downshifting.

OK, I don't know that I'd call it 'weird'---could be by design. Anyway, if you wouldn't mind taking note the next time you have the Black Beauty out for a drive, I'd be interested to compare notes.
Apologies to the OP for the slight hijack.

No worries @3QJay! That engine bay is CLEAN! It's good info, you guys know what you are talking about and I'm always interested in learning.

I got the TCU in the mail 2 days ago. I haven't put it in yet (house projects and moving taking precedent). The strut bar should be here in a few days.

Timing chains will have to wait a while. I ordered them, but the guys at PerformanceVH said they have to wait about a week for a new set to come in. Until then I'm just sourcing/buying parts and playing the wait game.

Also, I tried to contact "Wes" about a NICO ECU and he hasn't emailed me back. Is there no one that still makes a NICO ECU?

Thanks! its dusty, because I don't really "clean" the engine bay, but I'm anal about addressing any leaks, and if I do pull a part off, I always try to put things back in OE new/correct condition.
your TCU is a pretty easy swap: 20 minutes tops, but of course family takes priority.
On the NICO ECU, the guy that originally did them was Robert Bowen in SoCal. Nice guy-he and I met up a few times when I lived in the area. He installed new chips and programmed the EEPROMs. I think the G50s were a fleeting obsession for him, and after he felt like he'd mastered/enjoyed it for a while he got out. Never heard from him since.

Are timing chain parts non-stock from Nissan at this point?

Wes has been out of the Q game for a while. I don't know if he has any interest in doing any new ECUs. I would keep an eye on our classifieds for part outs.

@q451990 I think the timing chains are non-stock options now. I called the Infiniti dealer in my town and they said I should just look online for better options...don't know if that was a price thing or a "we don't carry those any more" thing?

I found a JWT ECU from the JWT online store:
http://www.jimwolftechnology.com/custom ... PartID=166

Question...no debates just good honest personal feedback...
Which one is better NICO vs. JWT vs. IMPUL ECU?
The JWT is in stock but should I wait for a better option?