Can't You Hear- Can't You Hear the Thunder?!

[Thunderlane]

Greetings, NICOClub!

I'm Thunderlane! I'm currently living in Albuquerque, New Mexico and have been a Nissan/Infiniti fan for years (ever since I was allowed to play NFS Underground).

In fact, the first car I ever bought was a Nissan S13 (hatchback) with an SR20DET. I used it when I was in college, but the swap was done poorly, the interior was trashed, and the car had been abused most of its life. When I "left college" (pronounced: dropped out), I had to sell it because I was moving back in with my parents. Honestly, I was kinda glad to see the back of it.

The S13 was fun, but it was so poorly put together that I would kiss the ground every time I arrived at a destination because I was thankful to be alive. However, it was supremely better than the ride I'm stuck in now, a Mazda 323 (BF), which I'm borrowing from my dad. Either way, I recently decided that I want to attend UTI and become a professional mechanic, with the goal of building performance Japanese Automobiles for a well-known tuner. Along with this desire, came my craving for another car with "240" in the name. This time, I seek not an S13, nor an S14, but I seek an S30!

Inspired by Nino Karotta and his 260z "Aardvark" (http://www.speedhunters.com/2012/12/bui ... ft-datsun/) and a couple of S30 builds in various magazines, I want to build a supreme S30 with a VQ35DE engine. My goal isn't to have a full racing build like Mr. Karotta's, but a more street oriented race car, mainly using the conversion parts available from McKinney Motorsports.

Either way, It will be an incredible adventure! I'm currently taking the first step and saving money/hunting down that Z-Car, so any advice would be appreciated greatly! You'll probably see me around the Datsun and Nissan forums as well as the general forums, since I'm not incredibly interested in Infinitis (Sorry, guys). If you want to chat, feel free to send me a message, because I'm very interested in being an active member of this community!

Cheers!

Thunderlane

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Welcome to NICO!

...sorry for your loss of Walter White

What other mechanic experience do you have? Would this be your first engine swap?

[Thunderlane]

Thanks for the welcome! And yes, RIP Mr. White.

I don't have a lot of hardcore experience, mostly because I haven't been properly budgeted until now. I've mostly been helping my dad with maintenance and repairs on all of the family cars (The Mazda, a Ford Taurus, a Ford Van, my brother's Mustang and my dad's C3 Corvette) for the past few years.

And it would be INCREDIBLY irresponsible to jump directly to doing an Engine Swap. As I tell a friend of mine who is always talking about turbocharging his Mazda Protege: "There are a thousand ways to make your car faster before you should even think about adding more power." With an S30, I would need to do a rear brake conversion, a front disc upgrade, a coilover set-up with new shocks, new wheels, modern tires, new anti-sway bars, strut tower braces, proper bumpers (since I'll most likely end up with a 280z and those terrible 15mph bumpers), I'll need to get the body straightened out, probably tune up the L-Series to make it a reliable car, and I might even get some tasty aero parts (air dam, fender flares, spoiler) to make it look more like a Fairlady Z 432. And THEN I'll start thinking about the Engine Swap.

I originally wanted to do an SR20DET swap, but then I decided that I want to drift the car (possibly competitively) and reliability is always an issue with performance cars. I did some research and found that the VQ35DE is the same weight as the SR, and it makes more HP and Torque, AND it's naturally aspirated (which I prefer). Furthermore, the VQ35DE is in pretty much every single car that Nissan makes, so any Autozone I run to is going to have any part I need.

I'm not just going to Cannon-ball into the biggest thing I could do on the car. Even I know that that'd be silly!

[PapaSmurf2k3]

Ok just making sure haha.
The VQ is a pretty labor intensive motor to swap in. Its a bit of a wiring nightmare, although I'm not sure if anyone is making a full stand-alone kit for it with wiring harness yet. Its also a very tall engine so you might have to cut/custom make cross members and oil pans and such. Its definitely do-able though. I guess just go 1 step at a time. First step is buying the car

[AZhitman]

Welcome aboard!

There are TONS of build threads here (we've been around a while ), so you can bet someone has not only done it, but they've documented it pretty well - A real help when you're digging in!

Feel free to check out our S30 restoration / modification article here - Might get some inspiration / ideas: http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/1972-d ... bella.html

[Thunderlane]

Its also a very tall engine so you might have to cut/custom make cross members and oil pans and such. Its definitely do-able though.

Yeah, I plan on using mounting hardware offered by McKinney Motorsport (http://www.mckinneymotorsports.com/prod_VQ-Zcar+parts) and it would appear that they offer every thing except a wiring harness, so I'm sure that will be exciting. But that is a long way in the future! For all I know, I'll have finished UTI by then and it'll be a lot easier!

And thanks for the welcome, AZhitman! I was just browsing through that Restoration Thread now and I'll be sure to give it an intensive read in a little bit. Lately, the only thing I've been reading intensively is Craigslist, since I've been hunting down that Z.

[NolimitZ32]

Welcome bud, great to have ya.

[Thunderlane]

Thanks for the welcome!

I've always liked the Z32! Not enough to buy it, but enough to turn my head every time one rolls by. It just has a naturally wide and low stance and it has the body lines to pull off that stance at stock. It's ridiculous levels of cool, and nobody can dislike a twin turbo V6... Well, except every American Domestic fan that I've ever met. I imagine that you have similar fans of Australian Domestics down under, but I'm not a hundred percent sure.

Either way, thanks for the welcome!

*EDIT: Even a guy from Australia doesn't comment on the reference in the thread title... Geez...

[MinisterofDOOM]

and nobody can dislike a twin turbo V6...Well, except every American Domestic fan that I've ever met.

There's an easy way to shut those guys up.

If they continue to protest, the words "430 ft-lb" should shut 'em up in a hurry.

[NolimitZ32]

Funny you should mention that, the only reason I originally opened the thread is cause of the title, and though I am in Oz at the moment I actually grew up in Houston Texas. Lastly, the guys rolling around in Holdens and Fords down here make our down-home domestic heads look like sensible people. Lots of "muscle"cars here with turbo V6s and the owner still walk around with a chip on their shoulder talking about muscle this and Aussie-built that.

[Thunderlane]

Oh, so you were probably thinking: SWEET! Another Australian guy!

And then you discovered that it was just some kid, living in the desert who named himself after a pony and used a Men At Work lyric as the title of his intro thread. I understand the disappointment. But it is just ridiculous that people can take such pride in such a silly thing as what kind of engine you're running. It is one thing to be proud of your car, but I would be just as proud of a little Suzuki (and I have a mad idea for a twincharged Cappuccino drift build that is still technically a Kei car) as I would of a twin-turbo V8 '55 Chevy.

Taking pride in choosing a certain kind of engine is just ridiculous. Preference is one thing, but pride is silly.

[dexterva]

New member as of this post. recently acquired a 1970 NIssan Fairlady Z 432. Anyone in the forum knows where I can buy interior parts to restore?

[AZhitman]

Hey Dexterva -

Welcome aboard! Would you be so kind as to start an entirely new thread for your question? We'll make sure it gets some action, but this one is Thunderlane's discussion.

Thanks much!