I've always wanted a Z32 since first seeing them about 3 years ago. Three years ago i knew nothing about cars, if you asked me what oil i used i would say just car oil..whatever the mechanic puts in it
. My first car is a 94 Maxima, I've had it for 7 years. Being from a long line of mechanics i knew a little about cars but my interest was electronics (computers, car electronics etc). The 94 Maxima, as any older car needed constant maintenance. I couldn't afford to keep taking it to the mechanics and being charged $90 an hour labor and parts..and we all know that they give you a super high mark up on parts. So i decided to do the research, and fix my car myself..ofcourse with the help of my father who was a mechanic. Working with him gained me enough knowledge to do basic jobs. Anyways, last year after putting $2000 into new suspension and exhaust my engine bent a rod. We bought a new engine and swap it into the car. (we being i looked on lol)Anyways, early last year, maybe around spring, i saw this sweet silver Z parked outside a local shop. Sometimes i would see it on the lift and sometimes it would be parked outside with the hood open. Bare in mind, i knew nothing about turbo cars, let alone how to identity if the Z was turbo or not. I didn't know they came in 2+2 either lol!! So during the winter one day i passed and saw the same car for sale at the local repair shop. I thought to myself, its probably going selling for $4000+ i shouldn't waste my time pulling over and asking the price. So i continued driving. About 30mins later while passing back to return home i said, wtf lets find out. The car was begin sold for $1500.
The owner, poor old guy, spent thousands over the year at the same shop trying to fix the car. The mechanics kept changing out parts hoping to fix it. So i guess he was exhausted and just wanted to get rid of the car now. After meeting him he said "you'll probably need a new engine" I don't know what else to change to get this car running again. It drives but doesn't have any power. So i said "lets assume its a shell. Whats the best price for the shell?" He said $1000, and i said $800. He agreed really fast. and i drove it home.
Things the mechanics change: All new injectors, coil packs, water pump, head gaskets*, and loads of sensors.
After driving it home, i heard a loud banging sound. it turned out the mechanics never put the bolts on the cooling fan so that flew out and hit the radiator and also broke. I bought a new fan and radiator. The car had no power, and a really bad miss. After looking at the coil packs wiring i realized that they connected the a wire from #2 to #6..two plugs wore firing together? Someone with limited knowledge knew that wasn't right. So i cut that wire out. connected it where i thought it should be..and then my father started playing with the car after i left for work. Laterally hours later the car was driving beautifully. The problem all this time is that the mechanic couldn't fix was the timing. After my dad put the timing correctly the car drove beautifully.
A week or two later coolant started leaking from the front. Turned out the water pump that the mechanic installed was leaking coolant. (cheap pump?) So we changed that (during the winter in our yard). I drove the car for about 3 months. Then in Feb it started to miss really bad on my way home. After getting home in the car i saw white smoke coming from the exhaust, being its cold i figure thats normal but the smell was sweet..and i knew that wasn't normal. I knew form some previous research that its coolant. So i started pulling coils to see if a coil pack died. Turned out when i pulled the #2 coil the engine miss didn't change. So i bought a new coil pack for that cylinder hoping it would fix the problem(still ignoring the sweet coolant smell..lol). That didn't fix the problem, we drained the oil..and coolant was in the oil. BLOWN HEAD GASKET. Turned out the braniacs didn't change the head gasket like they told the old guy. My father pulled the head out and saw signs that they did "try" to change the head gasket but couldn't get down to the head so they torqued the head down even more hoping to "temporary fix the problem". I was told that 90% of all the bolts my dad took out with his bare fingers because they never tighten them!!
Me being frustrated with the money i spent so far on the car and the fixes we did in the yard i was heart broken to finally get my dream car and now its dead..i was kicking myself for not buying a new engine from the start. So i told him cancel the insurance and leave it in the yard until the summer ( i couldn't bare the punishment of myself and him working in the cold to fix it) The car sat there until spring of 2012.
While it sat in the back yard i downloaded the FSM i found on google. I started going tons and tons of research. While researching i found this forum, where i read thousands of posts.... and never registered on this forum to ask questions. I figured why bother anyone when i know i have enough time to research. From FEB to spring 2012 i learnt so much about the VG30DETT that i was comfortable doing a TT swap myself.
I bought an cherry picker engine lift, tons of tools and then i bought all the necessary parts thats needed to do the swap such as intercoolers, piping, drive shafts etc etc. The last thing i did was buy the engine and trans. After receiving the engine on a monday within 2 days we were starting our new engine up.
Everything i did was researched and i learnt as much as i can to do this swap. I've never done a N/A to TT swap before..just watched my dad and uncle swap a 94 maxima engine in. In 3 months i researched and learnt more than a pro mechanic about forced induction engine. I can pretty much take this engine apart and rebuilt it myself.....
Whats next for me? Upgraded CAMS and lifters, upgraded turbos, upgraded exhausts etc etc. So i hope all the noobs like myself out there learn to research research research instead of being lazy and ask or post
I'll post specs and pics soon.
hopefully you can figure it out. You can do an engine swap..((TT to TT or Na to NA)) in less that 5 hours with these cars. I did mine in the yard..no garage, just a cherry picker engine lift and basic tools.
