intercooler set ups

[camarokid]

So I'm planning on swapping a VG30DETT in my 86 300zx and was wondering if I could run stock Z32 intercoolers or a FMIC. and I'm curious how you guys setup your intercoolers for your Z31 and I don't just mean those that put the DETT in. I'd like to see any and all intercooler routing that you guys made work on the Z31s.

[evildky]

Don't swap the VG30DETT! It's packaging makes it twice as hard to service, twice as expensive to maintain and twice as expensive to modify. Not to mention the cost of purchasing and the PITA factor of swapping it in. The VG30ET offers 90% of the power at a fraction of the cost and a fraction of the effort. From my experience no 2 Z31's run their intercooler the same way. Might be a bit of an exaggeration but there are a lot of possibilities and a lot of different methods people have used, many variables such as intercooler size, type, engine, deleting a/c, deleting p/s, deleting the mas, etc. here is mine, not that you can see much of it,

[camarokid]

Don't swap the VG30DETT! It's packaging makes it twice as hard to service, twice as expensive to maintain and twice as expensive to modify. Not to mention the cost of purchasing and the PITA factor of swapping it in. The VG30ET offers 90% of the power at a fraction of the cost and a fraction of the effort. From my experience no 2 Z31's run their intercooler the same way. Might be a bit of an exaggeration but there are a lot of possibilities and a lot of different methods people have used, many variables such as intercooler size, type, engine, deleting a/c, deleting p/s, deleting the mas, etc. here is mine, not that you can see much of it,

I just wanted to see how people ran their intercoolers. not your opinions on my ideas. thats why I left Z31performance.

[evildky]

Opinion? I offered a suggestion followed by some facts. If I posted plan to kill some kittens but wanted to see some pictures of peoples puppies you think everyone would post puppy pic's without commenting on my plan to kill kittens?

You also must realize that the type of people that announce a plan to swap a VG30DETT into anything generally have absolutely no idea what would be involved and will never even start such a project and don't have a clue about the potential of the engine they already have. Sure there are people who do such radical swaps, they don't generally solicit opinions on intercooler piping, they post progress pic's of the engine sitting in the car, with intercoolers mocked up. So if you are looking for someone to tell you it's a good idea and that you should do it, look elsewhere. If you really plan to do it, post some progress pic's.

[camarokid]

You also must realize that the type of people that announce a plan to swap a VG30DETT into anything generally have absolutely no idea what would be involved and will never even start such a project and don't have a clue about the potential of the engine they already have. Sure there are people who do such radical swaps, they don't generally solicit opinions on intercooler piping, they post progress pic's of the engine sitting in the car, with intercoolers mocked up. So if you are looking for someone to tell you it's a good idea and that you should do it, look elsewhere. If you really plan to do it, post some progress pic's.

and i've already looked into what it would take to do the swap.

[G-E]

This is a very touchy subject for a lot of people, but it's more the cynicism from having heard of people saying they're going to do the swap, then disappearing in shame (or disgust?) so there's very few running examples of the swap.... I'd dare say the rb25 swap is better documented and more popular, even though it's even more costly to do generally.

But hey, it's your car, do it!

Copying the twin side cooler setup of the z32 won't be that effective, the body/ducting don't exist, you'd have to make a custom faschia or some kind of ducting from fog light ports... if anything, you'd want two small same side outlet intercoolers butted up against each other like a front mount, with small enough piping the bends shouldn't be too difficult.

Like these:

[camarokid]

I think they disappear more because of people like evildky giving them crap about their idea and making them feel stupid about what they have access to and don't have access to.

the only reason I considered the Z32 intercoolers is because I prefer to use the stock components before going custom so I know I have a working system before doing mods.

I've found an aftermarket front bumper with an enlarged induction area for the radiator. would I be able to take a panel of metal to redirect some of the air from the bumper to the intercooler? one panel for each side. at least till I can see how to make a FMIC work?

[G-E]

Only you can figure out what you can do; if you're confident, try it, don't let anyone here stop you...

[camarokid]

well I'm just trying to figure out whats possible.

[z31na2t]

I ended up ditching the project for twins because of the complex piping required for the intercooler. The DOHC project will resume this winter with different heads and a single turbo....

[camarokid]

were you trying to go with a FMIC when you decided to ditch the twins?

[evildky]

Anything is possible, cut, weld, repeat! I'm not saying it can't be done, I'm saying it shouldn't. This swap isn't even that radical in the grand scheme of things, here are some pic's from AZ Zbums site,


The mounts line up with the n/a z31 mounts although the angle is wrong. The passenger side turbo is in the way of the steering column. I know this because I did some trial fitting. Have you trail fit anything yet? I've owned a Z32TT, I had the engine in and out so many times I created my own sling and was down to under 4 hours solo, ask around thats about as fast an andy one or 2 people can pull it. The VG30DETT is a nightmare to work on, once you have it out of the car and on a bench it still takes hours to pull the turbo's. The engine uses a lot of low production, hard to find and usually expensive parts. 6 COP's, PTU, CAS, 2 Turbo's with unique Nissan flanges, the timing belt uses 2 idlers and a tensioner, you have 4 cam seals, 2 throttle bodies, 2 PCV's, one EGR but it's a bear to pull, the knock sensor is located in the valley where removal requires pulling the engine or the plenum and intake manifold, 2 boost solenoids, depending on the year 2 iicv solenoids, 2 cam solenoids, side feed injectors. As someone with a fair bit of experience with the VG30DETT, I think I'm qualified to say it's an expensive, time consuming, PITA to service, maintain and modify. IMHO this is why Z31 prices are on the rise at the same time the Z32 prices are tanking! If you really want to do it, do it! No one is stopping you. There is no how to manual, bolting the engine in the car is the easy part, it's all the extra stuff that's time consuming and difficult. If I did this swap no way' I'd try using the stock intercooelrs, you'll want somethgin like this

None of the piping would work, you would have to place ti and get a bunch of bends and couplers and start playing tetris.

Or you can add an intercooler and boost controller to a VG30ET and make 350 whp.


Speaking of bad engine swaps no one should do, here are pic's of a 3SGTE swap I did on an AW11 MR2