My VH45DE S13 swap thread

[speedeast]

Yeah, I bought a new alternator... no point in taking any chances on something being wrong with the old one.

[mtmetzger]

My swap came with an e61 MAF and I just want to put the original P60 one it since it's just running off the ECU. Apparently they are the same size but have different outputs to the ECU. Hopefully this is why I have to crank the hell out of the car for it to fire... Anyone have a spare for sale?

[speedeast]

I think I've got one, buddy.

[mtmetzger]

Awesome. Text me a price and paypal address.

[mtmetzger]

Small update, no pics.

The brake lines that were given to me when I bought the car will not work on the Z32 calipers so I ordered the correct ones. I also ordered the power steering kit and some silicon couplers from Mazworx.

Once the car has brakes it's going to Perfect Auto in Lexington, KY (my buddies shop). He's going to weld up my exhaust, make my intake and an alternator bracket.

I might do a little more interior wiring while I wait for these parts to come in.

[mtmetzger]

Got my power steering all hooked up with the mazworx kit:





My corect MAF arrived. The maxima one that I had fits inside the new one:


Now I have all my exhaust components. 2.5" to some magnaflow glasspacks which will Y into a single 3.5" to a Hooker Aero Chamber:

[mtmetzger]

My buddy has been helping the past couple evenings making the exhaust. We just about finished it up before running out of welding wire. Here's the work of art! 2.5" going to 3.5". Everything is straight through and when I fired it up with just being tacked up, it's pretty quiet.

[speedeast]

very cool

[mtmetzger]

Exhaust has been painted and bolted up. I had the intake tube / MAF adapter fabbed up by DiMartino Fab in Lexington and he also switched the inlet / outlet locations on my radiator.

Now that I have the correct MAF and the IAC all hooked up the car starts like it should. Hoping to do a little more interior wiring, figure out what to do with the hood, fill it up with coolant and drive it a little today.




Don't mind the fan... It will be coming off soon and replaced with something that has a shroud.

[mtmetzger]

Finally off the jack stands!!!



Finished up the ECU wiring:


Put the interior back in:



Removed bracing and shimmed the hood about 3/4" to clear IM:


Engine bay is done:



This is the last update because I sold the car. A guy just came down last night and loaded it on a trailer. Don't worry it seems like it's going to a good home.

[nevertheless]

sayyyyyyyy whuuuuuuuuuuut

[IggyEGuana]

talk about a plot twist

[speedeast]

AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

[newbissan-tech]

Are you high? So sad did you cry? That was out of left field!

[tarnafes]

So after the work and love ...

[piranhamatt]

The car still lives!



My friend bought it and left it with me last night to replace the injectors with the newer style ones to see if that helps. I'm also buttoning up a few things to make the car a little more user-friendly. Overall the car really is fun to drive!

Oh, and my lunchtime nap was made complete by sleeping in s15 seats. :lol:

[mtmetzger]

Feel free to keep this thread updated with your progress... 2 or those injectors are new. The other 6 tested fine, but may be questionable. What kind of "user-friendly" things are you doing to it?

[piranhamatt]

Feel free to keep this thread updated with your progress... 2 or those injectors are new. The other 6 tested fine, but may be questionable. What kind of "user-friendly" things are you doing to it?

I tried another Q maf I had sitting around and it isn't idle surging or bogging on the highway like it did this morning when I drove it. I just went on a test drive for about 45 minutes on the highway without issue, so I'm hoping that stays fixed. It still runs a little rich, and I just walked in from ohm testing all the injectors and they still appear to be in spec. Worst case if the richness doesn't go away I'll try the new style injectors I have.


As for the other things I'm doing/have done since he dropped it off... Wired the fans for key-on, replace interior parts from my stockpile, installing vlsd, replace cig lighter with a new one from radio shack... it sparks a lot :lol:, installing a dakota digital box for the tach, replaced the driver mirror, etc. Just lots of little things that makes the driving experience a little better.

[Carl H]

I had an issue with my vh45 with bad seals in the cas sensor...oil would slowly work its way in and get on the disc and cause spark/fuel scatter.
a hard pull would clear it but it would inevitably come back.

as far as the tach goes i can convert the stock tach to read properly for about 50$...pm if interested, a whole lot cheaper than a dakota digital box.

[piranhamatt]

I'll check the CAS seals tonight, I have spares in a box. Thanks for that.

I'll ask the owner if he wants to go that route, but he already bought a second hand dakota box locally.
Are HUD clusters an issue with the soldering connectors technique?

[piranhamatt]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44qC4UXQT9s

Here's a vid of this car at the track. (with new style injectors)

[klh6686]

piranhamatt, is the tach not working and perhaps he was short shifting? I ask because s 14.4 at 100 doesn't seem very good for a full power vh45 to me.

[piranhamatt]

My understanding is that he is not the best driver... There were better runs from the car that day with another driver.

Also, after a tune the car made 260/260 on the dyno.