VH50DE startup video!

[John Dixon]

First video I managed to get.This is after initial running to get everything up to temp, check for leaks etc. and do some very, very basic mapping to at least let it rev a bit without stalling. Still some big flatspots even with no load but that'll all get sorted soon.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ncxR7xNcSfI

[John Dixon]

And one my mate took earlier, running v. rough here as trying to build a bit of a map up, spitback looks cool though!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ripuVvmsA7M

[Mettler]

Badass John, it sounds really free flowing!

Can't wait to see this tuned & driving! Great build _b

[SSDwellah]

That sounds quite responsive. It should be a very fun car. And here I thought the bellhousing adapter was your greatest work of art. Good show! Thanks for sharing!

[John Dixon]

Cheers guys!Earlier vid my mate took before any real mapping so rough but you can see the rev counter towards the end. Not going mad on the throttle as it's a new build but it does rev up quick. On the tacho, the forst big mark is 4k rpm, the first 3k is compressed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ripuVvmsA7M

[Unnatural1]

I like that! Nice work. Very nice work. Very Ferrari!

Where is the 5.0L displacement coming from? Stroker crank or something like that?

[jay-spec013]

WOW JUST WOW I AM SPEECHLESS AND JEALOUS LOL

[gs14racer]

im jealous, lol good job...

[John Dixon]

I like that! Nice work. Very nice work. Very Ferrari! Where is the 5.0L displacement coming from? Stroker crank or something like that?

Lol, that's a compliment and a half!It's from a 98mm overbore with custom pistons. Took the oppourtunity to raise the CR to 12:1 too.

[Bart]

LOVE THE THROTTLES. Are you going to have tappered ram tubes?

[John Dixon]

LOVE THE THROTTLES. Are you going to have tappered ram tubes?

Going to experiment on the dyno and see what works. The air box design I'm using will allow anything from 15mm to about 500mm length (curved pipes) so will have a mess about then finalise it after the run. Will def have trumpets on but the taper will be whatever is available off the shelf.

[Unnatural1]

Well that is awesome. Your Z is going to sound like an Italian sports car. Nice work!

[BoostFab]

man ...that VH50DE is pure brute.

[hannibal]

Very nice! I know youre proud to finally have it running...

[maxnix]

Man, that guy was stupider than an unpolished turd for not only revving stone cold , but not turning it for a few seconds first with the fuel pump fuse pulled to prime the HLA.

Wait, on you Tube you comment you went to solid lifters? How did you get rid of the HLA and why?

Also, kind of curious you installed it in the car and then are ripping it out to bench tune it.

Anyway, nice job, but start it yourself next time. You need to consolidate your build write up when you are finished because you have done the best job so far.

But I am curious how you arrived at your camshaft lift and timing with no bench work before hand?

[John Dixon]

Man, that guy was stupider than an unpolished turd for not only revving stone cold , but not turning it for a few seconds first with the fuel pump fuse pulled to prime the HLA. Wait, on you Tube you comment you went to solid lifters? How did you get rid of the HLA and why?Also, kind of curious you installed it in the car and then are ripping it out to bench tune it.Anyway, nice job, but start it yourself next time. You need to consolidate your build write up when you are finished because you have done the best job so far. But I am curious how you arrived at your camshaft lift and timing with no bench work before hand?

It wasn't revved stone cold! This was a statup of the engine after it had already been warmed up and run for about 20 mins to check for leaks, oil pressure etc. and get enough of a map in there to make it even idle and rev cleanley - had more to worry about than video on the first start! Oil temp was 70° and coolant was at it's setpoint of 75 whe this vid was taken.Also, if you notice it takes a while to catch when cranked, thats because there is an ignition kill switch which is used to kill power to the injectors and coils until you see the oil pressure come up on the gauge. Obviously there are no HLAs to prime in this engine.

Went soilds by just having lash adjusters machined to replace the HLA's, they're adjusted by shimming. Got rid of them as the cam profile would be to aggressive to use with them and the rev limit is going to be over 8k.

I'm not going to rip it out to bench tune it, will do it on a rolling road. Ideally I would have liked to engine dyno it first but it was just way too much £££ to get a bellhousing made up etc etc.All of the stuff on this, cams, manifolds etc. is done just from experience of what has worked on other engines and working with experienced engine builders. If it's all wrong and it only makes 200bhp then hell, I've only got myself to blame.Cam specs are 280°@50' 30/70 70/30 10.2mm lift - on grind when VTC active, retarded when off. The profile is a well proven piper grind which usually nets ~110bhp/l on 4 cyl engines.CR 12:1. Exhaust manifolds are 41mm ID, 1m primary length which is tuned for around 5.5k peak torque.Intake length will just try it on the dyno and see what works but hemholtz suggests anywhere between 10 and 30 inches will work depending on where you want them tuned for. The air box I'm making will allow for anywhere between 1/2" and 30" runners before the trumpets so plenty of room to mess about.I will consolidate it all at some point no doubt did a shortish write up on one of the UK 300 sites but it's not very technical.

[elwesso]

HUGE PROPS JOHN. Glad to see it running, you're on the homestretch now!

[maxnix]

Good to hear. I really wonder if the solid lifters are necessary, though.

Good luck on your shake down. I love your build.

Didn't know the intake could be retarded. Thought it was either full advance or normal?

[John Dixon]

Good to hear. I really wonder if the solid lifters are necessary, though.

Good luck on your shake down. I love your build.

Didn't know the intake could be retarded. Thought it was either full advance or normal?

I was told by the cam grinder that there was no way this profile would work with HLA. Not enough time for them to re-charge or something I guess. Either way it's not cost much to do it.Cheers for the luck, I may need it yet! Biggest worry is heat soak around the manifolds, so little room. Have been making up heat shields for everything I can see that's close.It can't be retarded as such but I installed the cams 20deg retarded from grind so that VTC on (advanced) brings them to 70/30, VTC off (retarded) brings them to 90/10.

[gldnwolf77]

It's from a 98mm overbore with custom pistons. Took the oppourtunity to raise the CR to 12:1 too.

Nice build. +1 on a writeup. I am interested in how you accomplished the overbore. Custom sleeves or is there a company that makes them? I have to rebuild my vh45 and I am making a list of things worth doing while its apart.

[John Dixon]

The old sleeves were bored out, new ones fitted the skimmed down to the deck height. They were off-the shelf for something but not sure what, came from a race engine parts supplier. I'll see if I can find out more.Problem if you do this is you'll need custom pistons and headgaskets too.

[gldnwolf77]

Any info would be great. Finding sleeves worried me but you seem to have done the footwork on it which will save me some time.

Do you feel boring it that far over will affect reliability? Did you get any pics after the cylinders were bored out? Would you say it's a safe way to gain horsepower? Sorry about all the questions, just trying to plan ahead. I'm building a daily driver and am just looking to squeeze a few extra ponies out of it while it's apart.

[John Dixon]

If you go to http://www.300zx-club.com, member's projects area there is a thread in there with some info and pictures. I'm working away for 2 weeks but will see what I can find out when I get back. Pretty much any high quality sleeve with 98mm bore should be OK, some of the US V8's may run that size?

[SSDwellah]

I'm not sure which US V8s use that bore, but the VK56DE uses 98mm bore, and the same spacing. Most chevy's use 4" bore (350, 327, 307) and some older ones used 3.875" I think. That last one is the closest to 98mm/3.86".

[z1 zonly]

GOOD LORD! That sounds absolutely incredible! What I wouldn't give for those kinds of skills...

[Unnatural1]

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I'm not sure which US V8s use that bore, but the VK56DE uses 98mm bore, and the same spacing. Most chevy's use 4" bore (350, 327, 307) and some older ones used 3.875" I think. That last one is the closest to 98mm/3.86".

The Chevy 305 V8 uses that size...3.875" bore if I remember correctly.

Maybe Darton can help: http://www.darton-international.com/mainpage.htm

I'm sure there are others but I can't remember the names off the top of my head.

John, did you run into any issues with the cylinder head combustion chambers with the bore increase? It sounds like you got a big bump in compression ratio.

[John Dixon]

John, did you run into any issues with the cylinder head combustion chambers with the bore increase? It sounds like you got a big bump in compression ratio.

Not that I'm aware of. Guess I just have a bigger squish band now, shouldn't cause any issues. I'll post up on here once I get it dyno'd.

[Unnatural1]

Not that I'm aware of. Guess I just have a bigger squish band now, shouldn't cause any issues. I'll post up on here once I get it dyno'd.

Yeah, larger quench area is usually a good thing. I can't wait to see the dyno on this one. Should be a good one once you get it dialed in.

[Infinitiguy19]

With a 8500K rev limit, what power are you making at 8500K?

I thought with a stock motor there was no power up there but you couldn't go past 7400 RPM's safely, but this is clearly not stock

[John Dixon]

When I get it dyno'd I'll post the results up. Cams should support power up to 8.5k