VQ35DE swapped competition setup silvia build

[BlackDragon328]

Okay, so its been done before no doubt but here is my VQ swapped silvia S13. I'm pretty far along on this project. I've been kinda lazy about posting it.here is the basics, about 10 months ago i blew my sileighty's SR20DET, it sucked, I havnt drifted since and its driving me up the wall. either way I didnt really like the SR20 OR the hatchback base. so I decided to buy a coupe and KA-T it.....I soon found I wasnt willing to bother with a KA-T and turned towards the last possible swap i had ever considered, the VQ35DE I should have done an LS1....but i didnt think of it at the time). I wanted a bulletproof car, something where every single component i put in would be to competition spec and would not fail, break, or be anything less then perfect. here is what i ended up with, I would LOVE feedback, if you think something is wrong, if you think something should not be used, something i didnt use should be or just comments about wether you agree or disagree with me and what i did.

so...parts:ENGINE & RELATED:a 240sx with a crap engineA VQ35DE (to anyone who decides to buy a Z, it IS a RWD and yes, if you hit the accelerator cornering in the rain, you WILL crash, and then someone who knows what they are doing will thank you and take your engine for his silvia )VQ swap from vqswap.comAEM stand alone ECU and widebandfuel cellSummit racing fuel kit (pump, filter, and regulator)Electric fansKoyo aluminum racing radiatordirect port Alcohol injection kitfull pipe to open header ports for exhaust

SUSPENSION:megan toe armsmegan camber armstanabe tension rodstein tie rodsgodspeed front and rear swaystein super drift coiloversEDFC for coilstein rear strut barHyperflex suspension bushing kit

EXTERIOR:Widebody kit (don't remember what its called)Sport max 18' rims w/245 federals (yes, im very partial to federals at least in the back, best drift tire I have ever found)ARP carbon mirrors (...for fun I guess)EVO stock carbon wingcustom built cowled hood to fit the VQ

INTERIOR:started with a 7 point cage (cusco) added door bars, strengthener bars and a mid car crossbarmegan carbon racing seats and bracketspeak 5 point harnessesfully stripped (as if that wasnt obvious)Nardi steering wheel and NRG quick releaseViper alarmand yes, I kept a small sound system consisting of 4 XPlod speakers and a sony head unit.laptop built in to monitor stand alone

so I think thats about it, there is probably a thing or two i forgot, not all the pics are up to date, so some have my old sparco seat and such. which are not in the car anymore.here are some pics, I hope they are good enough to show what Im aiming for.

here is the start right here, I got the suspension out of the way first since i can do that at home on jackstands with simple tools



removed all the stock components

Here is the rear finnished

and here the front

Then it went into my mechanic's shop, where we had a joint effort to figure out exactly how to make the swap work (and no, its NOT all bolt in like they say.....trust me its a pain in the a$$)

Here is the engine sittin there while we put in the cross member and etc

we cleaned the engine bay while we had the KA out

and here is the car with no engine in

and poof, the engine is in, as if it had been that easy, and not 2 months of harsh labor and mods

I thought I'd throw this in, I moded a 350Z aem intake to work on a 240sx, making an air box for it and ending it at the front bumper so it can suck in clean cold air

and here are the little babys that will allow me to switch from open header to full street legal cat-ed car

so now, interior? that was the first pic i took

it turned into this

and then got padded

and this is my little friend, whom i have not found a place for yet so its sitting in the passenger foot area

oh, and this is my latest piece, the car went off to the muffler shop and so i'm left to rework my carbon hood to fit the VQ. I decided to cut it into 3 pieces and lift the middle, reinforcing it with metal bracings and placing woven fiberglass over the cut portions.....btw it hasnt been sanded yet so it looks like crap, I kno

and lastly, this is my car leaving to go off to the muffler shop....ill miss it....altho i check on it every day

and thats it, my life basically revolves around making this car work right now, rebuilding my SR20 and dropping it back into the hatch 240sx aaand, working on this little ricer style ZX2 (its a ford escort 2 door).....so yea, whats your opinionz people (apart from asking me why I own not only a ford but an escort, which is FF, and has no power)

I'll keep you posted on the updates, the alcohol injection isnt in yet as are a few other pieces, and i'll post the figures once its tuned and ready to go. I'm hoping for a good 300HP to 350HP to the wheels but I know that may not happen.....

peace

CJ

[simmode1]

Wow! Can't believe I'm first! Ha!

Ooooh.... I love VQ swaps! Wish I could afford one...

I hope it goes well. I'm curious about that wing though. My first instinct says BLEH! ... but on second thought, it may not be so bad in person... U gonna keep it?

[BlackDragon328]

yea, its a definite keep. I like it....personal taste I guess......I know its weird beyond weird, I just traded it for a hatch veilside wing with my friend and I thought....a coupe 240sx with an evo wing....imma do it, ha ha, so yea. imma keep it.

[simmode1]

Cool. It's a good look. At first, your like 'Huh? Wah?' But then it starts to grow on ya real quick...

I read a thread yesterday and a guy asked what the 7th gen Celica wing would look like on a 240. This look isn't that far off...

[Griz]

NICCEEEE!!!!

[homeslicej2]

Nice. +10 for DIY and the VQ

[BlackDragon328]

thanx, Im not gonno take all the credit I had another mechanic help me (one with like....50yrs of exp behind him), and since I myself am one (engine rebuilder to be precise) its not as bad as a true newb doing it, but this is still one of my best jobs to date. so thanx again

[BlackDragon328]

come on peoplez, talk to me. I'm really looking to see where i made a mistake. especially performance wise, since the body is more preferance then anything else.but in my experience. one person achieveing someting alone, without feedback always leads to them not noticing something they should have

[bwahahahaha]

Shout out for an tough and amazing build and an awesome guy. I've been watching this car be built from the stock 240 it wasto the VQ powered beast CJ hopes it will be. This swap has definitelybeen anything but a walk in the park, but its getting closer finished everyday. Can't wait to see the final results. Oh, and the Evo wing doesn't look half bad in person...haha

[DJButton]

Ok, so one question after all the money time and work, you chose those wheels, why?

and not to be too harsh, from what I can tell in the picture's it does look like the rest of the car is pretty sweet though, you should have someone take some high res pictures once it's all back together.

[I :heart: Touge]

your asking for replies but you havent detailed anything

you could start by listing the problems you ran into with the swap and or why it wasnt direct bolt in like they say

because thats what i wanna know, (il be doing this swap later , hopefully, as im kinda anti sr,rb)

[White Comet]

not bad at all the pics suck but it looks like good work. i dont like the red painted brakes thoguh but thats just me. i bet thats fun to drive though

because thats what i wanna know, (il be doing this swap later , hopefully, as im kinda anti sr,rb)

any reason ur anti sr and rb, just out of curiosity, i dont wanna thread jack too much though

[callmeweezy724]

nice VQ swap..not feeling the wing imho..but thats me, im not a wing guy. Good job on the swap tho. Wish mine was done.

[White Comet]

^ ehh, i like some wings but i wanna see better shots of this one

[duffman1278]

Good work, but more pics, and BETTER ones.

[White Comet]

Good work, but more pics, and BETTER ones.

yeah im kinda curious what happened to those pics. they dont look like cell phone pics but the colors are really off

[BlackDragon328]

wow, so imma try to answer everyones Q's here. btw thanx trev, ill let you test drive it with me when its done it'll be fun

so to start, the wheels...well, I needed some offset wheels on a 4 lug car, i looked through a couple enkei and didnt find much, looked through other wheel manufacturers and found only either no offset FF wheels 4 lug, or beautiful wheels 5 lug....I wasnt really feeling putting money into a 5 lug conversion so i waited, then i went down to san dimas auto (VQswap.com) and saw those wheels on their drift spec 240sx (the yellow one) and decided that was it, they would be perfect.....never really looked back after that, i figured if a pro drifts them, then they should be good.

you ask for problems with the swap.....A LOT! I dont want to be an *** towards san dimas auto, which makes the swap, but it wasnt easy, and not all the parts fit. so first, we had a transmission problem, we had to shorten the shaft that connects the gears to the shifter. that wasnt too hard to solve, but it wasnt mentioned in the swap. second, the header which was supposed to be clearing the control arm didnt clear it. Redoing a header is a ROYAL PAIN, really time consuming and a lot of cutting, bending and welding. so we did that. then we found the hood didnt fit....I donno how they made the stock hood fit at SD auto but mine didnt. so, cutting the hood, fiberglass, sanding etc, and its a good thing I dont care if my carbon fiber shows cuz imma have to paint it after all these mods. other then that...well dropping in the engine was not fun, after all this is a V6 in a straight 4 engine bay.....I was looking into a turbo or dual turbo system and it would be close to impossible to do with the clearance, so it would have to be supercharged, and even that would not be easy...especially with the intercooler piping. and another, the throttle body. there are two choices, you convert it to a cable (the VQ is electric) which is what i did, and its a massive pain to do, or you convert the car to electric....I've seen that done, donno anything about it so I cant say much for that. thats about all i can see right now, altho there might be a couple things i am forgetting. oh i guess lastly, it wasnt fun to drill the sensor into the intake manifold (i think it was an air temp sensor), but it was doable, just time consuming cuz we had to take the top of the manifold off to get all the little metal shavings out. and one more, the wiring harness i got from SD auto....it wasnt very well labeled. and to say something to their credit tho, they have been the most helpful shop i have ever dealt with. I have called them over and over with questions and gotten help each time, without fail or delay.

the calipers where done to match the only other red piece on this car, the edge of the rims....I didnt do the rear ones yet, its a paint to take em off, clean and sand em, and put em back on....but yea, its purely show.

so...for the wing, I guess it might just be the fact that no one apart from myself has seen the entire front clip on or anything but I absolutely LOVE that look. its not too big like the giant drag wings and I cant stand to leave a car without a wing.....most cars just dont look good without one (<--my opinion) so yes, the wing will stay, and yes imma try to get more pics of it, and the entire car.

and lastly the pictures....well yes, they are cell phone pics....most where just spur of the moment, i need to document this before it changes type of thing....I'll get some better ones with a real digital camera as soon as i get home from a mamouth snowboarding trip, which i am leaving for today.

So yea, thats all I guess. as I said im leaving for mamouth, so i'll be away for a bit (if i have no internet up there at the youth hostel....donno if I will or not)so send me your question, comments or whatever.

on a last note, i cant emphasize this enough. DONT START THIS SWAP UNLESS YOU HAVE AT LEAST 10K READY TO PUT INTO IT.I've heard of people doing it for less...but I wouldnt plan on that. I've also heard of people doing it for less and failing in the swap, or giving it to some cheap shop and having it badly done. be really careful, its a hard swap. as i did the labor myself it cost me a little less but I think it still took me about 6K-7K or so for the stock swap.

CJ

[I :heart: Touge]

any reason ur anti sr and rb, just out of curiosity, i dont wanna thread jack too much though

ehh just because everyone has them and they cost the same as a vq swap (after your all said and done) figuring you do the work yourself and they arent nearly as reliable (with a turbo car you gotta worry about tuning etc) and they dont have a linear powerband like a vq does

of course people are going to argue with me about this but ive seen so many sr swaps that dont run right, swaps that come with crappy turbos and broken manifolds, after you replace that stuff, buy the intercooler kit, buy clutch flywheel, get it tuned etc etc your in the 4k-5k range and your making the same hp as a stock vq thats all motor with linear powerband for the same price

i might do an s14 sr swap but man that vq swap is looking so delicious haha

the op mentioned 3 problems with his swap, all of which are now solved because vqswap makes a kit that fixes everything he said, so by the time i have the money to finish the vq swap i'l play it safe, go the easy route, buy the kit that comes with the transmission shortener, buy the harness, and easily cut the webbing out of my stock hood (so its not gay ricer style) and then shim the front of it with skateboard bushings , like most of the honda guys do, raising it so the stock hood fits, they also make headers and a y pipe that now work and bolt up properly , im also sure by the time im ready to do the swap they have custom cable throttle bodies that further make the vq swap bolt in

[White Comet]

[DJButton]

^LOL WC

Hmmm... I would have swapped to 5 lug, got breaks that can do something and decent wheels before touching the engine, but that's just me.

[White Comet]

Hmmm... I would have swapped to 5 lug, got breaks that can do something and decent wheels before touching the engine, but that's just me.

yeah my car already had the sr but im focusing brakes and suspension right now before any more power

[tramp_drift240]

i feel the same about the wheels, but i have a more relevant question.

why have you been referring to your 240sx as a silvia?

[White Comet]

huh i didnt even catch that but as u can tell from that pic there were waaaaaay too many words up there

[BlackDragon328]

so...to IHEARTTOUGE, i bought the VQswap stuff. it didnt fit right. talked to them and everything, they denied everything...oh and its been about 3 months...Im still missing my radiator lines...which they supposably sent 3 times and didnt reach me any of the times. once by postal, once fedex, and once UPS....never got any of them and im still bitching to them about it.

for the 5 lug.....wasnt really interested. as for brakes, I was told NOT to upgrade them as it wasnt needed for drifting. I was told to upgrade them once I got the supercharger kit and went to 500ish HP.

oh and tramp_drift240....my 240sx is a coupe with the silvia front end. thats basically a silvia minus engine and right hand drive. I just refer to it as that cuz I keep hearing silvia whenever anyone mentions the front end.

oh...and lastly, the reason I have such long responses is that I answer everyones questions in one post. just look at each section and find the question you asked and you'll find the answer in there.

[I :heart: Touge]

don't need 5 lug for drifting?

are you kidding? bigger BRAKES will always help you with drifting!

man this site is full of newbs ahhhh

[White Comet]

man this site is full of newbs ahhhh

coming form the guy thats comparing a $10k vq swap to $3k sr swap and saying they cost the same? i have nothing against u but i suggest u read up a little on sr's and stuff. there is a lot of misinformation floating around out there that can be cleared up w/ some searching

ehh just because everyone has them and they cost the same as a vq swap (after your all said and done) figuring you do the work yourself and they arent nearly as reliable (with a turbo car you gotta worry about tuning etc) and they dont have a linear powerband like a vq does

just because other ppl like them doesnt mean its a bad engine. i understand ppl wanting to be unique, but the vq costs a lot more than the sr swap and since its not as commonly done im willing to bet u'll run into more headaches and problems. if u go sr u really dont need to tune anything w/ just boltons and higher boost. once u start doing more serious mods then yeah but tuning isnt that expensive and any engine, even an NA vq would benefit from tuning

of course people are going to argue with me about this but ive seen so many sr swaps that dont run right, swaps that come with crappy turbos and broken manifolds, after you replace that stuff, buy the intercooler kit, buy clutch flywheel, get it tuned etc etc your in the 4k-5k range and your making the same hp as a stock vq thats all motor with linear powerband for the same price

the shape ur engine comes in depends on where u get it from, use a reliable sponsor on here and you'll have better luck than at a shady place. if u get an engine from some back alley shop, u have just as much of a chance of getting a bad vq as u do a bad sr. w/ as many times as the sr swap has been done most problems u have a chance of running into have been solved and documented, where as w/ a vq swap ur a little more on ur own. i've seen plenty of reliable sr swaps and i even own one. my sr is just as reliable as if not more reliable then my ka24e w/ 20k miles on it. i suppose after u buy the sr, replace some parts and get a clutch and flywheel combo as well as fmic u could be at the $4-5k range, but that estimate is a little high. my friend just got an sr red top from a member here for $2k shipped, it needs a new oil pan and thats about it. he just picked up an fmic and piping for $125 shipped and a blitz bov for about $100. the clutch and flywheel that came with it are probably fine and if they are theres no reason to upgrade yet, but if u do need em, you can get an exedy clutch for under $200 and a flywheel for about $200 as well. all together that totals $2625 for everything, this isnt nearly as much as a vq swap and at this point tuning is not needed. even if u were to add tuning to that a rom tune will cost $500 or less and still put u way under the cost of the vq swap. i really like the idea of the vq swap but i dotn agree w/ ur reasoning for thinking the sr is a worse idea

[BlackDragon328]

ookay, so first off. I agree with white comet. I have an SR swapped 240SX as well and it ran perfectly under strenuous dirfting conditions for a long time. it finally spun a bearing and I rebuilt it myself for about 1.5K. not very expensive, so yes, if i had given it to a shop maybe 2.5-3K...but thats still below the VQ swap.as for the 5 lug for drifting, its just not needed, could it help, maybe yes. but I looked into the entire thing and it just seemed to be a waste of money. as for brakes, I spoke with a custom maker in texas and I was told that I did not need an upgrade with 300HP or so to the wheels. he suggested I get one if I went with a 500-600HP setup. I was scepitcal, much like you so I double checked other places and, san dimas auto amoung one of them, told me it was a plus for finding good offset wheels but was not needed. and would definitely not add or take away any sort of performance to the car to do or not do one.I might also add that I have added a hydraulic e-brake made by K-sport. its different from a big brake kit, and I am not trying to relate it to that but works very well for breaking out the rear wheels and controling them thereafter.I'm looking into a K-sport big brake kit but its gonno cost about $3000 for the kit and another $400 for the extra 2 calipers to hook up to the e-brake. (im curently running the stock 240sx calipers that i took off another 240sx.

[DJButton]

Hmm, the Wilwood big brake kit is no where near that much man, or you can get all you need for Z brakes from 700-850 usually. I would laugh if I saw any serious racing or drifting 240's with stock brakes though for sure, drive one with bigger brakes and you'll see what I mean. Of course you probably want to go with 5 lug at that point too. *cough cough*

[White Comet]

yeah just do the z32 brake upgrade or even the q45 upgrade

[BlackDragon328]

hmm...well as I said, as soon as I get money I will be getting bigger brakes. there are plenty of 4 lug big brake kits tho, i have no desire or need to go 5 lug. I really dont see how I could get the kit cheaper then 3K but thats for the full kit, front and rear. then I'll just need a little more to get 2 extra calipers.we'll see how it goes. I want to see more professional 240sx builds and what they are running. I'm looking all over the web searching for info. but if someone else has something, a picture showing the calipers clearly, or a list of the brake sponsors on a certain car or something i would be happy to listen.Thanx for the advice an all everyone btw

CJ

PS: as I said, im in mammoth right now (great snow btw) but I get home on the 21st and I will be taking high res pics of my car then, and new ones of the exhaust and fuel cell which should be finished by that time