Z45 - VH45DE into Z31

[zmech]

Just could not resist putting my Z over here on Nico also. I am being a total post hog by posting it on different boards. But I do not care. I am a proud owner.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the Z45. My latest creation. This is a work in progress. This is an oem engine from 1995 Q45. V8 with a stock 7000 rpm redline. Yummy... The weight is actually lighter in the front now. Only by about 100lbs. (no ac, aluminum engine vice cast iron) There is a five speed T5Z Mustang Cobra transmission behind it. I was shooting for an OEM look. I wanted it to look like it came there from the factory. If you are looking at this swap, I would recommend a shrink. I had a very steep learning curve on fabrication with this one. The VG30ET that was in this car will be re-located into the 50th at a later date. Crossmember with mounts cut off.

First test fits. oil pickup failed the first oilpan, this is the second. chopped and dropped crossmember

motor mounts Z32 OEM flywheel custom cut with Q45 automatic ring gear welded on. This mates to the VH starter. clutch- Howe throw-out bearing bell housing from Q45 auto mated to custom T5Z with adapter. transmission crossmember Z31 turbo radiator and Spal fans

Last fuel pump went bad because the bracket rusted and it sucked up the rust particles. New one installed here.













Cut down the large alternator/AC bracket to mount a G35 alternator. Alt is mounted in the AC compressor location.













Some general clearance pics.





























PS pump was very close so I notched the bracket.











Then the dreaded exhaust. I have many hours tied up into this.



















Ceramic coated

























































Picked up another HKS super mega flow filter. Cut down the OE rubber intake tubing and got everything fitted in. Just could not make myself cut into the car to put it outside.















Spark plug change out.







New emblem for the back. Tommy Kaira (Z) and the 45 from the Q45 powder coated black.





On the alignment rack.













I have owned this car since 1992 and have done some very stupid and some incredulous stuff to this car. I have done all the work and know every nut and bolt in this car and it rarely surprises me. Well low and behold, it shocked the s***e out of me today. I came across my cusco bar in the storage and was about to give it to a friend of mine. Well for giggles, I decided to try it onto the Z45 to see how badly it would not work. HOLY SHOCKS!!! It fits. I really did not believe my eyes. So here it is.





















Got the front sway bar mounted again. Used some 3/16 steel and made some spacers to get the sway bar dropped enough to clear the PS pump.









This is what the car started as in 1992. Nostalgic picture.



Some comments and Q&A from Z31P.

[quote=""Stinky""]Zmech,I've got to give you credit. You did a great job on the swap. I'll admit I was a bit bummed to see the news though. I started my own VH swap a little over a year ago and I was hoping to be the first VH z31. Looks like you beat me to it. Congratulations. Anyway, the video is great motivation for me. Can't wait to hear how you like driiving it.[/quote]Started mine in June 2008. It takes a long time to get things figured out with this change. Good Luck with your swap. Be interested in swapping notes sometime. Drop me a PM.

Took it by the local Nissan dealer today (only 1 mile away). Sat in the parking lot and revved the s***e out of it. Got to watch all the mechanics poking their heads out of the garages.

My two kids.



It was pretty fun at MSA with the VH. Towed it in an enclosed trailer there. Unloaded and then got to drive right by all the other Z cars in the line. Left it in 1st gear and revved it up the hill. You should have seen the stares... Then to top it off, lost the alternator in the line entering the show. That sucked. What sucked even more was it started working as soon and I put it on the ramp of the trailer. I hate stupid s***e...

Number one reaction of the day.Holy s***e!

Number two reaction.What is it?



[quote=""bleakdragonmage""]are you trying to get it to pass the BAR?? If so, kudo's to you. Just remember to not get discouraged WHEN you fail the first time. Almost everyone has to make at least 3-5 trips to get it right. And thats in a well documented BAR procedure like a B16 in a Civic or something.

Infact, you should probably browse some civic forums and try to find a more lienient BAR assoc. I mean, they will still have a bulk of the rules, but some are easier than others. Hell, some wont even let ANY aftermarket guages pass at all. Even turbotimers are a failable offense.Good luck.[/quote]Thanks for the hints. I figure I will give the BAR a few shots and if it does not happen then I will take it out of state. Heck, it might not even make it due to the fact I cannot get the CEL to turn off. I do not know what to use to fake the signals for the auto trans. And of course that is one that triggers the CEL. Got a couple of people working on it but no solutions yet.

[quote=""aceman""]I was wondering what you were doing for ecu tuning? one reason i ask is that if you get on it hard and the exhaust hits the rear crossmember you may have an LT1-LS1 camaro style problem, where the knock sensor goes nuts and pulls all the timing out. Are you running an OBD2 setup?[/quote]No tuning as of yet. I will be using Nistune once I get there. Not worried about the knock sensors at this time as they are by-passed. They are both bad and need to be replaced but I have enough stuff on the plate as is without taking off the plenum to replace those. I made them go bad by flooding the valley with antifreeze. OOPPS. This is an OBD1 1995. Last year (sorta) before the OBDII. The 1996 was sorta OBDII but lost the variable valve timing due to restrictions in smog laws.

[quote=""neil86t""]Wait, all this work and an open diff???[/quote]Yes. It will stay that way till I get the HLSD setup working. Still working on shafts for that. You would be shocked at how well behaved the car is with the open diff. I have seen many a car with too much power spin around because of having the diff too tight. Also, I have two CLSDs but those both need to be rebuilt with new bearings and clutch plates. I currently have the VLSD in the 50th. Little by little I will keep chipping away at this. I want to do everything myself or as much as possible.

Finally finished up 99% of the wiring. Still waiting for the tach adapter but now I have all the other gauges attached. It is so nice to know what the engine is doing. Put all the interior back in and dropped it to it's wheels. Off for a little drive today. Drove it about 65 miles today and it is running very nice. This engine is the smoothest engine. It revs right up with little effort and sounds great. Still have a couple of things to iron out but for what has been done to this car, I will accept that.

I think I have made the car look TOO STOCK. I was at the Breakfast at Balboa on Sunday and met some really cool Sentra SER guys there. Only one guy there could tell that it was different. Most people going by did not even know that it was not STOCK. Maybe I should enter the stock class at MSA next year...

[quote=""milo""]Looking nice..........ever dynoed your Z?[/quote]Not yet. Still have a few things to finish. Want to swap the clutch out as I am not happy with the current one. Then get the NOS bottle in it and and then off to the dyno shop for a few runs.

Well, took it out the other day driving in the morning and had to stop to get brake fluid and refill the clutch master. I have changed the clutch master to the 3/4 inch Wilwood for the clutch. Confused because this is a new master and I was not dripping fluid anyplace. Decided to look inside the car. Holy s***e, fluid inside. Damn what a mess. Seems the extreme pressure of the ACT HD pressure plate was just too much for the master and blew out the seal. Sucks!

So, not liking the crazy heavy clutch pedal anyhow, I decided to swap out the clutch. Off to Nissan for full Z33 clutch. Got the pressure plate and the 250mm disc. Pull off the exhaust, pull back the trans and pull the bell. Swap out the clutch and put it all back. Only took me about 6 hours by myself at a leisurely pace. Now the pedal effort is very nice and the engagement is smooth. This is what I should have used in the first place...













Was asked about pricing.Donor car $3000Tons of other stuff- aproximately $4000.

Now that does not include some items I already paid for in the past. Nor does it include the items I manufactured. Try pricing an oilpan custom made by someone. Or custom one off machine work from someone you do not know. Or stainless exhaust pieces. The exhaust bends and piping in SS for headers alone costs about $600. Then having them coated...

I have two words for the Z45. Money Pit.

It has been a crazy project for sure.All the build pictures I have. There are over 600 pics here to see. Have fun....CLICK ME

If you have not used this photo album before, click the album you want, then click the pic you want. It will bring a small pic of it up. Click that one and it will bring up the 1200 x 800 pic.

Videos

All my videos up to date. Don't mind my stupid comments as I sound like a dumbass in some of the videos...

http://videos.streetfire.net/v...zmech

One more vid. Gave a guy with a GTI a quick ride. He used his phone to record the video. This was 0-85 mph and then quickly braking (wilwoods). Almost planted his face into the dash.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFaPQPgde5o
Modified by zmech at 1:19 PM 8/30/2009

[gmac708]

Nice work I appreciate you posting it here and you should be proud!Sounds great on video, it must be fantastic in person.

[AZ-ZBum]

Just could not resist putting my Z over here on Nico also. I am being a total post hog by posting it on different boards. But I do not care. I am a proud owner.

As well you should be.

Still love this car.

[zmech]

Thanks Bum.I just cannot help but to hore her out to all the boards I am a member on.

[ravera]

No you should, this car looks great, almost OEM good. I haven't seen many Z31 motor swaps and this one makes me want a Z31, haha.

[xX RB Xx]

what coilovers are you running on the front? s13s?

[bigred240sx]

jesus christ man. thats the swap i have been itching to see in a build thread like that. it is absolutely gorgeous. both of the cars to be exact. what kinda power you putting down. if you listed it i must have read over.

[zmech]

I am using Kei Office S14 coilovers front and rear.

Butt dyno at this type says about 260 at the wheels. I am waiting to get the clutch broken in good prior to a dyno session as I am putting the NOS back in for a dyno run.

[evildky]

wow!

This is the nicest, best down vh swap I have seen. This makes all the other S13 and Z32 swaps look like hack jobs!

[Blk84Z]

man I have wanted to put this exact engine in my car, everyone has been telling me it is a huge job and for sure it is. I have many questions to ask because I am gonna make it happen, no part s over here in australia for this conversion. drop me an email [email protected]. I intend to go one step further and have mine set up with awd from a GTR

[BadQ45t]

Amazing job, that is just unreal how much effort this must have taken to put this into a Z.

I notice your in San Diego, how the heck you going to get tags on a Z31 putting out the smog from a V8? You have a friendly smog guy in your area?

[zmech]

Actually it passes the smog check for a 1995 Q45 that the engine came from. It has ALL the smog related items. Yes it will most likely never make it past the carb here so it is going to get a Texas tag later this year.

I wish I had a FRIENDLY smog guy here...

[BadQ45t]

I figured you'd have to go out-of-state as CA is hard to get done. You'd have to off the VIN on the car so even if the Q45 would pass that doesn't help you for Z31.

Now if you found a 95 Q45 at a junk yard and bought it, cut out the VIN and pretend like you fixed up the salvage title Q, found a smog guy willing to play, you could do it. But the penalty for the smog guys are harsh so your probably better of in TX. I take it you have friends and family there to help you, they do inspections on cars in some counties there so be careful where you register it.

Awesome job BTW, wish I was still living in SD some I could see your car sometime.

[Roach]

sick to the 3rd power

[zmech]

Thanks. I really love this car...

[hbpignosePA]

wow that is absolutely beautiful............

[HoosierSX]

very very nice

[AZ89two4Tsx]

Were you the dude at the JCCS? Looks like it.

Your car is badass. VERY nicely done.

[zmech]

JCCS. Yep,

Were you the dude at the JCCS? Looks like it.

Your car is badass. VERY nicely done.

that would be me.Thanks.

[zmech]

Decided to start making up an engine torque damper. So I dug out the old box spare urethane parts. Hmm, let's see what we have here. Hey this will work. So I am using the urethane that is normally used on the front tension rods for the 84-86 300zx. Found some aluminum pipe that the bushing would just press into and cut it in the correct length. Welded on a smaller aluminum pipe to that pipe. Took off the cross bar mount from the top of the strut tower and made up a two bolt mount up point on it. Just need to measure the smaller tube length and then weld it up to the flat plate to bolt to the tower mount. On to the PICS...



























More to come on this project of course.

[zmech]

Missed putting this post here from earlier.

:arrow:Decided to make up a cover for the front made from aluminum.











:arrow:Also got the TIG working again so I busted out the aluminum and made up an overflow containter for the coolant. It is mounted under the driver headlight. It will hold 1.8 quarts.

[redhat-z]

Hey zmech, is that a custom input shaft on the T-5? If so, where in the world did you find it, who made it? That would solve one of my issues with my VH build.

[zmech]

Custom indeed. I sent the input shaft from the Nissan 300ZX T5 and the input shaft from the T5Z to Liberty's Gears. They took the two and cut them and made one to my specifications. It was cut and friction welded under the bearing surface. They also did all the cryo treating on the entire gear train. http://www.libertysgears.com/

[zmech]

What it sounds like inside the Z45.

http://videos.streetfire.net/v...0.htm

[lino]

You make it look so easy and so good . Beautifully done.

[DCaff300ZX]

You sir have some amazing talent, and have done an amazing job not only with the work done but your build pics as well.

[Geoffs89Pathy]

i am sincerely contemplating this build. i have most all of the parts.. I dont know what to do.. you say i should go see a psychologist... lol. but your car is so freaking awesome and clean.. i want mine to be just as sweet. but i dont quite have the same skill level as you. what do you recommend i do?

[Desert Rat]

Awesome build. By lowering the steering rack down, how much do you affect steering geometry? Appears tie roads aren't parallel to the lower control arms which would theoretically result in bump steer.

Maybe the difference is negligible, but I am curious. Car looks great.