Garrett76Zt Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 Well I've been working on this for awhile and wanted to wait till I had some good info and pics to post. I know its not a Z but its a pretty cool platform to work with! This car came with 7 motor combinations world wide (that I know of) a real testbed for Nissan in the mid-late 80's. Not as sexy as a Z though . . .hehe Its an '87 200sx XE with a CA20e in it. That will soon change. Here is the car when I bought it. Then I cleaned it up a bit and threw some gunmetal wheels on it. Then i went scouting and brought home the VE This is a cool motor. Worldwide it was only offered in the '92-'94 Maxima SE's. Obviously a FWD setup and I'll be using it in a RWD platform so there are some obstacles that I will have to overcome, but I'm well on my way. This motor is essentially a VG30DE bottom with a VH45 top end (heads) just 6 cyl instead of 8. Roller rockers, coil on plug, Variable Valve Timing. Overall similar to a Z32 VG but with more compact heads and the cams are chain driven. A stout little motor. Most Nissan guys have never heard of it. Heres a pic or two of the intake manifold -as that will be one problem. Took the intake manifold off to explore options. I may make a custom intake manifold for this car, LT1 style right down the middle with a twin butterfly TB . . . So my thoughts are to get this motor bolted in with a Z32 trans and clutch, custom driveshaft (1310 spicer stuff), a good standalone (perhaps Megasquirt) and spray it with about 100 shot. I'd like to have a nice clean 300hp daily driver out of it. But then i discovered this . . . Z31 turbo manifolds bolt to this motor, not perfectly, there are a few issues with them but as you can see it could work. So im not sure what to do now, haha. Turbo is definitely more expensive and this motor is 10:1 comp ratio and I'm dumping more money into my Z so . . . prolly NA for now. Anyways Im trying to finish this swap with all Factory Nissan parts and i just got ahold of a VG crossmember and mounts to work with this motor. To my knowledge no one has ever done a FWD --> RWD VE swap into a different car. Well I never intended for this to be a strict BUDGET build but I just cant help it. the Car: $400 The VE30DE (complete) $172 NX wet kit $350 and NOW . . . Z32 5-speed Tranny,Flywheel,Starter,Pressure Plate and Clutch disk = $71.26! So i got the stuff home and got busy . . .heres the results . . . Z32 flywheel and clutch bolted to the VE and the z32 tranny and starter bolted right up! What do you guys think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kennysgreen280zt Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 That will be killer. I loved my little S12, it was a good car and I beat the crap out of it. I actually wouldnt mind another for a daily driver. Is that an aluminum block? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett76Zt Posted July 13, 2006 Author Share Posted July 13, 2006 no its Iron like all the VG series, the front cover you're seeing is aluminum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtcookson Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 The VE is definitely a cool engine. Forged crank, forged rods, actually even has a variable intake stock. I started on Maxima's with the VG and have always wanted to do something cool like that with the VE. I think it will respond very well to boost... oh yeah... VG30DE pistons will fit in there too... You should be able to put some 9:1 or 8.5:1 or whatever you want VG30DETT pistons and rods in there. That will give you quite a few aftermarket possibilities. I don't know why this engine hasn't been messed with all that much (probably because it was only in the Maxima) but they are overall an excellent engine. They did have some VTC issues which can be remedied with a VTC rebuild (when they go bad the engine will literally sound like a diesel). There's also a guy over at Maxima.org working with Ash (http://www.ashspecz.com) on trying to get the Zemulator to work with the VE. I guess the VE has a similar ECU that the later Z's have. They found out it will work on the earlier VG ECU's since they're chipped but are still working on that VE ecu. That could be a good option as, from what I understand, Megasquirt doesn't support the coil over plug system and such quite yet. Speak of the coil over plug, that's another thing to watch out for. The coils crack quite often causing running issues. They'll normally test good so you'll have to pull them out and inspect them individually. There is normally just cracks in the plastic on the sides. A good resource on the VE is the 3rd Gen Maxima forum over at Maxima.org. You can search through there and find tons of info on them. Good luck and definitely takes lots of pictures of the progress! I definitely want to see what the VE will be capable of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett76Zt Posted July 13, 2006 Author Share Posted July 13, 2006 yeah ive heard about the VTC issues so i may be rebuilding them. . . I think Im gonna run a Ford EDIS wasted spark setup for ignition with MS. I just aquired a VG30DETT motor and I'm sure you're right, It would be great to throw in a set of TT pistons and run some decent boost on this thing. the ports in the head arent nearly as big as the TT motor but Im sure its still capable of 5-600hp, HEHE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest autoworkZ Posted July 13, 2006 Share Posted July 13, 2006 garret, i was talking with stinky and why can`t we side mount the tb on a log? option? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett76Zt Posted July 13, 2006 Author Share Posted July 13, 2006 garret, i was talking with stinky and why can`t we side mount the tb on a log? option? which direction would the TB be facing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbk240z Posted July 14, 2006 Share Posted July 14, 2006 I also find this swap very interesting. Please post pics of your progress. I'd say go the turbo route. I don't know much at all about these type of engines, but would the intake from a TTZ32 fit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett76Zt Posted July 15, 2006 Author Share Posted July 15, 2006 I also find this swap very interesting. Please post pics of your progress. I'd say go the turbo route. I don't know much at all about these type of engines, but would the intake from a TTZ32 fit? Unfortunately I dont think so . . . I checked one gasket and no good, I gotta take a better look. Compared to the VG30DETT heads these arent as good. They are roller rockers, but the TT heads have bucket/shim design and the TT ports are much bigger. BUT these VE heads ARE about 1.5" thinner and a bit shorter than the TT heads. And I'm sure they flow a TON more than my old L motor! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtcookson Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 Dug up a comparison picture off of my computer of the VG30DE(TT) vs. the VE30DE, just in case any of you were curious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b__sosick Posted July 27, 2006 Share Posted July 27, 2006 that's pretty sweet! i have to admit i haven't heard of that motor and raised an eyebrow at the thread title. can't wait to see progress! those wheels are pretty mean lookin too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett76Zt Posted July 27, 2006 Author Share Posted July 27, 2006 Dug up a comparison picture off of my computer of the VG30DE(TT) vs. the VE30DE' date=' just in case any of you were curious. [img']http://www.machzracing.com/pictures/VG-VEsize.gif[/img] Awesome pic there man, I hadnt run across that one. I received the VG crossmember that I'll be using in the mail this week. I just need to finish up the Z and then I'll pull this into the garage and start ripping the motor out and whatnot. I'm playing around with intake manifold designs right now for this thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 awesome, cant wait to see the results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kennysgreen280zt Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 I cant wait to see how it fits.... There is a $300 S12 that im sorta eyeballin right now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.INSANE Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 Very nice deal on the entire setup One thing though IT Looks like ass clean it up nice and shiney and then put it in you will definetly be happy you did it makes everything much easier in the long run Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett76Zt Posted July 28, 2006 Author Share Posted July 28, 2006 Very nice deal on the entire setup One thing though IT Looks like ass clean it up nice and shiney and then put it in you will definetly be happy you did it makes everything much easier in the long run LOL, first make sure its gonna work, THEN make it look nice. . . Haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 it looks as the though the sump is in the front, is this the case? if so, how do you plan on fitting it in the S12 (is the S12 a front sump car? I've never looked at one that closely...but always wanted one. ) have you taken the oil pan off yet to examine the pickup tube and assembly? I'm curious if it would be possible to fit one in an S30 by converting it to a rear sump set up. On the F54 L series block casting there is a spot for the front or rear sump depending on chassis (max/S130) is the VE the same? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtcookson Posted July 28, 2006 Share Posted July 28, 2006 The VE was only ever used in a 3rd gen Maxima so it never had a RWD setup. I've not been in one personally, but that I know of its only setup for the front sump. Being that its so similar to a VG, I'd say there might be a chance you could use some of the VG components to change that... I have no way to test that myself though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garrett76Zt Posted July 31, 2006 Author Share Posted July 31, 2006 yes the VE is front sump. But so is the S12 so no issues there. If you were interested in a rear sump setup for a Z . . . I dont think there would be any issues as the bottom end is identical to the VG30de. The only catch may be that the front of the motor is much different than the VG, being all chain driven instead of belt. Honestly I'm not sure that it would matter so much, as the entire motor will be sitting behind the stock crossmember anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbk240z Posted July 31, 2006 Share Posted July 31, 2006 Just send the car and all parts to me! Just kidding! Get busy and post some pics! Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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