I'm working on a VW ATQ engine in a rail buggy.

(its the engine in the early 2000s Passats V6)

I'm here because some of the smartest people I've ran into are here on this forum, and I'm hoping someone can chime

in and let me know if they think my proposed cooling setup will be ok.

Radiator is rear mounted behind the engine, Oil cooler is getting ditched.

It's pretty common knowledge amongst the VW guys they're about useless the way the are plumbed from the factory.

I've attached two pictures, one is of the original cooling system, and the second is of my proposed one.

Catch can isn't pictured but it feed off the radiator neck.

Thank you.

Replaced the fuel lines and got it to run just enough to drive it up the steep single car driveway. Oct 2018, up on blocks for a refresh. Rust ended up being worse than I expected. The bushing/brake/engine/suspension refresh turned into disassembling it to the shell, leaving on the windshield in since it had a crack.

Over the next year I patched the floor panels and battery area. Replaced the OE "frame rails" with some 40x70x2.4mm box tubing. Made some "K" braces and a brake master cyl brace. Added plates for a strut/firewall brace.

Now in November 2019 I had a change which necessitated getting the car done by may 2020... Unfortunately the car was poorly done primer when I bought it and the PO had sanded through the paint in many places so surface rust was showing all over it. I decided to sand and do my best with Rustoleum Industrial primer, then paint, in late November-December. The results are meh, but I don't have to worry about it getting dinged and the plan was/is to make it my daily.

1

After the painting I sectioned the struts, fitted Bilstein VW rabbit inserts, retained the factory top hats, and added 2.5" adjustable sleeves + springs. The rest of the suspension/driveline was cleaned up, fluids replaced, new brake pads/rotors/master cyl, and front wheel bearings. Cleaned the fuel tank and replaced the vent lines. Also fabricated a 2.5" header back exhaust tucked up tight for ground clearance.

The car is an early '74 and has the stupid interlock system. I decided to remove it from the wiring harness. While doing this I also re-routed power for the headlights, running lights, wiper(honda motor swap there too), etc... No all of that is on relays and the combi switch is only supplying a few amps so it shouldn't burn up. This was my first time doing any electrical beyond a simple relay harness for an electric fan. Many hours were spent staring at wiring diagrams, tracing, and labeling.

reassembly

I got lucky and it started first try. Definitely didn't think that would happen considering all of the wiring harness changes. May 2020.


Moved out three days later and parked the car at a friend's shop since I didn't have space at the time...and it sat again. Worked on it a bit, but never got it to run as well as I had hoped. It was running the factory L26 with a pair of weber 32/36s. The motor was definitely a bit tired. I was facing another move to a much bigger city(late 2021) where I wouldn't have a garage, spare parking spot, or place to work on the car. I debated a few options like L28/old fuel injection, Ztherapy carbs on a rebuilt or better condition L24/6/8, megasquirt, etc... At the time there weren't any running engines within 200 miles and the above options all cost quite a lot for something still questionable. I considered a LS, but at the time believed that would have led to needing a rear end update as well.

Enter, the K.

I recently picked up a K24A2. It's an early TSX engine with a RBB-2 head, not the later TSX K24A2. I picked up crane scale that's (in my opinion) accurate enough for what we're working with. It has a limit of 660lbs and is supposed to be accurate +/- 0.1%. I started with the engine as delivered and pulled off parts at a time cataloging the weights as I went.

My "linkage" weight was 0.31lbs, but I still tared it out.

The engine as it sits in our starting point has known to be REMOVED:

exhaust manifold, up pipe post throttle to air box, exhaust side engine mount (is there one?)

The engine as it sits in our start point still HAS:

Flex plate (auto trans car), AC/PS, Alt, Water Pump, intake manifold, DBW Throttle, Wiring Harness, Starter, and Oil (yes, came wet).

It didn't gush any coolant, but considering it had oil I'm sure it would probably leak some coolant if I tipped it on an engine stand.

First for removal was the power steering pump (and belt):

That puts the PS pump at 6.4 lbs

Next was the AC Compressor:

That puts the AC compressor at a chunky 13.7 lbs

Next was the tensioner:

Puts the tensioner at 2.4 lbs

Next was the wiring harness:

Puts the wiring at 5.5lbs

Next up was the alternator:

Puts the alternator at 12.3 lbs

Next up was a bunch of rubber hoses (vacuum and coolant) that were basically just in the way. Figured I'd include them as a step as to not throw off the weight of the next part:

Puts us around 0.9lbs in hoses

Next up was the DBW throttle (bolts were put back onto the intake manifold, this is just the dbw throttle):

Puts us at 2.9lbs for the throttle body

Next up was the "upper" intake (which I find ironic since it's physically lower) manifold half:

Puts us a 6.8lbs for the upper intake manifold

Next up is the starter (and some wiring attached that goes from the alternator and starter to the main fuse/relay section of the chassis wiring I guess):

Puts us at 8.2 lbs for starter and wiring

Next up is fuel rail and injectors:

Puts us at 1.1 lbs for injectors and wiring (one tip stayed in the manifold, sorry. probably not much weight there)

Next up was the lower intake manifold:

Puts us at 9lbs for the lower intake manifold

Next up is the oil still in the pan:

Puts us at 6.2 lbs of oil I removed, which equates to around 3.4 quarts, so since these are generally around a 5-5.5 quart engine you could add another 5lbs to the initial wet weight to make it more accurate for a full wet weight.

So what's still on the engine:

Flex Plate

Front engine mount

Intake side engine Mount

There's a bracket for the PS I haven't removed

Water Pump

Thermostat Housing

Rear head coolant block

Various Sensors/Solenoids (VTEC, VTC and more for example)

Coils

Spark Plugs

Balancer

A few random brackets

There's probably another 5lbs of stuff from above that has yet to come off that is unlikely to go back on, though not everything that's going back on I can guarantee will be lighter than the OEM parts that came off. As such I'll likely weight again once it's ready to run.

And thus there you go. What does a K24 weight? Somewhere between 240 and 320 based upon what the hell you're talking about.

That being said the newer Lexus cars seem to be selling as good as ever around the metropolitan areas like SF. This leads me to conclude that in due time we'll see them drop to just as unbelievably low prices as the current cream of the crop of amazing donors.

You can get a whole 1UZFE donor car for well under $3,000, in decent shape, and drive it home! And the infinity VH45DE is in the same boat as well, making it prime swap material.

I want this thread to be a source of information dedicated to what we know about the next generation of these rolling organ donors.

What we've found from the current UZ

- No out of the box tranny options. All came as autos and they all stunk.

- Most fitment issues are related to the oil pan, and exhaust clearing the steering

- Aftermarket is slightly there, but expensive. Consider yourself largely on your own

What I've found about the newer UR engines

- All seem to be a true rear sump (yay!)

- Thus far I've only seen auto versions (even in the IS F)

- Looks like they're being made in more numbers, though more varieties than the old UZ engines

Into the meat:

The old UZ was offered in three variations. 1UZ, 2UZ, and 3UZ, in 4.0, 4..7, and 4.3 liter displacements respectively. This engine went through many iterations with very little information offered from toyota about it all. For example, the rods changed often through the history of the 1UZFE.

The new UZ is currently offered in three variations as well. 1UR, 2UR and 3UR in 4.6, 5.0 and 5.7 liter displacements respectively.

A lot of the displacement increase on the lower displacement variations was from bore size, not just stroke.The new king of the range is a whole liter larger, and gains this through stroke alone compared to the old 4.7 liter 2UZ. These following spec listings are listed by displacement step, not number of engine code.

Old 1UZ was 87.5 x 82.5 (mm) while the new 1UR is 94 x 83 (mm).

Old 3UZ was 91 x 82.5 (mm) while the new 2UR is 94 x 89.5 (mm).

Old 2UZ was 94 x 84 (mm) while the new 3UR is 94 x 102 (mm).

Note the huge stroke increase on the new engines as displacement ramps up. Like the older engines these new ones probably all have their own blocks that aren't necessarily easily interchanged.

I haven't see enough evidence yet, but it looks like the new 1UR is very compact like the 1UZ. Seems as though toyota is still just as dedicated to keeping the head narrow.

For the first time there is now also a "G" head on a Lexus V8. This is the 2UR-GSE that's used in the IS-F.

Horsepower ratings are good for these new engines, but kinda pointless to me in the grand scheme of things. What I really want is some detailed photos of some tear downs of these engines.

https://www.motortrend.com/events/datsun-240z-tesla-restomod-ev-sema-2023/

September 2019: I set out to build a K swap Z. I had no car or parts, but knew I wanted either a Jerico 4 speed or a CD009. Considering used Jericos are $4000 and up, I hopped on a junkyard CD009 I stumbled upon (didn't even know it was in the yard). Once I brought a core back I got the transmission for $170 or so. I always stress how important a transmission is to any vehicle build, and that's why it was the first part I bought, even before I had a shell to throw it in! By the end of the month a SBC swapped, disassembled 1975 280z came up on Bend Oregon craigslist for $3000. Boy was that an adventure! In a nutshell, I hit black ice and spun out with the trailer on the drive there luckily didn't crash, then once I picked the 280z up, could never get the load balanced right, so couldn't do more than 45MPH for the 767 mile drive home. Car got to my old house and sat in the driveway.

October 2019: Thought I found a good deal on a used K-Pro (OEM K series ECU with aftermarket daughterboard for tunability) from a facebook seller in southern california. Yeah, when you go to ask for tracking number and you find out you're blocked, that means you got scammed. Problem for scammer is, I know how to find things out. Got dudes address and showed up two days later. Got my money back in cash. Crazy how people fold when shit hits the fan. Luckily found one more local and met up with seller a couple weeks later. So I got a K-pro V4 with ECU for $650 which was a good deal then (would be an even better deal in 2023)

Through the rest of 2019 and in to the beginning of 2020, I started collecting more parts, uneventful: Borg Warner S362 ($750 shipped BF deal), 4130 head studs ($110), RSX oil pump (new, $100 local), RSX oil pump kit (used, $70), auto RSX engine harness ($20, junkyard), oil filter relocation kit ($40, summit), RBB K24A (full VTEC) ($700, JDM Tokyo in West Sacramento), OEM headgasket and tensioner ($100?), Skunk2 ultra street manifold ($400), FIC 1650 SS injectors ($400, used), turbosmart fuel pressure regulator ($100 ?), innovative S2000 k swap mounts ($150, used), PMC adapter plate and flywheel ($1000), eBay "stage 5" (6 puck unsprung) 350z/G35 clutch kit ($220), Ktuned throttle body ($200), eBay 8an PTFE hose/fitting kit ($100), 100an fuel filter ($20), 10an fuel filter ($100), DW400 inline fuel pump ($220), eBay inlet/outlet style catch can ($40), Bussman fuse box ($100, pins/seals another $20), Inline pro S2000 k swap turbo manifold ($1200 to my door), replica turbosmart 45mm wastegate ($100), replica tial 50mm blow off valve ($80?), Blox oil pan baffle ($100), Silicone couplers ($120), CX Racing RX7 intercooler ($240), AEM wideband ($110), 4 bar MAP sensor ($80 used), universal transmission mount ($22), shifter relocation kit ($250), Summit brand line lock ($90), VW scirocco 3-core radiator ($150), billet K24 upper coolant housing ($80), various fittings and hardware we'll say $140.

I put the car together over the course of 2020. Started out by getting the engine set up: installed new headgasket and head studs, replaced timing chain tensioner, swapped intake cam gear (got a free RSX 50* gear), and installed RSX oil pump. Did a valve adjustment as well. In hindsight, I should of pulled pistons and checked endgap, and opened it up to my desired power level, but hoping that it isn't an issue. I welded on a 10AN bung to the pan before reinstalling on engine. With engine sealed up, I set up the oil filter relocation kit and did the oil feed for the turbo as well. With the turbo mounted, I was able to make the oil drain line (10an, had everything laying around from previous projects. On the intake side, I set up the skunk2 manifold for RWD by flipping the plenum. On the front of the engine I worked out the alternator setup, and using an idler off a GM gen III that I pocketed from the junkyard I was able to get a belt routed and tensioned, but still clear my throttle body.


Off the engine, I completely reworked the $20 automatic RSX engine harness. I set it up with a recycled AMP circular bulkhead connector (off a 2013 scrapped Tesla) for quick R&R, correct injector connectors, dual B/K connectors for MAP and TPS sensors, integrated alternator/knock/starter wiring, integrated oil pressure sensor wiring, fresh braided loom/heatshrink, concentric twisting... I nerd out with wiring a bit. But the supplies are cheap and the results are very satisfactory for me.

October 2020, I bought my new house and moved in. By December I installed the adapter plate, clutch, transmission and engine all together. Factory transmission crossmember wings on the body were removed from the S30, and I dropped the swap in. Engine placement ended up putting the crank pulley right over the steering rack, and I welded up brackets directly to the frame rails of the S30 to use the S2000 k swap mounts.


Fresh in to 2021, I realized that something was off with my clutch fork - turns out I had an early CD transmission clutch fork pivot bolt instead of the later CD009 pivot bolt (different story)... so swap came out and the correct $7 bolt from nissan went in. Cleaned up the engine bay a little and got better welds in for the motor mount brackets. Engine went back in and hasn't been removed since! I built a simple transmission crossmember after welding up some angle iron for it to bolt up to my floors (no pics sorry!). Started buttoning things up, like exhaust, intercooler mounting, radiator mounting/hoses, fuel line install, throttle cable fabrication, battery tray fabrication... tons of knick-knacks like any swap would have, fabricating anything I could, if not reaching in to junk piles, to save a buck. Did the chassis side of engine wiring, which was not nearly as fun as engine harness, building fusebox, C101, etc. By April 15 2021 I did first start (91 octane) and after that I got pretty excited to get the rest together.Worked out some fittings for the brake lines and installed the line lock, bled brakes, measured for, ordered and installed a driveshaft, and got the basemap good enough to take a short drive to the gas station.



Got a boost solenoid hooked up, and tried to set up a VSS that would read the backside of the front wheel studs. This VSS worked when I tested it on a jack stand, but in the real world doesn't work at all. Zip tied a gatorade bottle up for a coolant overflow, drained fuel and put E85, did a little bit of part throttle tuning myself, and car sat for a bit. I replaced the tires since they ones on the car were at least 15 if not 20 years old. Set up a temporary android tablet as a "cluster". Installed some generic 3-point seatbelts as well - the car came to me with none. By April 2022 was able to get on dyno schedule and with fresh E85 I went and made an effortless 540hp/375lb-ft without any fight at all. Thank you to Anthony at Hybridworks in Vallejo CA !

With the car fully tuned, focus went elsewhere: There was a terrible wobble past 60MPH - bad wheel balance in front. Got an alignment. The "corvette" trailer tail lights were swapped out for 240z tail lamps. I think I already pissed off the purists with the honda 4 banger, so what the hell do I care that there's 240 lights on a 280! I wired the chassis up in a very minimalistic manner - headlamp switch is a ground signal running in a 22g wire to a relay right at the headlamps. Much better than the factory wiring. Recycled some honda main relay diodes to get the 240z tail lamps to have correct turn signal/brake function while using a 280z turn signal switch. Simple super budget stuff with all recycled wire, relays, etc. At this point the car was fairly functional and fun to drive around!

Car sat all through November and December 2022. Mid January 2023 a close friend invites me to a car meet and tells me to bring the 280z. I'm busy, but I give him the code to my front door and told him where to find the key - he took the car and had a blast, though he was quite cold (no heater). February 2023, another friend encouraged and helped me get the car ready for Test-N-Tune at Sacramento raceway. We put on a 8 year old set of 24.5" slicks from my FWD CRX, buttoned up a couple loose ends (ahem no battery hold down bracket, fuel cell exposed in cabin) and went to test-n-tune the next day. First pass, left easy and pulled through 1st, 2nd, a bit of 3rd and let off and hit the brakes - 13.8. Leaked E85 through an open fitting on the fuel cell. Capped it off and went for another pass. Left a little harder and ran all the way through 1-2-3-4 but was stunned when I ran out of 4th gear around the 1000' so coasted a 12.2 @ 101mph. Went for a 3rd pass but pulled out from the burnout box when I was made aware that my front alignment was toe out on both sides - LCAs to FSF came loose somehow. Was a fun day and the car seems pretty promising. Looking in to getting a 2015+ mustang rear with 3.15 gears to stretch out my gearing a bit - i'm still on the original open 3.54 R200/U joint axles. 26" or 28" tires will help a bit too.

There might be some omissions, but adding up everything here puts me at $11,569. This includes the $3000 280z. I also sold the T5 that came with the Z for $500 so let's just count that towards fluids and fuel, haha. If I didn't turbo it, easily knock off $4000. In my correct opinion, an N/A K swap (stock engine like mine) should never be more than $6000.

FULL ALBUM

Hopefully, that is not a horrible question, I have a 280z, and a quadrofiglio engine (500+hp). 

I am curious if it is possible to put that engine on the Z, would it even fit? Has anyone attempted something like that? The ONLY reason I am entertaining this is that I have the engine already. The engine came from an accident (works fine, but made it hard to resell here where I live). 

I haven't worked on any sort of engine swaps before. I am sure that this would need a new drivetrain for sure and transmission. Any tips/ideas? Thank you for reading!!!!

Hello everyone! I present you my Zonda/Mercedes Benz V12 powered 280Z build. I've been working on this project for almost 3 years. I'll share more as I make new progress.

When I picked it up...

Rust.... Lots of it!

All frame rust done! Bad dog frame rails, coilovers, polyurethane bushings, seam sealed, and bed liner coated

Still needs new body panels. I've started, but I need to take pics.

-Antonio

So I've been into doing this swap for over a year now, collecting parts along the way, planning, building my engine, test stand, and most recently getting my s54 running. SO i figure it's about time I start a thread that I can post up pictures, and progress as I go.

So it all started back in 2017, when I bought my first Z. It was a white 280z, tan interior and was pretty stock overall. I loved to it and it really got me hooked. I drove it for a while and once I started to get this idea seeded in my head of swapping in a BMW motor, I began to realize, that I had the wrong car to start out with. It was in good shape, had been repainted real nice, but it had been in a front end accident at some point and the front frame rails were a little buckled in front of all of the suspension pickups. Not wanting to deal with that or some of the other things that may have been hiding under the fresh paint, I decided to sell it. In the mean time while selling the white one, another one showed up on craigslist (of course) about 40 minutes from my parents house.  My Dad did me a solid and went to look at the car for me and was able to report that it was in reasonable shape, but not running.

Long story short, I bought that blue car in May 2018 and then stored it in Virginia for almost a year while I finished selling the white 280z and started building my S54 completely fresh and planning out what I wanted to do with the rest of the build.

So that is basically the back story. The next few posts will be for my engine build and the test stand that I build for it.

http://www.speedhunters.com/2017/10/dimmack-datsun-gtz-build/

Also, how radically different/ what would I have to technically overcome to mate a '94 Camaro T56 to an earlier VH45? I imagine them to be quite a bit different in most regards (housing, spline, starter, etc..), but you never know when an idea will get lucky and become a good one.

This might be a question for the chev board (but I'm more interested in the VH at the moment). I currently have the said T56 and an older SBC 327. Would these two have any problem coming together? I heard something about rear main seals, but no difinitive information.

Finally, what does a front clip from a, let's say, 1991 Q45 go for these days. I have a guy offering me one.. Says it's a twin turbo for some reason. I'd like to make an offer, but am weary of the turbos and where it came from...

Thanks in advance for the information.

-Barrett

This is a challenge. 1st person to do it should get a lifetime supply of Fosters (Australian for beer).

http://racecast.com.au/?v=3a1ed7090bfa

Earlier this month, the car came up for salvage auction and knowing the engine condition, I bid and won the auction.

The stock LFX engine produces 323 HP and only weighs the same as my L24. the 6 speed AT weighs about a 100 lbs more than a Datsun AT but is located near the center of mass so it shouldn't make much difference. Interestingly, the engine has exhaust manifolds cast into the heads and makes a neat 21" wide package.

I have a source for modifying the engine wire harness, and plan on using Speed Hut CAN Bus gauges. But I have a couple technical questions to answer, namely engine and transmission mounts and drive shaft.

The engine mounts on the LFX is cast aluminum and sits on thick rubber pucks. The pucks are oriented vertically. I imagine the aluminum castings can be removed and replaced with fabricated mounts mating to the existing cross member mounts. But I've been wondering if any LS mounts might be a good candidate?

I know the crank shaft on my L24 tilts down some 3 degrees at the rear of the engine and this aligns the drive shaft with the differential. The MYB AT from the Camaro uses a rubber flex plate to couple to a 2 piece drive shaft, Since the Datsun AT has a spline joint to accommodate any length variation as the rear suspension is exercised, what is the appropriate drive shaft design for this transmission.

Third question is about the power steering pump. Since it is an integral part of the serpentine belt, I was anticipating leaving it there and running a hose from the outlet back to the inlet. Any other suggestions?

Yeah... it will be missed! 

Anyway, shortly after the sale my search for the right chassis started.  I was mostly interested in 240Z's due to the styling, but had an open mind for 260 and 280's.  The most important part for me was to find the most rust-free and cleanest I could find.  Although I was searching well within 300 miles of home, a local car just so happened to pop up on craigslist that caught my attention.  An early '74 260Z with one heck of a interesting story.

The reason I say “interesting” is because it comes with an almost unbelievable history.  The odometer says 4,883 miles, it has been owned by only 4 owners previous to myself and the last two of which think it’s the actual mileage.  I was obviously very skeptical on the mileage, but there are little things that help the rumor hold weight.

The car comes with what is allegedly its original license plate… the plate has one single tab on it: ’74.  Now that’s at least interesting, right?  Well the story goes that the original owner purchased the car brand new off the lot drove it for a few thousand miles and passed away shortly after.  The car found its way to the proverbial “barn” where it sat for many years until it was purchased by the second owner who had racing in mind.  It is clear that this car was owned by an old school racer, it has a 6-point roll cage, a unique race switch panel labeled with 80’s-era punch strip lettering and brake ducts made from Campbell’s soup cans… yes, you read that correctly soup cans.

Well, if you’re following the story with me, is it possible that the car became a trailered track car only at this point?  It’s certainly plausible… years of racing from a trailer without ever renewing the tabs, it could happen.  Well this owner also passed away and the car found itself once again in a barn in the Seattle area… where it sat until the 3^rd owner spotted it and inquired if it was for sale in the early ‘10s.  It did not last long with him as he sold it to a friend who is I eventually bought it from.

Whether or not the 4,883 miles is “true”, the best part about this car is the condition… this is really the only other indicator that this car might be the low mileage barn find it claims to be.  For one, the body does not have the classic Datsun swiss cheese rust one might expect from a 100K+ mile car.  During the buying process I carefully examined the car in all of the places I expected to find rust.  Under the floor mats, beneath the battery tray, in and around the hatch, on the frame rails, dog legs, etc… next to no rust.  The dash is immaculate, not a single crack as would be expected from a high mileage Zcar.

With all that being said, to be 100% honest, I don't think it's actually <5,000 original miles, but if it isn't, then it's certainly is one of the cleanest 105,000 mile cars if that's the case.  And that's what I'm most excited about.

Well unfortunately now is the time I tell you that the car doesn't quite look like that first picture shows... that's what it looked like before the owner before me decided he was going to do some body work, primer the car and then plastidip it "smurf" blue.  Sigh.  Needless to say, I still wanted to make a move on the car and after a bit of haggling, I was finally the owner of an S30 for $2,750 and even had the guy throw in an RB25DE.  Here's what the car looks like on jack stands with about 1/3 of the plastidip removed:

And here are a few more:

There are still a lot of details that I am planning regarding this car.  Currently, I intend to swap an F20C & 6-speed from a 2000+ Honda S2K.  I know this may seem like a strange engine choice to some of the people on this forum, but I am really starting to think that it's a good fit for my goals for the car.  I am not necessarily looking for a car that is insanely fast like the RX7; this time around I want somthing that's simply fun & reliable.  I love the fact that the F20C revs to 9,000 RPM from the factory, is a total lightweight and gets good gas mileage... and that 6-speed is so smooth!  For now, I intend to stay N/A, but the project will have two phases the second of which will likely include a few lbs of boost.

I plan on doing a complete color change with the usual front lip, rear spoiler and fender flares.  The top contender right now is Toyota's "Anthracite".  I am not sure if I have ever seen a Zcar with this color, but I think it will look really good when it's all said and done.

Much, much more to come.

http://forum.200sx-ogn.org/viewtopic.php?t=13683

Crazy!!! Look at how big that transmission is!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rifleman