260DET

My ZX job is in progress, should be finished in a few months, its going to be a road registered competition car. The ideas I'm applying are quite straight forward, nothing add on is required except a suitable front spoiler. Lower it, sounds simple but no ZX that I've seen appears to have been really lowered. And, wide 17" wheels flush with the guards, only the lips of which will be rolled. Thats it.

Accel replied saying they had no suitable system, at least they replied Except perhaps for Electromotive there does not appear to be any US supplier of an ECU driven ignition system using the stock Nissan crank angle sensor. Can that be true????? Anyway, I'll be running a MoTec ECU on mine, they have an expander that can do up to eight cylinders sequentially, no wasted spark compramise, probably have to sell a kidney or two to pay for it though. But MoTec is the duck's guts http://www.motec.com.au/

Nice question, I've emailed Accel asking which of their systems will suit a VG30DET engine, to replace the coil over plug system. That engine of course has no distributor.

At one stage the whole front Xmember with rack was moved forward to give more caster. But that did not help things at all, I believe because it increased the wheelbase and particularly shifted weight towards the rear wheels. It does not take much sometimes to make a difference with the S30. Anyway, with some Ackermann, a bit of toe in, a ATB diff and some trail braking where possible it turns in nicely now, medium to slow corners.

Those steering arms are bloody hard eh, sounds like someone is converting to rod ended steering. Like everyone else has said, drill slow and use lubrication.

In my experience some Ackermann is a good substitute for front toe with the S30, although with that front rack its hard to get much of that. More caster should help too but I never worked out how to do that without messing up other important settings. If I was doing a S30 from scratch the strut towers would be severely modified to allow up to 7-8 degrees caster. Then power steering would probably be required

I'm in the process of fitting a S14 rear subframe under a 280ZX right now. Its a lot of work and getting the alignment right is a bit of a worry as is getting it high enough, one of those jobs where cutting corners can save a lot of time but may result in a unsatisfactory conversion. Personally I don't think its worth it on a S30 unless you are going to be putting a lot of power through it.

http://www.capa.com.au/main.htm and of course Google.

A one piece is far better, the parts of it over the rear quarter can be relieved if they are likely to come in contact. A clearance of ~10mm should do it and that won't affect its effectiveness.

Would not bother with the T3 myself, particularly if the boost is going to be increased a BB turbo is a far better choice. If on a budget check out the suitability of a used BB turbo, something like the one off a VG30DET but avoid the ceramic wheel version.

That would be good Paul because eventually I'll need a R200 ATB for the project car, ~500 whp.

Sounds a good deal, want to say who the supplier is?

Whats a rough price in the US for a FIA type spec chromo Z cage in the US, John? Someone was saying in AU they are ~$10,000, thats ~$7500 in your money. May have to be Xrayed, I don't know.

The answer to that one is quite simple Z240, he needs the volume that the US market can provide to make it worthwhile. Apparently the guts used in the R180 center is sold in the US for Porsches, GT3's I think. He adapted it to use in a R180 for his own race car. I think his price is reasonable all things considered, they are a damm good center. Agree that we in AU do get ripped off eg by importers of cheap Chinese stuff. How does a quantity buy of made in China tachos for $5 each, sold here for $200 each sound?

Amax in AU make an excellent R180 helical LSD, here is a link. http://members.optushome.com.au/amaxeng/five10/diff.htm But as far as I know they don't make a R200, which is not needed anyway unless you have big power or drag race.

Let us know how it does hold together, you are going for power beyond my knowledge so I'd be guessing. VG30DETT's with GT28RS type turbos can go over 500hp ATW, mines going to have a single GT35R 1.06 a/r turbine and should do similar.

Just make sure the basics are right, the engine is running well, no leaks, plenty of fuel, etc. Sounds elementary but dyno tuners always have stories of the many cars that arrive for tuning in a unfinished or poor condition.

You could write a book on that topic. Basically the most important thing is to do any body mods required to fit things like a IC, radiator, oil cooler etc etc before the car is painted. So you have to decide early on what major components are going to be used and what will be required to fit and use them eg holes for pipes, air flow for oil cooler and so on.

Lets put it this way. I chose a VG30DET over a VQ for my project because of doubts over the VQ's durability and reliability when pushing decent power. There are big power turbo VQ's but it appears that they have been heavily and expensively modified to stay in one piece. Its very hard to get solid reliable info on the VQ, plenty of the usual internet rumour type 'my mate says' stuff. Good luck.

Never heard of any timing belt issues with the RB30.

Looks good, the VG single cam is a very compact motor, even looks small in a 510's engine bay.

As said, the DE is a heavy lump and not worth the trouble. But the DET is a different proposition, I'm in the process of fitting one to my ZX coupe equipped with a GT35R turbo and expect 500+hp at the wheels. Its a lot of work and involves a fair bit of skill to do. As Frank indicated, the L28T may be the go for you.

You don't want to hear this but for your power aim the VG30DE is overkill weight wise. Nissan V8 would be a better choice, may not fit in the tiny Z32 engine bay though. VQ engine out of a 350Z is also a good alternative, six speed gearbox. Nothing helpful to add, MTC said it all.

So Jon you mix ATF with SWEPCO oil? What ratio of each? I can't get SWEPCO but can get Royal Purple or Amsoil. My theory is that the Nissan syncros may not grab enough if very slippery oil is used, an most oils seem to be, using sticky oil may slow the shift a bit and so help in avoiding crunchy noises.