260DET

Not sure why you must have a twin turbo, not a good option, but anyway. Have you looked at Toyota straight sixes? I don't know a lot about them but they have a twin turbo (Supra?) I think, very strong engine and the exhaust is on the right side of the engine which should be good for you left hand drivers. The Toyota six swap has been done, give the search here and google elsewhere a workout.

Can't resist a 'simple' answer to the original question. Go beserk with a hole saw, even the bottom and sides. Just maintain some integrity around the latch and hinges area, could even use a hole flaring tool to add some strength around the holes.

The half cage is made from cold drawn steel, it was designed to provide some rollover and side protection but designed mainly to stiffen up the rear of the body and so improve handling. CAMS have gone all stupid, they only approve FIA compliant full cages now but I don't compete in events which require an approved cage anyway.

With that sort of power using the Nissan multilink rear suspension module makes a lot of sense, the extra weight becomes a non issue. There is heaps of stuff available for that suspension, including adjustable everything. Plus there has been a lot of development gone into it, particularly in Japan, eg here http://www.ikeya-f.co.jp/en/product_notice/foot_works.html Sounds like a great project

Sounds good, pics in due course? What brand wheels and tyres?

Performance Superlites? The new design 15x8 Superlite is quite good, the old design was less so, they are not 'super light' though, far from it. With the right offset they apparently will just fit under the S30, common as muck though, everyone is using them. Take a trip to the US or Japan and get some decent wheels

Seeing that the topic has shifted to intakes, has anyone got any pics of a VG30ET with a single custom forward facing intake? My idea would be to fabricate a flat aluminium box to sit on top of the present intakes, although I have seen pics of one made from two pieces of aluminium tube (one tube for each bank) that join into one at the front and have a connecting balance tube at the back.

Think you'll find that a Chev setup will fit, just check the thread sizes to make sure. I got my spin on oil cooler adaptor from here, very good service http://www.thinkauto.com/

There was a last model Supra at the track a while ago, ~800whp:eek: It snaked all the way up the short front straight, reached around 250kph at the end I'm guessing. His rears were maybe a bit wider than 10" but not by much, they fitted under the stock guards.

Nice question For circuit work using 8" wide rims I've found 225 medium compound R tyres fine, thats with the S30 and say 250whp and turbo torque. For ordinary road use 7" rims with say 205 tyres would be fine. Taking into account the practical limitations imposed by the authorities and car manufacturers, for circuit work I'd go for the widest that will fit. The wider the tyre the softer the compound you can use the more grip you will get, its that simple. But the rim width has to be appropriate to the tyre size, some people try to run wide tyres on narrow rims, not sensible. If/when my 500whp project eventuates, I'm planning on 10" wide rims for circuit work on probably a 16" diameter wheel. I consider 10" a minimum requirement with that sort of power.

What Stinky said. The VG30ET is a great engine, in the US there is lots of stuff available to improve performance. My choice would be one with a top end aftermarket ECU and a single GT35R turbo. That would blow most anything away.

Checked this forum out? http://forums.maxima.org/index.php?

It is a good idea, thanks for sharing Mike.

Concerning the dash Mike, what you did was to gut a stock dash, reinforce the remaining face with fiberglass laid on the inside then use foam as a backing and adhesive for the metal mounts? Is that basically what you did?

According to here http://z31.com/ae/ae.specs.shtml the VG30ET engine weighs 392 lbs. If the VG30DETT is >500 lbs then thats a significant difference, although the VG30DET should be lighter. Anyone got the actual weights of the two?

A cowl intake would work better on a S30 if you could get it closer to the windscreen, like on the truck, that looks like it should work well.

Its pretty good that the Rewinds clear that size rotor, like the look of that setup too, nice work. For 7" rims a 205 tyre is about right, anything much bigger starts to look baggy.

Nissan V6 should be shorter than your generic V8's...............

Torque reaction will tend to move the engine closer to the shield/line? I'm assuming that you used such a heavy shield to protect the line from impact too? There is special heat shield sheet available, its thin and of a sandwich construction with an indented surface.

That looks like a ripper idea for a conversion, maybe enough room on top to do a front mount throttle body plenum mod too. Thanks for the pics MtC.

The cowl area on a S30 is quite poor for positive air flow, just check the air flow effectiveness from the interior vents which duct air in from the cowl area. It would work but would not be the most effective solution. As for water causing a problem if the support panel area is used, if air is being ducted to a stock aircleaner just have the ducting run uphill a bit from the front. If using a pod, protect it with a vertical sheet of aluminium or whatever. Plenty of other solutions, depends how its located too.

If you are using the stock Z aircleaner you could run some flexible hose forward from the cleaner through the radiator support panel. In front of that panel is a high pressure area, ideal for what you want. Alternatively some get an air box made up in place of the stock aircleaner and use a pod filter in front of the support panel.

Hmmmmm, with an enclosed rotor I wonder about cooling and also weight, despite what they say. We will see I guess.