luseboy

It sounds like it can probably handle it but I would prefer something stronger. I'm now looking into putting an lsd pumpkin for a shortnose r200 into a longnose r200 case, looks like it is doable.

I like the idea of the R200 but the longnose with an lsd is very expensive usually and the shortnose is a very involved swap in which I may as well go for an R230 (unless I'm missing something), which makes it expensive and difficult to install. Not that I'm not up to the challenge, but if there's an option that is almost bolt in that would handle the power I think it would end up much more solid. I'm not really looking to spend $4k on my rear diff, and if I fab up my own diff mount and such it'll still end up expensive and probably not as well made as it should be. The Sti diff is limited slip and is either viscuous or clutch type depending on year, it's the strongest R180 ever made as far as I know, I just don't know if that's gonna be enough for me. I know no one could say for sure if that's the case but I'm curious about an educated guess from those with experience. As far as the JDM VQ30det goes, I was briefly looking at them and they seem to sell for about what a complete vq35de out of a 350z or g35 sells for, which makes more power and what not. The VQ30de out of a maxima sells for like $350-$400, or what an L28 sold for a few years ago. I would still need a full oil pan, and ya I would need to figure out the intake. I can fab my own motor mounts (best friend is a certified TIG welder), so that makes this a pretty cheap swap for me, relatively speaking. Plus down the road I could make new mounts and put in a vq35de and already have the transmission and all that in place.

So I started looking into engine swaps for my '73 240z. I have been leaning towards getting a front wheel drive vq30de and putting a 350z 6 speed behind it (using a 350z oil pan, clutch, flywheel, etc.). I know this won't make much power compared to a 350z vq35de but if I put a turbo on it down the road I'm sure it'll be more than enough power for me and it's a really cheap motor to pickup. I've been thinking I want to try to get megasquirt to work as I like the flexibility and ability to change virtually anything. It seems, though, that there aren't too many people running megasquirt with a vq of any type, is there any reason for this in particular? I know the vq35de is a very complicated motor electronically, but apparently the vq30de is much simpler. I suppose it would be a whole lot easier to get it running with stock electronics, so I may go this route but does anyone know if the ecu needs to be messed with before you can get it to run without all of the associated security parts like with a vq35 swap? Sorry if this is all over the place, I'm just trying to get some rough ideas as I have only been able to do some reading around online. I know a few people on here have done this swap and I have searched but I was hoping for a little clarification. Now my other questions revolve around the drivetrain aspect of the car. I suppose I should ask this in the drivetrain section but I wanted to get an idea of what people are running as far as rear ends are concerned with their vq swaps. I already have pretty upgraded stock suspension and have silvermine motors stage 4 rear brakes, so I'd like to retain as much of this as possible. I like the idea of putting an R180 out of an Sti in as I can retain my brakes, control arms, coilovers, wheel stub axles, etc. However, if I am running a vq30det or a vq35de, with possibly up to 300 ft/lbs of torque, am I likely to be breaking diffs or associated parts with the Sti R180, or has this been done? I'd like something reasonably solid, even though I'm not gonna have LS1 torque and I won't be drag racing or drifting. However, from time to time my left foot may slip off my clutch pedal while my right foot may accidentally be pushing down on the accelerator pedal, and I'd rather not blow up my diff when this accidentally happens... My plan currently is to get the Sti diff but use CV's, as at least one member on here has done. I already have 280zxt outer axle flanges so this wouldn't be too hard to do, but I'm just not sure if this will be solid enough for this engine. I'm just not sure if I should be planning to go for an R230 or Ford 8.8 or something. Hopefully this isn't too off in left field, I know it's much easier when there's more specific questions but if anyone has some general guidance for me on this that'd be awesome. Thanks!

Is this gonna be a lifted 4 wheeler Z? I've seen a couple pictures of cars people have done like that and I think it's a cool thing to do to a junk Z, certainly easier than replacing the whole frame.

I was looking into boosting my NA P79/F54 motor and this is what I learned from many hours of reading: -Don't bother lowering the compression, just run it as is and have great off-boost response or get a turbo block -Make sure you figure out a way to keep the timing from getting too advanced, most people use a turbo dizzy or lock their NA dizzy out. I had planned on using EDIS with megajolt which offers complete control of ignition timing -You should be able to safely run up to about 10psi if you are very careful with your ignition timing, the L motors are prone to detonation and this is what kills them -Don't run water/alcohol injection as your head will eat away -Find a turbo oil pan or put an oil drain into your existing pan -Get a boost referenced fuel regulator and a fuel pump that can support the fuel pressure you need at max boost Surely some people here have real experience with this and perhaps they've come up with different answers than I have through actual experimentation. I personally decided to steer towards an engine swap instead as it would end up costing a similar amount to do as what I had planned to do. There's a lot of info out there on this stuff, so read up.

So I feel sorta silly for posting yet because my car isn't really "done." It never will be "done," or whatever that means, but I had sorta planned to wait until it was mostly together and really being driven. However, I have been rebuilding this car for about 5 years now and after a steep learning curve with many re-do's and failed attempts with various components, I finally feel like I can call this ratty heap a car. I know some of you may cringe at my car and I know it's a little different (maybe not in the best of ways by most people's standards), but so am I and I really enjoy how it looks. Currently it's a pretty standard build; F54/P79, everyone's favorite Holley 4bbl on the AZC manifold, MSD box. Sitting on TTT: coils with Illuminas, control arms, T/C rods, steering coupler. Rx7 front brakes, Silvermine stage 4 rear. Forged Centerline wheels in a staggered 17x8 rear, 17x7 front 5 lug set up utilizing z31 turbo front hubs, and 280z stub axles that were re-drilled and welded by modern motorsports. This car is by no means a clean example, and is not pretending to be. Future plans are to upgrade the diff and I keep going back and forth about it, but I'm thinking I may end up doing a vq35 or sr20 swap, we'll see. Anyways hybridz has been my best resource by far and I'm pretty happy to be where I'm at with the car. Sorry for the essay in a picture thread, I'll shut up now .

What's up with the gland nut here? It looks like it's barely threaded on, maybe that's an optical illusion though. Also that does sorta look like shaft wear right under the Eibach logo, but again maybe it's just the picture. At this point, I think you may want to figure out some way to measure your shock towers and your frame against a reference point (maybe put it up on jack stands, and get it really level with your garage floor and measure the distance between each frame rail and the floor). This would not be an exact measurement by any stretch of the word but could at least give you a feel for what's going on. Could you snap some pictures of your strut tower tops too? I'm still a little suspect about mushrooming of the strut tower. Also, unrelated but I keep thinking these pictures are of my car because I also have a green moustache bar lol. Mine's rattle can green as opposed to powder coated but still.

Another thing I just thought of: have you confirmed that all the shocks move freely and don't bind? Maybe the wrong gland nut was used and causes binding. Not super likely and would probably be pretty obvious when shock shaft coating was peeling off but still possible. Also have you gotten an alignment done? I'm curious if there's any alignment issues that could point to any damage to a particular corner of the car or other issues.

Totally makes sense, I'm sure they work just fine I just didn't want to deal with explaining them to an alignment shop and the potential for them to spin at will. That being said they'll likely end up on a friend's s30 at some point. They are very very nice, I'm really happy I went with their parts. I'm thinking if you spend some time under the car and inspect a little you'll probably be able to figure it out. I'm sure someone with more experience will chime in with some more specific advice ha.

Ah ok makes sense. I'm a little skeptical about those bushings myself, I got a set and installed them and ultimately removed them and the stock control arms and went with techno toy tuning control arms. I doubt they would cause this issue though. Perhaps installing new control arms wouldn't be a bad idea, if you have them already. Though I generally don't agree with the "shotgun" approach to fixing things, if you already have them it's not a bad idea. However, I don't know if this would possibly mess up your alignment but I'm sure it'd be close enough. If nothing else it would at least cross something off the list. It would also give you a good opportunity to really look under your car and try and identify what's going on. I'd take a good look at your strut tower tops as well, it's possible that a really good pothole mushroomed one of them. I used to have a mini cooper and even at 5 years old people were having all sorts of strut tower mushrooming problems. I don't think I've heard much about this on s30's but it's possible. It's funny, I just started reading your build thread. Looks like an extremely clean chassis, I'm pretty jealous of your lack of rust.

Have you gotten the suspension to settle yet? I know some people have had this issue and it was partly a suspension settling issue, sometimes it can be that easy. Control arm binding is another possibility. Apparently they can bind, and there is a procedure to torque them while they are weighted, i.e. with the car on the ground. If there isn't enough room under the car to do this you might try putting some blocks or ramps under the wheels. The FSM outlines that for the rear control arms, the bolts that "clamp" the bushings in place should be installed somewhat loose, then the car should be lowered to the ground before torquing the bolts down to spec, all in an effort to reduce binding. Though it does sound like your problems would be more front control arm based. I don't see any procedure like this in the FSM for the front control arms, but perhaps there is one. Another possibility is that you could have a bent control arm, they aren't the most stout. Have you replaced any of the bushings or removed the control arms or anything? I would take a close look at everything and see if anything looks odd. Even without accidents, rust can creep in and cause all sorts of problems. For your sake, I hope your problems are not rust related as that is a real pain to deal with.

I'm pretty sure you can get pretty much any rear mount bar to clear as long as you're comfortable with shortening the endlinks.

I assume that any rear mount bar would work with the AZC setup but I don't have the AZC setup and as such am not too familiar with the specifics about it. To be sure I would email them and ask about any fitment issues. I don't see why there would be any issue though. I've definitely heard of many having problems with CV's and sway bars. It seems that shortening the end links can often get the CV's to clear. Unfortunately, there is always going to be some finagling to do when fitting a number of parts together that weren't really designed with the s30 chassis in mind.

Hey preference is preference, I don't blame you. A quick google search came up with DP racing who make a 5/8" adjustable rear-mount bar including drop links. Pretty nice looking kit but a little pricey. Here's a link: http://www.dpracing.co/#!datsun-z-front-suspension-1/cgfl Also, perhaps you could fab in front mount rear sway bar mounts with your extended frame rails and use the stock bar. I don't know what you're doing exactly but I bet there's a way to make that work. That being said, the rear mount bars work much better.

Why don't you want to use a sway bar that's thicker than stock? I think you might have a hard time finding a rear mount in the stock size, as most people upgrade for stiffer bars. I went with the suspension techniques sway bar kit and I'm very happy with the quality of the kit. It did include rear mount drop links, and all hardware and bushings needed. I can't comment on the ride quality or performance of the bar, I have yet to actually drive my car. However, a previous car of mine was a mini cooper s and I installed a stiffer sway bar in the rear of that car. It still rode just as well as it did with the stock bar but cornered a whole lot better than it did with the stocker. That being said, we all have our own preferences and reasons for what we want... perhaps there is a rear mount bar in the same thickness as stock.

Perhaps the pistons were replaced with dished pistons at some point but were flattops originally? If it is a turbo block there may be another way to tell for sure but I would also try and identify which rods you have. If they're l24 rods then your compression ratio would be higher than that. I wouldn't be too surprised, considering it seems to be a pieced together engine, and perhaps someone would have done that to counteract the lower CR of the dished pistons. If it is indeed a turbo block, I believe the only difference between the P79 and the P90 are the exhaust runners and the cam. I know there is a fair amount of fear among many about the exhaust liners with a turbo behind them, but apparently many people have had no problems with decent power. It seems that you've done your homework so I assume you know that an L with a turbo is very susceptible to detonation, which is often a shortcut to the grave for these engines. If the comp ratio is about what an N/A motor would be, it seems that a "safe" amount of boost would be around 10psi, but this is assuming everything else is set up right. There's a fair amount that needs to be set up right for the turbo swap. You're going to need to deal with ignition timing, be it locking out your dizzy or going for an EDIS system. You will want to make sure you're still getting enough fuel pressure to the injectors under boost (boost regulated fuel pressure regulator and a fuel pump that can support the full fuel pressure: normal pressure+highest boost pressure), among other things. I'm sure there's some things you'll need to do with the EFI to make it work right but I'm not an EFI guy. There's a lot to consider here, and if these things aren't dealt with then no boost level will be "safe." Personally, I'm starting to plan my own low-pressure turbo setup on my F54/P79 with flattops. In my case I will be going blow-through with a holley carb but will be running EDIS. I'm hoping to run around 10psi but reliability and longevity will be a large factor so that number may have to be lower. In order to do this I will be doing some extensive modifications to the holley, pulling my engine apart and freshening it up, and very carefully tuning to avoid detonation. I will also need the boost regulated fuel pressure regulator so that I don't run out of fuel under boost. But before I do any of this I'm replacing my transmission with a 240sx unit and my differential with something beefier (haven't decided what yet). In addition, I'm going for a 240mm clutch. I would recommend that you really consider the state of your drivetrain before putting a turbo on it as well, it would really suck to have a sweet turbo set up with a blown transmission or a clutch that slips when you get on it, etc. Keep in mind: I know little to nothing about EFI, I have never owned a turbocharged car and don't know all that much about them. I have also not done this swap, yet. But I have been doing a ton of reading on adding a turbo to an N/A L28 and these are the things I have come up with. There are many people on here who have a ton of knowledge about this stuff, and they will hopefully chime in and give you better answers from their own experience.

How is the fuel pump wired in? Sounds like there's likely a problem with the fuel pump shorting another circuit out or perhaps some sort of safety measure that it trips when it's running. Intersting problem for sure.

It appears that you could install them 90 degrees out and use them to adjust caster instead of camber. I think your biggest limiting factor is going to be the sheet metal on the strut tower top. I didn't like the idea of cutting up my strut towers because I wanted to retain the strength and stiffness of an unmodified tower, but I'm only going for a fairly mild alignment set up and as such don't need a ton of adjustment. People have been talking about increased caster for awhile, but mostly for racing purposes. I was under the impression that you could get close to 10* with adjustable T/C rods but perhaps I'm mistaken.

You're totally right. This is my first time building a car so I still have much to learn even if I'm at the final stages. Over thinking can definitely cause problems. Thank you for your input.

Pretty sure mine have a spherical bearing... last I looked at them they do. Maybe they changed the design? I personally just got them because they were a cheap option for a pillowball mount that allowed my shock shaft to be off at an angle from my adjustable LCA's and T/C rods. I haven't driven my car yet but they seem like they're of high enough quality to work for quite some time. When/if mine break I'll just be replacing them with TTT bolt-ins as they weren't available when I bought my set of these.

See I don't actually know how much blow by I'm getting, I'm assuming it's got a fair amount as I think the rings are still original from 1981-1983. With the engine running I have not noticed any smoke or anything like that coming from either pcv breather (both are currently open but the engine is only being run for a minute or so at a time every week or so), with one exception. I had a dieseling problem recently and a puff of smoke came out of the crank crase breather when it was dieseling. I'm assuming this is to be expected, but at any rate I'm starting to plan out a blow through turbo set up that I'll be piecing together in a few years. Before I turbo the car the engine will come back out and I'll do a more thorough rebuild on it (rings, timing set, bearings). So at this rate I guess I'll just set up a simple pcv set up since I'm gonna be changing it in a few years anyways. If I just plumb the valve cover breather to my carb hat is that just gonna work the best for the time being? If the carb gets all oily I'll be pulling it all apart before turbo too so no big deal.

Alright so I'm still trying to figure out what to do with the valve cover breather. I know this isn't rocket science but this is one of the few things I have left to do on my car and I'm kinda itching to figure it out.

The long of the short of it is that you might as well just get an L28et and put that in, especially if you want to run that much boost. Over 10psi on an N/A (high compression) L block is very prone to detonation, you might find an OK combination but you'd still be better off just swapping in an L28et. Personally I've been looking into doing a blow-through setup on my N/A L28 and will be surprised if I am able to run 10psi safely.

Not to be a dick but this is a rather vague post. The L-series Dizzy needs ported vacuum, so use whatever ported vacuum source you have available. Manifold vacuum doesn't really work properly from what I've read.

No copper washer on the slave is probably why you're losing pressure. I got my clutch to bleed without one but like I said the next morning I had a nice puddle of DOT and no fluid in the resevoir. It's the sealing surface or gasket of the slave cylinder. I also made the mistake of putting pipe thread compound on those threads, which exasperated the problem. You can probably find a new copper washer at a parts store, I know these are also used with brake line banjo fittings which is what I got mine from. Start with the hydraulics, in your original post it wasn't that clear what the problem really was, I didn't realize that you hadn't bled yet. Make sure you bench bleed the master first. I also like to bench bleed the slave, I just clamp it so the pushrod won't fly out and put some fluid through it. Be careful not to squeeze the pushrod while doing this, DOT in the eyes is not fun (ask me how I know). Seriously save yourself the blind walk to the sink and 15 minutes of thorough rinsing and wear safety goggles.