mtcookson

I've actually been kind of working on this in my mind for quite a while since I'm putting VG-E in a Z32. You guys have it pretty well covered. With the DE(TT) crank and pump you'll have to extend the cam gear and tensioner and of course add the two extra holes in the block for the pump. You'll also need another spacer for the crank timing belt gear as the VG33's (and 30) belt/gears are thinner than the DE(TT). Basically it would be the metal plate, the gear, the second metal plate, a spacer, then the crank pulley. The Z32 alternator and a/c brackets will bolt up to the VG30/33 block... which is awesome as it moves the a/c to the very bottom of the block meaning more options for turbo pipe plumbing. The water pump also bolts right up. The only thing I haven't worked on yet is the p/s pump bracket. They mount to the head which means you'll likely have to go custom there due to the head differences. Some day I might be able to work on it again and find out lol. You will need a DE(TT) oil pan to do this as well due to the longer oil pump, the oil pan is slightly longer. I'm sure you guys have all this covered but figured I'd throw in everything I've put together so far. If I think of anything else I'll let you guys know.

Definitely stay away from the US VH41... its nowhere close to the US VH45 and JDM VH41. 90-93 had the plastic chain guides but when you go to Infiniti to order them, regardless of the year you say, you'll get metal backed guides now. 90-93 also had the siamese ports... though, I haven't seen anyone claim yet which is better. I'd the oval port would probably flow more in the end but I'm not positive. I like my siamese ports personally. 94-96 VH45's had the oval port heads and metal backed chain guides. There were a few other small differences between these and the early VH but overall the same except for the 96 VH, which lost the variable valve timing. On the JDM VH41, I believe they have the alternator between the heads and do also have the duplex timing chains. That would be stronger... though, I'm not sold on the duplex setup as it would only add more weight to a system that already works (though, that could just be because I like timing belts more... I hate timing chains period). Anyway... from what I understand you can actually put the VH45 crank in the VH41 to get your 4.5 liters. I can't remember if you retain the duplex chain setup or not though. Mettler over at NICO is the guy to go to for JDM VH41 info.

Yup, the front timing cover gives it away. Definitely a VK series and likely the 56 to get it to a 6 liter. Definitely an awesome engine though.

Yup, you can use either the older Z31 transmission stuff or with some random parts the stronger Z32 transmission. For the Z32 transmission you'll need an 89-91 Maxima flywheel, Maxima or 84-86 300ZX clutch, Z32 throwout bearing, and the lower transmission brackets from a Z32 as well. The VG33 is pretty awesome, I'm planning on using one in my Z. What's awesome about them compared to the VG30E(T) is the cylinder walls... they're huge. You can bore these things to nearly 3.8 liter and still have quite a bit of liner left. 3.8 would definitely make it a potent NA engine but with boost... that thing would be incredible. Definitely post up some pictures of the progress. A swap into a Mustang would definitely be unique and very cool in my book.

Its more like a .248" overbore. Usually over square engines tend to rev a little better than the opposite... As far as weight goes though, going with a larger piston will definitely add some weight... just depends how much it weighs over the stock piston since the forged units are lighter for their size compared to cast/hyper eutectic. Also going with aftermarket rods will help keep weight reduced as well. I'm sure it can still rev pretty well though. I've seen a Buick GN 3.8 V6 running nearly 7,800 RPM... just depends how high you really want to run it. Generally with more displacement like that it means you'll have more power sooner meaning you don't have to rev it all that much to get your power, which is especially nice for the street but also helps with reliability. I wouldn't be surprised if you could still get it to handle 7,000 RPM though. I'm no expert on it but I don't see why not.

Some new information posted recently on a Z31 site shows that a VG33 has thick enough cylinder walls than you can safely bore it up to a 3.8 liter... that will definitely make you some awesome power NA and would probably be the absolute best way to get high NA numbers out of an NA VG. Some custom forged pistons around 97.8 mm (I wouldn't go much larger) built to work with Z32 rods (just a larger wrist pin) and some good head work would make it a monster.

On my Maxima fuel cut was around 6,200 RPM and I'm pretty sure on Z31's it was closer to 6,500 RPM but I could be wrong on that one. With upgraded valve springs you can easily take it up to 7,000 RPM but the biggest reason is because of power produced at a higher RPM... well, the lack thereof. 7,000 RPM is definitely pushing the limit on stock heads as you won't be making much power up there without some head work and cams. With both you can then rev it to pretty much whatever your head work, cams, and internals will support.

I can tell you a T04E 60 trim runs from around 50,000 RPM up to around 75,000 from ~11 lb/min to ~34 lb/min respectively at 8 psi (~1.5 PR). If you can find an exact compressor map of your turbo it should tell you what RPM the wheel is spinning at for a particular pressure and flow. T04E 60 trim: http://64.225.76.178/catalog/compmaps/fig16.html

My info is in the Z31 Performance post above but to use a Z32 5-speed on a VG30E(T) you just need an 89-91 Maxima flywheel (early 85-88 might work as well if any are made for them) along with either a Maxima clutch kit or an 84-86 300ZX clutch. Z32 throw out bearing and starter work perfectly with this setup.

That's the best thing to do... if you have a project idea planned, like the VG33ER swap, I wouldn't bother with doing anything that is essentially the opposite of that goal. I've made that mistake way too many times and still have a bad habit of doing it. Its best to just save your money for you ultimate goal so that it gets done and gets done right the first time. You definitely will not regret doing it that way.

I rounded one pretty bad so I just cut a slit in it (used a pneumatic 3 inch cutoff tool) so that I could get a large flat head bit in it and used the impact driver... just be sure to clean the head out very, very, very well as there is going to be lots of small pieces of metal in there. I actually have changed my project around yet again so won't be getting the VH swap done for a while. My 91 is essentially going to be my daily and I figured, with gas prices going the way they are, a V6 would be a bit better for a daily. I'm going to put the VH in another Z32 I have that I'm going to completely strip for a semi-not-so-much "street legal" race car Basically... light weight, stiff, and fast.

Impact driver or better yet an impact wrench... impact wrench got them right out for me, the driver worked better than a socket wrench.

You can email the pictures to mark at machzracing dot com and I'll get the posted up for you.

Sweet! Good choice... I love the underdog engines like the KA and SOHC VG, they're my favorite.

Yeah, if you're wanting to go NA the VG30DE is not the route to go. The VG34 setup is definitely a great, low cost solution to get some NA power but, like Richard said, even better yet would be the VQ35DE. If you don't mind going bigger with a V8 then you have tons of stuff to choose from to go NA. Turbo prices though... I wouldn't bother with many of the newer turbos out there, just go used and possibly rebuild the unit. Me for example, my plans are to go with a VG33 with boost. I might take it to 3.4 liters with some custom forged pistons (hey, why not ) and on top of that I'm going with a pair of Mitsubishi TD05H 14B turbochargers off of the first generation Eclipse and Talon (and possibly the Plymouth Laser as well, can't remember). I can pick them up for around $150-200 in good shape all day long and on top of that, they have a surprisingly wide compressor map with decent efficiency, peaking at 76% in the lower boost range. Quite a few of Garrett's popular GT series around that size actually peak the same or less. If you want something even more efficient the newer Mitsubishi TD04 19T has an incredibly wide map that is even more efficient as far as retaining its 76% peak into high boost (upwards of 20.6 PSI). Those are a little harder to find at the moment as they're on newer Volvo's (not sure what else) but you should still be able to find them used off of wrecked vehicles for decent prices. I have seen them sell new in the $750 area which is still slightly better than most of Garrett's GT series.

I agree, I'd definitely get it checked first to make sure it will handle that as many say the VG30E(T) won't handle the VG33's bore (I'm pretty sure at least some of the water jackets were designed a little differently in the VG33 for the larger bore). VG33E - 91.5mm bore, same stroke as all other VG30's VG34E - VG33E bored to 93mm using 90-96 Q45 VH45DE pistons

From what I've read so far... this would be the route you take: VG33E bored out to 93 mm (about .060 over... closer to .059, either way, get your Q45 pistons and take them to the machinist before boring so that they can bore each cylinder to each piston for correct clearances, easiest and safest way to do it) Cams and maybe some other head mods like porting, cams are the most important though considering the stock ones are more designed for torque being a truck engine and all VH45DE pistons - from pictures I've seen, you'll probably want to have some valve reliefs cut into the piston as it is a flat top and has valve reliefs cut for a DOHC head. Bring a VG33 piston along and the machinist can likely figure out how deep and such, especially if you're getting cams VG33 rods - no need for different ones, just get a custom bushing in the small end for the Q45's wrist pin (from what I've seen, it is 1mm larger in diameter). If for some reason you want stronger rods the VG30DETT rods are slightly bigger... but just remember you aren't going for a whole lot of power and a lighter rotating assembly would be of more benefit when NA Since its going into a Z31, the easiest route would be to use a Z31 crank along with the Z31 oil pump, timing belt gears, crank pulley, oil pickup tube, oil pan, accessory brackets, and accessories. This should allow a direct swap from what I've seen. I'd also go ahead and swap all of the needed electronics and use the Z31 computer system to make it easier... I would probably use the turbo stuff with turbo injectors considering the turbo Z produced 205 hp stock and you're looking at 250. You should be quite safe with the turbo fuel system, especially considering NA's tend to do a little better with a leaner mixture. If you aren't planning on going with any boost down the road and want this to be your final setup... I'd personally just probably get a piggy back fuel controller along with the turbo Z stuff. That should give you the fine tuning needed to get a decent air/fuel ratio. This should get you the final setup of a 3.4 liter VG with a ~9.7:1 compression ratio from what I've seen.

Fixed link: http://www.theturboforums.com/smf/index.php?topic=45148.0

As said above, that is the only type of turbo it will work on. What this valve does is essentially turns your regular dual scroll turbo into a variable area turbo. You're cutting the area of the turbine pretty much in half which cuts your A/R measurement in half. This can't be done with a single scroll turbine... at least, not easily. One might be able to cut a single scroll housing half and add a piece of metal in between the halves (removing the proper amount of metal from the halves equaling the thickness of the plate) thus turning your single scroll into a dual scroll. I'm actually thinking about try that out on some spare turbine housings I have.

One of our very own Z modifiers out there made a valve just like it (http://www.speedshopthagard.com, site is down though). They saw a 700 rpm quicker spool with it on a T4, if memory serves. It was manual activated. I was actually making a swing valve type setup that should allow better flow into the open inlet when the other is closed but the project I was building it for turned out to be rusted real bad so I stopped making it. I made a test valve out of mild steel, you can see the pictures here: http://www.machzracing.com/Maxima/QSV/P1020192.JPG http://www.machzracing.com/Maxima/QSV/P1020193.JPG http://www.machzracing.com/Maxima/QSV/P1020194.JPG http://www.machzracing.com/Maxima/QSV/P1020195.JPG http://www.machzracing.com/Maxima/QSV/P1020201.JPG My idea is to use a two port wastegate actuator and set the valve up so that it is normally closed. From there, vacuum from the engine would open the valve allowing decreased back pressure while cruising then, when the throttle is opened, the valve closes allowing quick spool. From there a simple boost controller could then control the opening of the valve to allow max flow at higher RPM. If you use an electronic boost controller you could then have it only open at a specific boost pressure and it could also be fine tuned by setting it to open at a specific RPM. To extend the life of the actuator you could also use a very light spring in it. Since you don't have to worry about exhaust pressure opening or closing the valve, unlike a wastegate, the spring doesn't have to be all that stiff which should extend the life of it greatly.

I agree. If a Nissan tranny were to be used I recommend the Z32 FS5R30A. They are proven to be very strong and, since they were used in both the NA and TT Z32, can easily be found all over the place.

Yeah, just give 'em a call and they'll do your cams for you. Supposedly... I heard somewhere that they were the ones that did the cams for the Electramotive GTP car using the VG30ET... which was in the 1000+ hp range for their qualifying setup. Regardless though, they'll definitely do your cams for you.

Exact ratios are 2.937:1 and 3.357:1. We should already know this since it doesn't have an LSD but... the Armada differential is only a 2-pinion (was just looking through all of the Armada FSM's currently available and noticed this). The 2.937 came on the 04-05 SE's and was an option for the LE's. The 3.357 was standard on the LE's. In 06 and 07 it changed to the 2WD's having the 2.937 and 4WD's having the 3.357. In 2008 2WD and 4WD SE's came standard with the 2.937 and had the option for the 3.357. The 2WD and 4WD LE's came standard with the 3.357. Now... here's a strange deal. Courtesy Parts has it showing that the 2007+ Armada has a 6 bolt flange but with three tabs having two holes per tab. Also, they're saying pretty much all of them had a 3.692 ratio. I'm sure their site is wrong on that as my info above is backed by each year's FSM... but if you happen to go to their site looking to buy the ring and pinion for instance, you may want to call them just to be sure. Differential diagram - http://www.courtesyparts.com/betasite/armada-ta60-2004-2008/genuine-nissan-parts/power-train/380-rear-final-drive/-c-1063_1064_1128_1144.html Ring and Pinion - http://www.courtesyparts.com/betasite/kb_search_result.php?keywords=[38100]+ta60&cPath=1063_1064_1128_1144

VH45 to Z32 5-speed http://www.mazworx.com/store/?event=displayProduct&product=59