Pharaohabq

Ebay is your friend. Any BCU/Nats/Key will work, it woudl nee dto be reprogrammed with ConsultIII. Slidegood has is a Z34 dismantler that has a lot of that stuff cheap. Haltech is good. I don't know how much of the stock system you need to make it run though. What year is your engine? It's good you got the VIN, you'll need it if you use the stock ECU.

I'd imagine these "stand alone" systems all require at the very minimum the stock harnesses. The VR38 is a very new engine, I would be suprised if any aftermarket setup would be really cheaper to implement on a complete running basis, than a stock system would be. If you're putting down $20K for a VR38, then likely you can afford the stock harnesses etc.

What did you find out? If those Coils are getting hot, then it seems they've got constant power to them. which it should not have. I would be looking for a short. I'm not certain which wires would control that. Have you tried a different ECU? Phar

Nice! I can't wait to see how that turns out. I do hope you're share picts of the build up process. On my HR, I'm using the stock 08 manifold, and with the engine in place my hood closes fine. The oil pan hangs below the steering crossmember by about 1/2 and inch. but mines a 280Z so I'm not sure if that's what makes the difference. I don't have much space between the hood and the top of the plenum,so hopefuly heat won't be an issue. The plemum is plastic as you know so I don't expect it to be an issue. I imagine you're using custom headers to move the turbos so far forward. Have you looked at the Twin Turbo kits that are out there? You might be able to mod one and save some $ if you can make it work. Eric

Sorry for the last response. That Greddy Box is likely the tune for the Turbos. You'll need to call Greddy with the part numbers to know what exactly it's supposed to do. As for the VQ35De wiring, It's been explained in other threads, so I won't go too deep into it. But look For Austin's (Ahoke) DE swap threads. Basically to make a DE run you'll need: Engine harness Body Harness(dash) ECU - Which it looks like you have. BCU - Black box on same bracket as interior Fuse box Key and NATS (nissan anti-theft system)antenna ring IPDM (Engine compartment power management) Interior fuse box. Gas Pedal. That's the minimum you will need for it to run under Stock harnesses. If you want to pay $900+ you can have your harnesses hacked and delete the Key/BCU/NATS function. I've heard it works well. But If your local Nissan dealer has a ConsultIII they can reprogram any key to work with any BCU/ECU combination. Of course it's easiest to get all the parts from the same car, then you won't have to worry about wether the system will talk internally. If you want to use the 350Z gauges, you'll also need the AC amp (white box) and of course the gauges. I highly recommend you DL the FSM and take a look at the systems. It's nicely put together in the manual. I would love to have the Twin turbo setup. it's too pricy for me right now tho. If this is going in an S30, you'll need a Tranny Shifter shortener block, also from Ahoke (I guess he's not on here anymore, but do a search, he's probably not too hard to find. Ask any questions you have, we'll try to find you some answers. Phar

You overall short, the one with stuff cirled in Red. That could be AC stuff, Normally the AC pump would be on the driverside below the manifolds. It's really hard to see in your picture. though I don't see any connectors by your tranny tunnel so it's hard to identify what's there. A little better pictures might help. The passenger side is normal not to have much there. I've been people move the coil and setup MS and such on that side. Alternately it is a great location for that Water2Gas Hydrogen setup, if you believe in that.

Nice job, it's awesome to hear it running. Grats! Tell us about your swap, Did you have any sticking points, issues you had to overcome?

Right, okay. Well if you decide not to go with uprev, and want to go with the BCU/Nats etc let me know, I've read that manual probably 15 times as it pertains to the harnesses. if you have the ECU, you can have a BCU and Key programmed to work with any ECU. It's just dealer time with the Consult3. Using the stock harness you could used the 350Z dash cluster and integrated cruise control. (of course this means wheel sensors on the Diff and altered front sensors.) Just a thought. I'm sure you've already got the gauges all planned out. Got any Engine pron picts? Phar

no glass = most of the interiors are crap.

YEah, That'll be fun. I wanted a Black Pearl, but I've gone a long ways since then. Once you get into the modifying the "stigma" of an edition really loses a lot of it's meaning. Now I'm not going to say I don't love an unmolested Z, Particularly the Black pearl, but you'd be hard pressed to find one that hasn't been modified, so really what are the options? Return it to stock and restore it? good luck finding the stripe kit. Or much better, (in my eyes) make it what you want. Upgrade it, make yourself happy with the work you've done and modernize the car at the same time. I think you'll be much happier with it. These S30's were designed to have more motor than they came with so why not? If you were to decide to keep the L28, there's a lot you can do to it to squeeze a bit better performance out of it. It wasn't a bad engine and it's easy to work on. Some people like stock over retrofits. There in Tx, I bet you've got the same rules for swapping engines. Basically the engine has to be from something newer, aside from that, it'll still have to pass emissions (75+, but you should check with your DMV to be certain before you start. We'd love to see what you do with the Car. Post us some pictures, before during and after are always awesome.

Wow, It's not much more that a skeleton now is it? Your engine is finished eh? Well that's good, What'd you do for the electronics, or have you not decided yet? I gotta tell you your roller frame/cage is pretty awesome.

Well since you're on a modded harness it's pretty hard to tell what's what. The fact that the coils are getting hot is telling me something isn't hooked up right, likely grounding out the coils. Did ZFever label everything for you properly? Most of the plugs only plug in one spot. Are you using any of the other Nissan harnesses? Where'd you get your ECU? I assume Zfever's harness mod deleted NATS and the BCU right?

Well said there Gollum, Maintance is definitely something we can add to the list. I know there's tons or things like brakelines and shocks not to mention rubber that I've replaced on my S30 mainly for the fact they were old. They still worked sure, but for how long? The outter rubber sheaths on my brakelines were hanging off in strips, and the tires that came with the car were horribly dryrotted even thoguh they had good tread left. All that replaced for safety. I'm sure there's a lot of other stuff (like the aforementioned seatbelts) that should be replaced due to age/wear. Marty4653: You're a lucky duck there man. That being said, my buddy Tboned some lady who left turned infront of him yesterday. He wasn't in a Z, but the lady's car didn't cave at the door so much due to the internal door bar. Though preventing body accelleration has been noted as one of the easiest and safest ways to mod your Z. Seeing his wreck aftermath I really have to wonder if it's possible to integrate a door bar inside the outter door skin? The door frame would likely need to be bolstered too. Granted it wouldn't help so much as crushable padding in preventing accelleration, but intrusion into the passenger compartment is still an issue.

I'm in the same kind of boat. My projects are moving slowly this summer due to the Honey Do list, and I know things aren't going to get any easier with a kid on the way for me too, but it's a good thing. I'm keeping my project. Yeah space it tight, but the project doesn't cost anything to just have sitting there, and my wife is fine with it since she know I like tinkering. So My vote is that you hold onto the project and work on it when you get time and impetance. If it's something you enjoy then keep it. You'll guaranteed spend more $ to recreate as far as you've gotten on this one, than if you sold it and tried to find another. You've already done so much. Got any Picts?

I'd 3rd that recommendation to start with something already built. You're going to save a lot of money and you're not going to cut up a good shell. Racing is very hard on these cars and their unibody type construction. not to mention the scrapes and dents from real racing. A built car shouldn't be too hard to find. you can sell your decent car for what you've got into it pretty easy if it's in good shape. You also need to decide what class you're going to be in before building anything. A lot of classes have limitations. I know you said you're not doing SCCA, but following the rules is what keeps people unhurt. You'll save a lot of $ too building toward a known class. something already built should be nicely braced with a legal cage. The engine, brakes, tires (cheap steel rims) should all be viewed as consumables. yes, pay good $ for decent stuff, but don't be attached. Racing will eat your consumables. it's the price of playing. The Stock engine is good, but you'll want to upgrade the electronics, fuel system, etc. it is 35 year old technology. a good seat and a NEW harness are a must, even if they say it's new, you might want to replace it, it's your life. Map all that out before you get started building and you'll save yourself tons of headaches, bloody knuckles, wallet pain etc etc etc.

Those look kinda like the Challenger tailights. Looks like he did a pretty good job swapping them.

No, Not true. The main trouble is that these specialized engines have the ECU's specifically programmed to run the engine to high performance. An aftermarket managment system may be able to make it work, and might even support some of the functions like the VVT and maybe even the VVEL but it'll take a LOT of tuning to get even a Haltech to run an engine like these at the same level that the stock ECU does. For the price of the Haltech or other and the tuning, it would be cheaper to just pull the stock electronics and harnesses and use that. If it all comes from the same car you shouldn't even have to have the key reprogrammed.

not bad, there's a little bit of rust.

remember with your welder, you'll need to use the right polarity when switching between fluxcore(gasless) and Gas settings. your manual will tell you how to select that. Stitching like I said earlier is the best way to do it, basically like you're painting a monet. Just a series of spots to seal the seams. look in the welding forum on here for pict examples and there's some good vids on youtube about it. Grind down some of your welds and lets see some pictures. maybe we can tell a little more then. You didn't say where you were getting your panels? Phar

that gunmetal looks awesome.

How awesome is that! It's great to see it on the ground engine in place. PM's you about harnesses. What do you have already? How much of the S30 systems are you going to save and or lose?? Man I'm so jealous, your car is so far ahead of mine. Phar

Looks like you're doing awesome work. it's a ton of rust you've got there. Gotta admire you though for opting to save this one rather than junk her for something in better shape. Your Welds look a bit messy, lots of spatter, You might try reducing your amperage and moving slower, more stitching that trying to actually run a bead. you'll get better results if you only weld maybe up to an inch at a time letting it cool a few seconds in between. Spatter could also be from dirty joints, since you know welnding into rust is bad. Shielding gas will also work wonders. If you can't afford supergass or nitrogen/co2 mix then just straight co2 from a Soda tank is pretty cheap and cheap to refill. It doesn't take much pressure to clean up the welds a LOT. Where are you getting your replacement panels from? Tabco has a bunch, much like MSA etc.

Quite true, I dunno why you brought this back from the dead. But I'm sure if somone talked to Klearz they could make some 2 part light sets, you'd have to provide a set they can cut up though, unless you want something different. nonstandard custom gets a little more interresting, but with my 3d printer Reprap I might be able to print something that could then be moulded and poured in clear. I'll need a finer printhead I think. Post some drawings and we can see what's possible .

I know a car hauler guy, probably cost ya $400 bucks to ship it cross country.

Pretty cool thread. IT's awesome to find the History on our cars. It's not many of us who have shared most of the life of our vehicles. I know mines had some hard times in the past, and suffered through them like a champ, but a little worse for wear. But as any trooper, it's soldiered on and now it's getting it's ressurection/spa treatment it's much deserved. This is by no means retirement fun for it, but mainly a good vacation of pampering and rejuvination. Our S30's deserve some attention since it's such hard work garnering the attention from everyone else.