Pharaohabq

Well my PS pump had been leaking, (could have been the 20 yr old hoses leading to it) so this weekend I took a break from the VQ build and pulled out my Z32 PS pump to rebuild w/ the $19 gasket kit. (New pump is $130+) I pulled it out, Messy operation, oily **** everywhere. But finally got it out. Learned the tensioner should not be taken apart, only loosened, then un bolted. The HP line was on so tight I had to get the impact wrench to pull it loose. Once it was out. the rebuild was pretty simple. Sorry I didn't take any picts. But I was amazed at the precision and elegance at which that pump was made. very nice.. The Seals were all easy to replace except the outer seal which infortunately is difficult to put in properly and could be a possible issue. I may need to tear down the pump again if that seal didn't seal properly, as I had trouble getting the parts in due to the tight fit. I reinstalled the pump after cleaning everything and refilled the reservoirs the steering seems okay, though the engine was making a sort of gurgling sound, which I attribute to the radiator fluid. When I disconnected the rad hoses I am sure I let a lot of air into the system. I'll watch my levels for a few days. Any comments about it let me know. Phar

hehe oooooH!!! it's just like opening a TOYBOX!!! I can see most of the right parts so it's looking pretty good! it looks like you also got the clutch cylinder too. I don't see the AC Amp, so you'll have to find one of those if you're going to run those gauges. Pretty cool, Good luck, n let us know if you get stuck. Phar.

the VQ38DETT from the GTR would certainly fit. It's the same size as the VQ37/VQ35HR. The cost is WAY WAY up there though. I don't know what that guy was talking about, there's tons of 350Z's out there in the 350-400 HP range BECAUSE they flow so well. Yes you'd need to look into forced induction, but that's what you were thinking with the VG anyway. It is not cheap to do on the VQ engines mainly because they're newer and didn't come stock with a turbo version (yet). But 300 HP stock is nothing to sneeze at in an S30 so I still vote for VQ. (and it's what I'm working on) Oh and the VQ engines have been in the top 10 quality engines list for the past 10 years It's your $ though so it's your decision. Phar

Pict didn't show... please try again. but 550 isn't bad.

So I got a little more time to work on things this weekend, but not too much since i was tired and it was cold out. Anyway, I pulled out the stock engine mounts: as you can see they're HUGE, they're also hard rubber which I don't think would do much as for vibrations. I could use them, but at almost 5 inches tall I'd have to really build a lot to the frame to support them. I don't belive that's really worth the trouble. I then went looking at other mounts, like the BMW 325I mounts from autozone, Soft rubber 1.5 in thick, definitely workable. but $45 EACH. aaaa no, not going to happen. So it's find something else time; thought about going to U pull it but it was getting late by the time I made it home. But I wanted to figure something. I was looking at the stock L28 mounts on the parts I cut off the crossmember, and sure enough, softer rubber, in good shape. but they have kinda a C around them. Easy enough, cut the sides of the C off, and upside down it fit just fine in the VQ mount bracket. The bolt is a little short, but still workable. I'll need to build a bracket to hold the "top" of the stock bracket to bolt the mount to the frame but I think these will work. I'll get a pict soon. I also figured I'll have to bebuild the AC system since the waterlines were in the way So I removed the stock AC pump, and lines to the firewall. I'll reroute those later if I can change the pully on the AC pump. In NM gotta have AC... Any questions let me know, I learn from you guys as well. Oh Myron in another thread said to keep the oil pan level, good advice. I'll try to do that. Phar

oh! sorry for the doublepost. As for the Harnesses. There's 3 different harnesses for the VQ35 engines. The 03-04 engines all use parts and harnesses that start with CD-xxx... the 05-06 revup had a CF-xxx part numbers and the 07-08 HR engines all use JK-xxx This would help a bit in trying to ID some of the parts you may be looking for for your particular engine. Infinity G35 harnesses are similar but use different designations, but use the same VQ35 engine.

Well that doesn't sound right. The good side is that if it cranked before it's probably okay, the bad is that the timing might be way off. Really you should have someone who knows these engines look at the engine, they can then check the timing and assess comression etc. I'd say if you aren't going to do the swap, that you should send the motor to me so I can learn to rebuild them. I assume you were cranking the motor over by hand on the crank with a wrench or something? Which way were you turning it? Clockwise? counter clockwise?

it's possible you dislodged a bunch of crap in the tank. I'd drain and pull the tank, Rinse it out well and inspect. That pickup could be all gummed up now, so even taking the tank to be vat cleaned might be a good solution. Test your pump with a long hose and a gas can. likely the "new" filter is now clogged too.

That foam looks pretty good too. I don't know how hard it is to cut and cover, but certainly using a foam that's designed for the application is a positive idea. I'm not sure I exactly understand the drawings though. The Impaxx foam is softer at low speed, but crushable at higher speeds, that's awesome. Phar

Thanks Tony-d, for your input on this. I understand what you're saying in that any panel we'd make would need to be single use only much like your metaphore of the motorcycle helmet. Likely we would not want to reuse any panel anyway, after an accident. we're just trying to see what improvements can be made to an S30 to improve safety. My comments about the seat moulding are valid, in that it'd be a lot of work to put into a daily driver, not that it would be uncomfortable, but just that a moulded foam seat would be difficult to get into and out of on a regular basis( I'm talking race car F1 driverseat type tightness.. My example was to demonstrate I understood the concept of limiting a body's accelleration in an impact, based on the earlier comments. Improving the door panel as you've mentioned sounds like a good and workable solution. Layered cardboard (foamcore) much like they use in architectual modelling (see image) This could be glued to the inside of the panel, shaved and shaped for asthetics and fit around seats and elbows. Outer layers could be slotted to lower resistance, then the whole panel would be covered with 1/4" foam rubber and vinyl to make a nice looking interior panel. Some type of shrink vinyl would be best. You could even integrate a cup holder. Foamcore would likely hold up better than cardboard with any humidity, but both could be sprayed with a sealer to protect it. I know this would not guarantee no injuries as compared to the stock S30 panels, but it does seem that it would not add to an injury either. Your point was to limit the accelleration inside the vehicle while the S30 chassis absorbs the impact. I certainly would be willing to drop some 100LB weights on some foamcore and cardboard to test this theory. Unfortunately I do not have a bunch of dead S30's to crash test, nor high speed equipment to document with to go furthor than that. It does seem the vital areas would need to be hips ribs and shoulders would benifit most from being built up, with less in between for arm movement and comfort. Without airbags you cannot do much passively about head movement and people are just not going to wear a helmet while driving to work. (not to mention if you did wear a helmet, and got in a wreak at fault or not, some lawyer would imply you were driving unsafely, since who but race drivers wear helmets?) I looked at a bunch of pictures of car doors today too, most modern ones have a lot of padding at the hip and a ridge at the shoulder (much like the Z32) but not so much at the rib section, I guess the thinking is that a person's arm would take up some of the space. I also noted that in a lot of newer cars it seems that the B pillar is moved forward a bit more; not that S30's really have a B pillar. I've also noted a lot of the seats have wider sides to the seatbacks which I could see when someone is belted inplace could help limit movement as well. I'm really liking the Rx8 seats, I wonder if they're on the list for fitting in the S30, I'll have to check. Phar

what's wrong with your VQ?

yeah, I love the BBC top gear. I believe they give honest reports of most cars (cept the Lexus LSA) their format is tried and true, so why make a US version? Well, cost likely... Other than that why? Dunno. It's great how they poke fun at americans, but hey, if you can't laugh at yourself, you've got issues. I particularly love the challenges they're given, (Here's $1500 bucks go buy a car, okay great you bought a 63 MG' (where'd you get that for 1500??) okay, now you're going to drive it across africa! have fun... ) love it.. Phar

Well that's interresting... I guess it makes sense though, I've seen how they make body moulded seats for race cars, formula one. the have a beanbag of foam pellets that they seat the driver in, then they pour in a foam glue hardener. they driver seats on place and gets comfy while it dries, then they pull him out, and clean up the foam, taping it up and carving it out for freedom of movement, but the fact is that he can't move more than an inch or so. It's not really practical for Daily driving. but you're right, I can see that adding foam to lessen your accelleration while the car absorbs the impact really sounds like a good idea. My door bar idea was more to try to prevent the impactor from intruding too far into the cab. So perhaps a combination of the two would make for a safer vehicle. Now what type of foam to use? Regular expanding foam, "Great Stuff"? We'll be getting into redesigning the interior here, so this might become a conversation for a different section of the site. Phar

So I've been doing a little work, but it's been slow due to relatives being in tow. I went yeserday and bought some 3/16" thick 4" wide flat stock to build my engine mounts out of and to use for gussets and whatever. I want to use the Stock 350z hydro engine mounts since vibrations really bother me but I don't know how much they compress yet so I'll need to clamp on some steel to the frame and drill a couple holes to try them out in a non perminent setup. This will be good to so I can test my hood fitament at the same time with the hoist out of the way. I'm waiting on my Energy suspension kit to get here too, since I've got the front all apart, I might as well replace things while I'm at it (I know dangerous words "while I'm at it..." ) Anyway that;s it for not, any questions let me know. Phar

Yeah, Well other things to consider. The VG is an old motor. you won't find one with low miles, it's a lot heavier too, so 300HP w/ mods and more weight vs 300HP stock and lighter. Seems like an easy choice to me. Not to mention the VQ's are in a ton of vehicles (350/370z, G35's, Pathfinders etc.) So support is as easy as the parts are to find. As with any swap though, I can't emphasize enough, If you want to do a swap, really you should be looking at buying a while front clip, or complete wreaked donor since rarely will you have all the parts you need up front. So it's easier to have the parts and systems in place that you can then move over from the donor to your car. You'll also have a good supply of the bolts and such that you would otherwise have to scavenge. A lot of engines require more than just the ECU/engine harness (eg. VQ35 req: +BCM & Body harness/NATS) The cost is why I went VQ, it's cheaper than RB, and has more potential. VQ35's are availible on Ebay for ~1000 vs 2500 for RB. (but that's just engine/ecu/engine harness no tranny etc) Though as with any engine, it's best to hear it run and check it out before you buy it. I know that's not always possible, but with a donor car it often is.

Wow Tony, that's a hella hit. The S30's are pretty good front and rear. But side impacts are by far your most dangerous, being that you have so much less metal between you and the impactor vehicle. S30 Doors are pretty thin, so really what can be done to improve the safety? How about a 3"x.5 in thick steel strap welded in place of the metal at the inside top of the door. This should clear the window and still allow the door interior to fit. I was thinking also to have a catch plate similar to the Z32's doors bolted to the open end to tie is back to the frame at the "B" pillar. of course reinforcing would help. If might be fun to have some wreaked rusted out Z bodies tested for impacts. Wouldn't be official, but might help add protection. That being said, decent seats, and harnesses can go a long ways.

Well first of all theres a lot of issue with trying to fit these motors behind the steering crossmember. You'll find that it's a tough proposition, so trying to make it fit is your first concern. Second if you get it in there, hopefully you won't have too much trouble clearing the stock steering rack. otherwise you'll end up throwing the geometry out a little, though a little movement can be made up for in your linkage adjustments. You want the oil pan up as far as you can fit it, so that means your tranny will likely be at a slight angle anyway so don't worry about drive shaft angles. Exactly 3 or 5 degrees isn't necessary, you'll have at least that without trying. just remember to test fit your hood. Oh and remember to cut off the stock tranny mounts before you put the tranny in the way, it's much easier that way. I found out the hard way., oh well. Anyway read through Austin's build, he and Ehowmyron however it's spelled, pretty much blazed the trail for us. so look to them for a lot of really good info. As for motor mounts, you really need to decide what kind of rubber you'll use with them which will change your setup.

Okay, I removed the engine crossmember and found the engine still is going to sit a litt far forward unless I remove or at least change a lot of the AC piping. Not too hard to do, but a pain that I have to do it. couple more picts: Gotta remove the stock tranny mounts duh, forgot that. This is about an inch lower than the engine will actually sit in the bay. basically won't be any lower than the fron sway bar. so that's good. This shows the AC pipes that actually are sticking out about 3 inches from the firewall. I'd prefer maybe an inch tops. I don't want the engine to rub anything. Gold pipe on lower center is actualy a waterline I'll replace with rubber hose to avoid AC piping. rubber hose on right is the Brake vaccuum tube. The stock crossmember. This in an idea for the crossmember redesign. The Steering rack mounts would actually be mounted more vertically putting them almost over the 1.5" sq tubing. flat stock for bracing shown would be massaged to clear the lower block. I'd like at least an inch clearance. We'll see how it fits when I get the engine mounts in. Engine mount will need to be about level with the top of the frame rail for engine to clear hood. Exhaust is going to be a tight squeeze. That's it till likely after the weekend. we'll see how it goes. let me know if you have any questions. Phar

yeah that bracket is nice, I bought one. It'll fit any aftermarket 350z shifter since it duplicates the stock shifter mount. though modifying the connecting rod between the shifter and the tranny is required. (easy welding job)

Nice. Yeah, I've heard a couple stories about the ECU BCM Nats and IPDM. The IPDM just has to be from the same year of car, it's not security specific, and nether is the AC amp if you're going to user 350z gauges. BCM or Body Control Module is the spinal cord of the harness. It handles day to day operation of the inside of the car. It houses 99% of the security for the Car. The Nats is the Key and an antenna ring on your ignition. The Key has a chip in it that transmits when it's near the NATS antenna the Antenna picks up the code and gives it to the BCM. The BCM checks if that code matches, if so it allows the ECU to start the engine. Now I've heard you HAVE TO HAVE A MATCHING ECU BCM and Key. Untrue... Well the guys in the Nissan service dept say that with the VIN on the ECU, they can program a BCM to read any key. (I believe this because what if you had a 350Z with a Bad BCM? they'd just order the BCM, reprogram it with their ConsultIII, and vroom) Trick is that you have to have an ECU that matches the VIN. So try to get the VIN from your donor car, and write it on the ECU. It's a good thing to get to know the Nissan dealer service manager, and lead techs. $550 is a pretty good deal for the whole set of parts so you're probably good there. Likely you'll still have to have the Nissan guys get it out of Limp mode the first time you try driving since it's likely something may not be perfect your first try. I'd go that route. The Wiring services, BCM delete, I haven't got the $ or the spare parts to give this one a shot, not to mention it's unproven on the HR platform, though they say it'll work. But without the BCM, you're outta luck using any stock gauges. I'm really interested in your swap. What are you putting the VQ into? Do you have a plan for going about it? Phar

Yup! I worked on a Z a few hours this weekend. Didn't quite get everything cleaned up in the compartments, but I figured I'd like to see how the new engine is going to fix before I really tear into things. I did realize I didn't want to tear into the old harnesses until I know what systems I've going to keep, and which I'm going to replace. Though some things are definitely going to have to go, such as the vacuum reservoir and most of the stuff on the passenger side inner fender. I hoisted up the new engine and began dropping it into place little by little guiding it past the brake lines and AC lines (yes I've going to try to keep the stock AC system, though I doubt I'll be able to keep it intact enough that I won't have to get it recharged. gotta change the AC pully). Enough blabbling tho, here's some picts: This Image shows the VQ35HR block is fra from clearing the stock crossmember. I'm hoping a little more squeezing will at least let me clear the steering rack. Top view of the Rack issue. Much better view, Note the oilpan sitting on the rack. 350Z engine mount just back from the stock 280Z mount. The steering shaft just below that will need to be moved. This shows that top back of the engine. Big difference between the HR and DE engines here. The DE has a huge intake that makes it required to cut off the hood latch. the HR almost clears with the brake vaccuum line barely touching now. the intakes are on the sides. I expect that once I remove the steering crossmember and drop the engine to a more level angle that this won't be an issue. Already you can see the back of the engine is below hood level, the front is lightly tapered so I don't expect this fit to be too much trouble. Though a skid plate is still going to be mandatory since I expect it'll hang down about an inch or so below the steering crossmember. I'm waiting to level the engine before I build the tranny mount plate. The Steering crossmember. I'm thinking I'll have to get some plate and triangulate the crossmember rack mounts to in front of the steering rack. the existing crossmember I may cut into a U shape upside down for clearance, much like Austin did, but even more so. I'd like at least an inch of clearance, but I don't want to move the rack. At least not much at all if I can help it. LEt me know if you have any questions. Phar

Wow Did that car get attacked by a Bear? Glad you're bringing it back to life. Nelson "1NonlyZ" on here has a bunch of rust free parts if you need more. If this is going to stay an EFI car, then you probably don't need a Fuel regulator that goes that low. If I remember, Carb'd cars are only about 15 lbs. EFI is 45-60LBS ish.

Welcome to Hybridz.org... Yeah that clutch can be a pain in the butt. If it was brakes I'd be thinking reaction disc. You might have to drop the tranny to adjust the main fork adjuster. it's got a nut that's supposed to hold it, but sometimes that works loose. Oh CGSheen, don't ride behind me, I guarantee my stock brakes with a booster will stop a heck of a lot faster than your "manual" brakes will.

So Mark, how aout some picts of the HR internals, Anything you found particularly nice inside, or something that should be done differently? What sort of changes are you thinking? Your electronics are still going to be based on stock right? There's a lot that's known about the HR engines, but still there's a lot of questions. Phar