mpmarino Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 (edited) Brand new member here. Hi! I'm just a hack that works on cell sites during the day and tries to balance the rest of my free time between family and hobbies. The hobbies mostly include trying to build and fix things. Anyway, after a long break from messing with cars, due to having small children, I figured I'd get another car four or five years ago. I found a 1990 300zx NA that needed body work, and engine work as it just simply ran like garbage.. After a winter of sanding and some injectors she went on the road. I got bored fast (as you probably are now ). Let's go turbo! I rebuilt my motor with TT pistons, injectors etc and prepared for boost. You know - I never rebuilt a motor before and I didn't think the VG was bad at all. The rebuild ran perfect, no turbos yet but ran great on 87 octane which was nice given the $4 gallon price at the time! One morning I was talking to a hot rod buddy and he said "why you gonna mess with all that turbo crap? just stick a V8 in there and be done with it". I once did a 260z with a ford 302 so it seemed do-able.... I said..."OK". sheesh.... ** Here we are so far - I took it for a blast yesterday and the thing goes down the road like it never did before... sorta scary for an old fart like me The thing works! ** This is the second LSX now. I started with a JY 4.8 that quickly spun a bearing. I obtained a tired 5.3 and did a simple rebuild with stock crank, rods, heads but with a ls2 cam, speed pro 4,8 flat top pistons and PAC 1218 springs. I am using the factory z32 NA 5spd. It sits fore/aft in the factory location. Driveshaft and shifter are untouched. I am using a -slightly modified steel SB chevy flywheel 153t (the smaller bore type chevy FW has the same center bore as the LSX FW by the way!) had to clearance bellhousing. -a 10.4" stock type chevy pressure plate. -a later model -ugh I forget- Japanese car clutch disk that had the same spline as the nissan 5spd input shaft, and measured 10.25". - a DIY adapter to mate the engine and nissan 5spd - a DIY pilot adapter - spaced nissan factory clutch fork/bearing - aluminum ford syyle narrow radiator angled like a z31, taurus fan, DIY shroud - DIY engine mounts - modified truck manifolds - microsquirt ECU speed density, batch fire - I am liking the simplicity of this! - Custom oil pan built from a truck pan * - factory fuel pump with S10 filter /reg * - edit: SBC mini starter with a remachined mounting base *next to come: accusump to increase oil capacity (4.5qts now), and bigger fuel pump. Also have to look at the bushings and suspension, it gets pretty crazy when you put the torque down. Just figured it might be of interest here, thanks for reading. I'll try to put a few pics up..... Edited February 26, 2014 by mpmarino Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike kZ Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 Welcome! Engine looks great in there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 VERY cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpmarino Posted March 2, 2014 Author Share Posted March 2, 2014 Thanks...! The whole thing was (is) insanely tricky to do. Still plenty of bugs to work out; of major concern is making it handle more safely (tighten the suspension), and try to get out of the 4.08 rear diff blues. 1st gear is useless unless you're pulling stumps. I wish there were a straight answer out there for a bolt in ~3.50 diff, It seems that once I find an answer I find a conflicting answer somewhere else! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socorob Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 A 3.7 should be easy to come by, that would help a little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebekahsZ Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 Nothing wrong with starting in second. What tires are you running? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpmarino Posted March 2, 2014 Author Share Posted March 2, 2014 A 3.7 should be easy to come by, that would help a little. Yea- ya know... the 97 to 02 Q45 R200v is reportedly close to 3.5 and a 'bolt in' with the exception of the input flange. The tricky part is finding out if what I've read on the web is true! Nothing wrong with starting in second. What tires are you running? Of course you're right, unfortunately that translated to higher than desired revs on the highway. With the Nissan engine everything was fine but it just seems wasteful with the LSX since there is so much more there to take advantage of. It would be much better if first were somewhere between what is currently first and second. I'm running factory TT wheels all four corners, with the correct size 245/45/16 rubber. Thanks for mentioning that. I hadn't thought of adjusting things using wheel/tire size. Interesting. I appreciate your replies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socorob Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 My friend pulled a q45 diff and it was a 3.7. I think it was 1995ish vintage. We pulled 2 that day, they happened to be next to each other in the junkyard. Mine was from a 91 and its a 3.54 but its different from the later one my friend got. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpmarino Posted March 5, 2014 Author Share Posted March 5, 2014 Yup - looks like you are pretty close there. I just dug up some Q45 FSMs on the web and the 90-96 is a 3.538, whereas the 97+ is 3.692. I'd rather find the earlier one if possible. Also, all reports seem to state that the in/out flanges will swap w/ the z32 r200v in/out flanges, meaning that it is quite possibly an easy all factory swap. . Good news all around. I'll try to locate one over the summer; can't rush these things Thanks a lot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socorob Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 I'm not sure if it will work. The early q45 axles are fatter so they wont fit through the later Q45 or S13 hubs. I think the later Q45 and S13 shafts will fit into theZ32 hubs. They also have 6 bolt CV shafts instead of 5. My friend has a couple of diffs from a Z32 and late Q45 and I think he can swap them out and the axles all bolt up. Cant remember id the input flanges were different or not. I know he had the 3.7 in and we swapped the 4.10 in for a few days and then swapped them back. Those 2 swapped by just bolting and unbolting. Hes using S13 hubs. We both have TTT rear suspension and the mustache bars have different part numbers stamped on them. Not sure what all the differences are but read somewhere that the output shafts on the early Q were fatter also. I would research it very well before you buy anything. With the Q rear I used the Q parking brake setup but used the Z rotor and caliper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socorob Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 Just looked on rock auto and it looks the the same part number cv shafts were used from 81-96 for the right and 84-96 for the left on all Z's. They must not have changed them over all those years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mpmarino Posted March 5, 2014 Author Share Posted March 5, 2014 Well, my hope was to keep my current z32 NA 5 bolt axles. Not touching the hubs, nor the axles. My intention was to swap the stub flanges on the diff itself; thereby creating an 3.5 r200v from a q45 that bolts into a z32 NA. Internet rumor says the Z32 NA stub flanges will pop into the Q diff (OH how much I hate the 8th party info out there!) Does this sound impossible? I'm not holding you to it ! one issue I have is that there are only a couple bone yards left that will let you in locally here. and BTW - thanks again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Domzs Posted April 26, 2014 Share Posted April 26, 2014 Very nice job ! Hoping to do mine soon . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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