Vh45de questions.

[Guest TurboDemon]

I picked up a q45 the other day and pulled the engine and subframe and guttd everything else. I plan on doing something with this vh45de.

 

she looks pretty beefy compared to my vg30dett

 

 

plenty of room to fabricate a good manifold

 

 

i got a little ghetto on slinger locations

 

 

 

Anyways, I Dont want the auto tranny, I heard they are problematic so I was aiming at either my 300zxtt tranny or a T56, but was curious of whether or not I am going to be able to use the stock ecu after swapping tranny's to manual.

 

I want to Twinturbo it..

I can tig weld and am capable of making intakes, turbo manifolds and intercoolers. however I have little experience in engine building and am Unknowledgeable of the vh45's stockform durability.

 

I am assuming since its a variant of an f1 engine it has a pretty strong rotating assembly (please correct me if I am wrong). However I have a 90 model and read that the timing guides on the earlier vh45's had problems, and was wondering if the later 95 model timing guides could be fittedto the 90?

 

Also I was wondering who makes low compression pistons for this engine.

 

Also curious as to what kind of numbers Have been gotten out of TT'ed vh45's. I heard rumors of around 700rwhp out of that Blue VH45 but not seen any dynos thus far.

 

Any input would be appreciated

Thanks

[Guest Aaron]

The 90 models had the best heads of the 90-96 engines. (97-99 was actually a 4.2L.) The chain guides were changed in 94 and the Nissan replacement chaing guides since then are the new style. I believe the ECU will work without the AT because the AT had its own ECU. There are very few of these engines being used in the US, so there is little hard data as to thier potential. Pistons would have to be custom forged for low compression (stock is 10.5:1). At one time, I had found a Toyota Supra Turbo piston that was the same diameter and should have been lower compression, but I was not able to confirm the pin height to determine if it would work. Also, there is supposedly a stroker kit in Japan to stroke to 5L.

 

Search the archives here, because there have been a number of good discussions of this engine. One concerning tranny swapping, one on turboing, and one on the engine itself. Also check out the forums on NICO (http://www.nissaninfiniticlub.com/). Listen to Q45Tech he has forgotten more about these engines than I will ever know.

[lost]

in my car i dropped the auto in favor of the tt manual.ecsort makes low comp pistons.so far the engine seems very durable,holding up to boost well.good luck.

[Guest Aaron]

in my car i dropped the auto in favor of the tt manual.ecsort makes low comp pistons.so far the engine seems very durable,holding up to boost well.good luck.

 

Do you have any more information on your conversion? any pictures? how did you mate the trans to the engine, I have heard that the ZX clutch and flywheel will bolt up, but the Bellhousing is a different pattern. Single turbo or twins? Do you have a link for escort? I have not heard of them and could not find them on the net.

[lost]

there are a couple of pics at the nico forum,or http://www.freewebs.com/axepower/ the car is twin turbo.just make a adapter plate for the trans.if you search,you will find escort racing...

[Guest FreeThinker]

Yea the NA Z32 300zx flywheel bolts to the VH engines. I have a VH41 going in my 240sx and the flywheel fit great. The ring gear actually sits about 1/8 further from the starter than on the auto's flexplate but I don't see this causing a problem.

 

As for transmission, I believe 450zxtt is making his adaptert plate for a Z32 5spd for around $500. If you would rather have a 6spd though, I wouldn't recommend the T56. The T56 is reported to have syncro issues and many people complain that it has bad shift feel and requires high effort. I originally planned to use a T56 on my swap but I came across a Z33 transmission for very cheap and went that route. After driving a new GTO last week, I can say I'm happy I chose the Z33 trans instead because I hated the T56 feel.

 

The Z33 tranny has a nice feel and I know of a guy using one on a 600hp turbo KA24 without breaking it yet (many dyno and drag passes). Used Z33 trannies can be had for cheap since Nissan is doing replacement on the early ones for notchy gear changing (usually cured with some redline synthetic gear oil). Check eBay.

 

I will be starting on my adapter soon and if you e-mail me I will try to keep you posted. I will most likely be selling the adapters once I make mine.

 

-Sean

[quicker240]

I too have a vh45 sitting in the floor. I am am interested in getting it bolted into a 240z that I have also.I tend to try and get everything together before I jump into a project like this so please keep me informed if you make some adapter plates.I have yet to decide on NA with nitrous or boosting but I do think the factory intake is BUTT ugly,however well it works and am leaning toward a custom fabbed intake or possibly twm throttle bodys or something similar.Obviously gonna need exhaust manifolds/headers also so I am interested in ANY parts availability.Please let me know of your progress,I will be watching closely.

[Guest rxcaliber7]

Just getting started on this project now. I have been getting parts and time together for the past 6 months or so. I found a z33 trans for it and am going to use the auto bell housing as a template for an adapter. Any suggestions on the flywheel, starter, etc....... before I get started. I planned on running two T66 turbos back under a boxed area where the passenger seat used to be with liquid to air aftercooler in the trunk to offset the weight distribution. I know this is going to be a lot of work but I think it will be a good mix of two great cars. Any help is greatly appreciated from those few that have been successful so far with this swap. Thanks

[Clifton]

Just getting started on this project now. I have been getting parts and time together for the past 6 months or so. I found a z33 trans for it and am going to use the auto bell housing as a template for an adapter. Any suggestions on the flywheel, starter, etc....... before I get started. I planned on running two T66 turbos back under a boxed area where the passenger seat used to be with liquid to air aftercooler in the trunk to offset the weight distribution. I know this is going to be a lot of work but I think it will be a good mix of two great cars. Any help is greatly appreciated from those few that have been successful so far with this swap. Thanks

 

Don't know how much torque the Z33 trans will take. I know Z32 5spd's can take quite a bit.. That's what I will be using. The Z32 flywheel will supposedly bolt up to the VH45 crank. 2 T66's. How much power you looking to make, 1300 hp?

[Guest LifeEscalade]

How about putting a nice 6spd behind the VH with two GT4202's?? Twas what I was thinking after a rebuild on my dad's VH that Im getting once his tranny goes.

[Guest rxcaliber7]

I now have the 350Z trans and will start on this project very soon. Any word on the prefab adapters? I will post pics.

[Guest check_engine]

If your looking for pistons for a turbo aplication, the vq30det has the same bore as the vh45de. I beleive they are both 93mm. I'm not sure what rods you could use, but I know you can find forged rods for the vq35de. However, they are 81.4mm stock. Im contemplating running a similar setup, but i don't know how well it will all fit together. Does anyone know what the C.R. on this setup would be?

[Ford Falcon]

Hey viewers,

 

Glad I found this site. I too am interested in this motor. I have an '88 Z31 with way too many miles on both motor and transmission, and I'm looking to give my ride a new lease of life.

 

Adapters and transmission types have been my stumbling block in this area, so it's good to know there are others looking to get the same things fabbed.

 

If anyone's doing this to their Z31 too, I'd be interested in comparing notes. I'm located in Southern California.

 

Cheers,

Dave

[Guest Pocketrockets Racing]

Hi,

I am a noob here...lol

 

Name is Frank and I am the owener of Pocketrockets Racing

 

I got one of these vh45de 1990.

I have had it sitting here for a year now, it was supoosed to be swapped into a 86 300z......that never happened, owner could not come up with the funds.

So I have this engine sitting here....and since I have an engine dyno and am quite good at atnd alone ecu's......I do the 4 cyl Honda, mitsu, nissan engine builds all the time.this is what we do.

I am seriously thinking of building this engine, break it in on the dyno with a standalone and sell it complete ready to start, full documentation, engine blueprint and pictures provided.....

I am not sure whether to build a normally aspirated or turbo build.

I have done some pretty trick stuff with engines.

Most everything is done in house....flowbench, mill, lathe, welding, yada, yada, yada.

 

let me know what the interest is.

the vh45de is one heck of a power plant to begin with.

[Ford Falcon]

g'day Frank. Welcome to the board. I'm pretty new here myself. Mate, I have a question for you regarding the VH45DE. I was told it is better to get the VH45 motor that had the VVT (I think that was around '93 or '94 Q45s) as it's supposed to give a little more horsepower. Is that something worth considering, or not?

 

Also, have you thought about supercharging this motor, as an alternative to using turbos? I'm on the lookout for a VH45 motor myself to transplant into my '88 Z31, but I also need to find out what's a decent manual transmission to work with it. I was thinking of using one from the Z33.

[mtcookson]

VH45DE had VVT from 90-96. In 1997 They went to a VH41DE, which lacked VVT.

 

Performance wise the 90-93 VH45's are considered the absolute best for performance. In 94 they redesigned the intake ports of the head which kept the same peak power but changed the curve. The 90-93 engines have a badass double power peak (the power peaks two times in the rev range) making for a unique feeling and more speed naturally.

 

The only weekness of the 90-93 VH45's is the plastic timing chain guides on the slack side. They will break and if ran long enough has the high risk of the chain jumping some teeth causing valve timing to go out and allowing the pistons to hit the valves. In 94 they went to metal backed guides, which can be swapped into the earlier VH's for a permanent fix.

 

That we know of, there aren't any manual transmissions made for these engines so you either have to get a custom bell housing made (if the bell housing is removeable on the tranny you're going to use) or you can have a conversion plate made.

 

Personally, I'd turbocharge one of these engines simply because:

1. there's plenty of displacement for good spooling

2. turbochargers are way more efficient, which means more power and less power consumption

3. depending on the s/c you're wanting to use (i.e. if its a positive displacement s/c), you may not have enough room as these engines are pretty large as is. it might be able to fit between the heads but you would have to make an intake manifold to fit all of that accordingly.

 

I have however heard of a Q45 guy that had supercharged his Q and had nitrous on it. I believe he pushing nearly 600 hp, it not more, on the stock internals and the thing wasn't even sweating it. The engines are definitely badass.

[Ford Falcon]

G'day to you mtcookson.

 

Thanks for the information. I'm busily researching this as I want to be the first to complete this project at the Z club I attend. Another reason is 'cuz I want to at least keep up with those pesky TT's! But seriously, I'm trying to find the best combination to go with for my vehicle. Mine is an '88NA Z31. A VH45DE is the powerplant I'd like, and then comes the rest. I have to find out what will work, what will fit etc. Some questions I'm looking for answers are:

 

Will a VH45DE, Z31Turbo transmission, and Z31 LSD rear work together easily?

I read in another post you said the Z32 transmission is a closer fit.

So if I use a Z32TT transmission, will that fit in the tunnel of my Z31?

If I use a Z32 diff, will that fit on the Z31's rear-subframe, or do I need to use a Z32 subframe?

 

As for the motor itself, you think a '93 VH45DE, with the metal-backed timing chain guides from a '94 would be a good bet?

 

What about the ecu? Would you use the factory one, or an after market one?

 

Dave

[stinky]

I can tell you that the z31 87-89 turbo transmission and lsd diff would be the easiest to use. They will bolt right in to your chassis where the z32 components would require lots of modification. Either way you go you will need to make an adapter for the transmission though.

 

The ecu is up to you. If you can find someone to reprogram the stock ecu for boost you can use it. On the other hand it might be easier to get a standalone system and start from scratch.

[mtcookson]

...

 

The Z31 turbo tranny and rear differential should work just fine. They're basically the exact same thing as the Z32 stuff (transmission wise they are nearly identical minus the gear ratios, the rear end of the Z31 turbo is a R200 with 3.7 ratio and the Z32 rear end is a R230 with a 3.692 ratio.)

 

If you use the Z31 turbo rear end (87-89) with the Z31 turbo tranny (87-89) with the VH45 at a 7,000 rpm redline w/ 245-45-16 tires (stock Z32, just for a basis) your speeds would be this:

 

1st - 42 mph

2nd - 67 mph

3rd - 102 mph

4th - 139 mph

5th - 195 mph

 

RPM @ 60 mph in 5th - 2,150

RPM @ 80 mph in 5th - 2,866

 

Z31 turbo diff, Z32 tranny:

 

1st - 43 mph

2nd - 72 mph

3rd - 107 mph

4th - 139 mph

5th - 185 mph

 

RPM @ 60 mph in 5th - 2,274

RPM @ 80 mph in 5th - 3,032

 

Z31 N/A diff, Z32 tranny:

 

1st - 41 mph

2nd - 68 mph

3rd - 101 mph

4th - 132 mph

5th - 175 mph

 

RPM @ 60 mph in 5th - 2,397

RPM @ 80 mph in 5th - 3,195

 

Z31 N/A diff, Z31 turbo tranny:

 

1st - 40 mph

2nd - 63 mph

3rd - 97 mph

4th - 132 mph

5th - 185 mph

 

RPM @ 60 mph in 5th - 2,266

RPM @ 80 mph in 5th - 3,021

 

I'm not really sure what the best would be. The Z31 N/A rear ends are open (no limited slip). The 87-89 300ZX Turbo had a clutch type LSD and the 88 300ZX SS is supposed to have a viscous LSD.

 

The Z32 turbo rear end is a viscous LSD I believe. I'm not sure about the Z32 N/A rear but those are R200 with a 4.10 ratio if memory serves.

[Eric]

u should look into the work required for using the z32 rear suspension. a buddy of mine has a z31, and i have an s12(the rear setup is very similar if not identical) and we both hate it. but i'm sure u'r aware of that being a z31 owner. not the most well designed set up out their.