I know this is an odd question, but I'm cramming a VQ into my 510 & as the engine is currently sitting it reduces the amount of space I need to fit my custom Rack & pinion steering set up. If it is okay to notch out a portion of the aluminum of the old pan (the 2 legs that angle down & back to where the lower bolts of the trans housing bolt to the pan) this will get me a little more space for my R&P. I'm assuming that the two legs in question are solid aluminum with no oil passages, but I haven't taken a pan off so I'm not positive.

The notches will of course weaken the pan a little but most of the trans to engine connection stress is taken care of by the upper bolts. For example Honda engines I've worked with in the past have no lower bolts for engine to trans connection, just uppers.

So I just need to be sure there is no oil running through the oil pan portion in question & that no one sees high potential for anything breaking?

Here's a pic of the area in question-

 

Wow man I do not know the answer to your question but I wish you luck on this swap, very nice.

Post pics when its done!

 

Amazing idea VQ35DE in a 510...hope you don't twist the car in half with all of the torque

 

HaHa, I guess you haven't been in a 510. They are stiff little chassis' even after 40+ years.

However, I do plan on putting a cage in it to be on the safe side since some 510's with high torque engines have cracked at the C pillars.

Can anyone confirm that the are in question is notchable?

 

bump for some insight

 

I would think so if it is only a small amount but im not 100% on that those pans dont hold much load from the drive train anyways. GOod luck with the swap, ill look into it.

 

I personally wouldn't do it espicially is the component would have a clearance issue - what happens when the notched area gets smacked from a bump in the road and breaks?

Why not raise the engine slightly if there is this clearance issue - I'm sure you could do that from the motor mount points.....

 

Maybe the OP could have a custom pan welded up instead of ghetto-rigging an oem pan?

 

Youch, that sounds expensive to fabricate an entire new pan. I can however add a little more structure to a notched OEM pan to make up for what was removed.

As far as moving the engine goes, I've been debating dropping the engine more, which also means it has to move forward to clear the crossmember. This completely closes off my current R&P location & would require I bottom mount it. Which needs a really short Rack (that doesn't exist) to avoid bumpsteer.

I don't want to go up anymore because of hood clearance, driveshaft angle, & center of gravity. I do think I will be moving the engine back as far as I can, which is around another 1/2". This will make it so if I still have to notch the pan, it will be very minimal. Just a slight radius out of the diagonal part.

Thanks for your input & helping me think things through.

 

I'm sure a local shop could fab something up for a couple hundred bucks... Maybe even use the base of the oem pan and weld the fabrication from there. You've come this far not to do it right... I would hate to go through all the effort of an engine swap only to have it fail because of a weakened 'notched' oem pan.... just my 2 cents...

Edit: Are you using solid motor mounts? If not, then that's something else to think about. The engine will rock back and forth a little under load. If the oil pan is that close to the cross member, it might cause a problem.

 

I vote notch away man. That should work fine. IIRC the bolts at the bottom of the pan are only 14mm's and thus not very structural when compared to the 17mm's up top. The main purpose of that bottom part of the pan is to keep moisture out of bellhousing and generally protect it. Do you need to get low for hood clearance or just to get the CG down? I don't know what your ground clearance is like in a 510 but with going that low I'd be concerned with the lower pan smacking the pavement.

 

I want to keep it low for a combination of the 2, but at the moment the front edge of the engine is just barely clearing the stock hood, which is great because I originally feared I'd have to put a cowl on the hood. The engine ground clearance won't be too bad compared to how the exhaust & the "tall" tranny will be fitting. The engine's ground clearance is similar to my ground clearance was with the KA24DE which wasn't too bad. My current sway bar routes underneath the front edge of the pan, so it's the first thing to scrape & in a sense protects the pan.

The tranny is the source most of my fitment grief. I have cut open the trans tunnel so it can fit higher up, but still have about 3" of it hanging below my floorboards, so it will be about equal with the exhaust pipes as they route past. I don't want to take it any higher than it is because then my driveshaft angles will get too extreme.

 

Wow. I've never seen a 510 in person. From that description they must be really tiny.

 

Yeah, the power to weight ratio would be crazy on a VQ powered 510! :-)

 

They are rather small, mainly the engine bay though. Somehow people have managed to stick V8's in a few.

Yes, the power to weight is going to be nice. Imagine how nice your Z would be if it shed 1000lbs.

 

yea.. every hundred pounds is .10 of a sec off your 1/4 mile

 

I can't answer your question, but I support your quest, this car will be a monster. Keep us up to date on this one.

 

I'm hoping this weekend when I try to finalize the engine position I'll get it so the pan doesn't need to be notched, or at least get it to be very minimal. I think I should be safe, but I will definitely be keeping my eyes on the oil pressure gauge when I get it on the streets.

 

Whats the stock curb weight and wheelbase on one of those go-karts? Do they have an IRS or live rear? What FD ratio are you going for? I can tell ya that thing is gonna be a blast. I'm at 2060lbs right now on a very stockish motor and its a blast.

 

I think they have a live rear... That much power is gonna do some frame flexing... Might wanna brace it up~ :-)