My Vk56 Swapped 350z
My Vk56 Swapped 350z
2009 Drifting with ClubLoose at Englishtown Raceway Park's Roadcourse
This car was previously owned by a friend of mine (dmoffitt on my350z), it had gone through a few different specs over the years, NA, APS twins, Built NA, and was a basically stock NA motor when I purchased it from him last year. I had been drifting it in Canada with Driftops and in Jersey with ClubLoose last season, and while I had a blast the car really needed more power.
To solve that "power" issue I decided to install a 4,000 mile Nissan 5.6L V8 from a Nissan press car.
I ended up cutting out a large amount of factory heat shielding so that the motor could be pushed back completely against the firewall. The front of the V8 now sits about equal to where the middle cylinders on the V6 where. Really nice Front-Mid engine mounting
As the VK never came with a manual transmission during it's production run, I had to adapt something to it. I've got a few 350z transmissions hanging around so I fastened up an adapter plate, had it machined and was able to use a slightly modified 350z 6 speed with a carbonetics carbon/carbon twin plate clutch assembly.
The ride height has been changed since these photos were shot, the engine was not in the chassis when I snapped these two back in late April.
There was a long debate about bodywork as well, I really was unhappy with having replaced 4 Nismo V2 bumpers the previous season. I desperately wanted something poly and flexible, but couldn't find anything that I liked the style of. Sooo I started looking up 370z parts. It appeared as though things would be a close fit, so I bit the bullet and ordered 370z Nismo bodywork. It's got a bit of a flared 911 RSR type fit to the fenders, which I'd actually like to make a metal template so it looks a bit cleaner, but for now I think it looks pretty cool.
Engine bay is a bit of a mess, something to clean up this winter.
The engine is an incredibly tight fit in the bay. It's really only possible to do plugs in the engine bay. Anything requiring head/cam service MUST be done out of the car. Thankfully it's pretty easy to get in and out just dropping the subframe straight out. I really want to add dry breaks for the fuel and cooling systems this winter, but that's a lot of extra coin to drop right now. I still need to delete the ABS pump/computer and clean up the brake lines (and add an adjustable bias valve in cabin).
Racepak IQ3 digital dashboard, Hydraulic ebrake handle.
I ended up putting a ViPEC V88 ems system in the car, which does NOT link up to the stock gauge cluster, so I swapped it out for a Racepak digital dash solution. Which I really, really, like
The hydraulic ebrake is something I started buying parts for last season. I had been running Project MU shoes in the factory mechanical ebrake, which worked REALLY well, however it seemed awkward for me to reach mid drift. I constantly had to adjust it to get the bite point to be the same and generally was not happy with the amount of effort I had to put in to keep it where I liked it. Just wasn't for my driving style. So I created a template for a bracket which I then had digitized and cut for a second set of brakes on the rear spindle as an isolated Hydraulic ebrake system.Mike @ Innovative Tuning in Buffalo NY did the tuning and helped me with the electronics side of setting up the car. We ran it in on his Mustang Dyno last week:
Dyno Vid:
http://vimeo.com/14260790
Free Revs:
http://vimeo.com/14202573
I can't describe how happy I am with the project (even without having driven it in anger yet). The car sounds pretty insane, and is a decent bit louder than my straight piped M5 was.
The basics of the drivetrain right now are:
Nissan Titan 5.6L V8 (VK56DE, stock internally... for now)
Carbonetics Twin Plate (Carbon/Carbon)
Custom Headers
Nissan 350z Factory 6 Speed (custom shifter, custom adapter plate, modified bell housing)
Driveshaft Shop Aluminum driveshaft
Carbonetics 1.5 way differential
ViPEC V88 EMS
I was having some cooling issues, as the Titan motor generates quite a bit of heat, after trying two off the shelf radiators I ended up having a local friend of mine make me a custom one with two ridiculous fans. The car should never have overheating issues again.
Thought you guys might be interested, I'll post more pics and videos as things progress. I'm hoping to run it in at ClubLoose's Hot Moves @ Englishtown Raceway Park next Saturday if all goes well. I'm dropping the car off in the morning to get the cage work finished (adding new door bars, a-pillar bars, and windshield bar to make it legal for DMCC/Formula D). Still have a few things to sort out (alignment, electrical kill switch, install fire suppression), but it's coming along nicely.
Big thanks to the guys at Innovative Tuning (Buffalo NY) and Dorschel Nissan (Rochester NY) for their support while I was putting together this project. Also big thanks to Dave @ Function Tuned (Dulles, VA) for getting me that Racepak unit overnight when I was in a pinch!
Last edited by MPD47; Aug 22, 2010 at 03:48 PM.
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Holy sh*t...I had to do a triple take to make sure that I was indeed seeing a 370Z front end on a 350Z. Definitely a first in the country...possibly even world. That's amazing. I bet aftermarket companies can manufacture fender kits for others to utilize the 370Z lights with. All they'd have to do is just narrow the fenders a bit by the door, and all the owner would have to do is buy the lights and find his/her 370Z bumper of choice.
