Im currently about half way through a very thorough build in my 350z and I thought Id share some of the things I've encountered and what parts I decided to go with and why. So heres my list of what is currently in the car or will be in the car.

Engine internals
*Wiseco 96mm .020 OS pistons 10.5:1 compression, I decided to run with the higher compression because I don't plan on raising the rpm at all and the car will have a e85 capable fuel system to support the high compression
*Eagle connecting rods, stock length
*Nissan OEM gasket rebuild kit, I know there are some other options as far as gasket kits go, but nothing beats OEM quality and I didnt go any thicker with the head gaskets so the kit mad sense cost wise
* King racing bearings .001+, the rebuild kit I went with from Z1 came with ACL std clearance bearings for the rods, but after grinding and polishing the tolerances were sitting a little loose at about .0045 and I wanted to be closer to .0030-.0035 and the king bearings seem to be a little better built as far as longevity goes. I dont plan on tracking this car, I just wanted a bulletproof engine
*Billet boundary gears, I replaced the oil pump with an OEM rev up pump and swapped in the upgraded gears. I know this is the achilles as far as weak spots goes for VQ motors and adding boost I wanted a little bit of insurance for the higher power gains.
*Stillen oil pan upgrade +1 quart of oil
*Stock crank, I threw a rod in the engine and the crank got ruined. Picked up a used crank, had it clearanced, balanced, ground, and polished
*The engine assembly was completely balanced as a rotating assembly
*ARP Head studs
*Injector dynamics 1000cc
* CJ motorsports S1 fuel line kit
*Deatschwerks 255lph Drop in fuel pump
Engine head parts
*Stock cams are going back in, I did plan on getting the JWT S7 cams when planning the build but My engine builder didnt think it was necessary for the rev up motor and the power goals I have. I want to be between 500-600HP
*Ferrea complete valve train kit with +1 oversized valves. As far as quality goes, ferrea is the best. High heat resistance intake cams for least amount of heat soak, and stainless steel exhaust cams for low carbon build up. Titanium retainers for max rigidity and dual valve springs are solid for resisting valve float
*OEM valve guides replaced
*Z1 Ziton valve stem seals
*3 angle valve job
*Stage 2 Port and Polish on heads, hard to say how much is gained from this service, but it definitely will smooth out air flow/ fuel delivery and allow for more flow through the oversized valves that were installed
External engine mods
*JWT exhaust manifolds included with the kit
*JWT intake W/ KIT
*Z1 lightweight flywheel kit
*Mishimoto radiator
*Mishimoto Fan shroud
*Mishimoto Full silicon pipe/ kit
*Mishimoto Power steering pump overflow
*Weapon R coolant overflow tank
*Custom porting on upper/lower plenum and matched to intake manifold
*Z1 Clutch kit with lightweight flywheel 6 puck
*I did personally delete a lot of useless coolant lines to clean up the front of the engine, and rerouted the wiring harness around the back of the engine
*I replaced just about all external systems power steering pump, ac condenser, ac pump, alternator, starter etc.
Engine management
*AEM Plug and play kit, I'm pretty sure its the 710 series Im not sure, but it was an easy install and should make for an easy start up.

Thats where I am currently on parts list, prolly more support mods on drivetrain to come soon, Im open to suggestions to any other mods I should add to the list

 

Niiiiicccceee!

What part of Utah are you in?

do you have all these parts or are you still shopping??

I would go with carillo, manley, or pauter rods. Eagle makes good stuff but not for FI

are you going ARP L19 head studs? go with the ARP main stud kit too.

is the stage 1 CJM a return system?

I would avoid Mishimoto parts like the plague ... many many better options

the stock valves & cams are good enough

a 255lph pump wont cut it...depending on what hp #s youre looking for you need a 320lph min or a 480 or 525lph if you are going to run the OEM basket.

add an oil cooler

add a harmonic dampening crank pulley

look into Haltech, Link, or Uprev for tuning - more widely used and tuning will be easier

 

Im out of draper utah, (slc county) I honestly thought about doing the super carillon rods but they were just so god awful expensive and were rated for like 800hp+ If I take the build further I will rebuild and use the super carillon rods. But mainly I went with the eagle rods cause it was an easy kit to pick up from Zq

 

Right on - I lived in SLC for a while and thoroughly liked it. Very underrated and gets the short end of the stick.

I would add a few hundred dollars to go with a better suited rod and call it money well spent. Manleys are $600, Pauters are on clearance for $900 on their website, and yea, carillos are pricey. Especially on an e85 build where you're going to be pushing ignition timing to take advantage of e85s resistance to detonation - quite possibly the last thing you want is a mid-grade rod.

If youre trying to save money forego the headwork and leave the heads completely stock until you want to push past your 500-600hp. OEM heads flow fine especially with a decent turbo setup - If I remember right OEM heads flow fine up to 700hp? Headwork will be labor-intensive (which is going to be crazy expensive) and will push your build out. Forego the intake manifold/lower plenum porting ... not necessary until you get up 700hp and will be labor intensive. This will save you a few thousand dollars.

others:
$300 dual widebands o2 control
$500 to $1000 for tuning
$500 for additional gauges/sensors/wiring/boost control solenoid
$200 for break-in oil/oil change/coolant/transmission fluid/assembly lube/RTV
$50 spark plugs
$500 for an intercooler & piping/couplers(unless that's in the kit??)
$1000 for waste gates & BOV(unless that's in the kit??)
$300 for a aftermarket (Tilton) clutch master cylinder
$200 machine the heads (may not be necessary but good practice)
$300 dynosty billet girdle
$100 to flow test / clean / verify injectors

Factor in that everything is going to be twice as expensive and will take twice as long.

 

I’ll have to contact Z1 and see if they will let me swap out the eagle rods for the Manley, I wish I would have done a little bit more research on the rods. Cause now doing it, sounds like they are a stronger rod. What about the Dynosty girdle? Worth the 300 dollars for a piece of metal? I did had to ****** up a used girdle already cause when my engine went it damaged the girdle throwing a rod. The JWT kit does come with watergates and it does include a 2-1 Intercooler. Which was nice, also came with an exhaust manifold set which was nice cause that was something I planned on upgrading. I knew the Z heads flow nicely from factory due to very nice casting. It wasn’t a very expensive job cause he was a family friend that did the work for me. But mainly he just polished out all of the casting textures and opened up the exhaust ports a little wider for some higher volume. Running dual turbos and having some more volume just made sense, might be lower velocity at low rpm but it will help spool faster on the play side