I can't wait to BOOST!!!!! Its killing me!!! I see so many nice cars all over the neighborhood, while I drive my Hoopty around, thinking to myself, I can't wait to dust these guys!!!, or if they only knew what I have at home.

I need a bumper sticker that reads "I have a Z thats faster than Your car!!!"

Anybody want to make one feel free to send me one. LOL

 

Really nice job! I'm waiting on pistons and stud kits to arrive and I'll be on my way to building my 03 track .
Greddy TT
greddy BOV,wastegate relocators
750 RC injectors
wideband O2
BLAH bLAH BLAH

You make it so much easyer doing my build
Utec

 

Just swing on by NYC and I'll do the install for you.
I think I can do it with my eyes closed by now. LOL

Don't forget to get some good Head Gaskets and a complete Nissan gasket engine rebuild kit. Also make sure to opt for the rev up oil pump. Otherwise you may have some problems down the line. The design of the rev up oil pump is taken from the oil pump of the Nissan Skyline (Ahhhh), but its made to fit the VQ35. So you know its the Shizzle.
Good Luck.

 

Holy brite red silicone action are you anticipating any more future leaks?

I know that lack of proper workspace could be challenging, but there are definitely much better engine sealers that you could use. Color is one thing, but proper pro-long high temp fluid sealing is another.

 

Well the grey stuff is what all the cool kids are using. Recommended by all of the local engine builders/tuners.

If you know of something better, just say it and stop playing games.

 

not playing games, just pointing out the obvious. You said it yourself, grey stuff is the best, however I mostly see red on your motor.

I like your thread lots of pictures, and I could see you've put a lot of energy into this car. None wants to take motor apart twice however red silicone is prone to fail after short time. Also just because you're doing it yourself, outdoors doesn't mean that final product should show that.

 

I used red RTV because the red is fine to use. Its high temp and oil resistant. My oil leak was the result of failing to use the proper 2 O-rings, a slightly damaged oil cooler and using a oil pan that I inadvertently cracked. Once I replaced the damaged components and got the proper O-rings my problem was resolved. I got the recommendation to use the Grey RTV after completing the engine build and identifying the first leak. I was not about to disassemble a running engine to change the RTV throughout if there are no other leaks. I only changed the RTV in the area that was problematic...oil pan. I learned that the grey stuff is supposed to be better and stronger after my build was complete. Sharing this information with all of the other Z members looking to do a build should save you and others a bunch of time. Don't you think?

What have you done to your car?

 

To the Z, nothing too crazy.

H&R springs
Alpha Headers
Megan Mid Pipe
Injen Intake
CF hood

I've got few toys and not enough time

I am glad that you'll know what to use next time, everyone learns from experience, keep it up.

 

Well I got the base tune this past Wednesday and today I decided to install the cooling mods I purchased:
1) Nismo Thermostat - Easy Install
2) Cooling Mod on FP site. - only 1/2 complete before it started to down pour.

I will have to complete this project Sunday or Monday evening.

I so far have 100 miles on the car since the base tune. 600 more to go at least.

I'll let you know.

 

Nismo Thermostat was easy.
The Forged Performance Cooling mod was a different story.
It required a lot of disassembly. Upper & Lower plenum off, lower intake off, injectors off, fuel lines moved, and a lot of improvisation.
# trips to AutoZone.
I needed clamps, replacement hose for the longer distance to the oil cooler, I needed to cut my Samco hose from the Radiator to the hard pipe, find a plug for what was the coolant bypass behind the engine...no longer utilized by the new piping.
It required a little more improvisation than I would have liked, but after all that I've been thru, I was very prepared.
Took an entire day, but its done. Coolant is in, and just needs to be bled.

 

Wow, excellent work, and your camera shots are pro. Sorry to see you had to learn a few things from experience, IIRC retail on that oil cooler is in the $350 range, we've all done stuff like that. Using the factory service manual is key. http://www.vq35de.com/ESM/Nissan/350Z/ Can't wait to see the dyno and a/f graphs

 

The service manual shows virtually nothing about placement of the O-ring on the oil cooler component. No close-ups, no inside view, nothing. If you look at the pic I prev. posted showing the new oil cooler, you will see a red O-ring. It can fit either inside of the metal lip, or outside, I made the mistake of installing it once outside the lip and when I torqued it down, I probably damaged the metal lip, causing 1 of the 2 oil leaks. But thats all behind me now. Lesson learned and shared with everyone of course. I wouldn't want anyone to experience that non-sense unnecessarily.

Trying to put some miles on the Z now. The base tune helped from running excessively rich. Feels much better now.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by rrmedicx

So how did your build work out? What mods did you go with? Anything you would have done differently. What did you do special for your break in period?

Good. Ran into a few problems (as most usually do) but nothing too bad (little random things for the most part). More frustration rather then complete walls - all of which could have probably been avoided if I'd done this before, or had a full fledged shop with tools, parts, and resources. Live and learn

Anyway, here's my parts list (engine):

Pauter Rods (rifle-drilled)
CP Pistons (8.5:1 CR)
ACL Main, Rod, and Thrust Bearings
Knife-edged Crank
APS Oil Pan
HKS Head-gaskets (copper coated)
L19 Headstuds
RevUp Heads (stock valves / no port work)
JWT springs / retainers
JWT S7 Cams
MREV2 Lower Plenum
APS Upper Plenum
NISMO Thermostat
Samco Hoses

As far as what I'd do differently - I'd get access to a lift. Doing all of the work in my garage on jacks was a royal pain in the @ss. Also, my weaksauce compressor has to go. Dewalt twin tank . Way too small and makes using air tools a pain as the compressor only lasts about 15-20 seconds before it starts to fade... Since it was my first engine build, I ended up buying a **** load of tools that are now an invaluable part of my collection (engine hoist / stand / tranny jack / various sockets and wrenches / etc). But starting with little more than basic mechanics tools - needless to say I was ill prepared the further I got into things. If I do another build, it should be a breeze at this point .

Break-in was actually pretty easy. Start the car up, let it get to temp. Drove around for about 5 miles at about 2-3k, then started break-in process:

3 pulls from 1400rpm to 4200rpm (20% throttle to 60% throttle)
3 pulls from 1400rpm to 5600rpm (20% throttle to 80% throttle)
3 pulls from 2800rpm to 7000rpm (40% throttle to wide open until redline)

For good measure I repeat the process again...

After that, drive it like I stole it .

The philosophy is that ring seat and seal happens very quickly in a fresh motor. If you "baby" it for 500 or a thousand miles, you effectively wear away the raw hone on the cylinder walls that plays a huge part in seating the piston rings properly. Reason: piston rings expand with heat and pressure. The less strain you put on a new engine, the less force that's applied to the rings initially. I wanted a good, tight seal (with the exception of my gap specs) on the rings with relation to the cylinder walls (as do most other engine builders). This promotes less oil blow-by and burn off and ensures that the tops of your pistons see more air/fuel combustion and less oil blow-by for the life span of the engine - at least that's what I understand and interpret from all of the available sources I tapped during my "engine break-in investigations." Please, by no means do I profess to be an expert in this matter. I plan on doing a full tear down on the block in 30k miles to see if this theory holds up, but until then, the jury is still out... FWIW - I've asked just about EVERY shop on this forum for their "secret" and NONE of them are willing to give me a straight answer. The good news is that none of them have told me I was wrong or off in my direction. But at the same time, nobody's come out with a "yep that's how to do it" answer either. Things like TQ specs, ring gaps, piston-to-cylinder wall and bearing clearances, engine break-in, etc. are all kept secrets of the engine builders on this site. Although I see why one would keep some things to themselves, I don't see why this particular subject is so closely guarded as it only helps to benefit the community when we openly discuss these topics...

Oh well, another rant for another day.

The sad part is that I'm still waiting on the FI solution that I built this engine for. Production delays that will more than likely push my FI install to mid-Winter. It at least gives me the opportunity get some other things done while I wait - like a custom body kit . Anyway, enough about me...

Congrats again for taking this whole thing on and for doing such a detailed write up. I thought of doing something similar during my build but you kind of beat me to it ...

 

I am up to 350 miles so far. Car feels great. Wish I could boost.

Glad to see your build has taken shape and the build is up and running.
Great News. Congrats.

 

Thanks. You've got 350 miles on it and you're not getting into it? Not tuned yet or are you taking an easier engine break-in route? Glad to hear you've got all the bugs worked out and that she's up and running strong.

Congrats again

 

no reason not to boost, I broke my vg30dett in for my 300zx with boost just like tengai did with his and the engine runs perfect and I will do the same with my vq35

 

Well, I was under the impression, as my tuner is, that you should break in a motor without boost for roughly 1000 miles. I have no problem with that. The motor feels good and I really am enjoying the ride. Everything feels good. The wheels are new so it rolls really smooth and feels tight. Engine is nice and tight, but if I get off the gas to make a panic stop, the cams allow too much air in and the engine stalls, so I have to engine brake by down-shifting to avoid stalling. (Which I normally do anyway.) I already bumped the idle to 900 when I put the cams in, I guess I may have to bump it to 1000rpm?

I am holding off on boost until I break her in. I'm now over 600 miles and only need roughly 400 more to go. I'll see how long my patience holds up. Its been raining daily over here in NY so I've not even been tempted to boost much. (Sorry CA folks, but the weather here in NY has really sucked.)
Not long now before I go back for the Big Tune. I hope she holds up, so far everything has been really good. I can't wait.

 

gotta correct you on this Randy, as it's not the case.

The GTR N1 derived pump for the VQ35 is completely different from a revup pump

 

the reason is simple - there is no "right" answer, as it's completely down to what your machinist prefers based on his assembly tolerances. Each person will have a different method based on how the motor was assembled (tolercances can vary widely). When in doubt, as the guy who built it and follow their directions

Same goes for boost and no boost break ins...there is no right or wrong method, it's once again, determined by the person who assembled it

 

Well thank you for correcting me. I appreciate the info. I can't recall where I read it, if it was in a magazine or maybe here, but I was pretty sure it came from the skyline. Either way, its a Nissan development and its much better than the original.

Thanks Adam.