Well I finally finished taking the engine apart. Main culprit of why it took a little longer than I thought was the fact that not only was everything metric... I knew that... but I did have a 10mm 6pt bit for my ratchet, but the piece to remove the crankshaft required a 10mm 12 point... Just to add to the even more useless complexity.... they aslo required torx bits... but not just the t series... the e-series, the backwards kind.. so I had fun trying to run around and buy that....


Well anyway its done... I think i got a hernia trying to move the crank... damn I never realized it was that heavy.... probably heavier than the block itself... no wonder it can take over 1000whp... I can only imagine how heavy the cad. 16 cylinder crank weighs....

Heres some pics...

Heavy *** crankshaft... probably common.. but I have no idea..
[IMG][/IMG]


under the block
[IMG][/IMG]

piece that needed one of those weird torx bits (e-series)
[IMG][/IMG]

las pistonas
[IMG][/IMG]

And finally... remember that rusty piston.... well look what it did to the walls ... Its not really deep at all... just like a scratch... and I had a aircraft mech come take a look at it... with the overbore it wont be a problem at all.... but its still pretty sad....


Well that was a great experiecnce.. and I reccommend it to anyone who has the money and wants a hobby.... Now im gonna just sit back for a while... most likely till the end of Oct... and wait till I can send everything out and get it reworked... I plan on going with tomei or JWT cams... Getting the heads ported and putting in good parts... I also think im gonna get a Nismo head gasket... what do you guys think...? Also how much does pinning the block cost/ how much does it strengthen it?

And lastly... depending on what you guys say.... I am also thinking about getting my turbos bored and putting in a 20g compressor... anyone know the up/downsides of this...

Unfortunatley... I would not plan on hearing any of my dyno numbers until after the new year... but I at least got everything started... and now I beleive I will know a little more about what people say since I was able to actually touch the parts I was reading about... and also..... I can say I have taken apart an engine... pretty neat...

Anyone have any requests for pics... before I seal and store everything for a while?

 

forgot to post the pic of the walls..

[IMG][/IMG]

 

And one more thing...

Anyone interested in getting any of my used parts... mainly thinking about rods...

or pistons... one of them is rusted on top but im sure repairable...

or whatever else... pulleys....

just PM me if you're interested.

 

Damn...those rods look so weak and skinny...no wonder they are snapping with only small amounts of boost.

Z1 (Adam)....do you believe me now?? The rods ARE wimpy....common...I am hoping we can find something else we'll agree on!

 

Did that motor come out of a Z ? How many miles were on it ?

 

Contrats on the engine teardown. Those rods SUCK!

The 20G upgrade will allow more flow up top but just to play devil's advocate, do you really want it to spool that late. The 18g's will flow 22-25 psi. anything more then 20psi and you will need to run race gas to be safe. Is this going to be mainly a street car?

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by gq_626
[B]Damn...those rods look so weak and skinny...no wonder they are snapping with only small amounts of boost.

Yeah tell me about it.

 

whenever I get the new rods in ill take a side by side pic... unless its already been done... for comparison..

The motor is a VQ engine from a 2003 350z... just was sitting out in a junkyard for a while and they didnt seal it that good...

The car will be driven on the street.... but I drive it once a week.. if that.. so putting in full race gas wouldn't be that expensive for me..

I'll probably see how the car drives first... im going to initially go with around 600whp... and see what its like... ill probably end up wanting more... so thats why I was thinking about the turbo bore.. as for the longer spoolup.... would a nitrous shot do the trick? Never used it...

 

N2O will get you going, the only thing that I'm thinking is that tuning will become a little bit of a nightmare. Are you planning a standalone? E-manage? If its once a week you want to enjoy that time right? I guess with the weight of the car and the 18G's at 22psi you'll have a much wider powerband. Maybe just a Port and polish on the 18G's. The 20G's will make more power, but your curve will look like all those 700-900 hp supras. Nothing (150-200hp) till 5K then BAMM! a huge hit. Guess it just depends on your style there are upsides and downsides to both options.

When we use the 20G's on 3000GT's (3.0L) they don't really make that much more power, as compared to 18G's for a street application. They actually tend to run out of revs before the 20's hit their higher limit of efficiency.

 

No idea if this makes sense.... but..

I know that the larger turbine would take longer to spool up... but... wouldnt the larger engine (3.54 with the piston overbore im getting as per what GQ told me... vs. 3.0) give more flow and therefore get the turbos up to speed a little quicker?
Would a boring application on an 18g to a 20g size help with spooling?

Fuel system delivery... not really sure, not there yet... but I will research and choose what I think is the best option..

Who knows I might be happy with 18 pounds and not even try for 20+ pounds anyway... I just have to see how the car handles on the regular road... if its a pain in the ****.... ill just switch to making the car look pretty.

Just gaguing my options to plan ahead.... by the time I finish I'm sure I could get some feedback about drivability with all this power

 

Good points.

What about bolting on BB turbos to those GReddy manifolds?

 

Honestly, those 18g's rock. I would not suggest getting a larger wheel. Once you feel 1 bar on this motor you will be happy I'm sure.

 

Right, but 18psi on a 3.5L is more power then 18psi on a 3.0L. Really unless you plan in running over 22 psi consistantly then the 18G rules.

We have a TT 350 roadster here, full exhaust, return fuel system, e-01 and it puts down 430 @ 10psi. Lets just say it feels good!

Like you said, maybe put it all together, boost the hell outta it with the 18g's and go from there.

 

Other than pistons,rods, etc.. you have to keep in mind the open deck design of the VQ engine. If you look around for pictures of the Option 350Z, and if you can find pictures of the engine build up you will know what I mean. The liners are supported at 5 points by what looks like studs. I know I have pictures buried somewhere in my magazine pile, I am just to lazy to look

 

don't lay the crank on it's side, you need the crank to stand up straight.

 

Cams too! Cams too! Well, if they`re worth anything.

Anyway, my view on the 20Gs: with forged insides, the Z motor will make as much power as you can get air into it (like all motors). However, if the car is street driven with those massive turbos, you will never see that power except on the highway (ala Supra).

Stoplights will be less fun even though you have more power. A staged N2O kit would allow the turbos to spool at lower RPM as well, but nitrous goes bad and it adds more complexity for a car driven once a week.

I would go with the standard 18G to start with. If it becomes that much of a problem that you only have about 650+WHP, you could get the 20Gs later!

That`s just my 2 yen.

 

I would go with the standard 18G to start with. If it becomes that much of a problem that you only have about 650+WHP

Yeah that kinda sounds rediculous when I think about it

I didnt know the crank couldn't be on its side.. I'll change that... I dont get home for another 6 hours... but it was on its side over the whole weekend... will that do anything!?!?!?!?!?!?!

 

They pin the sleeves. Not a bad idea with this much power. Nobody has really established the limits of the open deck design on our stock VQ. That is why I am strongly considering sleeving or pinning it...even if my goal is only 550-600whp. And take everyone's comments with a grain of salt, since all we can do here is speculate on what is best...since the knowledge base of built motors is so small.

Sure, someone can say: I built a 650whp motor on the stock block. That means nothing, if the motor lasts for 10,000miles and the poops out. So I'd err on the side of building a powerful, yet RELIABLE motor. Something that can pump out the power for many thousands of miles. Metal doesnt just snap all at once...it gradually fatigues over time, so although an engine could be running perfectly...it doesnt mean it will last.

Sorry for the ramble.

 

gq_626,

From experiance with the VQ30DE in the maxima, the liners do need support by pinning or otherwise. I have seen a fair share of cracked liners. Also the head bolts tend to lift under higher boost levels 20psi+ which eventually lead to head gasket failure. On the VQ35DEK the head gasket has been revised to a 3 layer and is much stronger but i am not sure if the headbolts have been upgraded as well.

Regardless, the VQ series has HUGE potential, although not in the way we were used to with the 2JZ, RB26, etc.. This engine puts of a ton of torque. So dont expect 1000hp figures, although I am not saying you can achieve that. I am sure when we start seeing dyno curves for 600hp VQs you will see that the torque figures are much higher than similar hp 2JZ,RB26.

 

What kind of experience did you have with the VQ30?