Hi all, I have a VG30DET (yes single turbo) engine in my 83? supra. It has been setup with 2 of the OEM singles to make it an ?effective? TT motor. The engine runs great & I am getting a little over 350rwhp @ 12psi, I have had it up over 18psi and it really shifts. However due to the size & age of the turbos I have a few issues with Lag & noticeable amounts of oil smoke from time to time. I am thinking of replacing or refurbishing the 2 units with something a little more modern and preferably ball bearing. The big problem I have found is there is virtually no after-market turbo available (or I have yet to find a decent one) which suits the Nissan exhaust flange arrangement that I am using. Ideally I am looking for something with a smaller trim to help with throttle response over all out power. Here is a couple of pics of the stock turbo & the current engine rig, Engine bay: Stock vg30det turbo flange: Installed turbo & wastegate arrangement: Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Cheerz -A
Very cool thanks for posting, sorry I can noth help with your delema. Some of the other guys might be able to help, wait and see.
If that is a stock 300ZX turbo then there is a huge amount of options for replacements. First port of call should be www.twinturbo.net. Over 20 years of accumulated tech knowledge online free for the asking
If the manifolds have T3 flanges then look at the turbonetic GTK turbo. I assume you have T3 flanges seeing you mentioned T3 in your original post... They are external gated turbo's though... You could also use T3/T25 adaptor plates and use any of the Garret T25 turbo's that are a dime a dozen for the VG30. If it's a T25 manifold, then GT28R or GT28Rs turbo's are good blowers for the VG, can be a bit laggy without the right breathing mods, but nothing compared to the lag most supra boys on big singles see. Also if you do have T3 manifolds on a VG, what are they? I need some.
There is a veritable muititude of turbo choices M8. Stock turbos for that engine are a basic T3 flange. Bajillions of the things to choose from. For mine, a pair of Disco equivalents with a T3 flange or even just some bolt on adapters as mentione above. Have fun E
That's actually a vg30et turbo, that has the 7 bolt flange and the wastegate flap originally in the dump pipe - vg30det turbo's are much like the stock rb25det turbo's, but with a bigger rear housing, and they have HEAPS of aftermarket support. You could give the rb25det NEO turbo's a go? They should bolt straight on to the exhaust flange, but you will have to change the dump pipe flange to a skyline 6 bolt pattern.
Hi Guys, Thanks for all the input, much appreciated I am specifically requiring 't3' turbos with the 7bolt type flange, as I have a custom waste-gate rig for this exhaust flange & due to space restrictions it will be a big pain to re-arrange. -300zx1 Are you sure about the turbo type? As I believe these are the original singles from my motor (Was in a nissan 2wd pickup of some kind, not a 300zx) Though I cant 100% confirm this. I picked up the motor, turbos, gearbox & a pile of goodies a long while back & the history is not completely clear. I know the gearbox is definitely not 300z. -AndyMac The entire exhaust system is a custom fabrication job, Note that the ports on my VG30 are the N/A round type, not the elliptical TT ones. I put a bit of effort into this set-up -tassuperkart Any pics of the disco potato t3 rig? Was looking at these as a possible replacement candidate. Cheers -A
I'm pretty certain yeah...The 6 bolt one was on my vg30det engine, and another I have seen, also its what allot of skyline guys get for an upgrade as its a direct bolt in....My 2 z31 turbo's had/have that 7 bolt turbo setup. What does the gearbox have written on it? 30a, 90a, and 71c were the manual options, 71b was the only auto.
Errr nope. Thse hears are VG30det heads and specific to that engine. The NA head you speak of are pretty much identical to TT heads. No sorry M8. Why dont you just get in touch with Garret and ask about the setup you need. The cast stock dump pipes do not bolt directly onto the turbos like you are. Those turbos simply have the back plate removed which carries the flap style wastegate and then the dump attaches to that backplate. Sadly, I have thrown out any t3 style turbos I might have to confirm the bolt patterns of both the backplate and the dump but id be very surprised if there was a different bolt pattern on the turbine housing utself as there are 3 different styles of dump attachment you can use on those turbos. A bolt on stock style dump, a V-band attachment and a round bolt on flange. along with turbine housings with no wastegate fitted at all specifically for external gates. Im not too sure if there are any choices of dump attachment in these non wastegate type back housings. Why dont you just kit out and balace those turbos and away you go? L8r E
-tassuperkart That's interesting about the heads! I have been lead to believe they are virtually the same as the N/A units, Built before being re-designed for the TT models. Ideally getting a new set of ball bearing wheels would be the go, but I am unsure of who to speak to about getting these units re-furbished. Is it possible to fit modern wheel assemblies to the older housings? Ideally I would like to keep my wastegate & dump set-up as is. -300zx1 Not sure about the gearbox part numbers. It looks like this: Cheers -A
Ahhh! I think I know what your on about now. Id say ytour source is mistaken/confused with the older single cam heads which have round ports. Twin cam heads, apart from the heads you have are all rectangular. Now, errmm, you wont get away with using BB cores in those housings. "If" they are VG30det turbos (might even be off an FJ20et which look very similar) then they are extremely old tech and not efficient at all. Are you running much boost on this engine? Anything up to.. oh around 12 psi I fit a pair of stock TT turbos to be honest! If they are vg30det turbos then theres no reason you cant get around 25psi out of them. A M8 of mine is using one of them on an E15et (1.5ltr) and easily punches those figures but laggy and slow spooling and running close to surge nearly all the time apart from high boost. Given that you could do a shitloade better if you want to spend some money and have a giant killer!!! Errrmmm, you have Garret turbos, would not Garret be a logical place to start researching?? There are a multitude of companies who can refurbish those old school clangers. Perhaps try "Turbochargers" in your Yellow pages M8, yeah? Also dont rule out KKR turbochargers. good reliable replacement options at less than half the price of an equivalent Garret. L8r E
I think that might be the 30A 5 speed. Very similar strength internals as the z32 box, but the z32 uses a short style housing and an external shifter. I'm not 100% on that because you haven't got a part number, but the 30a is also found in pathfinders and some navaras with the vg30 or 33. Cheers.
Here's some help on these parts you need Those turbo's you have are also the stock one's on the VL turbos or RB30ET setup, My mate's R31 has that same turbo but has been Highflow'd. This dump look the same as Your's? and the Turbo And that Gearbox is an R33 GTS-t rb25det one, Same internals as 300zx just the rear's been changed for gear stick location. R33 gaerbox
Ahhh nahhh. Those RB boxes have an entirely different bolt pattern. VG engines have their own bolt pattern. Unless someone has gone to a lot of trouble to break up another R30 V6 box to rob the bellhousing......... Grub out the two top bolt holes slightly and you have a box that will bolt up to any engine with an "L" series pattern. Common upgrade for SR and FJ20's as they both come with 71 series boxes. The gearbox could have come from a z31 with a VG30e. In which case it will still be a Z71 and an early one with the weak shifter forks and the small input shaft bearing. Can be troublesome. NOT the single cam turbo engine. The VG30et uses a BorgWarner T5 and is completely different. The T5 is known to be even less tough than the old 71's. Or it could be an R30 out of a Navara/Pathfinder V6 et-al. I have a Z71 box up the back and Ill have a look at it and compare to the pix above but my bet is if its an R30 then is a Navara box. L8r E
Its definitely not a 71c box from a z31, I've got one in mine atm. They're more like an sr20 box from a silvia (same 71 series just different bell housing). I'm 100% sure now that its the 30a from an 87+ model turbo z31 Look familiar? Similar to the rb25 box, but with different bell housing. Cheers.
*slaps head* Mah bad. I knew that the Z31 V6 turbos used a Borg Warner T5. The only Z31 VG30et's Ive looked at have had the T5 see? So R30's fitted as well eh? Luck of the draw or a change in the production run?? The T5's are not well liked. L8r E
Yeah it was a change from the shitty t-5, all the later model turbo's (87+) had them, but the n/a's retained the 71c.
-GOTTAGO Yep that looks like the factory flange/gate arrangement, the exductor wheel looks huge in those photos, this being the high flow unit I presume? Also looks like a water cooled bearing unit, any idea on where that was put together / prices? I am near on 100% sure that my engine/box combo came from a 'truck' of some kind, but I couldn't find the numbers on the box to verify at this point in time. -tassuperkart I have had these units up to 25psi a few times. Though I don't really know how much they liked it, performance wise the power just keeps going up with no taper-off all the way to red-line. I plan to run 18-20 psi for track duty, though with the hassle factor of these housings I may end-up going something more modern & re-building the pipes to suite. I should really get off my ass and call a few places, though I have found it is difficult to get hold of anyone knowledgeable that is willing to chat, other then just wanting to just sell their latest product... Thanks for the info all peoples, much appreciated!
