Hmm....................................Holden 3.8L in a Z32???

The TT is allowed.... It's the same engine but with TT

Vh45.....weelll maybe you could argue that it's a Nissan engine at least... Lets be honest here though, it's not stock so it's not going in... I'm just dreaming.
TT could be a possibility though....I don't know what the fuss is about, but I figure I should just build one and see

 

I'm not trying to argue for or against attempting this conversion. But ecotech is pushrod. Valves don't get bent. :rofl: To be honest I don't really appreciate having to replace/rebuild engine because an external belt breaks. Just doesn't happen with the ecotech.

Already have plenty of commodores. This is the reason for my post. Lets face it. 300ZX piss on commodore. NA or TT. I've never been taken by a commodore with my NA.

Just looking at the conversion from a practicality point of view.

I am beginning to think this but to be honest don't really know where to start. What I would be interested to know is what success/feasibility people have have relocating the throttle bodies from the sides of the engine to the center of the engine. I have not seen many aftermarket inlet manifolds/plenums. But I have contemplated both, getting a scrap plenum and cut and shutting the throttle bodies closer to the centre of the engine. And also making my own billet CNC inlet manifold/plenum.

I've had my Z for 10 years. Not planning on getting rid of it in a hurry. I would like to TT. But I can just see myself pissing more $$$ up the wall and into the wind. I suppose though, as I am intending on keeping it for a weekend drive, not a daily drive, this will give me more time to spend on it to ensure timing belts are serviced etc.

Also what is the most common cause of turbos failing. Overheating???

 

Effectively. But this would not be the point of the exercise. Surely though we have a power to weight advantage over commodore. And then we have the handling. I have targa top with standard suspension. I have had a look at the legal lowering height in SA, I can legally drop it 2". This is going to handle like friggen awesome. Now if I had the engine out, an ecotech that is, I would be having it balanced up for starters if it was going to go in the 300.

 

The other point would be the cost of maintenance and reliability to the DIY mechanic.

By the way I attempt to thank everyone, even comments of conversion sucking balls etc, but website does not always bring up button.

So thanks everyone for your thoughts regardsless of your opinion

 

I reckon you should go the Gen III 5.7L route mate. It's been done a few times and it is a pushrod engine like you're after, plus there's heaps of upgrades for them, and they're a racey motor if you want it to be.
I would love to see an Individual Throttle Body Gen 3 in a Z, would sound nice and go as well.

 

I think you answered your question in a way? You plan to only have it as a weekender, so you will have more time to spend servicing and keeping it happy. Did ever do a 100k service? May be the reason of your belts giving way.

What I was saying before, if your going to swap the engine out, atleast put a v8 back in there.... I would say it would be the same amount of effort and you'll get your simple/easy to work on engine, plus tons of power to play with

 

OMFG

You'd have to be pretty keen yeah.

M8 nextdoor is swapping out 3.8 for 5.7 in a VX commodore and he reckons there too big even for a commodore.

Probably snap your run of the mill Z32 clean in half.

 

yep...... and still am

Minimal cost to make them fly and by that I mean a V8 killer, traffic light to light and even on the drag strip I've put quite a few V8's on the trailer.
I've done minimal mods to mine, 9:1 rockers, charger porting, FPC bypass and running @~10psi..... and it easily leaves the current crop of V8's at the lights every time
:br:
My S/C V6 easily out runs my V8 in the same model car (yes we own 2 statey's) and its not untill the speedo reaches the ~130kph mark that the V8 starts to come into play


I've spent considerable time looking into fitting the M90 supercharger to a N/A engine and its a fairly simple mod that would have a very quick street car at the end of it..... certainly leave 99% of the forums TT's well behind at the traffic lights

When Stephen finishes his time on the 'P' plate thing then we'll make the decision as to where he goes power wise..... he's thinking TT and I am NOT doing that, he'd be on his own doing that conversion..... I'm leaning on the eaton and I'm more than happy to go that way, in fact..... I'd love the challenge


As for a 3.8 into the ZX..... as said before, HEIGHT IS THE ISSUE.....
its a tall motor in comparision but will fit in the engine bay quite easily, I have a contact that can do a loom converter (plug n play) for around the $400 mark.

Your other option is to make a more suitable plenum......
there has been over the years several pics posted on this forum of plenums that have been custom built to leave the rocker covers exposed, they used to from time to time come up for sale but I havent seen one for ~2years.

Our humble V6's were an amazing engine back in the early 90's and they still hold their own ~20 odd years later....
problem is the more current crop of motors has more than caught up to where we were back then.....sadly the thinking hasn't

 

There's a couple getting around. The sureflo drift zed had a turbo LS1, eric had a twinturbo LS1 in his old black zed. His current one has a Corvette SBC. There's one getting around in Perth and another here in Brissy.

They actually fit ok, just the valve cover getting in the way of the clutch master and the usual sump and exhaust issues of a engine swap. It fits a lot better than that silly VH45 swap I did.

 

should have added ......

http://v6supercharged.com.au/about.asp

http://l67torque.com/


watch......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRHSUisnVgE
specifically ASTRO's S/C VP wagon
about the 5:18 mark it gets interesting.....

the actual wagon......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kP32T-CMisU

 

Swinging it back a little. If you're wanting to replace the head with the bent valves on the NA. I have a set of heads im planning on taking off this weekend. Just have to find a 10mm allen head 1/2" drive socket. After which, there up for sale. Im only 25ish minutes away from where you described you lived. So if you're interested we can work something out.

As for the plenum. Honestly once you work out what does what, why its there and what to remove. The whole process of working around it is easy as. And no doubtably, if you old na donk wasnt serviced for lengthy periods of time, no wonder the belt snapped. But everything circumstantial. So whats done is done.

Conversion wise, what are you planning on doing gearbox wise? Adapter plate...gm auto? There is allot of rooting around to do, as you probably know, when it comes to complete conversions... Sometimes its just as easy to fix the na being its allot easier then a tt for space, and continue trucking that way.

 

^ this

If there where to be one thing I do if I built a stock exterior Z but totally un-stock power train then it would be a v8 conversion.... I just can't be bothered with all the headaches that would follow however. Soooo much money and modifying. If rather take what's already in there and with the same amount of money, build a Stella VG motor

 

the turbos on zeds are relatively bullet proof, they are only running three cylinders so are largely understressed, have oil and water lines to them, we ran ours at 15psi and they lasted 10 years standard, the only thing that happens is with time 20 years the seals start to fail and they blow and suck oil smoke etc on warm up.

Someone said NA zed beat a commie, I bet nine out of ten commie win a drag to say 100kph much more torque

 

Alright thanks, and I suppose running larger or upgraded turbos would be more reliable. To be honest I don't really know anything about turbos so I don't even know what can be put on the VG30DE(TT).

No this was going back a few years now and I was too busy to do the work myself. Had a quick go at changing the belt but it wouldn't go and was told the valves would be bent and had it done professionally. Drop me a PM when you have them off though I may be interested depending on whats wrong with them.

I would probably use stock manual 5 speed I think is Getrag 260 and adapt via tailshaft.

 

To be honest I personally do not view the 3.8L as being a whole heap lower tech than the VG30DE(TT). Being both EFI. But I take your point given 24V and completely different engineering and stock performance differences.

Yes the L36 out VT commodore etc are quite tall but LN3 and L27 out VN etc have shorter plenum. Even the L67 S/C is not as tall as the L36 with that stupid boxy plenum.

But I don't really think Dept Rd Trans or whatever you want to call them these days here and there would really view a V8 as being a suitable transplant. The 3.8L being V6 as is OE and more common engine here in SA and other holden engines finding there way into imported cars I would have thought may be more acceptable from a legality POV. Re LS1 5.7L etc.

???

 

Me and my bro helped a mate do an L67 conversion on VT Commodore. From stock, they are pretty crap but he has put on a smaller pulley and an exhaust and it goes pretty well.

Also, why the hell did Holden go with that stupid two bolt design for the engine mounts. Aligning the damn thing was a massive head****.

 

as for the tech involved in the holden engine vs the VG30dett there is a heap more in the nissan, I am not hating on what you have asked, personally it may not be as bad as some think but I would not consider the Buick V6 to be anywhere near the VG in tech, even the EFI is miles behind on the Buick, The old Delco (even though its a great piece of kit for what it is) is a batch fire billy basic EFI unit, no knock sensor (in the early models) no Variable cam capability, nowhere near the VG's system. and yes the VG's system is not a powerhouse in modern terms either, but you have 2 totally different engines. both have their respective pros and cons but they are not in anyway equal in the technology stakes.

Personally I would say go for it if you are that keen, there quite a few who love the holden/Buick V6 and they all have valid reasons. They are common as hell parts are easy to get and more to the point if you actually get it done you will still have your negative comments here but there WILL be a lot more respect because of the simple fact you have shown yourself to not be someone just mouthing off with pipe dreams -

 

Pretty sure they used flat plane cranks in the Formula Holden series though (and silly high revs), not Holden cranks. Technically the 3.8 is an unbalanced motor, as it is basically a V8 with two cylinders lopped off, ie it's a 90 degree V6, not a 60 degree V6 which is inherently balanced. That's why they have such a big harmonic balancer. Having said that, they were a very good engine in their time. Pretty much indestructible, economic, and capable of good horsepower.

 

Will the LY7 Alloytech high output motor (VE series) fit? It's a 60 degree V6 instead of the 90 degree 3.8 litre, quad cam, variable valve timing on inlet and exhaust, 195 kW out of the box in 2006, and I think the current ones are up around 220 kW. Yes, a batch of the early ones had timing chain stretch issues, but overall, these are an impressive and responsive motor.