Hii zedders with the engineering caps on! im concidering investing in my aussie spec so i need advice on the engine.. it could do with a "freshn up" so i need to find out the right approach. i am concidering striping down the block to inspect the condition of the pistons, cams, crank and bores... (the original donk has done 180,000 and still boots along quite well) then testing the heads to check they will last for a while if not getten them shaved and valves checked/ replaced... if i was to keep the bottom end with just new seals / gaskets ect and port the head and fit new cams / chip will it hold up...?? then fit all the good bold on bits when the motor is out like headers, UD pully, new seals , o-rings, water pump ignition system, Throttle body upgrade, ect... and a remap so i can claim some decent power with it being ultra relaible.. hopefully 150 at the wheels.. so i can basically drop it bak in and be confident it will last another 15 years of "Firm" driving... im basically after a nice reliable daily driver with grunt for when its needed... that runs 14 sec every day no problems... Your thoughts on this project and cost and power estimates... thanks all Frank
my opinion get your self a decent 300zxtt half cut use the auto/manual,loom,ecu,raidiator,engine,ect.......and dump it all in your car you would be better off you just need to find a decent half cut import and there are heaps around and it would be a twin turbo
well... when my engine was out the first time, I got 2 fully recoe'd heads put on and all seals and gaskets replaced. The bottom end was not touched as it was deemed to be in excellent condition... the car ran fine and I had no probs... This was for one year. When the motor came out the second time (leaky head gasket from first repair, covered under warranty) I thought bugger it, may as well do the bottom end as well. The only thing I didnt change were the pistons themselves as they were deemed to be still excellent by my mechanic and I just couldnt afford another $1k for pistons. All piston rings, bearings etc were replaced, ending up with a fully rebuilt engine (minus brand new pistons). If I hadnt of done the bottom end, I think the engine would have lasted for ages anyway. I only did it because the opportunity was there. I would say, if you have the money, just do the whole engine. You'll be looking at about $6K unless you do the work yourself. as for the 150rwkw?? well that would be nice, but I think it would be a hard ask... look at the mods I have (ported heads, larger throttle bodies, headers etc etc) and I've got 138rwkw's (with a Hitec ECU)... There are more things I can do, but dont have the money and am not really interested at the moment (UD pulley, lightened flywheel, larger CAMS). My car is currently running a stock ECU and I think I'd be in the high 120 low 130rwkw's. The highest NA i've seen on the forum is 142rwkw's.... cant remember the forum member... I'm sure with lenghty hours on the dyno, my car could go higher but I just dont have the money to do that at the moment... for 150rwkw's you'd have to go all out I think.... best of luck dude, if you can do it, all credit to you.. Cheers
Thanks JEDI... 140-150 is a high target... I would have thought your cam upgrade would have been done?? are the cams worth it and how many degrees different are they compaired to stock?? Thank you for your advice
it all comes down to price.... there were a lot of things that I wanted to do, but as usual, very limited by money... The trouble with the zed engine or any V engine is that you usually need 2 of everything making it even more expensive... i dont have any info on the CAMS upgrade but I have heard that they would be a good upgrade, but as usual, not cheap.... For the power you're after you would need much more porting and honing than I had done (only some mild porting in the heads)... a pod filter obviously, with a nice free flowing exhaust and headers, UD pulley (if you like them) and definietly a custom tune, be it either a socketed ECU or an aftermarket ECU such as microtech... I will get a microtech one day, but as usual, need money.. I really hope you get there, it'll be nice to see an NA zed in the 150 rwkw's.. Cheers
yeah man Ill talk to my Engineer See how much labour he wants... It be good to know how many hours it took others to rip apart blocks ect and inspect the internals... SO a List for the engineer: 1. Remove Engine out of Car 2. Strip Engine 3. Inspect internals - Machine Work (over bore) Honing / Blue printing / acid dip? 4. Head Work (what valves?) 5. Camshaft replacement 6. Headers 7. 100,000k premium kit inc UD pully and Water pump 8. Gasket kit 9. new pistons (what size?) 20 /40 / 60? 10. timing gears? 11. Throttle bodys 12. Microtech or other ECU there's a lot to do... My guess this the new over sized pistons will keep it cose to 150 at the wheels and good for 14's easy in the zed!! It sounds silly but if u dont want to mess round with a TT and u like your Aussie car for what it is the i can justify it!! thanks any more opinions PPL
depends on the mechanic I guess..... Joe from nissport can have the engine out and dismantled in no time, and I'm sure the other zed specialists in melb would also be really quick as well.... I say this because if your mechanic isnt experienced in the zed, while he may be a good mechanic, it may take him alittle longer while he gets to learn the vg30.... this time will cost you more money....
Another option convert it to LPG so you can raise the compression ratio even higher than 10.5:1 easily without worry! And have cheaper fuel bills than any other zeds, and your engine should last longer (I'm really waiting for someone to try it!) That, along with all the other usual mods should see your 150kW goal. Even if you get the same power as a TT, you wont get as much torque though.
You will find that these engines are incredibly tough. Of course it depends on what sort of life the engine has had and whether all the service and oil changes have been done at the correct intervals. I would be surprised if you find any wear in the crank at all but obviously you will need new rings, seals and bearing shells. Probably get away with lapping the valves in if you didn't want the expense of new valves, guides, springs and seals. I took on this task myself and it took 4 months working on it 1 or 2 days each week. Don't try to strip the engine in-situ. Pull the engine out and everything is then so much easier. Do the under plenum throttle body by pass and of course the 100km service and replace all fuel and water hoses. I also replaced the engine wiring loom while the donk was out just for peace of mind. All up costs were $2300 but I probably saved about $3000 in labour costs. This frees up a lot of moolah to do the upgrades that you are planning. Frank, you may not be in the position to take on this work yourself but if you can - do it! - You will learn so much about the engine and feel a lot more confident with any other mechanical problem that might come up. Just my 2 cents. Cliff
what about adjustable cam gears? rather than go for new cams, why not try out some adjustable cam gears? they go for about $150-200each (i think) so about $300-400 for a pair. i'm sure you will gain a few more kW's with some on the exhaust cams, and even more if you could afford some for the intake cams... :thumbsup: Warren.
Yeah these are good options... Will enquire Ive always been a fan of Straight gas and my feeleing is that the VG motor will like it.. The adj cam gears are a good investment i think... ill have to plan this out... i have the money.. jsut dont wanna throw it all away with out a plan to stick to
