King Of The Bogans! Z32 V8 Swap

Steven can you ask Mark if he has any plans to install an LS1 engine into the Zed? I would think that he would have a couple more interested people if he did this, myself included.

What would be the ballpark figure for the install (including all parts)?

 

Hopefully there will be a few V8 Zeds at the next Zedfest, can't wait to see yours. No two are ever the same :thumbup:

Mine is definately a backard build, want to do it myself for personal gratification. Haven't set a budget, it costs what it costs. I would like to get it working by the Nationals next easter to show off, but will be taking my time to make sure it is all done right the first time.

 

LOL

From what I have seen almost no two VG engine bays are the same either! lol

 

seriously ... $25k ... flame away

Initially the LS1 was considered... guesstimates came out at $25k to do it properly.
This was not using some trashy LS1 but a brand new boxed engine .
New gearbox, drive shaft, engine management system, exhaust.
A "HSV" type build.

You could probably get away for a lot less using older engine, gearbox, and wiring.

The VH45 has big advantages over the LS1...

1 ) no firewall modifications.

2 ) wiring compatibilities with Z32 ... common wiring colors used by Nissan.

3 ) "modern" engine design compared to the LS1. A good VH45 in reality will put out about 180KWRW ( i.e. 270KW 375HP at engine worst case 231KW 310HP) which is comparable to the 6 liter V8 in today's VE Commodore. Remember also that the Nissan quoted 207KW 278HP was for political reasons due to the stiff tax on engines rated over 280 horsepower. Also, quote ... "it would be fair to assume 280kW could be reached with simply a good exhaust, up-spec cams, slightly higher compression and a well sorted programmable injection system." http://autospeed.com/cms/A_0206/article.html?popularArticle

4 ) a good VH45 engine can be purchased for around $1,500.

 

im liking that alot

 

I've heard of other shops doing it for around the $10k mark with a second hand engine. The firewall/tunnel mods are not exactly appealing in my eyes. And you can't legally turbo them as there displacement is too big. Not worth the trouble IMO...

VH is so much nicer and more fitting for the Z :zlove:

 

ls1 is lighter, and with a high lift cam and 5 angle grind 300rwkw is achievable, providing you have the fuel and tune sorted for it.

 

300rwkw requires all the bolt ons and a cam, probably 5k worth

 

actual the 25k may have been with an LS2 or LS3

Not LS1

 

Conversion sites about 2inch further back then U.S. one

I talked to Mark (MRC) today, the conversion is proceeding well.
Appears that he has the engine sitting about 2 inches further back then the U.S. one based on information and pictures that appear on the conversion forums.

Air conditioning re-routing is done.
Next major issue is the front sway-bar, looks like it will be a custom job.

 

I'm not sure where you get custom swaybars these days, apparently whiteline have stopped doing them...

Is it fouling on the PS pump/Aircon comp or is this due to the crossmember mods? Chunks of steel and some of Caz's adjustable end links. Might have an issue with ground clearance though.

 

Believe it is the air conditioning pump

Believe it is the air conditioning pump and not the cross member.
Need to get a custom swaybar made.

It must be getting closer to the end though as Mark has started giving a thought to what the Shift-At-Will map will need to be for his Skyline conversion.

What I know is left is:
- swaybar
- air intake piping,
- front strut brace & master cylinder brace.
- radiator shroud (prototype done)
- replace dead air conditioning pump (run without initially until repaired)
- new 2.5' exhaust
- electrical wiring connectivity finish (wires have been run)
- integrating the SAW with the Q45 gearbox (map done, rpm cycle rate calculation done).
- running the car up
- dyno
- engineering certification.

arrr a coupla days.:thumbup:

 

Got any progress pics you can show?

Hope it all comes together, sounds like Mark is the right man for the job.

 

do you have a saw kit for your car? if so once you have a map done, and you have tested it, are you able to send it to me as i have one too and want to use ift with my v8

 

Yes ... No not yet

Yes, I have a Shift-At-Will kit (think I was about the 2nd one in the country).

No, (1) because unless you are using the Q45 automatic gearbox it is of no use to you. It is laid out specifically for the Q45 gearbox and not the Z32 gearbox. According to the workshop manuals the maps are very different. So if you are going to use the Z32 gearbox with a TT diff then you should continue using the standard TT map that came with the SAW unit, if you are going to use a NA diff then you should use the standard NA map from Maciej.

(2) the map has not been tested on an actual Q45 box yet. The new map has been modeled off the one shown in the workshop manual. It has to be dyno tested before I would let it out into the wild ( I am not going to be blamed for stuffing anyones gearbox ). The spreadsheet I created has a global variable that can be changed to cater for different diff ratios. The diagram below is the general shape of the shift curves of Speed KM/H against % throttle opening. 5th is lockup.



Notes: On a Z32 with a TT diff the full throttle 1 to 2 automatic gear change occurs at 69km/h, but with a NA diff this means that the engine will bounce against the 7200 rpm rev limiter. Changing the gearbox map to use the other map in the Z32 textbook where the 1 to 2 full throttle change occurs at 61km/h results in a perfect 6500 to 7000 rpm change.

On the Q45 gearbox map the full throttle 1 to 2 automatic gear change occurs at 82km/h. The spreadsheet I created has a "% adjustment" variable (e.g. 0.25) to move the entire Q45 map down to have a full throttle 1 to 2 automatic gear change occurs at 60km/h.

 

For Comparison the Z32 gearbox map

For comparison here is the Z32 Gearbox map (used by Maciej) with Speed against throttle opening


Here again is the Q45 gearbox ones

 

ahh cheers for that, good info.....

 

Did some mucking around with the new motor today.

Took the sump off:



Quite nice and clean, no weird chunks or gunks of goo. Quite happy with the state of affairs there.

Not so with the cooling system though





Lovely... Any tips on how to clean it all out easily without dunking the block?

 

looks like theres SUMPING wrong

 

man what the hell.. drain that crap asap...

doesnt look good brother..