It was a China knock off haha, was cheap and lasted about what I figured. Only got it because I never had the oem shifter. I would recommend this new one though, works good and a much much better material. Oh the SOS band I got from Kinokuniya Bookstore here in Seattle, if you want I could grab one next time I swing by haha. I think they're $7.
So I've been doing my research and think I've come to what I'm going to be scheming for the turbo build. The main component will be either the Garrett GT3582 .82/1.03 (not sure which yet, leaning towards .82) A/R dual ball bearing or the Turbonetics GT35R killer. I'm aiming for a reliable 500rwhp and these should be capable of ~650rwhp.
The longblock will undergo a set of Wiseco or CP pistons 8.8:1 cmp, Eagle or Manely Rods stock length, ARP block studs, head studs, Cosworth headgasket, and ACL race bearings. Piston wise, I'm undecided on standard bore or .010 over. I know the ka/sr's didn't have a great bore so you go .010 over to make it perfect but I'm wondering how good the oem bore is on the vq, if it's so good that I can get away with standard or not.
Injectors will be 600cc, Tial 38/44mm external wastegate,walbro 255 lph, probably a set of new fuel rails if I can find a decent priced set, if not I'll just get another set of stocks and weld on some AN fittings to make it a pass through return style.
I'm still undecided on engine management, the TurboXS utec is intriguing, I've heard of people liking it, other's don't like it. I personally think it's in the tuner himself's eye. The Haltec Platinum Pro is one other choice and the Pro Efi setup has promise. The utec is my first choice also because it uses my reflashed ecu still which still has the dbw, nats removal etc where I know the Pro efi doesn't support dbw, and it's less then half the price of the Haltec lol.
Exhaust and piping I'm making myself, I've found this link to get the cnc'd exhaust flanges
VQ35DE Header Flange Set HRS - VQ35DE HFHR - 6725 BMC Racing Products
and I'll be buying some piping locally and I've got my Miller tig machine =D
So that's the idea so far. Probably will run at least the Motordyne intake plenum spacer, might even buy it once I get paid for a bit more hp currently. But I'm leaving stock heads and cams unless I find a great deal on some Nismo cams. These heads already flow like crazy up top.
Here's a pic of reference for the engine bay setup that I like, I like the equal length sides of the exhaust coming to the front, I think it will help in tuning and keep each cylinder on the same page for af/r. This was a build on nico and z forums but never saw the end =( Great ideas though,
Now he's got a modified vq30 intake turned the other way and valve covers, but it's a vq35de just like mine haha
Here's how to get the powersteering and alt out of the way enough to bring exhaust forward, also eliminates the center idle pulley and creates much more bay room.
So that's my ideas so far, let me know if you've got experience with the vq and things like the bore sizes and tuning software, I'd like to hear some more real world opinions haha