95 240sx SE from built SR to VH Swap

[ryan15]

Hello everyone, just thought i'd share some of my build progress. It's been a really slow build, ive been working on it since mid August and it's been and is still a parts waiting game for me. I started with a 337whp/330wtq built SR and am working on a VH.

Here is the foundation of my project:


Here is what my setup looked like oin the beginning of august:


I really liked my SR set-up but in the middle of me building my engine a while back I started looking at VH swaps and decided im going to have to do a conversion eventually as it was an awesome unique an reliable swap.

So I had an issue with low RPM stutter which turned out to be a small injector issue on my SR and decided f*ck this 4 cylinder BS for now, time to piece together a VH45 swap and part out the SR. So after a few weeks of searching I found a 70,770 mile 95 VH45 about 70 miles away that was advertised for $750 before taxes and ended up talking him down to $707 after taxes.



I ended up taking off the oil pan, valve covers, replacing front and rear main seals, and just doing a lot of cleaning and resealing to ensure the engine doesn't leak on me and last through a lot of abuse. The valve train and internals were as clean as possible which I was super stoked about.






Then I did a mock up to clearance anything that I may need to:



Took the engine back out and preped and painted the engine bay:





I found a kisuu adapter plate locally for 225 with no hardware. Took a little bit of research to find the correct bolt sizes which I came to no luck with as no one would share the secret of the bolt sizes. I ended up buying the hardware from mazworx. I found an old guy with a mill around here and he machined the bell housing for me, it ended up costing $125.



I ended up using a NA Z32 XTD Stage 3 clutch and brand new flywheel with all ARP hardware. I hope this clutch is up for the task, they rate it for 390ft lbs of torque and I've had good luck with them in the past so im crossing my fingers.







As you can see, I initially bought into stokers header group buy which ended up being a big disappointment, a pain in the butt and a waste of money on my part. I ended up selling the headers and getting some of my money back but the headers just weren't up to my standards and they weren't as advertised. Last time I buy something with out seeing it first. I ended up going with mazworx headers which also is/was a headache. So after another month of waiting on headers, they finally arrived. TWO PASSENGER SIDE HEADERS!:bang: So I that adds another 2-3 week to my project. Anyways, heres a few pictures of the engine going in and it's current state etc.

















So far the engine starts (yes I started it open head on the drivers side lol) and runs fine. Wiring was as bad as any nissan swap,
I bought a KA no name radaitor which ended up not fitting because the bottom mounting points arent aligned correctly. So I have a Koyo racing radiator on back order I should have in a week. For now I am going to use my SR radiator if the only snag is waiting for a radiator.

I found this hose that should fit perfectly for the SR radiator:




What is complete:
-Engine drop in
-Wiring
-Pass side header and that portion of the y-pipe
-Drive shaft mounted
-Fluids all filled except coolant
-Shifter mounted
-Sentra brake booster installed (completely necessary btw!)
-Clutch line, new slave/master cylinder bled and operational.

What I need to do:
-Install drivers side header when it arrives (not excited about the in engine bay install haha)
-Purchase upper radiator hose and install, fill and bleed coolant system
-Finish and paint y-pipe
-Wire cooling fans to thermo switch/relay
-Install fenders/bumper
-Install steering column
-Calibrate tach and mod speed to match TT speed sensor via gsracer's write up

After all of that theoretically I'm done and can enjoy my setup for maybe a month before I leave overseas for 6 months:roll:

Thanks for looking!

[ryan15]

Finished my radiator plumbing for the SR radiator until my KA one gets here. Also filled up with coolant. I replaced the noname shifter bushings with an SPL one.

[ryan15]

Got the whole set-up 'completed' last night, recieved the header, finished my y-pipe. I went to start it up for the first time and it jumped to 3k rpms dropped down to about 500rpms and died. So I called it a night and then realized it had to be a vacuum leak, and a big one at that. So I took off the throttle body and connected the hose right behind as I forgot to do so initially. Went to start up and it ran beautifully. A few issues though, can't drive for more then 10 mins or it starts heating up past where it should on the stock gauge, so that's the biggest issue i'll need to figure out. My steering wheel is now off center from reinstalling the steering column (a HUGE pain in the ass to due by my self). And I need to figure out a different fan control set-up, the summit switch didn't work, I did some trouble shooting to ensure it was the switch and now have the funs runs when the ignition is on. Also, my speedo sensor doesn't work so i'll need to figure that out.

Here is few pics of my progress in the last 24 hrs:

[ryan15]

Welded the o2 bung on today for my wideband and painted the y-pipe after shortening about a 1/3" to meet up with the exhaust better, then finally painted it black.

[ryan15]

Nothing too exciting, made my power steering line today. I have it running in the wheel well, it looks alright but I might redo it to be inside the engine bay to run between the header and the frame rail in the future.

[ryan15]

Finished a few things:
-Finally received my KA Koyo rad, got a new fan switch (on at 190 off at 175) and moved it up to the top hose where it belongs. Now the fan turns on at the right times haha.
-Got my speedo to work today, the reverse switch and the VSS where wired into eachother. It appears the speedo is almost dead on with gsracer's write up, maybe 1-2 mph faster at freeway speeds (havent tested that yet), but I was driving around with a GPS speedo app and it seemed dead on most of the time.



Pretty much done with the VH swap portion, time to just have fun with the setup untill I leave for 6 months mid Jan. Oh also, I am buying a $110 N1 Dual knockoff exhaust. I am not a big fan of the sound from the Megan type II stock looking exhaust. This way I can fab an X-pipe set-up in the future.

[bc.]

This looks great, well done so far.

[c-los13]

Awesome man!!! Are you on our vh45 facebook group????

[future]

The real Dual N1 is the best sounding NA exhaust I've ever heard

[qwikspool]

nice set up.

[ryan15]

Originally Posted by c-los13

Awesome man!!! Are you on our vh45 facebook group????

I am man, I am on VH45 and VH45+

[ryan15]

Originally Posted by bc.

This looks great, well done so far.

Thanks man!

[ryan15]

Originally Posted by future

The real Dual N1 is the best sounding NA exhaust I've ever heard

It's a DNA Motoring one so it's def fake but I just wanted something I can weld a true x-pipe to eventually. This is def the most awesome set-up i've dealt with. In this order I've done these set-ups:

-KA24E
-RB20DET w/RB25 turbo
-SR20DET w/ s14 turbo and rom tune
-KA24E
-SR20DET, built it and used a GTX2863R searching for power at all rpms
-VH45DE with bolt ons

[ryan15]

Installed my new exhaust, sounds way better and way louder. Kind of like a smoother version of a cobra domestic ricer haha. For future refrence to anyone, chambered muffler (such as the megan type II exhaust I was running) don't sound nearly as good as straight through exhausts on a VH.

[ryan15]

Dyno'd yesterday. 285whp/288wtq.
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b1ZRQFAkjs[/video]

[c-los13]

hell yeah Ryan!!!