350sx NW Build up

[KansaiDrifter]

I'm not sure how long those are, but I do know that McKinney actually makes a nice set too, kinda spendy but easier to swap and hp gains in the long run.
VQ-240sx swap Products McKinney Motorsports

Oh yeah I've thrown it up for sale, if it sells it sells, could use the money to complete some college stuff lol, but hopefully I'll get a certain job I'm after that would make it to where I don't need to sell her.

[Yellow4g63]

Those Mckinney one's don't look bad but I'll prob be going with a local company called Protech-fabrication for the header. I'll get a nice merged collector, pulsed manifold with a nice merged collector.

[KansaiDrifter]

So it's been a little while for much of an update but got the chance to bring in the new year with a bang! Headed out to Pacific Grand Prix (PGP) track for some drifty time it was wet but still got some smoke out there haha. Here's some pics from the last event. I decided that since the ebrake is used quite a bit I'll be upgrading to a hydro handle atleast for now, considering a dual caliper setup or the pbm big rotor upgrades for front z brakes and rear factory brakes. For now though the vq's been a trooper, drive it 1.5 hours there, run it all day hard, drive it back 1.5 hours with gas left in the tank lol.

[PoorMans180SX]

Car looks awesome man, I wish you could find some outside footage. It looks really tossable and like tons of fun from the quarter panel cam.

[tricky_ab]

It's looking great! Its nice to see you're finally getting to enjoy it out on the track!

[KansaiDrifter]

found some good out of car video haha, check this out

YouTube - PGP

[Michael Nolan]

Car look great, and sounds dope! Awesome work!

[Imarvin240]

looking good on the track man! ggreat job on the build

[daftphunk]

Woohoo for the NW! I missed the last PGP event will try to be out there next one.

[spent27]

Are you still running no thermostat? I think these engines are just extremely hard to burp... I was having major overheating issues with my vq swap, and like you said, it was like the thermo wasn't opening. After a ton of burping, I've got it running around 210, which I think is fine but I was hoping for a tad cooler... The stock vq has an air bleeder so maybe that's it...

BTW is your rev limit stock? I heard you hitting it quite a bit in your vids, just curious... great build btw...

[KansaiDrifter]

Thanks for the compliments!

Yeah the next pgp event is Feb 12th, I'm thinking I'll try to make that one too haha, I tell people pgp is like "The Disneyland of Drifting for the NW" haha.

Yeah still not running a thermostat, I'm thinking of picking up a nismo thermostat though they open at 154~160 instead of around 200. These engines are said to run hot though from browsing z forums. Best thing to do is to drill holes in the thermostat on the upper side to bleed air.

I'm also going to buy a pbm swirl tank and hook it up where the throttle body heater hoses go to help bleed it, the major problem is that like the throttle body, it's way higher then the radiator so it just traps all that air up there, at least that's my theory. I don't have any overheating issues on track, just run the fan full time and while I'm running on track it'll sit at the center line and not go over but I'd like a better way to bleed it.

Oh yeah rev limit's stock, but the diff I got has a 4.3 ratio so it's a bit touchy lol. I've gotten used to it but I'd like to find a 3.54/3.69 q45/j30 gear set to lengthen the revs out a bit. Currently my 2nd gear is like a standard 240's 1st and so on, so if I lengthen my rear gear, I'll just drop down back to normal style and actually gain a true 6th gear.

[PoorMans180SX]

Sounds like you need the pathfinder cooling mod. There is a kit for it somewhere.

[Yellow4g63]

Did the Z's run a mechanical fan? or was it a OEM electric fan? Can't wait to do my swap .

[irax]

If it isn't cooling enough then maybe you should consider hooking up the heater core if it isn't, you might want to consider modifying your radiator so the ports are on the correct side and you aren't adding excessive rubber hose causing it to not pressurize correctly. IDK.. you could get a parallel flow radiator off summit racing for like 200 and boom you don't have to modify anything.
btw I decided not to run coolant lines to the TB that isn't going to cause issues is it?

Originally Posted by Yellow4g63

Did the Z's run a mechanical fan? or was it a OEM electric fan? Can't wait to do my swap .

4 door G35's had mechanical fans, and other FR 4 door VQ Nissan/Infiniti cars

Originally Posted by PoorMans180SX

Sounds like you need the pathfinder cooling mod. There is a kit for it somewhere.

Proper way of doing this mod, depending on his block, can require modifying the block

[KansaiDrifter]

Yeah my setup cools fine, I'm happy with it. One of these days I'll swap the inlet/outlets. I'm actually thinking of putting a thermostat back in for the winter, it gets cold as a daily driver lol. I'd like to run a swirl tank so when I have to swap my fluid out it's easier to bleed just don't wanna pop head gaskets lol. At that pg p track we can't run antifreeze, so it's a routine to swap coolant once a month or so.

should be fine with out the throttle body cooler, I think it's a dumb thing to put on anyway, turns into a t.b. heater once you get to temp lol. Same as ka's and I know a few guys who don't run them on ka's.

I actually bolted on a ka fan to the idler pulley, would work, don't think the fan shroud fit though.

[irax]

No anti-freeze? make some home made glycol. Boil some water, add some sugar.. boom glycol! Water, Glycol, Water Wetter... I'm pretty sure that should be allowed!

[KansaiDrifter]

hmmmm that's pretty intriguing might look into that haha, anything to stop freezing and corrosion, but not antifreeze.

[gunluvS14]

nice work man

[irax]

Originally Posted by KansaiDrifter

hmmmm that's pretty intriguing might look into that haha, anything to stop freezing and corrosion, but not antifreeze.

it will stop freezing but not the corrosion

for that you just use distilled water

I think water wetter may have corrosion stopping properties.

[Odysseus]

How did you get your PS res silver? Is it polished or painted/powdercoated?

[KansaiDrifter]

oh that's right yeah water wetter helps a bit with corrossion, it's like lubricating the water system haha.

the ps reservoir is just sanded a bit with scotch brite pads and shot with dupicolor "chrome" spray paint haha. It actually has a shine to it lol. Just painted it because the original finish was all nasty lol.

[KansaiDrifter]

Got a new part in yesterday for the OneVQia, my right forearm is going to be thanking me lol

Shout out to Boostedkouki, great seller on here!




Can't wait to get this all hooked up! I'm thinking of mounting where my stereo hole is and towards my driver seat in front of the shifter. For some reason my factory handle has been acting up and I've used these before with great results so when I saw this pop up for sale I'm jumped on it haha.

[irax]

ohh yeah i for got to ask, what lines did you use for the PS?

[KansaiDrifter]

Oh I used just factory single cam lines, they fit pretty good. I would really really like to run a power steering cooler so I might try to redo it.

I almost completely forgot to mention that the hydro hand brake is a CNC Staging brake 412 model

Also ordered up a set of Driftspeed super angle knuckles Would go with pbm but can't afford the downtime and this setup's a bit less. All I'm really after is getting the steering to stop locking, but I'll gain a few degrees at the same time. I'm probably gonna wait until the knuckles get here, hopefully tuesday/wednesday next week and I'll install both the handbrake and knuckles.

[KansaiDrifter]

Got some more goodies in!

Here's the PBM Swirl breather tank, the vq is kinda a pain to bleed with the throttle body being higher then the radiator, so I'm going to run this for when I have to do so many fluid changes because of the local track.


Here's the Driftspeed super angle knuckles and inner tie rod spacers. I already painted them the yellow to match the rest of the suspension haha, they came red. Look pretty nice and I'll be installing them tomorrow

[KansaiDrifter]

Spent all day putting things together lol, did snap a few shots of the knuckles but forgot to get some of the swirl tank and hydro brake. Haven't driven the car down the road yet, forgot to hook the exhaust up so I'll do it tomorrow morning. Here's a few pics, the steering is right before the lock up point and lots of angle, can't wait to try it on the track!

[97240TB]

You need a John Deer sponsorship.

[Drift_Slut]

Looks killer.Nice work.

[KansaiDrifter]

haha yeah I do need a john deer sponsorship haha, right now I'm just saying it's rooting for Green Bay lol.

Here's a few more pics of the finished setups, Here's a pic of where I intercepted the rear going brake line for the hydro handle, and where the hydro handle is mounted, oh I also picked up a bubble shifter from a local guy to make it easier to get the shifter and the handle on the hydro lever.



Here's a couple pics of the PBM Swirl tank, it really does bleed air nice and now my radiator stays full, where before it wasn't. I used the throttle body heater hoses for my circulation of the tank and it comes with a cap for the radiator so the breather line from the radiator cap is now open to circulate any trapped air. I'm happy with it,



My thought about driving with the drift speed knuckles, it daily drives like normal, there's a slightly heavier feel on the wheel but it's not bad at all. The turning radius is improved quite a bit and you can feel when you reach a certain point the wheel seems to want to countersteer easily. The best part is that you can go to full lock and back without having the steering lock up.

[KansaiDrifter]

So after another long break of just daily driving and such I've gathered a few more parts up. I decided to go with the z32 rear brakes hoping that the hydro handle will lock up better, it works ok, but is a little harder then the standard cable to get the wheels to lock actually so I was honestly a bit disappointed. Now though it should lock up much better, I've got to wait on Nissan to get the pins in and I'll be able to get it all back together. For now though I did pickup some rear calipers, basic rotors and pads, Agency Power front and rear brake lines ( I just noticed I only had rubber fronts lol) and some shock sleeves because I've got the s13 coils and s14 knuckles.

Oh also picked up some drift spares, 350z 18x8's.



March 12th I'll be back at the track to tear it up so hopefully I'll have everything done by then lol