350sx NW Build up

[Tom25666]

Fun fact: A standard ice hockey puck is made of vulcanized rubber, 1 inch (25 mm) thick, 3 inches (76 mm) in diameter, and weighs between 5.5 and 6 ounces.
nice build!

[KansaiDrifter]

haha yeah pucks rule lol. They're easy to work with and inexpensive to replace. Good to hear about the LS14

I just used Duplicolor Engine high temp paint, but I prepped with Self Etching primer, I love that primer, it sprays easy and sticks to anything lol. Be careful not to run it too much. I tried the Rustoleum Engine paint but it ran off it like water, the Duplicolor was much better. It scratches easy on the knuckles but on the smooth subframe it does good. Only reason it scratches easy on the knuckles is because of the rough texture. But I love the yellow through the wheels haha. I'm thinking I might paint the calipers yellow too haha.

[KansaiDrifter]

Here's some of the progress for today, went and welded up the mounts, reinstalled them and then dropped the engine out so I can start finalizing things up. I've still got to do some trimming on the mounts to clear the headers but it's minimal. With everything out I'll be doing some clean up, installing the clutch, powersteering lines, pretty much when it goes back in the next time it'll be complete Enjoy some pics for now, because I don't like build threads without pics haha

Final enigne placement, you can see (in person atleast) that the center of the strut towers is down the #2/5 cylinders so there's not much forward weight.


just a pic of the mounts, just used the good old arc welder to weld them up, I really didn't want to tig through 1/2" of steel (2x 1/4") lol. It's a strong weld with good penetration



I tried to get a good shot of ground clearance, the only part that's lower then the crossmember is the trans, it's maybe 3/8" lower then the frame rails, I'm sure the exhaust will hang lower then that. The sway bar will be shimmed down also and it has plenty of clearance that way, I just didn't take pics of that lol



And out she comes


Pop! lol

[sftmb]

maaan sooo the motor/tranny clean. it's not all covered in sludge like some KA's and SR's. lol you should put something in the motor mount between those two brackets you welded. like a konata figurine and some plexiglass or something. lol that would be intense!

[Fred Allen Burge]

Man this reeeally reminds me of my VQ swap, it's been too long! I still dream of a coupe with a VQ30 and turbo, one day I'll get back around to that project.

Good luck with the rest of your project!

[Corbic]

For what 350Zs go for these days... I still do not understand the VQ swap into a S-Chassis. If anything a RB/SR/JZ/VK/LS swap into a Z makes more sense.

Just add up the basics of the motor swap, brake upgrades, five-lug swap, chassis stiffing and you could have swung a Z33. Sure, the Z is heavier but if your gutting your S13, pulling out the AC and all... why not do the same to the Z?

[KansaiDrifter]

Originally Posted by Corbic

For what 350Zs go for these days... I still do not understand the VQ swap into a S-Chassis. If anything a RB/SR/JZ/VK/LS swap into a Z makes more sense.

Just add up the basics of the motor swap, brake upgrades, five-lug swap, chassis stiffing and you could have swung a Z33. Sure, the Z is heavier but if your gutting your S13, pulling out the AC and all... why not do the same to the Z?

I see what your saying but I'm building this entire setup for about $10k~$12k for everything including the car, used z's go for $12k bone stock around here. That and I'm not a drift Z fan. I've been able to drift a 350z and it didn't work/transition like I would of liked and I've always liked how the S chassis work. For daily, yeah I'd be all about rocking a z but not for a purpose built drift car. They make great grip cars to me. I was going to keep the AC and full interior on the first chassis but then I found a great deal on this chassis and I couldn't pass it up. I'd also hate to bang up a nice/expensive Z myself, I probably wouldn't drive it as hard/get as close with it because of that. With this s13, it's on! My plans for this car is to drive the crap out of her haha

As far as dropping a VQ into a S13, not much difference between a vq, ls1, rb, jz. None of them belong in a s13 to start with and they all cost money haha. I'm doing a vq personally because about 3 years ago I did a LS1, believed to be the first on this coast, definitely the first in WA, and now they're played out to me, along with jz's, rb's, sr's, ka-t's (in s13's). Nobody's doing the vq in the s13 yet up here so it fits my style.

The vq will put out about ~250rwhp bone stock, it'll gain a little hopefully with the exhaust and intake, but i'm not worried. 250 at the wheels is a nice number for a s13. That's just to start with, down the road we're already looking into maybe a little shot of nitrous, 25~50 at most. But the overall plan is to do a vq-t setup eventually. On about 10psi they make about 400rwhp. That's pretty efficient to me. Plus it sits far enough back and is actually lighter then the ka so it's a nice combo and won't disrupt the balance nearly as bad as a iron block rb/jz and the ls1 even though it's aluminum, it's still heavy.

Yeah those are my thoughts on it, I'm definitely one for personal opinion so I'm happy to see everyone's ideas/thoughts. Thanks for checking it out and hope you enjoy it as much as I do haha

[97240TB]

Another thing to think about is... Why on earth would you take a relatively newer vehicle such as a 350Z, and tear it down for drifting when he can take a old tired 240 and give it new life?

Like he said, DD the 350Z for sure... Not to mention he basically saved a drivetrain from a destroyed car.

Play on playa.

[KansaiDrifter]

So I got a few things done today, got the engine mounts ground down just enough to clear the headers, that was my plan since the start anyway. The passenger side needed a little more then the drivers, seems to be a difference in header design. Yeah just some pics of the parts that got cleaned up and painted. Only need to put in the clutch and modify the driver's header now and I can final mount her in. Well here's a few more pics

Sorry for the crappy quality but here's the crossmember and Megan tie rod ends


Here's the mounts



Also refinished the header heat covers, I'll probably have to trim the driver's side but the passenger should fit right on, I just scuffed them and used high heat engine paint




Here's the powersteering lines bolted up and cleaned up haha

[tricky_ab]

Originally Posted by 97240TB

Another thing to think about is... Why on earth would you take a relatively newer vehicle such as a 350Z, and tear it down for drifting when he can take a old tired 240 and give it new life?

Like he said, DD the 350Z for sure... Not to mention he basically saved a drivetrain from a destroyed car.

Play on playa.

I was thinking the same thing...Anyways, this is his build so carry on.

[r2d2haro]

I don' speack or write english well enough, Im from mexico. But i had to say This is the greatest swap ever, Im making homework for my own swap and here I keep learning a lot every time I get in here

[KansaiDrifter]

That's great to hear, I'll try to keep on showing the parts to do the swap.

Today I just got a little more painting done and installed the clutch. Not much to see lol. Looking at modifying the header tomorrow and dropping the car back on the engine setup haha. I'll be sure to take pics of how much I have to work the header over.

[KansaiDrifter]

Here's a few more pics, I got the front lca's and knuckles painted up, modified the header to clear the steering knuckle, didn't take much. I also knocked in the firewall just a touch where the header flanges come close. Yeah she's ready to be dropped back in again for the final time hopefully lol.

Here's the header dent, all that was needed was a little heat from a torch, not too much though, and a ball peen hammer. Only knocked in the shield part, it didn't effect the flow of the inner header tubes.


Here's the indentation of the firewall. This car had a rb25 in it before, the tunnel was from a long time ago, it's not needed for this swap, at least not nearly as much as the rb's need.


Here's the corner I notched off the heat shield to clear the steering shaft


Gave my dad the harmonic balancer and ilder pulley and he sandblasted them for me, then just re sprayed them black


Here's the knuckles and lca's



Just a hint of yellow from normal view haha

[sil80 monster]

lookin good dude!!

[duffman1278]

Photo's are not working, actually only one is showing, nothing else.

Edit: They work, great build

[C-unit]

does sand blasting the harmonic balancer do any damage to it?

[Black240Ct]

is that shifter from Mckinney motorsports?

i was looking into that but rough at 250 bucks

also i see you have a short shifter in there

i am looking for a stock vg35 shifter assembly so you have the stock stuff?

[kamilitaryman]

Originally Posted by C-unit

does sand blasting the harmonic balancer do any damage to it?

No. Worst that'll happen is your timing marks wont have color anymore lol.

[97240TB]

Pretty rad about the headers man, You should still paint this a different color. lol

[C-unit]

Originally Posted by Black240Ct

is that shifter from Mckinney motorsports?

i was looking into that but rough at 250 bucks

also i see you have a short shifter in there

i am looking for a stock vg35 shifter assembly so you have the stock stuff?

he answer it on the last page:

Originally Posted by KansaiDrifter

I actually got mine here, saved a little coin He's the original person that mckinney goes through,

shiftermount - www

Last I remember he has a few made up.

and I don't think there is anything call vg35..lol

[KansaiDrifter]

haha yeah I like green, atleast it's not one of the billion white/flat black/red/silver/blue drift cars up here haha. The yellow was actually just a for the heck of it thing lol. I've owned a few yellow cars and I like yellow, but there's already 2 or 3 yellow coupes, so I probably won't be doing that anytime soon haha.

Yeah I only sandblasted the front pulleys to get the surface rust off them, it shouldn't upset the balance enough to notice. They look a ton better haha.


Here's a bit of an update, I dropped the car back on the engine tonight and set the front bumper back on, starting to look like a car again lol. Gave it a quicky tape measure alignment too with the Megan racing outer tie rod ends and JIC inners.

Here's the Front bumper, it's a Gp Sports style one, looks cool, kinda like a kouki but with pignose signals




Here's the engine in it's final resting place



Here's down the passenger side, the driver's side doesn't have much going on, but the passenger is tight, but still everything fits


Here's the driver's header with the steering all hooked up, there's a good 1/4" of clearance where the bolt head is closest to the header, should be plenty of clearance especially with the stiff mounts I used haha.


Here's the underside shot


And here's the tie rod setup, I've still got to brace up the tension rod braces and then I'll install those too

[eddieflo]

I dig this build

[Fred Allen Burge]

Coming together very well! What do you have planned for hood clearance, do you think the intake manifold will clear your hood?

[97240TB]

He shouldn't really have much of an issue, if anything he can prop the hood a little in the back and be fine.

I like green, just don't think this green suits the car. I feel like this car is above the green, I think the green should say I'm classy... But I like to party.
Something darker... more mysterious.

[wrestlingandrunning]

Damn, very nice!

[KansaiDrifter]

haha the car I had before this was a Supermade Instant Gentlemen LS14, that was classy but liked to party lol, I actually had a suit for the car too, I'd wear it to meets and events haha. Yeah If I was to repaint it, it'd probably be all black, maybe with some blue pearl or something.

Yeah I'm just going to space it up if I have to, it'll be dang close though haha. I think it would clear if I cut the center of the rear support out of the hood, but I'd rather space it, I don't want big floppy hood syndrome haha

[ranger240]

car looks great...

can you give a bit more info on the engine mounts?
like what points were measured to ensure the engine is properly aligned?

[PoorMans180SX]

Car looks really good. I really wish you would get some real wheels though.

And those tie rod ends look sketch.

But keep up the good work.

[GripTerror]

man u should make this kit and sell it.. the engine and tranny mounts i mean.

[KansaiDrifter]

What I did was measured from the frame rails to the block mounting points on each side, got the engine set center, then bolted the plates to the crossmember with the puck under it and then plates to the block. Then simply cut out cardboard templates and used the same pieces for both sides, meaning it was the same distance on both sides still. I also always start with the crossmember side in the center so there is some adjustment if needed and always tack weld the mounts in the car.

Yeah the wheels are the best bang/buck, especially for just a drift car. For my budget it made sense. Maybe one of these days I'll upgrade. I know a few local guys that run these wheels so I can somewhat trust them too.

The tie rod ends are Megan Racing, I love them. The Kazama rod ends that were on there aren't as good as these actually. I'd trust these long before those. I've ran these before on my 5/8th's car and never had an issue. I ran Kazama's on that car also and they wore out pretty quick compared to the Megan Racing. The first version megan's were the same as kazama style and these 2nd gen are a lot better.

Thanks for the props! I'm excited to get this thing on the road and hopefully to the 24th of Sept drift event haha.

Here's what I got done today, built my poor mans' power brace haha. I've only started to tig weld, so some welds look awesome, some are ok but I'm getting better haha. Only my 2nd time using it so I'm happy with the results for sure. It got too cold out to paint it so I'll have to wait till tomorrow for yellow action haha