What are they? Is it possible to swap parts and bring a 2nd gen up to 3rd gen performance? The displacement seems to be the same.

To save precious bytes, I also wanted to ask if it's a very bad thing for 2nd gear (manual) to be somewhat tough to engage at higher speeds? I know 1st will only go in below 5mph or so, but 2nd seems to be coming up with its own limit now, maybe around 20mph. Is synchro wear to blame? Any estimated time of expiration, if so? :/

 

i thought both vg30e's had 160hp and for the tranny it sounds like syncros because i can down shift into 1st at 25mph and second at 55mph time of expiration depends on how hard you drive it if you go easy it could last forever the 5spds are very reliable

 

the engines are very similar. main difference is the intake manifold. talk to Nismo87SE on the 2nd gen board. that boy knows these engines inside and out. can probably give you bore, stroke, cam duration, rod lengths, etc all off the top of his head.


as for the tranny, it sounds like it's about ready for a rebuild. synchros are definitely on their way out. when? there's no telling, but I don't give it more than a few months.

 

The HP might be similar, but the 3rd gen has about 30lb/ft of torque more. Bummer about the tranny...my car is the previous generation, and second gear isn't problematic on the upshift, but I guess I'll need to look into replacing it eventually. Then again, I drove my old '83 Saab 900 Turbo with no second gear above 10mph/2000rpm for a year of so before the clutch went out.

Edit: Feel free to move this to the 2nd gen forum if you think I'll get a better response there. I just figured you lot would know what makes the 3rd gen VG30E special.

 

i cant amagine there could be that big of difference in torque i mean there hardly a diference in the design of the engine the first thing i would do to mod it is custom intake and costom downpipe
(i dont thick it has a ypipe) and exhaust and i wonder if a light flywheel and udp would be interchangable im not sure if the belt setup is the same but the flywheel should be

 

You cant believe it but its true the 3rd gens have lots more torque, and NIssan did alot of changes to the 89-94 VG vs the 85-88 one. They look different and donot share alot of parts, I have been through that before years ago.

 

well i would amagine the only difference would mainly be intake and exhaust so it proboly wont be to hard to gain it back

 

Actually the 3rd gen makes 14tq more than the 2nd gen does (157hp/168tq) vs 160hp/182tq. The main difference is the intake manifold which is 2 stage so to speak and the cams are slightly milder than 2nd gens. The 2nd gen cams have the same lift but more duration at 252* vs the 248* of the 3rd gens. Then again the 3rd gen has a more restrictive exhaust (y pipe) than the 2nd gen. Don't forget the Z31 had the same engine as the max but it made 160hp/174tq so it made the same power as the 3rd gen max. To this day we still don't know where the extra power came from. But I do know that the 2nd gens with free mods do make nice torque.

 

heh.. I was right.. cam durations flying out Ari's ****...

 

Sorry about the numbers. So, could I just rip the intake manifold off a 3rd gen and put it on my 2nd gen? The only other cheap yet effective mod I know of would be to get a larger TB and port the intake collector. Advancing the timing would rape me with gas prices as they are, and I think I'll pass on replacing the cam for now, if it's even possible (?), since the Chilton's manual description makes my n00bish head spin.

Edit: Hey, what's up with my title.
Edit2: Ahaha...postcount.

 

Also the 3rd gen have that dual plenum system that opens and alows the engine to breathe through 2 seperate intake systems for low end torque and up high an intermidiate valve opens and the 2 plenums functin as one. This ways new for 89 looking at an old 89 brochure unlike the 2nd gen also didnt 85-86's make 152hp and they upped it in 87 to 157hp.

 

Hmmm...that suggests that it might not be a simple swap, eh? I wonder why no one else has tried, AFAIK?

 

There are a few issue's with the swap. First is that the EGR is on the front manifold for 3G and on the rear for 2G, next the 2G has an idle up soleniod + FICD and an air regulator while the 3G has the IAC/AAC + air cut valve. In short its not an easy swap, I know I wouldn't do it . I definitly recommend going to a 60mm TB, if U get the nissan TB the throttle lines will match up. If U get the hatichi, you'll have to swap over your throttle plates and bypass the coolant hoses and get a Tee for the vacuum hoses. After port matching the car will have awesome throttle response and your gas mileage will increase too.

Advancing the timing should be done anyway unless you run cheap gas, even then your mileage will be less than on 91+ octane anyway.

 

to your knowledge of the VGs

 

Thanks for all the info! The 240sx/Stanza TB is made by Nissan, correct? As for timing, well, let's put it this way: I live in California. Ordinary gas is over $2 a gallon. I am already poor enough.

For future reference, though, what's the standard timing advance? 22? I know the info is somewhere, but I've got to live up to my title somehow.

 

I think the most you should advance is 20, but I am just passing on rumors...

the 1st gen 240sx TB bolts right up to ours right?