VG30ET Swap FAQ
VG30ET Swap FAQ
Finally got it done pretty much. I still need to work on the actual writeup but I believe the FAQ is finished.
The writeup will be on this page when I can get the time to take pictures and type it all out.
http://www.cardomain.com/member_page...=177457&page=8
Q: Can I turbo my VG Maxima?
A: Yes, you can!
Q: How hard is it?
A: If you have some mechanical skill and knowledge its actually quite easy. I pretty much did the swap without much knowledge and just learned on the way but I have pretty good mechanical skill, which helped.
Q: How much would I be looking to spend on this project?
A: I spent somewhere between $1500-$2000. It would have been cheaper but there were some things that I bought that I didn’t need to.
Q: Can I turbo the stock engine or do I have to swap an engine?
A: You can do either. The stock VG has a compression ratio of 9:1, which actually isn’t all that bad for boost. If you turbo the stock engine the 9:1 compression will give you quicker spool times and will give you better low end power along with high end power compared to a lower compression engine.
Q: Which engines can I put into my Maxima?
A: For the engine swap you will want to use the VG30ET from an 87-89 300ZX Turbo or you can also get the JDM VG30ET that I believe came out of the Nissan Gloria. It has a sort of mix of parts compared to the USDM versions. The 84-86 300ZX Turbo has an 8.3:1 compression ratio with a T3 turbo. The 87-89 300ZX Turbo has an 8.5:1 compression ratio with a T25 turbo. The Gloria engine, from what I can tell, has an 8.3:1 compression ratio but has the T25 turbo. The Gloria engine is also supposed to have the euro cams, which add about 10 more horsepower over the USDM version.
Q: How much power do these engines pull?
A: If the JDM engine does have the euro cams it should pull about 210-215 hp. The 87-89 300ZX Turbo pulls 205 hp (all are crank horsepower figures).
Q: How do I swap a VG30ET into my Maxima?
A: Here’s the fun stuff. Once you get the engine you’ll need to pull the Maxima engine out so you can swap some stuff over. The items you’ll need to swap are:
- Oil pan (you’ll also need to get a pipe welded in for the oil return tube from the turbo)
- Alternator
- A/c
- Bracket for the alt. and a/c
- Power steering pump (since its easiest to just leave the pump on the car when removing the engine you need to remove the p/s pump off of the turbo engine)
- Coolant pipes running under the intake manifold
- Water pump
- Sensors
- Crank pulley
- Its a good idea to swap the valve covers since the rear valve cover of the Z has the oil cap right on the cover whereas the Maxima has a raised tube and the front valve cover will need to be swapped if you want to use the Maxima distributor (I did this since I wasn't sure if I could get the JDM VG30ET distributor cap and such here incase they are different from the Z31 setup)
- Distributor mounting plate (its the flat piece of aluminum that the distributor bolt bolts into). The one on the JDM VG30ET has a different angle for the bolt compared to the one on the Maxima VG30E so you will need to swap it over to keep from stripping the aluminum out with the bolt.
If using the JDM engine and you have a manual tranny you need to swap the IACV (idle air control valve) since the cars these engines came in only had an automatic. The IACV on automatics differ from the ones used on engines with a manual tranny so for the idle to work right, it needs to be swapped.
If using the Z31 engine you need to swap everything above along with:
- Intake manifold (upper and lower)
- Fuel rail (Z31 has top feed injectors from what I understand) *see “Other things you’ll need If you use the Z31 engine”
Q: What kind of things do I need to buy to get it running?
A: You’ll need to get quite a few things but if you search a little bit you can actually find everything for a good price. The things you need include:
- JWT ECU or some sort of fuel management (I bought the Apex’i S-AFC 2 and it seems to work fine)
- Custom crossover pipe to make the install easier (check out the pictures on my Cardomain site)
- Most importantly to get this to work, you'll need to have the manifolds worked on a bit if you relocate the turbo.*** I'll have this outlined in the writeup.
- Custom intake and exhaust (can be done at your local exhaust shop for cheap or if you want to have a higher quality setup you can order mandrel bends and have someone weld it all together unless you can weld it yourself to save money)
- A blow off valve. The 300zx comes with a pop off valve which I believe is supposed to protect from over boosting if the wastegate ever fails. I would replace this with a good blow off valve. Something cheap yet effective is a 1st generation eclipse blow off valve. They are said to handle a good amount of boost without leaking and you can pick them up for 30 bucks or so.
- Aftermarket wastegate since when you move the turbo you'll have to turn the housings which won't allow you use the stock internal wastegate setup and you also won’t be able to use the stock o2 sensor housing (which contains the wastegate valve on the 84-86 T3 turbo)
- Various flanges and gaskets as needed (t3 flange for the turbo)
- Turbocharger if the one that comes with the engine is missing or bad. if you get the Z31 engine you'll definitely want to get a different turbo. The 87-89 has the T25 setup, which is pathetic, so I'd upgrade to, at the least, an 84-86 300ZX turbocharger. Ebay is a good place to get low price turbo. You’ll want one with a .63 A/R turbine wheel, which is a good size for a 3-liter V6.
- 255-lph Walbro fuel pump (very inexpensive)
- Might pick up a rising rate fuel pressure regulator (1:1 increase) but it shouldn't be necessary
- Various gauges like boost/vacuum, egt, or just whatever you want and feel like you need. I recommend at least boost, egt, and possibly fuel pressure. If you have the money to spend (300-500 dollars) I would get a wideband O2 sensor setup. The wideband O2 sensor is much more accurate than the stock O2 sensor which will help with tuning your engine and will also let you know immediately if you are going too lean. Places to get the wideband O2 sensor setup are: PLX Devices and Innovate Motorsports.
Other things you’ll need if you use the Z31 engine are:
- Larger injectors. Since you have to swap the fuel rail you need to upgrade the injectors because the Maxima’s injector won’t cut it. The Maxima’s injectors are rated at 180cc, which is way too small for a forced induction application. One route to take would be injectors off of a 90-94 300ZX N/A or the Infiniti J30.** The injectors are side feed and high impedance so they should slip right into the Maxima’s fuel rail and the ECU should be able to use them with no problems. Another route would be the side feed 370cc injectors that came off the 90-94 300ZX Twin Turbo. If you go that route you will most likely need a different fuel computer than the Apex’i S-AFC (if you decide to use one of those). The S-AFC will only adjust fuel by +/- 50% and 370cc injectors are over 50% larger than the 180cc Maxima injectors.
** Many thanks to Ari aka Nismo87SE for the info on the injectors!
*** Since the route I took for the manifold required modification using large cutting wheel and a cutting torch I'm trying to figure out a way to make this work so people who don't have access to these tools can still set everything up properly.
The writeup will be on this page when I can get the time to take pictures and type it all out.
http://www.cardomain.com/member_page...=177457&page=8
VG30ET Swap FAQ
Q: Can I turbo my VG Maxima?
A: Yes, you can!
Q: How hard is it?
A: If you have some mechanical skill and knowledge its actually quite easy. I pretty much did the swap without much knowledge and just learned on the way but I have pretty good mechanical skill, which helped.
Q: How much would I be looking to spend on this project?
A: I spent somewhere between $1500-$2000. It would have been cheaper but there were some things that I bought that I didn’t need to.
Q: Can I turbo the stock engine or do I have to swap an engine?
A: You can do either. The stock VG has a compression ratio of 9:1, which actually isn’t all that bad for boost. If you turbo the stock engine the 9:1 compression will give you quicker spool times and will give you better low end power along with high end power compared to a lower compression engine.
Q: Which engines can I put into my Maxima?
A: For the engine swap you will want to use the VG30ET from an 87-89 300ZX Turbo or you can also get the JDM VG30ET that I believe came out of the Nissan Gloria. It has a sort of mix of parts compared to the USDM versions. The 84-86 300ZX Turbo has an 8.3:1 compression ratio with a T3 turbo. The 87-89 300ZX Turbo has an 8.5:1 compression ratio with a T25 turbo. The Gloria engine, from what I can tell, has an 8.3:1 compression ratio but has the T25 turbo. The Gloria engine is also supposed to have the euro cams, which add about 10 more horsepower over the USDM version.
Q: How much power do these engines pull?
A: If the JDM engine does have the euro cams it should pull about 210-215 hp. The 87-89 300ZX Turbo pulls 205 hp (all are crank horsepower figures).
Q: How do I swap a VG30ET into my Maxima?
A: Here’s the fun stuff. Once you get the engine you’ll need to pull the Maxima engine out so you can swap some stuff over. The items you’ll need to swap are:
- Oil pan (you’ll also need to get a pipe welded in for the oil return tube from the turbo)
- Alternator
- A/c
- Bracket for the alt. and a/c
- Power steering pump (since its easiest to just leave the pump on the car when removing the engine you need to remove the p/s pump off of the turbo engine)
- Coolant pipes running under the intake manifold
- Water pump
- Sensors
- Crank pulley
- Its a good idea to swap the valve covers since the rear valve cover of the Z has the oil cap right on the cover whereas the Maxima has a raised tube and the front valve cover will need to be swapped if you want to use the Maxima distributor (I did this since I wasn't sure if I could get the JDM VG30ET distributor cap and such here incase they are different from the Z31 setup)
- Distributor mounting plate (its the flat piece of aluminum that the distributor bolt bolts into). The one on the JDM VG30ET has a different angle for the bolt compared to the one on the Maxima VG30E so you will need to swap it over to keep from stripping the aluminum out with the bolt.
If using the JDM engine and you have a manual tranny you need to swap the IACV (idle air control valve) since the cars these engines came in only had an automatic. The IACV on automatics differ from the ones used on engines with a manual tranny so for the idle to work right, it needs to be swapped.
If using the Z31 engine you need to swap everything above along with:
- Intake manifold (upper and lower)
- Fuel rail (Z31 has top feed injectors from what I understand) *see “Other things you’ll need If you use the Z31 engine”
Q: What kind of things do I need to buy to get it running?
A: You’ll need to get quite a few things but if you search a little bit you can actually find everything for a good price. The things you need include:
- JWT ECU or some sort of fuel management (I bought the Apex’i S-AFC 2 and it seems to work fine)
- Custom crossover pipe to make the install easier (check out the pictures on my Cardomain site)
- Most importantly to get this to work, you'll need to have the manifolds worked on a bit if you relocate the turbo.*** I'll have this outlined in the writeup.
- Custom intake and exhaust (can be done at your local exhaust shop for cheap or if you want to have a higher quality setup you can order mandrel bends and have someone weld it all together unless you can weld it yourself to save money)
- A blow off valve. The 300zx comes with a pop off valve which I believe is supposed to protect from over boosting if the wastegate ever fails. I would replace this with a good blow off valve. Something cheap yet effective is a 1st generation eclipse blow off valve. They are said to handle a good amount of boost without leaking and you can pick them up for 30 bucks or so.
- Aftermarket wastegate since when you move the turbo you'll have to turn the housings which won't allow you use the stock internal wastegate setup and you also won’t be able to use the stock o2 sensor housing (which contains the wastegate valve on the 84-86 T3 turbo)
- Various flanges and gaskets as needed (t3 flange for the turbo)
- Turbocharger if the one that comes with the engine is missing or bad. if you get the Z31 engine you'll definitely want to get a different turbo. The 87-89 has the T25 setup, which is pathetic, so I'd upgrade to, at the least, an 84-86 300ZX turbocharger. Ebay is a good place to get low price turbo. You’ll want one with a .63 A/R turbine wheel, which is a good size for a 3-liter V6.
- 255-lph Walbro fuel pump (very inexpensive)
- Might pick up a rising rate fuel pressure regulator (1:1 increase) but it shouldn't be necessary
- Various gauges like boost/vacuum, egt, or just whatever you want and feel like you need. I recommend at least boost, egt, and possibly fuel pressure. If you have the money to spend (300-500 dollars) I would get a wideband O2 sensor setup. The wideband O2 sensor is much more accurate than the stock O2 sensor which will help with tuning your engine and will also let you know immediately if you are going too lean. Places to get the wideband O2 sensor setup are: PLX Devices and Innovate Motorsports.
Other things you’ll need if you use the Z31 engine are:
- Larger injectors. Since you have to swap the fuel rail you need to upgrade the injectors because the Maxima’s injector won’t cut it. The Maxima’s injectors are rated at 180cc, which is way too small for a forced induction application. One route to take would be injectors off of a 90-94 300ZX N/A or the Infiniti J30.** The injectors are side feed and high impedance so they should slip right into the Maxima’s fuel rail and the ECU should be able to use them with no problems. Another route would be the side feed 370cc injectors that came off the 90-94 300ZX Twin Turbo. If you go that route you will most likely need a different fuel computer than the Apex’i S-AFC (if you decide to use one of those). The S-AFC will only adjust fuel by +/- 50% and 370cc injectors are over 50% larger than the 180cc Maxima injectors.
** Many thanks to Ari aka Nismo87SE for the info on the injectors!
*** Since the route I took for the manifold required modification using large cutting wheel and a cutting torch I'm trying to figure out a way to make this work so people who don't have access to these tools can still set everything up properly.
Okay. You detail how to do it YOUR way. Which might not be the way everyone else wants to do it. Is there a way to do it by putting the turbo in the stock location? ie.. using the stock manifold turbo flange. I know there is a space issue with the radiator or fan. I think it's okay to show everyone how you did it but you should make clear the advantages/disadvantages. I know you had some flow issues. Maybe if some other of the 3-gen VG turbos guys can chime in. DaMax? SkyMax??
yeah, i'm trying to work out some different ways for the turbo setup since i know not everyone will have access to a cutting torch and what not.
the problem with it in the stock location is the turbo is right where the motor mount needs to be. i tried flipping the turbo but it wouldn't fit with the fan shroud still on. i think Max O/D flipped the turbo on his and used a thinner fan shroud and got the turbo to fit. I'm not sure if his turbo was designed a lot differently or what but if I remember correctly mine wouldn't fit even with the shroud off. Hopefully this weekend I'll have some time to get down there and see what other options I can come up with.
the problem with it in the stock location is the turbo is right where the motor mount needs to be. i tried flipping the turbo but it wouldn't fit with the fan shroud still on. i think Max O/D flipped the turbo on his and used a thinner fan shroud and got the turbo to fit. I'm not sure if his turbo was designed a lot differently or what but if I remember correctly mine wouldn't fit even with the shroud off. Hopefully this weekend I'll have some time to get down there and see what other options I can come up with.
Okay. The plan was to sticky then lock. Then if members had questions they can refer to the sticky and you can field them there. If the question is good, I can move it into the sticky. I will keep the thread alot cleaner and easier to read. I won't even touch the 1/4 sticky because it would take me all day to clean that mess up.
we have a single 14" fan with custom shroud on Jahlils car...if it was actually running 
I could say 100% that it works, but I'm pretty sure it will work out. if not I have some other ideas that I've used on some boosted Hondas(that still have AC and need two fans) that might work.
I could say 100% that it works, but I'm pretty sure it will work out. if not I have some other ideas that I've used on some boosted Hondas(that still have AC and need two fans) that might work.
Originally Posted by Jeff92se
Okay. You detail how to do it YOUR way. Which might not be the way everyone else wants to do it. Is there a way to do it by putting the turbo in the stock location? ie.. using the stock manifold turbo flange. I know there is a space issue with the radiator or fan. I think it's okay to show everyone how you did it but you should make clear the advantages/disadvantages. I know you had some flow issues. Maybe if some other of the 3-gen VG turbos guys can chime in. DaMax? SkyMax??
Ari sent me a link for some motor mounts that are used on the SR's and GA's when turboed. They won't work on our cars however they seem like a great design to help free up some room to keep the manifold stock (which would be pretty nice since i found out these things will flow enough for 400+ rwhp on a Z31 
).
This is a picture of what they look like:
I'll try throwing something together that is setup similar to those, grab a stock turbo manifold, and see if the turbo will fit with that style of motor mount.
If it does work I'll try finding someone to make them or something because my welding skills are still a bit weak.
).This is a picture of what they look like:
I'll try throwing something together that is setup similar to those, grab a stock turbo manifold, and see if the turbo will fit with that style of motor mount.
If it does work I'll try finding someone to make them or something because my welding skills are still a bit weak.
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