Grace_Imports

iTrader: (1)

Hi Everyone, I've mentioned my VE30DE project in a couple of other posts. I started this thread as to not get too off topic in the other ones so here goes. I bought the car (92 White SE 5spd) almost 2 years ago for $305. It has around 130k miles. The body is straight for the most part but the paint is tiring. It has a very nice antelope/black interior but the previous owner got in it greasy so it needs a new carpet and thorough shampoo. One of the VTCs came apart and took out the lower timing cover. I'll get a pic of the damage once I get the old engine out. I bought a bad core engine from a kid in Iowa and got screwed. He said it ran well but smoked. He forgot to mention that is was knocking like hell because of the #4 spun rod bearing and the foobar exhaust stud repair job. Anyway I had to buy yet another crank. I wanted to have a built engine ready to go in the car instead of having the car tore apart for any length of time as to keep the city off my rear. I basically waited for deals to come up on Ebay for the various parts which saved me a ton of money. The longblock is now assembled and I am in the process of getting the old engine out. I hope to have it running within a week. I will list all of the present mods. I apologize if the post is too long but maybe it will answer questions. I welcome any questions or comments.
The heads were professionally ported by the head guy at the machine shop back home in Albany, GA. He's awesome and has done lots of work for me before. He's into Nissan/Datsun as well. IMO...I thought the intake ports were on the weak side for airflow considering how good most Japanese ports are out of the box so there was definately some room for improvement. Later on I will look at cleaning up the intake and exhaust manifolds.
I used VG30DE pistons and rods. I also used Total Seal rings and ARP rod bolts. There are no clearance/interference issues when turning the engine over. I think the VE30DE and VG30DE chambers are pretty close to identical but haven't CC'd either of them. They do both share the very good "pentroof" design. Most Japanese 4 valve heads have pentroof chambers. The cylinders are stock bore but were honed locally in a Sunnen machine. I used ACL bearings. I got the Corteco gasket set from Internetautomart.
Here's a list of the rest...WSP Y-pipe, Carsound cat, Greddy SP2 catback, Ebay cheapo CAI but with AEM filter, Fidanza flywheel, ASP pulley, rebuilt VTCs, Exedy Stage 1 clutch, Stainless clutch line, NGK Iridium plugs. I will look at doing brake and supsension mods in the future as $$ permits. I will also consider further tuning, maybe AFSC-II. Too bad there aren't hot cams out there for these. I don't plan on going turbo with this car as I would rather do that with my NX2. I will try to get it on a dyno to see what the payoff is.
I'm new to forums but not to Nissans so if someone can help me sharing my pictures I have a few.

Dillbag

iTrader: (4)

Sounds really nice man. I just rebuilt a VG30E for my knocking '89 SE 5spd. I ran around in that car with a rod knock for 4 or 5 years. Really tough motor. Actually just dropped in the motor about 2 weeks ago. Still working out some teething issues with some "things". I would have taken pix of the whole deal, but i've yet to get a digital camera.

Grace_Imports

iTrader: (1)

The #4 rod bearing was spun out on this one. The crank was trashed on that journal and the thrust surfaces were ate up too. I wanted to choke the kid I bought it from. I paid way too much for the core and I should have waited for a better deal since the project took so long anyway. I expect teething probs with this one since I have never had the car running.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

Are you using the heads out of the spun motor? If yes, be very careful. My old engine spun a connecting rod bearing. But before it finally seized, the oil pump was able to throw some debris up the journal into the head. It scoured one of the middle cam journals. And since the cams ride directly on the aluminum and since the cam towers aren't removable, it's now basicly junk.

Grace_Imports

iTrader: (1)

Yes, the heads were thoroughly cleaned etc and are good to go. There was no damage to speak of in the heads or on any of the valve train. The kid I got it from really screwed up an exhaust stud and had a tap broken off in it and a bolt broken off adjacent to the tap. It looks like he attempted to repair it with the manifold still on the car. He also had squirted orange silicone into that bolt hole. I didn't know the extent of that until I went to replace/repair the studs. The local machine repaired that area for $40 and it was well worth it. I used a different oil pump and pick-up because I found copper traces in the pick-up and wasn't going to risk it. The block was tanked and miked etc. so I am pretty confidant that it's a clean build. This is my first VE build but I have done many other Nissans as well as others.

tripleGmax

iTrader: (8)

you can email me the pics and ill host/post them

send them to gregg@gregg-henry.com

subs1000w

did you have the heads flowed before and after the port if so what were the cfm #s

good luck getting it running soon it should run very well

Grace_Imports

iTrader: (1)

Hey, Thanks! I will send some that I have on here now and I can add some more later.

To answer the other question. The heads were not flowed. I would like to see those numbers as well, maybe it's something I can look into in the future. This guy is very well respected in SW Georgia and I have a lot of faith in his work. He's been doing heads for years and is pretty well versed in Datsun/Nissan.

tripleGmax

iTrader: (8)

full size:
http://maxima.gregg-henry.com/grace_...mbVE30DE-1.jpg
http://maxima.gregg-henry.com/grace_...mbVE30DE-2.jpg
http://maxima.gregg-henry.com/grace_...mbVE30DE-3.jpg
http://maxima.gregg-henry.com/grace_...mbVE30DE-4.jpg

feel free to comment grace. looks good.

MrGone

iTrader: (30)

Only thing I would change would be ditch the Iridium's and just go with some coppers. Not a big deal.

If you do decide to play with the SAFC-II do yourself a HUGE favor and hop on a dyno with a wideband O2 or just dumb the money and buy one.

Did you use a new factory Knock Sensor and Harness aswell? Seems like kind of a stupid question as you used quality parts on the rest of it.

You are going to be quite pleased with the performance of the car

Greeny

iTrader: (43)

...That is just sweet...

Grace_Imports

iTrader: (1)

Thanks...Most are self explanatory. The pistons are 1 old VE30DE and the VG30DE that's going in just for comparison. I decided not to go with a black engine as I always have in the past. The block and pan is "cast coat iron" and the other pieces are "cast coat aluminum" rattle can of course. I may go back later and strip the front valve cover and get it to match the rest. Since you can't see most of the rear valve cover I figured leaving the front one alone would be okay.

Jeff92se

iTrader: (82)

You might consider painting the water x-over tube also. You don't see it but if it continues to rust/corrode it might allow crap to fall on the knock sensor/harness. Bad thing.

Grace_Imports

iTrader: (1)

I always prefer a platinum (except Bosch) or better for the newer Nissans. I have Iridium in our 99 Max and the 2 NX2s in the family and they do well. Plugs are debatable so I tell folks if they like what they do for them stick with it. I know someone that swears by Bosch platinums but I think they are junk.

I may get flamed for this...I decided that I will be the knock sensor and therefore will bypass it. I would not do this if it were a customer's car or on the 99 since she runs cheap gas sometimes. If I sell the car then I would set it up with a new sensor and harness. I think cars can do fine without it (and have) if you use good gas and pay attention to your engine. I agree that the mass public (Suzy Soccermom) should have it though.

If I go with the SAFC-II, I would get it on a dyno. I want to dyno it anyway to see what I got. Thanks

Grace_Imports

iTrader: (1)

good point...Thanks

Harvs94max

iTrader: (5)

aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh
nice work i hope things go well with it

goon9

iTrader: (13)

...I want one.

oldngivout

iTrader: (8)

You had my kudos on the rebuild until the knock sensor delete comment.
So your reaction time is faster than a computer?

Bad idea.

Brad92SE

iTrader: (9)

Engine looks great!! Regarding the knock sensor, everyone is gonna say its a bad idea, but I ran mine bypassed for a couple months N/A and for about 8 months while FI, and I haven't had a single problem. I have even overboosted the engine once and nothing broke (luckily ). As long as you don't push the timing too far and keep good gas in it like you said, then it should be fine. I can't wait to see some dyno numbers!

DanNY

iTrader: (14)

all that money and time on the rebuild and you're going to cheap on a knock sensor?

i guess if you feel it's ok..then go with it.

Grace_Imports

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the complements everyone! I don't want to open a new debate about KS bypass but...In my defense. I have been rebuilding, modifying, and tuning engines for 15 years now. I graduated from Nashville Auto Diesel, I worked in a Mazda/Isuzu/VW dealer after school and am Mazda trained and certified. After I got tired of being screwed by the dealer and trying a couple of garages, I went on my own for 3 years, with the majority of that business being upgrades and/or vintage imports. The past 8 years I have been with the airlines but I still do work at home. I still average a couple of engine builds a year. I've been into a lot more agressive engines than my VE. Some of those engine did not even have a KS and were in a higher state of tune and did not suffer from detonation issues. I think a KS is beneficial to people who don't care about what's being fed to their car or isn't in touch with the way the car runs/behaves. I don't plan on tuning my engine to the ragged edge of detonation and the car will be fed quality fuel. I have yet to destroy an engine because of detonation or lack of a KS. If I need to "de-tune" a little in the summer then I will do so accordingly. Personally, I want to control my timing and I don't want the computer jacking the timing every time I sneeze. A KS doesn't guarantee that a car will not ping but it does deter it. Any time I'm driving I always see/hear a car pinging itself to death because even though that car may have a KS, whatever condition is making that car ping like that is beyond what the KS is going to do for it anyway and the driver is too complacent or doesn't realize what's going on. I am confident that as the mechanic/operator of this car that I am not going to allow detonation to become an issue. If I beat this engine to death because of detonation then I will come back here and admit my folly and take the flaming like a man.
Also, I respect both sides of the debate about KS. If you feel safer using one then you should by all means. If you don't use one and stay on top of what's going on then great. If you don't use one and allow damage to your engine then shame on you.

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

on the KS debate.
I'm all for having one, However I was running without one until the end of my last VEs life with no problem, BUT I was only running 93 octane and stock timing.
it only got 87 once in the time I had the KS bypassed. I forgot to warn my sister-in-law :doh:

Grace_Imports

iTrader: (1)

Hey Brian, Thanks for the good deal on the gaskets. I will send business your way when I can.

internetautomar

iTrader: (30)

You could send it every day.
You'd recieve your orders next day

and no problem

Harvs94max

iTrader: (5)

Grace you mind telling us all how much you spent on this project of yours i am extremely interested in doing this in the future

Grace_Imports

iTrader: (1)

Sure...maybe I can do a post with a breakdown of everything. I don't know if the same deal could be had again for as cheap as I did it because of me waiting on insane bargains over a 2 year period. Example...I got all new Nissan timing components (minus 1 tensioner and the VTC kits) 3 acc. belts and a new TPS sensor for $75 which saved me a bundle. The guy that did the port work gave me a heck of a deal. I may see what he would get for others on here. The trick is to let him take his time. I did a VG30E in a 94 Hardbody 4x4 that he did the heads on and it ran nice. I want to get into porting for others but I have to finish getting air into the garage and hone my skills a little more. I can also do engine building for anyone. My prices are fair and most cases I wararnty the job. The exhaust was free for the most part. A friend hooked me up for helping him out otherwise I would not have spent the GReddy price and would have went custom. I wonder if enough people showed interest maybe some (like JWT?) would make cams for this engine, I'm sure it's a longshot though. There are some that do regrinds but I'm not crazy about grinding away base circles.

Grace_Imports

iTrader: (1)

Update!!! After battling with inclimate weather all day, I finally got the VE fired off around 8:30 tonight. The day started out crappy because when I went out this morning, one of the college punks in the neighborhood ran across my girlfriend's daughter's 96 Jetta busting the windshield in the process I'm glad it wasn't one of the Maxima's but still she is a student and doesn't have the money for the constat shenanigans from these punks. Anyway, I was surprised how quick the car started and well it ran considering the 2-3 year old gas in it. It's showing on E which is good; tomorrow I can add some good stuff to it. The VTC's clicked maybe for half a second and haven't made another peep. I put kits in them but didn't know what to expect. There is a lifter that has an intermittent noise and I hope it will work itself out (yes it's a lifter) There were 2 lifters that I wasn't sure about when I was bleeding the set before installation. If it doesn't clear up then it will have to wait until spring before I go digging in. I only ran it for about 15-20 minutes before it started storming so I put everything up for the night. Tomorrow, I will get the hood secured and tidy up a couple of things and hopefully will get to test drive it. The engine sounds very healthy and revs very quickly. The GReddy is a little quieter than what I expected but that's fine. Sounds sweet. I didn't want it too loud anyway.
BTW I am working on a new website (graceimports.net) It should be up soon. There will be a section with a lot of details on this engine project and photos. Gregg Henry was kind enough to host some pics for me earlier. Please check out the site. There will be lots of info on there and I hope to be adding some products soon.

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

Good stuff!
It's always nice when you turn the key and it fires up the first time!
last engine swap I did was a VG30E, and the stupid rubber seal around the ignition coil connector stayed on from the old motor... so there were two seals there preventing the harness from connecting..
we tired for about 35 minutes to fire that sucker over. finally noticed the connector not seated right and we pulled the extra ring out and fired it up. vroom!!

subs1000w

nice job

ha thats not as bad as hooking the fuel lines up backwards and it taking a week to figure out what was wrong

Grace_Imports

iTrader: (1)

Thanks, Believe me, I've been down that road a few times. I drove it around the neighborhood and to work today. I ran the old gas out and put in some fresh premium in it. It likes to rev for sure. I do have some bugs to work out...The turn signals aren't working. Secondly, it started fine last night but this morning it wouldn't. It's not getting juice to the solenoid as it should when you turn the key to crank it so I need to see what'g up with that. The VTCs are quiet but there is one lifter tapping. I'll live with the lifter for now and look at replacing it this spring

Scope

iTrader: (5)

Do you expect any gains from this work? Nice work BTW. How much would you charge one to build this again?

Grace_Imports

iTrader: (1)

I am driving the car today and it feels great, however I bought the car not running and all of these mods were done at one shot so I don't know what I am gauging against. I also have some bugs to work out etc. Increasing compression ratio will always net a gain in any engine as long as you aren't going past the threshold of detonation. This engine C/R was increased by half a point which is really mild but it will net a gain, I just don't know how much. Everyone pretty much knows what to expect from Y-pipes and flywheels on these cars. IMO the intake ports on these heads had a lot of room for improvement so I would expect some type of gain considering they were professionally done. I do not won't to speculate the gains for either the port work or compression raise. Most Jap heads are really good stock so porting is just a cherry on top but there again I don't see how there would not be a gain. I am working on getting pro-ported heads available for both the VG and the VE to sell on my website once it's up. I may even look into a group deal but I will probably have to produce some flow numbers before I try to push these heads on anyone. Someone else asked me the cost of this project so I have some info in a previous post. If you'd like a serious estimate on a longblock, let me know.

Matt93SE

iTrader: (44)

on the blinkers, my first thought is the hazard switch. if it's not plugged in, the blinkers won't work.

good job on it otherwise. when it's broken in, I'd love to see the dyno numbers, and we can bench race that way... (Mine put down ~175hp, 195tq at 220,000 miles. ) stock compression, ported TB and intake manifold.
seeing the numbers you get on it will guide me with what I do with my three dead engines inthe garage. if I have to do custom pistons, I may just run it up to 11:1 if I can do it safely on pump gas and drive it daily. with the JWT ECU, I can fiddle with some stuff a bit having them reprogram it... then again, if I do decide to go turbo, 11:1 will be probably too high.. I'll get some advice from JWT before I go that far though.

Maxima-4DSC

iTrader: (1)

id frame that pic

Grace_Imports

iTrader: (1)

It seems like that the blinkers worked when I bought the car. I put a hot battery in it and checked all the windows lights etc. but it's been 2 years now. It will probably be spring before I look at a dyno. I am broke and I have birthdays and holidays all coming up. I think 11:1 would be awful high for a turbo unless you run low boost. If I went turbo on a budget for a VE I would probably look at the VG30DETT pistons since they are a drop in deal. The factory piston would be cast but Nissan cast pistons are good. I really don't want to guess yet at what kind of numbers this car will put down, just so I'm not disappointed. I've noticed a little whine from the tranny so I expect to have to replace the bearings in it at some point, otherwise it shifts great.

Grace_Imports

iTrader: (1)

thanks...my girlfriend calls it **** just like when I read car mags. I do have it on my desktop at work...

Grace_Imports

iTrader: (1)

Someone asked me about the car on another thread so here's a quick update...As I said before I have some bugs to get out of the car but I have been driving it to work some since last Sunday. I haven't had much time and we just got back from visiting family in FL. She's hard to start first time when it's cold. After that it's fine. I haven't fooled with the blinkers yet but hopefully within the next day or 2. I have an intermittent problem with the starter solenoid not getting juice when I turn the key. The one time I jumped in with a meter to start tracking, it worked as it should for a day. Two of the times that it didn't worked was after I choked it down backing up. Anyway, those should all be fairly minor and I hopefully will have then sorted this week. I was having an issue with a noisy lifter but it seems to be clearing up. I hope it will because I really don't want to have to go digging in right now.
I am running reserved timing for now and fairly soon I will start tweaking everything. The engine is very responsive and loves to rev. I love the powerband. You can feel a kick around 5500 rpm and it will pull hard all the way to redline. My NX would run out of breath before redline if you held it, even with the mods. I was somewhat surprised that this one does it on the stock cams. The more you give it, the more it wants. The car is very quick but I don't want to speculate any numbers or figures.

Pervis Anathema

iTrader: (8)

I have been following your project with great interest and wanted to say congratulations on getting it running. It looks great.

As far as the top end goes, that is what we call VE Powah! It amuses me to no end to be @ ~4,000rpm in 2nd and just hammer it. After a quick shift into 3rd @ ~6,100rpm, redline comes up again very quickly.

One question for you. Did you have your machinist do anything to the oil passages that feed the VTCs? (clean them...)

Enjoy the VE.

Grace_Imports

iTrader: (1)

The heads were thoroughly cleaned and blown out with compressed air. Since you There were some smaller plugs that were removed for better cleaning. I am pretty confident that there isn't any debris in th eheads. The block was tanked etc. as well. I think that Jap engines with their smaller lifters (or HLAs) are more sensitive to dirty oil passages etc. I've mentioned before about how bad poorly maintained Toyota 5MGEs are about destroying their cams and followers because of oil passages getting clogged in the head. I think that it may be a contributing factor with VTC failure also. I think the last VE max I drove was quite a while back and it was an auto so I honestly wasn't familiar with it's personality stock. I would like to drive a bone stock one that's it good tune to see how mine feels against stock. Thanks for your interest and that's a nice looking car you have.

jwmaxse

iTrader: (1)

I'd like to hear some more info on the porting job. So you said that someone did your heads for you but you're planning on learning how to do it as well? What exactly did you have done to the heads and what was the total cost of getting them done, shipping too?

I have a VG30ET that I'd like to get some head work done on, there's a problem with one of the lifters or valves (it's tapping pretty loud) and as long as I have them out I'd like to get them ported.

I'd look forward to hearing more updates on your project. Good to see another local maxima enthusiast