I'm looking for info, write-ups etc on fast VG autos. Don't go saying this an oxymoron. I've thought about ordering a Hekimian engine, or letting a local shop port and polish etc. I'm just looking for direction, what works for the VG?

 

What works=Turbo.

 

Do the standard bolt-on mods first

Y-pipe, CAI, Unorthodox pulley, timing increase, grounding kit, etc.., but I would agree on the turbo for serious power.

Personally, I would just buy an older 300ZX if I was going to spend that kind of money.

 

Probably the most important thing would be to find a reputable shop that can build up your AT to handle increased hp. I think they made the VG ones out of glass.

 

you might want to look at swapping in a quest transmission and its wiring. Should be possible but its never been done before. Read read read.

~Alex

 

When adding more hp to VG it's important to keep that a/t cool. Get a fluid cooler intstalled to help preserve that tranny.

 

got that right. I have one in my trunk w/ hardware... it's going in tomorrow morning

 

You have an a/t cooler in your trunk?? I'm sure it goes somewhere up front! j/k

 

ya i have a ermm functional trunklid scoop. feeds air directly to it...

i'm just hoping i can feed the tethers through the radiator and condenser with how it's got some pebbles and crap lodged in it, as do all old cars.

 

watch out for those rad fins when you do - they'll slice ya up without thinking twice

 

but yeah i'll give you a before/after idea... basically, i grabbed the bottom a/t hose just after shutting the engine off after a long drive and ... well i could only hold it for about a second. now the bottom hose is the hot one, I THINK. I'll verify that tomorrow morning. hopefully i can drive around a while and come back and hold the return hose in my hand and not have to let go. thing touts a 60 degree drop..... possible, but we'll see. more in the winter. because the temperature is not thermostatically controlled like the main radiator is, so the colder outside air will make everything run cooler in the tranny, unlike the engine coolant, which is supposed to be a constant temp at all times. but hopefully that'll keep my transmission alive so i can not have to worry as much about go-fast mods tearing it to pieces..

 

is there such a thing as too cold of a/t fluid like in cold winters and locations?

 

no....if you're engine is running it'll never be too cold.

 

yeah because when you install the tranny cooler, you don't bypass the radiator, you add it in-line after the radiator. So the radiator will still maintain a fairly uniform temperature to the a/t fluid which then will flow through the cooler and be further cooled, but will have a fairly hot starting temperature regardless.

 

can you just buy any tranny cooler or is there a speacial one you have to buy and is there a write up on how to install one?

 

I've always bypassed the radiator and went striaght with the cooler in all my autos. Never a problem.

 

A lot of the stuff I've done will work with any motor, such as, cone filter, Ypipe, intake manifold spacer, throttle body spacer, bored throttle body, coolant bypass, exhaust cutout, lightened (milled) under driven crank pulley, base ignition timing advance with race fuel, weight reduction, high stall torque converter, valve body recalibration, intake and exhaust port work, polyurethane engine and tranny mounts, hyperground kit, more weight reduction, rear skinnies, slicks, properly setup suspension, and lots more.

Feel free to check out my full mods list:
http://www.nwpengineering.com/mods.html

 

What do you mean by timing increase. Like adjust the ditributor?

 

yeah you loosen the adjustmet bolt and you can turn it alittle to adjust the degrees-BTDC to a higher number for more power but you have to use better fuel to do so without messing it all up.

and use a timing light whenever available, to verify your new timing.

 

True, must use 93 octane, I was cheap and didn't and it messed up my cap on the distributer in no time.

 

what did you set your timing to? i use 89 octane for 18° BTDC

 

22-25 I think.

 

If you advance your timing any,even a few degrees i strongly recommend using premium fuel only. All in all it ends up only being about $4-$5 more per fill up using premium fuel,waaay cheaper then replacing an engine do to cumulative detonation damage because you were too cheap to put premium fuel after advancing your timing.

Take it from someone who knows,i have ran my timing advanced with a broken k/s sensor for 110,000+ miles,using only premium fuel(93 octane here). she still puurrs like a kitten(except for vtc clack)

 

worked for me....

and i do remember the turbo being a bolt on...
well for me anyways, haha

 

How would i go about advancing the timing?

 

step 1) scroll up
step 2) read post #19
step 3) don't get mad at me for being sarcastic with you
step 4) slap forehead
step 5) advance timing

 

Or you could follow this little video on timing advance..
note: please excuse john's potty mouth in the video.

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=381973

 

alright sweet thanks guys and i read somewhere on the org that if you put a new underdrive pulley on your car the A/C wont work... is that true cause i was gonna get one but now I have second thoughts

 

IIRC,some of the under drive pulleys had the ac belt "groove" and some didn't.Not sure on that though.

 

it doesn't snow by you right?

 

Your AC will work just fine. I've never seen an UDP with the AC rib removed unless it was milled off by somebody. I just had mine milled off simply b/c I no longer have an AC in my car and wanted to reduce the weight of the pulley even further.

If you have a VG, you'll need to buy the UR pulley. If for some reason UR offers pullies without the AC rib (which I doubt they do), just make sure you get the one that is meant for 3 belts.

 

Your right, though when I was working in a shop in Vermont, we did the same bypass on a few vehicles.

 

Lol would you like a more proper and professional version? No swearing and where I'll actually mention that you have to put your car on either N or D, I dont remember

 

I was gonna order the phenolic intake spacers this week, but then...Power steering fluid leak. A few months ago I had rebuilt ps rack put in so I drove it straight to the dealer. They called later to say its not the rack but a hose. I'm like is it an old hose? They said yeah they left the old hoses on when they changed the rack. I'm thinking if they had asked me if I wanted the dam hoses replaced while they were in there putting in a new rack, tie rods ends and lower control arm for over $1600, I would have said yes. Now they want $315 to fix it. They ordered the part already, so I thinking I'm gonna go pick it up tomorrow and take it to an indy I know to put the hose on.

We had a brief spat over the fluid being brown, I said they should have used ATF, they said it doesn't matter.

My dealer has been very good to me over the years even renting me an Altima last year for the weekend because they kept the car all day on a Friday and then realized they didn't have a part. But $315 is too much for a hose job.

 

Yes it is! And the high pressure hose is VERY expensive from the dealership. You can get that hose for under $25 elsewhere. I think I remember getting mine for $25 from internetautomart. I called my local dealer and think they said that hose was $130!! I quickly got off the phone with them.

The hose install itself is not hard at all to do on the VE. Not sure how cramped it is on the VG, but it shouldn't be too hard.

Definitely take your car elsewhere and shop around for the hose if they try to charge you a butt load of money for the parts.

 

VG: not too bad. turn the wheel left and take off plastic covers... should provide good access.

 

I had a hard time doing that hose 2 weeks ago. didnt have the right wrench so it made it hard on me. Hose was 26.99 at idiotzone with lifetime warranty. Everywhere else wanted 39.99+

 

there was a few times where my tranny temp dropped so low it was under 100 degrees while driving in OD. shifting was not good.

 

The lowest my tranny temp gauge reads is 100 degrees. Even on 80+ temp days, the tranny temp barely gets up to 120 degrees. On cold winter days, it doesn't come close to ever getting above 100 degrees. It will be best if I bypass my aux tranny cooler during the cold months, but for the past 5 years, I've been too lazy to do it. The shifts are just fine on my VE tranny.

Now back when I first bought my car, I was driving across country over the Flagstaff, AZ mountains in January at 3am! I don't know quite how cold it was outside, but it was around zero degrees if not below. I had a bad Tstat and the stock engine temp needle was reading right around the "C", which I now know means the coolant temp was around 100-120 degrees.

I didn't have an aux tranny cooler then, but I know it was running very cold also. While trying to make my way up steep hills, the car would downshift to 3rd gear, then back to OD, back to 3rd gear, back to OD all within 1 or 2 seconds. Then the P light would start flashing. It didn't flash a code, it just flashed about 20 times and stopped everytime the car downshifted like that.

Ever since fixing the Tstat, I've never had a problem occur like that again. The coldest weather I've driven my car with the tranny cooler installed was single digits while driving in the mountains. It did just fine.

But it's not great for the trans to run that cold all the time. Even though I haven't noticed any problems doesn't mean the tranny isn't struggling in cold weather.

 

Havent you ever heard of the ole cardboard in front of the radiator trick?