JClaw

iTrader: (17)

I know this isn't a max but it's still technically maxima-reliated since I'm using the engine, ECU and full wiring harness from a 4th gen. So if someone can help me, it's you guys. I still thought some might want to know what happened with the engine that was in my max last year.

I'm only going to have one thread so I'll stuff all the info in this one.

What's done:

VQ35 is installed, the rear cooling line sits roughly 1/2" from the stock firewall, and I'm gonna need a huge buldge in the hood. Solid motor mounts with rubber between the plates to cut down on vibration.

Chopped up the very front of the car (15 inches worth of frame and unibody), to save weight and improve weight distribution (It was all rusted anyway). Welded custom tube frame connectors and some tubing to replace the missing unibody.

So far I've removed about 350-360 lbs from the front end alone. Battery's in the trunk, emptied the dash, etc. the whole nine yards. The shocks no longer compress. Weight distribution is either 46f/54r or 45f/55r. Haven't weighted it yet but total weight should be very similar to Broaner's S13 (i.e about 2150 lbs dry).

Custom 3 1/4" (huge) one-piece driveshaft made to 53 3/4". The front joint comes from a 2004 G35 (steel). For the rear they replaced the stock S13 U-joint (wimpy) with a GM conversion. Same bolt pattern, but much beefier. They said they went up to 800 HP on big blocks with 3 1/4" diameter tubing.

For now I still have the stock IRS and 4.08 open diff. I put on 235/70R15 all seasons in the rear (28 inch tall) to cut down on gearing and improve traction somewhat. In the front I have 205/65R15 (25.6" tall) V-rated (149 mph) summer tires. It looks absolutely ridiculous, primer/4x4 wheel gap and all.

I've rigged power to the ECU and fans. The starter turns fine but I don't think I'm getting any gas. Today it's raining HARD outside and I just finished the intake/cooling system late last night so I didn't have a chance to check for gas in the lines near the fuel rail.

I did not touch the acc electrical harness (wipers, lights, cluster). All that still works. I checked the wiring to the fuel pump and it is getting power.

I think the problem so far is that the fuel pump doesn't turn on. I put the key in all the way and technically that fuel pump should turn on, right? What else can cause the fuel pump to not turn on?

I'll post the track results as soon as I run it. And knowing me, I'll probably be at the track a week after the test drive

Broaner

iTrader: (10)

Sounds good man. Funny how the DS is almost exactly the same length as mine. IIRC mine was like 51 and 7/32". I too am having fuel problems. Not pump related but... I'm interested to see track results if you get there before me. I'd like to go next weekend if I can figure out my fuel problem. I'm getting 39PSI at idle which is a bit low but still doable. But as soon as it goes to the WOT map FP drops to 20psi or below. Motor starves and sounds like ****, doesn't pull etc... I think it may be a bad FPR. I'm swapping that out tonight.

As for you man I'd just make sure the pump is actually getting full voltage. I run all my stuff on independent switched circuits. All the OEM wiring is out of the car. I like it much better that way. Eliminates possible relay problems like this. I'd say run a seperate wire to the pump directly from the battery. Eliminate one possible problem at a time. When the ECU gets power and you crank are the injectors clicking? Also are you getting ignition? Pull a coil and ground it out to check. Good luck man. Vids...

JClaw

iTrader: (17)

Will do. It really sucks about the weather. I have a day off tomorrow so I should make some progress. Rain on the 2nd day really cuts the ***** off a 3-day weekend

The car will be more drag-oriented than yours (I plan on putting in 4.636 gears and 275/60R15 Nitto 555R Drag Radials on lightweight 15X9 aftermarket wheels for everyday driving) but there's absolutely no reason that this car will not handle well once it's on coilovers. A 97-inch wheelbase RWD car with IRS and chassis strenghtening shouldn't need much to handle well.

I forgot to mention about the manual steering rack. It's installed and weights less than the OEM setup. No stupid PS lines. Not hard to turn at all. Just pick any 50$ FWD manual steering rack (Hyundai Accent, Kia Rio, etc.) from a boneyard. It needs custom brackets and good welds on the steering column and tie rods. Very cheap project, but the engine needs to be out.

The steering rack absolutely needs to be from a FWD car because on 240's the rack is reversed, backed closer to the firewall and behind the front crossmember like on all FWD cars, and as opposed to the VAST majority of RWD cars. I tried an '88 RX-7 rack but it turned the wrong way.

About power to the ECU: How did you set up yours? Can you do a brief recap of what you did, electrical-wise strictly to start the car?

matts95max

iTrader: (11)

Dude I Want Some Pics!!! I Was Dreaming Of A 3.5 Powered S13!!!! With The S15 Front End!!!! Simply Amazing!!

JClaw

iTrader: (17)

No, seriously, you don't want pics. If you saw it on the road you'd probably think it's someone's beater

matts95max

iTrader: (11)

haha but the look on the guys face rollin his high end sports car with his gf after he got roasted by a 240!!....priceless!

vq35+boost+240sx= dream drift car, not to mention sicka fast!

tavarish

iTrader: (27)

this is my next project, i wanna see how you guys do with this.

Hoooper

tavarish, the sig is good up until the 60', people here are pulling that and DEFINITELY not hitting 18s, maybe needs to be more like 3.49. just a thought

tavarish

iTrader: (27)

thats actually my time, dude.

Power of the 3.5 :-D

JClaw

iTrader: (17)

While we're at it does anyone know if the stock S13 fuel pump flows enough for a 3.5? I plan on getting a walbro and a new tank eventually but for now I assume it'll handle 235whp/wtq or so?

Nealoc187

iTrader: (23)

you should call/email deatschwerks about the pump, they know what it's capable of and whether or not it can support that power level.

so why the hell are you running around with those goofy tires on there? are you planning on driving this car daily, in the rain, and everything? if not i'd say skip the nittos and go right for the MT ET Street Radials if you want to hook up like nuts. The nittos aren't bad but the MT ET Street Radials are better. my buddy has a 6spd TA and he usually cut mid-high 1.7s on the nittos, he cuts mid-high 1.6s on the MTs though he did cut like a 1.63 once on them, with high 1.4s low 1.5s on slicks. i did meet a guy the other day at the track though who was cutting high 1.6 to low 1.7s on his nittos though in another 6spd LS1.

if you've got to have it rain worthy though then go for the nittos, they aren't bad in the rain. I don't normally drive my turbo car in the rain but when i've got caught in the rain (not downpours) i've had no problem whatsoever - still stickier than a normal tire. Thus far I've got about 3000, maybe 3500 miles on the nittos and the tires are probably 2/3 to 3/4 of their original tread depth still. if this trend continues, I see no reason I shouldn't get 9 or 10k miles out of them. I've been to the track 3 times on these tires so they've got probably 30 passes and alot of street driving though most of it is highway and very little of it is wheelspin, mostly flooring it in 2nd gear and above.

JClaw

iTrader: (17)

The nittos will be my everyday tires (rain and all, from April to October, I'll just replace often). If this car can pull consistant 1.7's in 100% street trim I'll be very happy. I just want to actually hook on the street.

At the track I will not be f'ing around. I'll be using 28X9 MT ET Drags screwed to the rims. With a good suspension I can see a high 1.5 being possible.

The goofy all-seasons are only a temporary solution. When they lay down the VHT on weekends and you drop the pressure to 18-20 psi, tall all-seasons with lots of sidewall can be surprisingly good. The stock tires on the max did pretty good so I'm curious to see what I can pull with taller tires and RWD.

JClaw

iTrader: (17)

UPDATE: The Fuel pump connections are all rusted to hell. I need a Walbro to replace it ASAP. Anybody know where I can get one cheapest and quickest?

GodFather

iTrader: (10)

Ebay. Email the seller on how urgent your stuff has to be. They will comply to your askings. About 100 bucks shipped in the US, maybe a little more to Canada.

What tranny you're running with this?

Hoooper

i would say find one in canada otherwise you have to wait for it to clear customs

ajcool2

iTrader: (43)

Any pics? Curious to see what this thing can do.

JClaw

iTrader: (17)

I bought one at a speed shop in Montreal today. Tomorrow I'm calling the stealership for the sender unit. The stock one is done.

I'm using a 2005 350z 6-speed transmission. I believe the 05-06's have upgraded synchros over the 03-04's. Sure as hell shifts like a brand new tranny. I got it off ebay and ended up paying roughly 550$cnd for everything including shipping and the transport/border fees & taxes.

Nealoc187

iTrader: (23)

There are currently 9 different revisions of the 350Z trans. Just an interesting tidbit.

Good call on the tires. I'd hit the track a couple times on the nittos first though before you step up and buy the 28"s though - I always deem it wise to figure out what you're trapping before doing a drastic change like that. Don't wanna end up having to shift 100 feet before the line, or something dumb like that. I can cartest it when you get some idea of what you're working with if you want.

JClaw

iTrader: (17)

Yeah, can you cartest it? That would be awesome.

Car should weight ~2150 lbs. I weight 160 and say 40 lbs of gas. That means raceweight is 2350 lbs.

Gearing:
1: 3.794:1
2: 2.324:1
3: 1.624:1
4: 1.271:1
5: 1.000:0
6: 0.794:1

Final Drive Ratio: 4:083

28" tall tires

Is that enough?

SonicDust187

iTrader: (11)

Whats your redline?

Nealoc187

iTrader: (23)

I need a dyno or some powa/tq #s to base your engine on.

JClaw

iTrader: (17)

Oops.

With a double 2" setup, short ram CAI, 2k2 intake manifold with no elbow (RWD configuration), aftermarket ebay headers and my stock 1995 5-speed maxima ECU I say we use this dyno of a 2k2 with only headers. The extra RWD drivetrain loss should account for the differences:

This is Dlee275's dyno, posted by Puppetmaster in the Dyno section.



Redline is still 6550. I'll probably launch right off idle, redline every gear and go through the traps somewhere in the middle of 5th gear.


So who's taking bets?
Went 13.6@104 on street tires with the max so I say 13.0@111 street tires/untuned. Close enough?

Nealoc187

iTrader: (23)

its telling me 12.65 @ 112.5mph with a 1.90 60'.

12.25 @ 112.5 w/ 1.67

JClaw

iTrader: (17)

Dude. weight on my shoulders

DandyMax

iTrader: (7)

1.67 eh.. should be easy as pie right? lol

I'm hoping to maybe get close to that yet in the Max let alone a RWD car. That reminds me I need to run cartest to see what difference I might see moving up to 26" slicks from 24.5"...

Nealoc187

iTrader: (23)

I bet Jclaw can see 1.5s when he gets things sorted out in his 240. I really don't think 1.6s will be any sort of problem for him on slicks, might even get there on DRs. That car will be so light, probably one of the lighter RWD setups available besides maybe the rotary powered starlets and RX-2/RX-3s. But I hate those cars so those don't count.

DandyMax

iTrader: (7)

Yeah exactly that's why I was saying it should be "easy"... ie-if it's possible for me to get close to 1.6's in a much heavier FWD (and it seems to be even though I haven't had a chance to do it yet...) then he shouldn't have much trouble in a feather light RWD...

JClaw

iTrader: (17)

Theorically the car should hook pretty good, but everyone seems to forget that we have absolutely nothing to base ourselves on. I mean what other IRS-equipped 2200 lbs RWD coupe has a similar engine (torquey V6), similar weight distribution/dynamics? We can't use 3500 lbs f-bodies as an example.

That and I'm still on the stock 290,000 km bushings in the rear, open differencial, and since the front shocks no longer compress, weight transfer is going to suck as is. The only thing I can do right now to improve traction is fill the gas tank and that technically slows me down at the same time.

That will only apply once the car is setup to actually hook. That means custom spring rate coilovers, solid aluminum bushings in the IRS, Clutch-type LSD, real tires, and the time to experiment with tire pressure and settings. I'm not just gonna barge in there and pull a 1.90 on street tires the very first day at the track...

Those gears are really short as hell. That's a benefit on slicks (next year), but I can already see me trying to launch in 2nd on street tires lol

JClaw

iTrader: (17)

Okay back to the boring wiring stuff. The Walbro is in with the new sender (basically the entire pump assembly is brand new). With the ignition switch on, of the 5 wires that go into the fuel pump (Fuel gage ground, two positives on the gage, Pump ground, and Pump positive), only the gage ground is getting power.

Neither the fuel pump ground or the 3 other positives are getting power. That's a little wierd. I've checked the fuel pump fuse in the engine bay, and it's fine. Next up is the well-known Fuel Pump Relay; not sure exactly where it is or how to test it but apparently it's a common problem on S13's.

So I'm just gonna work my way backwards from the pump. I could do a direct curcuit but with the fuel pump I don't want to take any risks. The fuse and relay are there for a reason. It's dark by now so tomorrow I'm gonna wake up early before work...

Broaner

iTrader: (10)

Dude, I totally missed this question before. Sorry about not responding. I did the ECU wiring a long time ago and I don't recall too well. I need to go through it again to clean everything up and soiter all the connections. Have you gotten it running yet? If not what stage are you at? I will go through my notes and see what I can do. Basically I just gave power to the ignition and the two big red wires in the harness over by the MAF. They should be in the plugs that would originally connect back to the body harness in the Maxima on the drivers side of the engine bay behind the headlight. Then I had to give power to the rear CAS. If its a Maxima fly you've gotta dremel out some material of the upper oil pan in order to get the magnet to line up with the sensor ring. Have you made a bracket for the front CAS? Some people say that it won't start without that. I found that not to be true but I still use that sensor. There are some things I did that I don't know if they were actually required. One thing I recall is the start signal. The FSM says pin XXX(I don't remember right now) should see 12v during cranking. I did this by simply tapping a line off my direct circuit momentary switch to the starter solenoid. Other than that man I don't really remember. I need to have a look at everything again.

One thing that has been a thorn in my side is the sheilded harnesses going to the important sensors. The shield is wrapped around the sensor wire, power wire if applicable for that sensor, and ground. Several inches before the ECU pins the shield stops and the ground wire carries it the rest of the way. I found that if those grounds aren't really good and protected from 12v or 5v lines you'll have all sorts of troubles.

You're having basically all the same issues I went through man. Can't help too much with the fuel pump wiring. All I can say is its a really odd system. I ran a direct circuit because I got sooo frustrated. The entire car is on direct circuit wiring actually.

About the hooking; I've been playing with rear suspension settings. With the front coils raised all the way and rear tire pressures dropped to 18'ish, zero toe and camber i've been able to get nearly full traction in second on 245's when pulling off idle. Keep in mind I'm building a roadrace car but I decided to play with it. When I have it set to turn, WOT in second results in mad crazy snake strips. With the knowledge base of drag racing you and your dad have I'm sure you guys can make it launch very well. Are you building a drag only car or a street car focused on drag?

JClaw

iTrader: (17)

A daily driver that handles well and launches ridiculously hard.

DandyMax

iTrader: (7)

Yeah I was just assuming we were talking about a good/fully modded setup (eventually). It's not like you or I just woke up one day and pulled a 1.7 on a stock Max, it took some work to get there obviously.

But I'm still guessing you'll pull a 1.9 first track day... C'mon, you know it's gonna be hard to resist just givin' her off the line even the first day.

BigLou93SE

iTrader: (10)

JClaw - I was actually thinking of pming you soon (I'm rarely on Maxima.org anymore) -- I know I asked for pictures before, but I was going to bug you again so that maybe you'd give me something to help me imagine...haha

I'm happy to be yet another Maxima member making a move to an S13. Although I'm not going the same route as you (at all actually) -- SOHC turbocharged I4 instead of DOHC 3.5 N/A V6, but I'm just as excited to see both running. I would love pics (I know you don't think so, but how many S13's these days AREN'T primered?!), even if you just email them to me so I can hord them by myself

Keep this thing updated man, and I'll be sure to make this thread one of the ones I check everytime I sign on Maxima.org.

Broaner

iTrader: (10)

I don't wanna steal the thread but I've got tons of pics. I was thinking of starting a seperate thread in All Motor. Should I do that? Thats one thing I really like to keep up on. My most recent favorite shot...

Many more on my homepage.

BigLou93SE

iTrader: (10)

Broaner -- believe me man, I've been to your homepage!!! I should go back, it looks like you've kept busy. Looking great.

JClaw

iTrader: (17)

Since this isn't really maxima-related I think we should keep this stuff in my thread. I certainly don't mind

Broaner

iTrader: (10)

But it is All Motor for the VQ...

JClaw

iTrader: (17)

Since I won't be using the fuel gage for now (I plan on eventually swapping in a 2000 maxima gage cluster - gotta love the 260 km/h/160 MPH spidometer. And I love the SE white gages), I basically only need the positive and negative for the pump.

The ONLY reason I'm shying away from direct circuit for the fuel pump is in the event of a short. I have a fuse I can put on the positive wire - would that be a safe setup?

tavarish

iTrader: (27)

If you want a wiring diagram, I've made one for my 2k1 gauge cluster.

JClaw

iTrader: (17)

E-mail is Dexter1647@hotmail.com. Thanks alot