Hello,

I am planning to do a nice little n/a build this spring while it is nice weather out. So my plans for my build is nothing to serious just cams, p&p, new valve springs, and more than likely an extended rev limiter. I do not have any plans to go boosted in the future or run nitrous, so this will be just all motor.

Here is my list of what will be going into my car at the moment:

1. VQ35 cams (not sure which ones whether ebay or stock)
2. HR valve springs and shims
3. Stephen Max adapter/spacer
4. And then a professionally done p&p job

Now for the questions I have:
1. What cams would give me the best bang for the buck as in performance wise?

2. I have been reading and researching a lot about the hr springs but I am a bit confused about how they work, i keep reading about triple shims to make them stiffer?? So would that be neccessary? And do they come with triple shims from the dealer per each valve spring or would I need to buy three seperate shims per each spring?

3. I was doing some reading up on stephen max's adapter/spacer and I was reading a thread that was talking about one of them breaking and I was just wondering has it happened again since then? And if so has there been any improvements made on them since?

4. Are there any other performance parts that I can install on my car on any internal parts of my engine that I can expect to see some performance gains from?

My list of mods for performance wise are 00VI, full cattman exhaust headers-catback, VAFC-II.

Any help is greatly appreciated,

Tahnks
Stephen

 

1-) E-bay or Nismo knocker. The VQ35 cam being best bang for the buck.
2-) Double shim will make the spring stiffer, triple shim might be pushing it too much.
For double shim you need to buy 48 shim.
3-) Not sure about that
4-) Yes, you can have the cylinder to be bore oversize and buy oversize piston

My 2 cents

Good luck with the project.

AA

 

1. Wait so are you saying that the VQ35 stock cams are the best bang for the buck as in for the money spent on them they will give the most gain compared to the knock off cams?

2. I undertsnad the shims and springs now thanks for the explanation.

3. Anybody else know about the broken cam adapter/spacer?

4. The price I will be paying for pistons and to get it bored will the gains be worth the price?

Thanks for the response I appreciate the help.

Stephen

 

If you're staying n/a you can look at some higher comp pistons, 10.5:1 are available, I heard someone makes some 11:1 for the vq30? Anyhow, You could oversize the valves if you want but thats a pretty penny. And of course, a good tune once you're done.

 

Use HR heads

 

I would vote for the HR heads or not necessarily going with 1mm oversized valves but backcutting the stock valves (or stock replacements like ferea, BC, etc).

The reason is, when you go oversize on valves, the disance from the edge of the valve to the cylinder wall decreases. Depending on the valve job that is done, you could actually decrease air flow. Back cutting the valves would allow more airflow around the valve. But it really depends on the quality of the valve job.

Also, and I welcome the more experience voices here on this one, the cost of taking some cams and back cutting the valves that go with it are a much better value than more expensive aftermarket valves. You could spend that money on a more agressive cam with better ramp/duration characteristics than on fancy valves.

Also dont forget to have the IM and heads ported together. Meaning treat them as one, not just working on the heads with no thought to the manifold.

And to address question #4, you should add some really nice head gaskets, since you will have the heads off for the porting anyway.

 

I mean you can get VQ35 CAM for 100$. Let me guess the e-bay or nismo knocker will cost anywhere from $450 to $700$.

Engine works is not cheap so if your tight on budget I'd say forget about that, you can make some decent gain without having to sleeve the engine block or bore it oversize. You might be better find some higher C/R piston, replace the rods ( stocker are good up to 400 HP ), main bearing, rods bearing, heads bolts or studs ( not sure how they call it ), crank bolts as well.

You can buy a Nissan complete engine gasket set ( 268$ from Dave B ) , Toga oil pump and dont forget to replace the timing chain tensioner. On the heads, you can have the valve seat bore by 1mm and still using the stocker valve, they will have to regrind it thought but if they are in good condition it's not a problem, all together with your other mods and proper tuning then you should see pretty nice gain.

P.S: The valve jobs has to be done by a professional that has worked on Nissan engine before.

 

I will have to do some research on the HR heads, has anyone ever done this before? What were the gains from it?

I will be sticking with the sotck valves, so if I buy the ones from ferrea then they will already be backcutted? And what does backcutting mean exactly? So what ramp/duration would you recomend since im not going boosted? I will not be doing the p&p myself someone else will be doing it and I will make sure they do it with the heads to the manifolds. Where would I find these really ncie headgaskets I just though stock ones would be good no? or are they restricting or something?

I will have to ponder a bit more on whether it is worth it to get non stock vq35 cams or not.

So can I get higher C/R pistons that I can put straight into my engine without having to bore it out? And if I did get pistons where would I be able to find them from, I have looked at arias and only see them for vq35? And what C/R would be good for me something like a 10.5:1 or bigger? And with replacing the pistons what else should I replace while I am already down that far (as in parts for the pistons)?

Is the Nissan engine gasket set a good set and does everything match up?

Even if I just order the new valves and want to take the old ones out and put the new ones in I have to take it to a professional?

Thanks guys this is helping me a great deal.
Stephen

 

Where would I find these said pistons? A nice tune will always be nice .

Thanks
Stephen

 

higher comp pistons are not always a positive thing esp for street applications. you might wanna stick to stock c/r and have the top of the block decked to bump u up to 9-9.5 possibly even 10:1 range. anything over 10.5 is overkill for the street unless u like paying for 93+ octane, wanna have overheating issues if u get stuck in traffic esp during the summer and are looking for future headaches. you dont have to listen to me but u could consider what i am telling you because im heading down the same road and was turned of by 11:1 comp ratio after hearing too many people regretting it for the street. but if this is your track car.. go for it all.
as for adapters if you have a local machine shop, id try and have them make a set for you and just drill your own specs. i got the adapters yesterday and i hate to say it but i wasnt to impressed with the quality.

hope i could help : )

 

Bump? Stock CR is 10.0:1 (VQ30) & 10.3:1 (FWDVQ35)

It opens up options for IM possibilities. Also opens some options on changing CR depending on which pitons are used.

 

Confused about what having the top of the block decked to bump me up to 9-9.5 possibly even 10:1 means can you explain?

I will probably go 10.5:1 If I do decide to go with pistons.

Thanks
Stephen

 

If I get pistons I will only go upto 10.5:1 otherwise I think it will be a bit overkill especially considering this is my daily and only driver .

I already have an 00VI will the intake possibilites for the hr be that much better than the 00VI swap? What is CR never heard that abbreviation before?

Thanks
Stephen

 

Keep in mind, the heads used will also affect CR.

CR = Compression ratio

 

There is nothing wrong with 11:1 compression for street use. You just need to tune accordingly.


Also, shimming the HR springs aren't necessary depending on which cams you end up using. SR20DEN was saying that even if you double shim them you could still use cams with up to 11mm lift. He never meant to say it was necessary. It bugs me every time I see that...

 

Also wont taking material off of the head mess with timing if he uses a stock hg?

 

Link to the engine kits, sorry I cant find the one with the 11:1 CR, maybe I was dreaming...

http://www.importperformanceparts.ne...ek-nissan.html

Look at #19 and #23.

 

Most any of the major piston companies (Ross, Wiseco, JE, CP, Arias, etc.) will make you a completely custom piston with any CR you desire.

 

Alright well after a lot of research and paying overdraft fees to banks I have decided that it is only within my budget to get only cams. Maybe at a later time I will do pistons and other things.

But my question now is what cams would give me the best gain without making me lose any low end power? Because after doing some research on cams I have found that when you get cams for high end power they tend to make you lose some low end power. So is anyone using any that have given you good gains and havent made you lose any low end power?

Thanks
Stephen

Also when buying new cams would I need to retune my car after as in air/fuel ratio?

 

Hey man, I used to live in Wrentham but now I'm in RI.

Once you get that bad boy on the road lets meet up.

 

Of course youll need a tune after cams. Youve affected your a/f depending on what cam profile/duration you are changing to. The tune will let you make the most of them as well.

Ive been considering cams for a while but for $ and labor, doesnt seem worth it.

 

There's no way around that unless you have variable cam timing. Without it there will always be a trade-off.

Most likely. And definitely, if you want to get the most out of the setup.

 

Yea, onc I get everything all done up ill let you know...

Yea I thought I would need a tune I just wanted to make sure. Well if I do cams I will be doing the insall myself so all I will be paying for is the cams and other things that go along with them.

Alright, well what are you running for cams? What are the specs on them? Was there a noticeable loss of low end power or was there not much of a difference? And were they worth it for the power gained from them and the springs? Where did you get your cams?

Thanks

 

what do people reccomend for cam secs I am looking for a gain in the upper and mid range but dont want to lose too much down low, so is there something in the middle that can provide me the best of both worlds?

Thanks

 

help anyone....