I've been doing a TON of research into my current project, and I have no bloody clue which setup I should consider.

I currently have a 97 SE 5spd which I enjoy blowing transmissions up fully well, but I came across a 350 Long block for dirt cheap. Since it's a 350 motor, I'm going to run the 3.0 heads with the 3.5 cams and enjoy the 11.3:1 compression ratio and couple added revs, BUT, I have no idea which manifold will work out best, especially with a turbo. Naturally, I want to decrease the amount of piping and angles in the piping, so a VQ30DET or 350 manifold look good due to the location of the TB, but the flow of the manifold is utterly important...

So... which route should I attempt to go?

Vote:
VQ40 Variable
New Altima Plastic Variable
VQ35 Metal Variable
VQ35 Maxima
VQ35 350Z (if it'll clear the hood)
00vi
MEVI
VQ30DET
VQ30DE

And just in case you want this to help your decision, it'll be a PTE6262SP billet BB turbo mounted up front where the left fog light should be. And yes, I can run 6psi on 93, or more on E85 or 100... and yeah, I have 100 octane pump gas here.

 

Turbo + 11.3:1

Most questions have been answered in some way or shape.

off the top of my head.

New alti IM wont work with a FWD-DE LIM.


What's the difference between VQ35 metal variable and VQ35 Maxima?

 

How do you plan on using the RWD 350z motor in the FWD max?

 

little modification here & there ... you know, people have done it.

Or VQ40 for that matter RWD, and not weldable.

 

6psi with an 11.3 static?

Hmm.

 

Not sure how cheap dirt cheap is, but is it cheap enough to offset the added time/expense/general headache of making/modifying mounts to put the RWD engine in the max, when you can get a FWD VQ35 for like $500?

Anyways, why do you want to run 3.0 heads? 3.5 heads are superior, but what I'd do if I had it to do over again is run pathfinder heads. They flow better than 3.0 heads (not quite as good as regular 3.5 heads) but they have 3.0 intake port shape, which means you can run a 00VI and LIM on it. Which I think would be the ultimate setup.

That brings us to CR. 11.3 is pretty high for turboing, yea yea yea honda guys are starting do it and what not on occasion, but they are doing so with way different cam specs (resulting in vastly different dynamic CR). You could use pathfinder pistons to bring the CR back down to 10.0:1, and also suppress detonation and preignition since they are flat top pistons without valve reliefs.

 

Has anyone run this setup on a boosted car before, I think godfather and mardi both had something close

 

Yeah, the 11.3:1 is a little high. I've always been a big fan of high compression and boost, big cams can offset that. I have a few friends running 10.5:1 compression and 30+psi on the street on E85. I like the engine response combined with the massive increase in response to boost.

As far as the engine, very cheap is still very cheap. I do want to have a good reliable setup, and it seems nobody really agrees what is the best setup to have. With that, since everything seems like speculation, getting parts upon parts from different engines will add up to a very expensive build. If that were the case, I'd be able to afford serious internals and just go with massive boost and 8k+ rpm.

Granted, I will be gutting my car (look for a FS: thread coming soon) and this may offset costs a little bit (though the Nismo gauge cluster isn't cheap.)

All said and done... you're all making me rethink my strategy. Not fun. If I were doing it with internals, I'd do a Max VQ35 block, VQ40 crank, custom VQ40 pistons (smaller and higher wrist pins), custom length rods, VQ40 heads, 00vi, etc. Buttt...... that all will add up to mucho $$$.

P.S. I am a Honda guy by the way... my daily is a 2006 Civic Si. The Maxima is the toy that keeps on breaking.

 

I didn't even think of another option, you could just use a pathfinder engine in its entirety, and sell the RWD VQ you already have. probably even make a profit on the deal.

other option is to just make an adapter to use 00vi with a FWD or preferably RWD LIM (because of port orientation and shape).

the point is that i feel the 00vi is the best intake VQ manifold available (without buying a $1200 cosworth - which I'm not even convinced is better still) or a totally custom one (a good one, not the crappy custom ones you usually see).

 

The idea of selling the RWD VQ is definitely on my list right now, I have a bunch of stuff to eBay already, like 2 Viper Carrier Assemblies I was going to use for a turbo LS1 RX7.

As far as the pathfinder engine (which are all more expensive than Maxima/Altima/Quest engines) are you talking about the 3.5 or the 4.0 Pathfinder motor? I know the 4.0 would be tough to pull off considering the deck height of the that is MUCH higher than the VQ35.

Honestly, the only reason I'm even doing this to the car is because I feel I probably won't get back the money I have spent in just the suspension and flywheel in selling it. Damn those expensive JIC coilovers and JWT parts. Anyone want it?

P.S. I'll be in Chi-Town next month for the AMS Open House/Track Day... where in the west burbs are you? I've got a bunch of friends all over the Chi area.

 

Why the rev up lower collector (LIM)? I'm pretty sure the rev up collector is identical to all the other vq35de collectors. I guess I could be wrong though.

I like the 00vi, but I'm not sure why people think it's the best IM for the vq. Is there any proof?

IMO, the mrev2 and a 5/16" spacer would be best option for a turbo vq35 on a budget.

 

edit: I take everything I said about the Rev Up LIM back, and thank you for questioning me 505max because it got me thinking that maybe i was going crazy and giving bad info about the rev up LIM, so I decided to dig up my old posts. I finally found my old post I made on the subject of LIMs, and it wasn't a rev up LIM, just a normal RWD LIM. The RWD and FWD LIMs are significantly different - that is the difference I was remembering. Not a difference between regular RWD and Rev Up.

 

I'm talking about the 3.5 pathfinder. the 4.0 pathfinder i don't know anything about other than what you said with regard to the deck height, and i also know that the FWD VQ transmission will not bolt to the VQ40 block either (HRs and 40DEs share a bellhousing pattern which is different from 30DE and 35DE bellhousing pattern).

i live like 10 minutes from AMS in wheaton/winfield. i have a friend who works there too (old friend, don't see him much anymore but i did stop by there a couple weeks ago while my buddy's car was being worked on).

 

IIRC, HR LIM does not line up to the DE heads (bolt pattern).

http://forums.maxima.org/all-motor/3...altima-im.html