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V6 Mods..

Started by henge · around Jun 2004 · 27postsvBulletin 2004–05

This thread was saved without dates. "Around Jun 2004" is estimated from neighbouring threads.

hengedate not saved · #1

right now i'm trying to compile a list of modifications to do on my SE..

so far i've got:

2.5" cat back exhaust
Bosch Platinum 2 Spark Plugs

there are what i'm going to do very soon:

KA24E throttle body
'86 300zx MAF
'86 300zx ECU
2.5" high flow cat.
cone style filter
MSD Blaster SS coil

so now what are some other things that i could do that i dont already have mentioned??

i know there are things such as ungraded cams, or jim wolf ecu's but those are a lil bit out of my price range at the moment

Spooleddate not saved · #2

Platinum plugs are a waste of money and performance on the VG30E. Stick with copper plugs. They're cheaper and conduct a lot better than platinum. Platinum is only used in very high heat applications for longevity. NGK copper plugs are your friend. A bigger badder coil won't really do much for you either, save your money for now. Do the 300ZX ECU and MAF and get rid of the awful stock intake plumbing. That should net you a bit of useable power as the stock intake snakes right down next to the hot exhaust manifold. The KA24 throttle body will bolt right on, but isn't going to do much if you don't port match your upper intake manifold to it. All it takes is a dremel and a bit of time, but I would remove the intake manifold to do it, otherwise you're risking metal shavings in the motor. I had custom cams cut for under $300. I also bought a set of Z31 headers from Motorsport Auto and had an exhaust shop modify them to fit. I had my heads ported and had 1mm oversized intake and exhaust valves installed, but that is a bit more expensive. Really, there isn't much more you can do that isn't involved or really expensive, or both. One more thing you can do, but it isn't for everybody, is lighten the car by removing all the sound deadening and miscellaneous items. I lost about 60 lbs doing this.

sschungdate not saved · #3

you had bigger valves put in?! nice!!

hengedate not saved · #4

well i've already got the platinum 2's and paid about $25 for the set.. so i'm going to hold on to those for a while.. i will say tho that i did notice quite a difference which that platinums in than with whatever crap was in there before..

with the throttle body.. i should be getting that this week hopefully, and at the same time i'm going to be doing my head gaskets.. so the intake mani will be off and i'll be able to port match it

with the intake piping.. i'm going to be getting rid of the a/c in my car since i never use it anyways, and that will allow me to set up a better intake

Pavementdate not saved · #5

I would like to see how spooled modified the MSA headers to fit? pics?

Spooleddate not saved · #6

I'll see if I can take some pics tonight of the headers and my intake to post up tomorrow. It's a tight squeeze, but the headers can be modified to fit. The headers themselves are relatively inexpensive. To have them modified and have a custom exhaust made cost me an extra $400, but that included a flowmaster muffler and all materials. By the way, my exhaust dumps out just past the driver's door in front of the rear wheel opening. I didn't want to have the restrictive bends required when going over the rear suspension, and I can't go under the rear suspension because my car sits so low. The muffler sits where the catalytic converter used to be.

sidewaysdate not saved · #7

a 50 shot of go juice would also be a nice addition. the vg motor could take a 50 shot very well. i had a friend that had one of the old hardbody /pre-frontier trucks with the vg motor in it and he sprayed a 75 shot with bad rings and a nasty knock for years before the motor died

Spooleddate not saved · #8

Nitrous scares me. It is true that the VG30 is a very stout motor, and could easily handle the extra stress.

sidewaysdate not saved · #9

esp if you went with a zex smart kit. they detect lean condition and shut off the nitrous very safe

gregoriodate not saved · #10

Ditto on the botched plat plugs, ran them for about 10k in my VG30--muted spark apparently. I bet you would notice a difference if you spent $15 on the NGK set.
The new coil is a good idea--did you ohm out the old one to see how good it was? Coils do fade out due to heat.
Does your car have the electric cooling fan on the rad?--it's good for a few more ponies.

hengedate not saved · #11

alright.. just as an update i've acquired a KA24E throttle body and located a 300ZX Turbo LSD for $50!!! now i just need to find a '86 300zx to get the MAF and ECU from and i think for the most part i'll be good to go

i will change over to a dual electric fan setup also, my dad told me he found some for $20, so i'll just tell him to pick those up for me

now i just need to wait till tomorrow when i should be getting my head gasket set and then the whole process will begin! :devil:

Spooleddate not saved · #12

$50 for a 300ZX Turbo LSD!? Where in the hell did you score that deal!? I haven't found any under $475. You better jump all over that!

hengedate not saved · #13

$50 for a 300ZX Turbo LSD!? Where in the hell did you score that deal!? I haven't found any under $475. You better jump all over that!

its this pull it yourself junkyard.. down by where my dad lives in south carolina.. they are really low are their prices for almost everything for older imports.. i mean hell they dont even know what half the stuff they're selling is :slap: !! i paid like $25 for a ca18et exhaust manifold, T2 Turbo, and downpipe a couple of years ago and when i brought it up to pay for it the guy asked me if it was an intercooler :wtf: ,.. now i just need to fix the SE so i can drive it down there to pick the LSD up, b/c its too much work and a lil too heavy for my dad to take out by himself, but he asked today how much it would be and $50 is what they said! so i'm happy :lick: ..

Alex Frostdate not saved · #14

OMFG!!! I will take everything they got...I could make a fortune...lol 8)

Jsvob03date not saved · #15

i have platinum 2's..made a good difference..but they have 15k miles on them now..and i have that "air lag" problem..maybe its the plugs..i just got my NGK wires from options auto..($39 after shipping!) gonna get a blaster II coil...then gonna NOT drive my car..cause my damned tranny is out...

hengedate not saved · #16

i have platinum 2's..made a good difference..but they have 15k miles on them now..and i have that "air lag" problem..maybe its the plugs..i just got my NGK wires from options auto..($39 after shipping!) gonna get a blaster II coil...then gonna NOT drive my car..cause my damned tranny is out...

well with my Platinum 2's i've got a 3 year warranty.. so if i need to i'll just get them replaced when the time comes..

UrnZwaydate not saved · #17

Get rid of the BOSCH JUNK. Nissan's engineers designed you engine (and all of their engines for that matter) to run on real plugs. NGK is the only plug I will use in any car I touch. I tried the bosch plats in my Z32TT. I installed them, drove around the block and felt a noticable "seat of the pants" difference, THE WRONG WAY. I pulled the 300 right back in the garage and put the old plugs back in for another 20k miles.

I had Denso-Rs in the NSX, but I like the NGK-Rs in there too (Same plug as Z32nonturbo) Nissan gives ne wholesale at the parts counter. $6.50 a plug. Most guys will discount you too if you are cool with them. Go with what works! NGK.

Air in is good.
AFM - Z31 60mm
TB - KA24 60mm (match the manifold AND the edge of the TB to the NEW gasket) Be sure not to grind the part where the butterfly seats, though - very bad.
Plumbing - good luck if you keep the AC. Get it away from the exhaust. Get someone (some exhaust shops can do it) to make you an intake pipe (60mm hopefully) and "squeeze it past the AC"

Air out is good (but not too much)
I used Z31 headders from Pace Setter and "massaged" the fire wall abit (read: 12 lb sledge hammer) I can "heel toe" the pedals alot easier now, but I wouldn't do it again. Find someone to fabricate it for you. I am going to have mine re-done, because the pace setters rusted to crap within a year - Junk!
Do you have emissions there, if no STRAIGHT PIPE, If yes, high flow cat.
Cat back (you already have, right?

Fuel, While you have your manifold off to port match it to the TB, have the injectors checked. Any good diesel, big truck, or turbo shop will clean and flow test your injectors for about $15 a piece. MONEY WELL SPENT.

Spark, Upgrade your coil and use good plugs, NGK. I like the heat range 6 short electrode NGK-R. (Same plug from Z32nonturbo (VG30DE). Check wires, use an ohmmeter. If any are shot - replace them all. The others will be soon to fail. Stock wires are OK, I made mine from a V8 Excell 8mm custom "cut your own length" kit, but mainly because they are yellow and it looked cool with the dark metallic red paint.

Free up power by getting rid of the stock fan and clutch. The less power wasted on that stuff, the more power to the wheels. You can get bigger pulleys for alt, pws, and AC, but DO NOT TOUCH CRANK PULLEY. The VG series engines produce harmonics at 2 different engine speeds, the stock crank pulley balances them out, take it from me, underdrive crank pully = bearing failures.

From there, DRY NOS or water injection. DO NOT SPRAY WET NOS IN THE MANIFOLD, the gas collects on the walls of the bends in the manifold and that means it does not get to the cylinders. If you want big nos, do direct port, or change the injectors to larger ones, and do custom fuel mgmt, again, take my word for it.

That is all of the "little" stuff. From there you start getting into big $ and losing reliability. Plus, you can get a DETT for $2500 with trans, or a RB26TT for less then 4 large, so why waste time on anything else?

Jsvob03date not saved · #18

what about NGK - iridiums? i already have the NGK wires...working on the blaster II coil..and considering plugs..

capitalkingdate not saved · #19

i havent really seen too much listed about his mod. what about the pathfinder intake mani? granted, you have to do some mods to the hood, which i why i think its not dealt with a lot. but i'm thinking maf, ka tb, 86 z ecu,and the pfinder mani. you know, and everything else discussed earlier..fuel, fan, exhaust, etc....oh, and nos. figure if i'm going to blow up my engine, i might as well do it having fun....umm, let me ask this. i drive really hard, in south florida (its hot) and, since my odometer no longer works i have no idea how many miles are on my car, or when i got it. nothing leaks, no crazy sounds, runs great...no smoke. what kind of life span are we looking at. i know a lot depend on the initial care of the car, but ball park it.

Spooleddate not saved · #20

Do a compression test on your motor. That will tell you the condition of your rings and valves. Those are the parts that take the most wear in a motor. How long it continues to last has too many variables, even to ball park it.

FinalRightsdate not saved · #21

The Ka24 TB doesn't really do much good on its own. The pathfinder intake,with the ka tb and 60mm piping through the z31 MAF should open up the intake quiet a bit. As for the Nitrous shot,the vg30e block is very,very stout. I know of guys running atleast 12psi with the stock T3(intercooled). The most horsepower I've seen from a vg30e so far was like 180rwhp from alot of mods,including the pathfinder intake.

Mechperformancedate not saved · #22

its this pull it yourself junkyard.. down by where my dad lives in south carolina.. they are really low are their prices for almost everything for older imports.. i mean hell they dont even know what half the stuff they're selling is :slap: !! i paid like $25 for a ca18et exhaust manifold, T2 Turbo, and downpipe a couple of years ago and when i brought it up to pay for it the guy asked me if it was an intercooler :wtf: ,.. now i just need to fix the SE so i can drive it down there to pick the LSD up, b/c its too much work and a lil too heavy for my dad to take out by himself, but he asked today how much it would be and $50 is what they said! so i'm happy :lick: ..

Must be U-wrench it huh?

Mechperformancedate not saved · #23

Nissan motorsports (NOT NISMO) offers 2 Sets of cams for the SEV6 (yes the S12 has its own section) I would suggest the Iskiderian cams, they are a little aggresive on idle but when they open up you will feel a world of difference from midrange to top-end.....i would also advise a tru CAI made from Mild steel mandrel bends....I got 2 J bends and made a CAI by cutting the pieces i needed and putting timing marks on them so I could take them to the local exhaust shop and have them welded......I noticed a major difference on top end with this as well but lost a tiny bit of TQ.....I beleive Nissan motorsports also has an underdrive pulley kit for it, including the crank pulley......Drivetrain is also a crutial part of modding.....Buy yourself a nice Spec or ACT stage 2 (strip for ACT) clutch kit, and maybe get a lightened flywheel from Nissan motorsports as well (this will be in the Z31 section) .......

Just a few other options I thought I would throw in.....

PS. the cams are expensive but well worth the money.....
The CAI was a little work and about 40 bux woth of mandrel bends....( you can order mandrel bends from Hooker (the same ppl that make headers for muscle cars...) And the underdrive pulley kit I have never priced out because im not interested in it anymore......(VG33ET doesnt need the light weight pulleys.....)

-Jeff

Jsvob03date not saved · #24

now..if i understand right..if you change out your injectors to ANYTHING but stock...you need an ECU reprogram...so assuming that to be true...why couldnt i use these (http://www.courtesyparts.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=16600-RR810)? they are still top feed i would Assume...granted..it would cost almost $1400 for INJECTORS..but that would be more than enough fuel..

200SXXEnotchbck86date not saved · #25

That would be cool, I especially like the warning "Remap of ECU Required". Is this posible to do with our ECU. Or is it time for some aftermarket parts from a 300xz.

Jsvob03date not saved · #26

small update here..i just ran my buddies engine dyno simulation...pretty cool..heres what i get (the stock HP is off, not sure why!)..

Stock everything-
HP: 140 @ 5000 rpm
TQ: 170 @ 3500 rpm

.020 over VG pisons, domed, 10.5:1c/r
stock crank
Pathfinder Intake
euro Cams -2.5 deg (CAM, not IGN)timing
stock valves, no port & polish
Stock exhaust
HP: 200 @ 5800 rpm
TQ: 196 @ 4500 rpm

.020 over VG pisons, domed, 10.5:1c/r
Stock Crank
Pathfinder Intake
Isky Cams -2.5 deg timing
stock valves, ported
High Perf. Exhaust (manifolds too!)
HP:230 @ 6200 rpm
TQ:214 @ 5000 rpm

I wish it accounted for little stuff, but..eh..its free, cant complain..Torque seems off on the last one too..hmm...the isky cam throws the HP up to like 240 at 7000 rpm..but the vg only goes to 6200. D'oh!!

japishdate not saved · #27

i have a 1986 MAF turbo. its the same one as the n/a. if you want you just have to pay shipping