Another VH45 build, with extras I bought Anton's unfinished VH45 project a few months ago, came with a transmission adapter plate for the Z32 gearbox and spliced VH45ECU->Z32 loom, along with some goodies like a Davies Craig electric water pump. Oh and the VH45 ECU is already Nistuned as well. Already started this Tuesday, got the old motor and gearbox out... all thanks to Aidan (awegazm). Took only 5 hours to pull everything! That's pretty damn fast So thanks to him, way ahead of schedule now Goal is to get the conversion engineered and pass pits with all OEM gear (ECU, headers, etc) as it is a condition of my modification approval from the Dept of Planning and Infrastructure... then after that the fun will come. Right now we are ready to test fit the engine with gearbox in the zed, design the subframe-side engine mounts. While the mounts and flywheel spacer are being cut we'll use the time to refresh the engine, replace hoses etc. possibly get an oil filter relocation kit as well. Parts I have/ordered: -ASI 56mm ally rad for TT -Davies Craig electric water pump -Magnaflow high flow cats x2 -Magnaflow 14862 mufflers x2 -Z1 lightweight 1-piece steel driveshaft -Z1 forged 4140 chromoly flywheel (lightest one you can get - 4.22kg) Upgrades after everything's nice and legal: -2.5"OD S/S piping and bends for exhaust & headers -Z34 spec Akebono front calipers -Racing Logic UltraComplex 8kg/6kg -VarrsToen ES 19x9.5+2 / 19x10.5+22 -slightly pumped guards & guard lining trimmed -Adjustable front upper controls, castor rods, tension rods, traction rods, etc etc -R33 GTS-T full face clutch with a higher clamp load for my NA gearbox -half cage FUTURE PLANS! -block bored out to 5.0L -Individual Throttle Bodies (Extrudabody kit?) -big lumpy cams -upgraded valve springs -12.0:1 compression forged pistons (will I run into problems with such a high compression? discuss!) This stuff will come later down the track... hoping to get it to rev high reliably (8000+rpm) and make close to 400rwhp. Will be a lot of work though! Photos so far! Nothing too exciting yet obligatory engine bay shot Aidan working his magic engine out! the engine in question few photos of the VH45DE mated to my Z32 NA gearbox using the adapter plate I'll update as I make some signifcant progress... won't be able to work on it again til next weekend unfortunately:zlove:
Awesome, Was waiting for you to post up this thread hehe. Will be keeping a close eye on it. Hope everything goes to plan, once its ready you gotta take me for a drive!
And after it's done you'll wish you'd spent allllll that time and effort on just going to a 6L V8 instead of the pussy little Nissan one [TIS] Good luck though
yea nah, not a fan of pushrod V8s. I mean I wouldn't mind owning one but high revving quad cam engines are where it's at I'll actually bring it out to cruises so you guys can all have a feel of it when it's done
VH45 are sooo last year VH45 are sooo last year... the conversion for the coming year is hybrid technology, man. Two Prius engines, man. V8 are such gas guzzlers, man. Electric power is the way of the future, man.
To bore the block out that far you are going to have to sleeve the block (BIG $$). 12:1 will be ok depending on what cams you get. ITB's from Extrudabody will cost you US$2k+ with dubious results, money would be better spent elsewhere IMO. If you need any help with anything give me a call or PM Extended flywheel bolts are hard to get. M10x1.0 IIRC, should be in my build thread somewhere.
Yes, Elwesso made them. I have one and there is another floating around Aus too The plate isn't the tricky bit, getting countersunk M14 bolts is...
Thanks for your input Chris Looks like I'll have to save up a bit for the overbore. So you recommend against an Extrudabody kit? I really want ITBs cause it'll give it that distinctive sound, also JD said it would never be able to idle properly with big cams without ITBs. I probably will look into this next year when I start getting involved with UWA motorsport... By then hopefully I'll be able to calculate things such as optimum intake runner lengths cause I am still a newbie right now I think I know a place that should have the longer bolts for the flywheel...
Course you can get it to idle with big cams with one throttle. Just need to adjust the butterfly a touch. With the fly bolts make sure you get high tensile, 12.9 would be preferred, 8.8 if you are desperate. Look through the ARP catalogue and see if you can find something that suits.
All the best on the build, I hope it turns out just how you want it. It will be worth it in the end, trust me :br: We will def have to have a drag once its done though, to settle the "old push rod" argument
cool! i thought this was much further of in the future for you, so surprised to see it happen so quick! would be a good chance to check out and fix up that front end alignment cause as well while the engines out.......... if you would like help, id be keen to swing a spanner hehe.....
Great to see another VH45 conversion going ahead. Chris is right you don't need itb's to run big cams (but it sure sounds nice) Their are cheaper ways to go about it than with the US kit. I will be designing my own later down the line in conjunction with a set of new cams to run to about 8500rpm. When my conversion is finished that is Good luck with your project James
haha I'm in for this yeah Ross it's probably a good idea... I'll whip out the measuring tape and see how far off the left side is... I think the strut towers on the left side are slightly closer than the right by a few mm. You're free to come around have a looksee, a few members have dropped by my house since we started James, when are you planning to design your ITBs and cams? Are you gonna sell them, cause I'd be very interested
Getting A/C and P/S to work will be after the motor is in there and running... Gonna try Chris' suggestion of using an electric P/S pump from a Vectra.
not sure about that actually, I know the A/C hits swaybar. I've read that the mechanical P/S pump is hard to service, and I actually haven't read a single thread where someone still uses the VH45 mech pump. Would be good to free up some crank anyway
