Build thread!

So, on Friday, February 4, 2011 I went to Firebird International Raceway for Friday Night Drags… on the third run, as I shifted into fourth gear, I jabbed the throttle and then immediately lifted off the gas pedal; it turned out that at that exact moment my stock engine bent a connecting rod. At the time the single turbo VQ35DE was pushing a relatively conservative 360 whp and 330 lb-ft of torque on roughly 5 psi, but it’s always a bit of a gamble I guess…

Anyways, as I was waiting for a flat bed tow truck to take my car back home I tried to block out the horrible reality that my engine had just suffered a catastrophic (and expensive…) failure and I began thinking of the potential motor build I could now start working on… forged, low compression pistons, H-beam connecting rods, upgraded hardware, and healthy bump in boost levels and horsepower… You have to try to find a silver lining when something bad happens…

3 months later I was preparing for an extensive engine build and started collecting all the necessary parts. I went ahead and contacted Han and Pete at Intense Power in Gilbert, Arizona and finalized my part selection and placed the order. About a week later my Wiseco pistons, Brian Crower connecting rods, and ARP hardware showed up along with a plethora of OEM parts straight from the Nissan dealership.

Now, with all the necessary parts in hand I just have to make my way to the machine shop for all the balancing, boring, honing, milling, and decking to be done; after that’s done the assembly and installation can begin.

More updates to follow as new developments are made…

Part List:
Wiseco 8.8:1 96.0mm Pistons
Brian Crower Rods
ACL Race Series Rod Bearings
ACL Race Series Main Bearings
ARP Main Studs
Aeromotive 340LPH Fuel Pump
ProEFI Exhaust Back Pressure Sensor
ProEFI 150psi Sensor (Oil Pressure Sensor)
Nissan Rev-up Oil Pump
Nissan Engine Gasket Kit
Nissan HR Z Head Gaskets
Nissan HR Z Head Bolts
Nissan Water Pump
Nissan Upper Oil Pan

I’ve snapped a few shots for the build so far:

 

you love that color.

 

LOL! Good catch, no pun was originally intended… it seems like it’s become a subconscious, involuntary love now…

Almost forgot mandatory pictures of the silver beauty too!

 

When the pistons were pulled from the core engine that I’ll be building, we noticed that at least one piston had some serious damage on the Top Ring Land… several small chunks missing, cracked, etc. Hope the machine shop can work their magic on the block and crankshaft…

 

Good luck with the build -- makes me miss my white 05 6MT

 

Thanks!

Just got back from the machine shop… the core engine I dropped off for the rebuild is good! Just needed the cylinders bored to fit the oversized pistons I brought in. Praying everything’s goes real smooth from this point on!

Now, I just have to borrow a lightened Jim Wolf flywheel (mine’s still installed in my car) and get the crankshaft pulley to the machine shop so they can balance the entire rotating assembly (crankshaft, rods, pistons, crank pulley, and flywheel).

 

Installed the electronic boost controller recently! EBC is from ProEFI (I’m running the ProEFI 48 computer right now), it syncs up the ECU and I’m able to change boost levels on the fly… one base/dyno tune and the ECU will automatically compensate for the increase in boost pressure. I’ll try it once the car’s back together…

In the first picture you can see the i-boost switch hiding in the ash tray; you can switch to a few different boost levels by turning the **** (for visual confirmation the ProEFI can gauge tells how much boost each setting is). The next shot is of the actual ProEFI Pro48 EMS, it’s neatly tucked away on the passenger side of the car.

The rest are some various shots of the car I took this past weekend …car will be thoroughly detailed once the engine is in…

 

Thumbs are being twiddled… waiting for the machine shop to play their role and finish machining and balancing…

One thing I did some research on is balancing the engine. I was initially planning on giving the machine shop my crankshaft pulley and flywheel to balance the entire rotating assembly… problem was that the old engine and trans. is still in the car so I couldn’t get the clutch and flywheel out in a reasonable amount of time, I tried to get them another flywheel that they could use for balancing purposes (mine is a JWT, the one I was going to use was a JWT out of someone else’s car) but they said they need the one I was actually going to use or I’d be better off not balancing with the pulley, clutch, and flywheel (they internally balanced VQ engines before too).

But, I still looked into it for peace of mind and it turns out that all of the major/high volume VQ motor builders just balance the internal rotating assembly (pistons, rods, and crankshaft); so I figure this well be a safe route to take… just in case any of you HT members plan a VQ build down the road…

Also, they advised me the heads on my new engine were good!

 

you bent a rod on only 360whp?

 

Yup…

I don’t know how or why but that’s what happened… I know others that have been pushing 370 whp for a few years without issue and there’s a handful of people that have made well over 400 whp without any trouble.

 

Machine shop finished the motor, I dropped off the payment last night and the shop picked it up earlier today! I guess it needed a little more work than what we originally thought (little more work, little more cost )... but they're a very reputable machine shop so it's okay as long as everything lasts in the long term.

I've got this Friday off, so I'll drop by the shop sometime in the morning to take a look at the freshly machined engine; I'll finally have some more visual updates then.

 

I'm patiently waiting....damet. LOL

 

lol, you and me both! I've been daily driving a 2002 Sentra AT GXE since February... I need boost!

Here are a few quick videos I had of the car:

This was with the car on 4.5 psi and with the stock clutch (slipping a little)...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRCYS...feature=relmfu

This was the run where I bent a connecting rod right after shifting into 4th gear
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQOsuE9KeVg&NR=1

 

Had to renew my registration this month, so I decided to get a custom plate.

Edit: The MVD asked what the plate means, my explanation: "Asking other motorists what is causing them to be upset (if they indeed are), in a very humorous way."

 

Damn so whats the status now?

 

subscribed

 

Well, I dropped by the shop this past Friday and everything's back from the machine shop, they've ordered the bearings and I just need a few small things from the dealer... but if everything goes according to plan we should start assembling the engine this coming Friday.

 

Nice

Hope things go well man

 

Thanks!

 

Dropped off a few OEM parts from the dealership at the shop; I snapped a few quick shots of the block and heads while I was there...

 

Silver shoes too?

 

LOL, I swear I wasn’t trying to match!

 

Very Nice.

Dyno that bitch after the build.

 

Yeah, it’s going straight to the dyno as soon as the new motor’s broken in! I’m going to take it to Jason Siebels at ProEFI for tuning…

…speaking of which, Horsepower Freaks recently endorsed ProEFI… you should make the switch on your M3 too…

 

ProEFI is the shizzle man, wish they'd make **** for Hondas (I don't know if they do)

They made the M3 James Bond friendly.... "press cruise control 3 times, you activate max boost"... that vid was awesome. They are def gonna hook your **** up