[WifesCar]

Hey everyone,

I've been a member on here for quite some time now. I joined this forum after my wife and I picked up a 2002 Sentra Spec V. That car is long gone now, and she's enjoying a 2011 WRX hatch as her commuter.

I shared my '95 Nissan Nissan 240SX project with you guys, which was finished up not too long ago (who am I kidding, it's never finished).

I do have another project on the way now - a 2003 Nissan 350Z.

This is my 2nd Z33, and I picked it up with 8 previous owners on the title, and over 100k miles on it for $5500 in November of 2015.

I drove it around like it was stolen any chance I could, since I considered the car a beater at that price

1st mod I did were the wheels - mainly because the car came with a set of squared 18" Enkei RPF1 wheels with mismatched tires, and very high offset (sunken battleships).

So in April of 2016 I ordered my 1st EVER set of 'real' wheels from Japan - Rays TE37V Mark II - 18x9.5 +15 | 18.10.5 +15. Wrapped these in BFGoodrich G-FORCE SPORT COMP-2 255/40 | 275/40.

Enjoyed the car like this for the remainder of the summer, and put it away for storage for the winter.

On Black Friday of 2016 I decided to send it with this car...

I ordered a Rev9 single turbo kit w/ the Turbonetics turbo & wastegate, and all the various supporting components, including a Haltch ECM and a Cosworth intake manifold (got super lucky getting my hands on this!)

I got the car back from storage in April of 2017, and I got to work. Mind you - I didn't even do a compression check on it before slapping all this stuff on.

I finished the install in June and got it tuned by (now friend).

The car made 405HP/371TQ on 11psi.

I drove the car even harder after this, and the engine finally had enough of abuse, and started smoking after putting ~1300 miles on it while in my posession.

I put the car away for storage again that winter, knowing I am going to need to rebuild the engine at some point.

I picked up a spare VQ35DE block for $100 from a local guy here who needed it gone, since he was moving out of state. It will make things easier when it's time to swap the engines out.

So, on that Black Friday (and up until the time of this post) I started ordering a bunch of stuff to fortify the engine (build list down below), and get it ready for all the boost!

I got the car back again in May of 2018, and it's been sitting in my garage since, while I put time in on my 240SX project, which I've been badly neglecting for quite some time.

I also managed to pick up a used Greddy Twin Turbo kit w/ leaky turbos from a very cool guy who works at Treadstone Performance, for $2000!

When I finally finished my 240SX project in May of 2020, it was sent off to my brother in-law's for a paint job, and now I had all the room I needed to finally start my 350Z project!

I borrowed my friend's engine hoist, bought a JGS engine stand, and tore that $100 engine apart in January of this year.

I found a little bit of scoring on Cyl #4, but luckily not that deep, and a lightly spun bearing on rod #5.

I also found out that the driver side head was missing all the cam caps, so I ended up getting a replacement head for a FX35 /w all cam caps from eBay.

Once I had everything apart, I took it to a local machine shop here in WNY called Northeast Machine - it's probably one of the best machine shops in WNY.

Got all the parts back within a few months, and on my 'build' bench.

My friend who works at the machine shop above said that he will help me reassmble the longblock.

He already came by to install the crank & girdle.

I will update this thread as the build progresses.

Here is the 'complete' build list for now, I am sure some things will probably change over time.

Shooting for 550-600hp this time around...

Bottom end:
-hot tanked, cleaned, decked
-Wiseco AP Pistons - 8.8:1 | 96mm
-Manley H Beam rods /w ARP bolts
-ARP main studs
-VQ35HR headgasket mod
-Rev-up oil pump
-fully balanced rotating assembly

Top end:
-5 angle job
-Brian Crower 264 cams
-Brian Crower valve springs
-Brian Crower retainers
-ARP head studs
-Cometic VQ35/37HR head gasket

Cooling:
-Koyo radiator
-VQ35HR headgasket
-Pathfinder cooling mod
-Rev9 oil cooler (stock is deleted)

Power adder:
-Greddy Twin turbo kit w/ TD05H-18G turbos (these are getting rebuilt & upgraded at the time of this post)
-Greddy Tial 38mm external wastegates w/ dump tubes
-Treadstone Performance cast stainless turbo manifolds (to replace the Greddy cast iron ones from the old kit)

Other bolt-ons:
-Greddy oil pan
-Cosworth intake manifold w/ carbon fiber end caps
-Tial Q50 BOV
-ATI Super Damper crank pulley
-MITZONE Aluminum Valve Covers
-generic catch can

Electronics:
-Haltech Platinum Pro ECM
-AEM A/FR gauge
-AEM boost controller
-Glowshift boost gauge

Fuel Delivery:
-Aeromotive Stealth 340
-Bosch EV14 1000cc injectors
-CJ Motorsports S0 Return Fuel System

Drivetrain:
-JWT Flywheel - Nodular Iron 26lb
-JWT Heavy Duty Clutch - 1200KG
-CZP Upgraded Clutch Pivot Ball
-Technafit Stainless Clutch Line
-CD009 transmission (on the wishlist atm)

Wheels & tires:
-Rays TE37V Mark II - 18x9.5 +15 | 18.10.5 +15
-BFGoodrich G-FORCE SPORT COMP-2 255/40 | 275/40

 

[WifesCar]

Engine tear down:

 

[WifesCar]

Machine work:

 

[WifesCar]

The parts gallery:

 

[WifesCar]

Engine Reassembly:

 

[Tritton]

Fuck yeah, keep it coming!

 

[silvabullit]

15s and a tall ass slick n u golden

 

[FRe]

nice build. Your gunna want more than a 255 pump at that power, just a heads up. Doesn't leave a whole lot of head room.

 

[WifesCar]

nice build. Your gunna want more than a 255 pump at that power, just a heads up. Doesn't leave a whole lot of head room.

Thank you!

Good call man. I was thinking about this as I was writing this post out. I'm gonna be in the fuel tank anyway to install the return fuel fittings, so i might as well upgrade while I'm in there.

 

[FRe]

save yourself a future headache and put a duel pump system in.

 

[Sus Spec]

Nice man. I need to put a wig on and start whoring myself out to be able to fulfil these same dreams of Nissan builds.

 

[silvabullit]

What fuel u plan I’m running? Those injectors might be a little small for 600whp

 

[WifesCar]

What fuel u plan I’m running? Those injectors might be a little small for 600whp

93 pump gas. I am not touching e85 until it's readily available near me.

So those are 715cc @ 43psi. That should be good for ~570hp.

I think if we set the fuel pressure at 50psi, I will be able to make these run to 600hp w/o issue.

I did order a 340lph Aeromotive pump last night after FRe's comment. I already had the 255 installed, so I figured I'd use that but looks like after the 550 mark, you're really pushing the pump and are at risk of losing fuel pressure towards the top end of a run.

 

[FRe]

Increasing fuel pressure to get more from an injector is a dangerous game. Always go over on injectors. You should not be over 85% duty cycle on an injector. I missed the injector sizing. Def too small.

 

[WifesCar]

Increasing fuel pressure to get more from an injector is a dangerous game. Always go over on injectors. You should not be over 85% duty cycle on an injector. I missed the injector sizing. Def too small.

Sob....alright. I contacted the seller about an exchange for something bigger.

If I'm doing the math right, at least 800cc would be a good starting point. 760cc being the absolute minimum?

 

[FRe]

Just jump to a 1050cc. with the power you are aiming for, you need a safety net. going for a "minimum" is a good way to blow up a car. if you plan on doing e85 or any sort of ethanol mix, you will need WAY bigger, so just jump to the 1050cc. My rule is; if the customer even mentions more power in the future, future proof the car so life is easier down the road.

if you plan on doing more power down the road than 600, a 340lph pump is going to be struggling to keep up. Again, I highly recommend a duel pump system to future proof the car. Fueling is one of those things you go OVER-board on, no "just enough"

 

[silvabullit]

Exactly get 1050 cc and u never have to worry.

 

[silvabullit]

Double post.

 

[Sus Spec]

Kind of agree. I missed that as well. Ive learned to always over estimate on injectors for exactly that reason. Thinking for a v6 it might not need to be as big but doesnt mean it should be limited. I was also thinking 900cc+ range.

 

[WifesCar]

Ok, I got 1000cc injectors on the way. Thanks for your input fellas.