conor1123

Here is a quick video of the pathy starting up and a few revs!

She's all finished up and running good! My stock auto tranny is having slipping problems obviously because of the massive power increase. I'll have to track down an xterra tranny or something to swap in. I've put about 450 miles on it and 300 of those were a full day of offroading up at crown king here in AZ. I'll try to post a video or something of it running. Sorry for dropping the thread, been busying with other things when I finished this

Update: September 6th-7th, 2014 Alright, here's where we are at. Everything is together but we ran into a problem with the battery and thought it was bad so we swapped it out for a new one. The cables also look bad so i'll be replacing those too. More to come within the week. It's so close but I can't hear it run yet!!! All I got to hear was it cranking over a bunch of times.

Lets see, it definitely costs a pretty penny if you did it the way I did it (basically replaced everything important.) My buddy and I pulled the motor in about 5 hours with no lift or nice power/air tools. Now going back in took a bit longer because we ran into a few problems with my aftermarket motor mounts. That took about 20 hours, again, in my backyard hah! Someone that will be able to keep it at a shop with a bunch of tools shouldn't take that long most likely. If you have to have a shop do it id probably just do a VG33 swap because it will save you close to $1000 in just machining costs. That doesn't including finding some VH45 pistons which is pretty hard to do now unless you want to buy them from Infiniti for an arm and a leg.

Motor is in, as in the bell housing is bolted up and motor mounts are on! Didn't end up taking any pics yet since my hands were gunked and we quickly had to clean up in the middle of a dust storm. (Thanks Arizona) I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow. Will definitely have a first start video.

Ah close! Arizona Today my buddy and I are actually putting the motor back in so hopefully all goes well!

Thanks!

Update: August 20th-23rd, 2014 Just the beginning! Fuel rails, cam sprockets, water pump, lower intake, and some plumbing on! Rocker assembly, lifters, crank sprocket on! Didn't manage to get a picture with the timing belt on it without the cover but its under there don't worry!

Just a little hiccup, everything should be going together here soon!

So some crappy news. First my machine shop found out my heads were cracked and advised to find a used set. So after we found a different set that looked pretty decent we went ahead and installed them like normal. Upon installing my cams we found something unusual. With both cams installed and both cam retainer bolts hand tightened, the right hand side basically became really hard to turn, unlike the left side. Both cams spun freely without the bolt tightened but once it was tightened just a bit the right side started to become harder and harder to turn. I bet if I torqued it down to spec it wouldn't spin at all. Its getting hung up on something but its hard to tell with a naked eye. Something in the casting could be bad etc. So I just took the whole block with the heads on it to the machine shop because I didn't want to waste a new head gasket if all they needed to do was grind it somewhere slightly. I'll post when I find out some news!

Sadly I don't have my vg30 pistons here with me Sorry man!

I don't think they will. I believe even the VG33 injectors aren't a direct swap into a VG30 also (they work but you have to splice the wires and stuff to fit the harness...i think?) I'm not positive though, anyone here know?

I wouldn't mind running it around 5-7psi with no intercooler hah! That would be cool

Mr.510 is still planning on producing top mount turbo headers for the pathy So hopefully down the road I can run that with a Z31 turbo and maybe Nistune will eventually support our ECU so we can tune it up a bit. Oh I bet you will be fine with your setup, what size tires are you running? Stock gearing? Id say as long as they don't have chips on the skirts then they should be fine. Id imagine the machine shop could figure it out, if worst comes to worst just try and find those VG30DE/DETT rods. On another note...this has been sitting on my couch for a couple of months...

Mr.510 said around 7-9psi with no intercooler and 12-15 with an intercooler. 15psi would probably be the limit.

Darn, what did you do with your original VG30E pistons?

Oh i'm sure that it will be fine Mr.510 runs 33's on stock gearing and that's even with an auto and he pulls hard. If you have a 5 speed it will be cake. I had to order a few more parts on Saturday that I overlooked so they should be here tomorrow most likely then more progress will come! But yeah, not sure if Snowboard meant that, just was guessing. He did say he wanted the rods so maybe he was offering his VG30DE pistons hah! Not sure.

I think he meant that since he is swapping in VG30DE pistons you can have one of his VG30E pistons

If only we could get those for a vg33 that would be a simple and awesome upgrade

I might be able to sell you one of mine, ill have to let you know once everything is sorted out I ordered my cams from Automotive Customizers (4x4parts)

Don't get me wrong....that is tempting... Thank you! Aiming for it to be finished within 2 weeks. One of these in a sami would be killer! I was lucky enough to run into someone that had the 3.3 block, VH45 pistons, and DETT rods. I would guess you could poke around on some 300zx forums for the rods. Even ebay sometimes. Now when it comes to the pistons, they are getting harder to find used. Buying new from the dealer would cost and arm and a leg but that's what I had to do with my VH45 piston rings. Paid $340 for them....geez. If I see anything i'll let you know! Make sure when you cut those valve reliefs that you duplicate the VG30 ones and not the VG33s

Update: August 3rd, 2014 Got my block back from the machine shop this week. Here's some pictures! Heads torqued down!

Update: May 15th, 2014 Cams! (one cam pictured ) Update: July 5th, 2014 Mr.510 doing work! VG30DETT rods swapped onto the VH45 pistons. Offset alternator bracket and grounded down power steering bracket! (Thanks for the picture Mr.510, He knew I was excited for these to be finished!) --------------------------- Next step is dealing with the machine shop, and ordering lots of parts from the dealer! Also..apparently there's only 1 set of VH45 OEM rings left in the US. I ordered them today so hopefully I snagged the last set..

Had to split this into separate posts, too many pictures Update: May 8th, 2014 VG30DETT rods and VH45 pistons before I boxed them up to send to Mr.510 to have the valve reliefs cut. Mr.510's Crank Adapter

This thread was originally posted on the Rugged Rocks forums. (April 15th, 2014) Thought id put it up on here. Put in my order for Steven's diamond axle housing to start up my SAS but ended up blowing a head gasket so my SAS will be on hold for a bit. It's starting to get hot here in AZ so not going wheeling for a while. Thought I would use this chance to pull the motor out and get something done! Picked up a disassembled VG33 that came with the Q45 pistons and VG30DETT rods. Let me know if you had this VG at one point...I got it from Inyourface1650. I'm sure its been passed through many members here I'll finish it for you guys hah! What i'm using from my VG30 -All accessories -Water pump -Partial Timing covers -Valve covers -Oil pan -Random miscellaneous stuff. What i'm using from the VG33 -Crank (Using Mr.510's pulley adapter to fit my vg30 pulley) -Oil Pump -Pickup -Timing gears -Partial Timing covers -Block -Heads -Anything else I find I need Since I don't see myself ever swapping a v8 into the pathy I thought I would spend some time/money into the VG and make it worth my while since I will basically have a new motor. Performance mods -Doug Thorley Headers -Euro Cams -2.5" Exhaust -JWT ECU at some point possibly Here's what pictures I have at the moment. VG33 Block Heads Crank Box'o Parts Update April 16th, 2014 Got my headers and motor mounts today! Update: Motor pull - April 25th, 2014