Nefarious

So what year jeep grand cherokee should I look for when getting the rear coils off of it for my pathy any specific model/trim that has longer springs? I use the rear jeep coils right? or do i use the front coils in the rear of the pathy? Just need to find some rough country control arms now.....

wow, that turned out really clean! love it, I might just have to adapt these techniques for myself!

okay got all the driveshafts and front suspension back together. went around torquing all the bolts all over the truck. I made my old vg30e power steering lines work with a pipe bender for now. I'll get custom ones made later that are shorter when it bugs me enough. The headers end up fitting perfectly after everything is together, I would highly recommend them based on fitment. Pathy should be up and running in the next couple of days. I'll get some more pics up tomorrow.

Assembled and installed the control arms, ball joints, front shocks, radius arms, front crossmember, front and rear driveshafts.

Man that is EXACTLY what I was looking for!! Thanks so much!!! Excellent information, and I can get the shocks for those vehicles I believe for even cheaper than the original pathfinder shocks, perfect. I would buy you a beer if I could man you just saved me a bunch of $$. I was planning on installing the ultra low profile bump stops to take advantage of the increased shock travel but you mention only the upper. Would I not benefit from using them on the lower bumps stops as well? Also just to be clear I use the front Bronco II shocks on the front of the pathy, and the rear f350 shocks on the rear of the pathy, correct?

sorry what is ttb?

Hey everyone, sorry if this has been covered. I found bits and pieces of information here and there but I am looking for a more information on this.. I am in dire need of replacing the shocks in my pathy. I am going to be in there doing all the ball joints and bushings and also installing a 3" front and rear suspension lift. I have read there are other shocks from other makes and models like the '1996 ford f150 shocks for the rear' but can I get some specific information. I have seen the longer shock options by rough country and rancho but they are quite expensive in comparison to what I can get with my discount at the local auto store. I phoned lordco and I can get monroes for MUCH cheaper at 30 and 35$ per shock for front and rear respectively. Are there shocks from another vehicles that are longer that I can use in the front that will fit to the pathfinder shock mounts to accomodate my front lift? Which rear shocks could I use for my 2-3" rear lift? How much lift do the 1996 f150 shocks support? Do i use the front f150 shocks on the rear of the pathy or the rear f150 shocks on the rear? I would much rather pay 160$ for all 4 shocks and call it a day if I can find longer options in the monroe shocks..

wow dude. that frame is the worst I have seen. good job there with that. Really quite the transformation! Should get a few winters out of that beater now I would think.

You sound like you are looking for a boat load of work for no reason when you have the better suited engine with much less work..... You are not going to get that low VG torque grunt from an early honda v6. I also doubt it would be as reliable as the VG. Have you driven any early honda v6?

My pathfinder had true dual exhaust from the previous owner(3" body lift so ample space). It was with dual 2 inch pipes flared out to 3 inch tips. Dual mufflers. The reference to it splitting the motor up into two 1.5 litres was pretty accurate. It sounded like 2 Chevy Sprints with 3 inch exhaust racing each other.... It sounded like poop... Also keep in mind the VG30E only has a single oxygen sensor, so if you don't run an X pipe(with o2 sensor mounted right in the x pipe) then you have only 1 bank of cylinders being monitored by the o2 sensor... Not the best idea. I bought the truck that way and just yesterday I spent cutting out the entire dual exhaust system in favour of a much simpler, cleaner and more efficient Y pipe into a single 2.5 inch side angle exit. You will have much better flow and exhaust scavenging... That's the way I would go with it! Well that's the way I am going with it...

^ is that magic? I noticed just a slight bit of surface rust showing underneath the paint on my frame in the front, little spots here and there... I was gunna blast it all off but wanted recommendations for rust prohibitive...

cut and shaped the oil diptick mount bracket so my driver side OBX header would fit. installed header. bent my old vg30e power steering line to fit back to the other side of the engine since the pump is on the other side now. relocated power steering reservoir to the driver side so my whole power steering setup is in one small area now. went through all the lines i had kicking to adapt r50 power steering pump to wd21 steering box. steering is done now!

p.s. i forgot to mention. if you do decide to weld it back in place, make sure you only do one spot weld at a time and then go to the other side of the rad support and do a spot weld there. alternate from side to side so it doesn't over heat the sheet and warp it! just a heads up.

well there's no contact with the pipes to anything else. though they definitely take up more room than the stock setup! haha. the driver side header is not quite sitting exactly where it will be in the end either as the flange isnt quite seated (need to grind about 1 mm off of the edge of one of the flanges). There is a bolt that holds on a mount for the oil dipstick tube that is different on the vg30e. It would have fit if i still had the vg30e. Will be about 3 seconds with a grinder so not too bad, ill get another pic up once the Y pipe is done.

yeah you have to remove the fenders first to gain access and you will see how the rad support is attached. it is held in by spot welds along the seams. I put a link up to a build thread when I did the rad support on a 1990 300ZX. Very similar but MUCH easier on a WD21 as it's not so structural and just a body not a unibody. There are not that many spots welds to drill out in the WD21 really. make sure you make reference marks and measurements, so when you put the new support on it will line up. Best way to do it is to only drill through the first half of the weld with a specific 'spot weld drill bit' so that only the layer of sheet metal you are trying to removing seperates, it's also a little easier when you are welding the new piece back on as you will have a backing to start your weld. I personally just drilled out the entire hole when i did mine as i just wanted it done and didnt want to track down a spot weld bit haha. it's just a bit more technique when you are filling the hole. Either use some copper backing or make really controlled balls of weld to fill the open gap. Also pick up some weld-thru zinc primer or some kind of weld-thru primer to coat all of the areas of metal on both sides of both surfaces you are welding. It will protect the welds as well as help stop rust from forming in between the layers of sheet metal. I would just use the one on the parts truck if its clean of rust!

installed OBX headers.

the truck already had a dual exhaust when i bought it but i am taking it out... just more to break on the trails and i want the room later for turbo and air tank. im running into a y pipe flared out to 2.5 inch to a side exit. the run for the Y pipe into single flows better anyways its a much shorter run and much more straight. this truck only has a single o2 sensor which would have to be put in a crossover pipe. so the 2 pipes must meet (which they didn't before) at some point (and they should anyways). once you re-route the second pipe back over to the other side after the crossover it ends up being a big jumbled mess. lol. the guy who had the truck before me had 'true' dual exhaust with an o2 sensor only in one pipe... im sure that is not good either lol. anyways yeah you will see how much better flowing the single works out to after the pipes meet up at the Y. I got it all planned out

Time for some energy suspension bushings! they are pretty inexpensive.. check your rear anti-roll bar as well (if it's still there).

hey no problem man glad some of the pics could help you. I am putting an r50 motor into a 93 as well. We are doing the exact same swap! haha. How are you doing it? Using your accessories or the r50 accessories?

okay so for whoever wants here's some pics of the headers install. there was a small bracket welded to the frame that led to nowhere and I have no idea why it was there. nothing was attached to it and it was in the way of the passenger side header, so i cut it off. it was right by where the trans cooler line comes out out of the trans on that side. after i lopped it off, smooth sailing! the driver side header isnt seated fully yet, there was a little bolt in the way that holds on the dipstick tube that is different for the vg33 (headers were for the 3.0) but it is literally about 1mm contact, ill grind it tomorrow. they do fit very nicely. the angles end up being pretty good to make up a Y pipe keep in mind i do have a 3" body lift so getting them in place might be different for you!

sorry buddy you are lookin at it in the pics, i used the old vg30e adjuster to make my vg33e adjuster. cut the ends off end welded them on the other side so they would work on the opposite side of the motor. i do remember off the top of my head though that there wasn't any offset in the bracket, it was just a straight piece of steel. im sure someone else on here can help out with a picture of an un-chopped/welded/ground adjuster lol.

which power steering adjuster? the one that the vg30e originally had or the one that the vg33e originally had?

they are going up this weekend ill get some shots after install and let ya know.

I would go vg33e... it swaps right in, u can add headers intake and exhaust for about 200hp and 220+ ft lbs. throw your old 3.0 cams for even more power they are higher lift. u dont need to worry about wiring or ecu then as your old ecu will run the 3.3 just fine... that's what im doing anyways! mostly working myself ive done almost the entire swap including custom exhaust/headers in about a week i have another day or 2 to go. really not a bad swap difficulty wise! add some 4.9 gears from an xterra and u will be bangin with 33s

nice shot that should help