system_f

THEY FIT! It has been a long time since i have tried oversized tires on an R50 and I forgot what works and what dosen't. Specs are: stock wheels 4 3/4" backspace 16x7 wheels 265/75/16 (31.7") KO2s! The mudflap will have to be removed or trimmed up front and the front bumper MAY have to be cut, but maybe not. Front bumper won't be there for more than a year or two anyways. I won't be using these wheels, I am going to go with 16x8s with 4" of backspace. About the VQ oil burning, I had read this is due to bad cats (caused by bad gas or excessive fueling/lack of maintenance) sheding ceramic and it being sucked into the engine due to reversion at low rpm then tearing up the rings and cylinder walls. Parts I have already: Discs Pads front driveshaft U-joints shoes rear brake hardware kit clutch kit second battery system from my taco ham radio and antenna Parts on order: Every single water hose under the hood except two which are discontinued rear seal poly bushings for everything but the sway bars including the panhard and rack and pinion 2" lift springs kyb struts bilstien 5100s strut bearings camber bolts for struts Parts I need: wheels and tires rear muffler assembly stereo system (something android auto) possibly a new welder with a spool gun so I can do aluminum skids and because it's time for a new welder probably more I cannot think of Sliders - will probably buy these

Yesterday we inspected the transfer case and it looked amazing, the chain is very tight. It was so good I didn't even both dissembling the transmission for inspection. I will put a front seal in the transmission and be done with it. Then we moved on to diagnose the old engine. We found out why cylinder #5 had a misfire code, see below. Root cause is either low on oil or something we haven't though of. I will have to get the heads off before I know for sure. Next week begins the parts waiting game. The clutch kit arrived, but I need the Nissan parts before the drivetrain can start going back in.

My Neighbors love me! I expect a privacy fence will be coming up when the host next door sells. Old engine ready for analysis:

We were going to pickup two VQ35DE R50s, the second one was CHEAP, auto, 4x4, decent exterior and ran, but rough. Unfortunately my trailer wasn't big enough. I tried to rent a 30 foot trailer, but it was not available and I only had a 24 footer. I am glad we couldn't fit a second R50. Although two R50s would have been within the weight limit when we got home we realized that the trailer had a frame crack where the gooseneck attaches to the frame. I notified the rental company. What sucks even worse is I had a neighbor that wanted parts off the second R50 that would have paid for itself AND it had the 4.6 gears I wanted I realize the companies sticker that I rented the trailer from is in the pictures. They seemed very receptive to the damage on the trailer (that was not caused by us due to rust in the crack) and were going to take the trailer out of service until repaired. I am renting another trailer from them Friday for a move and am glad they provide the service they do. Towing the trailer with the crack was my fault. I should have done a proper inspection before leaving and gotten another trailer. The blown engine had 194k on it...shouldn't have died. The owner was told by a mechanic that it had an internal oil leak and that it ran out of oil, which makes no sense. The oil has to go somewhere. I suspect that the timing chain skipped or the oil leaked out. It ran enough to get it on and off the the trailer, but it was rough, had #5 misfire and random misfire codes. Tonight I got the engine out and the engine bay pressure washed. One thing that confuses me is that the engine bay is black?!?! The vehicle has not been repainted and I see no damage up front that would indicate a crash. The firewall, sides and upper radiator support are all black...the rest of the truck is factory blue.

I just ordered every coolant hose, thermostat (and the rear water valve), all gaskets and rear main seal. I still have to get a clutch kit, driveshaft u-joints replaced and balanced plus all brakes. I don't think the last engine died due to power valves as the manual transmission VQ35s don't have power valves. Friday we are going to tear down the old engine and do an analysis on it. I am not going to SFD or SAS, just 2" lift springs and 5100 shocks on the rear. Eventually I will do an ARB front bumper (or something that looks similar), and dual lockers with 4.6 gears. Except for lockers and armor I want this thing as stock as possible.

I copied this over here from Expedition Portal. At this stage this forum is probably more appropriate for the build since I am bringing the vehicle back to mechanically sound operation. I am looking for some 16x8" wheels that look good and have the proper backspacing for 265x75x16 tires. Dean (Xplorx4), I really like your rims. What kind are they? Dimensions? About a month ago I started looking at a cheap reliable vehicle capable of being built up as an overland rig but retaining the ability to get me back and forth to work (when needed) and could maintain a decent cruising speed on the highway. I had always wanted a later model Pathfinder with the VQ and a manual transmission, but cannot spend a ton of money. As luck would have it I found a 2002 5spd MT with a blown engine, but otherwise was in good condition for a reasonable price. I contact the owner and planned on going out to pickup the Pathfinder the next weekend. We just got back from the trip to last night and today I began work on the new to me Pathfinder.The plan:This vehicle has a lot of miles on it and although the unibody is in amazing condition with no rust I don't know what condition the mechanical are in, except the engine, which is completely blown. Step one is to get the engine, transmission, transfer case and driveshafts out. The transmission and transfer case will be disassembled, inspected, repaired if needed, and reassembled. The driveshafts will get u-joints and and be balanced. After the drivetrain is reinstalled and all fluids changed I will move on to the brakes, wheel bearings and suspension. Once funds are available I will be installing a 2" coil lift, wheels and tires, arb style bumper, lockers, sliders and skids. The goal is to keep weight down so that drive-ability is not lost.Known Issues:Right now the only two known issues besides the blown motor is that the rear windows will not roll down with the driver's switch or the rear window switches and the exhaust system past the largest muffler is completely shot.Current Status:Right now I only have to remove the upper engine wiring harness, bellhousing bolts and motor mounts before the engine can be removed. I will probably go ahead and pull the transmission/transfer case as a unit before removing the engine.

I searched on facebook and could not find him. How do you get in touch with Mr.510?

Does anyone have a depth meassurement of the valve cut outs in the VG30's piston? I need to give the machine shop something and those VG33 reliefs are WAYYY too deep.

Pretty housing. I am running 4.56's in the front and 4.63s in the rear with 33" tires. I have an older WD21 transmission so I have the 4:1 first and the .85 over drive and turn right below 3000rpm at 70. I would like to go with 4.88/4.90 gears but then I would be turning 3200 rpm at 70.

Well, I converted to a 5spd about 5 years ago and a dana 44 front axle about 2 years ago..actually lost some weight with the SAS. My VH45 Pistons are pretty dirty but I hope they work. I also hope the machine shop can copy MR.510's VG33 rod bushings so I can use my VG33 bushings. My VG33 (the spare I purchased to rebuild) is looking pretty rough and if these pistons and this VG33 don't work I am out a grand

Awesome, if this is the case Snowboard pm me your email and cost so I can pay pal you some $$$ over. Conor, updates on your build? I am really hoping this gives the extra punch needed to maintain highway speeds with my little trailer.

I appreciate the offer, but I need VG30 pistons so the machine shop can duplicate the valve relief cuts in the VH45 pistons. I only have VG33 and VH45 pistons and the relief in the VG33 piston is too deep. The VG30DE was a DOHC engine so the reliefs will be nothing like what I need the machine shop to duplicate. I don't mean to hijack but has anyone other than the 510 guy who was able to machine his own rod bushings gotten a machine shop to re-bush the VG33 rods to 22mm?

Would you be willing to sell an old vg30 piston? I have a vg33 and am about to have a machine shop prepare the vh45 pistons but I don't have a vg30 only a vg33 as that is what came in my truck. Also, the machine shop is going to try to create the 22mm pin bushing for the larger piston pins (they have done quite a bit of custom foreign motor work) and I guess this will work. Where did you order your cams? I would be happy with VG30 cams. I have re-grinds in my VG33 and they have been very good for about 100k but I want that higher compression.

http://www.nissan4wheelers.com/topic/vg33e-distributor-fix

That bearing can easily be replaced with a better one for very little money. I have replaced them on several Xterras and R50s. It turned out a bearing in the front wheel of one of my bicycles fit and I just use those. Do not put the Tone ring on upside down, this will cause all kinds of problems. http://overlandtrucks.com/system-f/dizy_rebuild/

My early InfiniTIE QX4 has the ATX14 A? transfer case with the switch for 4 high full time and 4 high lock but a lever for 4 low. Does anyone know if when in 4Lo via the lever it actually locks the planetary assembly into 4 low, locks the clutch pack and doesn't require oil pressure to operate? This seems reasonable as it is a mechanical lock, but it may still require fluid pressure to lock the planetary assembly, though 4 low should be an unlocked planetary assembly. Does anyone know? I am trying to determine how rugged this case is. I constantly use 4 low to extract my boat, or other activities where I would like to reduce strain on the transmission, but the vehicle might be seeing some mild overland adventures that involve fire roads but steep grades. Comments?