SnowSurfLax

Fueler is right. It's legal since it's the same vehicle, newer engine and is still the same number of cynlinders. I don't think the displacement matters, IIRC, but I know that you can't go from a 6 cyl. to an 8 cyl. or from a 4 to 6, etc. I've already researched into this trying to find somethign I could do to improve performance and gas mileage without replacing the rig altogether. Jarsiff: Absolutely! Along with the headers (if still made if & when I do this) and any other goodies I could add. tmorgan4: I'd love to hear the details on your swap. I'm sure a VH45 would definitely haul ass though I'm more curious about the problems you encountered. and like fueler said :worthless: The idea is that this is a long term solution to a vehicle that will someday be a third car/baja toy and that some day gas prices are going to be $6+

Anyone ever heard of a VQ40 swap into an R50? Trying to figure out a way to get similar gas mileage with more power and be CARB legal.

I concur. The airbag is not meant to go off at low speeds. You're more likely to be injured by it if you're not going very fast and it deploys. Those things come out with enough force to kill you if you're not wearing a seat belt.

I'd check your local laws first. Some states get mad if you don't register your vehicle within a certain time frame after moving to that state. I got fined myself just for not getting my DL changed right away.

I knew which one they were referring to. You can't fit all bottles, but you can some. And I do use the side one too when necessary.

It's great for smuggling extra liquor bottles back from Mexico! BTW, I think the correct phrase is "Useless as tits on a snake."

I'm going to buy new springs and struts/shocks for my 99.5 R50. Does anyone have a complete list of all the pieces I should replace? I'm having a shop do it (not going to tackle it without my own spring compressor) but I'm buying my own parts and having them do the labor. i dont' want to end up missing a piece and get a crappy cheap aftermarket piece in with my premium setup I'm forking money over for. TIA!

Yes indeedy I keep my eye on it! And I could do it easily. The only problem is, I live in a condo complex and they'll fine my ass everytime I pop my hood and do something. I could just eat the fine everytime, though eventually I could get foreclosed on and I'm not losing my condo just so I can have the pleasure of getting axle grease all over myself. No worries, the next house is going to have a BIG garage! (at which point I'm gettin a VG34!)

Hey, my t-case is leaking too on my 99.5 QX4, so don't be worried. Nothing major, but gonna have the shop fix it in a couple weeks. Only really need worry when the dummy light comes on.

I'm curious as to what kind of Yeast and Bacteria can live in gasoline or diesel. That's gotta be some crazy s***! I always thought gas and diesel were just a couple of steps away from industrial cleaner.

What other engine modifications have you made? What you use is always dependent on what's on it before it hits that area. And what are you swapping the engine to? Dont' say Turbo Diesel, I'll cry

Not that much I would think, AC's just a drain to begin with. That's why you always take your AC belt off if you're running a daily driver at the track. You can recover up to ~5% of power wasted on the AC unit (working or not).

Ok, I had to answer my own question due to the lack of answers. So here's the best I got. After MUCH research on exhaust principle (without delving directly into physics gas laws, thermodynamics, etc.) and to answer my own questions about what I can do with my exhaust system, I’ve made up a quick exhaust guide. I’ve included the links at the end if you want to get a little more in-depth knowledge. My only caveat is that I’m no physicist and I’m only giving the most basic explanation I can, so I’m not 100% correct on any of this. Also, keep in mind that forced induction changes some of the rules of the game, so you’d have to adjust for any kind of FI application. To begin with, since exhaust system building and tuning is essentially an art, my suggestion is find someone who has mastered this art and pay him or her to do your exhaust system. Also, exhaust systems do not “produce power.” They reduce the power lost by the motor attempting to expel exhaust gases out through the exhaust pipes. Here are the 3 main principles you have to take into consideration in regards to an exhaust system: 1. Exhaust Pulses 2. Restrictiveness 3. Exhaust Heat & Gas Expansion Exhaust pulses are just how frequently the piston is pushing the exhaust gases out of the chamber. A 4 cyl. engine at 4000 rpms creates ~8,400 pulses a minute. Ideally you want each pulse to line up right behind each other. This is why headers are tuned to be the same length with minimal bends. If the pulse off cylinder 4 crashes into pulse off cylinder 1 (assuming they don’t cancel each other out), they don’t flow out of the pipe correctly and that creates a small amount of restriction and turbulence. Multiply that by the number of times it occurs in a minute and you can see the power loss. Restrictiveness is the simplest to answer. The catalytic converter, a muffler, bends in the pipe and anything else that gets in the way of the flow of the gases all slow down the movement in the exhaust pipes and cause the engine to work harder to expel those gases out through the pipes. The ideal is to reduce the restrictions in the exhaust pipe to the minimal amount possible, but not without first taking into account for… Gas Expansion. Exhaust gases are HOT and under high pressure. Exhaust gases cool as they work their way down the pipes. The problem occurs when the gases enter a larger area allowing them to expand which allows them to cool faster than the gases behind them. Cooler gases are denser and harder to move. This is how you can lose low-end torque by attaching larger pipes to your system. You suddenly have the hot, high pressure gases enter into a larger area allowing them to cool and expand and become denser and heavier. The hot, high pressure gases right behind them run into that denser air and can’t push it down the pipe as fast as they were going. Then the gases behind them can’t move those gases as fast, increasing the pressure back up the exhaust all the way to the piston, which must push harder to push the stream of exhaust gases out through the pipes and draining more power out of the engine. You see the power loss disappear at higher RPMs due to the increased speed at which the gases flow and the decreased rate at which the gases cool as they move down through the exhaust pipes. So, all that being said, there are general rules for the size of pipe you want for the size of displacement you have. The following rules I stole from one of the links: For NA engines: 100 – 150ci motor = 2” tubing 150 – 220ci motor = 2.25” tubing 220 – 350ci motor = 3” tubing OR: 1639 – 2458cc motor = 5.08cm tubing 2458 – 3605cc motor = 5.72cm tubing 3605 – 5735cc motor = 7.62cm tubing I’ve heard and read about the requirements of backpressure. For a 4 stroke engine, this technically shouldn’t be required, but due to valve timing (as valves are not perfectly timed for 99% of engines) there is usually a small period when both intake and exhaust valves are open and a small amount of backpressure would be required so that none of the air/fuel mixture is allowed to vent out through the exhaust valves. This would technically allow a varying degree of lean burn and hence power loss and increased emissions. So depending on the timing of your valves and the force with which the air/fuel mixture is entering the cylinder, you will want the optimal amount of back pressure to keep from venting it out. (On the contrary, too much back pressure can cause the exhaust gases to remain in the chamber causing lean burn and loss of power.) However, manufacturers design a tiny, specific amount of that into the engine in order to facilitate complete burning of the fuel and reduce noxious emissions. So, in summary, a properly designed exhaust system improves the efficiency of an engine by reducing the power required by the engine to expel exhaust gases. Hope I helped clear up a lot of peoples’ questions. I’ve come to the general conclusion that the best order of upgrades (in regards only to moving air in and out of the motor) for the VG33E engine goes something along the lines of Camshaft, Intake Upgrade and then Exhaust Upgrade. Not the easiest way to go, but given that they’re basically air pumps it makes the most sense to me. It does allow you to get the optimal flow, as the cam on a given displacement with a given head will set the maximum amounts possible for intake and exhaust, the intake will determine if the motor can pull all air it can handle, and then the exhaust just determines the efficiency of expelling the air that the cam allowed the motor to breathe through the intake. Head porting fits in there after the camshaft, but I’m trying to keep this simple. All of you Nissan Techs please feel free to chime in for additional information. I didn't get any specifics, but I at least figured out it's not worth changing much more than the muffler right now until I get a better cam, do some head porting and put in a proper cold air intake. Here are the links: http://www.physicsforums.com/s...54363 http://warnertechnology.com/Ca...shtml http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question172.htm http://www.miata.net/garage/Kn....html http://member.rivernet.com.au/...p.htm http://www.aaxel.com/tech_back_pressure.php http://www.thrashercharged.com....shtm http://www.uucmotorwerks.com/h...h.htm

Ok, I can't seem to find CARB legal headers for my QX. If I go ahead and get a 2.5" from the OE manifold to the cat and out the back, am I wasting money or will I get some performance increase? I know it'll improve the flow some, I'm just not sure how much and if it's worth it.

That's hot! I'd do it if it wouldn't be counteractive to my currnet goals. I'll have to wait until it's my weekend warrior.

You people need to wash your hands more often. Mine has 125K miles and the leather on the steering wheel is in almost perfect shape. And I live in sunny So-Cal and have to park in the sun every day. I'd try just rubbing the steering wheel down real good with some leather cleaner. If it's not flecking off, some protectant should clean it up nice and maintain it for a long time.

Yeah, ditto on my transmission. If you read the owner's manual (WTF? Who does that?!) it actually tells you that you have to wait a couple of secs before shifting in or out of reverse. I have no idea why they engineered it that way, but oh well. I barely understand the inner workings of transmissions, I'm not about to comment on how to design one better.

Interesting. Does it sound like a whine? I have a whining sound coming out of my front end that occurs at that same RPM range. I had the mechanic who replaced my timing belt (since it started right after I got that replaced) pinpoint it as the bearings in the belt pulleys being old. Nothing bad, just makes an awful sound at specific RPM's. However, mine makes that sound even when parked and revved, so it might not be the same thing. You should put it in park and use a mechanic's stethoscope to look for it while someone revs it for you.

Ok, so if you bump up your tires but have engine mods, will that affect the shift points?

Interesting. So he added 30cm on his tires and his shift points are all off. What's the difference? i.e. how much short is his speedo now w/ the bigger tires? Is it going to offset the shift point difference?

Most importantly - SHOP AROUND! MSN has a good section on their money section that'll list credit cards and their terms. You can even sort by APR. Just remember when applying for credit cards (or any other credit) is to do it in a two week period. That way it'll only ding your credit score once. Credit Unions usually give you the best terms, my CU gave me a flexible rewards card at 13.65% (mind you my credit isn't immaculate either). I've got another rewards card that has over double the APR. For the Americas, Visa and MC are pretty much the same. If you're going to travel internationally, Visa and AMEX are your best bets. AMEX (classic) is not a credit card, it's a charge card, which means the entire balance is due when the bill comes. They have other cards now that are credit cards (like Blue) that are almost as good as having an AMEX card, though I couldn't go into detail. If you have a high net worth, AMEX is the best as their concierge service (if you ever see someone with a black amex card, it's almost guaranteed they have a multiple 7 digit net worth, they can pretty much charge any amount onto that card) To build a credit history, never charge more than 65% of the limit if you can help. If you must, make sure you can pay it down in less than 3 months. Keep it under 30% of the limit all the time and you'll get stellar reviews by the reporting agencies. So, uh, any questions?

That's not a blunt... That's a Smoke Stack! If you can smoke one of those on your own, you need a new drug. You're wasting too much money on that stuff to get your money's worth. That amount should have you passed out half way. Or you need to stop buying cheap $h|t.

No noticeable difference in gas mileage that I can see, assume it's more that I'm at 120K miles and difference in driving. Been a year or so since it got snatched. Rear window does get dirtier than it used to.

SnowKat - you just sold me. You should ask Amsoil for a job!

I know that you hardcore offroaders probably don't even care, but I've read that when a vehicle has a steep change in body direction (like our pathy's do) in the rear of a car that the wind creates a sort of vacuum behind the car at high speed that pulls it backwards and makes it less efficient. Now, some punk a$$ stole my spoiler right off my car (just slipped out the screws and walked off with it I presume) and I'm curious if this is hurting my gas mileage? Does anyone know if the rear spoiler on R50's helps deflect the air from creating a vacuum behind it? I know it helps keep the rear clean by deflecting dust and what not, but I also read how they recommend liitle widgets on the rear of SUV's to make vortexes to disturb the vacuum so that there's not a vacuum at high speed pulling it backwards. Does the optional spoiler do this or is it just for show? So any engineers out there have an opinion?