Little Mule Posted October 22, 2006 Share Posted October 22, 2006 (edited) A few years ago, I went bungy jumping, and as I stood on the ledge before the big leap, I was white-knuckling the side rails of the platform and looking down considering my possible fate. Then I just thought to myself, "What the hell." And I jumped. Well, now I'm doing the same, except this jump is into overhauling my 88 Pathy, and I'm a little anxious about it's fate. But what the hell. A month or so ago I started a thread about swapping a 350 into my truck. But after comments from everyone, I decided to modify a VG33e, and put it in. Well, today we took a VG33e I bought (see pic), took the valve covers off, and hoisted it off the trailer. I still need to put it on the engine stand (which is brand new, but didn't include any mounting bolts ) I'm sure it is only the first of many trips to get something I need.) Also sprayed a bunch of bolts w/ PB blaster. Currently the overall plan is to take the VG33e apart, send the cylinder heads to lpperformance for porting and polishing. Also send them the intake manifold and TBI from my VG30i to them for porting and modification. Then reassemble the VG33e w/ high performance cams, headers, exhaust, and the original crank from the VG30i. I think I will need to upgrade the ECU too. Add a Calmini lift, Calmini or LP steering upgrade, 32 inch tires and new lighter wheels, rock sliders, warn hubs, replace my bent spare tire carrier with the one I just bought from Slick ( ), fix a few dents, paint her, and add some offroad lights. A few other things in the future like a better front bumper too. That should keep me happy with it for another 10 years. Wish me luck and if you know some pitfalls to watch out for, tell me now. Edited October 22, 2006 by Little Mule Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted October 22, 2006 Author Share Posted October 22, 2006 FYI: Here is a picture of my truck taken about 8 years ago. Since I don't have a dyno, I'll find an area when I can test it's 0-60mph time, just to compare to when the project is completed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mws Posted October 25, 2006 Share Posted October 25, 2006 Keep us posted, and remember.... they're just "challenges", not "flaming disasters that just prove the universe is against me and anything that can go wrong will go wrong and I hate life and I hate this engine and I hate this truck and why did I ever start this and goshdarn it all to heck and I hate..." Oooops..... got a little carried away there. I will be the first to request you document it as much as you can and share all you learn, as I definitely hope to do the same to mine. Some day... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLApathy Posted October 25, 2006 Share Posted October 25, 2006 Sounds good to me man, looks like you have a plan. A few thing though, you shouldnt have to upgrade the ECU, id go with L&P Steering, and watch for the L&P Super Charger kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey.T Posted October 25, 2006 Share Posted October 25, 2006 (edited) Wow... Need to stay updated on this... Lots of fun ***Make sure you swap your VG30I Fly wheel.... Its a pain to R&R the engine when the JDM flywhell does not match up to the starter.... Been there done that... Edited October 25, 2006 by Casey.T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted October 25, 2006 Author Share Posted October 25, 2006 Thanks. I'm pretty excited about it. I'm currently in the process of taking the new engine apart. So far I've removed the fly wheel, the exhaust manifolds (only banged the knuckles a couple times). Thank goodness for the mechanix gloves, no skin lost. I've also removed the wiring harnesses and air intake manifold. The hard part so far has been the stupid bolts needed to mount to the engine to the new engine stand. I called the local Nissan dealer parts department. They only had a part number and couldn't tell me the size of the bolt. The guy there said he was pretty sure the pitch was 1.25. So I guessed at the diameter at being a M10. I go to Lowes, find 4 M10 1.25 bolts 70mm long and bring them home. Nope. Don't work. Too wide. So I return them and figure I need M8. I buy them, return home, and nope...too narrow! Dag nabbit! So then I decided to quit guessing, and tried some other bolts from other parts of the new engine to see what fits. The altenater mounting bolt is the perfect width. Just needs to be longer. So I'll take that with me tomorrow and try to find something to finally mount the engine to the stand. (I didn't use the bolts from the old engine, as I'm still driving it at the moment.) I'm taking a lot of pictures simply for reference so I can go back and look and see what went where before I took it off. I'm also labeling all everything and placing them in plastic bags to prevent confusion. The best part about all of this is, knowing my truck will be out of order for a little while, I bought another ride for my daily driver. A 1991 300zx TT with 68k miles! I'll have it in a few more days! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted October 25, 2006 Author Share Posted October 25, 2006 FLApathy: Why do you recommend the L&P steering? Just curious as I don't have a preference at the moment. And I am definitely keeping my eye out for their supercharger kit!!!! Casey.T: Thanks for the advice on the flywheel. Are you recommending using the one from the new engine, or an aftermarket one? Just making sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FLApathy Posted October 25, 2006 Share Posted October 25, 2006 (edited) The L&P steering elimanates the stock steering problem. What happens is, the ball joint on the center link allows it to move forward and backwards, so when you put stress on a tire it pushs the center link backwards, now the tie rod as nowhere to go so it bends into a pretzel. The L&P totaly stops that, and its cheaper and has a warranty. Now I dont run their steering, probably never will unless I get another Nissan, because as of now, my truck is getting SAS'd. Also, you can watch what I mean, go up to your tire, grab it at the 2 and 10 o' clock postion and try to turn it back and forth, as you do watch the center link, you will see it move up and down. Read their website about it, they use bearings that can support 40,000 pounds. Also, I freakin love the car, im jealous. Edited October 25, 2006 by FLApathy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey.T Posted October 25, 2006 Share Posted October 25, 2006 Use the flywheel that came out of your 88.... The JDM Fly wont match up with the starter.... its a soothing clanggggg that it makes when trying to engage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted October 26, 2006 Author Share Posted October 26, 2006 Thanks guys. FYI: The bolts that you need to mount the engine block to the engine stand are 10mm x 1.5 pitch thread. I also need 70mm for this particular engine stand. Those worked out perfect. The goof ball at the nissan dealer parts dept told me that I needed 1.25 pitch thread. He was wrong! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted October 28, 2006 Author Share Posted October 28, 2006 Alright, hit a speedbump. I am trying to get the crankshaft pully off the new motor. It's kicking my butt. I even rented a 3 prong puller from the local autoparts store, but all that is doing is ripping the pully apart. I've also sprayed the crap out of it with PB. It doesn't want to budge. If I have this much difficulty getting the pully off the old engine, I'll be buying a new pully. Any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPath88 Posted October 28, 2006 Share Posted October 28, 2006 The pulley or the balancer? The pulley just unbolds from the balancer, no puller needed. A three prong puller for the balancer is the wrong one and will only damage the balancer... as you are finding out. You need a Harmonic Balancer Puller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted October 29, 2006 Author Share Posted October 29, 2006 (edited) Thanks Redpath, Everything in the Haynes manual refers to it as the crankshaft pully (and I got the bolt off no problem), and even they suggest a 3 prong puller. However, I originally rented the balance puller that you showed. But the only metric bolts in the kit were 8mm, which were too big for the tiny holes in the crankshaft pully. (Red arrows in the photo.) So I returned it and rented the 3 prong puller, and the cursing started soon after. Edited October 29, 2006 by Little Mule Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted October 29, 2006 Author Share Posted October 29, 2006 I finally did get the pulley off, but it is destroyed. You can see one of several breaks below (red arrow.) One of the problems was that the puller wasn't large enough, and it would rub on the front lip of the pulley (blue arrow), so it didn't seat fully on the middle ridge of the pulley. (Haynes manuel recommends grasping the middle ridge). I finally got the thing off by breaking off the front lip of the pulley so it wouldn't interfere with the arms of the puller and then it could completely grasp the middle ridge of the pulley. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted October 29, 2006 Author Share Posted October 29, 2006 To document the process for those who asked: All I have been doing so far is taking apart the new engine. Nothing too special. I am taking a lot of photos. When I remove a part, I take a before and after picture of it. Then, for most parts and bolts, I place them in a ziploc bag and label it. I have all the big parts on one bench and everything is labeled NE for "new engine." That way, when I start to disassemble the old engine, I can keep it organized. It has been pretty easy until the crankshaft pulley today. I'm a little slow since I'm trying to be methodical. The photo is what I've taken apart so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted October 29, 2006 Author Share Posted October 29, 2006 Also, to remove the crankshaft BOLT, you have to keep the crankshaft from turning, otherwise, turning the bolt just turns the crank. The Haynes manual suggests a strap wrench to hold the pulley while you turn the crankbolt. However, I don't have a strap wrench, and neither did the autoparts store. So I took off the oil pan, made sure the crank was at Top Dead Center, and braced a 2x4 in next to the crank to keep it from turning as I loosened the bolt. It worked very well. That's my only real helpful advice so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPath88 Posted October 29, 2006 Share Posted October 29, 2006 (edited) That cannot be the original pulley, mine is nothing like that nor are any I have seen on other WD21's. And from what I see, it uses (or is meant to use) serpentine belts Maybe that is from a Maxima? ---------------------------------- EDIT: Wait, that is from the replacement VG33.. correct? The haynes manaul you have, is it for whatever this came out of? Edited October 29, 2006 by RedPath88 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted October 29, 2006 Author Share Posted October 29, 2006 Yes, it is from the VG33. I am also referring to the Haynes manuel for the VG33. I will be using the crank and pulleys from the old VG30i in this newer motor. The old motor is still in the my Pathy. I'll be taking it out next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey.T Posted October 29, 2006 Share Posted October 29, 2006 He said he was using the 3.0 crank??? As such that HB/Pully will be discarded, use the HB and Pully system off of the 3.0... That way you can run the 3.0 belt system... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedPath88 Posted October 29, 2006 Share Posted October 29, 2006 (edited) ok.. now the pieces are falling together correctly in my mind Edited October 29, 2006 by RedPath88 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted November 5, 2006 Author Share Posted November 5, 2006 Well, here is the latest. I've completely disassembled the cylinder heads from the vg33e engine. I also went and tested the 0-60mph on the pathfinder in it's current state. Pretty sad. I did 3 runs on a flat road and all three runs took over 18 seconds. The fastest time was 18.25 seconds. With the AC on, it took 23 seconds. :oops: I know that's not the true test for the value of a 4x4, but that just plain sucks. I ran into a few problems that I'll show pictures in the next few replies, and I have one question regarding the pistons. One had to do with valve spring compressers, removing valve stem keepers, and removing studs (my friend taught me a trick). Finally, I believe there will be another expense I didn't originally consider, though I haven't come across it yet. Eventually there is going to be a speeding ticket with the new 300zx. I can't seem to wipe the smile off my face driving it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted November 5, 2006 Author Share Posted November 5, 2006 So here is the question. I assumed on a V6 engine, pistons 1,4,5 would all be at top dead center (TDC) when pistons 2,3,6 are at the bottom of the cylinder. However, when I got the cylinder heads off of the VG33e engine, piston #5 was down instead of TDC. I haven't removed the crank yet, but is this normal? Here are pistons 1,3,5 in this picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted November 5, 2006 Author Share Posted November 5, 2006 Here is a picture of pistons 2,4,6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted November 5, 2006 Author Share Posted November 5, 2006 As for the valve springs, I rented a valve spring compresser from a local auto parts store. It looked like a big c clamp. However, because the part the compressed the spring interfered with the wall of the cylinder head, it didn't work very well. I spent 15 minutes and never got the first spring off. So I returned it, and bought a small one with the little crank to compress the spring. Well, with the cranked turned as far as it would go, it didn't compress the spring very much, and not enough to remove the keepers. Instead of returning it, I happened to have a thick piece of metal from an old project. I cut it with a dremel and bent it using a vice and hammer. Drilled a hole in it. And voila! It worked like a dream. It simply made the part of the tool that pushes on the spring retainer longer. Took 10 minutes and I didn't have to go shopping auto parts store for one that worked. Here is the pic. The little part is above, and my homemade replacement is on the tool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Mule Posted November 5, 2006 Author Share Posted November 5, 2006 Also, once the spring is compressed, I found it was a lot easier to remove the keepers with a magnet instead of needle nose pliers. Just push the spring to the side a little while compressed, and it loosens the keeper and the magnet pulls it right out. I tried the needle nose pliers on the first one and started cussing after 3 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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