Alak Posted May 14, 2007 Share Posted May 14, 2007 Hi Everyone, I just got a 1993 Pathy Automatic awhile back and stumbled on this forum. Anyways; My engine is feelin a little unhealthy. I was going to pull it and do a complete rebuild. However, being a nissan sorta mechanic, I have a VG30DETT out of a Z32 Fairlady sitting on my garage floor, among other Nissan engines. You get the Idea. Quesitons are: Has anyone done a swap like this? Has anyone swapped other Nissan motors into their pathy's? Im looking for advice and tips. Thanks. I also have a VG30DE, an RB20DET and an RB25DET for a potential home under the hood. Thanks everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slick Posted May 14, 2007 Share Posted May 14, 2007 I know a couple of folks put chevy 350's in their pathys. and a couple of gas to diesel swaps..... just depends on your states emissions laws and fitability. i just pulled and rebuilt mine. mucho cheaper and no vehicular mods needed... everything depends how much $$ oyu want to spend, how long oyu want your truck off the road and what you'll be using the pathy for primarily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alak Posted May 14, 2007 Author Share Posted May 14, 2007 It will be more of a weekend warrior. I have a Nissan Skyline I drive everyday. Theres no emmissions where I live. Yay! I donno, I'll probably just rebuild whats in it and save the trouble of having to adapt the Z32 ECU. I may try and adapt the heads off the VG30DE. Im just looking for a little more power. Anyone know where I can get cams, pistons, etc. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted May 14, 2007 Share Posted May 14, 2007 A good swap would be to get a VG33E, bore it to 3.4L, port/polish heads, cams, headers and AFC or ECU upgrade, then reinstall the VG30 externals onto the new 3.4. The blocks are nearly exactly the same AFAIK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yozsi Posted May 14, 2007 Share Posted May 14, 2007 yea, not enough room for those gigantic dual cam heads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alak Posted May 14, 2007 Author Share Posted May 14, 2007 (edited) AND the rediculously insane VG30DETT Intake manifold. Why cant it be simple like the stock VG30E? Ahhh well. I'll look into it a little more. I was contemplating an RB25DET swap, but I like whats under the bonnet already. Just need a little more punch. Edited May 14, 2007 by Alak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted May 14, 2007 Share Posted May 14, 2007 i donno what exactly the diff is in ure engine...but all the vg blocks shoudl be the same...i took a maxima motor and swapped pan,pickup, dipstick, water pump, mounting brackets, and intakes...which happens to be for sale but i think u could make ures work... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alak Posted May 15, 2007 Author Share Posted May 15, 2007 VG30DETT's have slightly different motor mounts and HUGE DOHC Heads and an even more Rediculous intake manifold. I'll have to do a little research and see if I can use the bottom end off the TT at least. I'll dink around with it when I get everything out in the next couple weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solid snake Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 VG30DETT's have slightly different motor mounts and HUGE DOHC Heads and an even more Rediculous intake manifold. I'll have to do a little research and see if I can use the bottom end off the TT at least. I'll dink around with it when I get everything out in the next couple weeks. Cool, let us know what you can come up with if you can use the last TT's for VG30e. Once your done with it, post a write up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimer Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 Is there anyway to make the DOHC heads fit? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 (edited) Is there anyway to make the DOHC heads fit? i believe they will from the looks of it on the FSM (i'd try to do a cardboard mockup or something to get an idea of it)...i believe you could just change the intake like every other vg engine (seems to have the same change lower intake as the MPFI pathy and maxima engines that goes from the heads to the upper intake) bolt up your upper intake and use the DOHCs which will give you a compression ratio of 9.0 up from what a stock pathy has of 8.9 which will probably give you very little power increase...another issue would be swapping out water pumps to one that has the taller neck to align with the pathy crank pulley which i believe you can run a 2wd hardbody water pump (thats what works on the maxima engine the only difference is the throat height) i went to the parts store and had them order both so i could compare bolt patterns and throat heights to the 2wd hb, maxima and 4wd pathy all of which had the same bolt pattern and impeller the only difference was the maxima was shorter and had a different pulley flange the hb and pathy had the same height and flange if it were me thats the route i would take...when i did my maxima engine swap i set both the old pathy engine and the maxima engine side by side...pulled all the brackets off hte maxima engine and chunked them then pulled each 1 off of the pathy engine and installed on the maxima engine...it will use some different mtg points but they are cast the same...then you will probably have to change out the oil pan and pickup and dipstick location which is really easy to do prob takes less than an hr if your extra careful and triple check everything... if i wasnt sure i'd prob pull the heads valve covers and see if the bolt pattern is the same as a pathy vg head and if so and couldnt get the DOHCs to work i'd swap those over a general rule i tend to stick to for myself is not getting involved in a bunch or rewiring and trying to fight with our ecu's which aren't really flashable...but if thats your deal good luck...i can get you wiring diagrams if u choose to get a ecu and try to retrofit it in the pathy to simplify the engine parameter ordeal... pretty much just gotta try things out and figure it as u go Edited May 15, 2007 by unccpathfinder Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Casey.T Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 VG30DE I would like to get my hands on one of those..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alak Posted May 16, 2007 Author Share Posted May 16, 2007 I've had no time to look, but if the pathy ECU is anything like any other ECU of similar year, I can socket it and reprogram it. Its PITA, but it works. Im going to order 2 sets of head gaskets to overlay them and see how they compare. I'd love to rebuild it with a 300ZX bottom end. I'll have to compare the parts on my Nissan FAST program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted May 16, 2007 Share Posted May 16, 2007 honestly...form the fsm's the bottom end is no different...i could be wrong but im pretty sure that the only diff is in the heads and gets u that extra .1 in the compression ratio...but i dont know what that translates too in hp or torque or rich/leanness if u can program ecu's or get adaptors i'd like to see a good write up on that...i dont know the car side that well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alak Posted May 17, 2007 Author Share Posted May 17, 2007 The key is, if you can fit the DOHC heads, that means you can work with the Million aftermarket head upgrades out there for the Z32. It also means you can Twin Turbo it. Some say the VG30DETT is no 4x4 motor, but any way you shake it, It makes a heck of alot more power and tourque. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unccpathfinder Posted May 17, 2007 Share Posted May 17, 2007 i think u have to get pretty creative for the TT to make it fit...and how durable would turbo's be to mud and water? i would think with the heat they see and quenching them with mud/water would make their lifespan shorter...post up what u find out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted May 18, 2007 Share Posted May 18, 2007 You can always heat-bag a turbo so it's effectively sealed away from contaminants. I think a single-turbo V6 would be great for offroading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alak Posted May 18, 2007 Author Share Posted May 18, 2007 I could see dirt and mud being a bit of a problem. Turbo Diesels 4x4 all the time with minimal problems. The only problem I can think of off the top of my head is some kind of debris getting caught in the wastegate accuator. Turbo Diesels dont have to worry about this because they dont have one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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