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Vg33 Swap In ’94 Pathy


pulxar
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Toby, you live in PA? Where about? I'd love to come poke around your yard - I've never even been IN a wrecker yard yet so I'm not entirely sure I'll know what I"m doing - a little first hand education would make me a LOT safer I'm sure

 

Gettysburg, PA. I'm bout maybe forty-five to an hour south of you I think.

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$1-2k for a 3.3 when a 3.0 goes for $500?? :blink:

I'll have to find a rolled truck...

 

B

 

 

there are some on ebay right now for $500 + shipping (freight for my 3.0 long block was 150 from texas)

 

or find one at a pick and pull on a 50% off day and you can get one for $175.

 

you will probably put the 3.0 crank in there so that gives you a chance to redo the bearings etc.

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OK, so for an update on the mileage: It is getting about 17 mpg for a mix of freeway and city driving. That is right about where the 3.0 was. I can post again after I go through a few more tanks and get a better average.

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OK, so for an update on the mileage: It is getting about 17 mpg for a mix of freeway and city driving. That is right about where the 3.0 was. I can post again after I go through a few more tanks and get a better average.

 

Very nice. My auto has never gotten better than 15mpg. But Its not exactly stock. My 96 r50 5speed got 20mpg ONCE. Normally around 16-18mpg. So that sounds good.

 

I wonder what the vg30 cams would do. Apparently there more aggressive.

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Heh, toby, if you get any in, give me a shout and I'll definitely head down there! Would be well worth the drive for me to meet up with someone more experienced and who I know won't bend me over their knee ;)

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Heh, toby, if you get any in, give me a shout and I'll definitely head down there! Would be well worth the drive for me to meet up with someone more experienced and who I know won't bend me over their knee ;)

 

Dunno about more experienced lol. And i dunno the knee thing. I'm older than you? lol.

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Uh, think I used the wrong analogy lol. I know I can trust you not to take me to the cleaners if you don't have to :P College still has a strangle hold on my wallet, but I'm hoping to set aside the money to start this over the summer :)

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  • 1 month later...

Below is a link to my writeup in PDF format. I could not get it to let me post more than a couple of images directly.

 

VG33Swap.pdf

 

If an admin would like to help me post the whole thing directly I'd be happy to, just let me know how to do it!

 

 

This is great! From your picture, you were able to put back the A/C. Now that you have experience in doing this coversion. Just curious if you are willing to do another one? If so, what will be the going price? I live in Portland OR and willing to travel to Seattle.

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This is great! From your picture, you were able to put back the A/C. Now that you have experience in doing this coversion. Just curious if you are willing to do another one? If so, what will be the going price? I live in Portland OR and willing to travel to Seattle.

I'd be more than happy to give you whatever advice you need, but I don't really have the time or drive to do another swap for the time being. I just started on my next big project: finishing my pilots license, so that is taking most of my free time for the foreseeable future. To be honest, the only reason I did the swap was I blew a head gasket and I knew the rear main was leaking and had messed up the clutch.

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  • 4 months later...

What?! No camshaft swapping? Put the 3.0 cams in that 3.3 and you can take off like crazy. :treadmill:

 

That is a sweet swap! :aok:

 

I would like to have the same with possibly the 3.0 cams and my headers.

 

Bookmarked!!

Edited by Tungsten
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What?! No camshaft swapping? Put the 3.0 cams in that 3.3 and you can take off like crazy. :treadmill:

 

That is a sweet swap! :aok:

 

I would like to have the same with possibly the 3.0 cams and my headers.

 

Bookmarked!!

The link should be back up. Sorry 'bout that...

 

As for the cam swap, I still have the old VG30 lying around and would love to do that. Maybe someday when I have some more free time and money!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Any long term updates coming?

 

Agreed!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Me and my buddy have been doing a 3.4 swap into his 90 Toyota Pickup, and it sounds like a much much bigger PIA than this. The electronics have to all be spliced and changed. Different ECUs = HUGE HEADACHE.

 

I downloaded the PDF... cuz once my 3.0 goes out, this is what i'm going to do!

 

Hope it's still running great!

 

 

-Zepp

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  • 3 weeks later...

Any long term updates coming?

I actually have little to report and I drive it a lot. It still runs great, though I have noticed a bit of an issue with the clutch. It tends to slip more than the original one and overheats a bit easier. I also am starting to burn a bit of oil - my fault for not rebuilding the heads when I did the swap. I know it is the valve guide that's leaking so... I am prolly going to start a thread about the cam swap as I'd like to give that a go if I'm in that deep. That said, I'm not that knowledgeable about engines so I don't yet know what that takes to do - or how to fix the leaky valves for that matter. If I need to pull the heads then I'll just live with it for now.

 

Thanks all for your words of encouragement! Please feel free to ask me if you want to know anything else, I'm happy to share what I can!

 

Oh, and a milage update: I get about 19 on the freeway and 16 for a good mix. I avoid pure city driving at all costs...

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Valve SEALS are pretty cheap and they can be done without removing the head but you will need a compressor to presurize your cyl and an overhead valve compressor that bolts to your head when you use it. those are hard to find, make your own out of a steel plate, cut off c-clamp and a notched out socket.... comp1.JPG

Edited by MY1PATH
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Nice valve spring compressor!

 

If you want to avoid pressurizing the cylinder you can just rotate the crank around so the cylinder you are working on is always at TDC, that way your valves can't fall down. Actually, I think it even recommends this method in the FSM.

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Nice valve spring compressor!

 

If you want to avoid pressurizing the cylinder you can just rotate the crank around so the cylinder you are working on is always at TDC, that way your valves can't fall down. Actually, I think it even recommends this method in the FSM.

 

 

well the valve will still fall down just not as far. But he is right, I think you'll still be able to grab the stem when your ready to put the keepers back on.

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Hmmm... That doesn't sound so bad... I may give that one a shot! Thanks guys!

 

The other option that I'm toying with is to take the heads off the old VG30 and have them rebuilt then bolt them on to the 33 block in the truck... I'm not sure if this is a great idea or not, and it is more work than I am willing to do right now, but maybe this summer! I know that the coolant channels are a bit different between the heads, but I've heard that it works. I'd not hesitate if it was a dedicated off-road rig, but it's my primary vehicle and I take it on long drives all the time... I dunno, we'll see.

 

As for pinning the writeup, if I need to do anything for you guys to pin it just let me know!

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well the 94 had the better casting process that the earlier models did not so your only differances will be exhuast studs (8vs10) and coolant passages...

its easy enough to upsize the studs (if you choose) with the heads off so that leaves the task of coolant passages;

  1. lay the 3.0 head upsidedown and position a 3.3 gasket on it.
  2. pencil the outline of the passages that don't line up (they are very close)
  3. using a dremel cut to your outline connecting it to you existing passage
  4. clean up the edges with a debur wheel but avoid rounding your outlines, cut a hair smaller if you need to in order to protect your outlines
  5. GOOGLE, I can't remember the site but there are pictures of this being done for a VG swap.

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  • 3 weeks later...

well the 94 had the better casting process that the earlier models did not so your only differances will be exhuast studs (8vs10) and coolant passages...

its easy enough to upsize the studs (if you choose) with the heads off so that leaves the task of coolant passages;

  1. lay the 3.0 head upsidedown and position a 3.3 gasket on it.
  2. pencil the outline of the passages that don't line up (they are very close)
  3. using a dremel cut to your outline connecting it to you existing passage
  4. clean up the edges with a debur wheel but avoid rounding your outlines, cut a hair smaller if you need to in order to protect your outlines
  5. GOOGLE, I can't remember the site but there are pictures of this being done for a VG swap.

 

 

If you look under part 10 of this build you can see the differences and what you need to mod to fit the VG30 heads on the VG33. http://www.motoiq.com/projects/project_nissan_pathfinder.aspx

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The link should be back up. Sorry 'bout that...

 

As for the cam swap, I still have the old VG30 lying around and would love to do that. Maybe someday when I have some more free time and money!

 

I'm still having issues trying to open your link

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