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Well.... the mighty vq is no more :(


dougie350

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Hi everyone.

 

So.... long story short my 350z died yesterday. The bottom end went and has made a rather large hole in the block. Just deciding what I should do now. It's a known thing that the bottom ends are not great on vqs, recently I have known of quite a few that have blown up. Although mine is a drift car it did get looked after really well, oil and filters changed after every drift day, oil checked throw out the day etc. But it still went. Now I could get another vq and put that in easily but there seems to be a premium on them, thy are around the 2k mark. Now this would be the easiest option but who's to say this won't just happen again. Mine had only done 88k and most of the engines I've found for under 2k are all higher mileage than mine. My second thought is maybe go down a different route...... maybe v8, m62, 1uz as these are all around the same power and from what I've heard are reliable and strong engines. I know there would be a lot of fab and stuff making it work in the car, but you can pick up ( for example ) an ls400 for around 4-500 quid. Leaving a fair bit of money to get it working, it would probably work out more than buying another vq I know, but..... if I spent that money making a v8 work in a z, if I blew it up I could source another engine for 4-500 pounds. But if I put another vq in and it goes again (which is likely) I'd have to fork another 2k out for an engine. So in the long run what do you all think?? I havnt set any ideas in stone at all just thinking out loud. Any thoughts, ideas, suggestions are welcome. Thanks in advance

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Sorry to hear dude. I guess it depends on how much work you can do yourself and if you know some friendly mechanics. My guess, and it is a guess, would be that you could get a new VQ fitted for around £3k. I would expect to have to spend around £10k to get a V8 in and working (Although that probably depends if you want air con and a speedo etc.). The maths would suggest you could chew through 3 VQ's before you had spent as much as you would on a V8...

 

Someone who knows more about this will be along, but at least it starts off the debate! :)

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I've thought about this aswell for mine with a 2j but it all came down to time. Doing it myself would take a while and dealing with any problems/issues that might come up when I just want to get back out drifting as soon as possible. I know what your saying about putting another vq in there it might blow up but I've also seen plenty 2js 1js and bmw v8s blow up aswell so it's a hit or a miss with them aswell.

I didn't realise it actually blew a hole in your block!now that's a proper fail! Sorry to hear it dude

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Sorry to hear dude. I guess it depends on how much work you can do yourself and if you know some friendly mechanics. My guess, and it is a guess, would be that you could get a new VQ fitted for around £3k. I would expect to have to spend around £10k to get a V8 in and working (Although that probably depends if you want air con and a speedo etc.). The maths would suggest you could chew through 3 VQ's before you had spent as much as you would on a V8...

 

Someone who knows more about this will be along, but at least it starts off the debate! :)

 

Yeh I mean, so far as getting the engine in and mating with gearbox, that would be a problem, it would just be the general airing of it all and getting it running and working with everything.

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I've thought about this aswell for mine with a 2j but it all came down to time. Doing it myself would take a while and dealing with any problems/issues that might come up when I just want to get back out drifting as soon as possible. I know what your saying about putting another vq in there it might blow up but I've also seen plenty 2js 1js and bmw v8s blow up aswell so it's a hit or a miss with them aswell.

I didn't realise it actually blew a hole in your block!now that's a proper fail! Sorry to hear it dude

yeh that's the thing, time wise a vq would be the viable option, this is why I'm favouring towards a 1uz or similar as you can pick them up a lot cheaper than a vq. So if the uz went I could put another in a lot cheaper. Yeh haha it's was pretty spectacular
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I've thought about this aswell for mine with a 2j but it all came down to time. Doing it myself would take a while and dealing with any problems/issues that might come up when I just want to get back out drifting as soon as possible. I know what your saying about putting another vq in there it might blow up but I've also seen plenty 2js 1js and bmw v8s blow up aswell so it's a hit or a miss with them aswell.

I didn't realise it actually blew a hole in your block!now that's a proper fail! Sorry to hear it dude

yeh that's the thing, time wise a vq would be the viable option, this is why I'm favouring towards a 1uz or similar as you can pick them up a lot cheaper than a vq. So if the uz went I could put another in a lot cheaper. Yeh haha it's was pretty spectacular

That's a good idea then. Would be handy if and when you blew it, just get another complete engine for a couple of hundred quid. Plus the sound not too bad either. I don't think itl be easy to get your gauges and stuff working with it so would probably be easier getting a dash display or something
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Thanks for all your input guys! Unfortunately an ls is just not an option, with trying to save for a house etc, I've been thinking though....... it's common knowledge vqs weak point is the bottom end, would upgrading to acl rod and main bearings maybe solve this problem? Has it been done before to an n/a 350?

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I'm hoping it's just the bearings that have gone as a set of acl bearings may help a great deal on my next engine! I will be taking a lot more precautions though next time as maybe I got a bit too comfortable thinking vqs were bomb proof, I've always tried to look after my engine as best I can, but fuel wise I would always go for normal fuel, and maybe I was using too thin a oil. Even though it states that 5-30 should be used, my car spends most its life being bashed on the limiter being a drift car. Also it might be worth looking into oil cooler, baffled sump and like I set a set of acl rod and main bearings. Opinions on this?

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