Jump to content

Ross' new 350z operation 1jz gte


Ross k

Recommended Posts

Hi guys,  I'm Ross,  I live in the Buckingham area. A true petrol head, I've had a few cars from a selection of Corrados to an MR2 turbo and a classic mini which I  restored when I was 16. I Purchased a 350z a month ago but unfortunately I was seriously done over.  After driving the car for a couple of weeks I noticed it had serious oil consumption problems and a fair amount of blue smoke was present. On further investigation it turns out one cylinder is badly scored and it needs a rebuild. This is not what I was expecting from a car with 60,000 on the clock, full service history and good bodywork. To be honest I was gutted and due to it being a private sale I don't have a leg to stand on.  After sulking for a while I decided if I was gonna spend a lot of money on a rebuild I may aswell do something I've always wanted to do: a big build. The time seemed right so a plan developed. After some consideration I decided I'm going to drop a 1jz vvti into the 350. It's an engine I absolutely love and it will fill the void I have after selling my mr2 turbo. I'm lucky enough to have a dad whos an engineer with advanced cnc equipment and a fair few friends with experience in engine conversions so the plans are for a fast road 350z running standard power to start with, around 300 with a view to go for more power later on. So here's the car when I got it  I immediately started removing the stripe only to find the bumpers had been painted around the stripes (not a good start)  and it pretty much went down hill from there. So fast forward a few weeks and the new engine was purchased fresh from Japan a 1jz vvti. The engine mounts are being made as we speak and I am chatting with wiring specialists in America about making the wiring loom. I'm just waiting for a standard loom to arrive to send them to see if there's much difference between the lhd and rhd loom other than the obvious differences. I will be using an e46 m3 gearbox with an adaptor plate and custom flywheel. This allows me to retain the six speed. Anyway sorry about the essay, let me know what you think and if anyone has any recommendations for the someone to make the loom in this country who can work with the can bus system let me know. Thanks, Ross 

DSC_0164.JPG

DSC_0229.JPG

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

:welcome:  Along

 

Great project :thumbs: do keep us up to date with progress and lots of pics.

 

When we put the LS3 into the Zed we used Emerald to do the wiring loom and they were great to work with - depends what ECU you are planning on going with though.

 

Good luck with it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cheers for the kind words guys I'm more annoyed at myself for not noticing when I brought the bloody thing but their you go.Keyser I will look up emerald as far as ecus I'm open to anything I just don't really want to loose the stock dash and have loads of faults ,The loom for America is set to cost 1400 alone so I'm All ears to anyone who can provide a more local solution. however I will need to go independant managment eventually as I'm aiming for 450bhp or so in a couple of years thanks Ross 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Update started stripping the car today got the front end of now I need to get someone out to take the gas out the air con. Also have the custom flywheel and adaptor plate need to mill the adaptor plate down a bit but should work OK and the wiring loom is ordered and should be on the way soon thanks Ross

DSC_0344.JPG

DSC_0340.JPG

DSC_0319.JPG

DSC_0322.JPG

DSC_0317.JPG

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Update been a busy weekend firstly set about getting the engine out which went fairly well except I squashed the power steering pipe doh!!. Next was to remove the gearbox which all went well turned out the car had a nearly new exedy stage 1 organic clutch fitted. After that I got the gearbox bolted to the jz excuse the array of different bolts I am only using these to test fit the engine. After that I tried it in on standard mounts which were to narrow I enlarged the slots on the crossmember a little. This meant it sat in the car and  the engine fits fine and the gearbox fits in the tunnel!.  It sits fairly close to the rad but I'm going to make some plates up to move the engine back another inch or so as I dont really want to cut into the crossmember underneath 

DSC_0350.JPG

DSC_0359.JPG

DSC_0363.JPG

DSC_0364.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great build you're starting here!  Will be following your progress so keep the updates coming

 

Regarding radiators, Mishimoto is a real no no! I'd stick with stock unit over it, they're very poor quality and not up to the job, will give you problems down the road for sure. Koyo Rad would be my recommendation, great quality and performance. Had one on my 420hp Evo 5 for years so fitted one to my 350z I have now when the time came. Think they offer 2 core sizes for the DE too so might be worth going with the thicker (36mm from memory) given your future plans for power levels.

 

On a point you mention about making up some plates to move the engine back a little further,  I think you'll be reaping the rewards of making efforts to get it as far back in the engine bay as possible given the amount of cast iron / weight out front that's got to effect the handling when finished. The Supra engine is a great choice though, easy power and an awesome sound track!! 

 

Edited by 350Butcher
Link to comment
Share on other sites

If your speaking to wiring specialities your talking to the right people.

 

 

If you go Link ECU they already have the 350Z Canbus data so that saves a huge amount of time.

 

Wiring Specialites will be able to make the loom take any of the Link ECU’s that are capable to of running 6 cylinder motors. Should be plug and play. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cheers for the advice guys I've already ordered the wiring loom from wiring specialists and they are making it as we speak Mark so hopefully should be plug and play :).  I will be moving the engine back as far as I can 350 butcher but I don't think I'll get it more than 1 inch further back due to the sump hitting the cross member and the gearbox fouling the transmission tunnel most people who do the swap in this country use a BMW box as its smaller but I was keen to retain the 350z box I think the gearbox will end up around 4 inches further back than normal thanks Ross 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One Step forward two back pulled the engine back out today in an attempt to move the engine further back. lookslike I will only get it around 25mm further back max if I make a set of custom mounts I'm debating wether in the real world it would be worth all the extra effort for 20-25mm the gearbox already sits 150mm further back in the tunnel than original. On the plus side the wiring loom has arrived from America and looks great.Can anyone shed some light on what the parts in the attached picture are I'm guessing the fuel pressure regulater and? Any help would be appreciated sorry about the bad pics both are under the inlet manifold and fuel related pics of the loom to follow thanks Ross

DSC_0367.JPG

DSC_0368.JPG

Edited by Ross k
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cheers for the help guys Ive decided new mounts it is my dad is going to machine a set of new aluminium ones if anyone would be Intrested in a set feel free to message me. Today I stripped the old wiring of the engine and the inlet ready to take the new loom also brought a seat and attached some photos of the new loom 

DSC_0381.JPG

DSC_0370.JPG

DSC_0369.JPG

DSC_0378.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Well small update rad purchased and on the way the mounts are being made done a few small jobs on the car and I have been tracking down various jz parts which cost the earth  I need to change the fuel system to a return system Ive seen of the shelf kits for this but they seem a bit wasted on me as I don't need all the parts for the standard 350 fuel rail anyone who could advise on this would be appreciated and wether I can make the kit up myself thanks Ross

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well a few updates today the parts pile is growing.  I tackled replacing the cambelt today unfortunately the last owner had rather knackered the thread in the tensioner pulley bolt and had rammed it with locktite then when I went to tighten the pulley back up it just threaded out so I now either need a new oil pump or to put a helicoil in it great one step forward and all that 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...