chad bob

Hey all, I've been doing some reading on Nissan V8s and it appears that the newer VK series V8's were designed around the VQ series v6 platform. This makes them quite different from the VH series v8's that are readily available from Japan. So I've been wondering, since the 250Kw VK45 shares it's block architecture with the VQ motors in our cars. Does this mean that the bell housing and engine mount locations will be the same or similar (just larger bolts for example)? If so this would be an awesome oportunity to turn a V35 into a muscle car PS: there is also a VK56DE that can be found in NISSAN TITAN trucks in the USA

Yeah, I was completely dumbfounded, this guy was a veteran mechanic, he should be able to tell whether a car has an aftermarket subframe or not. I guess he is just not used to seeing more modern cars with DECENT suspension setups, it was a bit of an out of the way workshop so the usual fare is ageing 4x4's and older jap imports. Never seen a car newer than 1996 there. I took my track car there for a fitness check and he wouldn't believe me that it had the original motor as it "looked too new for the car" so I should have expected an exchange when I brought the stag in. Long story short he got off his high horse when I started trying to explaing that GOOD cars these days come with Aluminium suspension, not pressed steel. He gave me the sticker in the end and I went on my way.

Went to get a new Warrant of fitness last week (NewZealand based) The inspection guy jacks the car up on the hoist and walks underneath, he gets to the back and shines his torch into the rear undercarriage. A minute later he makes eye contact with me sitting in the waiting room and jestures for me to come over. Dude: (while smirking knowingly) "have you tried to modify the suspension on this car?" Me: "Nope, it's as per the factory spec" Dude: "I know for a fact that VOLVO's don't have suspension like this, so you want to try another story?" Me: "You're right, and VOLVOS have been Front or All wheel drive since the early 90's, this is rear wheel drive" Dude: (now looking rather confused) "You need to get a certificate in order to modify suspension like this and this would fail, the welding looks horrible! It's not road worthy" Me: " Aluminium welding always looks like that when it's done by a wire fed MIG robot welder, this is a NISSAN and it has not been modified in any way" Dude: "......" Me: (now rather annoyed) " Look theres nothing wrong with this car, just drop it, sticker it and let me get out of here" So long and uncomfortable argument ensues with me repeating myself over and over, he eventually gave up, realizing he was wrong and I left. What a doofus.

Deffinitely reverse mode for the wing mirrors. Mine has exactly the same button and it does just that. The auto folding mirror button actually has a picture of wing mirrors on it and its a switch not a push button. I Have no Idea why the couldn't put both switches side by side with clear labeling, so confusing.

Cool, just realized that yours and my Stag could be twins, same colour etc

I would be careful not to let the stuff run down into the intake. A small bent scraper and a vacuum cleaner should make sure that it does not fall down. In my case some of it did run down with the carb cleaner and the car ran a bit rough for a few minutes, but it promptly came right and has been fine ever since. Just make sure that you dont scratch up / ding the mating surfaces of the intake components, theres nothing particularly tricky about this job and you can't really hurt the engine in the process, except perhaps if you scrape a cup load of the crud into the intake, which is unlikely.

Fuchs 10W-40 Super GTO, Full synth. Used it in my track car for 4 years and it held the motor together with no damage after losing ALL oil pressure when the oil cooler popped. So it's only natural that I use it in the Stag too. Fuchs aren't too well known in the retail market, but from a lubricant engineering perspective theyre top notch. Used fuchs products in machinery for years.

Can you post a picture of the nuts in question?

The one I saw had deffinitely been lowered. It had the characteristic bucking hop that lowered cars get when they go over undulations in the road.

Spotted a silver v35 coupe in wairau park today, it was a bit low for my tastes though, looked like a rather bumpy ride, cats eyes become speed humps spec.

A few people have complained of oil building up in the VQ35 intake as well, so it couldn't hurt. Any Nissan engine who's engine code ends in 'DD' is a direct injected motor. For our cars: 250GT / 250RS / 250RX = VQ25DD (Di) 300GT / 300RX = VQ30DD (Di) 350GT / 350RX = VQ35DE (MPFi)

Yes we are still here My 300RX has remained smooth and responsive for the past 10,000Km since stripping and cleaning the intake. It is using less gasoline than it did prior to the clean and is a joy to drive, I checked my plugs a few weeks ago and they are operating nicely with no unusual deposits. Before you attempt the strip down, have a good look at the pictures that I posted previously, the only way to do it right is to remove the entire intake stack becuase there will be some SERIOUS gunk to remove after 130,000Km, but the results are worth the effort. Post back here if you have any questions.

I'm still hesitant about using Gull bio ethanol fuel (e10) because the direct injected VQ30 and VQ25 engines have very different fuel supply setups, different pumps and injectors running at much higher pressures and tolerances than the VQ35 system. The problems with ethanol mix gasoline is that the ethanol attacks some types of rubber used for seals and pipes. Ethanol fuel also 'gums up' if there is no flow for a while which is why it should not be used on carburettor engines as this 'gum' blocks the float needle. I assumed that this gumming action may also cause an issue in the fine nozzel area of direct injectors like the ones used on VQ30DD and VQ25DD engines. So I'm staying clear for now. Mobil 98 for me.

I'm going to have to pick V6 as well, it's geting very hard for manufacturers to get I6 powered cars through frontal impact standards these days as they have the nasty habit of entering the passenger compartment.... like a battering ram, where as the VQ motors have an 'engine drop' function in case of a frontal impact, it effectively ejects the motor out the bottom. If we're still lusting after an updated RB series then I wouldn't count on it, the RB is an old fashioned motor, it makes good power because it was built like a brick dunny, so could withstand monumental amounts of boost pressure. More boost, more fuel more power. As a result the motor weighed more than a small block chev and was thirsty as hell even in NA form. Modern engines have to use a lot more finesse and technology to achieve power, combustion chambers these days are much more efficient, so you get more bang for less fuel. The VQ35 for example weighs as much as a 2L 4 banger from the 80's but makes 230Kw in HR form. V6 is the future I'm affraid.

9mm would probably fit better, if you use rubber hose it can stretch / contract with the pipe clamp to fit snug.

Thats a sweet V35 Mate! The rims are classy, they really suit the car.

Well this is favorite picture of my stagy, I wanted new rims until I saw this pic and now I rather like the way it looks on the stock 17" rims: Mod wise, one weekend I unbolted the rear silencer (two bolt flange, you can easily get to it from the back without jacking the car up) then I took it for a drive, it sounded like a Lamborghini, thats what the guy at the BP station said anyway, really deep and that VQ off beat roar is delicious. Funny enough it's not too loud with the silencer gone! Would probably get through a WOF on noise levels. So I have had a long term plan to replace the silencer with a straight pipe and stock looking tips. The next mod I had planned was when the stock shock absorbers give up I'd like to drop the car 40mm or so on some decent springs and Bilstein shocks, should meake it corner nicely whilst retaining it's comfort levels. PS: For the Kiwis, that pic was taken at cape Pallisar in the Wairarapa

I've seen that guy too on the north shore, its a 250RS I think. I am keen for a meet some time with the rest of the Auckland contingent.

Yes you can get more gains from a turbo motor by just winding up the boost BUT a well tuned NA is so different and sounds so awesome! You can't go past the sound of individual throttles at full noise and the lumpy idle with a set of high duration cams is just too nice. I also think that completing the mods that I mentioned earlier would be on a par if not cheaper than a turbo / supercharger kit.

The stags do seem to get some good comments from mechanics. Last time I took mine to get the brake rotors machined the same thing happened. They are a particularly attractive chassis from the underside, this may be the reason for the comments, the aluminium suspension arms and aluminium fabricated rear sub frame are just too sexy.

Oh buddy, theres pleanty you can do! VQ35HR, 6 throttles with tuned length intake runners, decent mandrel bent headers, high flow exhaust, aftermarket ecu with VVT control. = 360 - 380Hp depending on quality of execution?

Most deffinitely, they work well, I have one of those on my trackdayer, you don't need a specific Nissan unit though, the generic ones work just as well from BNT/Supercheap/repco. I didn't grab one for the stag as I didn't want a foreign object sitting under the bonnet, like some shiny thing that'll raise questions (and eyebrows). I pulled off the brether hose that enters the intake piping just afdter the AFM and just before the throttle and it looks dry, this means that the oil vapour is condensing in the pipe and running back into the cam cover (this is what we want to see), so I connected the second bank's breather into this pipe and it seems to be working wonders.

After my exploration I beleive that once all intake components have been cleaned and the EGR has been blocked and the secondary cam cover breather is re-routed, then the buildup will not return. I too would not be looking forward to stripping again which is why I decided to do everything I could while I was in there..

Mine has the 5spd auto and it never goes in drive unless I'm in a 50KPh zone. I always keep it in tiptronic, I think that being able to select the correct gear for a hill before hand instead of letting the automatic get lost in it's decision making process is a more economic driving style for me. If I leave it in drive mode, I find that I'm more likely to tramp the gas in order to force it to make up it's mind about what gear is required faster.

It's not a pretty sight in there is it! Rather shocking to be honest. Concerning the cleaning of the final runners before the valves, I got in there with a wet and dry vacuum while I was scraping, removing the plugs is a good idea whilst doing this too. I would print off the photos in this thread and take the car into a good firm like city nissan Takapuna. I would also tell them that unskilled home mechanics can complete the job in 4-5 hours with coffee / beer breaks, so if you get a labor bill with 10 hours on it then you can tell them where to stick it. This should minimize your chances of getting shafted.