My VQ35DE Nissan V6 swap!

[redroadster]

Yeah. Jdflyer
We had one bored once and a quarter way down the cly started vibrating like a brake rotor does and was toast with a very rough
ridge ...just saying if hes experienced with deckless blocks
He propably has a fix for it , but Id ask about it

[JT68]

The Vq cylinders are integral to the casting, so boring the VQ is not that big of a deal..you don't even need a torque plate if you are precise and careful, but it is not a job for amateurs.

Often cylinder gouges look worse than they are, but are not actually all that deep. I'd suggest boring the bad cylinder first just to see the minimum you have to go to clean it up. If you can get away with a medium/large overbore that will be the most cost effective.

SLEEVING vq blocks is a far bigger project $$$$ and there are a dozen ways to dork it up.


If you can't find a shop that has bored and built the vq, you could ship the block to us and we can sort it out. Did you buy another engine? I just saw the post about cleaning AL.

Jt

[gnoplos]

Did you buy another engine? I just saw the post about cleaning AL.

Jt

So small update: I got the block back from the shop. He honed out just a tiny bit which really made the scratch go mostly away. Theres still a small small scratch but he thought it would be better to leave it as is than to bore it. I've been reassembling it in my spare time and should be finished in the near future. The worst part has been cleaning all the old RTV off of the surfaces and grooves!

[JT68]

[/quote]

The worst part has been cleaning all the old RTV off of the surfaces and grooves!
[/quote]

Lacquer thinner and scotchbrite. That isn't regular RTV.

On the new engines its all about sealing! Suggest you use Toyota FIP gasket maker..there are lots of reasons many 2Jz's will go 300k miles or more. TFIP is amazing stuff. Permatex Ultra black is decent too, but I've never used a better sealer than TFIP.

ETCHING Mag wheel cleaner will help with the AL, but play with it on small stuff first as it can make streaks on polished surfaces. Use gloves, it will eat your fingers too.

[RCMike]

We built my SR20 with Toyota black. That stuff is awesome..

[Nissanman]

What is wrong with the genuine Nissan product, usually supplied with the OEM gasket set?????

[JT68]

What is wrong with the genuine Nissan product, usually supplied with the OEM gasket set?????

Probably nothing, just saying the Toyota FIP is outstanding.

[redroadster]

Did you buy another engine? I just saw the post about cleaning AL.

Jt

So small update: I got the block back from the shop. He honed out just a tiny bit which really made the scratch go mostly away. Theres still a small small scratch but he thought it would be better to leave it as is than to bore it. I've been reassembling it in my spare time and should be finished in the near future. The worst part has been cleaning all the old RTV off of the surfaces and grooves!

That sounds ...wrong
Lets see . it looks like someone already honed it in your pic on that cyl. Then ran it for a time
You may be spending time & $$$ to have it still burn oil or worse.
Some try rough honing and a fine hone, which doesnt work its still very rough.
Just hate to see you dissatisfied with the job

[gnoplos]

That sounds ...wrong
Lets see . it looks like someone already honed it in your pic on that cyl. Then ran it for a time
You may be spending time & $$$ to have it still burn oil or worse.
Some try rough honing and a fine hone, which doesnt work its still very rough.
Just hate to see you dissatisfied with the job

Nope I was there when I screw up on putting the piston back in lol. The cylinders looked excellent and I had no intentions of taking it to the machine shop until I rolled the piston ring

[redroadster]

Oh !I was under the assumption
This gouge was wear running

[redroadster]

The Vq cylinders are integral to the casting, so boring the VQ is not that big of a deal..you don't even need a torque plate if you are precise and careful, but it is not a job for amateurs.

Often cylinder gouges look worse than they are, but are not actually all that deep. I'd suggest boring the bad cylinder first just to see the minimum you have to go to clean it up. If you can get away with a medium/large overbore that will be the most cost effective.

SLEEVING vq blocks is a far bigger project $$$$ and there are a dozen ways to dork it up.


If you can't find a shop that has bored and built the vq, you could ship the block to us and we can sort it out. Did you buy another engine? I just saw the post about cleaning AL.

Jt

How are cast Iron cylinders integral
to a alum alloy block ? Id like to see that pour done

[JT68]

The vq block (at least the vq30 Infinity variant that I have here for rebuilding) is a one piece die cast block. The big bosses that house the sleeves are thick AL and part of the die casting. They are not separate o-ring type cylinder liners like alfa's and other primative removable sleeve designs. There have been many types over the decades. Not sure what mits does, i don't work on those.

The VQ has a fairly thin liner that is a heavy factory press fit i think, although its possible they were cast in place- its a pretty state of the art casting effort. That also means you can't overbore it much, but one oversize is certainly fine. The factory sleave is probably no more than .050" if that.

Large increases in bore require big sleeve kits which is a major operation and would require a torque plate to do properly chaching$$$$. Another block would be much simpler and less money.

I would have bored it too.

[gnoplos]

Sorry it’s been a while since the update, cleaning and painting takes a while!

Here’s what I got with the aluminum finish.

After I cleaned it with the self etching mag cleaner, no matter what I did, it dried coated in a white powdery residue. I tried polishing it but realized that clear coat would never stick to it. So i just cleared over the residue and it seemed to go pretty well. It’s a little darker than I would have liked but it’s very clean looking which is great.

Total weight for engine and transmission is 484!

[gnoplos]

This is it boys and girls, the last update with my roadster driveable! I know this isn’t much of an update but it’s the last minor one before I lift the body and yank the old drivetrain.

Engine and trans are cleaned, painted, and mated.

Also note my wall of wires that I will be using. There’s another huge box of wires I don’t *think* I’ll be using in the attic.

Side note- does anyone know if this is at least a stock-looking shift knob? If it is I’ll try to salvage it.

[notoptoy]

Yes, that shift knob appears to be stock.