Allright, so I purchased an intake manifold because I never thought an OEM would fit. Let's just say I was pleasantly surprised this weekend.
I have the engine mounted in now & everything is fitting up great (the transmission still needs a little work for width clearancing but it's looking good). The intake manifold just barely clears the wiper motor & won't require any cutting. It also clears the hood, even with an Intake manifold spacer that adds 1/4" of height to the back of the mani & 1/2" at the front (it gives more space to the front intake runners that are choked off w/out the spacer). I did have to cut a notch out of the passenger side hood structure & may remove the hood support stuff completely. I still have a little more cutting to do before I decide that.
Even though the intake neck clears I'm debating whether to cut it off then weld a new one on that swings to the passenger side. This will get rid of the 70mm bottleneck of the OEM intake & allow me to use a larger T-body. It will also get the intake piping away from all the stuff already on the driver's side (master cylinders, steering linkage) making it easier to work on that stuff w/out having to move the intake pipe everytime. I guess I'll see what my budget is like when I get to that point.
Just to mention how I'm doing the tranny mount. I'll be using the trick that 240sx's use when swapping in RB engines. That is to flip the trans mount & bolt it into the exisiting 2 rear holes, then I'll make two new ones beyond that. It is lining up perfectly (this fact I will admit was dumb luck).
Also head over to my350z.com. Someone is working on ITB's for the VQ in Ft. Lauderdale ,Florida. They are in the R&D phase but it looks promising. Supposely 3 grand US. There havent been any dyno's though. This would take care of your CAI clearance issue. But not sure if it would clear the hood of a 510.
Yeah, you'll notice that someone named 'xlr8r' posted a few times in that ITB thread, because for a while I was considering making my own set, then saw that those things are coming out (Jenvey makes good stuff) but it is questionable as to whether they'll clear the hood (the short trumpets will but the long trumpets would be better). I am going to keep them in mind for the future when I have $3000 to throw around. By then I'll know whether I want to keep the car NA, or boost it.
I've only had every other saturday to work on it so it's been slow. I plan on finishing up welding the trans tunnel cover this week along with tome more beefing up of the rear LCA's. Put the LCA's back in so I can measure how long the Z31 CV axles need to be & get them made. Next will be wiring & fuel sustem (the fuel cell I got barely didn't fit so a corner is being reduced by a local shop.
Also my electrical has been on hold because I have been waiting for months to get my modded engine harness back from VQswap. It now seems I'm going to be ripped off, so let me post this disclaimer I plan on posting everywhere:
A WORD OF WARNING TO ALL THOSE CONSIDERING A VQ35 SWAP:
If you own a 240sx or 510 & want to do this swap do not do business with vqswap.com They, or should I say he, (being Andrew the guy the runs San Dimas Auto, aka vqswap) has no sense of customer service. He is very slow, non-communicative, provides poor service.
Edit: I did receive the harness finally, so my only complaint with VQswap is their limited sense of customer service.
Last edited by xlr8r on 23 Apr 2008 11:17, edited 1 time in total.
Wow man that really sucks, i have never dealt with the guy personally but know i havce had a few experiences similar to yours. I just can't beleive how some people can think they can run a successful busniness let alone a business w/o any sort of cust service. I mean how hard is it to respond to someones messages! Sorry man hope that gets worked out w/o too much hassle. I am wanting to see this swap progress it looks sick!! I just was in az visiting my buddy who has a 350z and that motor is torquey. It will pull hard as f$)K in a 510!
Yeah, given how I'm only able to spare a few hundred $ every month to this project now, the additional grand I'm down now is probably going to delay me until the fall now (I won't be able to enjoy it this spring/summer ) unless Andrew steps up & deals with me honestly. I have a feeling vqswap's business is going downhill (no idea why) so he's taking people for what he can.
As far as car progress goes. I forgot to mention I did have the intake plenum modified so the T-body is on the passenger side. I'll be using an 85m t-body that then tapers down to an 82-83mm neck, then down to 80mm, then enters the plenum. This opens things up a bit to support future engine mods. I'll post pics when I get it back along with the fuel cell.
How did you ship the harness, and how did you pay him for the work? If you shipped either through the mail you can file mail fraud charges, and if you paid through CC you can try to go through your CC company...
I shipped it UPS, & plan on contacting the CC company soon to see what they can do. It was months ago so I don't know if they have a time limit on things or not.
the CC will handle it for you, dont let up on em though!!!
UPS is only the messenger here
the BBB may also be of assistance in identifing his company as having issues and MAY assist in sorting it out.
if i was closer (on a regular basis)... i get yours ... and and one for me
byron wrote:I'd be all over that like a fat kid on a smartie.
okayfine wrote:Sense doesn't always have everything to do with it, and I speak from experience.
After sending him a final e-mail outlining everything I was going to do if he did not complete the transaction honestly, he replied that day saying he'd get me a tracking # for the harness later that day (Thurs). Friday midday I got an e-mail from one of his employees that provided me with that tracking #. I should get it on Tuesday it looks like. It says the package weighs 0.8lbs. I don't know how an engine harness can weigh less than 1lb. so we'll see what shows up (hopefully nothing that ticks).
VQ is what I want to put in mine eventually...just seems to make sense to me.
) unless Andrew steps up & deals with me honestly. I have a feeling vqswap's business is going downhill (no idea why) so he's taking people for what he can.
if i was closer (on a regular basis)... 
i get yours ... and and one for me 