I started by cleaning up the engine bay and taking any miscellaneous things off the engine. Once I got the engine in place it was amazing how small it looked in the 240z... its a tight squeeze width wise but it really looked at home.
I wanted to fit the engine with as little modification to the car and engine as possible. The goal was to get the engine to sit in place without modifying the sump or the plenum. After starting to lower it in place it was clear that there would be several areas of interference.
With the rear TB location on the plenum, the factory 240z hood latch was the first thing that needed to be removed, followed by the 240z transmission cross member mounts which protruded too far into the transmission tunnel to allow for the much larger 350z 6 speed transmission.
The next issues were with the front sump oil pan which landed on the 240z suspension cross member. To clear the cross member the engine would have to move back about 1.5", which was not possible without a new intake plenum. While modifying the VQ oil pan was an option, I wanted to avoid it if possible. I started trimming a spare cross member and thought that it would prove to be a good solution if strengthened properly.
It was clear that it would be very difficult to get the A/C compressor to fit in the stock VQ location due to interference with the steering shaft.
At the end of the day I was happy with the engine fitment and the few issues seemed to be pretty easy to work around.
After tuning the L28et for several years I was looking for a challenging project and something that would make the car more drivable. I debated many different engines from SR's and RB's to an LS engine. While not a purist by any means I liked the idea of having a modern Nissan engine in the car. Having a few friends with turbocharged 350z's I knew the engine was capable of making serious power while still being smooth and reliable for daily driving.
I was lucky enough to find a 350z engine set at a shop nearby that rebuilds wrecked Nissans in Concord, NC. They have been in business since the 1970's rebuilding wrecked Z cars, many straight from dealer lots. The engine and transmission I bought came from a new 2004 350z that was wrecked on a test drive. The car had a total of 400 miles on it! I was able to purchase the engine as a complete drop out with the transmission, drive shaft, cross member, ECU, wiring, and the steering column and key.
I really had no idea what I was getting into except that I was putting a VQ in the car! At the time VQ35 swaps were uncommon, with only a few guys starting to do them on 240sx's. I was only able to find pictures of one S30 with a VQ swap and it was undocumented except for a few pictures from a car show. The goal was to swap the engine into the car utilizing the factory ECU, wiring it as standalone as possible. Starting from scratch with everything made the project more exciting for me.
This project started when I was in high school, which let's just say was several years ago. I picked up a 1971 Datsun 240z from the original owner's widow. The car had been sitting outside for a while since he had passed away. I saw the car on a trip across the state sitting in a parking lot and gave it a quick look over. I later tracked down the owner and bought it over the phone for 1500 dollars delivered to my house... a deal I thought I couldn't pass up.
When I got the car and started pulling it apart, the rust damage was far more extensive then I had imagined, most of it had been covered up by a paint job and undercoating. With more time than money on my hands, I decided to buy a welder and do a complete tear down and the rebuild began. Learning everything along the way and doing all the work myself, the car eventually came together.... with A LOT of help from my friends and information from the online community.
I originally built the car with a L28et and went through several iterations of that engine before deciding to take a radically different path and swap in the VQ35. This build picks up at the start of that project.
