35 swap on the cheap.
#1
2060lbs and falling...
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iTrader: (10)
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 5,160
35 swap on the cheap.
I thought I'd post this thread to give some ideas to 35 swappers that are in a pinch budget wise and thus not able to do the swap in ideal fashion.
Last fall I had some serious issues with my 30 in the 240. Turns out I was flooding one cylinder for a good amount of time. This was due to a failing injector that was intermitantly staying open. It took me a while to figure out because the motor sounded and felt very healthy. Anyway, the result of the flooding was that it killed the rings and walls in cylinder four. Comp dropped to 150 on that cylinder. So, why waste money on another 30? No point at all. But my budget was very limited due throwing all sorts of bills at the front suspension. So, I got the cheapest running 35 that I could find and went to town. I didn't care about the miles because eventually it will recieve a serious buildup.
Lots have mentioned that the 35 should theoretically run with a completely 30 timing chain, cam and IM setup. I am here to tell you that it will run perfectly.
How it can work:
The tensioners on the 35 have a passageway that brings pressurized oil up to the VTC controller things just in front of the VC's. So I attempted to use the 30 intermediate chain tensioners but the bolt holes wouldn't line up. So, I posted this thread to gather ideas on the issue. I must branch off here for a moment. In order to run the 30 IM without screwing with coil issues you need to run the 30 VC. And in turn, in order to run the 30 VC the 30 "cam end caps" must be used. The problem lies in the fact that the pressureized passage is then left open to spew into the cam and timing chain compartment. This, no doubt would result in a serious deficit in oil pressure. So, I decided to try welding the passageway shut. Turned out to work quite well with a simple MIG weld. And now I can report that oil pressure is more than adequate; sometimes approaching 70PSI at idle.(Hinting at the fact the 35 oil pump is superior.)
So, on to the next issue. Again, in order to keep cost low and get on the road before half the summer was gone, I wanted to use the 30 sidefeed injectors. Of course to do this the 30 LIM must be used. :gasp from the crowd: Many people think that the 30 LIM will not bolt and seal to the 35 heads. This is a false! The only problem lies in the porting. The 35 utilizes more roundish intake ports while the 30's are very oval. At first I was going to diegrind the 30 LIM to port match. But a significant amount of the overlap would need to be trimmed from the 35 side. I didn't want to do this because I plan on using the Z33 IM by the end of summer. So, I decided to say f it. I don't care about turbulence. I just wanted to get the thing running before our short upper midwest driving season passed by.
Now, all is said and done so driving impressions:
-She idles really well after coming off a couple seconds of startup instability.(I run no IACV)
-It drives like a totally normal and stock motor without hicupping or stuttering.
-Originally I thought that there would be a bump in torque due strictly to displacment and as a result a corresponding bump in power. The first part is totally true. Its very difficult to quantify since its been 7 months since I drove on the 30 but I'd wager that the bump is there.
-So power isn't there like it would be if everything were perfect. I'd say peaks at 5k(Currently I have no working tach) and falls on its face shortly thereafter. This is no doubt an indication that the 30 USIM is choking the hell outta it as well as the cams.
Moral of the story. If you blow your 30 somehow but don't have the budget to do the 35 totally perfect at first, have no fear. You will have a completely well behaved motor that looks like a 30 in everyway externally (except for the rear cam sensors on the heads) but is a 35 at heart and will be ready to accept the simple modifications at a later date.
Last fall I had some serious issues with my 30 in the 240. Turns out I was flooding one cylinder for a good amount of time. This was due to a failing injector that was intermitantly staying open. It took me a while to figure out because the motor sounded and felt very healthy. Anyway, the result of the flooding was that it killed the rings and walls in cylinder four. Comp dropped to 150 on that cylinder. So, why waste money on another 30? No point at all. But my budget was very limited due throwing all sorts of bills at the front suspension. So, I got the cheapest running 35 that I could find and went to town. I didn't care about the miles because eventually it will recieve a serious buildup.
Lots have mentioned that the 35 should theoretically run with a completely 30 timing chain, cam and IM setup. I am here to tell you that it will run perfectly.
How it can work:
The tensioners on the 35 have a passageway that brings pressurized oil up to the VTC controller things just in front of the VC's. So I attempted to use the 30 intermediate chain tensioners but the bolt holes wouldn't line up. So, I posted this thread to gather ideas on the issue. I must branch off here for a moment. In order to run the 30 IM without screwing with coil issues you need to run the 30 VC. And in turn, in order to run the 30 VC the 30 "cam end caps" must be used. The problem lies in the fact that the pressureized passage is then left open to spew into the cam and timing chain compartment. This, no doubt would result in a serious deficit in oil pressure. So, I decided to try welding the passageway shut. Turned out to work quite well with a simple MIG weld. And now I can report that oil pressure is more than adequate; sometimes approaching 70PSI at idle.(Hinting at the fact the 35 oil pump is superior.)
So, on to the next issue. Again, in order to keep cost low and get on the road before half the summer was gone, I wanted to use the 30 sidefeed injectors. Of course to do this the 30 LIM must be used. :gasp from the crowd: Many people think that the 30 LIM will not bolt and seal to the 35 heads. This is a false! The only problem lies in the porting. The 35 utilizes more roundish intake ports while the 30's are very oval. At first I was going to diegrind the 30 LIM to port match. But a significant amount of the overlap would need to be trimmed from the 35 side. I didn't want to do this because I plan on using the Z33 IM by the end of summer. So, I decided to say f it. I don't care about turbulence. I just wanted to get the thing running before our short upper midwest driving season passed by.
Now, all is said and done so driving impressions:
-She idles really well after coming off a couple seconds of startup instability.(I run no IACV)
-It drives like a totally normal and stock motor without hicupping or stuttering.
-Originally I thought that there would be a bump in torque due strictly to displacment and as a result a corresponding bump in power. The first part is totally true. Its very difficult to quantify since its been 7 months since I drove on the 30 but I'd wager that the bump is there.
-So power isn't there like it would be if everything were perfect. I'd say peaks at 5k(Currently I have no working tach) and falls on its face shortly thereafter. This is no doubt an indication that the 30 USIM is choking the hell outta it as well as the cams.
Moral of the story. If you blow your 30 somehow but don't have the budget to do the 35 totally perfect at first, have no fear. You will have a completely well behaved motor that looks like a 30 in everyway externally (except for the rear cam sensors on the heads) but is a 35 at heart and will be ready to accept the simple modifications at a later date.
#2
Congrats on getting her to run again. I am glad you got the valve covers and cam covers to work. Great news.
I have seen a VQ35 with a VQ30 style IM on it before, but as you said it is not ideal and it chokes it badly top end because of the port shape difference along with other things. But as you said it does bolt on fine and will run.
I have seen a VQ35 with a VQ30 style IM on it before, but as you said it is not ideal and it chokes it badly top end because of the port shape difference along with other things. But as you said it does bolt on fine and will run.
#7
Broaner Im wondering how this would work if you were to put the oovi. I m thinking of doing a 35 swap but I was wanting to keep the 00vi. It would really simplfiy the swap for me!
#8
Originally Posted by 95turbo gxe
Broaner Im wondering how this would work if you were to put the oovi. I m thinking of doing a 35 swap but I was wanting to keep the 00vi. It would really simplfiy the swap for me!
Easiest way to keep the 00vi is my using the Pathfinder heads. It is not worth the time and cost IMO.
A modded 02+ im is very highflowing and makes more power than the 00vi can. Krismax tried to portmatch his 00vi to the maxima vq35 and he said the 02im feels way better.
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