pbaugh Posted December 23, 2013 Report Share Posted December 23, 2013 I bought my 720 for $1k a few months ago. It had a 3" body lift, kc's, burned oil, and had hackjob wiring everywhere. At home...ignore the GF's miata. It is a Nissan household. It needed tires and it barely made the 50 mile trip home. After a full tune up(cap, rotor, wires, and plugs), I still couldn't get it running worth a damn. So I had some discussions with the old gearheads I work with, who knew more about carburators than I do, they pointed me towards carb issues. I found an 85 in a jy and snagged the carb, slapped it on ad it ran much better. I took it down to a buddys farm, and did some work on his yota crawler in exhange for some 31x10.50r15s. Testing out the 4x4 on his trails. It did a surrprisingly good job on the trails, but the old z24 did not like turning the 31's on the road...it was hell as I was used to my boosted 86 z31...this truck had ZERO pep. So....I decided to was time for a small upgrade. For weeks I debated, weber/cam, ka, vg....I just love the vg in the z31, so I thought, "what the hell". Trans work while i had it apart Vg33e from a 97 pathy ECU and harness from a 91 maxima IT IS IN! And thats it so far. It is in, it runs, it drives, and it was a very good swap. I don't have a single complaint yet. Any ideas on what I should do to upgrade the braking system? Now that the truck has gobbs of torque, I plan on pulling my car with it, however I wouldn't trust the brakes to stop that much weight. Quote Link to comment
MicroMachinery Posted December 23, 2013 Report Share Posted December 23, 2013 What did you do for an oil pan? Did the stock one clear the front diff? Quote Link to comment
DaveZilla Posted December 23, 2013 Report Share Posted December 23, 2013 I got the same question on the oil pan... did you have to mod it to make it fit? Quote Link to comment
pbaugh Posted December 24, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2013 Yes, I had to modify the oil pan and slightly bend the pickup. I lost about a qt of capacity in doing so.I plan to add an oil cooler to offset that loss. Quote Link to comment
datzenmike Posted December 24, 2013 Report Share Posted December 24, 2013 The next gen truck, the D-21 had similar brakes on the 4 cylinder equipped, but the VG powered ones were dual piston. The ones on that '97 Pathfinder may also fit. BTW the 720 IS slow in the later years. Even the Z24 hasn't the torque to pull it around in 4x4 dress. Nissan also lowered the diff ratio from 4.375 to 4.11. Quote Link to comment
Wylder1324 Posted January 1, 2014 Report Share Posted January 1, 2014 Very nice. This is precisely the set-up I'd love to do to my 85' 4x4 KC. Quote Link to comment
WooHooMobile Posted January 1, 2014 Report Share Posted January 1, 2014 So the VG motors bolt up to the Z engine gearbox? Would love to put a VQ35HR in my 720. but would realistically settle for a VG from a 2004ish Pathfinder... Quote Link to comment
pbaugh Posted January 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 2, 2014 No the 720 gearbox is not a direct bolt on affair. You need a bellhousing off of a VG equipped 71c, and use that bellhousing with the 71b gear cluster and tail housing. Allowing me to retain the factory d/s and 4x4. Edit: the vg33e showed up in the pathys in 97, and besides the accesories. There are no internal differences between the years. I love the VG motors. I have an 86 300zx 9:1 factory engine with 180k pushing 10psi with no problem at all. Quote Link to comment
WooHooMobile Posted January 3, 2014 Report Share Posted January 3, 2014 There dosent seem to be any Manual Trans Pathys with the VG down here in OZ. Shit tonne of 3.3 V6 autos... I'm not familiar with a 71c and b, is that gearbox names? Quote Link to comment
pbaugh Posted January 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2014 Yeah its the gearbox "name" fs5w72(a)(b) and so forth. The VG pathfinders only came with the 30a 5speed. Its a stronger trans, but the case is different and can't be used with the 71. I used a 84-89 na 300zx bell. Maybe a VG s12. Quote Link to comment
pbaugh Posted January 3, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2014 I got my bell shipped from Washington. I live in Indiana... Quote Link to comment
WooHooMobile Posted January 6, 2014 Report Share Posted January 6, 2014 Would love to see more pics of the install. I may try to find a D21 VG30 2WD 5speed as a doner vehicle. depending on the condition of that 3.0, maybe then get a 3.3 to put in. Quote Link to comment
pbaugh Posted January 6, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 6, 2014 Just make sure that the trans is a vg fs5w71. The 84-89 non turbo 300zx bellhousing will work perfectly. I'm not sure on any other vehicles. I would go for the 3.3, it has floating wrist pins, better flowing heads, and better cooling passageways in the heads. You could try and find the "w" coded 3.0, but chances are the 3.3 will be newer and have less milage. I will try to get some more pics. I need to redo my oil pan. It was a rushed job and it isn't how I would like it. I need to get a junkyard pan to mockup and fab on the side. As this truck is my dd. My toy is the z31. 1 Quote Link to comment
Omelet720 Posted April 10, 2014 Report Share Posted April 10, 2014 Did you use the 3.3's stock mounts welded to the 720's frame, or did the 720's mounts work? It also looks like you didn't have to modify the engine bay to fit the vg, or am I missing something? Nice job by the way! Quote Link to comment
Omelet720 Posted April 10, 2014 Report Share Posted April 10, 2014 Oh, and what are your seats out of? Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.