How Texas_Ace Swapped a VG30ET to a VG33ET! Complete Writeup

Like I said, you can get what you need from the forums for little to nothing, and these are things you should be upgrading anyway if you have the means to go to a VG33. You should get a better alternator to handle e-fans… so get one with a V-Rib, or get a pulley from someone on the boards. What is that, like 10 bucks WITH shipping? Water pump pulley? probably included in the same 10 bucks.

To me, custom is fabricating something. IT WILL NOT COST 500 DOLLARS to get your accessories to work on your VG33 pulley.

WHY are you saying that without ever even trying to do it?


I LITERALLY used a grinder and a thick disk to grind the pump down. That's it :-/
And I used a MAPP Torch to bend the pickup tube.

Everything else is "bolt on". It boggles my mind how you guys think that grinding a power steering pump and heating and bending a pickup tube is HARDER than removing a crank. THAT is my whole point. You guys are ignoring what I'm saying. Mainly because other people have done it by swapping cranks to keep their accessories.

I'm saying that there's not much to worry about. No big deal. The world isn't gonna explode if you use VG33 cranks in VG33 blocks.

But whatever. My point is that you can work with what you got. If all you got is a VG33, then you can still do this easily/easier. If you have a A/B VG30, then you can stick with swapping cranks, which is still by no means "easier", and people need to stop saying that it is. Besides, with all the woodruff keys shearing and the cranks being redesigned for the W series, I wouldn't bother to use an A/B series crank. I'd try to find a W at that point… but then what's the point? Use your VG33 crank.

I'm not being short minded because even if I had an A/B series crank, I would still try to find a W series crank to put in.

But sure, if you wanna work with what you got, then swap cranks. It's still not "easier"

Texas_Ace wrote:

Careless - Do you have some pictures of your Oil Pickup Tube after modifications?

indeed i do. i have pictures of everything. even the grinding i did on the power steering pump boss.
lemme bother my brother for his external hdd to download them and edit the size and i'll post them.

but according to my thread where I discussed it, aceman said I was "doing it wrong" because I used the vg33 pump… not sure if I should post information on how I did everything so wrongly and I now have a running VG33ET that works, despite a set of soggy lifters and a boost leak.

… cause you know.. I did it wrong :-/

[quote]Careless wrote: lol - you can PM me the pictures then. I'm equally retarded. I just can't see opening up a perfectly good bottom end that only has 27K miles on it.

[quote]Allout wrote: [quote=Careless]

.

nothing more than a grinder and mapp gas.

I also had modified the rounded portion that goes into the oil pump further by heating it up and pressing it out so it was a little wider using a long socket extension for a 1/4 inch drive ratchet.

It's actually easy to do as when you heat up the pick-up tube to red hot, you can see where you're pressing from inside the tube using a steel object because it starts to cool the area and extract heat from where you're pressing.

That makes it easy to see how well you're doing when rounding it out.

Thanks for the posting the pictures Careless. I think it came out very nice.

I think the point is that this conversion can be done either way depending on what's available to you. I would agree if you had to start from scratch and had a good VG30 crank available, that would be my first choice. If you have a perfectly good VG33, it can be made to work without a problem also.

You guys have both done nice jobs with your builds so kudos to you both. The Z31 community is clearly the winner here!

I'll agree with that.

or if you have a fresh engine that you'd rather not take apart to that degree (as you first stated)… you could keep it together for the most part and worry about accessories later.

any way you slice it… crank or accessories. it's not THAT hard, considering what's needed. I mean… either method doesn't even require you to pull the heads off the long block and you get a displacement increase.

I'm unaware of any other import engines that you could effectively do that with, which is a great plus, considering these vg33 engines are of more abundance than vg30's nowadays.

I think it sux that Tex has to sell his though! BOOOOOO!

Bingo.

If you have a perfectly good VG33 donor motor, there is absolutely no reason why you can't use the long block in its entirety (minus the use of VG30et cams, Turbo manifolds, upper & lower intake, etc).

Whoever seriously believes that swapping out a crank is easier than modifying a power steering pump, bending a pick-up tube and AT THE MOST, swap the accessory pullies to the 87t+ v-rib style is hilarious.

It's bad enough that you're re-using stock stretch-to-yield rod bolts, which means when you re-torque them, they're no longer in spec.

Bottom end work is intimidating to people for good reason, because if something is done incorrectly, even the slightest bit, you have just shortened the reliability of that engine drastically.

To Allout, I highly recommend you not pull your perfectly working bottom end apart on your VG33 to do this swap. It's one thing if you're building a new motor from the bottom up to use the VG30 crank so everything will be a 'bolt-on', but its another to start removing your bottom end, because now you're losing the stock reliability factor. How long do you think those stock VG33 rod bolts will hold up under boost AND abuse before you spin a bearing, throw a rod or both because you're re-using an already weak part from Nissan?

Both ways will work obviously, but swapping a crank is in no way easier than bending a tube, and swapping some pulleys, no matter which way you cut it, end of discussion, lol.

My crank swap motor has about 5k miles of 400whp+, on the original rod bolts. They arent as weak as you seem to think. how many have you broken?

and besides ARP's are what $45 shipped?

[quote]aceman wrote: Thats fine and dandy, but it's not proper. i didn't say it wont work. I've seen more backyard mechanic work than i'd care to share but swapping the crank and reusing any stock stretch-to-yield bolts just isn't smart. I haven't personally broken one, but the fact is the stock Nissan bolts are a weak link in the bottom end, and them being stretch-to-yield means they shouldn't be re-used, so when you re-use them anyways you drastically reduce the engines reliability.

Anyways, for the $40-60 it costs for new ARP's, it seems like a good insurance policy to me. Better than stock bolts, which should have been replaced in the first place anyways, right?

they are the weak link of 25 year old vg30 and rb30's, i agree. and we are side tracked.

both ways are made to work, but alot of us like bolt ins.

my point being that a bolt in doesn't make it easier and in this case doesn't make it more reliable either, if you're not even removing the heads to remove the rod bolts from the rods you would be taking out… then perhaps the piston rings since they've got a wear pattern, replacing head gaskets, seals, etc.

that's not sidetracking from what was originally stated in this thread. at least someone agrees with me.

so while I respect the fact that Texas_Ace has a running and working beautiful zenki (and I don't even like zenki's that much), it doesn't make his way "the right", "the proper", "the reliable" way. It's essentially the "more work" way.

But whatever. either works.

both our running engines are a testament to that.

I agree with that now that i know all th facts and that later 300zx's came with v-rib belts and acsesseries. Before i knew that i had good reason for my argument that swapping cranks was the only way.

Now that i know otherwise i still say that swapping cranks is the best way if your car came with v-belts like mine but if you have a v-ribbed belt car then keep the stock crank by all means.

Both do indeed work, like you said we have proven that. We both have differnt ideas of how to do it and what is better. We will both defend our version of the swap till the end of time. i am willing to admit that if you have a V-rubbed belt version of the 300zx that keeping the stock crank is about the same amount of work and just as good as swapping cranks. And depending on your skill level could be a better option.

I also say that with a car like mine swapping cranks is better. And i do stand behind the fact that my car is and looks stock, no one would know i have a VG33 under there or anything was not factory for that matter unless i told them or they REALLY knew there 300's (whihc i have shown this car to a few 300zx guys so far, none of them could tell it was a VG33 or was not bone stock). I like my cars to both look and work like stock. Others have differnt tastes, you are welcome to have your own tastes.