Matt's 350Z Build Journal

So I sold the Lexus tonight...and I bought a 350Z Track Package Shell and a SR20DET

The plan for the immediate future is to swap in the SR20DET bone stock and just get it running as cheaply as possible.

The plan for the gradual build up over the next few months are as follows.

400-450hp
Non Staggered Wheel Setup with 275s on all 4 corners (street class legal)
Carbotech Brake Pads
Nice Stereo (gps, bluetooth, nav, sub etc)
Nice Coilovers Probably KWs but maybe JRZs

Nothing Crazy just something a little different to play with.

The 350Z Chassis is great and very well balanced, The SR and 5 Speed Tranny lose somewhere around 150lbs over the VQ setup.

Ill post the whole build when its done. Its on the lift at BG right now, Brandon and I made the motor mounts in about 4 hours, it was fairly easy, there is tons of room in the engine bay and the motor is still as far back as a VQ motor is. Justin will start wiring it next week, hes going to try and use the factory DBW so Ill be able to keep traction control and all that good stuff.

This swap has never been attempted on this level, there are three known racecars that have been built but thats a little different that making everything work like factory.

You want pictures....you got pictures


Empty Engine Bay


Out with the old


In with the New


New SR20DET for size reference


New Engine in its final location


Sweet the hood closes


The beginnings of the tranny mount


More tranny mount


This is how far forward the motor had to go to get the weight distribution right


Meziere Water Pump Block off plate


350Z electronic throttle body, Ill be using this on the SR the stock 350z ecu will control it


Tomei Oil filter housing adapter, allows you to run a remote oil cooler and filter


Installed with Oil Pressure sender


Remote Oil Filter housing, uses Ford HP1 oil filters which hold almost a quart by themselves


Lines


Oil Cooler was going here until I decided to V-Mount the intercooler and radiator(more on that later)


Mega Gangster SR20 Bolt on Power Steering reservoir (BG stocks these)


more


Another shot with the oil filter on


Remote Water Pump was going here....now its not

Continued in post 14

 

pics

...or I'll just come see it this weekend

 

Won't be here till tuesday

 

ahh well damn

 

Interesting...

 

Another project is just what you needed! LOL

 

Hmm, always considered a 350 when ive been looking at cars. Keep this updated...

 

I will

 

Please finish this one..... k thx

 

I'm not even working on this one. Its going to get the engine dropped in and a friend is doing the wiring. He has already done the wiring on a RB26 350z so he knows exactly what needs to be done.

He says everything will work like factory

Edit....this turned out to be a lie, Brandon did the motor mounts and Justin did the wiring but I've done almost everything else

 

We'll see if this runs before the Ranger

 

Itll be running in two weeks or someone is in a lot of trouble

 

sounds like a nice build and a lot of fun

 

Updating first post now

 

Remote Water Pump was going here....now its not


High Pressure Power Steering lines, didn't take anymore pictures but these are not
covered in Black Heat Sleeve



Justin going wild with the 350z and SR20DET wiring harness


The Start of the remote shifter








This will all make sense shortly




Base for the shifter bolts into the factory location


The link bar between the shifter on the tranny and the remote shifter

Driveshaft from our friends at American Driveshaft They had to order some of the parts but its all serviceable unlike most driveshafts


More pictures of the oil cooler lines and if you will notice in the top right there is a temp sensor for the 350z so the gauge in the car works and one for the SR ECU so the ecu retains all of its coolant temp functions


Shifter base painted so it won't rust...wrinkle red sti style


AN fittings on the water inlets and outlets

 

The start of V-Mounting the intercooler and radiator, the original plan was to use this cheap intercooler but I didn't like the way it looked or fit so I ordered a Precision Core and decided to fabricate my own end tanks


Still lots of room behind the radiator without doing any real cutting to the chassis


Finished SR harness about to be integrated into the 350z harness


Oh my......Big Thanks to Mark and Eric at Mazwerks for this awesome manifold, these guys to great work and build outstanding products for the SR20DET




Look at the freaking collector on this thing....its a work of art

CNC machined flanges

The V-Mount with the plates mounted to the radiator, again, the intercooler is just laying there for reference
This all fits behind the stock grill so while it may look racecar esque it fits very nicely. A local AC shop is going to build me an and condensor to fit on the radiator

Thats all the photos I downloaded for now Ill post some more next week.
At this point I'm waiting on a gasket kit, Head studs, and main studs to come in. I'm also haven't made up my mind on a turbo yet

 

This is looking very nice Matt. MazWerks are good guys. I like how they built a supporting brace to help distribute the weight that pipe will see. Are all the tubing braced or just that one since it'll be the one the turbo is mostly pushing on?

Oh and true innovation at it's best!

 

Just that one tube since the wastegate hangs off of it. The tubing is all thickwall cast stainless all of it was purge welded and looks perfect. Its truly one of the nicest I have ever seen in person. Its way nicer than my Full-Race manifold was and equally as nice as the Shearer manifold that was on Dans EVO. Should have the wastegate in a few days its the new Tial MV-R which is small like the Vband 38mm and it has two water cooling ports for road race applications

 

Oh and I'm really enjoying all the fabrication I'm getting to do on this project. Its almost easier to make some of this stuff than it is to buy it.

 

That intercooler looks very familiar.

 

i would like to do some of this

i need to get the stuff for my new syncrowave

 

Yeah I only need to buy a few tools....Band Saw, Brake, Shear, Cold Saw, Tig, Mig, English Wheel....etc...

 

looks good

 

So how much longer before it's running and done? What mod to the engine itself? Isn't the SR20DEt only good to 350ish unless you do rocker arms and such to the heads (my SR knowledge is very limited)?

 

They are good to about 300 without a head gasket, so its getting a head gasket, head studs, mainstuds, rocker arm stoppers, valves springs and retainers and a set of GSC S1 cams.

Very similar setup to my last SR and it made 440whp with a gt30r at 18lbs...

Thats really all I'm looking for

 

Cool build Matt. Got me thinking crazy things with my built SR20. lol

 

Yeah, I really like the SR as a engine platform, its easy to work on and parts are pretty cheap. I thought you had a S13 you were putting yours in?

 

I do. Its been a forever type build. Child on the way. Toys go away...

 

Nah......I'm in the same boat and I went to something more expensive....LOL

Oh and congrats!

 

Awesome!

 

sweet build. makes me anxious to finish my sr build.

 

Ill try and post some more pictures this week.

Installed a few more things this week
Head Gasket
Head Studs
Main Studs

Painted the Engine
Shaved the Valve Cover

Reinstalled the motor

Ill be finishing the intercooler and buttoning up the car tomorrow, hopefully Ill be able to crank it mid week next week.

 

Look forward to seeing this done. By the way, all that's left is wire up the starter and plug the ECU in for the Ranger. Finish a few other minor loose ends and she should be ready to fire too. Dan have a car-cus I can crawl over for some cool pics?

 

yeah theres a 240 we are about to cut up

 

Sweet! I can't wait to get this thing done, we'll have to strap it down on the dyno just for pics as well. That might draw some entertaining comments to say the least.

How long before your up and running? What are the dimensions on that cheap core you have?

 

I should be done with mine next week

 

That cheap core was my old core

 

So, are you going to actually finish this project or get it 75% done and move on to something else???

 

I say 90% done and then go to something else

 

Everyone is out of the shop this week for Formula D so I haven't gotten much done. Ill be back on it next week should be done soon. Its 90% DONE now

 

It's actually probably farther than that...the only thing it needs is a turbo and tune. I've stopped by to see it at least once a week and there's little fabrication left to do.

And he'll have to finish this one, or his wife is going to castrate him...

 

Rumor is him and all his closest friends *cough* drew*cough*

 

Can't wait to see this get finished but don't expect an update for the next week.......someone got banned.

 

It will be interesting to see if this one gets finished....looks like a neat project.

 

where is the interior mod to hold your fat ass? LOL J/K

I have seen the beast in person and there is some nice work going into it and I for one cant wait to see and ride in it.

 

hell i can't wait to drive it...I miss a high HP RWD car

 

It will get finished and it'll have the turbo he ordered on it too.

 

I doubt Matt will be ripping himself off on this build either.