These photos show the install of a carbureted VG30 into Rob Hancock's 510 two door. This installation was completed in three leisurely weeks of evenings and three weekends. A lot of time was spent getting the details exactly right the first time. Please note that some of the components in these pictures were previously installed in other cars and were not spotlessly cleaned prior to going into this car. The whole engine bay was detailed after the installation was completed and everything is now clean enough to eat off of! Almost everything in this installation applies to VG30 engines that use EFI. If you are doing an installation using the stock Z31 intake plenum we suggest installing the engine and transmission with the upper half of the plenum removed. Once the engine and transmission are bolted into place you can set the plenum upper half onto the lower half, slide it back until it hits, and figure out how much clearance you need to make.

1 If you are going to paint the engine compartment here's your chance! If you have not removed the steering idler arm bracket from the right frame rail do it now.

2 Install the oil pickup tube, oil pan, and motor mounts onto your VG30. Mate up the transmission and install the 240Z transmission insulator (Nissan P/N: 11320-N3000) and crossmember. Remove the front crossmember, sway bar, and steering center link from the car and bolt the assembly into place on the engine.

3 Support the car on tall jack stands and put the engine and transmission underneath, a cart or dolly makes this much easier.

4 In this install the engine was only about 2" off the floor. If at all possible, you should have the engine 6-8" off the floor so you'll have more room to work after you've lowered the car over the engine.

5 Slowly lower the car being careful that the left valve cover does not hit the steering box.

6 Once the valve cover gets past the steering box there are no clearance issues up front.

7 Leave about an 1/8" gap where the front crossmember meets the frame rails so you can wiggle the car around to line up and start the crossmember bolts.

8 After all four crossmember bolts are started rest the car on the crossmember and tighten all the bolts. Bolt the sway bar brackets to the frame rails. Bolt the steering idler arm to the frame rail and attach the center link to the pitman arm on the steering box. Note that the idler arm bolts MUST be installed with the heads in the fender well or the idler bracket cannot be removed without removing the engine or cutting the bolts!

9 The rear of the transmission hits the tunnel on both sides (circles). The rear of the transmission cannot be raised into place until the tunnel is spread and the shifter hole is enlarged. At this point we held the back of the transmission up with a large piece of rope so we could get the car back up to a comfortable working height on the jack stands.

10 This shifter hole is much larger than required. When cutting the tunnel be very careful not to cut the fuel or brake lines! The circles show where the tunnel has been partially spread.

11 A good way to spread the tunnel is to make two vertical cuts (circle) on each side. Once the cuts are made, the tunnel can almost be spread with your bare hands. After the transmission is bolted in the final tweaking of the tunnel can be made to insure at least 3/16" clearance at the lateral spring retainers on the transmission. After this clearance is finalized the four cuts in the tunnel can be welded up with a MIG welder. It is possible to spread the tunnel without cutting the sides by using a port-a-power or a stock 510 jack but we've found the results to be better using the technique shown here.

12 This picture shows the transmission bolted in solidly after the tunnel was modified for clearance.

13 This is the Z31 starter mount/bell housing brace. There was an ear (circle) that had to be cut off for clearance of the steering center link. This bracket and the starter can be installed before the engine goes into the car if you prefer.

14 Here's the starter and brace installed in the car.

15 In this photo you can see why an early Z31 gear reduction starter is required for this conversion. The gear reduction moves the starter motor up just enough to clear the steering center link and inner tie rod end.

16 This is the one and only clearance issue that is not easily resolved in this conversion. The circle shows where the right inner tie rod end hits the starter mount flange at a point near full lock when turning to the right. The starter mounting ear can be ground for some clearance and the steering idler can be spaced down on it's shaft a little bit to eliminate the problem if it bothers you. Alternately the pitman arm and idler arm could be carefully heated and bent down 1/4-3/8" to give enough clearance. Don't do this unless you really know what you are doing! Having a steering component fail at speed could have disastrous results.

17 Here's a shot of the right side motor mount, oil filter, starter, and the top of the alternator. There isn't much extra room on this side of the block.

18 The left side is just the opposite: There's lots of space over here. Note the large ground strap. It will be bolted to the steering box after the header is installed.

19 It's time for the real fun, installing the left header. Getting the rear bolt in on this side will likely test your patience. If you have big fingers you may need to enlist the help of someone with small hands to get that rear bolt started for you. If you have Cermachromed headers be sure to use flat washers under the header bolts to prevent tearing of the coating under the bolt heads.

20 Next you should install the right header. There isn't a lot of working space once this header is installed so be sure everything else is tight before you put it in.

21 At this point you can install your intake and distributor if they aren't already in. This is one of our custom intakes with a Holley 500cfm two-barrel carburetor installed. The distributor is a "Euro" (actually Saudi Arabian truck) P/N: 22100-V6402 from Nissan Motorsports with a Z31 cap installed.

22 This close up shows where two extra pieces of the linkage on the Holley needed to be trimmed to clear the valve cover and spark plug cap. Be sure to check for clearance as the throttle opens!

23 Here is a close up of the right side heater hose. Cut off the stock steel tube that bolts to the flange on the back of the intake so it turns just short of 90°. The hose shown here is a stock 510 short heater hose trimmed to fit.

24 On the left side, trim the steel tube that bolts to the tube running under the intake so it turns about 90°. The hose shown is a Nissan P/N: B7145-21601. It's a nearly perfect fit with a molded in curve of about 270°.

25 Now is a good time to install the radiator and hoses. This is the Griffin radiator and bolt-in brackets we sell. This upper radiator hose was assembled from two Napa P/N: FF242 1.5" 90 degree universal hoses connected with a short piece of 1.5" stainless steel tube. Note that this water neck has been cut and rotated. If you use a stock water neck you can build a hose from one Napa P/N: FF242 and one Napa P/N: 8484 connected with a short piece of 1.5" tubing. The hose will be pinched slightly where the sharp bend is made at the radiator but this arrangement has run several years on our test mule with no problems.

26 This is a close up of that modified water neck. It has been cut and rotated 180° so it points closer to the right direction. The stock filler mounting flange is now on the bottom. There is a blanking plate where the stock filler was that houses the thermoswitch for the electric fan on this install.

27 This is an ugly but very effective off-the-shelf lower radiator hose. It's a Napa P/N: FM68. There has to be a nice molded hose for something that'll fit here but we haven't found it yet.

28 Here is a well tucked 2.25" Y pipe assembly in the car. You can also see where the speedometer and emergency brake cables are routed. That's a stock 300ZX clutch slave cylinder. This slave cylinder puts the hose parallel to the ground. The stock 510 slave cylinder will point the hose down and it will be the lowest part of the car - not a good thing! You'll need to upgrade to a self-adjusting clutch master cylinder (if you haven't already) as there is no provision for manual adjustment on any of the late model 5 speed clutch release forks.

29 This picture shows the carefully routed speedometer cable. It goes between the emergency brake cable and the floor. You must attach it to something near the front of the floor so it makes a smooth bend and does not hit the exhaust. There should be a small sheet metal tab approximately where the Adel clamp is in this picture that the cable can be attached to. The 280ZX speedometer cable fits perfectly. It's Nissan P/N: B5050-P7100.

30 Go kick some Honduh ass!