Nissan 370Z Forum - View Single Post - Not a 370z, but... VQ35HR ST (VSR) Begins

mad_jelly · 06-23-2014, 10:08 PM

Today begins my story. I bought my 2007 350z Grand Touring Roadster March 2008. I bought her brand new with 16 miles on the clock. Over the last 6 years, we've gone through many changes but none of which involved the magnitude of work as required with FI.

I've been hunting for a single turbo setup for nearly a year now and chose VSR's setup primarily for two reasons. 1) They are a one stop shop for the setup. You ship your car to them and they take care of everything (install, tuning, other stuff). I've always been a hands-on kind of guy (search for my DIYs on my.350z.com). I really enjoy wrenching on cars, probably more so than actually driving. However life has gotton away from me with work, the house, the wife, my toddler and second on the way. It was time to put my hobbies aside (wrenching) and enjoy the car as it should have came out of the Nissan plant. 2) The turbo and intake placement resonated with what I wanted in a turbo kit. To the best of my knowledge, the only other ST setup for the HR has the turbo mounted low and the intake tucked next to the transmission. While im sure it works just fine down low, I feel better if the intake and turbo sat above my crash beam (Just a personal preference).

Proposed Setup:
VSR Topmount turbo kit
CJM Stage 1 VQ35HR fuel return w/ pump harness
HKS M-Series 1 step colder
Southbend Stage 2 Kevlar Clutch and Flywheel Kit
ZSpeed HD CSC
Mishimoto Radiator
Stillen Headers
AEM Tru-Boost and UEGO
Innovate Oil Temp and Pressure
Vibrant 3" HFC

I track my car a few times a year. It'll be interesting how well this setup performs at the track. Not just from a reliability standpoint but also from a safety standpoint. I've never had an issue with NA, so this new setup will be interesting. There were reports on the.370z.com of improper placement of a few critical lines in relation to the downpipe, exhaust leaks, oil and ps leaks. The owner of VSR, Bobby, stood behind his product and offered to make it right.

I hope my story will be a great one as there are only 2 other VQ35HR VSR turbos in the states (to the best of my knowledge).

PS. Pardon my spelling and grammar. x-posted on my.350z.com

Timeline:
June 23, 2014: Transport received the car
August 27, 2014: Car still at shop. Install is taking some time. The welder had a little accident over the 4th in July. Dude is welding in a wheel chair. Talk about dedication!
August 29, 2014: Car nearly done. I asked for a few more maps for different boost lvls. Added more pixs.
Sept 5, 2014: Car made no power. Cylinder 1 had low compression. ~160
Sept 8, 2014: Leak down showed 40% leak on Cylinder 1. Starting modest build.
to be continued
Sept 29, 2014: Motor pulled, found oil starvation on bearings and rings. Most likely from excessive G's.
Oct 13, 2014: Motor nearly back into car. Added pix of shortblock
Oct 25, 2014: Car Done, on its way back. Added moar pixs