Forged Rods/Pistons stock crank
 

Is it possible to run forged rods and pistons on stock crankshaft?

Reason I ask is I need to rebuild or grab a new transmission. Someone told me that having a new trans would be harsh with a used motor. How accurate is that? I guess what I am trying to say is, is it best to upgrade to forged internals upon installing the new or rebuilt trans?

My thought process is that if I replace my internals it will help correspond with the new trans....if that even makes sense?? Or can I just install a new trans and not have to worry about the motor? I currently have 90K miles its been through 2 owners and other than carfax God knows what was done. I want to save as much $$$ as possible but if I have to spend to get a full setup then I will.

Or is there another route I do not see?

Are you planning on boosting your car or keeping it naturally aspirated?

:icon18:

What fool said that. No, if you only need to replace your transmission you do not need to replace your motor.

Tell that person you don't want to replace the motor because you heard new motors need new wheels because then they'd be too harsh on the tires.

For moron who told you that a new tranny on an used motor would be harsh. I would be harsh on his head with a baseball bat.

Yeah, new trans on old motor is just fine.



To answer your other question, aftermarket rods/pistons with stock crank is also just fine.

-Daelen

This thread was funny.. no offense og poster. I meant the responses are funny..

YzGyz

Tell him to shove the rods/pistons up his :icon23:

Thats why I asked. It didn't seem right....Thanks guys

Yes. Personally, I'd go ahead and upgrade the crank but there is no problem with mixing-and-matching. Just remember that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

Whoever this "someone" is, they don't know what they are talking about. The trans doesn't know how old the engine is - and wouldn't care if it did. All the trans cares about is how much power is being applied to the input shaft.

The engine and trans don't need to "correspond." As long as the trans bolts up properly and can handle the engine's power, you are good to go.

Having the cranked balanced to the new rods and pistons would be a good idea.

How bad is your transmission? How's your clutch? Just wondering how long you can get by...

Also is the same person giving you advice working on your car as well? Haha

Thanks for the clarification. It took a lot of stress off my mind. It was my brother in law who isn't into cars lol. I'm a noob as it is so it had me going. And Good to know but I'd probably want to get a new crank as well as upgrading the internals with the new transmission anyways. It's nice knowing that I dont have too tho. Thanks again guys. Other thanupgrading the clutch master cyl, slave and pedal is there any upgrades worth putting into a transmission? like racing gears or synchros?

Well the clutch is really bad. Super bad..Like you can feel it...I got an ATC clutch and pressure plate along with a new master and HD slave. I want to install now but waiting on my flywheel. Trying not to do any driving in the meantime but got to get to work.

My gears are sticky. typical 1st to sec sticky but I grind when I go in to 6th. I also think my synchros are going bad because when I down shift into 5th from 6th it grinds even with matching RPM's going into 5th. It may be the bad clutch too...

No way..I leave that to professionals. I am a noob and know very little. Only thing I did myself was the exhaust. anything else I'm letting the guys at TF works install.

I figured as much its nice knowing I dont have to though but honestly i'm OCD and anal about things. It will drive me crazy knowing my crank is balanced as far as durability goes... Thank you for your input. Reading can only get you so far.....

Brother in law lol. I haven't broke the news to him yet lol. Its gonna be funny showing him this haha

I'm laughing too lol it really got me going tho

NA. Not planning too. I want to but i just want to bore it and run it NA. Upgrade the trans as much in the process.

I hear the Z's are really good NA

Not really. You heard wrong. NA is a waste of money. You need to do a lot more research. The best NA build was at 370whp, and he spent a fortune getting there.

Also, unless you're planning a big power FI build, you don't need a built motor. If you're ok with 500whp, you're ok with the stock block.

really? I cant imagine FI being less costly...man..i need to reevaluate a whole lot..I am perfectly ok with 500 whp...Thats more than enough for me.. especially since i wont be doing that much track use just more spirited driving mainly. I mean I want gains just like anyone else but I figured with less track use NA would be cost efficient for the gains but I guess not.

What mods would be safe to do FI and would you go the stillen route vs like a aam tt kit? Again medium track use.

Fast intentions or boosted performance. Budget $15k.

The other option is cai, test pipes, cat back and tune. Be happy with 330 whp. If you by used parts, you'll be able to do that for $2500 or so.

I guess I'm just trying to make sure my car is durable for the power I want but I guess I wouldn't be getting much with NA. i'll do some research on the FI. All I hear about is people blowing their motors but maybe its people with huge FI lol Thanks again.

IMNSHO, if you're going to do any work on an engine, balancing and blueprinting (plus port matching and polishing where needed) are all just part of doing it right. Doesn't make sense to me to go to the trouble/expense of rebuilding/modding and do it half-a$$ed. But maybe I'm OCD, too. ;)

Actually, there's relatively few blown motors from people who buy good kits, proper supporting mods and get a good tune. There's always the potential for failure, but the vq is pretty solid at high power levels.

You always need some savings in case things go south, but there's a lot of guys with a lot of miles on boosted 370s.

balancing blueprinting? Polishing? You mean with pistons rods balancing etc? but blue printing...As far as specs and what not? Again I'm new so the terminology your using is like chinese. Is there a link for that here?

http://www.the370z.com/forced-induct...ed-builds.html

http://www.the370z.com/forced-induct...ion-noobs.html

Here's some good reading to get you started.

The other thing to think about is how much power you really are comfortable with. With full bolt ons and a tune, 330 whp is still a lot of go, especially if you get the suspension dialed in and can drive. It's not a number you'll brag about, but it's not slow at all. Swap out the rear end gear, and you've got a very quick car. 450+whp is a whole different animal. It will require serious respect. If you mat the throttle when you shouldn't, it'll throw you off the road backwards. It's a lot of fun, but you've got to be paying attention at all times. And some of the compromises you'll make for the power will make the car suck as a commuter. The clutch you'll need will be a pain in traffic, for one. It's all a trade-off.

And is this something I do upon FI when I am ready or now before all that? Or are you saying IYNSHO thats what getting it right is as far as making sure the motor is right for any use? lol serious question

All you need for the motor is a compression test, leakdown test and an oil analysis. If everything looks good, you'll be fine. Do all the supporting mods when you put the kit on and make sure you have a good shop and tuner. Keep up on maintenance. These motors are stout unless you get unlucky or cut corners.

Thanks for the link. I'm all for respect. I don't get careless with things I don't fully understand. hence all the questions. I'm not looking to brag but I do want fun. 500whp is something I would be more than happy with and comfortable with. I don't think I even need/want that much. 450whp is good for me too as far as being comfortable. That's why I wanted to go NA because I really dont have a need for big gains. I just wanted a durable motor but it cost a fortune. And I may have misunderstood durability as far as cars go. I was thinking that any FI you NEED forged internals. I was wrong. Now FI seems cheaper and my motor doesnt need to be THAT durable for my ideal of power. I purchased an ATC clutch (street) and pressure plate but thats just because I need one. will I need an upgrade to that if I do take the FI route? And understood about the trade off...i'm def starting to see that

Copy. TYhanks again guys. Let me do some reading and All advice is taken to account. Thanks again Chuck33079 and SouthArk370Z. I appreciate all this. I'll do some more research and tone it down with the forged ****. I'll see what supporting mods I'll need to be safe. Blueprinting and balancing will something I'll look into as well. So right now these are the mods I purchase

ACT Clutch pressure plate.
CF drive shaft (1 piece)
HD Slave
New Master
4.08 gearing pin
Quaife 1.5 LSD
Short shifter
RJM clutch pedal


To build up to FI in the future anything I should purchase or does the kit usually come with all that i'll need (other than what SouthArk370z said about balancing and blueprinting?)

The clutch you bought will likely not be enough for FI. So budget that in.

The stock motor is plenty durable. Get it checked out, and then go on with your life. Big power NA is really hard to do. You can get 330 or so very easily, but that next 40-50 will cost as much as, if not more than a good turbo setup. And then you're stuck since there's really no path to more power from there. The one guy who did it ended up with an awesome car, but he spent a lot getting there and ended up with some serious compromises. He had to lose the AC to accommodate the dry sump oiling system to support higher rpm. That alone is a deal breaker for me, but I'm in Texas, where the average summer temperature is about 900 degrees.And then you're stuck since there's really no path to more power from there. A FI setup can always be turned up more if you've got enough fuel and you build the motor.

You bought a new driveshaft? The OEM one is carbon composite already.

SouthArk is right about the balancing and blueprinting, but you do that when you are building a motor. Only worry about that then. And no, the kits do not include the thousands of dollars of supporting mods. budget half the cost of the kit for additional mods. Radiator, boost controller, gauges, and a million other little things that add up fast. Don't buy a clutch that can support FI torque levels unless you're 1000% sure you're going to do it. The clutch you need for boost will be unpleasant to drive everyday. It would be a shame to put that one in, not boost the car, and be stuck with a PITA of a clutch.

Also, if you're going to boost the car in the future, you need a different rear end gear than you would for NA. So don't make that purchase until you're sure which way you're going.

Copy that. Clutch will be in the budget. I read those links alot of the info the guys put IS helpful

Thats what happens when you dont do research properly. I'm learning. Just the hard way...for now I'm gonna tone down on this stuff. I was getting to in deep with what i thought I needed done

If your driving skills are on the same level as your self-professed lack of mechanicing skills, then maybe FI is not the route for you. As per Chuck33079's comments above, FI (plus necessary supporting mods) is not for the average DD - they can be difficult to drive in traffic and can be expensive to install and maintain (especially if you are paying someone to do the work).

While the VQ is a fairly sturdy engine, there are a lot of "little" things that need to be taken care of before pushing it to FI output levels. Eg, oil pumps have a tendency to come apart at high RPM, stock cooling capacity is marginal (even with no engine mods), &c. Do your homework (Chuck33079's links above are a great place to start), make sure everything is installed properly, and you should be OK with anything below the 450HP max that has been mentioned.

But, if you think FI is for you, go for it. Several other site members seem to be very happy with their setups. :driving:

Edit: Looks like Chuck33079 already covered most of this while I was busy typing. He seems to give more detailed answers than I do, so I'm going to take a nap.

A lotta truth in there. FI is a whole lot of fun, but it's a huge expensive project. And you need to be able to diy a lot of stuff, even if you don't install the kit yourself. Maintenance is key.

Also, you need to have a handle of what is going on mechanically. Understand what is going on with the car and the kit. Know why things happen. It's not something where you give a car to a shop, pick it up later and never think about it again. Boosting a factory NA car is not an undergraduate level class.

Start with this: Maximum Boost: Designing, Testing and Installing Turbocharger Systems (Engineering and Performance): Corky Bell: 9780837601601: Amazon.com: Books

The more homework you do up front, the fewer tears you'll have later.

So much for taking a nap. The older I get, the more I hate telephones.

Just because you can go to 450HP doesn't mean you have to. A system with less boost will be more reliable, cheaper, and more "streetable" (eg, a more street-friendly clutch can be used). How many ponies do you really need in a hot-rod grocery-getter?

I wouldn't be at all surprised if a few intake/exhaust mods, plus a tune, wouldn't put a s**t-eating grin on your face without a lot of the expense, headaches, and reliability issues of FI. YMMV

Amen! No matter what mods you make, somebody on this site has probably already done it. Learn from their mistakes.

This. The $15-20k you would save by going with a bolt-ons/tune setup would pay for a lot of track time.

Honestly I think thats the route I am going. I was reading and the cost is way too much. I'd have to be patient for a year to be comfortable to where I wouldn't worry about it. I'm prolly just gonna do manifold, headers HFC's LSD and final drive. I have stillen gen 3 intakes installed already. I want to save that big money for the new supra or GTR. Putting that amount in the Z would put it in that range anways...The Z is just an amazing car and I love it but dying to add my own touches as well as increase performance but again its not a need unless I get track serious