eBay, 3k

Boost your stock engine first. Get it tuned well and stop at 550-600rwhp. Done right, it will last. If doesn't last, its very likely that whoever did it wasn't going to have better results from a built engine either. Except you would have spent twice as much and not had your car for 3 times as long just to end up with an empty roller and boxes of parts. Yes there are exceptions to every word I say, but we all know not to plan on being an exception.

Use the boosted stock engine as your "feeler" before you dive into the deep end. Your experience through this will help you make better decisions on your full build if *IF* you still think you need more power.

The 370z is no GT-R... past 600rwhp starts to get a little pointless unless you are going to make commitments towards traction that take away from why you purchased a Z-car rather than a Mustang to begin with.

CSF Competition Radiator - OK
Methanol Injection - Go E85 if you can
EcuTek/Uprev Tune - OK, not like you have any other options. The real decision is "whos gonna tune it?"
Greddy High-Capacity Oil pan - OK
ARP Head Studs - L19 only or dont bother, standard ARP studs torque limit is too low
Cosworth Head Gaskets - OK, i didnt even know they had HR/VHR gaskets
Darton sleves - Never do this to a VQ, it only introduces room for error to fix a problem nobody has
Wiseco pistons - OK
Carillo/Eagle rods - Carillo OK, Eagle probably OK but scarey
ID/Bosch injectors - OK
Brian Crower Stroker Kit - Pointless
CJM Fuel pump - OK, so long as its large enough for your power
Fuel system - OK
Return fuel system - OK
Valve body upgrades - I pretend the 7AT doesnt exist so I have no opinion what to do with it.
Billet crankshaft - Waste of money
New spring and retainers - Consult JWT what to do with the VVEL heads based on your goals
Fuel pump voltage stablizer - I assume you mean upgraded wiring to the pump? If so, that is good and should be done for anything larger than a 255.

Exactly. Why bother with another stock if you can build for same?

Phunk dropping knowledge FTW!

Because stock is stock. Tried, true, tested with tens of thousands of cars and millions upon millions in R&D. Sorry but bolting on something is one thing. You open the engine up and you could be headed for disaster.

Like I said, it would be one thing if you wanted to push the car past 650 in to the 700s but it seems like a silly thing to do for a power level that has proven to run just fine. Why not just replace the engine with something that comes stock at 650hp? Put a GT-R engine in it. I think it is safer than building.

My 2 cents.

A new VQ37VHR is $6000 from Courtesy Nissan (Complete). A short block is $3600.

I dont think I would bother putting a new stock one in if I blew the engine, but I also would not build an engine until attempting to exceed the power the stock is capable of.

GT-R engine swap is out of the question as far as realistically... its much too expensive, nothing bolts up including the transmission, its a lot taller and might not even clear the hood... definitely not the coveted strut tower bar, LOL. The GT-R engine tends to have rods fail before 700awhp anyway, making it almost pointless unless doing a full build on it before shoe-horning it in.

So if you had your choice for the same money between a stock bottom end or forged bottom end you would pick stock?

Thanks phunk! :tiphat: Sadly, I can't find any E85 stations in Washington, the highest octane we have here is 93-95 octane for "premium" fuel.

Why is everyone going with E85? Why not just get C16?

So people actually got the GTR manifold upgrade on our cars? Can we buy the hardware now? Or was this a one time offer only?

I'm more interested in that GTR manifold! Someone please shed some light on this!

E85 is less than $3 a gallon and available at gas stations in many areas in the USA. What is c16 pulling these days? 12+ a gallon? As far as ease of availability and cost, c16 doesn't make it into the same conversation as e85. Here in the Chicago burbs, an e85 pump is never more than 15-20 min away. You can very realistically run e85 full time... And I have for 3 years, nothing but e85 in my Z.

That cars gtr manifold conversion was done by gtm. Either a prototype or final cast piece, I doubt anyone knows for sure. Call them up and ask if they will sell you one.

cost me $8700.00 to have my motor built and installed.
i call it as said before peace of mind i can beat the hell out of it all day with out that please dont blow in the back of my mind. but i drive like an old lady going to church most of the time

As long as you can keep pre-detonation from occurring, you can boost an engine as much as you want. That's not nearly as easy as it sounds though.

Charles while I fully respect your knowledge I must argue your statement that anything less than L19s are sub par. There has been NO proven evidence that the torque on the head studs is insufficient to prevent head lift and in most cases it was caused because people don't know how to properly use the ARP lube and/or use oil instead. I HAVE however read where the L19s(durning long term usage ie non race/drag motors that are frequently torn apart) are causing corrosion issues in aluminum blocks due to the material they are made of!