Not a 370z, but... VQ35HR ST (VSR) Begins
 

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

Awsome, bobby will take care on you...

you can add cams to your 350z right
i know we cant on the 370z and the overlap kinda cheats us on a few ponies

and i believe your not going to be able to use your headers the kit comes with atleast driver side headers

Yes, the VQ35HR does have aftermarket cams. Not going to go down the "built" route with the car. Gonna keep it stock internals. If it blows up, just going to throw in another stock motor and keep the power reasonable. Too many variables with built internals. My risk tolerance isn't that high yet.

I am unfamiliar with the actual piping since I haven't been able to locate actual pictures of the exhaust side on a car.

Driver or passenger? The driver side is extremely cramped already with the steering column. I would think the downpipe comes down the passenger side, requiring modified headers. I could be completely wrong though. I hope they can retain the headers since the collectors are 2.25" and equal length.

Maybe VSR can comment on this, otherwise i'll call Bobby when he gets back.

am i lost?

not hating on your post mad_jelly but why is this here?

because public visibility is the best way to both praise and keep shops accountable for their work. my.350z.com is dead and I doubt anybody with a 370z will go there for product and service review. From my understanding, VSR services 370z and performs more 370z builds than 350z. Although my setup isn't directly related to 370z, the shop experience will certainly be relevant.

I appreciate your concern for polluting the 370z FI space. I have no problem deleting the thread if it gives 370z users too much heartburn.

Like I said earlier. I truly believe x-posting a VSR experience is mutually beneficial for 350z and 370z owners.

alighty....

minor update. car still at shop. :( Thought I would have the car back for VIR last week but their welder got into an accident back in July. Homie is welding in a wheel chair.

I am really hoping to get the car back soon. My time is running out. My second son is arriving in less than a month and I would like to enjoy the car before my world get flips upside down.

Damn bro how long has it been gone? Where about in va are you? And who freaking cares what other people think about your post. You're a 370 forum member even if you're talking about an older model. I think most of us would welcome you but no matter the circumstances you will always have f***ing cry babies whining about minor details that just rub them the wrong way. Cry me a river. Awesome car man! Hope you get to drive it soon

We're all Z and G lovers here, no matter the year or model. :tiphat:

I hope everything works out and you get your car back soon.

I don't have a Z anything LOL and I spend tons of time here, G37X Sedan :)

My car is at vsr as well because I had them build me a motor to better suit my twin turbo setup. There have been a lot of mistakes since this began and I'm hoping they will fix my car soon so I can have mine back as well.. I get the impression vsr has a high employee turn around from what I gather. The guy who built my motor was fired so just imagine that and after installing my new motor they forgot to install the rear main seal causing oil to leak out everywhere... This will be the last car I boost due to the fact of faith in any local shops and the headache involved during the entire process.... I hope yours works out but I can't imagine it taking them this long to do a single turbo install.. Stay on their asses or they will drag there feet!!

350z build threads are welcome, usually what goes on with one VQ can be translated to the next for the most part. Keep us updated !

a few miles away from DC. 400whp in constant traffic jams is going to be awesome.

That sounds like a terrible position to be in but im glad VSR is doing what they can to rectify the situation. I hope you get the car back soon.

Update: Car made no power, cylinder 1 had low compression. VSR believes its a burnt valve.

Options: 1 run the car down until it dies
Option 2: Put a used "good" motor in there
Option 3: Build it
Option 4: Rebuild the heads (assuming it is JUST the valves)

Talk to Bobby, he has told me the HR heads are pretty common and cheap. Shouldn't be bad to replace or rebuild yours if that's all it is..

I have seen used motors around $3000 but the ultimately is your choice..

Andddddddd another HR blown by VSR

good luck mad jelly, are you in alexandria ?

Not at all. Car could have had a burnt valve before the turbo was installed. I did not perform a compression and leak down test before sending it off. If anybody is to blame, it is myself for not doing my due diligence before sending it off.

no, im in fairfax.

Cylinder 1 was done, 40% leak. Going to do a modest build I can beat on at the track.

Bummer, so was your engine feeling sluggish before you went in for the turbo kit? Atleast you'll be confident your engine can take the beating once built.

I wish I knew because I would have given you my heads off of my long block.

Do you know why? If it was a blown ring land then yeah it was a detonation failure, but good luck trying to get the real answer as to what failed.

Here we go...

Couldn't tell you. I hardly drive it. I drove it to work the day I transported it, but prior to that, its been sitting since the last track day in November.


Appreciate it! but VVEL heads sound too fancy for my 07 :)


Nope, I don't know why; and like I said before. It was my own fault for not doing a compression and leak down test prior to sending it off. Nobody's fault except my own at this point in time. It's very possible that I sent VSR a busted car.

Bobby has been straight forward with me throughout the turbo install. Yes, the one week turn around turned into months, but **** happens and timelines get pushed back. His welder got into an accident and was in a wheelchair welding up IC to button up my car.


I really hope this thread doesn't become full of speculation and hate. There is literally no point and no facts to point fingers (100% my fault at this point for not doing my due diligence prior to sending the car out)

---

I really didn't intend to build out the car but with my second kid on his way (any day now), I really didn't see another opportunity to do such a silly thing and enjoy the toys I have. Maybe I could have saved a little money and bought a used motor off of ebay for 3k, install it myself and have it retuned. But let's be honest, for those that are parents, how much time do you really have at the end of the day. It would have taken me at least 3 months, assuming I don't run into gremlins on the way.

From my limited experience with Bobby, he seems like a stand up guy and has been a great person to work with. From the number of threads i've read, VSR does follow through with their promises. Granted, there might have been missed deadlines, but what project doesn't get pushed a little?

Again, i hope my story ends well as it has for various other people on this forum.

PS. Shooting for delivery by the next Trackday of Oct 4. fingers crossed!

Haha sorry I was referring to the HR heads not the VHR heads. He told me this because they can apparently be swapped and do away with VVEL. Although you may have to change ECUs or something never got that concrete answer.

gotcha, I may take you up on these if the machine shop finds something else wrong with my POS car.

I've been told that the HR heads are one of the better heads available for the Z platform.

Car goes under knife today.

I am really starting to itch.

Bobby has been great keeping me updated the past week. He pulled the motor on Sunday and broke down the shortblock today to find oil starvation on bearings and rings. Most likely from excessive G's.

Glad I chose to rebuild this thing.

Following COSMO's thread as well, I ordered blackstone kit. Maybe I should buy a magnetic oil plug as well. Been meaning to do so for my differential as well. Im sure I've cooked the oil in that thing at the track. If only differential coolers weren't so expensive.

Plan is to assemble by next Monday, the 13th, throw a hundred miles on it, tune it on Thursday and back to me over the weekend.

I can't explain how bad im itching for this thing to be back, but importantly for it to be back to me right. Again, one of the reasons why I went with VSR. Yes, it may take a little longer than expected, but Bobby does follow through (at least from what's been documented on this forum).

Also picked up an 3qt accusump, oil filter relocation kit, and thermostat. Just gotta find a place to mount it.

Motor assembled and nearly back into the car!

Plan is to put a few miles on it before tune Thursday.

http://www.the370z.com/attachments/f...rt_block_4.jpg

http://www.the370z.com/attachments/f...rt_block_3.jpg

so you have a motor being built and they couldn't pull the dowels and deck it? was it even honed? It even looks like theres some swirl up there like they commited the mls gasket no-no of using a scotchbrite wheel to clean off the gasket instead of using a fine scraper and a scrub with a rag so you don't eff up the Ra 4-6 surface on the deck.

im not sure if it's completely necessary, but im a noob so i'll leave the decisions to the professional (who are also going to warranty the block). Surely they have their reasons from their experience.

I know the heads were done.

leaving that surface won't blow the engine per say it just makes the HG more likely to fail prematurely

Edit: The other companies that build these motors (GTM, IPP, Jtran) all deck the blocks to a new finish.

^ makes sense. I'll bring it up on my call. Thanks for looking out :)

some machine shops will NOT deck a block unless you request it or they have to, its removing material. you do not need to deck a block to get proper head gasket seal

So true on having that stuff done right. Once you get that girl back in the car and start putting the power to her. The small stuff starts to rear its ugly head.

It all depends on the head gasket and they way it was removed, and the intended use of the motor. MlS gaskets need a smooth finish to seal right, the best way to do this is to take .005-.01 off the deck just enough to cut the corrosion from the coolant and the old imbeded gasket off and ensure a flat deck, this is more important on a FI build (which is probably why the other shops that build these motors do it). If you intend to not deck the block, no power tools should be used to remove the old gasket, it should be done with a fine razor scrapper without scratching the head, and the remaining traces should be scrubbed off with a rag and gasket remover or brake cleaner. After which the block should be checked for flatness, using a scotchbrite wheel on an air grinder is going to scratch the deck and leave areas where the gasket will not seal right.