# V8 conversion for R34 GTR



## Alecci (Jul 9, 2003)

Greetings to the community,

Since selling my '99 Maserati 3200GT I've come to realize that I've been bitten by the turbocharged V8 bug, and come to the conclusion that it would make a neat project to put a Nissan V8 into my R34 GTR, turbocharge it and retain the manual gearbox and 4WD.

I've tried to read about similar operations around the forum but not found very much, a R32 project which seems to have come to a halt and arnout's R34 project with a Toyota V8 and LHD conversion.

At this stage I'm only toying with the idea, and such a project would not be aimed at having the fastest, quickest or best car, but rather a quite unique one (hence skipping the part where all else go for a RB30).

If doing this I think my best option would be the VK45DD. Does anyone here possess any knowledge about this engine, or is anyone able to make a judgement of whether this idea would be feasible or not? Especially with regards to physical dimensions and fitment...

I realize that in order to turbocharge it you would probably have to look at installing forged pistons and conrods, in addition to steel sleeves. Weight distribution shouldn't be too bad, and since the VK45DD would come out of a Nissan Cima - which is availabel in 4WD unless I'm mistaken - some sort of oilpan with integrated front diff should be available.

I'd be very grateful for all and any input.


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## zell (Nov 23, 2007)

IIRC Rob at RIPS mated GTR 4WD to VH41DE engine for a customer, both are/were on the forum


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## Alecci (Jul 9, 2003)

zell said:


> IIRC Rob at RIPS mated GTR 4WD to VH41DE engine for a customer, both are/were on the forum


Yes, I think that's the R32 project I mentioned in my OP.


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## bladerider (Jun 29, 2002)

Hello mate.

I had planned an R34 fronted Stagea with a twin turbo VH45 stroked to 5.0 litres many years ago and still have the Q45 tucked up in a shed that will be the donor.

Theres loads that have done similar cars before. My inspiration was the Top Secret R35 Skyline that came to Max Power in about 2006 iirc.

Cars in the UK that have this engine how you want:

Japspeed S15 drift car for Shane Lynch
Possibly an R32 GTst done by one of their dealers

Best places for info:

nicoweb
infinitiforums

Nizpro in australia know a great deal about twin turbo VH's as they do em for cars and particularly drag boats

Mazworx in the states do everything you want, with all parts on the shelf including getrag gearbox adapters, albeit all for RWD.

Personally i wouldnt worry about the 4wd so much as the thing that makes a GTR a GTR is Attessa and you wont be able to replicate that too easy with the mods you will have to do, so maybe accept RWD and make the project a reality rather than a 4wd pipe dream.

Hope that helps mate.

Oh and if you wanna ignore most of what you read - bearing inmind most of it wasnt written when I planned my setup - Arrow will do you almost unbreakable rods for about 2k, the cranks are meant to be bullet proof and you can slip a VK56 one in a VH45 block if you want less revs and lower power with lots of torque, although I was gonna get Farndon to do a one off for a couple of grand, the valves and springs are available from supertech as they did them for nascar and when you got a nice manifold and inlet sorted then bolt up a pair of GTX3582's and 1400bhp is yours !!! Should be on full boost by 4000rpm as well.

J.


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## Sub Boy (Jan 28, 2008)

I say go for it, and do it 4x4!

Personaly I would be emailing/calling Robbie at RIPS, yes there is bound to be someone closer who recon's they can do it, but he has done it, and with a Nissan V8.
He might even be able to do all the subframe/gearbox adaptor mods required so all you need to do is bolt it in, and wire it up (once you turbo/rebuilt/whatever you are doing to the V8)


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## FakeThinkpad (Apr 30, 2011)

I know i have seen a R34 GT-R with a Nascar V8 heart transplant somewhere, might have been at Gatabil a few years ago. Will post a link if i come by it.


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## bladerider (Jun 29, 2002)

Sub Boy said:


> I say go for it, and do it 4x4!
> 
> Personaly I would be emailing/calling Robbie at RIPS, yes there is bound to be someone closer who recon's they can do it, but he has done it, and with a Nissan V8.
> He might even be able to do all the subframe/gearbox adaptor mods required so all you need to do is bolt it in, and wire it up (once you turbo/rebuilt/whatever you are doing to the V8)


Are you blind or just retarded ??

I love Robbie and his work and have the utmost respect for him.

But Mazworx are doing this as routine already for S-body which is as near as damn it the same as a Skyline........

VHVG into S-Chassis - Mazworx

.....not much left to do really !!

There are other more bespoke options and there are lots of alternatives routes, but i certainly wouldnt just say "get a bloke on the other side of the world to crack on with it cos his mate said so" was necessarily the best option.

And like I said - there are a couple of these already in the UK, so there is already more than enough knowledge.

J.


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## TAZZMAXX (Mar 9, 2010)

FakeThinkpad said:


> I know i have seen a R34 GT-R with a Nascar V8 heart transplant somewhere, might have been at Gatabil a few years ago. Will post a link if i come by it.


Correct, look for threads by Ruudracing


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## Alecci (Jul 9, 2003)

Thanks for all your input, very interesting reading.

If and when I do this, I will look for the most cost-efficient (best combination of quality and price) solution regardless of distance, and I will not aim for silly horsepower but instead be content with 600 bhp or thereabouts and excellent durability and driveability.

Retaining the 4WD would be almost half the point for me, so that would be a must.

There seems to be some VH-engine conversions around, but how about the VK-engine range?

Incidentally there's a VK45DE engine for sale not too far from where I live at a very attractive price and with a decent mileage, so I'm feeling tempted. May have to look at what kind of funds I could raise by selling off all RB26-specific parts presently on my car. Anyone willing to make a guesstimate?

Full spec of the car is available at this link. All the parts are genuine items and bought brand new (except turbochargers which were just newly refurbished), and have covered about 1,000 miles.


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## jonnypolish (Sep 25, 2012)

Your car and engine bay are SO mint i don't think i'd have the heart to swap the RB out 

However as said before loads of conversions done on S-bodies, the only problem you may encounter would be the 4WD


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## Richf (Feb 8, 2007)

Not Nissan I know but I toyed with the idea of fitting a LS engine to my r33 , now I have a r34 I'm looking at that option again


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## Sub Boy (Jan 28, 2008)

bladerider said:


> Are you blind or just retarded ??
> 
> I love Robbie and his work and have the utmost respect for him.
> 
> ...


I'm both :lamer:

I hadn't heard of Mazworx, and I'm sure that with some adaption their parts could fit, but are you sure they still would with 4x4?
If you have to buy something that is made for another (but yes similar) chassis and then modify it to fit a Skyline, and then modify it to fit 4x4........I would rather have someone make it right to start with.

.....anyway, my opinion, you can do what ever you like with it.......Jam it up your arse for all I care:blahblah:


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## infamous_t (Jul 9, 2007)

Alecci said:


> There seems to be some VH-engine conversions around, but how about the VK-engine range?


Guys on nicoforum rate the older VH engines much more highly than the VK, but Nissan has used both in competitive motorsport so it's whatever you can get your hands on more easily/cheaply IMO.

Take caution with the mazworks stuff, it's designed for LHD (US market) and may not be a drop in solution for the skyline chassis anyway.

To get this to work will require a lot of fab work and likely a stronger gearbox than the getrag 6 speed (esp. if keeping AWD), these engines only came with autos so your choices may be limited.

If your ditching AWD you will reducing you headaches tenfold IMO, although I'd love to see a Nissan V8 turbo'd GTR with AWD... stuff of dreams haha


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## Alecci (Jul 9, 2003)

infamous_t said:


> Guys on nicoforum rate the older VH engines much more highly than the VK, but Nissan has used both in competitive motorsport so it's whatever you can get your hands on more easily/cheaply IMO.
> 
> Take caution with the mazworks stuff, it's designed for LHD (US market) and may not be a drop in solution for the skyline chassis anyway.
> 
> ...


Hi mate,

I've done a bit of reading on NICOboard, and I concur with your first statement about they seemimg to rate the VH-range higher than the VK ones. Problem for me is, however, that if I'd want to source the engine in Sweden my options would be limited to the VK.

The four main points of the project would be the following:

Using a Nissan V8
Twin-turbocharging that V8
Using a manual 6-speed transmission
Keeping the 4WD

Since I'm not aiming for very high power - 600 BHP minimum and 750 BHP maximum - I think the standard gearbox ought to suffice if I could only get it to fit.

I'm quite sure you're perfectly correct in keeping the headaches to a minimum if ditching the RWD, but then again I could just buy back my old Maserati if I wanted a V8 TT with RWD.

My cousin is an industry tools manufacturer and has an extremely well sorted mechanical workshop with state-of-the-art machinery located within walking distance of my home, so apart from mandrel bending and welding I could get pretty much anything fabricated there. He's also got employees very well skilled in CAD/CAM.

I think I'd start looking at having some sort of workshop do the job for me, since I'm far from a mechanical guru and my main contribution to this project will probably consist in ideas, funds and a very thick forehead.


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## FRRACER (Jun 23, 2013)

Why not go for a BMW V10 get a custom bell housing made up. I remember seeing a supra which was converted to the BMW V10 and turbocharged to make 1200bhp and also revved to 10k.


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## Alecci (Jul 9, 2003)

FRRACER said:


> Why not go for a BMW V10 get a custom bell housing made up. I remember seeing a supra which was converted to the BMW V10 and turbocharged to make 1200bhp and also revved to 10k.


To be honest with you I'm not a big fan of cross-make engine conversions, and in addition the car will have to be able to pass Swedish MOT in order for it to be street legal, which means it can boost a maximum of 336 BHP in stock version.

Any conversion which means an increase in excess of 20 % above the standard power output as supplied by the manufacturer of the car would be illegal over here. Since that is 280 BHP for a Skyline GTR... Well, you do the math.


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## fletch.rb30 (Jun 12, 2008)

you can use the vh41 from some model of cima that has the 4wd sump. the vh45 crank and pistons bolt in to give 4.5L

there is no reason why you cant keep the stock 4wd system. the attesa ecu only needs a tps signal from the ecu which is a 0.5-4v signal. you can just tap off the incoming tps signal on the v8 and use a siganl converter to give you your desired output. I was running a non factory ecu on an rb30det and just hooked hte tps signal straight up to the e-ts ecu and it worked great


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## Cris (Sep 17, 2007)

Does the vk have space for the front diff etc.

The attraction of the vh41 is that it does. If you want capacity then a vh45 crank is a direct fit I believe.

The engine weighs a lot less than the rb and you'd have the weight further back in the chassis. If have thought that with some fairly small turbos you'd see you power goal.

I have a fantasy if doing this with an r34 gts4 (wouldn't want to Burch a GTR). If ever my car bursts into flames it might happen.


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## freakazoid3 (Jan 19, 2008)

The vk56 out off a titan is also with a 4wd sump and there's a nissan race version off it with around 500 hp if I'm not mistaken...


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## Cris (Sep 17, 2007)

freakazoid3 said:


> The vk56 out off a titan is also with a 4wd sump and there's a nissan race version off it with around 500 hp if I'm not mistaken...


What's the packaging like on that unit? Is it ally?

I think that they have direct injection which coupled with the capacity sounds interesting.


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## freakazoid3 (Jan 19, 2008)

Yes full alloy if I'm not mistaken and plenty off headroom for more power


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## freakazoid3 (Jan 19, 2008)

I had a Titan and unfortunately sold it some time ago due to it being a bit to big for Belgian street use  had a nice rumble to it and performance wasn't all that bad for a 2.5 ton four by four


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## kismetcapitan (Nov 25, 2005)

The Nissan Titan is built about 30min away from me in Smyrna Tennessee. Whenever I see one, I can only think about how apropos it is that such a giant behemoth, while wearing a Japanese automakers badge, is assembled right here in the Nation of Excess


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## Alecci (Jul 9, 2003)

It seems like a Japanese version VH41DE with VH45DE crankshaft, CP forged lower compression pistons and Porsche Cayenne intake manifold might be the way to go, then mating this with Garrett GT2860R-10 turbochargers. Should make for a responsive and durable machine. Any thoughts on this?


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## bladerider (Jun 29, 2002)

Think you may find the turbos restrictive.

Unless they do them with really big housings for RX7's or the like.


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## dA_RoB (Dec 21, 2012)

A guy from germany is implementing an VH45DE with twin turbo into his car at the moment!
He is crazy and doing most of the things by himself! Cool guy though 

Maybe You can have a look here:
Turbotom´s R32 Gtr - Seite 12


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## Sub Boy (Jan 28, 2008)

Alecci said:


> It seems like a Japanese version VH41DE with VH45DE crankshaft, CP forged lower compression pistons and Porsche Cayenne intake manifold might be the way to go, then mating this with Garrett GT2860R-10 turbochargers. Should make for a responsive and durable machine. Any thoughts on this?


I would love to see this, I wondered what you were on about until I saw the other post of one being fitted......however I would ditch the old school -10s and fit Borg Warner EFR 6758 turbos.:clap:


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