Obsydian

The position of it varies according to vehicle, but it's basically a big white ceramic resistor mounted in a folded up metal shield with a single two wire plug on it. In S13's they are usually located near the airbox on the passenger side, in Skylines... well, I have no idea No doubt someone before me has mentioned it somewhere else on this forum, a quick search for "shift resistor" or "bias resistor" or something similar should turn up a relevant post, probably from someone keen on drag racing. Obzai

There is a point at which shift speed is limited by the hardware design of the gearbox itself, it is essentially still a fairly sloppy hydraulically driven planetary gear system and comes with all the associated negatives (ie. lack of truly solid overall mechanical connection between crank and rear wheel unlike a manual transmission). Ultimately, the fastest you can make it shift is probably when the bias resistor is unplugged... this usually results in shifts hard enough to spin wheels as I'm sure those who have tried this will testify. If you were making a shifting system, you could simply go open circuit on the bias resistor when you choose, otherwise the ECU controls this with Pulse Width Modulation of the hydraulic line pressure solenoid. It is a proprietary system, however it does seem to be more or less based on simple serial communication such as RS232. Peter and Martin (and others) from PLMS Designs have spent some time reverse engineering it and have made extensive details available on their website. This is general details for the Nissan consult systems in most cars during the 1990's so it's not specifically V8 stuff, but it still applies. Obzai

lol sorry dude, but it's the truth :) From my research nearly all of the 1990's Nissan auto boxes can be controlled in this manner... as you say, building your own shift controlling system is not difficult, the shift solenoids are simply a two bit binary control pattern. ie. Solenoid A on and Solenoid B on, first gear selected Solenoid A off and Solenoid B on, second gear selected Solenoid A off and Solenoid B off, third gear selected Solenoid A on and Solenoid B off, overdrive fourth gear selected In fact, by the sounds of it, it would also be within your abilities to control the line pressure solenoids (simple PWM) and lock-up torque convertor as well... I did for a while consider doing exactly this as I am similarly educated as yourself, however the gearbox seems to be behaving well enough as it is for now. When I first got the car running I drove it without the auto ECU plugged in at all... taking off in third gear is a little sluggish, but it was still happy to do donuts. You could run both systems side by side... on cruise, standard ECU handles everything... when you go racing, turn on your override system and force the gearbox to shift severely hard with your paddle mechanism. Wait until you see what you can get out of the consult port... Obzai

Yes, plus it has the standard nissan auto hold/power switch, overdrive and kickdown controls, all of which can be manipulated while driving to encourage the gearbox to play by your rules. There are also further options to increase the 'manual'-ness such as unplugging the shift bias resistor (commonly mentioned) and it is also possible to drive the shift solenoids by hand with some modification. Yes Anything from intake and exhaust manifolds to timing gear. Between the VH41 and 45 the 45 has slightly larger overall dimensions. Searching Infiniti forums and Q45 websites will reveal the extent of the differences across the US range, however Japanese domestic engines are different again with exhausts altered to suit right-hand drive, etc. etc. It is still too early to comment as I have not had a chance to push the car hard on a track yet, however so far it has not been an issue. I chose a VH41DE from a Japanese domestic Nissan Cima for numerous reasons, the primary one being MrMayhem happened to have one sitting in his yard the exact week I needed it. Ease of fitment and licensing were also considered. I have made the stock config work so far, however the manifolds are severely restrictive (designed with space consideration the highest priority it would appear) and so if I decide to seek horsepower in the future I will need to make some extractors. If I am going to go to the hassle of making a set of manifolds, I will be seriously considering forced induction at the same time to ensure return on investment. Much of the transplant (such as the disgusting exhaust system) was deliberately done in order to make the vehicle street-safe and friendly for passing the pit inspection. The bonnet must be enclosed before this stage is complete (currently working on that now). Obzai

I haven't been able to collect exact weights for each of these motors unfortunately, but I do estimate the VH to be similar to the RB when consideration is given to the cast iron block and the turbo peripherals associated with the RB. The VH45 and VH41 are significantly different in certain areas across all years from about 1991 to 1999, and depending on if the motor is from a Japanese or American vehicle. In terms of weight and power the VH series are quite similar, with the VK45 leaping ahead in power and torque, and the VK56 leaving the lot for dead torque-wise but being tuned for 'only' 300hp... Nissan call it Endurance Tuned (it's in the 5000lb Titan SUV or Infiniti Q56 luxury 4WD) So far, 230hp and about 330Nm at the rear hubs on a Dynapack. No strip times yet, but hopefully soon. I bought a high km's half cut but with excellent service history. All indicators suggested the motor was healthy, so I just changed the fluids and plugs and fired it up. Gearbox has not been treated nicely as I don't wish to keep it. I have begun looking into making a VG30 manual box fit, as it is closer in shape to suit the bolt pattern of the VH motor. Gearbox is excellent. It will either slurr shifts if you're cruising or snap them in hard if you're on open throttle or shifting by hand. I am running full standard engine and gearbox ECUs and associated looms (modified by me to suit the car). The engine and auto ECUs do communicate, but the engine does run fine without the auto connected (apparently this is not the case with the Lexus?). I spent approximately a week of 12-14 hour days tracing and trying to understand the control looms and remove a lot of dead garbage. I now know a fair bit about them, but far from everything. If you want any extra detail, feel free to private message me and I'll do what I can to help Did you speak to Castlemaine Rod Shop? I contacted them early in my project to see if they had an adaptor kit for a manual box and they asked me to send them a block, crank and bellhousing, none of which I had spare at the time... Obzai

The Vic reference comes from under one of the linked threads. That someone in Perth is me, and it is completed and has been for some time now, and drives quite nicely indeed. It is however still unlicensed for now as I have not finished altering the bonnet in a street legal manner. I was merely having a chuckle at the "I know a guy who once spoke to a dude who slept with this guy's mum who said this dude had a.." etc. etc. nature of the postings above... You've gotta admit it's pretty funny how the details get lost or twisted along the way. No offence intended. Obzai

aaaahahaha So let's recap.. I have a VH45 in a Silvia, in Victoria, built by SST now? ahhh Internet Chinese Whispers... it doesn't get any better than this Obzai

I'd just like to thank you guys for your responses, I was kind of expecting to get a bit of a smackdown to be honest I've put a few more pictures up at the same link, this time a few more detailed shots, but if you're truly curious as to how it was done feel free to come and find me and say hi, and I'll point out how, what and why we've done it the way we did... much easier than having to try and figure it out by pictures Obzai

Originally I posted this on SilviaWA forums as it was more relevant there, but a friend suggested this may be of interest on here due to the frequent discussions of engine transplants... Hope I'm not breaking any rules, and I apologise to anyone who might have already read the original post... *Paste excerpt* I got talked into trying to fit a VH41DE into my old S13. Yeah, it's a pretty tight fit and it was reasonably difficult. It might stuff the handling, but that didn't really bother me much as it will probably tail-steer fairly well. I'm planning to get it certified and permitted, and it has been approved in principle by technical section before I started, pending certification of suitable brakes... fairly standard requirement. No, it hasn't cost a fortune thus far but it's not completely ready as the photos will show, but yes, it runs and yes, it is the most awesome noise I have ever heard come from an S13. I'm willing to answer any technical questions anyone might have if you want to come and find me and check it over... I don't recommend you consider doing anything similar unless you too are a half-crazed engineering student with alcohol poisoning and a lot of understanding friends. This is not easy, but it is possible. We won't know for sure if it's even worth it for a little longer, the car isn't yet ready to be driven with nearly 300bhp in stock trim. If anyone knows of someone else who has done this transplant I'd be interested in comparing sketchbooks with them. I'm not sure if this is the first one in Perth, it's been hard to find any info on the web... You can be guaranteed it won't be the first in the world, because no doubt some little workshop in the backblocks of Osaka have probably been there and done it twice before, and the yanks have been doing wierd things to 240's for years. It might not even be the first in Australia either, can anyone clarify this? Silfiniti pictures and video available here Obzai Special thanks to: Ian from Alltune Engineering AJ and Iwanz from Speedworks Mayhem Damo Daze And the rest of the gang who at some time or another have lifted a spanner and who did their best to reign in a rapidly escaping secret...