The owner of this Nissan 350Z really enjoys building projects that are challenging. For example his previous project was a DeLorean with a 2JZ. So after purchasing a clean 350Z he sold the VQ35DE V6 and set off to install a turbocharged VR6 in its place.
Unfortunately there are no engine swap kits for VR6 engines into 350Zs so the owner was going to have to make a lot of custom work. The 2.9 L VR6 was installed with a pair of custom engine mounts. The oil pan also needed to be notched for clearance.
The owner wanted a lot of power so the engine was upgraded with a ported big valve head, Ross pistons, Cunningham rods, Tectonic Tuning 276 camshafts, LS3 ignition coils and a BorgWarner S363 turbocharger. This combo was good for 550 horsepower to the wheels but the engine is strong enough to handle 700+ horsepower.
All the factory Nissan gauges work perfectly because the owner was able to use the factory wiring harness with a MS3-Pro engine management system. The owner was nice enough to draw a detailed schematic for anyone wanting to install a VR6 engine in a 350Z using the stock wiring harness.
The owner made a custom bellhousing adapter which allowed the factory 350Z transmission to work with the VW engine. To handle the increased power the clutch was upgraded to a Z1 twin-disc and the rear end was swapped to a Infiniti G35 LSD.
Source: My350Z (build thread) and SEO Motorsports (no longer active) via ESD readers Chris and Ñathanael
Awesome swap, very different. I bet amount of hate he got from Nissan fanatics was real haha.
It is a very cool swap. During the time while working on this he was also building a VR6 powered DeLorean for a customer.
Actually it surprises me that within VAG community VR6 swaps are not common. They’re compact, they have decent aftermarket and since they were available in variety of cars, Mk3 Golf, VW Jetta, VW Corrado etc. there are plenty of them.
Can u supply me one of these adaptors for vr6
The only thing I can think of is trying to contact owner on the My350Z forum. https://my350z.com/forum/forced-induction/570751-turbo-vr6-in-350z.html
I’m actually a big fan of the gorgeous sound that VR6’s make. I’d like to toss one in a lotus seven I’m building.
That would be a great combo. If you do start, please keep us up date with your progress.
Will do!
Do you sell a template or adapter for the vr6 to 350z transmission? I am putting a vr6 in a 1964 dkw junior and I’m looking for manual transmission options. Any help would be much appreciated thank you in advance.
Awsome. I have a 2002 pt cruiser and would like to do a vr6 swap. Does anyone know of an attempted or existing swap perhaps? Bellhousing mods i have to consider with the pt box and the elec system would help. Can i use a management system to piggyback on the pt ecm? Thanks a ton.
Sameeg