LONG TIME Lurker
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Teching In
Joined: Oct 2020
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LONG TIME Lurker I'm finally registering after years and years of lurking around various car performance forums. After 25 years of working, saving, dreaming, I have the car, and the engine is at the machine shop as we speak.
I wish I could relay all the helpful information this forum has provided over the years as I've settled on a final goal.
Car is an Infiniti G35 that will be LS swapped with a 5.3 built up for autocross and hopefully some track days.
Settled on the G35 because I've always loved Z cars all the way back as a kid in the 70's and 80's. Got a steal on the car with most of the performance modifications on the chassis already done.
This has been a long journey/wait. I've bounced around from restomodding a classic car (68-69 Cougar was the dream), to kit cars from the early slapping a shell on a Mustang II frame to Factory Five options. Never settling on something. Either too costly, not reliable, outside of my ability, not modern enough, etc.
The goal was always a lighter car that I could road trip in without needing a chiropractor afterward that offered some comfort but would put a smile on my face on a track. Had to have American V8 power because... you know. But I have a love of Japanese cars (1983 Honda Civic was my first car, and I loved that car.) and American Ford classic cars of the late 60's. I have this whole spreadsheet where I wrote out thoughts over the years, with pros and cons.
Then I promised myself (and my wife) that I would not embark on this project until the house was paid off. So, the house is paid off. The kids can figure out how to pay for college on their own. It'll be good for them.
Anyway, this is more of a thank you. I can't tell you how many times I've lurked around here just soaking up knowledge. How a lot of the talk here relates to more than just LS engines and even when searching Ford 5.0L answers, I would find myself here. So, now that I've settled on an LS swap G35 it's time to drop in and say hello. I will continue to lurk and stay away from asking too many questions because, I've found that when I'm forced to search I find more valuable information than I initially expected as I dig through post after post looking for my specific answer.
Oh, and why just a 5.3L? Well, because the 4.8 58x crank that my engine guy said he had turned out to be a 3.622. So, I went with my original 3.622 crank. Why was I thinking of destroking down to a 4.8L Gen IV Aluminum motor while still staying NA? Because the Z33 transmission I'll be using. I need to space out the shifting and a 4.8L pushed to 7500 rpm seemed not so bad an idea. Now, I'm just hoping for 7k with a 7200-7400 redline. Most of the money is going in the heads and valvetrain to do this. Why not a 6.0? Honestly because I don't think I'll need that power. At about 3200 lbs, and only very minimal track experience, and a car that will mostly see street duty and long roadtripping, coupled with the gearing, going for a 500+ hp build seemed counter to realistic goals for the car.
Here are my gear ratios for better understanding. I might bring the final drive down to a 3.36 to give myself a little more breathing room. I want to see how the car drives first. As it stands, the below ratios are equivalent to a 2.66 T-56 with 4.5 gears.
1st 3.794
2nd 2.324
3rd 1.624
4th 1.271
5th 1.000
6th 0.974
Final Drive Ratio 3.538
Oh, and most importantly, with a 13 year old and 11 year old, this is a great bonding experience. Build a cool car that they can drive. (Another reason 500+hp was not a good idea. I also took out the backseat for obvious reasons, not just for weight reduction.)
I wish I could relay all the helpful information this forum has provided over the years as I've settled on a final goal.
Car is an Infiniti G35 that will be LS swapped with a 5.3 built up for autocross and hopefully some track days.
Settled on the G35 because I've always loved Z cars all the way back as a kid in the 70's and 80's. Got a steal on the car with most of the performance modifications on the chassis already done.
This has been a long journey/wait. I've bounced around from restomodding a classic car (68-69 Cougar was the dream), to kit cars from the early slapping a shell on a Mustang II frame to Factory Five options. Never settling on something. Either too costly, not reliable, outside of my ability, not modern enough, etc.
The goal was always a lighter car that I could road trip in without needing a chiropractor afterward that offered some comfort but would put a smile on my face on a track. Had to have American V8 power because... you know. But I have a love of Japanese cars (1983 Honda Civic was my first car, and I loved that car.) and American Ford classic cars of the late 60's. I have this whole spreadsheet where I wrote out thoughts over the years, with pros and cons.
Then I promised myself (and my wife) that I would not embark on this project until the house was paid off. So, the house is paid off. The kids can figure out how to pay for college on their own. It'll be good for them.
Anyway, this is more of a thank you. I can't tell you how many times I've lurked around here just soaking up knowledge. How a lot of the talk here relates to more than just LS engines and even when searching Ford 5.0L answers, I would find myself here. So, now that I've settled on an LS swap G35 it's time to drop in and say hello. I will continue to lurk and stay away from asking too many questions because, I've found that when I'm forced to search I find more valuable information than I initially expected as I dig through post after post looking for my specific answer.
Oh, and why just a 5.3L? Well, because the 4.8 58x crank that my engine guy said he had turned out to be a 3.622. So, I went with my original 3.622 crank. Why was I thinking of destroking down to a 4.8L Gen IV Aluminum motor while still staying NA? Because the Z33 transmission I'll be using. I need to space out the shifting and a 4.8L pushed to 7500 rpm seemed not so bad an idea. Now, I'm just hoping for 7k with a 7200-7400 redline. Most of the money is going in the heads and valvetrain to do this. Why not a 6.0? Honestly because I don't think I'll need that power. At about 3200 lbs, and only very minimal track experience, and a car that will mostly see street duty and long roadtripping, coupled with the gearing, going for a 500+ hp build seemed counter to realistic goals for the car.
Here are my gear ratios for better understanding. I might bring the final drive down to a 3.36 to give myself a little more breathing room. I want to see how the car drives first. As it stands, the below ratios are equivalent to a 2.66 T-56 with 4.5 gears.
1st 3.794
2nd 2.324
3rd 1.624
4th 1.271
5th 1.000
6th 0.974
Final Drive Ratio 3.538
Oh, and most importantly, with a 13 year old and 11 year old, this is a great bonding experience. Build a cool car that they can drive. (Another reason 500+hp was not a good idea. I also took out the backseat for obvious reasons, not just for weight reduction.)
Last edited by Minivanman; Oct 24, 2020 at 03:17 PM.
