hello all, Ive been searching around looking for camshaft/valve spring and valve replacement options..... but coming up cold I think I know why.... its such a PITA to replace, BUT my motor is already apart (removed timing case & VTC for polishing) and figured I would upgrade now and save the extreme hassle doing all this again

my question(s) are about cams, valve return springs and valves

Cams- I see alot of different intake/exhaust lifts/duration on aftermarket cams dont have a problem spending the $ for great parts but I am scared it will run the *daily driving* I do (when I'm just cruzing around town) the G is my weekend fun toy and i do drive it spiritedly but dont plan on track/autox at this point, I just would like a nice camy sound with decent performance increase

looking at:
Nismo R-Tune (262/256)
Nismo S1 (276/256)
JWT S1 (260/260)
Brian Crower (264/264 or 272/272)

also looking at these Nismo VTC pulley gears allow another 15deg cam advance but not sure about them yet

valve return spring- I know with higher lift/duration cams upgrading your springs is the way to go but say I get one of the more mild cams like the JWT S1 or R-Tune cams would it be 100% needed or just more or less beneficial to upgrade regardless
I'm aware that ill need new oil seals if I replace the springs and rotate to TDC for each so the valve doesnt drop in the cylinder

springs I'm looking at:
Brian Crower
JWT
Tomei

and finally the Valves, lighter is better and titanium vs stainless, if Im going to replace the valve springs might as well do the valves just wanted some input on ones to check out.... Nismo makes a set but 90day wait and big $$
Brian Crower makes a stainless set that wont break the bank



I dont have plans of going FI any time soon but since its all apart figured I can upgrade now and have a nice N/A motor and when I do go FI its already ready on the inside

 

I see you mentioned daily driving Ryan, I want to let you know that when you start building the motor you start to drastically decrease daily driveability, harder to start, tougher idle, etc. But you're not going very aggressive so it won't be a pain in the *** to drive.

With that said, when upgrading one part in a system, the rest of the system must match that part, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. So if you get high lift cams, springs are needed so you don't get valve float.

I'd be a fan of the nismo cams because they're designed by Nissan, the best engineers for our cars and you want to maintain driveability, I think the nismos will give you the best driveability.

Yes, you NEED to get valve springs. When I say need, it isn't necessary, but if you don't want valve float, and a broken valve spring later on floating around your motor, then you need to replace the valve springs. And you already mentioned you may as well get valve, Brian Crower makes a good set without putting a crater in your wallet, but without going a size up or doing titanium, it really doesn't make much of a power difference. So if your valves are in good shape, you don't need to replace those IMO. Z1motorsports sells viton valve seals at are pretty interesting.

 

I plan on getting all of this from Z1, I am leaning to the Nismo just because it is Nissan do you think the slightly longer Intake durration of the Nismo S1 vs the R-tune will make a difference in daily style driving? they are the same price on Z1

and so you reccoment the Z1 oil seals?

 

The longer duration will allow for more air to flow into your combustion chamber, but you're not limited by lack of air considering you have a factory size stroke. I don't think you would benefit from a longer duration since you aren't fi or stroked. If you were fi or have plans of going fi in the near future then I'd say longer duration.
With a narrower intake duration it is easier to drive.

Keep in mind no matter what part your buying you're upgrading anyway, so you're in now way being hurt by buying the lesser of your upgrade options. I would go with a mild can for the sole reason that you mention the words "daily driver"

I do not know the advantages or disadvantages to the z1motorsports valve seals versus OEM, that's a question for z1 or someone else. And when you get the answer please post up for further reference.

Also, even though I do have professional racing experience, I haven't built many motors, its advisable to sit down and speak with frank hill who has built 30+ VQ's and get him some lunch or something for his time. In no way am I not confident in the advise I'm giving you but of course you have a great resource for information in frank as an addition to myself and anyone else who may respond.

Another thing you're leaving out of the picture is bigger injectors. With more air, you need more fuel. And the stock 360cc(I believe that's the size) will surely be above their 80% duty cycle with bigger camshafts. I would recommend giving these some thought. I'll probably kick myself in the *** for telling you this because I really want to buy them, but Steve Craig has a set of 440 Daetschworks for sale I believe.

 

Tyler, I think the factory are 280cc, and the Daetschworks I have are 600cc and came with the Momentum turbo kit. They are still in the car but should be available in a few weeks. Hill's Garage hired a new mechanic and he has been doing a good job helping with the backlog. I'm hoping to move the car down to the shop in a week or two for my build. Since all my parts are lined up and ready to go it shouldn't take long.

There are around 12,000 miles on the 600cc injectors.

 

I don't think they're that small, but I could be wrong. I do recall them bring in the 300's

Thank you for correcting me on the size you have.

 

First question for you - are you rev-up or non?
Second - What are the rest of your intake and exhaust mods now/near future? (I saw the future FI, that's irrelevant to some extent, at least for now)

 

And what form of FI to you intend - you'll be looking at very different compression ratios on the rebuild if you want a turbo/twin turbo setup vs a supercharged setup.

 

Non-revup, furookie intake, mrev2, 5/16", FI HFC, FI intimidator exhaust

Would most likely be a Vortec SC with stock compression would only run 6psi and 8 on the high map

 

"Would only run 6 and 8" I'm sure Cory said that at one point too, hahaha.

 

Tyler we all say that...lol

 

Nah I don't care about power like that my car is mostly a show car now and the FI would be just for more points haha

Alot of neg camber and stretched tires..... I just want that cam'd sound but want to do it right so if I do go FI I don't need to open it up again

 

Go at least 272/272 on the cams. It's not completely undriveable at that level but it will be audibly obviously that you've got cams. As you get closer to the 280 mark and above though you have to do a lot more math on the valvetrain.

Consider the NWP throttle body upgrade (will be good NA, better with a larger Intake/MAF - and very good supercharged). When you supercharge you might want to think about swapping out the mrev/spacer setup for a cosworth or kinetix velocity (I'll patiently wait for the forum to jump on me for suggesting the velocity, lol).

 

I like my furookie intake though and yes when I supercharge (whenever that is ...) cosworth and 1 piece charge pipe will be the upgrade

 

You can rock the furookie and the over sized throttle body. Changing the intake pipe is only a bonus, the oversize TB will still perform better than stock even with a stock G tube on it.

Intake is also independent of the throttle body. It will help stock, it will help cosworth, it will help everything in between.