My SR20VE installation
I reckon I was the first UK install, it's not been easy becauase all the parts are in the USA or Japan, adding time delays and extra costs. This task is not for the faint-hearted but it was worth the trouble.

I viewed this as a long-term project when I started, it took over a year to complete, it is NOT a weekend engine switch, you do need to have a garage and spare car to mess with.

I sourced an engine on the Internet shipped by ocean freight, whilst waiting for the engine I sourced a suitable swap vehicle, a sound Primera GT that has the chassis and gearbox to handle the increased power of the VE. Primera gearboxes are renown for losing 5th gear, the torquey DE engine or weak synchro on 5th means that you have to find a good example (without slack in the box). I decided to replace the suspension springs and shock absorbers because the donor car had done 95,000 they be worn-out anyway. I also ordered new brake discs all round and importantly a high performance clutch to handle the extra engine power.

Getting it home from the freight-forwarders

Have you ever seen such a clean "2nd hand" engine (probably no more than 5K miles on it)

The first eye-opener, they fitted a low efficiency cast iron manifold to the VE. The exhaust ports are oval however, different to the DE ones which are round. You shouldn't fit a DE manifold so if you're going to do the job properly get a VE fabricated manifold, I bought a Fujitsubo from Japan, pricey but quality beyond belief.

The next surprise is the Oil Filter fitted to the back of the engine only acessible for servicing from underneath. Quite different from the DE. The filter itself is compatible with P12 models, easy and cheap from your local Nissan dealer.

Cast iron pulleys, if I had the engine out now I would have fitted alloy replacemetns to reduce static and moving mass, its not easy now the motor is fitted in the engine bay.

A strange looking flywheel? These motors are pulled from a station wagon CVT (continuously variable transmission) Primera in Japan. The VE was necessary to overcome the poor performance of the CVT setup. THE CVT doesn't need a conventially weighted flywheel because of the inertia in the CVT geartrain. This is your first brush with the CVT implications (more to come on the electronics front). You have to take your original DE flywheel and put it on instead, take care to use the DE bolts too. I tried to get a lightened DE flywheel from Japan but gave-up due to cost & unforcastable delivey date.

I replaced the standard clutch with the AP racing model to handle the increased engine power

AP Racing Clutch Kit CP2000-25
NISSAN PRIMERA 1.6i & 2.0i 16v DOHC (93 on)
Technical Information: Application Road/Competition
Cover Assy. CP4701-1
Driven Plate CP5351-29
Bearing HD5340
Ø215mm Clutch assembly, 255Nm (188 lbsft) Torque Capacity

Harness swap - The engines are out of the bay, this is the time to get the harnesses sorted.

The electronics work really delayed the install, weeks of mapping and checking coloured wires, you can read moer in the "electronics" section.

 

 

 

Additional Analog gauges were fitted to give a "real" picture of engine parameters, Oil pressure, Engine Temp and Electrical voltage. An oil pressure block adaptor is shown necessary to preserve the warning lamp function. The Temperature sender has been "let-in" to the exit hose from the engine. Both analog gauge pipes were a pain to route into the cabin but the benefits of real-time measurement outweigh the hassle. The pressure gauge directly moves with revs, the water temp needle actually moves unlike the instrument cluster needle!

Cold Air Intake CAI modification with RAM air effect

This feature is to maximise the air flow intake, I inserted the NACA duct in a high pressure area of the front apron, this should ram cooler ground level air into the air box. I've used twin externally corrugated pipes (smooth inner) to guide the air in an S-bend shape inside to the OEM air box. I had to use two smaller pipes because they could achieve the tight curvature, in additon they aligned well into the NACA duct mouth. I've noticed that the best air ahythm or tuning is only possible with a sealed system (the OEM airbox is sealed - even the hold down screws, the interface between corrugated pipes and airbox is also air tight. It's actually possible to air starve the engine into shutdown by blocking the NACA duct. This arrangement does unfortunately project a great deal of induction roar noise out infront of the car but I believe that the improved low rev torque (created by longer induction pipe) is complimented by high airflows possible from the air RAM effect, especially noticiable at motorway speeds. Getting this custom setup right was alot of work, the K&N cotton gauze panel filter also catches alot of road debris as you might imagine. My final concern is Hydro-Locking the engine - I take a great deal of care when driving on water-logged roads!

Spark Plugs NGK Iridium BKR6EIX

I had the wrong ones in for ages, the engine shipped with 1.1mm gapped Denso Iridiums, I assumed they were a standard upgrade in Japan but when I got the correct 0.8mm gapped NGK's the improvement was fantastic. These are expensive but very low maintenance, on a recent driving holiday across Europe (6,800 miles) they only opened up 0.1mm in gap. thr Iridium metal only erodes very slowly indeed. I guess that the small tip also helps flame kernel propogation.

If you want to dispute the performance of Iridiums compared to traditional plugs then you should read this Technical Paper by boffins at Denso first. It's a 1.6Mb file

Here's a comparison between a brand new tip electrode and one that has done 10,000 miles.

Due to the expense of these plugs sets(25.00GBP - $45 USD) I'd been removing & re-gapping. It's interesting to note that virtual no re-gapping was required even after thousands of miles, maybe just harmonizing a variance of 0.05mm between the different plugs. Look at the tips you can see how the Iridium tip is welded to the lower part. You can see when compared how the degradation occurs at the edge perimeter of the tip. Maybe I should be filing away the iridium tip to make it a hard edge before re-gapping however I seriously doubt my ability to file the iridum metal!

NGK Authorative Plug Gapping

I was able to find some information on the plugs for the SR20VE. The original equipment stock plugs for this engine are BKR6E-N which is a .036” or 0.9mm gap setting preset from the factory. I would imagine that is what the stock gap for the engine is as well. Iridium IX BKR6EIX plugs will come new out of the box preset to .032” or 0.8mm. You may not want to gap any larger than .036” for maximum efficiency.

Kristopher Zdral
Technical Support Representative
NGK Spark Plugs (U.S.A.), INC.

New Iridium tip on the left compared to one that's done 10,000 miles on the right