Peep this, My maintence team (in the army, etc, etc.....) went to an all you can eat restaraunt in Lakewood, Wa. a good 5 mi. drive from Ft. Lewis. It was me and my Max (lil' Nismo), Gonzales and his Mitsubshi Gallant, Boyd and his Chevy Sunbird, Sgt. Austin and his phucked up "TRD" 86 Celica, and the fastest car in our team, Ssgt. Fritz 88-89 Mustang 5.0. He dumped a quite a bit of change into his car to achieve some 300+ horses under the hood. I have been braggin about how my Max was pretty quick being still stock for some time now, since it's been nearly 5 yrs since I lost my licence (speeding) and I believe Ssgt. Fritz wanted me too look real dumb on I-5 by smoking me on it. Well, traffic going to Lakewood was kinda crowded, but on the way back, wasn't. Gentelmen, I don't know any of you personally, and I don't pride myself by lying to strangers, (for I have honor) but I nearly handed him his **** going back to Ft. Lewis. He had to cheat and cut me off when I went to pass him each time! I know he have mad horses under his hood, so when he told me his clutch was slipping, I believed him. We had another run at it this week, racing back to the motorpool. AND I DRUGGED HIS **** DOWN A GOOD QUARTER MILE STRIP!!!! He hadn't repaired his clutch though, but he told me that my car is pretty quick being stock and gave me a half of thumb up (being we both know that he is still way faster). I have told this story with very good intentions of modifing my engine performance and handling. I want to be at least 2nd fastest in my unit, there is a highly modified 85-86 civic that I have to beat first. PLEASE GIVE ME IDEAS, SUGGESTIONS, ANYTHING!!!!!
There are about 10 salavage yards in this area that has those 300ZX in them. I've read about the 300ZX's ecu, turbo, throttle bodies, engine types and how you can use them on the V6 3000 engine my Max currently has, from you guys. It'll be a shame if all this info from you guys is nothing but bullshyt. Only experienced need apply, for I AM a pretty decent mechanic, and if I ***** up my car because of some shytty advice, I assure you that I have the money to track your lying **** down, beating the shyt out of you, and taking YOUR beloved Maxima. Promise....................

 

Then truthfully, the only way you're going to beat them by any decent amount and not totally ruin the drivability of your car is to go turbo. That means not slapping on a turbo manifold but to do a 300ZX turbo engine swap. Then, go to a Z31 forum and look into what turbo charger upgrade they suggest. T3/T4 hybrid is great on the 280zx and is good for 300-350hp at the wheels.

By opening up your intake and exhaust, you can gain a good 20-30hp but that's not going to beat a warmed over 5.0

Also, you do have a 5-speed, right? If not, get one!

 

I have a 5 spd. but how much would you think that engine swap will set someone back?

 

Upgrading my intake/ exhaust system is first on the menu. I've seem some cold air intake setup that are nice, but I would like to have a C.A.I. that would fit properly without too much modifications. Know any? I have a exhaust system setup (cattman or something like that) that I am considering buying.

 

Something to note:

If you are seriously considering the VG30ET swap, I'd hold off on the exhaust & intake. With the turbo engine in that bay, you will need to re-route the CAI some. In addition, a turbo engine likes a lerger diameter exhaust than is pratical on a NA engine, if you're serious about running it. 2.5" to 3" would be a good route to follow for turbo, but these sizes will kill an NA engine in low-end. The reason the turbo engines can work with it is, the turbine itself provides all the back-pressure needed to maintain adequate low-end torque and hp.

Road map I'd take - a VG30ET, stock - installed. Then, the 3" exhaust, and a CAI. Then the 240SX throttle body mod. Then, and adjustable fule pressure regulator. Then, the t3/t4 hybrid turbo, as this one shouldn't produce so much boost as to require stouter injectors. Then, upgrade the injectros, and get a JWT ECU upgrade. Then, a 50-75 shot of NOS.

Of course, unless you have that 5-speed seriously rebuilt for racing applications with upgraded gears, etc..., you'll want to swap to an perf. rebuilt auto, with a good stall-speed torque converter...

Even with a four-pick racing clutch, the first time you side step that clutch, and drop the hammer, yu'll leave metal droppings behind, and have a steaming heap o' gears bolted to that hot engine.

You could produce anywhere from 250 to 400 ponies, depending on the turbo you choose, the amount of boost you choose to run, the tranny options you take, etc...

If I had the money, this is what would happen to my wagon...

Of course, I'd also do some work on the heads, and install cams...

 

ya could do the 300ZX engine swap ...but consider that it will take tons of ya funds. if ya got the dough, then go. get that swap in. also consider that the Maxima is front wheel drive and the 300ZX is back wheel drive. this may take more than just a engine swap. but there is no such thing that it is impossible. i've seen a 300ZX turbo in a max before. believe me or not he used to be a member of this website and had pics. but if ya decide to take another route like a basic one. ya could get your self a new high-performance clutch and torque converter in place. then get ya high-flow air intake in place. then get the full exhaust (Catalytic converter, back pipe, and muffler). also get ya main full tune-up with the highest goods to be sure ya engine is running "healthy". plus last but not least get your ECU computer an upgrade. ya can get a new chip upgrade from JET. ya gotta order the deal then send JET your ECU with your engine specs and mods information. they send it back and you install back in. this ECU upgrade actually boosts your performance dramatically. it'll perform more top notch, increase your air and fuel delivery, increase your acceleration and more. well whatever route ya choose is up to you. but i think ya won't have any problem with that car ya wanna race. Think about it, it's a '86 Civic! They ain't strong enough. They are 83-88 horsepower stock and whatever "highly modified" stuff he puts in shouldn't be enough to handle yours. unless, he did a higher engine swap. anyway good luck and go nuts.

Peace.

 

If you want to go turbo...

Just to clarify, we are talking about the single overhead cam, single turbo 300ZX 1984-89. That is the first generation 300ZX or Z31.
http://z31.org will have details on actuall upgrading your engine or fixing problems with it once it is installed.

yes, I assumed you understand that the 300ZX has a front facing engine and the intake is set up to work in that engine compartment. You'll need to get creative once you turn the engine sideways and hook it up to your transmission. I think you can run a 250-280hp turbo engine and be VERY happy with the results without breaking your 5-speed apart; but then I don't know for sure the strength of the 2nd Gen Maxima 5-speed. The 1st gen RWD transmission can take that no problem.

Long ago, before I had a Maxima, I saw some guy pull up next to me in the Napa parking lot on Pacific Hwy in DesMoines. He had a 2nd Gen Maxima and he pops open the hood to reveal a turbo 300ZX engine. I only glanced at it. He was taking something off that he probably needed a replacement for inside the store.

Here is a quote I pulled from a web site. No pictures of the Turbo Maxima, and no mention of what year.
"Nissan Maxima Turbo

Nissan Motorsport asked us to prototype a car for Nissan Product Development, of course we obliged. They had a Maxima and wanted us to install a 300ZX turbo engine for product evaluation. It was a nice easy job- since they parked a 300ZX with it for parts. In any conversion chasing parts is the hardest thing to do. There were a lot of clearance problems and we had to use a Japanese home market manifold to make everything fit. For sometime the Director of Motorsports (Nissan) used the vehicle. Hopped up with the usual array of HKS gadgets- the car was really a fast cruiser. Since the statute of limitations has expired- now it can be told- there was a big problem under hard starts the car would pull hard to one side- the result of unequal driveshafts! No, not a good product combination."

 

One other thing:

I found a link somewhere on the web a year or so ago about a modification to the 5-sp used in our cars. Everyone knows that 3rd gear is the most notorious for going out. Well, these folks weren't on a 2nd gen Max, either, but they were using the same tranny (I believe they were turboing a Stanza, or something - I just know it was the same tranny, cause I searched for the tranny model #, not for Maxima tranny.) Well, after rebuild that tranny 3 times under hard launch, they took a long look at the tranny, and made a modification to the 3rd gear sprag. They claimed after making that mod, the tranny never failed again, after over 75k miles of hard use, including strip time, with a turbo'd and NOS'd engine.

If this mod information could be found again (they gave details), it might be woth something.

Does anyone happen to know the modal of the manual gear box used in the 2nd gen Max, stanza, etc...? Maybe I could find it again if I could get that model #.

 

I was looking in this months Car Audio & Electronics, and they have an 1988 Nissan 300 ZX in it. they have a pic of its engine bay and it has a V6 Turbo 3000. Is this the engine I should be looking for? One of my military buddies (the one who drives the modified 88 Civic CRX) said I can do a head swap. Is it possible? Or just put the whole engine in my Maxima's engine bay?

 

Actually the heads should be nearly identical, that engine in the 88 Z is the VG30ET, very similar to the VG30E in the 2nd gen. I don't believe there's any difference at all as far as the heads are concerned.

The thing that you're referring to is just the rocker arm cover plate, I guess that's what it's called anyway. It should be swapable with the one on the VG30E, so if you do turbo your car, you can proudly put that plate on your engine.

I suppose you could put the whole engine in your car, but it would mount differently than the VG30E does. You should try to turbo your existing engine, it would be a lot easier and you'll get similar power results.

If you're really serious about this, you need to consult with some professionals that do this stuff for a living. You can get a lot of good general advice on the web and in forums like this, but for the specific details you'll have to consult someone who has done this on other cars, preferably Nissans. This isn't really something that should be done as a hobby by a shadetree mechanic, this car's extremely complex and has very tight tolerances. If you really want your Max built up into a high performance beast, I'd save up the dough and pay someone to do it. If you want a good DIY car, get something like a '69 Charger, you can easily work on that in your garage and not have to worry about sensors, computers, and other BS.

-C-

 

buy a 4th gen

 

RS5F50A. in the 90-92 stanzas they had the same tranny as the maximas. in the older ones they had the same tranny number RS5F50A but the bellhousing was different.

 

What about the newer trannies with RS5F50A/V as the designation (1997-up) - are the bellhousings different as well between the Altima and Maxima?

IanS

 

Ian, you know I am trying to be as fast as you........

 

Better eat your Wheaties, son!

 

I didn't say faster , just getting colse to where you are at is fine with me. So, where is the box, bowl & milk?

 

Damn skippy, it's called torque steer in it worst form, FWD. But hey, I'd much rather drive a FWD turbo car than a RWD turbo car.

I'd love to see that Maxima and test drive it. I bet it would give some WRXs a run for their money.

-A

 

Who's Maxima?

 

You should talk to KALSC, he's the only one I know to date that has a turbo in a 2nd gen. If I remember right, if you turbo your existing motor, you may have to change out the pistons for a 9:1 compression ratio vs. 10:1 ratio. If you turbo your existing motor, and don't lower the compression ratio, your going to have a bunch of problems with detonation. As some other have been saying also, if you do turbo your motor, you better beef up your tranny. You may even consider putting in an auto that has had the level 10 work done to it. Hell, you can even buy that one VG30E NA engine that one place advertises puts out 300bhp. Just hope you got the $9000 to buy the motor. I'd also follow what Maxwgn laid out with doing your upgrades. That's the best way to keep your cost down, and not have wasted upgrades.

S

 

That Heiknan Racing engine is crazy, but I'd much rather build up a VG33 block. With the -400 degree cryo dipping of those custom forged pistons, I can see this bad a$$ **** being boosted to 18-20psi daily driver.

Damn, I've been the one pointing/itching my way for my 1988 Turbo Maxima, I just chickened out and decided to turbo my 97 instead. Doesn't anyone remember that?

Yeesh, you try to pave the way and someone forgot who built or planned the road...

-A

 

You guys probably don't know me, as I only drop in here occasionally. I post very seldom. I own a first gen 300zx Turbo and make a few different parts for them. Here's a link to the intake I do for them: Engloid Performance

I checked out this thread and I think there is an easier alternative than swapping the engine. A complete running engine is not cheap.

My thoughts:

The reason you may not want to go with your engine and a turbo is cause you will have limited boost abilities due to detonation. Even if you can avoid that, you may eventually have problems due to your stock pistons being cast..and cast pistons don't like high boost. Keep in mind that my car had 7.5 cast pistons from the factory. I put 12psi of boost and 125hp nitrous on them and they held up fine. I sold them to a guy that is using them now.

The only differences in your engines and the Z nonturbo engines (84-87) is the intake and exhaust manifolds. Now if we compare it to the turbos, the additional difference is the pistons. The pistons are a lower compression to help fend off pinging. Many of the z31 owners have been upgrading to used z32 turbo pistons for a bit more strength. This means you could probably find some used z31 turbo pistons for cheap.

You also have the option to just buy some custom forged pistons in whatever compression you want. This will gain strength and lower your compression to allow more boost before having problems. This will also give you the opportunity to bore your block, getting more volume and the best fit for your pistons.

Porting and polishing the heads will work wonders also. I have done several sets of these, and people seem very pleased with them. As for the throttle body, some of the stanza and 240sx ones were bigger than the z31... Z31 guys have been upgrading to them.

The 300hp vg30e talked about earlier in this thread was likely from Paeco.

As for transmissions: Personally I don't think nissan made any good autos in those years...not in any car. Do you have to worry about a 6 puck shredding if you sidestep it? If you drive like that, you should expect some problems with the clutch or elsewhere. Sidestepping a clutch is very hard on them, and I don't reccomend it. It is usually done only to do burnouts, and if you have to sidestep to do a burnout then you should get more power so you don't have to abuse the car. Don't get me wrong, I drive a car hard, but abuse is a different story.

About the Turbo 3000 plate on top of the engine...it's just a plate. It can be put on the nonturbo engines also, as the upper intake (also called plenum) is identical on the cars. By the way, that plenum will not flow enough air to support over 250hp without a turbo, so anybody that has one like that and claims more hp but has no turbo is ignorant or lying. Those numbers are based on a .435 lift cam, unless my memory is failing me. It's on my webpage.

Will there be a problem if you choose to do the turbo engine swap since the Z is rwd and the maxima is fwd? No, the blocks are identical and will bolt up just the same.


Well, I sill stop now. I have rembled long enough. If you guys have any questions, most over at z31.com are good to help out with any turbo or conversion questions. Many have had or do currently have maximas. Of course it's like any other forum, they can be critical and sometimes rude to new guys that ask simple questions like "can I put a turbo on my Maxima." If you need info, just be detailed. I am on that board with this same name. later......

 

No, that 300 HP VG30E engine is from Hekimian Racing. Here's the link to it: http://www.hekimianracing.com/

Avalon42 found that website a couple months ago. It sounds promising, though they really don't give a good detailed description of exactly what they do to the engine.

-C-

 

Engloid, I know you and you're cool. The problem is I guess everyone is itching to see a 2nd gen turbo'd already. Man, I am starting to get so irritated that I am seriously going to look for a 1988 Black SE with grey frost int, and 5spd. And then I'm gonna turbo it. Damn damn damn.

-A

 

Hehe we didn't forget you paved the way....no really we didn't! One thing you got to admit, at least you let someone else find out all the bugs so you know what to look out for when you do turbo a 2nd gen. Do you still have those rims off your old 88?

Engloid, I notice you said you make intakes for 300ZX, is it possible if we got enough people to request it to make a intake for our maxima's. I looked at your link and I was impressed.

S

 

Anything's possible, but there's obstacles that have to be overcome in doing something like this. There were many things I had to consider when doing the intake for the Z. I originally wanted to make a full custom intake. I had to make it affordable or nobody would buy it. I actually tried to sell them for $150 at first just so I could get word of mouth out. Everybody doubted it would work. Nobody bought till a guy on the board did about a year later. After flow testing stock parts he found he needed something better. I gave him a good price and he gave me flow bench numbers. That's when people became interested. yes, the price went up

I also have to keep in mind that the avg modder doesn't want to have to think. They want something that will require zero custom fabrication. The want something that they can put on one part and see a gain. Think about a turbo...putting it on a maxima scares people because they dont know what parts they need, and it's more than one simple bolt on. They have to think.

Also, I had to remember that most people have emissions to deal with. Emissions are influenced a lot by all the little parts that bolt onto the intake, so I needed to keep them. This means I also needed to keep the locations of these things or people would have to think...and get different hoses, reroute stuff, rewire and things like that.

SO that really put me in a bind because to make it all custom I'd have to machine all these locations for the accessories, and that would blow the price too high for people to realistically buy...that drove me to modify the stock intake instead of making one all from scratch.

With all that said, I'm open to your thoughts on this. I really don't think many would sell without emissions on the Maxima either. Without the emissions hookups it may even be easier to make. One guy named MIKEHKS took the z plenum off and made a 4" log style intake that he said worked well. He welded the 4" pipe to the lower intake. Something like this may be best as it avoids machining a flange surface, bolt holes, and runners.

 

So what you're talking about here is modifying the stock manifold, not just the Air Filter and intake?

 

There's nothing available Japan side? I have a 97 which uses the VQ engine, there is a turbo version of the engine in Japan, and I used the intake manifold from that, it doesn't have the long runners like the regular VQ, nice RAM design for turbo...

...drool, I will have the first twin turbo 4th gen Maxima stateside.

-A

 

A twin turbo setup would cost you somewhere inbetween $10,000 - $30,000 - not saying it's impossible, but it would cost way more than it's worth for little more performance from a single turbo.

Read mtrai760's thread on it - makes perfect sense.

IanS

 

It's costing me $17K. I'd much rather have the twin turbo ball bearing setup. It's mainly for show.

-A

 

Well, if you can do it, I will to you.

 

Trailer or no trailer? Quite honestly, if I put that much money in that car, I sure as hell ain't gonna put it on a trailer to bring it out only a few times a year for people to see. I want to enjoy my investment and drive it. When you done, I will fly down and worship your car. Hell you can probably start your own religion! Maximality or something like that!


S

 

Jeez, and all I wanted is to put a little more horsepower in my car................


So, Engloid, If what you are saying is true (that both the VG30E and the VG30T blocks are the same), then all I would have to worry about is relocating the engine mounts,and probally change the exhaust, right? As far as the tranny is concerned, I think it will hold up fine against the torque from the engine. My goal is to have the power where I need it most, when it comes to highway traffic. I not looking forward to setting quarter mile times. Anyway, how does doing a swap like that effect gas mileage? Good , bad, or the same?

 

Also, the cams, valves, lifters, and many other internal parts may be made with more stringent standards on the "T". The VQ30DET has titanium valve springs, different pistons, cams, etc, etc.

IanS

 

Would they still be found on the OEM engine, or will I have to purchase them too?

 

They will be found on the VG30DET Engine stock - IF the engine ever existed, which it didn't:

http://www.freshalloy.com/site/featu...nes/home.shtml

(Notice there is a VQ30DET, but no VE30DET?)

(This is why you need to buy a 4th Gen if you want become serious about modding)

 

So, I have a VE instead of the VG, then? That is what that chart says I went to, Ian...........

 

no, I think this chart just doesn't go before 1990 - you have the VG, I believe - your car isn't a 1992+, so I know you don't have the VE or the VQ.

 

So, I have a VE instead of the VG, then? That is what that chart says I went to, Ian...........

 

So, I have a VE instead of the VG, then? That is what that chart says I went to, Ian...........

 

Whoa! Learn to be patient and just hit "submit" once, man!