hey again
I was also wondering what you guys think? I have about 234K miles on my car and despretley want to swap the engine. I want to put in a turbo engine and was wondering which is the best(not neccisarily the easiest) swap for me. I do have concerns about switching from auto to manual trans(how much it will cost), and was wondering if I put an engine that was made for a rear wheel drive format would I have to convert my car also? Please advise I've been looking for weeks and you guys seem like the only ones who know what they're doing.


1988 Maxima
Auto
white GXE
slow

 

The "easiest" swap is to an 85-86 300zx turbo engine. You could use an 84, but they lack the watercooled turbo, so they are less robust. It is exactly the same engine, but setup for rwd. There are numerous differences, exhaust, intake, oilpan and pickup, etc. But it has been done before. If you check the stickys at the top of this forum, there is quite a long thread discussing a turbo conversion.

 

If you wantedto do the vg30det there would be extensive work to the front end of your car. Its not a direct swap. You would have to extend all sides of the engine bay. The vg30et is compatible because it is basically our engine turbo'd like wylie said.

 

Yeah, your gonna want to go with a VG30ET. Or...I just know this is going to spark controversy...but I'm going to say it. Put in a VE30DE, or even better, a VQ30DE. I have seen several converstation about it. The big problem problem with the VG30DE and VG30DETT is the engine is way too wide. This is because the heads are huge. What I found out is the VG30DE head look like another V6 on the block for one side. They are extremely wide. This is way the VG30DE was never put in the maxima. However, there was a remedy for this. The VE30DE was designed to give the maxima DOHC heads that would fit the engine bay. They are considerably narrower compared to the VG30DE. When the VQ was developed, it was even smaller! So I think there is a good chance you can get these to fit, with enough clearance! If you can do that, you can boost em too! The VQ has responded amazingly well to minimal amounts of boost. It's a thought since VQ's are a dime a dozen. However, the easiest way to boost is to go with a VG30ET motor.

S

 

maximase86
that sounds fool harty,irresponsible, and possibly dangerous!
That just what I was looking for! Can you tell more, I need to know about the Tranny,and the driveshaft(FWD to RWD).
Thanx

 

hahahaha! Werd!

Either way, a maxima with boost is just plain crazy. Anyway, right now how I see it, the problems you will have is manifolds/ypipe (2nd gens don't have a y-pipe, so one has to be fabbed). Depending on what motor your gonna get, you will need to get a tranny bellhousing from that gen if you plan to use yours (I'm assuming your 5-speed). Also, my ideas is keeping the car FWD. Going RWD will be a huge task, and it will cost a lot of money, and will require a lot of work. As for drive shafts, your probably gonna have to customize yours so the splines line up in the tranny if you use a newer gen tranny.

S

 

What car does the VE or VQ come out of?
I have an automatic but have wanted to switch to manual!
Should I do this while I'm doing the engine swap, or should I do it before?
Which trany is the best(manual) for my eventual swap?

Im not lazy I have been reading a lot of these threads!

My goal here is to get the Max running at about 300 whp
I don't know if it's possible but I'm sure gonna try!

 

VE is found in the 92-94 Maxima SE's. These will be the hardest and most expensive to find.

The VQ is found in the 95 and newer max's. You will probably want to stick with the 3.0 liter version. Around 95-99. They are the easier and cheaper to find motors.

If you want to go manual, might as well convert to manual during the engine swap. In fact, you probably want to get a VLSD tranny from the 95-99 Canadian Model Maxima's, or the I30.

Either way, if you go with a VQ, you can run boost, S/C or turbo, with the right mods easily run 300whp. (I done a lot of work on a 97 Maxima GXE, it's S/C and makes about 321whp).

S

 

If you are going to swap, I'd forgo the VE and do a VQ30. It's alot less expensive, can be found with less miles and is about 100lbs lighter.

 

Thanxs for all the responses!

Now before I start researching this, I need to know if the stock internals will handle boost. How much do you guys think I can get the engine(VQ30) for?

How much of a pain in **S will the manual swap really be, any huge pit falls to watch out for?

 

Check the boosted section here on .org

Check the gen and 4-gen section. Many posts about how much they cost.

1) New mounts probably. VQs mount diff than my VE30DE for sure.
2) Tranny compatibility? If you use the VQ tranny, will the axles line up decent to the spindles?
3) Wiring. You need to figure out how to convert an engine that orignally ran with a distributor, plug wires and one coil to an engine that uses a crank angle sensor and a coil on plug ignition system. Since you want to use a VQ ecu, good luck wiring that badboy in!

 

If your going to swap in a VQ, I'm pretty sure you can use the 2nd gen max tranny but you'll need the bell housing from a VQ 5spd. Outside of the fabrication for the motor/tranny mounts another issue is wiring. Even if you had an entire VQ ecu harness splicing it into the 2nd gen would be a nitemare. I'd say just buy a stand alone and call it a day.

 

This is so old! I have done lots of research since so I think that this VQ idea is doable.
The mounts can be fabed.
The axles can be custom made for a decent price.
I'll have to bite the bullet and either get a wiring harness from the dealer(yeah right), salvage yard, or hope that www.neoshotruck2.com still has some.

Still want the boost on the VG first but after a while this would be cool as a side project.

I forgot how helpful the guys on this site were. Stay cool fellas

 

yeah the vq30de is definitely a doable swap...

though i'd hate to be the one to rewire the whole damn car from front to back

 

A boost VG is much easier to pull off then a VQ swap. Thought the VQ swap is doable....man, the wiring is going to be such a hassle.

S

 

as we all know wiring sucks...i know i do, i'm lucky to have the only thing not working are my mirriors which sucks at night but.

any way odds are its probally best to get 2 extra engines (unless you want to take your car out of service) one maxima one 300zx and the the pan, manifolds, pickups and what not from maxima motor over

or....do you know how to weld?

 

Well, you already have 2 motors, the stock motor in the car....and the VG30ET you buy. To go turbo you HAVE to take your car out of service. You can just set the turbo motor beside your car and hope it some how makes your car fast, or magically turbos your car.

S

 

I call that plan B!

 

I call that plan D and 2/3rds. All I can say is, I'm really hoping for 200-225whp. I might only run 14's....but that's quite a bit faster than I've seen these cars get.

S

 

but you dont hvae to take it out of service for as long....but if Drj is doing it he should be done by the year 2009

 

lol, good thing his car isn't really running now.

S

 

Damn man thats cold blooded!

Naw youre probably right. I was going to get my trany on monday when I went to check my bank account. Some Jack hole took about 600$ out of my checking account. So no trany for me. I have to wait a few days to do anything for the max.

This is turning in to the Odyssey. Never has fixing a car been such a pain in the @$$!

 

Dude! You need to watch where your money is going man, else you're not gonna get off the ground! :P

S

 

shop arround first, dont rush it....

i'm looking to rebulid an engine because i think my oilpumps are shot, my cylinder heads are pretty much brand new again so i am going to pop a motor out of a 300zx or maxima and rebulid it using a cam set i found some place for both 300zx and maximas, but i am not rushing it because if i am in a hurry its not going to get done

 

I found a used trany for about 300$ so im not getting a raw deal.
And I usually am very attentive to where my money goes so thats not the problem. "Unforseen circumstances befall us all" and thats the truth. Just another set back. But my mom wants the car out of the backyard like now so im under a little bit of a deadline now.

 

You can put a turbo on your car if you want to. The only difference in your engine and the one in the z31 turbo is the pistons... well, there's minor differences but nothing significant. You can put tin the Z31 engine if you want to, but the manifolds and such from it will fit your engine.

The VG30DET is not going to be a good option unless you want to do a lot of custom work. It has an 8 bolt flywheel and yours is a 6. That will require a custom or modded flywheel, or a transmission from a z32 (which will cost aobut $600+). The DET engine is basically a z32TT engine, but it has better heads and had a single turbo. The heads will interchange on the DETT and the DET engines. Below is a pic of a DET head on top of a DETT head:

 

The DET will not fit in these engine bay without reworking of the firewall and location of the radiator. If you have any hope to do a DOHC motor, you would have to go with a VQ or a VE because they have a much more compact design versus the VG-DE.

S

 

I really have no idea of the fit in the engine bay...however, I have a DET engine in my garage on a stand if anybody wants me to verify any dimension.

 

Hey man long time no see. I use to read your post on the Z31 forum. Do you still sell those hogged out intake manifolds? Did you ever try the pathfinder manifold?

 

Yeah, I'm still making them on a small scale. I've not tried the pathfinder manifold, but would like to see actual dyno coparisons of mine vs it. I'm sure there will be demand for both, reguardless of the outcome.

I guess you guys have gotten wind of the kit that The Specialty Shop sells which is a bolt on with hoses, clamps and everything you need to put on the Pathfinder intake. It runs about $600. the guys that have gotten it have had nothing but praise for the completeness of the kit and quality. These have the gasket surface machined so that the hood will close on the z31. I dont know if the Maxima has any clearance problems if it's used.

Do you guys know that the lower intake on your engines has larger ports than the z31's? I have a ported lower from my z31 and the holes are the same size as the stock maxima one. It's probably about 1/16-3/32" difference on the diameter. Not a lot of difference, but I don't think that you guys will gain performance by swapping to it.

 

I hadn't heard of the kit for the pathy IM. That sounds cool. I still need either to increase the flow of my stock injectors, or buy some 240cc injectors from RC. They both cost about the same.
Actually I still need a trany so I gotta get the car mobile again first. Im hopin to have it up and running and turbo'd by the end of spring 05. We'll see.

 

i havent either but i'm just gonne do the bore with a a KA throttle body.

i've started buying suspenson parts, shocks AND struts are starting to seep oil...well more than started i guess.

so it'll be a while

 

I can't see why you'd need to do that, unless you have quite a bit of mods...including a turbo or supercharger. Why do you say you need more fuel?

 

The maxima injectors run 180cc and they can be opened up to 240cc. Im putting a TO4B on the max. I just have to get a trany first.

 

Probably for the price of having yours worked on, you can get much better ones. Hell, I shopped around a while and found some 880cc injectors, NEW, for $300+shipping.

And if you don't want to do that, why not just get some used Supra injectors?

Look around on ebay, find sellers that sell a lot of them on there, and ask them for their best price on big injectors...that's what I did.

 

I was thinking about getting some 330cc injectors, the price is the same for having the stock injectors opened up.
880cc? man what R U up to?

 

I've not bought injectors yet, just found them...

I figure it's better to have more fuel than needed than to not have enough. I've seen so many people buy injectors and then months later, they're buying bigger ones. I don't want to do that.

I've got a vg30det. Actually, it's the nonturbo version of it...not the one that was released here in the states. It should have the same awesome heads, but a bit better compression, so in the end it should be really good.