84 maxima wagon
 

I have few questions about the 1984 Datsun Nissan Maxima i have so decided to post a project thread. Currently i swapped to a set of what i think are Enkei mesh wheels which made it look much better. Few things i want to get done to it in next few months or so. First i am trying to figure out how to stiffen up the suspension, i'm looking for something very stiff to help in the corners. I read that mercedes 300 springs can do the trick but not sure. Also it has solid axle in the back and i need to know if it can hold any power at all. I was thinking if it can hold some decent power then weld the gears on it. Until i have the go fast parts ready i will be using it as a daily driver instead of my Stealth
some pictures as it currently sits
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...a/IMG_0598.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...a/IMG_0599.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...a/IMG_0600.jpg

IIRC you can use Datsun 280zx suspension, some other Z parts should work too. those rims look sick though, nice offset

i vote RB26DETT swap :hide:

I will do some more research on 280zx suspension for the front but for the back it is a different set up. Not sure what springs to use in the back. RB26DETT swap is unlikely due to the cost and complications of the swap. I am still doing research and at least till end of summer this is going to be a daily driver. I need to get the camaro back on the road( needs transmission rebuild) before i tear this one apart. I am picking up some parts for mock up and will be getting some measurements to see what i can fit under the hood. I don't know if these cars are so slow from the factory or just the motor is wore out but it is very slow lol. I am going trough some regular maintenance as i am going to drive it with current motor for at least month or two

nice ride.... the axle from what i recall can Handel about 200lb of torque since the axle carriers are aluminum but you can swap for a truck axle since the are metal witch can give you a bit more give.. the axle model is the h190 and Nissan trucks use h190's ..... the engine is fear and quick on a light car like it was on the 240z's (l24) but with all the modern stuff it boggs it down... also if you plan to go big power you can shorten an American axle (ford or chevy) and you will have more gear ratios to choose from and have a chance to put in a limited slip diff..

If only it was a sedan and not a wagon it would put a little more sport in it and a little less librarian/granny...

http://jassics.ning.com/photo/maxima-1?context=user

otherwise for engine swaps though, RB20 fit about 98% straight into 1st gens, just some small minor modifications needed. Lex did it on his 1st gen

If you can do RB20 then a RB25DET is only a crossmember away.......

yep RB25 is easily doable as well

Rb's are done way to offyen I find them over rated and to expensive. I would suggest a nice vg30DE/TT off a 300zx or a nice rev happy vh or vk (Nissan v8) ranging from 4.0 to 5.7 and the 2 engines are not hard to come by and you will still have spare monies to mod the engine of choice. And talk about being able to palenve the car more by haveing a shorter engine in it which will put the cars center of gravity more in the center... My 2 cents...

When the swap will start i will choose the most cost effective engine option, most power and modability for the money at the time of a swap. Car will not see any hard launches with slicks so i think the rear end could hold for some time. Currently the number one goal is to get some stiffer springs. Currently during hard cornering and hand brake turns the tires rub due to the crazy amount of body roll. I will have to swap back to steelies until i stiffen up the suspension. I will be taking it to auto-x practice events during summer and will be using it as a Rallye car. This sunday is going to be last auto-x for this semester but i'm running my TA to try and get second in class. Also went against 2010 Kia Soul, from a dig lost due to higher(numerically) gears in the Soul but from 20mph roll old wagon started to creep forward for a win :laugh: .

I would have to disagree about the VG30DETT. That was one of the most finicky and painful engines to work on. Don't get me wrong I love the thing when it ran but short of building it, top and bottom, that thing was just a boat load of problems. I have heard the VG30ET is lighter then the DE and it sounds like its a bit more reliable as well. A VQ45DE would be cool, cheap, powerful, and not all that common well not as common as say a SR20 or a RB swap.

That's true about the vg30dett it is less reliable then the vg30et.... 8 bolts for the et head and like 6 bolts for the de and the vg has a full cradle for the bottom end.. But they are still good love the way the de pulls and the VG30 sounds torquey :D ......

yeah the VG30DETT is a bear to work on apparently, VG30ET from Z31 are great engines though

my guess the main problems with the vg30dett are the blown head gaskets and the intake timing thingy (sorry but dont know what its called)... but ill still get it though cuz it will look huge in a 810/maxima engine bay..

it's a race car now, with tires and all...
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...a/Image160.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...a/Image163.jpg

for things to come some day( i hope)

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...a/Image154.jpg

WTF wheres the enkies?????

looking good though, but better with them

with sagging springs tires would rub so i had to switch back to stillies. Thinking of just putting some blocks on in the springs to stiffen them up. Also the rear tires were trashed(corded) from drifiting so i need to find some to replace them. Need to stop by texas world speedway and see if they have any tires i can pick up and use. Enkies are in the middle stack
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...a/Image165.jpg

nice sleeper, haha!

saggin springs suck, i am fighting those on my ZX.
i thought first gen maxima had an independent rear suspension like the Z's did but mabe its because its a wagon. nissan did that on a few of their cars, sedans were IRS wagons were Solid. (510's for instance)

i imagine its a H190 or similar, there is some place on the net about LSD H190's but i dont know if its bunk or not.

a popular thing to do with Z's is the chevy V8 swap, these share so much with the Z i imagine its not much different to jam a V8 in there. something to think about.

also the IRS in the Z can generally handle the power a V8 puts out as long as it isnt modded too much before you stick it in

it's a solid axle so i think it might handle the power for some time. Not even going to look for LSD, just going to weld it.
motor is actually in the machine shop, possibly getting some cheap double humps for it.
as it came out of my other car
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...o/IMG00180.jpg

this what replaced it, so i do have a spare motor.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...2416806220.jpg

also have extra one of these complete just sitting around http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...m/Image022.jpg

:hide:

the wagon does have a solid Axel and it is a h190 open diff.. there are 2 different types of h190's the sedan model and the truck model. the sudan has aluminum carriers while the truck has cast metal carriers. from what i read on the net the h190 is rated at about 190-200 ft/tq but im guessing you can get away with a lil more with the truck axle.. their is a lsd h190 out their but it's really f'ing expensive. your best bet and cheapest way to get a lsd would be to get an american axle and shorten it, just find the right gearing you want also american axle have a bunch of parts on the market like lsds...

damnnn...

Man I'm starting to like the 1st and 2nd gen more and more every time I see one. Can't say there's many here in Chicago and if there are, they all have rust but you Western US people have quite a few nice looking ones! Props on the Max, it appears to have less rust than mine lol

screw you guys saying the RB is too common a swap, show me an RB in a maxima wagon will you.... Rb20det is a great budget minded swap over a lot of the other things you guys are proposing. You can almost drop it in versus so much work on these other swaps, even the sump is correct...

just drop in a l28et if you want the absolute easiest

and also the H-190 in the datsun 510 is rated for 265ft/lbs of torque so i'm sure the one in the maxima should be able to hold the same.

No there hasn't been much rb20/30 swaps in 810/maximas but it ill be slot cheaper to do a USDM engine swap then a JDM swap.. Just do the math of the price of a rb20/30 block + harnes + ecu + trans = ?????? No do the same with any usdm engine and that's not counting in the labor if it aint a D.I.Y. Job ....

RB own still, all the LS1 swaps are getting ridiculous. i dont care if its cheap, strong, and fast. who the hell wants to go to a meet, and see a dozen cars with the same engine? i know 98% of the people here hate me for saying LS1 swaps suck, but i still dont care. its a stupid swap.

it cant always be about whats cheaper

for my 3rd gen trans am ls1 swap was the way to go, computer is almost plug in and play and everything fits right in. I had a 350 sbc in the machine shop for a year now trying to decide what i want to do with it. Was thinking of putting it into the maxima but not sure as i already traded the heads form it. The swap motor is still not set in stone, if i get something that just falls into my hands at a good price and has potential of 350hp i will put it in.

i dont think i was misunderstood when i said usdm. what i ment by usdm was any engine available in the us market that does not require importing, whether it be jap or american made engine...

welded up rust hole in the roof and sanded down some minor rust on the car. still rust in the sunroof area that needs to be taken care of. Repalces rear shocks which helped the handlng some. Started putting a cd player in but ran into some problems where i can't get the right front door speaker to come on and isntead the one in the dash comes on, and the other way around for the left side. Took it to auto-x shake down, ran decent with tons of body roll.

Yep this wagon have scary body roll you will have to custom fit new away bar up front and rear..... As for the audio issue how many speakers are up front doors/dash. Your best bet would be to run new wires cuz some of the old unit have a commen ground (neg) with the left and right

out of curiosity have you tried drifting the wagon? ive always been curious if they can drift good, apparently the sedans can go pretty sideways

did some drifitng at auto-x, but it really lacks a lot of power and the suspension has a lot of wable to be decent.

wondering if anybody know how the power antena is wired? i have different cd player installed and not sure how to get the power antenna to activate correctly.

just get test light and start probing the wires from the back of the oem head unit with the power on and see which wire has voltage on it and then do the same thing and check which of the one of the wires that had voltages went off when the unit is off (double check the wire that went on and off) once you found it apply 12 volts to it to see if its the antenna

can't really do that, the original radio was messed up to begin with and randomly work sometimes. I already cut off the connector from it and soldered it to the different radio i had laying around. Anybody know what diameter and height are the stock springs on first gen wagons?

Addco swaybar bushings, GR2 struts, and maybe even doing the cardinal sin of cutting the springs maybe your only choice! Reducing your aspect ratio..... Addco offers swaybars for everything but the 84 wagon!!!!!!

but spring cutting is down to Honda level :noes: Nissan, Toyota, and Mazda are much above that :king:

I would cut 1 coil out and call that it.......

I have some updated pictures with the wheels back on there. For the rear i am going to try to use the swaybar i have left over from my TA because i have an extra one. The back springs are 5" x7" compressed. I really don't think it needs to be any lower so i am going to get some afco 5"x8.5" 300lbs or so springs and it should be enough for the rear. I am ordering a set of springs and weight jacks for the TA so i get everything together. Two of the tires were corded so finally i got them replaced. The tires i got are not as tall because they were free so i put them up front for the lower front look.
http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...a/Image051.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...a/Image038.jpg

http://i30.photobucket.com/albums/c3...a/Image060.jpg

nice rims man but you really need to do fender lip roll so it wont rub on that meat...