Hey Maxima.org. i'm new to learning about Nissan being that i've mostly worked around Hondas. =\ i'm looking to turn this mint condition 1985 Maxima into a true sleeper. looking for any tips on how to go about that process. i understand i'd have to get a drivetrain swap to go from fwd to awd. any tips or help would greatly be appreciated! thanks for looking!

 

its barely possible, you have to move the gas tank and exhaust to make room for the diff/driveshaft, move the firewall back to fit a straight 6, etc

its only doable on a 1st gen and its been done on them because theyre already RWD and have straight 6. one person has actually gone through with converting a FWD Maxima to RWD with a RB26 on a 4th gen and that should say enough

only thing you can do is get parts from a Z31 turbo and boost your 2nd gen, but youre still gonna be stuck with FWD no matter what

 

If your 85 Maxima is in mint condition, keep it that way. Those cars are becoming harder to find now. Honestly i'd pick up something else if you want to do some crazy project.

As Chrome said, there's a thread here where there is a Maxima with an RB and rear drive. Read the thread and see how extensive it is, and how much time it took. It's a major project and requires mad skills, time, patience, and of course money to do.

 

As the other two have said LEAVE AS IS. To do what BigEDawg did you would have to have good fabrication skills cuz theres alot of it required. Time & space us also an issue. Plus if you din't have the experience at doing such (u said u were learning about Nissans) I don't recommed attempting. Don't need to sacrifice one of the last mint ones left. You need a s-chasis platform to attempt what u want to do.

 

^ i cant believe i forgot about Edog

OP, check out Edogs 2nd gen RWD conversion build thread. that guy can fabricate anything on a vehicle and he even had some troubles.

 

the rb26 may fit......maybee not but getting it lined up for the awd without cutting up the firewall and comprimising the structure will be a feat. i cut up mine but not that much....

 

Its not worth it. You'd do better/ turn more heads with a awd rb26 1st gen.

 

You do know unless you get an rb26 out of an r32 skyline it will be awd. The 240 guys have to cut + weld the front transaxle that runs through the oil pan.

 

doest matter if its a RB26 out of a R32, R33, or R34. only thing R32 GTR had above 33 and 34 is you just had to pull a fuse to get RWD instead of AWD. you can still bolt a R34 or R33 RB26 to a RB25 tranny to get RWD with a adapter plate or use a Silvia SR20DET trans

 

u can also use the z32 trans as well u have to swap the bellhousing off the rb trans.

 

like the others have said, leave it alone, maybe just go with chroming it out (wheels, trim etc) coupled with a nice paint job, maybe some electronic upgrades, that would be funky.

 

Yeah I know about all of that, but what I wanna know is does an rb25 oil pan fit a 26 or is there modification required? I know the 240 guys have been cutting that axle shaft out that passes through the 26 oil pan & welding caps on the ends where it passed through. I remember something about cutting a differential housing out but ai believe that was if you wanted to use the 6spd trans.

 

im pretty sure that the oil pan is the same jgycustoms.com sales the 25 pan and could tell u for sure.

 

well looks like my ideas were shot down but a million thanks to you guys for the advice. greatly appreciated. i've got coilovers and wheels that i'm looking into for after the snow hits. i may just replace the block and probably work on it from there. i dont want to cut this car up because it literally has been in storage since 92 and don't want to take any value away from the car. any suggestions on what i could do to boost the stock engine it has now?

 

maybe a list of z31 parts i could look to invest in. any websites or links or w/e would greatly be appreciated!!!

 

It's not impossible. If you have a lot of welding experience and a lot of money you can do it. It would need custom everything. One possible idea is to swap the drive train from a 2009 infinity g35. But it would take a lot of work and money

 

If you have the $$$Money$$$ virtually anything is possible......"You Gotta Pay The Cost To Be The BOSS," "HOW BIG A BOSS YOU WANNA BE?"

 

I would love to see it done though, it would be pretty sick.

 

yea maybe down the road but i literally have had this car for no more than 3 months lol. not quite ready to see it go down like that and money is definitely an issue. gas is ridiculous!!!! i DO however plan on doing big things to this car but not sure where to look. thanks again guys!!!

 

I'd really like to make my car AWD and put in like a million horsepower engine. Is it possible??????!??!?

 

transverse mount a N1 RB26DETT in the engine bay, and transverse one in the trunk. mad AWD powah

 

Screw that, let's put two motors in, once for each axle, transversely mounted. Then you have AWD, almost perfect 50/50 weight balance, and two RB's is better than one...right RIGHT?????!?

 

That sounds like my Toyota echo hatchback with two 4age motors in it!

My maxima is currently getting a full restoration on the body and hopefully a rwd swap one day.

 

I would buy a used Infinity G35X if I wanted something Nissan and AWD.