Guys, I am seriously condsidering (waiting for VISA) doing this now. I have a local and very competent shop who has expressed serious interest in helping me get it done. Is anyone on the .org heard of anyone doing this before? I've been on and off the boards for a year or so and don't remember anyone. We are thinking using 240 parts as a basis to go on when fabricating. Obviously this would be accomponied by an engine/tranny swap but that part I'm keeping quite because we are still measuring. Also like the idea of having a true sports car but giving the insurance company the VIN of a 10 yr old 4dr. Feedback please.

 

Sure go ahead. Let me buy the kit when you are done

 

since u have money out the a$$ , seeing how u would need it to do this project, will u buy my new sub? but seriously, have fun and if all goes through get some pics up of some RWD burn outs!

 

why would you use 240 parts as a basis when the chasis are in no way shape or form alike..... I understand people come on here for help and to ask questions, but sometimes the ideas are WAY off

 

Does that shop have a website? Good luck! Got pics?

I stopped asking why a long time ago DA-MAX.

 

The parts would not be used exactly but one would need some sort of basis for custom fabrication and since the 240 has mad potential and is RWD it would be better to start with ideas and a basis from its parts than from scratch. If you have a suggestion for another auto for us to base our suspension set up on I would love to hear it. The Z31 and 32 will also be considered. This is a complete custom job so some things will work and some won't and trial and error will be a part of this process, you know that. Also, in the past the shop has specialized in 240's and they know that the car's components work and work well. Jeff I will PM you the adress. And about the finacial part, since I am the first to do this swap/conversion with this shop the price would be much less than a lot of guys have spent on their kits, wheels, and bolt ons. I have to wear 3 of the shops stickers for a year though, which I think is worth the 8-12k in labor it will save me.

 

why?? how could those two cars possibly help?? and being that this is probably the 10,674,576th time a post like this has popped up and yet no one has produced(seems to be slowly becoming the norm) all i have to say is actions speak louder than words... but when you make claims like this and then have some "way out there" basis that some remotely unrelated chasis/car will help in the design, what do you expect poeple to think??

maybe I'm crazy but maybe using a car with a similar wheelbase and chasis/body dimensions would be a better start...imagine that

 

Ok so the guys running SR's with MAF from a mustang cobra is dumb too because one is a 4 cyl and the other an 8. Or how about the brake conversion so many of us have done up front from the 300zx. You think only one chasis/bodystyle auto uses a mcpherson strut? Come on, you seem to have some general knowledge of automobiles. Good parts are universal...obviously not the exact same sized part but history tells that one manufacturer's success is duplicated throughout the market. The point of the post was to see if anyone new of any successful conversion. I know there are a lot of **** talkers on the org but my reasoning behind doing this instead of buying a new 350 is simple....I can afford the car....but the insurance company has laughed me off the phone. Now if you have a suggestion I'd love to hear it but the guys I am working with can boast the first successful RB to 240 swap in the US and now maufacture harnesses and motor mounts for the above so when they suggest things to me I listen. They suggested using the exhaust tunnel for the drive shaft and basing the suspension from the 240's design. If it doesn't work then we try something else its not a difficult concept.

 

great lets get further off base...if you think all this is gonna come down to is matching part #s off struts and compatible brake rotors than all I have to say is good luck, be sure to use lots of duct tape. these type of threads come and go and come again...nothing new.

 

Why don't you just save a bunch of money and buy a 240sx and go from there?

Seems like a lot of work for little reward. You can be the only guy in town with a rear-wheel drive Maxima that gets his *** handed to him by cars with half the money put into them.

 

Even better, just buy a late model 300Z TT

One of these days, someone is gonna prove us cynics wrong and actually build a half decent RWD max. So I say, wait 'n see, wait 'n see.
Personally, I'd probably use the Jap RWD Cefiro as a donor car as far as mechanical parts are concerned - although not sure RB30 would fit in the engine bay facing N-S. Don't think a V6 would fit either, come to think of it (nothing a little sheetmetal work wouldn't fix...).
Good luck.

 

i agree totally. why sink the money into the max. it wasnt designed to be a rwd sports car, just get a 300zx. with the amount of money your looking at you can prolly get one for around that price range

 

one big problem i foresee is the steering stuff. the tranny will sit right where the rack and pinion thingy is. you would more than likely have to move that to the front of the cross member like on a rwd car and change the steering column quite a bit. it can definately be done but it will take a long time, a lot of work, a lot of planning, and probably a lot of money. if you are going to use the v6 i would suggest using the 87-89 300zx tranny or the 300zx TT tranny as those will handle 500-600 hp incase you mod the engine like crazy. you might also want to change the intake but wouldn't really be required since the nissan cima was rwd and had the maxima intake on a vg30et. you will also need to look into getting a fuel cell. if i remember correctly the gas tank will sit right where the rear end will be. if it doesn't then you will at least need a gas tank with a tunnel in it for the drive shaft. good luck on your project! it would definately be cool seeing a rwd maxima. i have something in the plans that is as crazy as what you are doing so i'm not going to flame you for it, just give you as much help as i can.

 

Hmmmmm J30 ring a bell, anybody?

 

the infiniti j30 or our chassis code?

 

i think due to the fact that he used the words "mad potential" that this thread should be looooooooooonnnnnnnnnngggggggg gone

 

well... if it does work out i think he would have much more power potential than our crappy fwd trannies.

 

That's true, but is the "mad" really necessary yo? When I boost, I will have mad potential yo. Ain't that right? werd

How's your project coming?

 

yeah... i don't think the mad is really needed, lol.

my project... uh... well...
i was getting some really nasty valve noise (and i think the valves were sticking too) which was scaring me and ****ing me off so i decided to swich the heads out with the maxima heads which i know are in good condition. i ordered a whole head gasket set for 80 dollars off of ebay and those should be here on friday. i'm going to fix the exhaust studs in the meantime and switch over the cams. i'm also going to get the heads boiled and have them checked for flatness. i may even try getting a port and polish done since they are out. i also sent out my ecu and some eproms. there is a guy in canada that has messed with burning nissan eproms so i sent him the stuff to do it in hopes of making my car run better. i sent him a spare ecu so i don't really have much to worry about incase something happens. that shoud be back within a month, hopefully sooner.

i checked my ecu code and finally got an error code. it was code 21 saying there was something wrong with the ignition so hopefully that is what is causing the problems. i'm not really sure how to test it at the moment but i have an online fsm so that should help me out a little bit.

i'm hoping to be done by mid-september or earlier if possible. my month long project is now pushing 6 months, lol.

 

but yet he insists on using RWD 2door sports cars as his models...

 

burtreynolds-----

Go for it. Although others have posted similar claims, that does not mean that someone will not do it. Hopefully--it would be nice to read--you will be "the one." Don't listen to the nay-sayers.

I fully understand what you mean by using a 240SX as a model. It is not that you are looking for a direct bolt on, but just an idea. Heck, with enough sheet metal work, anything is possible. That is evident with people who build cars from scratch for thier own personal satisfaction. It seems that some others are having a difficult time understanding that.

Also, I can understand the shop's reason for wanting to tackle this job. The plubicity that a successful RWD Maxima would generate could be priceless. Drive around for a year with the shop's stickers on your car? Definitly. Heck, if it worked out right, I would drive around for a few years.

Good luck and go for your dream car. Yea, you could get other RWD cars, but NONE OF THEM WOULD BE A MAXIMA. Regardless of whether other cars could blow your doors off. It is not about that; it is about the exclusivity that this modification would bring you. Heck, people pay $90,000 for cars that get blown away by cars that cost 1/5th the price.

 

Hence, the word PLATFORM. I have seen many classic rods with half the wheelbase of a vette with Z06 susp. bolted directly on after little modification. Regardless, that is not our intent here. The 240's PLATFORM will be looked at in order to HELP initiate custom fabricated, funcional components. To those who say buy a 300zx, have you compared the insurance on the two cars? And my driving record is less than exemplary so I need four doors and I need something paid off (like my Max now).

 

I hear you. And yeah, you do wreck too much.

 

I N F I N I T I J 3 0

 

but why in the world would you want to use a RWD 4 door car with the same chasis code as the 3rd gen Maxima as your model?? Thats just plain silly!!!!

 

 

When the Tranny in my moms Maxima went out, I practically begged her to sell me the car so I could do a RWD conversion. Figured I'd use Cefiro parts, and build a sweet VG33ET.

 

there is at least on thread per day I see on here deserves that icon...the "Why the F*ck Do I Even Try Award"

 

Hmm, I bet you a RWD Maxima drives straight down the road just like a FWD maxima... Not sure if it is worth dumping 12k into a car so it can do something it already does without a problem. Yeah, I know there is a difference overall, more like the FWD maxima will succesfully drive you from one side of the US to the other while the RWD probably won't make it back to the shop where it came from. Sort of like that old saying that Jaguar owners had to have two cars, one to drive and one to keep at mechanics getting fixed...

I think I would start with finding another insurance company. When I called my insurance company about adding a 300zx TT (out of curiosity not because I bought one) it ended up being about the same as the max. Of course I'm still under my parent's so the multi car discount helped and they haven't seen my two speeding ticket's because I took care of traffic school.

One last thought this shop should consider. Would it be wise to spend all of this time and money into a car that the driver has a hard time staying out of wrecks...

With that being said if you actually do get it completed and post actual pictures then I will be right in line waiting to congratulate you on your truly one of a kind ride.

 

Who said 12K?

 

s14/z32/r32 subframes will not fit the maxima. Don't even bother trying. IF you want RWD just buy a RWD car. Insurance on a s14 isn't bad.

 

Im looking for a cheap S13 now that runs.

 

s13's those are 95 and later right? Should be able to find them pretty cheap no problem. Where you live, i know a guy whose selling his with the SR20DET swap or whatever it is fairly cheap.

 

correction as in later i mean, older 95,94.....

 

If you're going to do something this crazy, then go all the way. Gut the donor body, brace the body, cut-out the floor, take your measurements, built your frame (use whatever suspension set-up you like from an existing vehicle), put your built-up V6 or V8 on the chassis (twin turbo mine please ), then set the body over the frame, build your floor, do a custom interior and you're done.

Trouble is....., even doing it this way (easiest way), you're still going to run into high dollar figures. It is possible to keep the costs down, but that would require using an existing chassis (something like and S10 would work - and it's already designed to hold a V6 or V8), but then you're limited to a live-axle rear suspension - unless you feel you can handle a Jag of C5 conversion?

Anyway...., I highly doubt you'll ever actually do this, but it's nice to see someone with enough courage to even sugest trying something that the masses say is 'stupid' or 'can't be done' or 'why bother?'.

 

as a couple of others have posted, get a J30. it is the same chassis, just it is RWD. take a J30, measure it, prepare it by stripping all of the sheetmetal off of it, and rob the sheet metal from a 3rd gen and throw it on the J30. do the same for the interior. gut the J and install the 3rd gen interior in there. seeing that there is no way to avoid major conversion techincal difficulties, at least you have the RWD chassis already made for you with the J. the steering, the gas tank, the driveshaft tunnel, the whole damn thing is setup. so fu#$ck the whole S14 idea. that is what i would do had i the dream and motivation and wallet to do it.

by the way, i bought an S14 to cure my need for RWD and a true "sports car." so i have both.

 

My God, it never ends on this board!

Go buy a sports car that's already RWD. Anything is possible but a project of this magnitude is somewhat ridiculous because of how drastic it is. I hope you understand you will basically be stripping your Maxima down to the bare chassis and re-engineering it from the ground up. Now, I confess, for the last 2yrs I've been thinking about everything that would be involved in modifying my Maxima to RWD, and exactly how I could accomplish that. Though, that was purely a mental exercise because I like thinking out crazy projects like that. Don't even ask me about all the insanely crazy Porsche projects/engine swaps I've thought of (for newbies: no I do NOT mean Porsche swaps in Maximas, but Porsche swaps in Porsches! ) In reality, I don't have the money to blow. No, I'd rather spend my money (and will be shortly) on my 240z and an rb26 swap and have an insanely fast RWD sports car, while doing another turbo engine swap to my Maxima, and using it as a fun daily driver.

I think some people need to realize the Maxima isn't a sports car. It is a sporty sedan but, it's nothing like a BMW, Porsche, etc. For all the money it would cost to modify your Maxima for RWD, I could get you a d@mn older 911, z32TT, 944 Turbo, mk3 Supra Turbo, or any other number of cool sports cars. Go get a ride in a TTZ and you'll forget all about your Maxima.

 

i don't believe the infiniti J30 uses the same chassis as the maxima. it's a bit longer and wider than the maxima if i remember correctly. (the wheel base is longer for sure)

 

Just Donate your car to Monster Garage and tell them to make it AWD with a Skyline engine. Saves you all the work!