I'm gonna get this outta the way before anyone else does, I am a . I have been on the honda scene for some time, but just recently bought a '90 maxima. Several friends here in my town want me to get into the racing scene and run the imports part of things. The '90 maxima is a atuo trany, if possible, can this be swaped out with a manual? I know the computer will have to be reprogramed, but what other snags would i run into? A friend of mine swears by V6 vtec, can one get into a '90 maxima? And just how many of these questions are stupid? Let the ripping and tearing of me start.

 

If you wanna get into the racing scene a VG auto certainly isnt the way to do it.. however, yes you can swap your car to a manual.. that's becoming quite common amongst VG boys.. there's at least 4-5 people I can think of offhand who've done that.

As far as putting the Honda engine into your Maxima.. what do you think the answer to that is.....?

BTW, some of us here swear by the VTC v6

 

All Honda's suck, especially V6's

 

No, just kidding, I really do like Hondas but it wouldn't be worth your trouble to swap a whole honda V6 into a maxima. Besides, Nissan makes the best 6's. VG30-very reliable and lots of aftermarket parts, VE30DE-dual overhead cam, variable timing, 190 hp/190 ft/lbs tq, VQ30-ten best list of motors like ten years in a row or something, why would you want a honda 6? Plus, I know they have manuall trannies on the brand new honda V-6, but is there a manual tranny for the older ones? I personally have a '92 SE 5spd with the VE motor and it kicks butt. The reason I went from a '94 accord EX 5 spd to a 92 Maxima is because I wanted to start with a fast car with a V-6 instead of spending lots of $$$ just to get a car that is kind of fast. If I were you, I would sell the maxima auto and get a '92-94 maxima SE with the VE and 5 spd tranny already in it. Lots of time and money saved that could be spent on upgrades.

 

A VE would be much better for modding if you were to just do bolt-ons. However, there's always the z31 (84-89 300zx) Vg30et swap that could be done. Custom work, of course, but not too hard if you have experience with swaps. Vg30et's can make 300+ wheel HP fairly easy (t3/t4 hybrid + bolt-ons) and would probably be more than enough to destroy your friends. What kind of Honda's do your friends have?

It's fairly simple to do the manual swap. Everything bolts right up, and you can use your existing auto axles since they are the same. You need the following:

-hydraulic clutch lines
-manual flywheel (get it resurfaced if you get one from the junkyard)
-new clutch (if you get the parts from a junkyard, the clutch is probably crap)
-shifter linkage
-manual tranny mounts
-clutch slave/master cylinder
-clutch pedal and manual brake pedal

And that's pretty much it. As I said, it all just bolts right up. The only custom thing is you have to drill 3 holes to mount the master cylinder, although that's not very hard. There is also a couple things you have to rewire, like for the reverse lights. You also have to use a jumper on one relay in the engine bay or the car won't start (I forget what this one was). The clutch pedal bolts right up since the mount is in all Maximas regardless of the auto tranny. Also, you do not need to have the ECU reprogrammed. The auto tranny has a separate ecu that you can just disconnect. Me, personally, I drove with the tranny ecu connected and disconnected but there didn't seem to be any difference either way so don't worry about the ecu.

 

Since you are looking for an engine swap just do the 84-89 VG30ET engine swap. Why go through all of the trouble to get a VTEC when all you need to do is relocate a turbo. do a member search for mtcookson. He did this install. THe car was up and running but he had to fix a spooler I believe.

 

dont forget getting ur ecu adjusted for boost and im sure u will have to run a bigger fuel pump.
- for the swap, i think all but one mount fits perfectly in the engine bay,
-its expensive.. but vgt's will get much respect on and off the streets

-ef honda'

 

the mount that doesn't work is where the turbo is located so you have to relocate the turbo. That is where mtcookson had trouble. I will be doing this mod hopefully by next year. By then I'll be owning a VQ max too. I also heard that you can do the VG33 Supercharger swap from a pathfinder. Do some research on this. I know I am.

 

basically a VG auto is NOT the maxima to do modding on. if you really want a max to mod get what i have, a 92-94 SE VE30DE 5speed....

 

okay so scratch the vtec, but keep the same car and assume money isn't much of a problem, (i plan on doing this within the next two years), within resonable boundaries, (no $100,000 stuff). gone and done the Vg30et engine swap with matching trany and the turbo to go with. once here what else can you do? let off valve for the turbo, change the exhaust systems, the suspension, an intake, now i've gone and ran outta ideas. and can ANYONE place a price tag on this?
and one more thing. Thanks for your imput. I was expecting to get ripped apart.

 

i dont rip apart newbies with 1-5 posts after that let the flames begin !!, j/k if you really want the vg fast then its gonna cost ya time and money. first do the 5speed swap get a good donner car and swap the out, now make sure your car is running tip top shape - basic bolts ons, cai, udp ect.. if you want real power youll have to fab up a custom turbo setup, ask mtcookson about that he has a vg turbo....

 

The vg30et is the way to go if you want to make lots of power on a Maxima for cheap. Here are some mods for the vg30et that would be good to do:

-Generously sized FMIC
-370cc injectors (z32 300zx 90-96)
-T3/T4 hybrid (usually ~$600 from many places)
-3" exhaust
-JWT Tuned ecu (it's simple and better than "bandaids" like the SAFC IMO)
-Metal head gaskets
-Walbro 255 fuel pump ($100 from lots of places)
-Adjustable FPR
-ACT Stage II clutch (~$350-400)


That's pretty much it. Figure about $800-$1k for a really good condition vg30et and another ~$3k in the mods listed above and you will be good for safely running alot more boost (depending on the turbo specs) and 300-350fwhp pretty easily. It's not too hard to get power out of the Vg30et. It would be easy with the mods I listed above to have a good 300fwhp running no more than 1bar of boost. It's not really that hard or expensive. If you plan on doing this project over 2yrs then it should be pretty easy to afford.

 

1bar = 15.3 psi ????

 

~14.5psi. A bar is slightly less than an atmosphere, which is 14.7psi.

 

i still have so much to learn on turbo systems

 

i have a 5-speed parts car minus the shifter and shift linkage I'd sell. But it would have to be picked up

 

dang, if i still lived in indiana i'd buy that.

 

Okay so right quick, i need some translations. some of these things i have no clue on. FMIC, T3/T4 hybrid, and Adjustable FPR. well some of a clue just not much of one. if you can clue me in that would be great. and the 5 speed parts, hang on to that for a little while longer, and maybe this summer after school is out, i'll be getting that.
Thanks again for everyones help.

for who ever it was who was wondering, my brother's honda civic is a '93 hatch CX that now has a H22A prelude engine in it now, and not sure what else he has gone and done but he isn't done yet either. there is one honda, i'll check out the other honda's this weekend while i am out. but now i am back to maximas

 

fmic - front mount intercooler
T3/T4 hybrid - a hybrid turbocharger that consists of a T3 turbine housing (exhaust side) and a t4 compressor housing (intake side). it has the power capabilities of a full T4 turbo but with the spooling characteristics of a T3.
adjustable fpr - a fuel pressure regulator that you can change the fuel pressure with. all fpr's should have a vacuum referrence which will lower the fuel pressure when there is vacuum and most aftermarket units will also have a boost referrence that will raise fuel pressure when under boost to help deter detonation.

 

If you are truly into racing, you really have a looong way to go with your current car.

If you are going to spend this kind of money and you want a fast Nissan, I would recommend selling your Maxima and finding an s13 and turboing the KA in it or swapping in a SR20DET or RB20DET. The process is a little easier, especially if you know what you want going in. Right now you are looking at kind of an uphill climb, starting with a VG auto.

If you are determined to have a Maxima, you would probably be in it for a lot of time and money doing the tranny swap just to get a start on it.

FMIC = intercooler
T3/T4 is a turbo
FPR = fuel pressure regulator

Also, their is no "chip" for maximas, you have to send in your ECU to JWT and have them reprogram it.

Good luck with your project.