hey guys i want to swap motors but the only thing is i dont know where to start at i got a 1990 nissan maxima i dont want to spend a hella lot but i want the most horsepower out of the engine and with the job to be little modifications so guys plz help me out i want something i can easily get 250-300 or more horsepower out of the engine i will be swapping for!!!! so plz get back to me on this im lost when it comes to this just leave me a email at maxima420187@hotmail.com or just instant message me on aim at ksnt420

 

Or you can just turbo and get that much power or more. You can buy a VG30ET (84-89 turbo 300zx engines) and go from there. But the stock VG in the maxima is pretty sturdy and responds well to boost. Before you do anything though research.

 

holy grave diggers batman....

 

Atleast the noob did a lil research before posting

 

20hp!!?!!? I want my money back. turbo or bust.

 

Why don't we do both a VG33 and turbo

 

I'm going to.

 

you going to toss in a rwd setup to cure the traction problems???

Badard none the less but what about traction?

~Alex

 

the 6thGen max has about 280HP but still fwd...

 

8" wide drag radials, and highway runs...You don't floor it, adjust throttle in respect to traction, and pray that the transmission doesn't break.

 

Not if I beat you to it !!

 

sorry to revive an old thread, but i'm interested in doing this, so i can take a vg33 and put it in my car, shave the heads, put in the VH45DE pistons, and some bolt ons and i can achieve a 9.7 CR?? how about displacement, i imagine it ups it but how much?? i was thinking about a turbo or DEK engine swap, but i think i'd like this more, less headache that engine swap, don't have to worry about the wear from a turbo, but before i undertake the project i wanted to make sure it'd work, and where can i get the VG33, i looked at ebay and carparts but i couldn't find one

 

Car-part.com search for infiniti qx4 engine. There are at least eight in alabama listed.

 

thats a VQ45, looking for the VG33E, thread says its in a pathfinder, am i right?

 

Pathfinder, Xterra, and Frontier all had them at some point. I can't remember which years had them though.

Thread Title:
3.4L 250hp VG engine

 

well he said with some bolt ons, so yea, i'm going to a few junkyards this week to try and find a wrecked one of those to see if i can get the engine for a decent price,
can't wait to get it started
onyl problem is i gotta find another REALLY cheap vehicle to drive i'll its under contruction

 

1997-2000 infiniti qx4
1997-? pathfinder, frontier, xterra
2000-? Quest
check out google

 

alright thnx

shouldn't the only things i have to worry about fabbing up is a new motor mount and exhaust?

 

you'll likely have to use the maxima's intake manifold as the pathfinder/truck manifold is too tall. you could always modify the pathfinder manifold or just fabricate a whole new one.

 

I think you should be good on those issues. The block is the same, just bigger bore, so i assume that there are bolt holes that you can use for the mounts. Exhaust should be the same as well...I would use the IM off of the maxima, because that will make it sooo much easier.

 

Are you sure the block is the same? As in the same height? 0.4 liters is ALOT of displacement just for an overbore. I would guess the block is taller. So if that is the case, hood clearance might be a problem

 

in his defense, look at a small block chevy.
you can get them from 265 CI to 400 CI and they are all the same physical dimensions externally.
so .4 liters isn't much of a stretch to go

 

supposedly on the vg it is. i always hear that there isn't much material to bore out so its likely they had to change some stuff around on the block for the extra displacement. the heads are supposedly identical to that of the VG30E... but i'm not positive on that either.

 

well from what i read in the thread it says there isn't much of an issue swapping it, just the usual stuff, i know the weakest thing will be my transmition, lol go figure

i went to a local junkyard and found the engine from a '97 pathfinder, he wanted 850 for it, but i think i'm going to look some more and find it cheaper, cause regardless if it runs perfect or not i'm rebuilding it seeing how i'm going to be right there anyways, might as well, i was wondering too, i know to get more displacement i'll either have to shave the heads or will the VH45DE pistons do that for me, like the wrist pins be different

oh, will i need to ECU from the pathfinder or will mine be ok??


whoa hang on, the VG33E from a pathfinder is either a RWD or 4WD, how is that going to work with my car being FWD, would that not require me basically rebuilding the driveterrain??

 

I definitely wouldn't shave the heads. That can potentially mess up the timing of the valve train. The 3.4 liters with the VH pistons should be more than enough.

Drivetrain wise it'll be fine. The bolt pattern should be identical to the VG30E's bolt pattern so the fwd tranny would bolt right up to it.

 

so just bore it another 1.5mm, place in the VH45DE pistons and it should be good to be put in? i was looking at the specs on it and it really doesn't have that much more power than the VG30E, can increasing the displacement boost it from 168hp to 250hp?? thats a huge increase

what about cams, with that kinda increase surely they'll need to be upgraded or will they be able to handle it

 

its not only the displacement increase but the compression ratio increase. its nearly a whole point higher which would make a pretty big difference alone.

 

true, sorry to ask dumb questions, lol just trying to get as much info as i can before i start so i won't ahve to ask so many while doing it, my other questoin is, what about the cams, will they holdup under the added horses? and the ECU, use mine or the pathfinders

 

cam wise the stock ones would work, but upgraded cams will net your some more power. VG's are supposed to respond very well to cam upgrades.

ecu wise, if at all possible i'd try using the maxima ecu. the pathfinder ecu is obd2 which is usually a pain to upgrade but is very *****y about anything you do to the engine. the maxima ecu is obd1 which could care less what you do to the engine and is much easier to modify. it looks like on that forum with the vg33 info the guy is using a jwt modified ecu to control everything but i'm not sure if he's using a newer or older ecu. i haven't read too much on that engine setup as i'd rather go turbo.

 

well turbo might be less of a headache to get in, but i like the idea of a NA engine instead of a turboed one, i was figuring i'd need somethign to manage the fuel/air mixture

 

oh just thought about something, with me boring it out, for it to be able to compensate with fuel, would i need a bigger throttle body??

 

Nissan Performance Mag did this with the VG30E in the Pathfinder. Here's the link- http://www.nissanperformancemag.com/...05/pathfinder/

 

Great link thanks. Looks like it's more involved than just swapping parts. Hope you guys know what you are doing.

 

that is an awesome article thnx very much, answered many questions i've had other than the ECU, with is about the only thing i've got left to figure out, how to wire it up

 

keep your ECU, but change the injectors to ones sized for the extra displacement.

that "shtick" with the VH pistons are enough to worry me though.

the head mods are nothing unusual (400 vs any other small block)
I'd probably look to see if there is a better flowing set of heads that don't need mods though

 

crap forgot about the injectors, glad that got covered before every was done, crank it and won't work!!!! lol

 

too small injectors won't cause it not too start (at least not when we tried) it just ran like crap on the higher end and under load (lean condition)

 

i know i was just sayin.....anyways i'll keep everyone posted as i get stuff done with pics of course, lol sure there will be some more questions and opinions asked along the way

 

you may know, but on the outside chance someone searches I want the aanswer to be right there

 

what??

if you're saying please do a writeup of course i will if you weren't meaning that then