The Conversion
 

Welp I'm starting a new thread because of noise and deterioration in the others concerning this type of body swap. The original thread served only as a source of motivation for me and nothing more. If I'm able to pull it off the way I would like I will not do a writeup as I don't think a lot of people care for this type of a headache. My VE is worth preserving thus I sacrifice a few braincells to get it done.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a22...a/DSCF4580.jpg
I have a 1992 FSM on the way...the freebie 1994 pdf lacks 1992 specific details

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a22...a/Scrapped.jpg
Death of a VE5

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a22...ixma/VE2VG.jpg
One pearl white giving life to another

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a22...xixma/Back.jpg
Yes we keeps her covered in the hood at that.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a22...a/DSCF4570.jpg
Both harnesses swapped and lots of testing currently taking place. Can you say leaky steering rack?

More to come stay tuned, the forum blockade says I'm limited to five images...so until then boys.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a22...ma/VE30DEa.jpg
This clack free 1994 motor came with the VE5 apparently yanked out of an auto.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a22...a/DSCF4567.jpg
The VG engine room harness sitting on my kitchen floor where I reference and chop into it as needed.

Hah clack free. :laugh: Good luck! Seems like a lot of work. Um what was wrong with the VE car in the 1st place again?

Extreme rust and a bent chassis...bought it with a front end collision.

Wait, what are you doing exactly? Putting a VE 5 into an original VG car?

Good luck, shouldn't be too hard. I think most people here overstate the degree of difficulty/hassle of the swap.

i miss the glory days of the VE :(

i am definetly subscribed to this thread. cant wait to see the finished product.

Just got to tweak the harness at various areas. Swap out the cooling unit because the VE AC compressor piping is bigger and the fuel pump needs to be rewired.

I'm all over it.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a22...a/DSCF4589.jpg

Finally got to spend a day with it today...among the things I did I rewired the fuel pump (from here) and ran a ground connection to the pump.The pump action is quite basic in the VE when compared to the VG me thinks.

Still working on the baby. Swapping lots of stuff to the shell mostly electrical. Cut up the VE SMJ and fuse box so I can extract what I need to inject in the shell. All I have left to finish up is plugging in F1 into M12 (the other end is already inserted into the fuse box) moving the cornering light connection from I3 in the 1990 se SMJ (M12) to I5 and bypass the VG relay (M4) should be done in half an hour tops. Next up is the engine swap. Pics?

It's all about that N15 life. Seriously though, there may be some differences between 92-94 even though there shouldn't be. But regardless, it's light years ahead of what Nissan was doing previously. They really started to think logically about things around 1988.

I know you're right about differences though, after trying to swap a 1992 door lock timer into a 94 I realized it wasn't going to work. I'm sure that's just scratching the surface, but I don't think you need to cut anything though. Just swap complete engine room > SMJ > cabin.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a22...DSCF4616-1.jpg

I'm cutting out the VG and splicing in the VE. BTW the shell is 1990 and the donor is 1992. There are three circuits that must be modified if you want this swap to work right. I swapped all the electrical stuff from the donor RH front door to the shell with excellent results.

Great thread, please keep us updated!

Well guys I'm still at it. Swapped the VE into the shell today, ran outa daylight so we had to stop.

Nice, I want a VE-5... wish I had money to buy myself a real nice clean one

Sometimes you gotta build it...

:werd:

I built my blue one. It started as a $200 junker VE auto. About $3500 later and basically a brand new car under the body and now I'm ready for paint/body, but gotta get some $$$ together first.

You either build it or buy one on its last leg and restore it/build it. Thats me and my almost finished project.

I think building it can be a little costly and if you aint feelin inspired, don't put a later Max in the shell of a earlier one no matter how nice the body is. Plugging stuff up today I realize the VG accelerator cable is much shorter than the VE.

Talk about true determination and motivation Good Luck:kiss:

She started today...didn't let it run because no coolant is in the engine. The heater core and the water c0ck assembly will have to be swapped to accommodate the larger hoses and the VG water c0ck thingy is pressing against the EGR tube due to the design, also the power steering pipes will be swapped. The ASCD cable is longer than the VE type so that will be addressed as well. Having the two FSM's to compare the electrical differences made it a lot less difficult me thinks. It's all mechanical quirks at this point.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a22...xma/Cables.jpg
The accelerator cables.


http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a22...ransplant2.jpg
That's how she sits right now in the VG shell.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a22...ransplant1.jpg
Now the work begins making it satisfying to the eyes and mechanically correct.

Like I said before...the writeup concerning this type of swap is misleading and will frustrate the uncommitted. Yet it did motivate me to do it and if the proper steps are taken, then it's a piece of cake and can even be done without needing a donor car. As I stumble my way through it I'll let y'all know. But she works as of right now. Time to go get drunk.:D

More monologue
 

Next week when I revisit my project car I will do the power steering lines and the conversion will be DONE!!! Then it's on to the regular stuff. The ASCD pump was swapped today and the VE cable is indeed shorter by about six inches so the sh!t is sitting correctly now. The water c0ck assembly was replaced and all is well.
BTW on my way to the house I was a prestine 3rd gen, it looked like it came out of cryogenic storage, no mods or none o that crap. Pure factory and pretty as hell. I stopped and gave the owner my respects.

hah! I had the same thing happen to me yesterday with a burgundy GXE.

I had a helleva time swapping the power steering lines today, but I got it done in a couple hours. Didn't wanna bend anything. Juiced her up with all the fluids and revved the Bejesus out of it...no leaks (well the crank seals are kinda tired), no missing, idling as great as it did in the other body.
On another note...if anyone wants to do a swap over like this...

Other thread reminded me of this so I'll give you a bump. Kind of sad the lack of responses after all that work, although mostly a direct swap with minimal rewiring, it's still a lot of work. Congrats.

Ain't that the truth

so im curious. what is that thing on the bottom center of that last pic. on the left side of the valvecover in front of the relay box and power steering resevoir?

ABS system

Subscribed

ahh. thanks.i actually had that realization while reading sum initial d. haha

Rewired the fuel pump, pin swapped it's 15A fuse back into the fuse box since the 90 model is different. It wasn't absolutely necessary but I wanted it in. Pin swapped the SMJ to get the turn signals to work, wired up the horns and ASCD, swapped cluster, mirrors and switch, cooling unit because the compressor hoses are larger, accelerator cable is longer, ASCD cable is shorter so swap them I did. Steering rack lines, water c0ck had to be swapped as the VG type was resting against the EGR tube.
When it came time to swap the engine we simply dropped it out the bottom with transmission, axles and hubs still attached on a piece of plyboard then slid it over to the shell where we lifted it into place, all without spilling a drop of engine or gearbox oil :D. (Synthetic oil aint cheap) Charged up the battery hit the key and she came to life.

Put the poly filled mounts in along with new engine cradle bushings and I have no increased vibration. All I have left to do is the exhaust to make her road ready.