Hey everyone,

May be trolling for some hatred here, but I figured some of you may be interested in a project I've been working for the past year. In short, we took a 1994 Maxima, and shoved a Cadillac Northstar 4.6l V8 in the back seat. It is a pretty entertaining car to drive as I'm sure you can imagine, but here are a few pictures of possibly the dumbest / most bizzare things that has ever been done to a Maxima. We race it in the 24 hours of lemons too, so it was really done on a budget. If you wanna check the team out, you can find us here: https://www.facebook.com/PabstBlueRacing

Rebuild:


Complete Engine:


Starting the install:


In the car:


Exhaust and stupid wing:


Pit girl love:


Front of Car:

 

Sweet! Should've used a vq30. The northstar is nice too.

 

Looks like a blast! I assume it's RWD?

 

nice...

 

About time that Northstar engine gets put on a reliable car

 

nice work. got any videos of it running?

 

This is something I've dreamed up before, but that's about the extent of it. Good job making it happen. Any more pics or videos?

I recommend people search for a thread somewhere on the internets covering a mid mount conversion in an Integra. The guy did a very nice job.

 

I LIKE THE PIT GIRL! Lol Thats some nice wheel fitment.

 

no its a mid engine front wheel drive car...the ultimate performance package


although i think it is very cool

 

That's pretty sweet

We need vids of this car in action!

 

should have put the engine in the trunk transversely, RWD 3rd gen with the heaviest rear in the world with the leakiest engine in the world

 

Hey glad to see (most) of you guys like it! We just got done running it at Road America, so I'll try and get some of those videos up ASAP. Unfortunately the engine took a dump on us, but we are rebuilding and putting a 6 speed on it instead of the 400 lb (literally with our massive cooler) trans that is on there. In terms of weight, right now it is 3100lbs, with a 40 / 60 weight distribution. That will obviously get better when we put in our 125lb 6 speed.

 

finally a newbie i approve of,

 

 

What six speed manual bolts up to a transverse Cadillac engine?

 

This is Epic! I'm in for videos

 

In need of videos!!!!

 

I understand "because racecar" and all, but I'm not sure I'm feeling this one.
Is there a firewall between the driver and the engine?

Props for being different, can't fault you for doing something nobody's done before (afaik).
Also have other questions regarding the engineering, if you don't mind answering.

 

bish its got a non-Japanese engine in it and i like it even

 

For once a real need for a huge air splitter on the front and one big &$$ wing on the back.

I agree with the others, I like it.

 

Crazyyyyyyyyyyyy

 

its not reliable anymore

but it is cool

 

Props 4 puttin' the wrench time!!

 

This is way outside the box for us. Most of the time its craziness like RB into maxima. Yes it has been done once but more often theres talk of outrageous than any actually coming true. This guy didn't flood us with his plans/ideas. He just did it and enjoyed it and then showed us after he accomplished so much with it.

 

Thanks guys! still working on getting that video together.. Working to get a best of / worst of compilation of clips together.

As for some of the engineering questions that have come up, here you go. We did need to make a firewall, it s made of 3 major parts. First is the steel sheet that is welded between the cage and the body. Second is the aluminum sheet that makes up about 70% of the wall. The last component is the polycarb (lexan) for some reward visibility.

The transmission from a 2006 - 2007 g6 gxp (or a Saab 9-5) and bolts up with some re-working. It is a 6 speed manual, and has a torque capacity of 295 ft lbs, which is a less than what we will be putting down, but the limiting factor is the clutch slipping, so that is a pretty easy fix. The axles are going to have to be some G6 / caddy hybrid, but I'm not to concerned about that at this point. Should be pretty awesome to pull a couple hundred pounds off the rear end of this thing.

 

i live less than a half a mile from there. where are you located

 

so you guys had a lot of spare time and had a spare motor and a car sitting around?

interesting to say the least.

 

I am located in downtown Milwaukee, and the car is currently up in Sussex, WI. We decided to take a brake from working on it because we have been working on it consistently for about 8 months. Time to take a break!

As for why the engine was selected... The "judges" of the 24 hrs of lemons really like to see wild @$$ ideas executed, and have a strange love for Cadillacs. Knowing this, we were able to have the Maxima's value reduced to almost $0 if we did it. (The car, excluding safety equipment mus be under $500) On top of this the N* is pretty light for a v8, it is something like 420 lbs. Plus the transverse mounting made the mid engine concept possible.

 

So, a bit of an update on this thread that has been dead for some time. We ended up blowing up or first Northstar (it had a 175k miles, a toasted oil pump and the horrible stock ECU), but we have a new one in and running. Rather than dropping the manual in, we decided to make a standalone transmission controller. It is a bit easier for now, but the manual swap is still a hopeful for the future. Fun part is that it has actually been reliable enough to start dialing in for track use. Other changes from the pictures I put up before, is we dropped about 200 lbs from excess material removal, getting rid of that giant wing, and going from the Caddy ecu to a standalone unit (89 Beretta.. classy). The engine is really putting down some serious power, and although we haven't taken it to the strip we are guesstimating could be in the 12's for 1/4 times based on other cars we've lined it up against. Next steps are to dial it in more via adjusting brake bias and ride height.

I do have a question for you guys though, is there a steering rack that can be easily swapped in that has a tighter ratio? The one in there is a little loose for autox and track use. Thanks!

We do have a ton of pics and videos up now here:
https://www.facebook.com/PabstBlueRacing

 

I like this thing. Innovative project.

 

the steering rack off a 99 SE is pretty good, but not sure how well it'll bolt up to the 3rd gen shell you've got

 

I'll have to start taking a look around for the 99 rack then. Ours is just getting a bit sloppy and on some of the longer straights it gets a bit sketchy. Thanks!

 

stay away from the 5th gen (2000-2003) racks, just a FYI. Worst turning radius of the Maximas.


but then again, I dont' know if the 99 SE racks are stiffer than the 3rd gen

 

Man, that looks like fun to drive.

 

Also, what kind of camber, caster, and toe settings do people run up front for autox / road racing? Granted, we have a lot less weight than most people but at least this would get pointed in the right direction. Thanks for the help!

 

No hate here. If you do it and it's legit and it runs and drives, you get my nod of approval, even if it's something that doesn't even seem to make sense.

More pics of scantily dressed chicks next to Maximas would be nice, as well.

 

That's awesome!!!!

 

More pics of pit girl please!!!

 

Really nice concept and clean.
But why a northstar?
Was it the only engine you had a hand, it's not the most efficient or easiest to work on
Some insight be nice
Power/weight
Suspension setup

 

Take that back.
Too excited ran past all the info