Hi everyone
Im new here. Well I used forum as a resorce a lot in the past. Thats exactly what inspired me to do my own 3.5 swap.
This thread I want to descuss cheap mods on our 4th gens.
Here is what I have:
1997 SE (217xxx miles) with VQ35 from 2002 I35 (115xxxish miles)
5 speed
Minor things done to it such as intake and exhaust( Incompete)
Here are 2 things that im working on currently
2006 350z IM swap ( got intake localy both upper and lower for $80, needs welding. upper lid is cracked.
Coilovers are expensive and this car is more of a test mule for me. I want to do as many things on it as possible myself for very low $. Our maximas sit very tall stock so I went to junk yard and did some measuring and fitment trials. I picked up a set of 4 struts form 2002 Sentra SE-R. struts seems to be in a very good shape. With some modifications I will lower my by 2in. All 4 for $100
Im not into exterior mods jsut yet, I only care about handling and engine performance.

What cheap mods are you guys doing?

 

Ummm, the springs lower the car, not the struts.

 

INTAKE & EXHAUST = MINOR????? I dont follow your logic here.

Just curious, why did you swap from a 2002 I30???

Now, on to your question...
try an underdrive pulley?
try the NWP spacer kit?
anything by megan racing...
....you could try ebay....

 

LoL

 

Springs will only lower my by about 1.5-2 inches and my origional shocks will not last very long where with sentra struts i should be 2 inches lower for the same $. then I can add springs to those shock and go another 1.5 or so.

 

2002 I35 im sorry. it is vq35
How much are those underdrive pullies? Do the help much? I dont know much about them.
NWP spacer is expensive. Not sure if its worth the money. Plus ill be swaping 350z IM in the next week or two anyways.

 

Also I've some Honda owners and VW cut the strut towers and raise them 1-1.5 depends how much your hood allows you. Search here and I havent seen anyone doing it to maxima. Anyone know what I mean?

 

What if the strut assembly is shorter?

 

Well. If the strut were shorter yes it would lower, but isn't a problem with our cars bottoming out due to limited travel in the first place? People say lowering springs on stock struts on our cars is a recipe for disaster and I agree. lowering springs on shorter stock struts from another car with less travel and that is supposed to support less weight is not a solution to that in my eyes. Just my 2 cents I may just be crazy.

 

start drilling holes in the engine bay to save weight.

 

even if I just use sentra struts as is in stock form its still a 2 inch drop!!! I wont be doing springs just yet. Hopefully ill get to it this weekend and see what it will do. Ill take some pix and let you guys know. I assume the ride should stay about the same with so body roll but lower, so hopefully less of that.

 

Good Luck, dont go cheap on your suspension dont want you to Crash and kill yourself, just to save a couple of dollars .....

 

Agree. safety First! but I dont really see a reason why sentra struts wont work well. Maxima is havier a little. Sentra SE-R Spec V curb weight is 2743 and Maxima is only 3010. I did some weight reduction so technically its very close! Just a matter of one extra person in the car and I always drive alone. I absolutelly dont see a reason why this wouldnt be safe.

 

http://www.cosmoracing.com/productin...d=199&pid=1324

Here is the link to the underdrive pully I have.

It reduces accessory drive torque load on the engine.

 

I would suggest that you do all the major stuff first like complete the swap, 350Z IM. Then maybe later think about NWP spacers and the UDP. The power they add is like the cherry on top. Build up the cake 1st

 

the swap is done already. Broke the origional tranny too and replaced with another one already. Worked bugs out. Just need WB to tune by tape. Borrow the welder from my father in law. Will work on exhaust soon. Thinking about building my own y pipe, well kinda modifing the stock one. Stock headers, keeping the primary piping, getting rid of pre cats and both sides come to 2.5in all the way to the back. lower rad support already welded and fixed.

 

Nitrous set up waiting to be installed. that will be done for next season of racing. 100-150 shots. Hope to be deep into 12s

 

Yikes!!

 

VQ35 AND Nitrous???? Holy freaking cow.

 

You guys think it possible to run mid 12s with swapped 4th gen and 100 Shots? Im really hoping that with some tuning and mods with slicks to get into 13s N/A and 100 shots will probable get me into 12s? ....... 150 shots......

 

http://forums.maxima.org/all-motor/6...ml#post8664958

 

Awesome build bud. I have a ton of questiions.
Did you dyno it yet?
Why auto. Do you thing it'll be faster than 5 speed?
How much were you spraying on that 12.5 run?
How did you tune it N/A? Yourself? By tape? What did you use?

 

Also, the front sentra struts swap is done. Will do rear this weekend. Took about 2-2.5 hrs and im now 2-2 1/4 inches lower. had to swap upper strut mount and a little bit of modification to it but overall pretty easy. Need a little bit of creativity.
Car feels A LOT tighter. Less of that ugly body roll. Drove over bumps to see how stiff it is and i like it so far. Doesn't fill rough at all. Even stock to stock i can see a huge difference. But still would like to go another 2 inches lower. I'll drive it around as is for some time to get a fill of it and decide is I should just get lower springs.

 

I'll take so pix tomorrow

 

That's not my car, you will have to ask the guy that created that thread.

 

A 100 shot on a vq35 swap 4thgen is is beast get a good set of slicks and get the bottle pressure to about 1000-1100 and youll be definately in the 12s .......oh and thats without tuning no tuning needed but it would prolly be quicker when tuned

 

never dynoed it with nitrous ,autos are more consistent if u ever search for the fastest track cars in the world 95% of them are autos..... it was tuned n/a through the greddy emanage ultimate,i can only run nitrous on the stock ecu because my n/a tune is so aggressive

 

How much are those Greddy emanage? The mail purpose of the build is to keep the cost down. I bought a car for $500
$550 for vq35
$180 clutch
Blew tranny, $200 for used one
$400 in minor items. I'm about $2200 in it so far

 

I'm having trouble finding one at all for my 4th gen 3.5 swap. They don't stay I'm the classifieds long enough.

 

I used car-part.com
Searches all junk yards and many of them will give you 3-6 mo warranty.

 

with new struts im little less than 26.5 inches tall now.

 

blackmaxftw Do you spray from the start? retard your timing?

 

Thanks! I sent them an email because there wasn't a way to search aftermarket on the site that I saw.

 

I've found those junk yard guys don't respond to e-mails much, but when called very responsive. Putting a 350z mani into my vq35 swapped sentra... gathering parts too BTW don't steal all our struts man!

 

I was actually talking to one of my co-workers today about doing a swap to a 3.5. Was it a lot of trouble to do, like any special mods, or cutting?

 

And will I hafto swap trannys also?

 

Just search here on forum for more info on 3.5 swap. Plenty of info. Timing components swap is the tricky part, everything else is a piece of cake.

 

Update on my sentry struts swap. All 4 are done and it is 200% better. Sits nice and low. Ride quality is great, little stiffer but in a good way. Less body roll and handling is improved. So there it is..... It's doable and not too hard. All for $100.

 

I'm looking for a VQ35 motor. Any ideas on where to look?

 

A newer maxima