This is a work-in-progress. i just wanted to get something started. im going to keep adding to it each day. i got part numbers for most of these parts.

REQUIRED PARTS
02+ 6spd maxima transmission. sentra spec-v will also work (if you use maxima bellhousing)
5.5 gen 6spd maxima shifter assembly
5.5 gen 6spd maxima shifter cables
6spd drivers side axle
6spd pass axle*
6spd frame trans mount
6spd transmission mount
6spd flywheel
6spd clutch
5spd timing ring
6spd starter
6spd slave cylinder

OPTIONAL PARTS
aftermarket 6spd flywheel with bolt on timing ring
upgraded clutch
custom 1" lengthened pass axle
axle seals **
shifter assembly cover
bolt on 5spd timing ring from travis(turbos13hatch)
polyurethane shifter bushings
short throw shifter
stainless steel clutch line



PROCEDURE
im not going to go much into detail about removing the 5spd parts because if you are taking on this project, you can handle that.

install shifter cables- pretty self explanatory, pull off the control cable cover, snake the cables in. i routed them to the pass side, above the ecu. boring out the hole wouldnt be a bad idea, as it can be hard to move and bend the cables to route them correctly.



it will be necessary to drill into the cover as the pre-drilled holes wont line up. i got the bottom one but not the top to line up.


i put dynamat on there to quiet the road noise, and keep water out.


mount shifter assembly- pretty easy to do also, but it needs to be slightly modified. there are bushings on each of the 4 bolt holes, these bushings must be takin out in front because, if not, the bolts attached to the floor wont be tall enough to be used. you will need to 2 nuts and bolts for the back holes.

 

damn so is the 6 speed shifter mechanism electronic?? its got cables like the auto did. I was so happy to simplify everything with shifter rods like the 5 speed has.

 

no. its a mechanical shifter. theres a control cable and shift cable. one controls left to right movement and the other controls forwards and backwards movement. i prefer the cable shifter because everything is enclosed and protected from the elements.

 

taking off the old 5spd mount- the old mount is held on with 8 spot welds, 4 on top and 4 on the side. either drill em out or grind em off.

install 6spd flywheel- if you chose the route i took, you will take the 6spd cps off your aftermarket, then align that timing ring with your 5spd one from travis, and drill out the corresponding holes. then reattach the timing ring with the supplied bolts and some blue locktite. since, you are using a 5spd cps, you dont need to clock the timing ring, so just install the flywheel by aligning the dowel pin and tightening the bolts in a criss-cross pattern, to the torque specs

correct fidanza maxima flywheel

pos xtd 350z flywheel


the clutch disk and pp are easy to install, just make sure to clean the pp and flywheel well, and torque the pp to the correct specs in the correct sequence.


trans mount install- you can either weld this mount to the frame or bolt it to the frame. i decided to bolt it to the frame, because i didnt have access to a welded. but if you bolt it to the frame, you will need to cut a small, rectangular hole in the outward facing side of the frame to be able to anchor the bolts with the supplied nuts. you will need to install the transmission on the engine to align the mounts. get the transmission on, use a couple bolts to get the trans flush with the block. rebolt the front crossmember if unbolted. bolt on the trans mounted bracket on the transmission, then attach the frame mounted mount with the supplied bolt. then set the frame mount flush on the frame and mark the holes. unbolt both brackets, lower the front crossmember, and uninstall the transmission if necessary. drill the holes for the mount. then cut the rectangular hole on the outward facing side of the frame. then tighten the nuts on the bolts, securing the frame mount.

 

 

Just thought I'd throw some numbers out for you guys that I got the other day from DaveB

VQ 6-speed Bellhousing (for those wanting to do the SER Spec V trans swap): $248
6-mt HLSD differential: $467
5.5 Gen Bolt-in Transmission Mount (that bolts to the engine bay/fender): $65.90
5.5 Gen 6-Speed shifter cables (LOL): $207.46
5.5 Gen Floor Shifter (ROFL!): $351.48

 

Dayam! Nice writeup!! Thanks a lot for doing this.

Instead of using Travis' ring, could I just remove the ring from my 5 spd flywheel and redrill it? How does Travis' ring differ from the OEM one (besides not being predrilled?)

 

im not sure on the 5speed but I used a auto timming ring on my 6speed swap. It beats waiting on or trying to get in contact with travis or waiting on him to get one for you. And it was free for me!

 

Nice. How is the auto cps ring working for you? Do you still have it welded directly on to the 3.5 ring, and did you have to have your flywheel balanced?

Also, if I bought an aftermarket flywheel with a bolt-on CPS ring, could I drill holes in the auto timing ring to mount it to the aftermarket 3.5 flywheel like w/ Travis' CPS ring?

 

travis's ring is flat, where both the 5spd and auto timing rings have an offest. theres more of an offset on the 5spd, which leans me to believe that it wont work, because either it will hit the block or you will have to take off too much material to make it strong.

charles, correct me if im wrong, but you only had to do minor modification to the auto timing ring to get it to weld on, correct?

 

yeah no lie. I've been waiting on mine since the beginning of March and I haven't been able to get in contact with him as he hasn't returned any PM's or AIM contacts.

 

I had to cut a auto ring in half just about. to get it to be the right offset to work. If not it would hit the oilpan and block. Tilley said that I would not have to balance the wheel. How could they balance it anyhow it has a removeable surface plate!

 

i was just thinking, im working off a 3.5 and most people will be using a 3.0 still. the trans still bolts up fine correct? i would assume so since a 5spd mounts to a 3.5 so y not a 6spd. but i seem to remember tilley saying that it didnt bolt right up when he did his. does anyone know for sure?

 

I can !!! It mounts up with no problems.

 

The both the 5spd and 6spd transmissions will bolt to both engines, VQ30 and VQ35. Especially since the 6spd always came with the VQ35. The flywheel/clutch setup is a different story and is talked about above.

The transmission mount for the 6spd is different from the 5spd and has nothing to do with the engine.

 

i know all that, i just think i remember tilley sayin sumthing about how it wouldnt mount up with out modification......o well. thanx for confirming charles. get the bolts yet?

 

moving the abs modulator- modulator is bolted to a bracket, that bolts to the inner frame rail. this bracket needs to be gotten rid of. i used zip ties to pull it upwards by the master cylinder.




transmission install- its easiest to do with someone under lifting it up and someone up top helping. the shift assembly should be pushed down and inward, and the shifter cable bracket should be uninstalled to make installation easier. make sure mating surface between block and bellhousing is clean, to avoid starter grounding problems. torque the trans bolts to spec and in the proper sequence. reinstall the shift cable bracket. raise the front of the subframe, so the cables can be attached to the shift assembly using cotter pins and the cables installed in the bracket using the appropriate clips.



attach mount bracket to transmission, then jack up front subframe, so the 2 mount parts can be joined. torque the front subframe and the mount bolt to spec.

starter install- the 6spd starter ground cable is a female connector, so is the connector on the engine harness. i cut both connectors off, and wired them together. then bolted the starter in, and connected up the pos. cable.


you can see the heatsink in the lower left of the pic.

relocating cps- the RWD 6spd flywheel has a different offset than the FWD 6spd flywheel, so the cps hole will need to be enlarged, and a new hole for the bolt will need to be drilled and tapped.



sr20den said it was 6.7mm iirc. i didnt actually measure, i drew a line on the bell housing and on the cps, just bored the hole out to the drivers side, until the car would start and run. then mark, drill, and tap the hole.

 

Nah they will be here friday Ill know then for sure if my auto ring is going to work. ill take pics of some of my install for the write up as well and iLl take some pics of these 6SPEED flywheel bolts too with them next 5pspeed bolts and post them up

 

Sweet man , when mine gonna be toast , ill look into 6speed for sure

STIKY !!!

 

Here is the what the 6speed flywheel bolts look like. You will need these to bolt most aftermarket flywheels on and maybe the stock one too!

 

o snap, no wonder i had to "modify" my socket to use the 5spd bolts. i like your choice in laptops.

 

WHy Thankyou!

 

Did you order these from Nissan, or were you able to get them elsewhere?

 

NIssan only on these and they anit cheap!

 

weLL JUST Got everything bolted up and tryed to start and my auto timing ring was a success and it fired up the first time!

 

just to know , do 4gen 3.0 clutch /pressure plate are compatible whit 6speed tranny ?

 

it CAN be made to work, but a custom tob is needed. i attempted to do it using the spacer the 240sx guys use to swap in vq's, but it didnt seem to work, because the clutch fork was hitting the bellhousing, and the clutch was about 1" from the floor.

 

I still don't think you had that installed correctly man. You had it behind the fork, it should have been in front to space the bearing out further towards the clutch. But, eh, whatever. I'll be getting my 6MT soon so I'll check it out.

 

but how would it have been secured to the tob or shift fork? plus fred said thats how i was supposed to mount it.

 

01 maxima 20 th ar want to swap 02 or 03 maxima 6 speed manual in my car can help on what parts i will need and bracket etcs

 

this DOES NOT apply for 5th gen, because they have to do much more in the way of electrical changes. i dont know about all the changes needed, so thats why i didnt make a thread about it.

do what i did for mine.....research.....do it.....find out most of your research was wrong......adapt......finish......shift_6th

 

For what it's worth, I thought I'd post up pics of the size difference in the 3.0 and 3.5 flywheels:

3.5


3.0


Undersides, 3.0 on the left



Offset difference:




these are Fidanza flywheels. The 3.0 is a little over 11lbs, but the 3.5 actually weighed in at 15.6 according to my scale (2lbs more than the advertized 13.5lbs).

 

well just to add to this the 350 flywheel will work with the maxima 6speed swap. Im not having any starting issue now , but i you can just go ahead and get the maxima flywheel and be done with it!

 

A TOB spacer should work, so long as you separate the TOB from its collar and then press either end on to the spacer.

The TOB spacer that the 240sx guys use will not work with the Maxima TOB, because the diameter of the carrier does not match (the 350z TOB carrier has a larger diameter.) I found this out the hard way...

 

update: 3.0 clutch disc will work with a 3.5 flywheel and pp. im currently using one since my 3.5 one decided to self destruct.

 

So after all said and done ...if your doing a 3.5 sawp in a 4th gen max, and you have an auto tranny stock..is it woth changing the tranny to a 6 speed or just do the 5 speed and the hell with everything else?

 

Does anybody know of anybody near the tulsa oklahoma area that would be willing to do the tranny swap..i'm getting a loan to fix my car...i cant get the 350z i want due to stupid college cost..however i don't have time to do the swap myself..i'm will more than likely be dropping it with a 3.5 im' looking at buying the motor from toddemullins but i'm waiting on the money so yea Is there anybody who could do the tranny swap or would i be left to do this on my own..remember i live in oklahoma..half our population is cows..

 

^^^^^^^^^ amen bro lol, i need a 6 spd too, what is the cost on this project??

 

I don't know if this is possible because I don't know if the 05 maxima has this, but can anyone tell me if I can use the shifter assembly and cables from a 2005 maxima? I'll be getting the transmission from that car and it still has those things, so I figured if they work it would make life easier for me.

So if anyone has any knowledge about this, your help would be greatly appreciated.

 

No the shifter assembly bolt holes are different. You might be able to use the cables tho