Well, got this all finished Saturday.

Pictures: http://www.ericj.org/maxima/img/engine_swap/

File names are prefixed with the "day number", so they're in some kind of order.

Here's a rundown...kinda long:

Thursday 7/10: Got my car to my dad's. Drained all the fluids, took off the hood, removed the front suspension, radiator, battery and intake piping. (2hrs)

Saturday 7/12: Got everything unhooked, but left the transmission and engine in. Had major hassles pulling the passenger axle, as it would not come through the bracket that's mounted on the engine. Had to pull the whole bracket with the axle. In doing so I pulled the inner CV apart. Spent about 3 hours on a flat tire on my dad's truck which I drove through the whole thing. (6hrs)

Sunday 7/13: Pulled the transmission first. Unbolted it from the engine and went down with it. Tried to pull the motor, but couldn't get to the side mount with the SC on. Uninstalled the SC, then pulled the motor. Got the new motor from my house to my dad's. Called it a day early. (6hrs)

Monday 7/14: Moved a bunch of stuff from the old motor to the new motor. Filled the motor mounts (3) and tranny mount with polyurathane (sp?). (3hrs)

Tuesday 7/15: Got the flywheel resurfaced. Removed the spacer from the new engine, as it had an auto tranny before. Thought I could pull the spacer with a pilot bearing puller, but it couldn't grab behind it, as the puller "teeth" were too thick. Had to drill holes in it and pry it out. Installed the pilot bearing, flywheel, clutch & pressure plate, and new throw out bearing on the tranny.

Stripped the head on the pully bolt on the supercharger. (3hrs)

Wednesday 7/16: Seperated the passenger axle at the inner CV where I pulled it apart. Cleaned it out well, and set it aside. Got the bolt out of the SC with an EZ-out. (2hrs)

Thursday 7/17: My dad took the axles to a machine shop and had the threads on the end cleaned up. They needed it. He also picked up a new SC bolt.

Got the SC put back together with a 3.33" pully, including shaving the plate. Installed the SC on the new engine, outside of the car of course. (3hrs)

Friday 7/18: Installed the engine, transmission and crossmember into the car. Installing the engine was a pain, as getting everything aligned wasn't easy. (4hrs)

Saturday 7/19: Bolted everything up around the engine. Installed the MEVI ( ), and re-wired the engine. (6hrs)

Sunday 7/20: Got the intake piping done and a few other things together. Re-assembled the passenger axle as well. Messy job!

Tried to crank it...nothing. Sounded like the starter couldn't turn the engine. I knew it wasn't siezed, as I could turn it by hand. Took the starter out and tested it, and it was ok. Turned kinda slow off my battery, but find off another. Cleaned the battery terminals better, and it solved the problem.

Put the starter back in, and the engine turned over. Decided to test the compression. 20psi, 40psi, 100psi on 3 different cylinders! Realized that it probably isn't a good idea to test the compression on a motor that hadn't run in god-knows-how-long. Put the plugs and coil packs in, and tried to start it.

Didn't fire for about 10 cranks. Didn't fire for the 2nd 10 cranks. Fired (although stumbled badly) the third time! Let it idle for a while and it got a lot better. Phew.

Put the suspension on, wheels and took it out for a ride. Went around the block twice and it seemed just fine. Got back and there was all kinds of smoke, but that was just oil/coolant burning off where I spilled.

Changed the oil (wanted to flush the engine) and tested the compression. 175psi all around! Woo hoo! The clutch (ACT) is interesting. The usual "break in chatter" is bad, but it will work. The cabin vibration is amplified with the poly-mounts, but I think I can deal with it. I also have a vaccum leak somewhere...but that's not a real priority. (8hrs)




No boosting for 500 miles until the clutch is broken in. At that time I'm going to do another oil change, and let the beating begin.

It was a lot of time (little over 40 hours), and a good bit of work. My hands may never be clean again, but I learned a lot, had a good time, and saved a lot of money.

 

Nice!

 

GREAT!!
Glad it went good for you

 

I envy you for what you just accomplished....

 

Wow man great job, that is one hell of a project.

 

Thanks guys!

I did have some "not so memorable" moments doing this:

- Locking the battery in the trunk. My key doesn't work the trunk lock, and the trunk release is electronic. How the hell did I think I'd get it out? Had to use jumper cables to get it out.

- Deciding to fill the tranny with oil before putting the axles back in. Wasn't watching under the car...wasted like $40 in oil!

 

Did you borrow, rent or buy the hoist?

 

Got it from a guy my dad works with...cost me 2 12-packs of Bud, and I had it for almost 2 weeks.

 

Eric, is there any way we could get a zip of all the pictures I learn more everytime I work on my engine, and your pictures are really good. Eventually I'd like to build a motor as well.
-hype

 

Good work! It's always scary starting up the engine the first time after a swap or rebuild. Strange noises, strange smells, but they all go away if you did the job right.



Boosting is okay as long as the clutch isn't slipping. During clutch break-in, you don't want excessive heat build up from slipping, such as during hard launches or power shifting.

 

LOL. I don't have a copy of them on a local machine...I'd have to download them all and zip them. If you're serious, I'd be happy to.


Of course. The engine has had problems starting a few times...not sure why. I've had to open the throttle a little and it fires right up. I'm not really up to trouble shooting right now, so as long as it works for a week or so, that's good enough for me.

But you're supposed to keep it under 3k RPM, correct? I can maybe get 1psi around there...but it doesn't seem worth it. Figure baby-ing the motor for a few hundred miles couldn't be a bad thing either.

 

Congrats! Will download pics later.

 

I think its cool when Pops shows interest and gets involved.

 

I'm serious, but it doesn't have to be anytime soon. It's a lot easier if you're on a local machine to zip them then it is for all of us to view/save every individual file
-hype

 

Yeah, he was quite helpful. He had done motor swaps back in the early 70's, and had done a lot with motorcycles around then too. He hasn't done anything of the type with modern vehicles, so there was a bit of a gap between what we knew.

He was convinced I'd screw up the wiring of the engine. He just couldn't believe that Nissan really did make the wiring harness moron-proof. I tried to show him that a plug will only fit into one sensor, and it will be right where the plug comes out of the harness, etc.

Its also helpful because of his job. He's a saftey inspector for a local construction company, so he has a company vehicle that he can take whenever, and drives around all day. So, stopping at a machine shop or whatever isn't a problem for him. Made things a LOT easier.



I'm uploading a ziped version of the files now. Its still 8.9M or so, as JPG's are already compressed:

http://www.ericj.org/maxima/img/engi...ngine_swap.zip

Its only going to stay up for a few days...the pictures will stay for a while though.

 

i have so much respect for this project.. i thought air suspension and tranny swaps were intense, this is unreal.

great work and congrats on the install.

 

My son will be driving in a year. I'm already making big plans for his first car and what we're going to do to it. Problem is he may not learn anything, I'll be wanting to do everything for him.

 

Now there's a cool dad....planning the modding before he can even drive!

I wish my dad drove a SC'ed Max...although the Ranger did come in quite handy.

 

Good job!

 

great job!

 

That's the hard part about being a parent, knowing when to let go.

 

wow. you're the man eric. props to you for hanging in there and pulling off the job! I hope to be like you one day.

 

Nice work.

 

Make him do as much work as possible. He will respect the car much more if he knows how much work went into it. Just my opinion. I had to build my first car(1969 510). No engine/tranny/suspension/needed paint etc......

 

ejj

 

great job..

I am gonna DL the pics so I can have them

 

I wish my dad showed some interest in the maxima but there is none whatsoever. :/

 

great job..

I am gonna DL the pics so I can have them

 

Thanks again guys.

FYI I'm going to pull down that zip file later tonight...so if you want it, get it today, or let me know and I can leave it up a bit longer.

 

Hey guys, let me be one of the ones to tell you that Eric's car rocks. Saw it Sunday night at a little Nissan meet. The S/C sounds nice. His car looks hot in addition to having an s/c with MEVI.

Good meeting you Eric.

 

sweet great work, it really helps to have someone to help ya out!!

I like the black valve and MEVI looks sweet

powdercoat the SC too

 

You too! Sorry I couldn't stay longer, but I was beat after working on the car all day. Thanks for the compliments!


Last night I decided to troubleshoot that vaccum leak. Turned out that the MAP switch near the breather outlet on the left (front) valve cover had one of the connectors break. It must have been broken when I got it...so the hose from the "boost sensor" fell off. I replaced that MAP switch with the one from the old motor, and the leak is fixed! Woo hoo!

 

Congrats! What a great feeling to drive her around after a heart transplant!

 

Yes it is!

Your tip about the engine mount bolt going in backwards did make the job easier. It sure takes a lot less time to install the SC with the engine out of the car!

 

nice work .. e..

 

Nice work glad to see your back on the roads/golf courses. How did you hit em yesterday? Anyway congrats!

 

I've actcually played despite the rain. Can't putt (standing water on the greens), but its good to hit the ball again. Not that I'm any good...but its still fun.

You play?


Thanks Sprite!

 

B E A utiful!!!!

 

Nice job!Makes me wish my dad would help me out with my car

 

He didn't help a lot...basically:

- He provieded me with a bigger garage. Mine is a 1.5 car garage, and his is a 2.5. Much easier with the extra room.
- Provided me with a vehicle while I was doing this.
- Gave me a hand for the "two person" stuff such as moving engines, mounting the tranny, etc.
- Ran errands for me.
- Feed me while I was there.

He didn't have a hand in the rest of it. I couldn't have done it without his help, but he's really not that interested in the car. He didn't really want to get under the car and help unbolting stuff, etc. Just a good dad who'll lend a hand when I need it.