I have a 1990 Nissan Maxima SE Auto (boo), and a 1992 Nissan Maxima SE 5spd. Obviously, they also have the VG and VE engines respectively. Now, what I want to do is rip & strip the 1992 Maxima and put the engine and tranny from it into the 1990. Thoughts on time and method?

 

initial thoughts...waste of time

amount of time....forever

method....with tools and stuff

 

Damn, I wish the SEARCH function worked...

 

Yeah, I wish it worked too. Go figure.

 

Drop and swap cradles, assuming you want the trans to go with.
you will however need to swap the ecm

 

more trouble than its worth.

You will have to swap the motor, wiring, ecu, hubs (for the SE half shafts) and motor mounts.

It can be done obviously but its more trouble than its worth in my opinion. The wiring being the hardest part.

What is wrong with the 92? It would be easier to fix it up than swap motors.

I know a guy that went backwards and put a VG in a VE car. I heard it run but it wasnt 100% done because he still had some bugs to work out.

 

I agree with awsm66. I think you would be better off using the 92 as the platform and taking the body pieces/interior or whatever other good stuff you need from the 90.

Even if you had to replace all the doors, hood and body panels, it would still probably take less time than doing the full engine/wiring swap. Of course, the body and paint work would be expensive, but it's less of a headache than getting all that wiring straight, IMO.

 

Only reasons I wanted to go the route of swapping into the '90 is because of the state of the paint job, the color of the interior, and the bonus of a moon roof. But hey... looks like this'll be the route I'm taking.

 

Your 1992 SE didnt have a moonroof? That is odd, I dont think that I have ever seen an SE without one...

Welcome to the boards by the way, I am on the eastern coast of Mass.

Brian

 

Well it was standard in SEs from 89-91 but optional in 92-94. My 93SE doesnt have a moonroof. Moonroofs are nice but I never really used the one on my 92GXE. The downside to them are that they leak, are noisy (wind) and can crack.

 

I like my moonroof, though I rarely open it back, just up

 

I always do the opposite....seems like the closest i get to a convertible....

i think it rattles too much when it is up, but I have never had any problems with leaking or breakage....

Brian

 

Spipedong's car (the one he wrecked a while ago) has no moonroof. Mostly, I'd just as soon not have it, for the reasons awsm66 pointed out.

 

My camaro is my closest to a convertible

 

Well damn... they upped the engine as standard but had to take away my favorite useless toy. I loved summer driving with all the windows down and that roof open :-/

 

i think the moon roof only makes the cabin a lot hotter when parked under the sun during summer... i hardly ever look up while i'm driving anyway.. ;p

 

They made it optional.
I've still got one

 

If it were me, I would swap the engine into the 90. I don't have the patience for body work and would be too scared that I would scrape the paint or something so I myself would just swap the engine. It just depends how much work you want to do.

I'll be doing a similar job wiring wise as I'm putting a VH45DE into a 75 280Z. Talk about wiring madness... its going to be crazy but in the end, very worth it.