Iv'e heard of guys putting 95 to 99 motors in their 92 to 94 se models. I'm curious as to what exactly is involved. I do have a capable mechanic in mind but I want to kinda know what I'm talking about when I approach him with the project. First of all will the transmissions have to also swap out? What else is involved that I need to know about? I love the power and response of the ve but the vtc problem it seems will be more expensive to fix than a swap out. And no I don't want to drive a 4th gen. Don't like the body style.

 

you are gonna have to figure the fact that pretty much the entire wiring harness will have to be spliced into your car. then making engine/tranny mounts(I dont think the vq would bolt up to a ve tranny), cv axles custom made, shift linkage, etc.
now consider that the gauges may not (and probably wont) work with the vq ECU. you are gonna have to figure out how to monitor your car.
im gonna guess about 1,000 for parts (used), about the same for labor(easily), plus all the research the shop will have to do to make it "work". still think its worth it?

if you get this done, make sure the shop documents every step on this swap. everyone wants to know what itll take to make it work and for it to be right.

 

So your saying that if I have a whole crashed 97 it would make the job alot easier.

 

it'd help.

 

I think pretty much nothing is interchangeable except maybe the internals on the trans.

That means the engine, trans, wiring, even the gauge cluster isn't going to work.

 

SEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAARRRRRRRCCCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!

it's a massive undertaking, and unless you know how to fabricate, wire, weld, and think outside the box it is way beyond the ability of 99.9% of the people who consider it.

 

Crashed in the rear, yes. Crashed in the front not so much.

Even then it's a HUGE project. You are talking HUNDREDS of man hours of labor. Shops charge $60-80/hour so if you can't do most of the work yourself it's going to be HUGELY expensive as well. You're going to need lots of fabrication, welding, and electrical experience to get this project to the finish line or even to a point where the car would be sell able again.

Also remember that the newest Gen3 is 15 years old so chassis bushings, struts, etc are likely to be worn and need replacing as well.

I'm not trying to dissuade you, I just want you to be aware of the costs of going forward. It'd be an awesome car when done (if done correctly) though and it would be one of a kind. If you can get your hands on a 2002+ crashed in the rear Max it'd be a WAY better starting point considering the amount of work either swap would take. But an extra 75 HP and a 6spd gets my heart beating a little faster then just an extra 30 hp.

 

Neither I don't want to drive a 5th gen

St‼ff Wagon rearAxle↕:

↑0-----0↓
-∩------------onebumpintheroad

 

Noob here, I don't post much but im on the forum at least once a wk. Me nd my best friend have both have 93 se 5psd we just finish putting 3.5 in it. we are mechanics we did everything except for welding the side brackekts for the mounts.

 

ont hing i'd worry about on a drivetrain that has been custom made is repair and replacement. If something breaks it may not be a simple trip to the parts store.

 

we used nissan parts

 

Pics and videos! we want videos of the swap! not because we do not believe it cant be done, but because we havent seen it done, and working.
along with all the details on how to make it work.

 

as always... pics?

 

oh ok, no problem we wrote down all the details involved. i will take some pics soon.

 

 

Let's see if/when he posts again.

 

So you're saying you somehow bolted the 2002+ 3.5L to the Gen3 5spd? Or did you swap in the 2002+ 3.5L & 6spd? I would imagine that if you bolted the 3.5L to the 5spd you wouldn't have to swap any of the axles, carriers and that stuff. That would cut down on labor, but I LUST after the 6 spd.

Did you use a 3.5L ECU and harness? How much splicing is involved? Do you have detailed records of what wire goes where? Please tell me you have a working OBDII port and can pass emissions with this swap!!!!

How much fab work is involved?

Have you had time to Dyno or run any performance metrics?

:


BTW, anyone who wants to see an OUTRAGES swap should take a look at http://www.v8mr2.com/ which is a friend of mines Northstar V8 engine into a first gen MR2 project. Four Hundred HP into 2000 lbs goes FAST (if he ever finishes it!). There is several hundred meg of pics and video of the progrss he's made.

 

I hope nothing smells like fish. (Not that, but the ol' saying)
Anyways his comments is worthless without pics, but this thread is based of a question.
As one person on this forum said:
But no pressure, we'll just be disappointed

 

This is some of wat i did i prepared the motor like when u gonna do a 3.5 in a 4th gen, I use a 95 speed tranny,harness, ecu, nd shifter linkage. I have the car running but i only have the video on my phone and pics but i'm going to take some with my camera this wknd nd upload it. the exhaust not connect just headers nd y-pipe. Their is a Nissan Meet at Dave And Buster this wknd In Long Island That I will be bring the car too.

 

oh boy, i need to see this!!! hope you come through with this cuz we have had people saying that they have done it and have showed nothing on how they approached the swap and what was involved. last i heard the last guy that "says" he did the swap decided not to comment about it and then never came back on here to post and then i heard he parted out the car cuz i guess it was acting up.

 

I love these threads

I wish one would turn out well though..

 

Me 2...

 

If VTC replacement is your biggest concern on why to change from a VE to a VQ, get that thought out of your head instantly. Cheaper to do a swap.. Yeah, right

 

it has been done. years ago.

 

Looks like I will have to do it then. JK

I know a lot of people have bragged they have done this swap.....but I can promise you if I had done this I would be braggingmy **** off! I mean, c'mon, you can't say that you wouldn't brag about it now can you? Crazy, just crazy.

 

The last time some noob tried bragging, it turned out he wasn't even the one that did it.

 

a mod needs to bring that thread back i think the dudes name was diesel and he has a vq in a 3rd gen, is that who we are talking about?

 

No we don't/ yes it was/ yes it was..


but he didn't do the swap, a mechanic done it, so bringing it back would be pointless. as there was no useful information concerning the swap in the thread.

Btw, he has since sold the car, long ago.

 

I think I'll rebuild vtcs and turbo the car for more horses after hp rebuild.

 

honestly, the 3rd gen forum guidelines should state "no threads about fantastical engine swaps unless well into the process of swapping, or already completed". it just gets old. I've seen too many VQ30, VQ35, VG30DE(n/a or TT), VQxxHR, RBxxxx and other such fantastical swaps to hold me a lifetime.

Unless you're ARE CURRENTLY doing it or HAVE done it, you're just wasting bandwitdh.

And no Junky that's nothing personal against you. You're not the first, just hopefully the last.

Besides if you can't do it yourself where's the fun in it? I'm going to make a few pretty sick 'toys' for my car but I'm keeping it all under wraps until the grand exposé. One of those things I've searched for SEVERAL times on google and NEVER found it implemented on a car, and only partially (crappily at that) implemented on a motorcycle. But it's rather ingenious of a mod, really. People just lack the desire to tackle something of the magnitude, and the 3rd gen maxima is one of just a few cars that this mod is possible to do using mostly stock parts. Every other car I know of would require a bit of fabrication to do it. But the 3rd gen max is the PERFECT car to do it on.

 

I wonder what it can be

 

Hey... Some will tackle anything....

 

If you want to do an engine swap, here's some advice: stop posting here, go get yourself a Mazda RX-7 and a LT-1 small block...

 

I've been wondering about a VQ swap, but after reading this I think you'd be better off rebuilding the VG or VE and turboing it. Probably less headache and money.

I sold my 3rd gen at 1:00 this morning and miss it already. She was a black on black leather 5 speed SE...

 

Didn't take you long to realize you made a mistake, did it?

 

http://http://hi5.com/friend/photos/displayManageAlbum.do?ownerId=25204784&albumId=207 10782

 

The BIG mistake was 2 years ago when I sold my 4th gen black Maxima SE 5 speed. The 3rd gen was a little on the rough side, I could have made it nice, but it would have been a lot of work. I bought a g50 Q45 yesterday in much better shape for the same money, so I think I'm ok.

 

http://photos1.hi5.com/0026/991/063/2c.DwU991063-02.jpg
http://photos1.hi5.com/0025/729/213/B6otuZ729213-02.jpg
http://photos1.hi5.com/0026/058/409/1kDgX9058409-02.jpg
http://photos1.hi5.com/0024/510/972/8aNdRO510972-02.jpg
http://photos1.hi5.com/0027/174/421/h6V.vR174421-02.jpg
http://photos1.hi5.com/0025/003/073/JsYaEo003073-02.jpg
http://photos1.hi5.com/0024/921/901/ZTjT7n921901-02.jpg
http://photos1.hi5.com/0025/030/073/I1KDx8030073-02.jpg
http://photos1.hi5.com/0026/859/927/JBcPJG859927-02.jpg

 

HOLY STEVE GUTTENBURG!!! DOES THAT THING RUN?!!!

 

nice... still seems like a lot of damn work. Damn Nissan should have made it easier.