hey i just stumbled upon this board today much to my surprise!! i too own a 1985 Maxima SE 5spd. i also own a 1986 300zx that i am selling this summer. now here is the clincher. last summmer i went and bought the entire drivetrain from a 1987 300zx turbo, i had planned on swapping it into my n/a 86. but now that idea is defunct and i will be selling the Z as is. in nice OEM condition. but now i have an 85 Maxima with 218K on it. and a VG30ET in my garage with 90K or so on it. guess where i want that engine to end up? yeah. but i have a few questions. does any of the OEM plumbing work? what i mean is, do i have to have some custom pipe bending done? be that it IS setup for a RWD car. and would i need a new front crossmember? and most importantly, is the maxima tranny up to taking all of the torque abuse that a turbo engine can dish out so readily. especially since i'm one of those guys whos mod list is NEVER long enough. seriously guys, i would REALLY like to take this car to the street drags this summer, please help me make it happen and refer me to people that have done this swap.

 

I'm not to familiar with 2nd gens but the 1st gens are easy. you just drop in a motor from a 280ZXTurbo and go! just switch computers.