Thursday, October 23, 2003

Just thought I'd let you know I am still working on my car. I had a hard time getting someone to sell me a used motor mount. I hadn't expected that. The nissan mounts are gell filled and isolate the motor well so I wanted to use the OEM ones. Anyway I fnally managed to get 2 and modified the K-member and mounts to fit. I was quite happy to see the engine an the car becomming one. The NA rx-7 hood closes on the engine with no mods to the hood. The engine hangs maybe 1" lower than the rx-7 cross member height. Next step is to reinstall the steering rack which will take some more fabrication for mount brackets etc due to the fact the location has changed.I'm having a good time and Yes I know this is not the easy way to go. I was looking for a fun project and so far this has been quite interesting.Too bad winter is comming and my garage is not heated.

Wednesday, August 20, 2003


Well things weren't fitting like I wanted to. I needed to move the engine back another couple of inches and the firewall was getting in the way.Pulled the dash, heater, A/c. After a little work with the cutting wheel I have plenty of clearance.This project is more interesting that I thought it was going to be
You know I hardly used the hammer or hacksaw. It's a shame they ended up in the picture. Pretty much all the cutting was done by an angle grinder with a cutting blade on it. It was like a knife through butter but with lots of sparks. Wife watched the interior for fires just to be sure. No fires only smoke from the sound deading.

Thursday, July 31, 2003

It's a VQ30DE. The one I have is from a 2000 maxima. I expect to hook a 6speed manual from a 350z to it. With any luck the trans will be here saturday. I wanted to go with the VQ35DE but they are in short supply right now. Maybe next time.

Wednesday, July 30, 2003

The motor I have chosen is really light. It is aluminum heads, block, oil pan and lower intake. The upper intake is plastic. My brother and I lifted it up together (without the Alternator, ps, A/C). It has coil on plug ignition a variable intake and dual overhead cams. Power is a little on the light side (222HP 217ft-lbs torque as installed with cats etc.). I could always mod it a bit after it has been proven to fit. Price was right so I had to try the swap with this engine.I actually have been having a good time with the swap so far.

Monday, July 28, 2003


Well I originally wanted to put in a Infinity V-8 but it wouldn't fit without sticking wayyy out of the hood. Decided to go with a nissan V-6. I know it's the V-8 forum but I didn't see a place for V-6's. Clearances seem like big problems. The subframe and steering rack. It's hard to believe you guys are getting V-8's in there.Anybody else have clearance issues? What about ground clearance? After seeing the engine sitting in there she thinks all the V-8 stuff is made up and wants to see one in person.