Right now I just have the exhuast manifolds on. Nothing else. Well last night I hung the mufflers on but they are not connected. I have a used Y-pipe being shipped to me so I can connect to the manifolds. The Muffler shops here hardly know what a nissan is. They definately don't have parts for one (none in the salvage yards either)I'm pretty much done driving the car until I get the exhaust on it. I've proved it works now I need to get all the details finished

Well not much new to report. I spent all weekend in Virginia so I wasn't able to work on the car. I did take it out for a drive today just because I can. I drove it maybe 10 miles and didn't see any problems. It is still way loud without the exhaust so I can't open the throttle much without it being deafening inside the car. I have some parts ordered for the exhaust and hopefully will get that done soon. I am anxious to see what will happen when I push the gas pedal to the floor

I put the hood on today. Looks funny sitting in my garage like that. I got so used to it there on the jackstands with no hood. It's a good feeling though.

First Drive

Whoo hoo!!Took it for a ride last night. :yeah: I don't have the exhaust hooked up so I took it real easy so I wouldn't irritate the neighbors. I still couldn't help myself and layed a little rubber right infront of my drive way Feels good to be able to get the car out of the garage for a bit.Still lots to do to it. I'm going to drop by the exhaust shop on the way home to see if they have what I need to make me an exhaust.Can't wait to have it for my daily driver.

Motor Install

Well I stuffed the engine back in again. There's a pic of my engine hoist works good except it takes 2 people as I can't guide the engine and reach the lift control levers on the tractor at the same time. You can see my trusty '86 rx-7 in the back ground.Never quite looks like it will fit. Just have to tip the trans down and it clears. no problem. Last pic of where it is at right now. Not a good picture but I have the mounts all bolted up, driveshaft, steering radiator etc all hooked up. Forgive the tie wraps holding the radiator fan in place. It's a crappy fan from a junk car just for some initial runs. I will get a larger 2 speed fan soon.Due to the fact I reworked the intake so it now points to the engine front instead of engine rear I had to cut open the wiring harness and move the location of many of the connections. That was hours of fun with wire spaghetti. I tried starting the engine and got some pops and some exhaust but it wouldn't catch. The battery was low It may just be out of gas I'll put some gas in it after work plug into the OBDII and see what I can find out.Hopefully I'll get a ride tonight.Still have plenty of details to deal with including installing an exhaust but I'd like to go for a ride anyway.

The shipping weight (engine + pallet + engine cradle) was 267 LBS. I weighed the pallet and engine cradle myself after I removed the engine. Subtract and get weight of 178lbs? Didn't sound like a lot so my brother and I picked it up.

Firewall Welding

For those that had noticed the firewall cut, or had seen my earlier post. Here it is finished. Lots of welding

First Drive

Yah, the motor is light, I was going to post a pic of my brother and I holding it but I have been spending all my free time working on the car (I post while eating lunch at work). The trans definately isn't light. Being a six speed I am sure is part of it. It was considerably heavier than the rx-7 trans. I have forgotten the number but was significant. At least that weight is farther back and lower in the car.I got my drive shaft yesterday :yeah: It has been a long wait. I had driveshaft specialist make the parts I had (slip yoke from a G35 and a rockford flange yoke) into a shaft. So far I am very pleased. I also finished welding/painting the firewall last night. A few more small details and I'll put the motor back in. This time when I run the engine I can turn the wheels I can't wait to take it for a drive!!I'll try and get some new pics up of the firewall.

Misc

The motor I have Weighs aprox 178 lbs. That's engine, intake, water pump, exhaust manifolds, T/B, wiring harness, Did NOT have the starter, alternator, motor mounts, flywheel or clutch. The 3.5L engine would be a little heavier due to the variable valve hardware

Introduction - Summary

Well it seems my project is getting to the point where it looks like I can finish it so I thought it would be a good time for a post showing it's progress.I bought the chasis in march of 2003.

Sold off some of the engine parts while looking for a suitable engine to install.

July 2003, Bought a nissan maxima engine V-6 to install.

I'm still not sure why but it sounded like a good idea at the time. Converting a FWD engine to RWD has not been without problems. First of which was finding a sutiable trans.

August 2003 I bought a 2003 350z 6 speed manual. One of the very few that would bolt to the maxima block. I'm using a maxima flywheel and maxima clutch which required making an adapter to bring the 350z throw out bearing closer to the clutch assembly.

FYI I'm using a 2002 pathfinder starter. I'm using the stock maxima ECU. Fitting the mess under the hood without cutting a hole in the hood was not an easy task. I had to totally rework the front subframe and I cut the firewall and moved part of it back 2" to make room.

I have also cut the intake manifold appart and reglued it so the throttle body now points to the front of the car.

I had to fabricate my own shifting linkage to get the shifter to come up through the Rx-7 shift boot. I thought that part turned out nice. Since I was making it up anyway I made it to be a shorter throw shifter. Feels perfect to me.I had a lot of difficulty getting a driveshaft but finnally have been able to get one made using an infinity G35 driveshaft for the front slip yoke and weld yoke.Saturday I pulled the engine/trans for hopfully the last time. I am finishing work on the firewall. I hope to reinstall the engine trans and the newly made drive shaft soon and take it for a drive (driveshaft arrives in 2 days).I'll add more pics soon.

Last night I did add some doublers to the sides. There are also brackets that support the main tube and the throttle body. There shouldn't be too much load on the joint. There will still be vibration and heat so....

Well I have most of the glueing done and things are looking good. Well I thought it looked good until I looke at the picture. I guess cosmeticaly it doesn't look that great but functionally it is wonderful. I'll paint the white and grey parts black when I am all finished.I think it is going to be strong enough but only time will tell.