Reflection

Unfortunately cutting and welding is a required part of putting a VQ into an Rx-7. There is not enough clearance between the hood, firewall, subframe, steering rack, trans mount locations, etc. I spent a LONG time agonizing over the problem prior to cutting and welding on the car. The motor mount differences between the FWD and RWD are not really an issue. The biggest problem is the nissan motors are front sump and the Rx-7 frame is best suited for a rear sump engine. Another issue is the coolant pipes that come out of the rear of the engine on both FWD and RWD models interfere with the firewall. I fixed that problem by moving the firewall . If you want to easier swap for a VQ into something I hear it fits pretty good into a nissan 240. Intake clearance may be an issue though. The 240 swaps I have seen used maxima motors with various solutions for the intake.VG's have totally different blocks (and are steel). If you want to bolt up a 350z trans you need to use a VQ engine.Thaniel

After 8,000 miles

 Been a LONG time since I updated you on my project too by the look of it.  I remodeled about every room in my house, replaced almost all the windows and....Oh probably more interested in the car.

We'll I've put about 8,000 miles on the car with the maxima motor driving it. Since I moved to VA I haven't had much time to work on the car but since I had a crappy starter set up. I did squeeze time in to put a 350z oil pan and windage tray on the car so I could use the 350z starter. I had to make a 1/2 inch spacer for the starter due to the fact my flywheel is different. I also had to make a bracket to hold the front crank sensor. All and all that turned out great and the starter works just like it should.

Oh while I was at it I swapped out transmissions. The 350z trans I had ground horribly in 3rd gear. A common defect that wasn't really publicly known about when I bought the transmission. Anyway I had purchased a 2004 transmission which didn't have the defect. My brother and I installed the trans one night and finished about 11:30pm. When assembling the shifter I had the idea to shift it through the gears. Guess what it was locked up. I had heard of this before on other cars and I was thinking how STUPID I was for not checking prior to installing it. So we removed the trans again and managed to get the shift forks back in the right position and reinstall the trans. I think we were done a 1:30 or 2am or something. Install remove install all in one night. It was a bit of work for me anyway.  

The new trans shifts great. The starter set up is wonderful. I found the broken wire going to my front crank sensor that was causing stalling. Car was running great.  Did I mention I hit a deer with it....Actually it didn't hurt it much. IT was night and it didn't break any of the lights just crinkled the passenger fender a little. Did knock the deer down though and it left some fur lodged in the front skirt. My cars not a show car anyway so I'm just driving it with the crinkled fender.  

I STILL do not have a sway bar on it, no P/s and No A/C. I want to rebuild the brakes. I haven't had it weighed (I feel bad about that) and I haven't gone to the track. WE only have 1/8 mile tracks near by and 1/8 mile time aren't respected enough for me to bother with the hassle.  

This year I have been dropping of my kids at school on the way to work. I have thought about purchasing a 4door car to drive as it would be more comfortable. I showed a picture of a 3 series BMW to my each of my kids separately if they would like to ride to school in this car. Much to my surprise they both asked the exact same questions and gave the same answer. After seeing the car they asked "how fast does it go?" I told them that it would be about as fast as mommy's car (a Nissan maxima) they each said No I'd rather go in red car. It as a proud day for me as a dad.  Now I'm thinking of a BMW with a LS1 engine? That might be the ticket. It's been done before too so I wouldn't be unique but it could be fun anyway. If I could just get my hands on a decent priced and decent condition 3 series BMW.......

Well I finally did the move from Michigan to Virginia. I drove my Modified car down. 600miles. It did well. Nothing fell off or blew up. I got 26mpg which was better than my wife's maxima that was following me. Anyway...While driving I noticed expecially in cross winds that the back of the car seemed to wiggle around. I had originally thought the funny handling feel was due to all the modifications I had done to the car and lack of sway bar. However it felt like the tail wagging the dog so to speak. I am beginning to think it may be the toe control bushings in the back.

The Glue I used is a 2 part epoxy from Devcon called Plastic Welder II. It says it is good for glueing nylon 6.6 which is a common material for intakes.

Well it has been a long time since I did an update. I have now driven the car more than 3000 miles. I have hooked up the heater hoses and got the blower working again. Replaced all the struts with KYB adjustable ones. Still no powersteering but I have the brakes working well. Still lots of little issues but nothing that keeps it from driving.So far the biggest failure I have had was shifting to second one day I broke a weld on my shift lever. I ended up in neutral with no way to select gears. Luckily I carry a small tool kit and I took apart the shfter boots and managed to stuff it into a gear 3 rd I think and drive home. I welded it better this time and added more reinforcement.I've been really happy with my intake and the glue is holding well. Even in freezing temperatures.

Thought I'd post an update since I haven't posted in awhile.I've now put on over 350 miles. I fueled up last night (first time since the speedometer worked) and I got 22MPG (city/country). Not bad since I'm not exactly taking it easy on it . With the S5 tank being 18.5 Gallons I can go a long way between fill ups. I like that. On the same roads and driving a little less agressively my rx-7 got 18MPG. Better fuel economy, better reliablity more horse power. This is a win win.I think I found which sensor was giving me troubles. It could be the wire or the sensor. For now I have it unplugged and the car runs fine without it but retards the timing 2 degrees. I'll get a new sensor and see if I can get it to work right.I've installed my stereo (previously used on my '86) which includes a 10" subwoofer located in the spare tire. It is nice to have music again.Stuff still to do:Hook up the powersteering, new rear struts. Maybe rebuild the brakes. Hook up the heater hoses. Figure out why the blower quit working. Lots of trim and misc issues.

Well I have the alternator hooked up now. It is nice to not have to conserve power while driving. I even bothered to put the stereo head unit in.I got the speedometer to work. I mounted a reed switch to the rear diff and glued 4 magnets on the heads of the bolts that connect to one of the axle shafts (to trigger the reed switch). I connected the reed switch to a dakota digital signal converter and then to the speedometer. Works great. It is so nice to have a speedometer. It's almost like driving a regular car now I did drive it to work all last week. I even let my wife drive it It is hard to start at times. I think one of my sensors is bad or a wire has a bad connection...somewhere...guess that is my next thing to tackle.