SOLD

With my new creation the LS1 bmw on the road the Rx-7 was not being used. It was a fun car to build and drive but decided to clear out the driveway and sell it. By by Rx-7.

Here is my last view of it as it drove away with it's new owner

On my drive to work which is a city/highway mix I'd get 22-25 MPG and that's steping on the gas when I get a chance. Only long trip I took with it was when I drove it from MI to VA. I was following my wife's maxima and I got better gas milage then her car. I don't remember what the milage was that time.

For Sale AD

Well it pains me to say it but it looks as my first engine swap car needs a new home. I had a lot of fun building this car and a lot of fun driving it. (build thread link in sig) However I have out grew the 2+2 layout and being a 2 door. yes I have kids. Anyway the car is up forsale. This is what it is:It is a '91 Rx-7 which I installed a Nissan V6 from a 2000 maxima and a 6 speed from a 350z. I started driving the car in mid 2004. I had a great time with it but I need a bigger car so I buit another car using a 4 door car.The motor in this car runs strong. It revs great etc. I don't know the actual miles but it came from a car that was wrecked after being on the road only 1 year (have the car fax). I installed the motor and have put 18,000 miles on it since. The trans is my second 350z trans as my first one had a grind in 3rd gear. The trans in it now is from a 2004 350z and shifts good. You can have the crappy as well with the car if you want it.The Chassis has the rear back seat in it giving it the 2+2 effect. I've also converted the motorized seatbelts to standard. The body has NO noticable rust. Body is SOLID. It has some mild dents on the RH fender from where a deer ran into the side of the car. Stupid deer. the door on the RH side has a shallow dent near the edge of it. Paint is fair for a car of this age. It's a little chalky in the pictures but would shine up nice. The paint on the fin and one head light cover is could use some help.Before I forget. A few that need attention. The Driverside rear caliper needs rebuilt/replaced as it is leaking. There is a leak in a heater hose just above the Driver side mainfold and I believe the fuel pressure regulator needs to be replaced (takes it a bit to build fuel pressure prior to start). I've modified the car. The car has been modified. NO dealer will touch it. Most repair shops wil scratch their heads. This is for a guy that likes working on cars. I've modified the subframe, Steering shaft and the seatbelts. Therefore suitability for driving it on public roads is up to who owns it. The car does have a valid VA inspection sticker. Oh it has no ac, No power steering and no front swaybar. I still have the swaybar and with some customising I believe it could be installed. I just have not done it. Less than 5,000 miles ago I put in a new walburo fuel pump. I have 2 brand new front rotors still in their boxes, a new master cylinder and rebuild kit for the rear calipers that I have never installed and a new ball joint for the rh front. Also 2 additional rims (a different rx-7 style) and tires are included. What else. Oh yah the car has AGX adustable shocks all round. about 18,000 miles on them. Front tires are in good shape the rears are worn pretty good. I put new brake pads all round on it in October. So less than 2,000 miles on them I'd say. And about that time I put a new ball joint on the left front. About a year or so about I put the "toe elimniator" bushings in the rear of the car.Power Windows, sunroof, lights. All work. This Rx-7 has the 4 piston front brakes and vented front and rear disc. has a viscus limited slip diff. Racing beat mufflers (from my old rotary engine days).I'm sure there is more. Ask me questions if you are interested. Feel free to e-mail me at . I'm looking for $3,000 OBO. (can barely buy a tired out LS1 for that much) For the right price I am willing to seperate the drivetrain from the chassis if someone would rather go that way.

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.

Well I have the dash installed...Mostly anyway. Here are some pics with the 2000 maxima inst. cluster installed. Turned out pretty good and it looks pretty neat at night. I also installed the new KYB AGX front struts.Now that I have the switches back for the blinkers and wipers, I've started driving the car to work even though the speedometer and alternator are currently not hooked up (I charge the battery after every trip and try to conserve electrical power). I figure it is good to drive it so I get a better idea of what else needs to be done. I hope to get the alternator and speedometer hooked up in the next few days.Still plenty to do before it is finished but atleast I can drive it.

Latest on the car. I found that I didn't really need longer tie rod ends. Turns out that when I rough aligned the front end I did it when the car was on jack stands. After on the ground the alignment changed substantially. I re adjusted and it drives much better. The old front struts are worn out. I ordered some new ones and just need to put them on. Other things done:sound deading back on the firewallcarpet back inmore wiring completedPCV system hooked up

After drilling out the spot welds and removing the brackets that held the passive seat belt track I was able to test fit the '86 trim. It looked like it will fit good. The problem is the head liner. It looks like the '91 head liner is shorter so it does not come all the way down to the trim. Humm.... I think I will be able to fill that gap better than where the belt tracks were. or something I'll have to look at it some more. It was 1:00 am at the time and I was kind of tired.Looks like soon I will be painting the plastic.

Well I finally got the exhaust connected. It is very nice to have. My front end alignment is way off. I need to get that done. However due to relocating the steering rack I need longer tie rod ends first. I'll see if I can get some then get it aligned.I still have lots to do.Here's a couple of pics.

I'm thinking of taking the magnetic pickup from something like that and feeding it through a dakota digital converter and then to the speedometer

Well I'm still waiting on some exhaust parts. In the mean time I removed the passive (motorized) seat belts and installed normal manual ones. I am going to install a instrument cluster from a 2000maxima. I've been sorting through all the wiring. It's getting old. Anyway I went to hook up the speed sensor from the trans to the speedometer (electric speedometer) and I found there isn't one. From what I read in the 350z factory service manual the speed signal comes from the ABS sensors. Oh goodie. Nothing can be easy can it? I think I'll work on the heater next so I can put the carpet and dash back in the car. Who needs a speedometer anyway

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.

I've boxed up all my driveshaft parts and am shipping them to a place that has the skills and interest in making a shaft for me. It's more expensive but at least the local idots won't get my money

Turns out maybe the 04 Nissan Titan may have a slip yoke that has replaceable u-joints that might fit (at least this is what I am told). Too late now. Looks like the Drive shaft specialist can modify the shaft no problem. I still have my fingers crossed until the shaft is in and working. The cost on this shaft keeps going up. Pretty soon the driveshaft will cost more than the trans Got to have it to make the wheels go round :3gears:

Drive Shaft

I just got back from the local drive shaft shop (scientific brake). They say they can't modify my drive shaft. It's METRIC is about all they could mumble. Idiots! The driveshaft is becoming the hardest part of this whole project (no after market slip yokes fit the trans). Who knew.  I have an e-mail to the Driveshaft specialist. To see if they can modify make a drive shaft that will work out of what I have.

In about 3 weeks, June 14th I will have had my '86 rx-7 for 10 years. 10 years of driving the same car to work. Yesterday after work I start it and it dumps an apex seal right there. I drove the thing all the way home with just the other rotor. What a headache. Told my family the car was done and my daughter actually cried. :cry: Guess the car has been in the family for awhile.Now the heat is being turned up on getting my '91 rx-7 engine swap done. At least in my '91 there won't be any apex seals to blow Also found out yesterday that my company wants to relocate me to Virgina. I have to get my swap done. Luckily it is getting close. Until then I drive my beater truck. If that isn't modivation to finish the car nothing is.

I can't wait until it is finished either especially since my rotary powered rx-7 puked an apex seal.

Well I tested the glue I bought on my small test sample. After 24 hrs I tried to break it. Took several hard whacks with a hammer to break it. Best results out of any of the epoxies I tired. So I went ahead and made the first glue.The Glue I bought 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.Increasing the glue joint is a good idea. I'll look into doing that.

The first pic of what I have done (cut it apart). Now I need to glue it back together as shown in the second pic (TB on opposite end). I have ordered some industrial plastic glue that says it is good for glueing difficult plastics including nylon. It is solvent and heat resistant. I'll see if it is any good on some test samples tonight.

Well I started checking sensors and it turns out it was the rear crank angle sensor needed some tweeking.Got it to crank right up once the sensor was fixed. Ahhh what a nice feeling to hear it run....Can't wait until I get to drive it.

I hooked up my engine saturday and tried to give it a start. I got some pops and a little smoke but never got it take off. When it first started cranking it I got the distinct smell of rotten gas. I had drained the rx-7 tank and refilled prior to trying to start the engine so I expect it was old fuel in the injectors and fuel rail. The engine had been sitting for a couple years so I am beginning to wonder if the old gas may have cloged the injectors.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.