Engine Swap Forum

Well, after a long year of putting together this beast I've decided it's high time I put together a list of what you need to do the same.  Let the swappage begin :)

Engine - 350z, Maxima, Altima, G35

 

Tranny - 6 speed from the 350z

 (shown on a VQ30DE)

 (show beside 240sx tranny)

ECU - 350z, Maxima, Altima, G35 or standalone (I'm using the MegaSquirt II standalone). If using a nissan ECU you'll need the key, NATS module (mounts around the key cylinder) and ECU out of the same vehicle inorder for the ECU to let the car start - a securtity feature on most new Nissans  (if you get them out of seperate vehicles you'll need to take your car to Nissan to have them program the ECU to the key)  What all else will be necessary to run a stock Z/G ECU remains to be seen!

Radiator - I'm using the stock one.

Coolant pipe on back of heads - Z/G works best as it hugs the back of the motor tighter giving you better firewall clearance and puts the rad inlet on the RH side of the engine bay which works out muuuuch better.

Intake manifold - Z/G (all 3 pieces), custom built or a modified Maxima/Altima unit

Exhaust manifolds - Z/G, the LH must be modified slightly to clear the steering shaft.  This also depends on how low you mount the motor, the lower you put it the worse the clearance problem is. I had to hammer in the LH header about 1/4" or so.

Throttle body - depends mostly on what ECU your running and what intake manifold, I'm using a modified Z unit (converted to cable operation) on a Z manifold.

Motor mounts - custom like me if you're using a FWD motor, if using a RWD Z/G motor their motor mounts just might work as is.

 (LH)

Shifter - Z shifter on shortened Z linkage

Drive shaft - custom made consisting of a Z/G front yoke and your stock rear joint with a custom length tube. Either the 5AT front yoke or the 6MT front yoke will work, I'm using a 5AT unit.

 (Stock 240sx front half vs. G35 front half)

Oil pan - Z/G upper and Z/G/Maxima/Altima lower (metal pan) is necessary for crossmember clearance

Throttle position sensor - Depends again on what intake manifold you are using and what throttle body, I'm using a modified Z/G TPS

Tranny mount - stock 240 mount flipped 180 degrees with custom spacer made out of some hard rubber

 

Well, that's the bulk of it, I'll try to add to this as I think of things.  Had I known then what you know now this would of only taken a couple months tops!

Fred

test

hey fred, since your not making the motor mounts i was wonder if you could give me the dimentions so i can make a pair for myself?

I can do that, it may take me a while to dig out the original diagrams though.

 

Fred

I'd also be interested in obtaining the drawings for some motor mounts...

Fred Allen Burge:

I can do that, it may take me a while to dig out the original diagrams though.

 

Fred

I am interested in dropping the VQ motor in my S13 and my GF S14 .... I'm interested in taking a look at you mounts ... if not a diagram at least a picture.

There's a picture of one up above in this very post.

 

Fred

find those diagrams yet?

btw are those mounted to go as low as possible? or is there still a margin to drop the motor even more? on the picture from the underside looks like there is a good 3/8" of clearance between the crossmember and pan but thats what i think..

There's a good half inch or so between the pan and the crossmember so you could drop it down some more but you header-to-steering shaft clearance would be a lot worse.

Still looking for the diagrams.

 

Fred

Ok gents, here's the layout for the motor mounts in .jpg format.  I'm giving this info away free to help you guys out.  Please don't copy this information and start producing these mounts for profit, that would be against the spirit of the community and would be very disappointing.  Being the designer of the mounts I considered making them for resale but I simply don't have time and thus would rather give the info away then sit on it.  If I can at a later date I may make some of these for those that can't/don't want to make their own but the diagrams will still be available here for those that like to do-it-yourself.

I believe that the point that they have to be bent is at the 5" mark measuring up from the bottom, but double check once you get them cut out and test fit.

Questions?

 

Fred

ok ok ok... where's dat pic?

ok so the pics up YAY! freaken saved!!!

 

ok so i take it the notched one is the drivers side. what digree is the bend?

Question:  does the 350z tranny mate to the VQ35 from the maxima, altima, etc?  I'm assuming the engine mounts will differ slightly for each motor?  Thanks for any input.

The notched mount, the one on the left of the picture is for the RH side of the car, passenger side.  It's cut that way for starter clearance.  You'll have to put an angle gauge on the crossmember to get the exact angle, I bent mine at 45 degress but that wasn't perfect, I think it's less than that. 

These will work with any FWD VQ30 or VQ35, they all share motor mount bolt hole patterns.

 

Fred

I'm curious what thinkness/type of material did you make the mounts out of?