Thaniel

Yah my first love is Nissan. I joined up on this board when I was doing my Nissan V6 into the Rx-7 project. That was a fun car although small. I'll check out your thread. On and for the record my engine is mounted down the centerline of the car. The offset thing is what some swappers did for clearance. Not that I have anything against that it's just I didn't have to on mine.

Sorry for dragging up and old post but I couldn't resist. Yes it does make a wonderful daily driver. Been driving mine for nearly 2 years now.

AH....Sounds like your project is getting some nice chassis improvements. Yah stop by and have a look and go for a ride. It would definately save time to buy the drivetrain all together. Took a lot to gather all the componenets. I'm not looking to make a bunch or money just get what the components are worth (Basically the customizing comes for free ). Thaniel

Have you considered using the maxima manifolds? the exhaust would exit straight down in about the middle of the motor. Can you get the alternator on with the manifolds like that?

Hey Cruez. I just noticed you're in NC. I'm now living in the SW part of Virginia (exit 101 of I-81). IF you're ever by my way you could drop by and check out my handy work if you'd like.

Yes they can but BEWARE. Most are from dealers replacing them due to the 3rd gear grind. In short most are NOT what you want. Don't touch anything from 2003 unless you can drive it first. Beware of Dealer take outs etc. My first trans was a 2003 and it ground BAD. Couldn't UP shift into 3rd no mater how slow without it grinding. Forget about downshifting into 3rd without double clutching. I ended up getting a 2004 version later and it works great. The nissan engines are great and have excellent reliability. Oh. I'm thinking of selling my drivetrain or the whole car as I'm onto another project. If anyone is interested drop me a message. Act now and I'll throw in my 2003 trans and and extra clutch for for no extra charge

To mate the 6-speed to the VQ30. Oilpan and windage tray (350z) 350z starter and a starter spacer (1/2" thick) if I remember right. Slight alteration of the pan to acomodate the VQ30 crank sensor. Front crank sensor holder (custom) to hold the VQ30 front crank sensor Throw out bearing spacer (custom) designed by yours truly. I've given a copy of my drawing to some guys doing 240sx swaps and it worked for them as well. If someone wants it I can dig around and find the drawing.

It does require reworking but is possible Here's a link showing my vq30 and 350z trans into an rx-7 http://www.torquecentral.com/showthread.php?t=22517 Also more specifics on what I did to modify the intake http://www.torquecentral.com/showthread.php?t=22010 It's been over two years and it is still on the car and no problems. Thaniel

I don't think the sensors would be TOO big of a problem. A few things that are important to note are. THe NATS (security) system will need to be kept intact for the car to run (ECU, IMMU and key all from the same car or dealer will have to rerogram ecu) The 350z trans does not have a speed sensor. the 350z gets it's speed signal from the ABS sensors. The throttle is controled by wire not cable so you would need the gas pedal too. I put a maxima motor in my car with a 350z trans (has a 350z oil pan now too). Thaniel

The bolt pattern for the trans is different. An adapter would have to be made or purchased. I believe the eariler post mentioned that. I don't see why you would have to change the diff. I have a 350z trans working with a Rx-7 diff. With a custom driveshaft any trans can mate to any diff. Pretty much. Problem I ran into was the output spline on the 350z trans was not a standard size and no one had aftermarket slip yokes. At least not a year ago. Also 350z trans tend to have a 3rd gear grind. The one I bought had 527 miles on it and grinds horribly going into 3rd. Shifting up or down. I have a different 350z trans on my garage floor. But haven't had a chance to try it out. I hope it is better.

It would take EXTENSIVE modifications to get a VG tranny to bolt to a VQ block (new belhousing). The 350z Trans would likely just need a little modification for the crank angle sensor to fit. the 350z trans seems plenty strong just has crappy syncros.

If I remember correctly in the artical they said one of the first things they did was change the heads. I didn't see where they said which heads they used (3.0 or 3.5) but the engine clearly has variable valve timing which I don't believe was on the 3.0. It is standard equiptment on the 3.5. I have read about people using 3.0 heads on a 3.5 block so I see no reason the opposite wouldn't work as well.

On the maxima, are you having problems with the bearings or something else? I put new bearings in to my wife's '87 5 speed many years ago. Measuring for the correct shims (and getting the shims) was a big pain but we put a boat load of miles on that trans and it never had any problems after I rebuilt it. Didn't baby it either. We have a '96 maxima right now and it seems as it is doing fine so far. Might have gotten lucky and got one that actually had the right preload to start with.

Unfortunately my hard drive crashed and I don't have my bookmarks for that board. There wasn't much else on fixing it as everyone with a 350z just has it done under warrenty. I'm still kind of pissed about the transmission being so poor. It's bad enough that I now skip 3rd all together. I didn't pay a ton for the trans but I was lead to believe that it was in good working condition. From driving it more (over 500 miles so far). It seems to me that the syncro spring is too soft or something is not shimmed properly. Some Maxima's had incorrect bearing preload causing problems so it is not unheard of for nissan to screw that up. I personally am hoping to find a cheap or free one near by so I can rebuild the trans and then swap mine out. I don't want to have my car down for long.

There are more than a couple LS1 rx-7s out there. see http://www.torquecentral.com It seems to be a popular swap. However I decided to put a Nissan engine in my FC though. Got to be different I guess.

Go to any Rx-7 web site and do a search for "unflood" procedure etc. When is the last time your nissan flooded on you? The Mazda dealer explained the flooding fact of the Rx-7 to me soon after I bought the car. Also look for blown coolant seal and broken apex seal. Or just check the forsale section of any rx-7 site and you'll see the same. I drove my rx-7 the same way I drove any of my nissan cars. My pathy has 210,000 miles on it (original engine and trans). My rx-7 started blowing a coolant seal and then blew an apex seal at aprox 100,000 miles on the SECOND engine. I also rebuilt the trans. The car flooded more than a dozen times in the 10 years I owned it. I've never had any of my nissan engines flood..ever (I've had 2 200sx's, 2 maximas and a pathfinder) Rotaries are fun but they DO have reliablity issues.

I found this on a 350z site. If a dealer chooses to rebuild a trans because of ther 3rd gear grind this is what they replace: 32609-cd000 Insert-shifting 32610-cd000 Hub and sleeve SE 32603-cd005 Spring-shifting 32620-cd011 Ring baulk 32260-cd004 Gear assy-3rd 32276-cd001 Bearing-needle 32274-cd000 Bush counter GE 32811-cd000 Fork shift, 3rd 34133-mb000 pin retainer Seems the third gear grind is REALLY common. Some guys have 3 different transmissions installed. That really surprises me. I expected better from nissan. So far I am not pleased with the trans. It sounds noisy when idleing in neutral (like a worn bearing). Everytime I shift quickly into third after accelerating to 5K+ rpms I get the grind. What crap. There wasn't much out there about the gear grinding before I bought the trans (aug 2003). At least I hadn't heard anything. It's going to be awhile before I rebuild the trans. Guess I'll have to live with it for awhile.

I've been driving my car a bit and I may have the dreaded 350z 3rd gear grind!!! Anyone hear if there is a fix for it? Can I rebuild the syncro or is some dimension on a critical part way off? It doesn't grind always. Only when I am pushing it real hard. Maybe some synthetic in the trans would be enough....

Can't do it. The trans doesn't have a mechanical drive. The only things on the trans are the neutral switch and the reverse switch. In the 350z speed sensing did not come from trans. Wish it did. I've never seen a trans like that before. Probably the wave of the future.