is that possible? MoD you have a q45, right? is the motor a lot bigger or would it fit without cutting out fenders? i can't find any info on a swap like that anywhere, just like it was impossible...

i'm thinking about the vh41de from the second gen...just because gas is expensive but seriously it should be a bit smaller than the vh45 and with 266hp would be plenty for the maxi - there's your 12's all motor after a few mods flyboy

would there be tranny issues since it's a rwd car or would that allow me to convert my max into a rwd?

i know it's a lot of questions but that's just something that popped into my head so...maybe some good answers or brainstorming from anyone?

you can do the v8, or just swap in a turbo'd VQ35

i was thinking about the vh41 because nobody seems to have done it on a max. i've read about a few 240's with that done. i did some window shopping on ebay and about $1800 gets the vh45 (95') + AT + ECU. not too shabby...and the tax return season is only about 4.5 months away

if not mistaken that motor is setup for RWD correct, if so how will it work in a Max?

Lots of $$$$ and lots of fabrication skills. You'd be better off finding a J30 and trying the swap since it's already rwd.

but...i want a v8 because no max has one. converting to a rwd shouldn't be that hard, expensive for sure.

it's all dreaming but maybe it's possible.

tigersharkdude wrote:if not mistaken that motor is setup for RWD correct, if so how will it work in a Max?

VG's were setup FWD in the max and RWD in the Z31, M30, S12, and many others...

It can be done...

I don't imagine you'd have any major clearance issues with the VH itself...the Max engine bay is nice and wide. The VH45 is a tall motor, though, especially when you take the intake plenum into account. Z32 guys with VHs in their cars have to modify their hoods.

As for transmissions, the VH has a unique bolt pattern (not shared with any VG). If you want to stock auto, you'll be fine for bolt-in. Otherwise there are folks who make adapter plates to run Z32 5 speeds (or you could possibly have one made to work with a Z33 6 speed).

As for converting to RWD, there are the major hurdles that come to mind:Trans bellhousing fittment. Clearance for the Q45's bellhousing makes an obvious intrusion into the Q's much wider interior. You'd have to modify the firewall and footwells to fit the trans. And since there are a lot of electronics (ECU and TCU among others) stored where the bellhousing needs to go, you'll have to relocate all of that.

Rear axle: The Maxima has it's fuel tank under the rear seat. RIGHT where the rear diff and axles need to go. You'll need to switch to a fuel cell in the trunk or try and design a tank to go vertically behind the rear seat like in the Q. You also have to find a way to make a RWD IRS setup work with the 4th gen.

Another think to point out between the two designs is that the Q45's floorpan is designed to leave clearance for things like exhaust which can't run through the center tunnel thanks to the driveshaft. If you look closely at the Q floorpan, it dips down for actual footwells, and is raised around them. Even so, with my lowered Q, the catalytic converters are easily the lowest point on the car. On the Max, the exhaust will be hanging down pretty low.

thanks MoD. that's some good info and got me thinking if it would be possible to make an adapter plate and run my stock tranny to keep it fwd.

I will say... I know for sure the engine bay of the 3rd gen is a lot bigger than the Q45's BUT, you would definitely have to convert to RWD to pull it off as the VH45 is very wide (which is where the Maxima's bay is bigger, between the rails and strut towers). The 4th gen's bay should be similar but again, would definitely require RWD.

On second thought... there are FWD transmissions that allow the engine to be mounted longitudinally. Old FWD V8 Cadillac's come to mind as well as possibly some Audi's. That might be one route... off the top of my head though problem areas I could see would be the oil pan and the location of the engine relative to the wheels. For instance, if you have to push the engine forward (even rearward) for the axles to match up to the wheels there might not be proper clearance.

seems like it would all be a lot more complicated than i hoped for. maybe i'll just look into swapping a vq35...

Remeber that for it's first ~13 years, the Northstar was a transverse FWD powerplant. I'm not sure how wide (or, rather, long) it is with transmission, but it's worth looking into if you really want to go V8 but don't want to worry about the RWD conversion. Since you're swapping motors anyway, you can put a little time into lightly building the N* and you should have a nice setup.

The Northstar's transaxle has a better design than the Maxima's in that it's axle geometry is improved and half-shaft lengths are even so torque steer is significantly less, even though torque is much greater. How well that would translate over in the swap I'm not sure, but it's a nice extra bonus.

thought about that one...but i think i'll get rid of my ac compressor and bolt on a supercharger in it's place. but that might change too too many ideas.