03 g35 engine and manual swap

[ScarecrowBoat98]

This is my first post to a forum so I'm sorry if it isn't posted in the correct place or anything. So a couple of months ago I decided to buy my grandfathers 03 g35 coupe with a 6mt. He told me that If I wanted to fix it and make it road worthy that he would subtract whatever I put into it from the cost of the vehicle before I actually paid for it. I fixed a clutch line issue and brakes and some other minor things and was about to actually buy it and put it in my name but a few days before that I got into an accident and now the car has frame damage that I don't think will be able to be repaired, the car still runs though. He basically told me that he wasn't even really worried about the car and that he just wanted to get rid of it anyways so if I wanted to try and salvage it I could have it for free now. I'm only giving all of this backstory because when I went looking around on forums for a solution to my problem a lot of people were saying that It would be too much money to do what I was thinking about doing but I only have about $500 invested into this car anyways so I'm willing to spend some more money as long as it isn't unreasonable.

Anyways, I found someone online selling an 03 g35 coupe with a 5at that has a blown motor for cheap and I was wondering if it was a good idea to buy it and just swap the motor and trans from my original g35 to the new one or if that would just be too much of a hassle to be worth it. I have access to a shop with a lift and I would be doing most of the work myself so unless there would need to be some fabrication work done or anything I wouldn't think that I'd have to pay anyone else to do anything for me. Any advice is helpful

[AZhitman]

Welcome aboard!

I owned a '03 G 6MT for several years. Great car.

Normally, I would caution against what you're planning. It's a HUGE undertaking.

However, if you have both cars, a lot of the hassles are removed. You'll need the entire wiring harness and gauge cluster from the donor car, as well as the driveshaft and axles. If you can keep the AT diff, I think it's a lower ratio (which would be cool).

We have the FSM for your reference here, and we'll be here for you throughout the swap... If you can do it all on the cheap, and replace worn/serviceable items as you go, go for it!

[UCRG35]

The downside to keeping the differential from the automatic is the loss of the VLSD, of course.