How hard would it be to swap a VG30E for a VQ35DE ?

[Arcenal352]

I'm thinking of adding some boost to my 1991 Maxima SE, and I'm wondering what kind of work I'd be getting myself into, if the thing would even fit under the hood (which I don't see why it wouldn't.)

Has anyone ever done this?

[nismodriver28]

when u say boost do u mean to the vg30e or adding a turbo on the vq35de? U can fit any engine in any car it all depends on how crazzy u wanna go and how much time and money u want to invest. I dont know if that swap has been done, i've seen a 2002 sentra ser with a 2004 vq35 in it. If u search the forum u can find a whole bunch of members that succesfully swapped 350z motors into 240sx's. But they used megasquirt ecu's becuase they didnt have all the stock components. If u want to do this swap the easy way, find a front clip from a new maxiam or altima, or maybe a donor car cause then u can do an easy swap since u will have all the parts there. U will need to weld some custom motor and transmission mounts as well as cut out some metal under the hood for fitment. Also i would check to see how differently do the transmission components line up both under the hood and going into the front of the passanger compartment. u may need to cut out a small section of the floor to make it fit. also all the electronics have to be switched out or u will need a custom ecu, i would recommend either thru jim wolf or megasquirt.

[mtcookson]

It should fit in there but would definitely take some time, money, and likely a good deal of fabrication. The hardest part of it all would likely be the electronics. The VQ has an OBDII system, which is not only a pain as far as performance modifications but requires a lot more electronics than the OBDI setups (basically more sensors). You could go with an aftermarket ecu setup, which would definitely help in the wiring area but I don't know a whole lot about what is available for the VQ's.

Personally, if you're willing to invest the time, money, and work required to do that swap I would actually put all of that into working on the VG. VG's definitely are weak normally aspirated but with a turbo setup they can be monsters. 400-500 whp on stock internals is not uncommon and isn't really all that hard to achieve.

There are quite a few ECU options out there that are easy to setup with the Maxima. The easiest route for the exhaust manifolds, in my opinion, would be to use two 85-88 Maxima or 84-89 right/rear manifolds. These curve around the back of the engine to a crossover pipe. From there, you just need to have a custom crossover pipe made with a turbo flange to bolt the turbo on. This allows you to have a lot of room to put the turbo where you want it. Probably the thing to do would be to relocate the battery to the trunk and have the turbo sitting around that location. This allows you to route the intake piping into the fender for a "cold air" setup as well as being able to run your aftercooler piping through there as well.

For an absolute basic setup using salvage/used parts and some new parts, I could build a setup for $1k to $1.5K (this is what I did to mine to start). For a good looking setup with some decent used and new parts I think you could easily have a 300+ hp setup in the $2.5k range.

If you'd be interested in taking that route I can give you a good list of things to look for to start.

[PBfrEAk]

I sent you an email concerning turboing the VG's. I'm interested in doing a turbo job and I'd like to get some pointers and you seem to be the guy I need to talk to!!!