Hatmanafro

iTrader: (1)

ive been reading around and im pretty excited about swaping in a 5speed because hopefully in about a month the swap will get underway.

ive kinda planned the schedule in my head and i figure that maybe i could install the clutch and the master cylinder before the tranny goes in so i would have to worry about that on the day(s) i actually swap the tranny.

one question i do have.. well.. i have more than one..
but anyways.. i plan on getting a VE5 and i was wondering if i get the flywheel off of that motor or do just reuse the one thats in there?

another question is.. if i use the VE5 and the corresponding cv axles can i reuse the carrier bearing bracket or do i have to use the one off of that car?

#3. lol.. when i take the axles out of the VE5 at the junkyard do i have to replace the axle seals on the tranny or do the seals not get efffed up when you yank out axles?

also i have heard of guys on here that have done the swap say that the idle is really low or sumthing..
can i swap the IVAC or watever the fuuuk that thing is called off of a VG5?
or does the idle not even change? has anybody that has done the swap encountered that problem or shuld i just not worry about it?

do i have to take the starter out for anything during the swap?

i plan on swaping the knuckles so that the VE5 axles fit... taking the knuckle offf seems pretty strait forward. except for one part. the balljoint.
does it just pop out or do uou have to pry it apart? maybe hammer at it or sumthin?


what do you guys think is the best order of doing things? like what to swap first so everything is as efficient as possible. my friend and i might only have two days to do this due to work so im trying to not waste time.

thanks

Maximahappy22

iTrader: (4)

1. Get the VE5 flywheel, have it resurfaced

3. If you fubar the axle seals while taking them out, you did something wrong

You have to take the starter out to take the transmission off the f**king car

Seems like you need to do some more reading, and/or get the FSM and try and figure everything out that needs to be taken off and replaced.

Also, you should probably give yourself more than two days to make sure you do everything correctly and torque all the bolts down. Just take your time, rushing will cause you to screw up.

Hatmanafro

iTrader: (1)

haha. sorry.. noob mistake about the starter. i never really saw it mentioned in the 5 speed stickys. my bad..
so the seals shouldnt get fuukked?
and what about the carrier bearing bracket?

Maximahappy22

iTrader: (4)

Not exactly sure what you are referring to, but if the part looks different between the two cars, get the VE5 part.

Hatmanafro

iTrader: (1)

alright.

Hatmanafro

iTrader: (1)

bump for more insight

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

ok.. the carrier bracket ONLY matters auto vs manual, regardless what engine was in the donor car, or the destination car. So if you are putting a VE5 tranny onto your GXE, then you need a m/t carrier bracket, which can come either from any 5spd maxima, even a VG (89-91SE).

always match flywheel type to engine, not to transmission. the spacings and offsets are all the same, only difference is the number of holes in the middle. so if you're putting the tranny onto a VG engine, go buy a VG flywyeel because the VE one won't work on your car. and do yourself a favor and buy a new clutch kit.. the Exedy OEM kit served me very well for tens of thousands of miles and probably still has plenty of life left (removing the motor from my GXE tomorrow, so i'll take a peek at the clutch then)

as for the starter, yea, 2 bolts hold it onto the bellhousing, undo the electrical connections first after disconnecting the battery then remove the starter from the tranny.

Hatmanafro

iTrader: (1)

alright, sweet man. i was wondering about that bracket. thanks for clearing it up. idk about a new clutch. i mean.. the break pads i got on my max came from the pull-a-part.. lol. but ill consider it if the clutch is crap.

so a new question arises. when u get a clutch kit. does it include the pressure plate? like.. is that what makes it a kit, or is it just a clutch?

thanks for clearing stuff up for me man

EDIT: when getting the clutch kit. do you get it to match the engine or the tranny? engine right?

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

clutch doesn't care. all maxima clutches from '85-'01 were identical. so you could order a "4th gen clutch" and it would work on a 2nd gen, etc. but yeah a kit comes with throwout bearing, pressure plate, and clutch disc. And why don't you want to use a junkyard clutch? Because it's harder to judge how much life they have left just by eyeballing it than it is with brake pads, and it takes a LOT longer to change than brake pads, not to mention you have to usually get new axle seals and perhaps even an alignment depending how you remove the axles and whether your front struts have slotted holes for camber adjustment.

Hatmanafro

iTrader: (1)

front *****. lol

so wait. i asked earlier. when i take the axles out. will i damage the axle seals? and if so. how hard are they to change?
cant u just mark the bolts on the struts?
also. when you take the knucle off does the BJ come out with it?
....BJ.. haha. ball joint.

im gonna have tons of noob question but i gotta go now. i gotta be somewhere soon.

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

you might damage them depending how careful you are while removing the axles. but if you are getting a jy tranny anyways then you don't even know how old they are so it's best to just replace them regardless before putting the tranny on the car, and get a new clutch so you only have to install the tranny once. the way i usually install them is to either use a massive socket (1.5" give or take) as a drift, or to slowly work it in by tapping around the edges with a blunt object like the handle of a big ratchet to evenly work it in. i mean they're only around $10 a piece, which isn't much compared to how much $ worth of fluid you'll leak if they are in fact bad.

as for removing the axles without needing a realignment, you can actually just unbolt the 3 balljoint nuts from the control arm on each side and swing the whole strut/knuckle away from the axle, perhaps turning the wheel will help as well. i've always preferred taking the knuckles down from the struts, but my strut holes were circular/nonadjustible, not slotted. but no if you just unbolt the 2 top bolts on the knuckle, then it'll pivot downward (after you knock it loose) which lets you push the outer joint out of the hub, then pull the axle out of the tranny.

browse through here for some pics of my swap http://s164.photobucket.com/albums/u...-speed%20swap/

Hatmanafro

iTrader: (1)

damn man. how much of a b!tch is it to install the clutch pedal and master clutch cylinder without taking the whole dash off? damn.
so just to understand you. those axle seals are something like cam seals like.. you just softly pound the seal in untill flush with the surface? what happens if you fukk up and push it in further then the surface?.. are you gonna be up **** creek?
haha
how hard is it to line up the clutch inside the pressure plate? what did u use? and how does that work? do u keep the clutch in line until you bolt the pressure plate on? and then the clutch wont move?
im triyin to think of more questions so everything makes sense to me. lol

ohh.. the stuff about the removing the axles without needing an alignment is kinda uselss to me. lol. i plan on using VE knuckles becuz i want a VE5. you do have to swap knuckles right?
what im curious about is how do you deal with the BJ in that situation? im gonna go bury my face in my haynes manual and go watch G4. lol
maybe i can catch olivia munn on there. if only for a second.. hahaha

James92SE

iTrader: (31)

It's a b*tch even with the dash out. Having the dash out makes it way less annoying, though. Actually, that large metal support pipe/beam is more annoying/in the way than the actual dash itself

You can't push them in further than the surface.. there's a lip/bevel that prevents that from happening

Why not just do the bushing the proper way and line it up normally. I mean, EVERYTHING doesn't have to be some "trick"/workaround... It'd be one thing if you literally CANNOT get the a/t bushing out.. but why not try it the normal way first.. then do the "trick"/workaround otherwise..

Dude, some stuff you just have to experience/see yourself. Get in there and check it out...

Hatmanafro

iTrader: (1)

alright with that said... there nuthin to it but to do it. lol.
ill make sure and update my 'so happy' thread once this gets underway

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

the clutch pedal is kindof a pita if you don't take the dash out but it is doable (i took mine back out a time or two after putting my dash back in). the hardest part is the holes you have to drill in order to put the pedal in. make a template from the donor car if at all possible, to get the pedal positioned correctly and to minimize how many times you have to redrill.

and yea, axle seals are very similar to cam seals, just a little bit bigger. use 1993 SE as your year/trim when you order them b/c sometimes they count 94 as a 4th gen rather than a 3rd gen since the 4th gen came out midway through 1994. don't push them in too far and it won't be an issue i just overlapped my installation tool over the metal rim around the seal so i couldn't physically push it in any further than dead-flush.

lining the clutch up can be done one of two ways. the first way is to get a pilot bearing puller (autozone loaner tool) to remove the chunky a/t pilot bushing (larger bore than the m/t one but too small to install the m/t one inside it) by jamming a flat head screwdriver between the claws to keep it from slipping. i never tried it, but i'm gonna have to in order to convert my maxima engine into a z31 engine. then install a maxima m/t pilot bushing and use the clutch alignment tool to align the disc and torque down the pressure plate little bit at a time in as much of a criss-cross pattern as you can. this method allows you to use the alignment tool itself to hang the clutch on while installing the pp.
OR
if you don't wanna pull the bushing out, you can just install the clutch with the bolts loose (just tight enough to hold the disc in place by itself but loose enough to where you can wiggle the disc around with your finger) and mount the tranny w/ 2 bolts, then rotate the engine with a 27mm socket on the crank pulley bolt and use a wrench to tighten the starter motor hole in as much of a star pattern as you can (ie skip 2 bolts and tighten the next, skip 3 then tighten the next, skip 2 again then tighten, skip 3, so on) then pull the tranny back off and torque all the bolts down before prepping the tranny for final installation if it hasn't already been (axle seals in, contact points on the release fork greased, etc). this method won't let you hang the clutch off the alignment tool so you'll need to use the largest socket that will fit in the a/t bushing as a hanger, square side out of course.

as for the bj... you might wanna just get new ones to put on the ve5 hub unless you can get yours off your stock knuckles without busting the boots open.

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

actually you can seat them deeper than flsuh... someone on here pushed them in too far, but not far enough to prevent proper sealage to occur.

the 'trick' with that is to jam a screwdriver between the claws so it won't keep slipping out, according to someone on here... was that you that figured it out? if not then it was someone else who did a 5spd swap in the last 2 years.

ColombianMax

iTrader: (7)

Reading this thread really makes me wanna do a 5spd swap on my 3rd gen once there's no rust on it... I've had 2-3 manual trannies, one of them being a VE5 but I always end up selling them or trading them for something else. If things go how I want them to, I just might end up swapping Jared you can come help, I'll pay for gas and food and we can probably raid the JY too

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

hah, i got a real job now, don't think i can just come C-town at my leisure. though I normally get off saturday mornings and have to be back tuesday night but with a 14 hour drive each way and time to sleep that is REEEALLY pushing the limit if you expect it done in just 1 weekend. plus you gotta figure it's like $150 for gas to get there and back assuming 2.75/gal assuming i took the civic. more like $200 if i take the z.

ColombianMax

iTrader: (7)

lol... gas will probably be like 5 bucks a gal by the time this happens, IF it happens. $150 there and back or 150 EACH way?

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

hmm perhaps. keep in mind though that i already have a full 5spd swap setup coming off my GXE if you want. not sure if the LSD tranny would still be available or not at that time.

Hatmanafro

iTrader: (1)

so im back to square one.. wtf is a pilot bushing? im gonna look thru ur pics again caped.

yeah.. i dont think i saw it.. what is the importance of the pilot bushing? i think if i understand what it does and how it works i could grasp what caped said earlier better

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

the pilot bushing is in the middle of the crank. the a/t one is like 2 inches wide so at first glance it doesn't look like a bushing but it is. its purpose is to hold the peg thing on the engine-side of the torque converter, to keep it centered. but the purpose of the m/t pilot bushing on a maxima is ONLY for clutch alignment/installation, after that it has no purpose. but on my z31's tranny the input shaft actually goes into the bushing, which is why i have to get my a/t bushing to come out. on the maxima it does not, so you don't have to, it just makes life easier if you can.

in this pic you can see my socket-to-hold-the-clutch thingy, and the poop-brown ring around the socket is the a/t pilot bushing bushing.

Hatmanafro

iTrader: (1)

so can you just take the bushing off and forget about it?
is the bushing too big for the centerbore of the flywheel? is that where it interferes?
i just looked at the pic in detail and i dont understand what the big deal is with the pilot bushing. lol

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

reading >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> you

the flywheel fits fine either way. the problem is that the bore of the a/t bushing is too big for the clutch alignment tool and therefore doesn't hold it tight enough to properly align the clutch but the bore is too small to slip the m/t bushing inside of it. And if the clutch is misaligned, GOOD FRIGGING LUCK mounting the tranny! cuz it won't happen! hence why you either have to mount the tranny twice (once to align the clutch, and again after you remove the tranny to properly torque the PP bolts) or swap in the proper bushing.

if i can, i'll take a pic of each tomorrow, since i have 2 VG30 engines sitting around, one with each type of bushing currently in it.

the a/t bushing looks like this and sits flush with the lip of the crank



the m/t bushing looks like this and sits deeper down into the crank


this is what the clutch alignment tool looks like in action

Hatmanafro

iTrader: (1)

ohhh okay.
i appreciate you clearing **** up man.
without pics i cant really understand ****...
im like a pre-schooler. lol

cant you like wrap the tip of the aligner tool in like tape or sumhow rig it just for the moment when you line the clutch up?

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

eh, it probably wouldn't be precise enough. there's almost no room for error.. the clutch has to be within a fraction of a mm for the tranny to mount. so you gotta do it one of the 2 ways i mentioned.

biggz2332

iTrader: (5)

Swap in the proper bushing save yourself trouble. It's funny how you say what is the purpose of the pilot bushings because some FWD manuals don't even use them because the input shaft is to short. You really can't got wrong with the alignment tool incase your blind, I've lind up a few clutches and had no problem.

Hatmanafro

iTrader: (1)

okay then i guess now my question is. how hard is it to pull that bushing out? how much time would i be looking at?.. i dont know if ill pull it out... but if i decide i want to i wanna know what it takes.

Greeny

iTrader: (43)

you are already in over your head on this swap if you are worried about getting that bushing out..

There is 5 speed swap info in the stickies...take a glance at it..

Hatmanafro

iTrader: (1)

im not exacly worried about it its just that i dont want sumthing like this to slow me down when i do start. i dont want it to become an issue

Greeny

iTrader: (43)

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/749143/3

Hatmanafro

iTrader: (1)

i have that page bookmarked.. lol

ColombianMax

iTrader: (7)

damn, page 9 just totally broke my heart. I know it was 9-2005 but that really sucks

Hatmanafro

iTrader: (1)

is that where he crashes the car? yeah that **** is sad as hell

CapedCadaver

iTrader: (8)

srsly guys it's just a maxima

i could understand crying if it were a Viper or a Lambo or a ZR1 Vette or something.

BenStoked

iTrader: (7)

I couldn't; that **** just makes me laugh.
now if you said
"original '65 Shelby Daytona Coupe" i'd be forming a lynch mob.
only 6 made, most beautiful sports car ever.

maxitech

iTrader: (7)

Another way of doing this: leave the A/T bushing in and cut the smallest OD section off of the clutch alignment tool. Works great!

James92SE

iTrader: (31)

That sounds like the fastest/easiest way yet (assuming you don't want to pull the a/t bushing)

Hatmanafro

iTrader: (1)

^might just do that.. clutch alignment tools dont seem too expensive

and its sad cuz u see how much this guy put into his maxima. if that happened to me i would cry.. i love my car. and i can see that that guy felt the same way.

1991Maxima1991

iTrader: (3)

You might want to hold off on buying the alignment tool untill you purchase the clutch kit because sometimes they supply 1 with the kit, or atleast mine did.... it came from napa btw...(only thing ive found to be bad about the napa clutch kit is those damn noisy throw out bearings).