I hate to bring this up again here but I have yet another question about the swap. I already emailed a Nissan certified tech about this but I want to ask this question here also. I didn't get a reply from the tech yet.

The crossmember and motor mounts on the 03-08 350z VQ35DE and VQ35HR are the same. Is this true? Courtesy Parts has the crossmember and engine mounts listed for sale as 03-08 parts compatible with both HR and DE. Why do people say the HR does not boltup to a 350z that had a DE in it when those parts are the same?


and one other question. The VHR and HR block are the same as is most of the other things except cylinder heads and internals (reason why the VHR is stronger and better). So isn't the VHR and HR a direct swap in place of a VQ35DE without ANY custom metal fabrication to get it to boltup?? I'm not asking about electricals. I know it's not a direct swap as far as that goes.

If anybody knows please answer and give a clear definitive answer to those questions. For ****s sakes.

 

try it and let us know

 

I'd much rather be informed before I spend.

 

the HR motor uses a different bell housing pattern than the DE, so to do the swap you will need to do motor & tranny. this is why there telling you the HR is not a direct swap mechanically. other than that it should bolt right in. radiator hoses & engine accessories mounting will be different. also the exhaust manifolds & the cats are different & not interchangeable as far as each part goes, BUT the overall assy of the manifolds & cats together are a direct replacement fit DE to HR, & if you already have DE headers they can remain & will work with the HR.

I'm doing a DE to HR swap in my FX35 very shortly & I'll have info for you on the electronics too, this is where it does get a bit sticky really. trying to get the HR ecu to play nicely with the rest of the computers on your can buss will be a challenge for sure & depending on the options the old vs new has you may never get 100% there, but there is another solution to this. the solution I'm probably going with at this point is keeping the DE ecu so I can maintain all can buss goodness, including cruise, traction & vdc type stuff, & then using a haltech for management & control. the haltech will have no issues controlling the intake & exhaust cam timing & will allow keeping the stock DE ecu

heres a shot of my HR motor & the beginings of the turbo headers I'm building. the FX has a ton of extra room both above & in front of the engine so I'm putting the 2 turbo's up front instead of tucked tightly into the sides of the block undernieth

 

^Good stuff!

 

 

Lol chris.I was just gonna say the same thing.Andrei i hope you get your answers.

 

Radiator supports are different, which is needed for the dual intake pipes on an HR. You'll also need to swap the passenger side headlight brackets to swap in the rad support as well. Then you have hood clearance differences as well

 

ah, those are things that me being an fx, I haven't even thought about much but yeah, hood is different of course on the HR cars with the hump in the middle & guess rad support & stuff to accommodate the extra air box on the right would be different too, but I'd think a little creative cutting on the right side & a fabbed intake system would allow not having to swap the rad support maybe? but I haven't looked hard enough to say that with certainty really either.

 

Im lost it seems to be the same exact bell housing to me. I have someone who has a fully rearendend car wanting me to do the swap. which means i can swap the tranny, wiring harness, dash, front radiator support and stearing column. time invested to do this will probably more than what he wants to pay, unless he gives me his v2 revup to sell and cash on top. i really don't know if it will be worth it but since he has an extra car he bought from a insurance auction for 2k might be worth it.

 

That's all I needed to hear and exactly what I thought. I'm going all the way though and swapping everything. ECU, main harness and dash harness.

Thank you for the reply. You saved me a lot of time.

The dual intakes can be routed any way with aluminum pipe and I don't plan on keeping the stock air boxes anyway. The radiator hoses can also be routed with pipe. If the hood doesn't close I will cut it and weld in the dome from the HR 350z hood since that hood is aluminum too.

 

good luck take pictures!

 

I think u will find that the engine mounts on the hr are 5mm further foward than the de.
I will check it again but there seems to be quite a few small changes in the block.

 

It cant be true because the HR is on the same FM platform as the DE on 07-08 350z.

 

Hi just measured the two blocks from the back of the block to the center of the front top bolt hole.

DE is 282mm
HR is 275mm but both blocks are the same lenght 400mm u might be able to use the de mounts on the hr.

 

Good info Thx.

 

We've had a discussion on this subject going on over at the Nissan Sport boards:

http://nissansportmag.nicoclub.com/z...s-a-royal-pita

You'll see turbocad6's comments as well as other pro techs on such a swap. We also covered the challenges on doing a HR swap from a Rev-up VQ in the last two issues of Nissan Sport magazine. The other issue not discussed yet is the need for swapping out the steering rack from an HR Z. Why? Nissan relocated the starter to the other side of the engine and a DE steering rack will interfere with a HR install.

But take a look at the above thread and get a good idea of what you're headed for. For Nissan Sport's Project T2 350Z the mechanical swaps were extensive, but not really that difficult. The real difficulty lies in adapting the wiring harness to properly interface with each of the computers in the car. You may want to ask some questions about the swap in that thread as well...