A friend of mine just bought a blown engine 350z for something like 2k (Red 04 Auto Hatch), and the previous owner says that the timing skipped, and so depending on if the pistons are damaged or not once we finally tear into it is going to be the deciding factor on if we do a full swap, or just a head replacement, and I was wanting to get a few thoughts... I know that a ton of cars have the vq35de in them (Nissan Pathfinder, Nissan Altima, Nissan Maxima, Nissan 350Z, Nissan Murano, Nissan Quest, Infiniti QX4, Infiniti I35, Infiniti G35 coupe, Infiniti G35 sedan, Infiniti FX35, Infiniti M35, Infiniti JX35, Infiniti QX6), but from what ive done in a bit of research is that the actual block isnt the same because of the way they are mounted, because the Z vq35 is longitudinally mounted, where most of the other ones are transversely mounted... so I was just wondering what your guys' thoughts were on that, if a head swap is possible from one of those cars, or just a list of cars that you can mount the engine from in the z. Thanks for the help in advance!

 

For simplicity's sake. I would stick with a replacement out of a G35 or 350Z. You might be able to swap engine mounts, heads, exhaust manifolds, intake manifold, and accessories onto a block from another Nissan donor, but there are a lot of variables that could still cause fitment issues. But I think you would have pretty good chances swapping from most products where the engine is NOT transverse mounted (such as the FX35). Many aftermarket engine parts mention compatibility across G35/350Z/FX35. But this doesn't mean that the lower block portion is exactly the same. The oil sump could be different or the engine mounts. If you have an original block, many of these items can be swapped over to "convert" the donor to fit.

I've never personally tried, so I can't say for sure. But car companies typically don't go through the extra costs/effort to make a bunch of custom block molds to fit the different vehicle models. By that I mean, if the bottom-end internals are the same, then they usually don't make unique molds for external bits. I suspect there's only a few variants you need to be concerned with.
Cheers!
-Icer

 

Gotcha, makes more sense, thanks!!

 

Yes, you are right.


 

Do a compression test first … confirm that the engine is indeed salvaged-out. If you get 0 psi on all cylinders or on one bank it’s a good indication that timing has jumped … if you get ***** compressions between all the cylinders than you likely need a new engine all-together.

I dont think this is a ‘replace the heads only’ type of thing … if the heads are damaged than likely the pistons, valves, etc are damaged as well …

and when factor in the ‘right’ way to do it (replace head gaskets, replace head studs, it be wise to have the heads machined, along with cleaned/inspected/etc) you will be well past the cost (not to mention the time) it’d take just to drop in a donor VQDE … I’d buy it off ebay because there is recourse if the engine is not as described.

Futher, if you ever wanted to do a built block, now would be the time!