Ok ok, before you guys tell me to search, Im tired so its better to ask.

i have the 5AT and am going to order the 3.5 FD Pumpkin. Question is i was thinking about installing it myself if its not to bad, But anyof you that have installed it how long did it take you? and was it faily easy to do? Anything else i would need before installing it?

Thanks.

P.S. Get my car back this week from repair shop

 

If I remember correctly.... Depending on your exhaust you may have to remove or take apart portions of it, unbolt the half shafts and the drive shaft, remove a couple sensors and a hose, then there are a couple of bolts up top and one you can see from the rear bumper area. The hardest part is dealing with the weight of the entire pumpkin. It is nice to have a tranny jack or an atv jack, but a large floor jack will work as well. It is not a terribly difficult install, but does take an hour or two depending on your exhaust and your tools. I also took the time to change out the fluid at that time to a synthetic.

 

I did the swap in 45 minutes. Pretty easy to do.

 

ok thanks for the info, i think i can hanld that. Sounds simple enough. Im pretty mechanicaly incliend. Im going to order the 3.5 FD pumkin with LSD Monday then.

 

Where are you going to order it from? I'm very interested in this mod. Learning and subscribing.

 

http://performancenissanparts.com/ca...oducts_id=4286

Jcpeyton, how does the Nismo Exhaust and Crawford Hi-flo cats sounds? Im looking at getting the crawford hi-flo with my nismo.

 

I put the nismo exhaust on first, drove it about 2k and really liked it. I added the plenum and cats @ the same time, so it's hard to distinguish which mod added what. The exhaust became louder, especially in mid-hi rpms, and the exhaust note a little raspier-not so extreme that it's bothersome, but definately changed. Also, more "whoosh" upon acceleration, which I attribute to the plenum-although the combo of plenum and cats may have worked together to change the exhaust note. Overall, no regrets.

 

why the 3.5 and not the 3.9? just wondering since im thinking about getting it myself.

 

Mysunset,
From what i read on the forum that the 3.9 were made for the 6MT cars not really the 5AT. Mostly because the 6MT has 6 speed manual Tranny and the 5AT has a 5 speed tranny. So the 3.9 gears would be a little to much since the 5AT has the 3.3 in them. But you could go with the 3.9 but most likely have to do a ECU remap. That would be more cost in it. But i havent read anyone having the 3.9 in a 5AT yet.

 

ahh. thx.

and what type of gains would we see in a 3.5 over 3.3?

 

I got my 3.5 installed, and love it. I can feel the differenace in acceleration. In my opion its a great mod, and as far as a 3.9 it propley would not be to extrem for the 5AT.

 

did your mileage change groing from 3.3 to 3.5?

 

not really, if it did, it was not noticable to care about

 

its not a difficult install when swapping out the complete pumpkin... definatly need jack stands...

put a floor jack under the pumpkin to support it (car on jack stands)

6 stud axle bolts on each side
4 for the drive shaft
1 support bolt on the rear diff cover
2 on the front of the assembly...

hold it while somoene lets down the floor jack slowly...

repeat in reverse...

 

any drawbacks/downsides to doing the 3.5 swap into a 5AT? Doesnt gas mileage need to suffer as you are constantly at higher rpms even when crusing? From what I have read, it seems to help off the line, does it also help from a roll?
I read somewhere it brings down the 0-60 to like 4.8 seconds, which is good enough to beat a stock bmw m3 and STi which does it in 5.1 s or so. And finally would a stock 5AT with the 3.5 out accelarte a stock 6MT equipped with the same 3.5 final drive?? thanks.

 

So a Man in a Hurry Could get a 3.5 Pumpkin off a car in a Junk yard with simple tools and a few jacks?

What size Sockets do I need and what other tools would I need?

 

I have a 5AT with the 3.5FD swap in my car and love. I also am putting down close to 370RWHP with the Vortech SC and still love the FD. My gas mileage ONLY went down by around .5-1.0MPG, not bad IMHO. If you are too worried about gas, you may not want to be modding a Z in the first place. Also, my RPMs ONLY increased by 200-300RPMs. And to top it all off, my 1/4 miles times decreased by .3 seconds after the install. So, overall, I am very pleased with this mod and I would find it hard to say there are really any downsides or drawbacks.

 

Still a VERY interesting thread. I've thought about this mod a lot. I would like to hear from those 5AT owners who have done it about cost to purchase and cost to install. Thanks.

 

Dont go out and buy a new FD pumpkin. Find someone on here who has gone F/I and wants the 3.3FD in their car and swap with them. You will just need to find a shop that is willing to let your car sit in their shop while you are waiting on one back. It will probably cost anywhere from $80-90 to ship it. Then it will likely cost anywhere from $150-300 for someone to do the swap for you, unless you can do it yourself.