Hi everyone!
I'm new to the forum and joined for some help with an idea I want to pull off.

(I don't actually own a 350 or 370z)

I own a maserati biturbo, owner before me said it was a nice sounding car when it ran, but never really had a kick when he put his foot down, so when it finally died he let it sit for about 3-ish years then sold it to me when I came around.

I'm not exactly the smartest lady when it comes to swaps (most I know is swapping the intake manifold off a dinky 305 chevy) but I'm curious about what more I'd need to prepare before I began this

I know I require:
the vq35de (duh)
the transmission
The ecu
something to flash the ecu (?)
the dash (?)
and the steering rack (?)

(Some pics of the car for who may like this idea)



(sorry, I'm not the best at taking pictures)

 

Welcome to the forum!

You are looking at a big challenge! One that may be costly, both financially and time-wise. Not to mention additional problems you may face such as clearance issues that may require extensive fabrication if the proper clearances do not exist. I don't think I have seen something like this come across the boards before.

Few questions:

Why the VQ?

Have you tried posting to a Maserati forum on this matter? Typically, car forums and their users are of greater assistance when it comes to which engine can be fitted to the respective chassis of forum, not what other chassis the engine of that car can fit in, if that makes sense.

You state "when it was running". What is the reason the engine does not run now? Did the previous owner give a reason, or indicate that the car would just need a few simple fixes to run again? I ask because "never really had a kick when he put his foot down" is open for interpretation and is subjective. A 350z can be quick to someone who has driven a Geo Metro their whole life, but could be unreasonably slow for someone who has a V10 in their daily driver, know what I mean? What I am saying is, consider fixing it and driving it before diving into an intricate swap such as this. The car may be fast enough for you as is.

Hope this helps and is a little "food for thought"!

 

I've seen it all...

let me get this straight ... you want to put a VQDE into this 'seen better days' maserati?

alot ... assuming the maserati is RWD?

I'm gonna stay one thing (other than bail now, it's not worth it) ... get a standalone ECU (Link, Haltech, AEM) the OEM ecu wont work...

good luck!

 

From what he said, originally timing belt slipped, and from what my husband looked up, rebuilding the original 2.0 v6 in this thing may cost more then a vq with its transmission, harness and ecu

And I'm guessing the "kick" ment this things 170hp vs his jaguar's 200+, I'm honestly unsure, sorry D:

And my choice for the VQ is mainly because of the measurements, this things v6 is just sliiiiiightly smaller if the turbos are removed, but it is a bit taller because of its carb. I mainly just went by measurements of what I've researched has been swapped into it.

The 2jz is too long, the 350 is to wide, 1uzfe fits with some cutting under the car and in the bay. Kind of took a mini guess on what would be the best fitting in here with little messing with the frame.
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like I mentioned, my only experience is swapping a 305,s intake manifold lol

Yes this is RWD

And is there a reason why the OEM one wouldn't work?

 

Fair enough. I am glad to see you have done a little research. That being said, you are will need, at the very minimum, engine, trans, and the matching wiring harness for the engine and trans. You will need to evaluate the mount situation to determine the best route as I imagine fabrication work would be needed to get everything to sit properly. I don't know the various chassis specs in regards to length between the two platforms, but you will probably need a custom driveshaft, axles, diff, or else something would need to be fabricated to join the two different sets of drivetrains. Can't really answer the question about the rack or its accessories as I am not to familiar with the Maserati chassis.

 

I think other than just a hobby of having something to do or seeing this as a challenge, way to much time and expense would be involved in the swap plus compared with the value of the car I see a losing situation, is there a chance you could find a donor engine for it?

 

So it MUST be the harness that came with that engine, can't make one?
And would it be okay to just use the rear axle off the 350? Because with the higher hp, kind of unsure the ol' 80s axel will take it if I upgrade the motor

definitely a challenge but we both love building cars so it kind of works out lol.
And if you mean a donor 350, definitely, finding one where I live isn't very hard~ but if you mean a doner biturbo, that one is kind of hard without importing another one of these

 

Doesn't HAVE to be. You can certainly have one made (i.e. an aftermarket company). I say that because if the engine doesn't come with the harness you will want to ensure that if you pick up an OEM harness it is meant for that engine and trans. The HR engine (which is a totally different beast in and of itself) features dual intakes and, as a result, has a different harness than your standard DE (single intake) motor. Therefore, if you pick up a DE and it does not have a harness you will want to ensure you source and purchase a DE harness, not one meant for an HR engine.

You could use the 350z rear axle, but again, that will probably require fabrication to mate together properly.

As long as you have the know-how then I say go for it! Just don't forget to post pictures up here. I am quite curious to see a build of this kind take place!

 

Right on … the OEM ECU will take necessary sensor input from a wide variety sources that you wont have on your donor car that will mess with its operation.

A standalone will be significantly easier to use for your build …

What 813 is saying that you need to get a harness from the generation (as in DE vs. Rev-Up vs. HR) and it needs to be the same transmission type...for example

a 2006 MT Rev-up will not work on a 2004 DE, or
a 2003 AT DE will not work on a 2003 MT DE

So if you get a DE engine make sure you get a DE harness that matches the transmission type.

You can make your own harness but it will be less expensive and less hassle to buy a used OEM.

 

Im here again!

Welp, im just about to get ready to buy everything and i just wanted to do more research, i am about to buy the VQ35DE out of a junked Murano and needed to know if itll still bolt right up to a manual transmission out of a 350z, i know the harness wouldn't work, but to be honest we are willing to make our own wiring harness [bad idea i know]. Would I still need a aftermarket ECU even if we made our own harness for the maserati?

and if not is it possible to get the OEM ecu flashed? [im assuming i would need to go to somewhere to flash it if so]

 

There are literally many different versions of the MT. There are smart folks on here to help. A better question would include the production year of engine and transmission, then you may get your answer.

 

Not to poop on this, but the Murano is a transverse-mounted engine so you are going to have a hard time mounting it longitudinally. Not saying it's impossible but the engine mounts are different between the two and I don't know that a longitudinal trans will or will not mount to transverse engine.

Load some pictures of your progress.

 

It would be a 2011 murano's engine, and possibly an 04 350z's transmission

 

we will be fabbing the mounts and buying a 350z's intake mani~

no progress made as of yet, im still researching everything i can about this swap

 

I understand, they are different than a RWD VQDE and they may conflict with your exhaust headers and the starter motor. Do you as you like - this is your build!!

 

yeah we though of that one, we may just run it with ghetto fabbed headers until its all together before to try and make a legit exhaust system for it lol as for the other stuff im assuming i can just take parts off a 350's VQ and slap them on the murano's, though im sure there will be a snag in that idea.

but this swap lies in the ECU, i really want to use this motor lol