After talking to a couple Maxima guys its apparent no tuning option exits for the 02 maxima ECU thats worth a damn in racing. No offense to the UTEC users, its a great street system but I needed more functionality in a purpose built track car.

We need a way we can control HP, timing, fuel, cams, and wheel spin without running a stand alone ECU. UpRev has that functionality, but that means switching to the +04 CANbus supported ECU. UpRev can shut off any DTC, so choosing which sensors to keep, and which to remove is relatively simple.

My B15 has all of its wiring intact - all its harnesses, relays, fuses, etc. It takes a little work to get a VQ35 with an '02 Maxima ECU to work in a B15 SE-R, but its not hard by any means.

That was the old way..

Justin (from Nissan Sport Mag) and I are going to remove every fuse box, harness and relay box in the car. Everything. Then we are going to replace it with just the bare essentials from a 350Z. Gauge cluster and ECU. We'll run wiring for the fuel pump, headlights, tail lights, wipers and starter to a box in the center of the dash. The ECU will control/monitor only these functions (I'm thinking off the top of my head) - cam pos sensors, crank angle, VTC, magnet retarder actuator, evt, coils and amplifier, injectors, knock, water temp, MAF, IAT, TB & pedal, wheel sensor (through can line), wideband or 02 and fuel level.

The toughest task I think will be the wheel speed sensor - the signal is sent from with the ABS box or TCS over the can wire. None of which my motor will have.

If anyone has any insight into how to get a maxima tranny to relay speed to a 350Z ECU, please let me know.

We're going to hit the junk yards and see what we can dig up. We're looking for an 05 6spd ECU, harness, and gauge cluster..for starters. Tonight we removed the dash, heater core, sound deadening, everything but the fuse box.

Next is all the harnesses. We'll also go to Forged Perf and see if we can borrow a Z head to test fit. Mark seems to think it will fit perfectly - maybe a couple of the inside timing cover bolts might not line up. But the LIM should bolt up.

Should be fun..

We ordered new rings, bearings, orings, etc from Dave B at South Pt in Austin. We'll modify the water passage for HR HG. Adding the HR head bolts, HR Oil Pump. And we got in the 2row Infiniti I30 radiator, which is exactly the same width as the B15, just 2" higher. Now we have the inlet/outlets on the correct sides unlike the B15 radiator. We also have HR valve springs, retainers and 350Z lower Tstat, all of which we may not need with the newer heads with EVT. The only part we are missing from the motor build are the ARP rod bolts and OEM thrust washers.

If anyone has any of the wiring harnesses, heads or gauge cluster, please let me know. And any issues with this build, please chime in too! I can use all the help I can get.

 

You can use the ecu from an 05+ altima. The ecu pinouts are the same as the z which allows us to use a utec and other PnP tuning devices if you were to go that route.

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the only difference between rev up heads and DE heads the cams and valvetrain?

Good luck.

 

Good luck man, if you get this right it should be quick. However, this seems like a nightmare build and swap. Have you considered a more simple swap or simple power adders?

 

I hadnt thought about the VQ Altima. We're hoping to use the EVT from the revup head, control it with an 05 350Z ECU and UpRev software. Since its a racecar, the ECU will only have to control the core functions of the motor.

I think the B15 gas pedal will work (has two sensors I believe) like the Z. Its just the wheel speed sensor is throwing me for a loop. I cant confirm it the ECU needs the input for more than just the speedo.

Thanks!

Mike - we're classed for TTC (elises, M3s, etc) in NASA. And we're limited to 257whp @ 2800 race weight. So we're trying to make the broadest HP curve possible - and use timing or TB to control HP - and hold it at/around 257. So hit it sooner, and hold it.

 

BTW, here is how the car performed last year with the 179whp QR25 motor. This is with basically a mildly tuned B15 SER, with a basic coilover suspension.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP1c32x7cno

 

Ok, that makes sense why you would go through the added hassle. With that WHP limit, the VQ should be able to get there on stock internals reliably with no problem.

 

Made some progress this weekend. Justin and I got the motor torn down and we waiting on the new rings, bearings, etc from Dave B at South Pt Nissan. We're thinking about running the 350Z revup heads and ecu, but we're still working on the wiring. I am going to head over to Forged Perf and talk to Sharif about the swap.





I took some measurements and found out that an Infiniti I30 2row radiator fits in the SpecV bay. Its about 2" taller, same width. The works out nice because the inlet/outlet match up to the VQ35 perfectly without having to use that ridiculous cross over lower radiator hose. To get the I30 rad to fit, all you need to do is fab up a simple bracket for the top.







I also added the lower CF lip and lowered it about an inch and sealed it against the bumper. Its slowly coming together

 

Looks good. While your at forged ask sharif about the pathfinder cooling mod. The maxima guys are tryin to figure out a way to use this on the fwd block. It seems we might have to drill slightly through the block to get it to work.

 

Thanks - its slowly coming along. There is a HR headgasket mod. You cut down the side ports on the block about 1/8" and the HR HG lets the water exit by the exhaust valves. JWT has a how-to.

 

Yes I'm aware of that. But I figure you can help out those who are curious on the PF cooling mod too. There's a thread on it on maxima.org. I posted in your thread there too.