Ok, so I got this Z a couple weeks ago and it had no drivetrain. I had the engine, wiring and PCM but no tranny. I was able to get a Getrag tranny and everything needed for the swap worked into the deal. Yesterday, Chris and I started doing the swap and Luis came by a little later to lend a hand.
I have tried to include all the steps required with pics to help, just incase you want to try this.
I started off with this, a plain jane 97 Z.
With this under the hood!
I stripped EVERYTHING off the front of the car, you dont have to do this, but i prefer to wheel the engine/trans in through the front, plus it gives me easy access for the grinding and welding that is required.
You have to remove the rear transmission mount bracket and modify the front mount bracket for this to work. I didnt get any pics of the bracket before, but you can figure out which one it is, the rear one :lol2:
So get out your grinder, plasma cutter, sawsall, cut-off wheel or whatever you choose to use, I found that the grinder with an 8 inch wheel worked best, so that what I used, and this is me going at it.
Once you have cut the front welds and the top welds, use a pry bar and pry it away from the frame, it will make it alot easier to cut the rear welds.
This is what the rear mount and bracket should look like when removed.
And this is what the frame will look like, you will notice that there is a little left on the frame from the mount, this will also have to be removed, plus, i cut a little into the frame, I later welded a pice over that to cover it up since it is a structural piece.
So I got out the grinder and got rid of that last piece
We then slid the engine and tranny through the front with both tranny mounts attached and the rear one had the bracket from the 2000+ Getrag attached so we could mock it into place and tac weld it in.
I then Tac welded the rear mount bracket and performed the neccesary cuts/modifications required for the front mount. I didnt get any pics of this because it was getting dark, but here are a couple pics of the motor and tranny in place, you can kind of see the front mount, I will get better pics once I remove everything and do the final welds for the bracket, Bruno is coming over tonight to help me with it.
I will hopefully update this tomorrow with a few more pics. Check back then
car seems to be in good shape... nice work with the swap so far and good luck with the rest.
NIiice.
~2014 New Z under the knife, same heart different body~
______________________
WHITECAVY no more
2012 numbers - 4SPD AUTOMATIC!!
328 HP
306 TQ
looking good, can't wait to do my Eco & Manual trans swap
Nice to have good help. love the pics, keep up the good work.
Thanx guys, unfortunately, I was not able to work on it this evening, I will jump back onto it tomorrow and hopefully have more pics tomorrow night or tuesday.
Darren, your a lucky man! If only i had the brains or guts to try something like that!
Bruno is coming over tomorrow night to weld it. I COMPLETELY forgot that he welded! lol
Well, to bring this back from the dead...
I ran out of posts last month so I couldnt update this as I went along. Im now driving the car and I love it, I am NEVER going back to an I@!#$su tranny again! Total, this project took me about a week working evenings on it because I ran into a few unexpected problems. Spent one complete night drilling out the ignition cylinder, and once that was done, I had to replace the whole column anyways. Then the car refused to start for a couple days, once I got that fixed up, it was all good, had a little bit of a fuel leak from my return line, but i realized that I forgot to tighten down the clap.(I made my own fuel lines)
So here are the pics of what went on...
My buddy Bruno welding in the rear mount bracket.
Just after the engine was installed, the jack was under the tranny because I hadnt drilled the new mounting hole in the front mount bracket yet.
And finally supported by all 4 mounts.
This is what has to be done to the front transmission mount bracket. You have to trim some material off and either redrill the whole or slot it, i chose to redrill it.
Wiring run and PCM installed.
Rad, AC condensor, fan installed, Oil change done, lutch bled and coolant filled.
Getrag shifter and cables installed.
What was left of the old ignition cylinder.
And after the steering column had been removed.
And finally, this was just after it got started for the first time.
Just after the first test drive...
My BIGGEST helper with this project, this is Phoenix
I put my buddies 18s on for a couple days, I also lowered it with Evotion springs and KYB's and installed my 2000+ tails.
And here she is now, in all her winter glory!
Questions and comments welcomed.
Was fun helpin you out. I almost beat you in my 2.2! I swear! haha.
-Chris-
-Sweetness-
-Turbocharged-
Slowly but surely may some day win this race...
Maybe if i hadnt spun through 3rd, it would have been a real race!
very nice darren...glad to see you got the car up and running
I haven't seen you on msn in the mornings while im in class for a while now.
Get back on msn fool! lol.
bah beginners work
In Loving Memory of Phil Martin December 14 2005
Man props on your work, but I would have cleaned the engine bay and engine before putting it all together. Thats like the dirtiest 2.4 & engine bay ever!
LOL darren clean stuff before he puts it together? LOL RIGHT!!
I would have cleaned it, but i NEEDED this car to drive, I had already sold my other daily driver, so in it went. Remember, this is a winter car, the only time the hood will be opened is when i do oil changes and dtop up the washer fluid!
Ohhh OK good! LOL. Nice work then!
Damn I wish I could do all that tranny work lol.. Nice job.
~2014 New Z under the knife, same heart different body~
______________________
WHITECAVY no more
2012 numbers - 4SPD AUTOMATIC!!
328 HP
306 TQ
