I couldnt find anything on this topic at a glance. THIS IS A DISTANT FUTURE MOD but, anyone know anything about what kind of engines you can transplant into an X???? I was kind of wondering about a straight 6 from a cherokee maybe?? Please dont choke and then have a secret meeting to kick me out of the club!

With all the stock parts going away and more and more weight being added (not to mention the eventuality of the Dana 44 rear axle w/ locker and SAS that WILL be coming in the future) I need a new power plant to meet what I want to do with this thing.

There are no direct swaps and adapters are very limited. I can only think of maybe two or three people who have swapped out an X engine. But why would you want to use a cherokee 6? The engine is a POS, 1960's technology wrapped in crap and one of the most unreliable engines out there.

Are you talking about the 4.0 Cherokee engine? Why not just swap a S/C motor in? Orr if you want to go crazy... a 350Z engine. Either would be more HP and a hell of alot easier than the Cherokee.

I know calmini has stuffed a Titan V8 into a next gen. Called project X2.

Now if they just focused on making quality products.

hmm. I was under the impression the 4.0 straight six yields great low-end HP and the upside of it is, that I really dont think the engine is too bad on malfunctions and even if it does break down, the parts are cheaper I'd imagine and its also probably easier to tear down. Either way, a new engine is ALWAYS possible. You just have to get someone who knows engines inside and out and is used to swapping them.

A 350z??? That hadnt even crossed my mind. Pretty cool though. I was also wondering about the 318 4barrel carb'd motor from the '88 Ram Chargers. Those trucks are all over the place. My buddy had one and the ONLY thing he never had problems with was the motor. I could even knock it down to a 2 barrel carb for a bit more gas economy.

How much would the S/C version yield in overall HP after changing out for a heavier rear axle and a solid front. Plus all the other metal I'm gonna be puttin on her?? It'd be great if that coupled with a few other performance mods could boost it to a suitable level. Either way, I'm upset w/ a less than 200hp motor. And I'm talking to the wheels.

That Titan V8 in there looks crazy! Not as cramped as I thought it would look, but its only one pic so... Great lookin X! So Keith... whens yours gettin that high off the ground and the V8?

Never.

Well, that's not really true. There are adapters for many engine swaps out there, and it is done all the time. There are not that many adapters for the Nissan. Anything can be done if you have the time and money to fab up custom parts. Also, you could do the whole drive train, but again, that is easier said than done. It's certainly not worth swapping out your engine for 20 more HP. You'll get twice that out of the SC version. Also, no matter what you do, if you want to keep it street legal, you have to keep it OB II and emission compliant.

I don't think the VG33 is a difficult engine to work on at all and as far as parts, they are available everywhere. The engine has been used in Pathys, Frontys and Xterras. No, not as common as a Jeep engine, but I still have to say that engine is not in the same league at all.

The engine in your Xterra is rated as one of the most dependable on the market today so I?m a bit confused. You want a vehicle with a straight 6 from a Cherokee, a Dana 44 rear axle w/ locker and a SAS? Sounds like you want a Jeep. Why not just sell your Xterra, buy one, modify it, save yourself some money and heartache? I?ll still wheel with you my brother.

because I like the XTerra's look. Plain and simple. The drive train is lacking, the engine underpowered (in my opinion) with lots of heavy steel on it, and I really believe that IFS is for desert running and RAV-4's. So to answer your question... I want AMERICAN parts on a nice LOOKING truck. Dana's are proven, dependable, and made for it. The VG33 gives me serious doubts when even now, I can floor my pedal going up a slight incline on the thruway and I'm basically going no where fast. I dont like it, and I want more. Call me greedy, whatever.

Besides, I mentioned the straight 6 as a possibility. Not the top choice. A 350 or 318 with chassis and bracket work would be even better. I just dont know what can be done and am looking for options. VG33 needs to go away though. I have no quams with its reliability. Never had a problem w/ my motor. But I wont be driving this thing around the streets much eventually. It'll probably become a trailer'd X only. I just want BIGGER, thats all. Its a project build up now

Well if you want power, get a good engine. This is what I would go with, a VQ45, but it is a ton of work. There are a lot of those out there.



Intake:




You are right about IFS being better for fast desert running and solid axle better for rock crawling, but I have yet to find a place where I cannot follow the solid axle guys. However, for rock crawling, you don't need massive amounts of power and that power can be a dissadvantage at times.

Oh, and Dana makes our axles for Nissan.

I agree on the power issue for rockcrawling.... most of the time everyone else just gets up and over the obstacle, and I get up to it, and my back tire breaks free and just starts spinning. ( I can't wait for rear locker)

Yeh, I mean I dont wanna LAUNCH over rocks and end up bottoming out because I cant control it, but I'd also like something that will give me juice enough to creep right to a large obstacle (ehemm... pizza rock for example!) and then just be able to crawl right up it with no problems.

Boy that intake looks pretty massive. I dont know big his hand is, but unless he's 5'3" and 110 pounds... It looks pretty mean! What vehicle does that motor usually reside in?

I believe that your money would be better spent on maybe lockers and crawler gears brother.

well, a locker is a definate. Crawler gears are great to yield the low end torque I was talking about too. Maybe the SC version of the 33 would be more ideal. Not really sure. Just looking at options right now. I may NEVER take my X and just trailor it. And if I'm driving on the road, I just want to be able to drive w/ a comfortable amount of power.

That crap happened to me today on the way to work. Idiots change lanes after I've got my cruise control set and when they get back out of my way I have to floor it to get back up to 70. It takes about 10 seconds to get from 60 to 70 on a hill. Thats absolutely un-sat and pathetic. Not to mention it dosent help with my urges to kill everyone who does that too me. I should stop carrying my M4 in my truck just in case I snap one day....

Sounds like you want the increased power mainly for the highway..