Hello all, I'm not familiar with the VQ G/350 platforms, I come from the european side of vehicles (I love BMW's) but decided to explore a different chassis! (TL;DR IS AT BOTTOM)

Attached pictures of the damage below. Picture's are hard to see clearly, very sorry for that but... Steering rack and which I believe is the Lower Control Arm is being smothered by the Crossmember, the Subframe Brace has pulled out of the Crossmember.




I have a 2005 G35 Coupe Rev-up with 100k miles. I've never worked on this type of chassis before which is why I'm seeking help from any possible DIY's.

A little backstory on why... I hit a pothole, the city won't cover it because "the pictures were not taken immediately after damage." I was quoted $1500 by a local shop to have the Rack and Pinion, Crossmember, Subframe Brace, and the Lower Control Arm replaced. Crazy? Not sure if that's regular price but that's what an average Turbo install costs on a 335i. Figured I don't want to put out the money after already spending $450 in parts.

I believe I do have the necessary hand tools to perform this job. The only thing stopping me is an engine bar or a hoist for that matter, as well as not knowing how to disassemble a chassis like this without having the engine fall. I know I can use a jack and a small 2x4 to hold the engine up but I don't know where to place it on the engine. I'm looking for guidance on holding the engine up.

TL;DR
Need DIY on Steering Rack
Need DIY on Crossmember
Need DIY on Subframe Brace
Need DIY on holding engine up without engine bar or hoist.

 

Engine bar is cheap and you can sell it on facebook marketplace, craigslist, etc when you're done to recoup some of the cost. That's definitely the tool you NEED to support the engine while you have the subframe removed. Don't use a hydraulic engine hoist or anything else hydraulic it needs to be mechanically secured. You could make your own with back-to-back 1"5/8 unistrut (double strut), and some chain and a turnbuckle but the Harbor Freight engine bar is less than $100 so I'd just go that route.

On the front of the engine in the center of the timing chain cover are TWO LARGE BOLTS, that's where you attach the engine bar. Those bolts are used for the motor mount attachment location on the transverse mounted Maxima and Altima. Get a cheapo engine lift chain kit and it will have a couple plates you can bolt on that have a 45 degree bend with a hole in the plate to attach the chains for the engine bar.

As for removal of the front end components. Pretty straightforward really. It's just a bunch of bolts, the service manual is available for free at Nicoclub, you want sections FSU - Front Suspension for most of the suspension related stuff, and section PS - Power Steering for those components.

The only "hard" part is getting the motor mounts off, you will need a torque adapter, I can't remember the size off hand but I think it's 14mm. There is a DIY thread around here somewhere with some good pictures of what's required, just google search something like "g35driver.com engine motor mount diy". If you can't find it just reply back to this thread and I'll dig it up.

https://www.nicoclub.com/infiniti-service-manuals

 

Ohh and it's a multilink front suspension so you will probably need some small rope or twine to hold some of the suspension stuff up and in place while you unbolt other things, it tends to twist at odd angles due to the 3 different triangles that makes up the suspension geometry. Doesn't have much tension on stuff so little red twine or paracord or something else small works perfect. Mostly it keeps things out of your way while you unbolt other things, otherwise it twists and gets in the way of what you're trying to do.

Having 2 service jacks and a few various length blocks of wood helps too but you can make do with twine\paracord.