2nd chance with a q45

[Andreswithag20]

2.5 years ago I owned a 94 Q45 project car. I had big plans for the Q: body kit, dent repair, shaved, new grill/headlights, new paint, rims, v6 turbo swap, man i even dreamed about it. It was green with several dent and worn interior but the worse thing was the rotors and injectors. It sat in the garage for a month before work was to begin on it. However, at the same time i threw a rod in my g20 so i HAD to drive my limping Q in the meantime daily making it worse everytime. Basically, i had to give up both cars... Now i have a offroad modded Xterra and i wanna get back into a Q45.

My question is, which G50 should i get? 91-93 or 94-96? I like the sportier ride of the older car, how difficult is it to swap the older suspension/parts to the post-94 cars? I like the newer cars because of the extra amenities and they tend to be in better shape. That brings me to the next question... Should i work on a pristine car or a neglected one?

My plans this time are about the same exept i'd like to swap in the M45 v8 and transmission with a 2 year finish estimation. All opinions, suggestions, and criticisms are welcome.

Btw, I just thought i'd mention... I chose the M45 v8/trans because I like it alot better and I imagine it'd be more reliable in the end. I test drove a 2004 Q45 a year ago and liked it alot but still wanted the "aura" i felt with the G50 so that's why i wanna swap the newer v8 fyi.
Modified by Andreswithag20 at 3:47 PM 1/20/2010

[Q451990]

Read up on the engine issues that plague the current M. Lots of oil consumption, carbon-a-rific intakes due to blow-by, etc. I can certainly appreciate the advantages of the newer transmission though.

If I were going to complete an undertaking like this, I think I'd keep the VH engine and mate it with a manual transmission like Wes did. Check out http://www.q45.org for more info...

At least one member added a turbo... a VH based turbo with MT woud be one hell of a car!

At this point condition is probably more important than 90-93 vs. 94-95. The only real difference is the timing chain guide replacement issue...

Good luck!

Heath

[Andreswithag20]

Hmm. The newer engine has problems? Damn, I really liked it's feel, response, and sound! It reminds me of the newer v6 whereas the old v8 feels more like a musclecar engine. Perhaps there is a way to circumvent the issues in the newer v8?

[maxnix]

Start with reading the timing chain guide issue in the Articles, then read about the ethanol and injectors issue, then grab an FSM and read, then read the previous posts. Everything is a tradeoff.