s13 450sx coupe project by a 17 year old can it be done?

[s13lover1]

Well I have had this project in mind for around half a year or slightly more. I just would do continuous research on it and now want to finish it before school ends so I can show all the rich kids that a car as hold as them can kick there daddies cars's a**. Plus wait for the expression. I actually started the project sometime in January early January if I remember right. I was looking for any excuse to start it came out to be my alternator haha that started everything. Plus I wanted to get my car to not be humiliated by friends EH which will soon be K powered. Couldn't be the one that has a civic beat me. So I aimed for the motor that has a special ingredient in its power that all Hondas are missing. This special ingredient would be something that would make any Honda owner tremble in fear which would be called torque.

Well my car is currently out of service which makes me tremendously sad since now I have to stick to both a Honda Accord and Toyota Pickup (the main one ). But I got the engine removed. I found the worse thing to have happen during the time of the removal is a dirt drive way and a slight rain plus a slight up hill. Because of these factors something that should have taken under 4 hours took a lot longer. We used a tarp to cover the car and made a very ghetto version of a garage than my freind being a genius started to smoke and practically hot boxed us under there. after the engine was free we had to use the truck tie it the hoist and tow it so we could actually move it since the ground was muddy and we couldn't push it uphill thank god for that little truck.



Well the engine was taken out and I thought it would be better to paint the bay so I am going to be renting a power washer and spray everything down and then get to painting after painting that stupid Red has to go it kills the look of the bay. Plus can't wait till March 13th HIN and half off day at pick a part can you say ECU, Harness, Diff, Halfshaft, and rear hubs(yay 5-lug) The budget friendly place and extremely budget friendly day.



Hopefully moving into garage after parts car is out
Modified by s13lover1 at 12:13 AM 2/23/2010

[SoCalSideways]

well, i may suggest you try learn how to spell in English class properly, then try to do an engine swap. another suggestion is just getting a G35.....cause its a bad a** car all around.

[LEMHEAD16]

So people who can't speak or spell English correctly can't do an engine swap?

You sir are an A55 hat.

[SoCalSideways]

it was a joke not directed towards you, because you have no sense of humor. and i actually happen to know this guy. ok lemonhead?

[kingkilburn]

How can you get defensive when a vet is trying to take care of a new guy?

Even if it was a misunderstanding(more like a bad inside joke) I wish there was more people with Lem's attitude out there.

[CrazyTrance]

I got my s13 when i was 17 and started the VH swap my next year. If i can do it, YOU can do it. Just be patient and stay motivated. Looks like you have some guys helping you out! Thats good because it's no piece of cake haha.

[Mettler]

well, i may suggest you try learn how to spell in English class properly, then try to do an engine swap. another suggestion is just getting a G35.....cause its a bad a** car all around.

G35s are s***, led the lad do his superior S13 VH45 swap.

[Chrispy300]

But a G35 with a VH56 would be pretty good

Keep at it mate, it's not that hard, just fiddly and time consuming. And sometimes infuriating :p

Can you weld? If not you'll be learning soon

[s13lover1]

Well I haven't been doing much on the project since my last post because low budget right now and planning on painting the bay before I do anything else on the car also I am busy with two other projects I need to scrap the shell of a hatchback and helping my friend with his H22 which should be done by today hopefully if he gets all the parts that he needs. So far my plans for march are collecting parts, painting bay, relocating battery, and getting everything situated room wise in my garage (its not the biggest) . Thanks Lem sorry my friend was just playing that as a joke because he was next to me in computers when he read it and was making fun of it thats what I get for writing this so late on a school but thanks for backing me up. Your car is one of the cars that led me to this build thanks.

[Carl H]

off to a good start it looks like but the one bit of advice i have for you is this:

do it right, do it once.

dont cut corners or buy inferior parts, if it costs money well...name of the game man, speed isnt cheap.imho its better to save a bit longer to get what you really need/want for stuff like this.

[LEMHEAD16]

What ^ said.

A great lesson taught to me by my uncle when I was a wee lad.

[newbissan-tech]

stay motivated man this whole forum has your back! vh's are great to swap and the aftermarket is slowly coming around! best of luck!

[s13lover1]

Update I got the transmission hope it works seems not that used and the guy said he got it from a z32 tt front clip with 50k on it but people can say many things. But got it for $230 so I couldn't find it to be that much of a loss.

Met the guy at a Wal-Mart Parking lot

Slightly Dirty

I decided to clean it because I am kind of at a dead end and thought it will make it look better and add a little more detail to the swap.

After Cleaning at a self service car wash

Thanks everyone for the support and haha yeah Carl I live by the saying " you can have two out of three of these Fast,Cheap, and Reliable" and my two choices are always Fast and Reliable haha

[Carl H]

do you have an engine yet?you'll find that the engine its self is a significant investment.

[s13lover1]

I don't have it yet because I have a parts car sitting in my garage so it uses up all the room so I can't get to getting it yet but I found a shop that my friend got his H22 from that has some ranging from 30-50K and for about 650 but they might give a discount because of my friend buying from them often. So I'm going to wait till I get rid of the shell. Should be pretty soon.

[s13lover1]

Well my weekend came by but I didn't find that many Qs actually just one oh well I got a harness, ECU, extra TB and front brakes because they are cheap and mine were already wearing down funny. Going to start the wiring once I can get the diagrams which should be tomorrow.

Throttle body in case of anybody was wondering how big it is

Brake comparison

One of the most beautiful things about the ecu is can mount just like the stock ECU I guess that shows my newbienesss

original bracket

Probably will be getting the engine by the end of this month or early next month

[s13lover1]

Funds are not that great for this month so havent got much accomplished accept for the wiring which was pretty easy. Also I have been pretty busy with enlisting for the marines. So hopefully I should have the engine and the majority of the parts by early of next month and have it completed before the end of the month.

[Hatch450SX]

Funds are not that great for this month so havent got much accomplished accept for the wiring which was pretty easy. Also I have been pretty busy with enlisting for the marines. So hopefully I should have the engine and the majority of the parts by early of next month and have it completed before the end of the month.

Hey i think its cool your doing this on your own but i should warn you man, parts are not cheap.

The motor is pretty inexpensive but the headers unless you make your own are 900 bucks. The adapter plate for the VG trans is like 300+ Then there is the shifter position bracket if you want to use stock cut out for shifter, Bracket for alternator relocation, flywheel spacer, driveshaft, egr block off, block off vg starter, oil filter reloation if you dont want to notch the frame.

Im not saying it isnt possible, its just alot of work and money on parts alone.

If your dead set on it, Good luck man.

[s13loverdrift1]

Haven't completed much but than again haven't bought much I'm dead set on this swap and I find that there is no way that I would want another swap now. For sure the beginning of this month I should have the engine. Currently I'm prepping the engine bay so I can paint it. (hate the red)
I have all the plans and still I plan on being finished by the end of next month.

[s13loverdrift1]

Dont know if you guys would be interested in seeing this but since it was pretty exciting to me ill post it up. I haven't been able to work much on the project because I had been working hard in order to rent the beast that I rented for prom sorry I have betrayed but at least I stuck with a v8 . I didn't want the average way to get to prom so I saved up and rented a 2010 GT500.
heres some pics






than some pics with my friends G35





Sorry this is extremely out of place and random I guess this is just my A.D.D. kicked in lol hope you enjoy anyways

[Carl H]

...worst build thread.

[s13loverdrift1]

Sorry about that now since everything is out of the way I get to work. But Ill post pics once I actually have the whole set running so I don't make the build thread stupid anymore. I was just happy about prom

[DRFTBLD]

Good luck with it... You asked if a 17 year old could do it.... if someone says No then have never touched a car before!!! I started on my first full car build at 16! it can be done. The hardest part is making the $$$$ for all the parts you'll need.Hatch450SX is correct... it starts out looking cheap but in the end just piles up. Just hang in there and do it slowly. Buy the parts as you get the money and need then.

Good luck with it!

[Q45tech]

Off topic at 16 [1964] My hobby was studying for a Federal First Class Radiotelephone License with Ships radar endorsement. At 17 I was youngest holder of such a License in the World and lived in a small rural Georgia [USA] city.

The point is with intensive studying and trying you can do almost anything.

The goal should be worthy of the effort and not just something to impress your friends or a girl or two.

[s13loverdrift1]

Well here's an update I ordered the VH swap kit from Xcessive Manufacturing and have also painted the engine bay black to get rid of that ugly red.











Q45tech and DRFTBLD thanks for the encouragement and I'm doing this so I can see what I can do and how well I can make it. Yeah the money was the main slow part but that looks like its picking up quiet nicely right now so hopefully at the rate I should be able to finish in June. I'm picking up the motor next week after I get the mounts so I can be sure once its ready I can put it in the car.

[s13loverdrift1]

Well I have a question now since I am going to be buying the motor next week once the mounts come in I was wondering if I should go with a 94 engine or if I should go with a 90-93 engine. I have a I think 92 harness and I know the ECU can work on a 94 because of WES running the 90-93 ECUs with 94 models. Is there any true benefits to the siamese ports compared to the oval ports of the 94? Also one of the main reasons I want to go with 94 is so that I don't have to change the guides but if there is like a true benefit with going with 90-93 engine then I will most likely choose that. If anyone could name any other differences that would be great. I heard something about the CAS not being compatible on the earlier harness what would you have to do to make it work? I dont have the earlier FSM to compare the two thanks.

[Dammitboy]

Well here's an update I ordered the VH swap kit from Xcessive Manufacturing

Post pics when you get it. That's the same kit I'm going with & would like some feedback.

[s13loverdrift1]

Alright well so far there customer service is great they shipped it out like that second and gave me a 5% discount for buying over $1000 dollars worth of stuff. After that comes in I just have to wait on the clutch and I will have it mounted in I'll make sure to post lots of pics

[Carl H]

glad to hear progress is being made...only advice i can give is dont get overzelous when you get going with the actual car...mine stepped out several times when i least expected it, they are a handful to drive.

[kool0aid]

glad to hear progress is being made...only advice i can give is dont get overzelous when you get going with the actual car...mine stepped out several times when i least expected it, they are a handful to drive.

Hey Carl, will stickier tires help. I am worried about the same thing. The S chassis is light and the VH is very torquey. Any advice?