Vh45de swap into my 1997 Q45?

[Carl H]

you most likely will have to go standalone then end up with the obd2 tango when it comes inspection time.unless some one stateside offers tuned ecus but that i dont know of.

[PanzerAce]

No i was not referring to a "turbo kit" on ebay. I was just estimating around $2000 to s/c my car. It has just over 100k miles on it, it has properly been maintained and serviced at a nissan garage by the previous owner, i bought it about 10k miles ago and have always changed all fluids regularly, spark plugs, filters, and knock sensors. Dynotime and tuning will not be expensive, my friend just put a turbo on his honda and had probably 6 hours of tuning and dyno time by the guy we know at Wyotech and he only charged $200. So that part wont be an issue.

Not to be a d!ck, but with two grand you *might* be able to buy a SC that fits your needs. If you wanted one of the rotrex units, you would be spending better than two grand just on the blower. Not counting a mounting bracket that would have to be custom fabbed, the intake piping, new belts and pullies...

Oh, and have you thought about the heat range on your plugs yet? Or upgrading the plugs/coils to make sure that consistent spark? How about the valve springs? After 100k miles, I'd toss them anyways, let alone on a boosted application (unless you want to float a valve and guarantee the need for a rebuild).

And if you're boosting a 100k+ engine, I'd expect to tear it apart anyway, even if only to redo the bearings and the rings. Though while you're at it you might as well get new pistons and rods to make sure that the engine can handle the power.

You really need to revise your cost estimate upwards man, for your own sake. And do read "maximum boost", since you shouldn't be relying on friends to figure stuff out. (and budget more for dynoing as well, you never know when you might lose the deal).

[jarred15801]

When you guys start naming all these other things to look into its pretty clear how this can add up quickly. And i simply just don't have the money for all those things. Looks like im gonna have to do some other kind of mods. Any other ideas besides forced induction, motor wise that i can do on a vh41? For 1-2k bucks? Thanks

[Carl H]

a proper head back exhaust and intake will do wonders.stock exhaust manifolds are the loose, a good set of headers should net 15-20hp and a full exhaust another 5-10.

[jarred15801]

No one makes headers for the vh41 though do they? If so please put up a link because i've never found them before.

[elwesso]

Some iffy information in this thread, definitely..

As far as putting some sort of forced induction VH45 in a 97-01 Q, your best bet is to scrap everything VH41, put the VH45 stuff (engine, trans, harness, ECU) and get that running. Ive seen a lot of projects fail because they bite off more than they can chew.

Get the car running stock and running well, THEN start thinking about anything else.. Remember, even the newest VH45 (1995) is going to still be 14 years old, so its not going to be a thing where you can pull it out of an old Q and its ready to go. You'll want to spend at least a grand (hoses, seals, etc) on rehabbing the VH45 before you even drop it in the car, and thats assuming its got good oil pressure and compression!

Remember for something like this, mounting the engine in the car is going to be the easiest part!

For a project like this, take how much you think it will take (the absolute worst case scenario) and multiply it by 2. Ask ANYONE on this forum, and they'll agree with me, or say multiply by 3,4,5.....etc

Greg, werent you the one that said a 5 speed in a Q45 would cost an outrageous amount of money and couldnt be done???? HMMMM!!!

I'd never put an LS motor in a Q45.. If you want the easy route, thatd be the route to go...

I havent even bothered reading any of this other garbage, and IMO its a bunch of worthless chatter and day dreaming until you get a stock VH45 running in a 97-01 Q...

Anyone who picks a VK45 over a VH45 needs to read a little bit on here..

You get that VH45 in your Y33, THEN we'll talk boost!

[Mettler]

I wouldn't even bother making the Q faster... it's a big heavy luxury car! If you want something to thrash, get an S chassis or some other little light car, and do a VH45 conversion on that.

The guys are right, it costs a lot of money! Doing custom stuff to cars is a pain in the arse!

[Orphan]

I totally agree with mettler, what is the point in making your Q a bit faster. From memory the Q45's are in the 1700kg range even with 350hp it will be relatively slow though it will move a little better, you'd still be looking at 14 second 1/4 mile.

The cost stacks up very quickly, look over peoples build threads and just ad up the cost of all the parts and custom stuff and you'll soon see. If you can weld and fabricate your own stuff that can save you a lot of money but you still have a huge time investment. Even if you can do all your own fabrication a basic single turbo set up with log manifolds will set you back at least 2k in parts for starters then you need an intercooler, exhaust, and tune just to get it running, already way past 4k by the time you even have it close to running and thats if you can do everything yourself which I doubt. Ad is labour costs etc your looking at over 6 grand for a simple '2 grand' set up. Then ad in new injectors and all the other little things and there goes another 2k and your at 8k and thats if it goes to plan.

If you can do you own fabrication a twin screw supercharger set up can be quite affordable but seeing as you don't have much experience i'd definately read the suggested book first to get a better understanding of how it all works. Turbos are intercooled cause its easy to do and dumb if you don't, you loose serious power by running unintercooled and make a lot less power per supposed PSI compared to intercooled.

I can't see why the VH45 wouldn't be fine with 10-12psi on a standard bottom end as long as its healthy. Can push much bigger numbers through a lot of older weaker engines.

To end on basically you need to understand upgrading your Q is really a waste of money, even if you picked up an s13 and dropped a VH in it would be much better, the original S13 is only around the 1100kg mark, thats 600kg+ lighter than a Q which makes a HUGE difference, even a stock VH45 in an s13 can be quick.

Any boosted application for the Q is going to cost you at least 6-8k by the time your done and thats if it goes to plan. If you still want to boost your Q then read up on forced induction ' Maximum Boost' is a pretty good book to get a good understanding of the basics and system design. Then once you have read up see if you still want to do it and go from there, I think the book is only $50 so well worth the read if its going to save you from starting a project that you pour money into and never finish or get average results which are the best you will get from a Q45, it will make lots of noise and use lots of fuel and not go anywhere. Sorry to be negative but I think you need to really understand the amount of work it will take and the results which won't be all that amazing.

BTW a VH41 on 6psi centrifical supercharged probably wouldn't even do more than 250rwkw or ~335rwhp. Intercooling might help a little and for the minimal cost of $600-800ish it would be worth it if you have the option, intercooling a twin screw or roots is much more difficult.

Moral of the story, don't bother doing it. If you want cheap performance get a light car and get a LS2 + T-56 drop it in and get some average aftermarket headers and say hello to around 400rwhp with a tune. I dislike push rod engines but at the end of the day when you can get an LS2 + trans for $1500-2k in good nick its the most cost effective swap.

[AZhitman]

Greg, werent you the one that said a 5 speed in a Q45 would cost an outrageous amount of money and couldnt be done???? HMMMM!!!

I'd never put an LS motor in a Q45.. If you want the easy route, thatd be the route to go...

Never said "couldn't" - But it wasn't cheap, was it?!

You got lucky with those labor rates... Imagine if it was $120+/hour (typical fab shop rate). WOW.

And an LSx G50 with headers and bolt-ons would be phenomenally fun.

[elwesso]

I would imagine for the cost of putting a LS motor in a Q you could turbo with 6 lbs of boost and retune for less money... Then again it all depends what you want... I bet you'd be looking at very comparable money for an LS series motor/trans/wiring and someone to install vs someone installing 2 turbos and tuning it..

IMO its stupid to talk about paying someone for labor, because who's actually gonna do that to a nissan/infiniti.. Maybe part of it, but i bet NO ONE on here is gonna pay someone to do a project on here start to finish... IMO anything in this thread that you cant do (not because of tools but because of knowledge), then you shouldnt be doing... know what I mean?

BTW even with full price labor my friend wanted to charge me ($1500 for labor only), still 1/2 the price of rebuilding my level 10 or going OEM... So i'd say its cheap..

To end on basically you need to understand upgrading your Q is really a waste of money, even if you picked up an s13 and dropped a VH in it would be much better, the original S13 is only around the 1100kg mark, thats 600kg+ lighter than a Q which makes a HUGE difference, even a stock VH45 in an s13 can be quick.

Again, it depends what you want. Who said he wanted a fast rackety racecar? what if he wanted a fast luxury car? BMW does it, why not make an infiniti do it?

I really think a centrifugal SC would be stupid on a VH. It needs something that needs boost at lower RPMs, not high so much. centrifugals work great on big block motors, not so much on tiny motors with oversize valves.. Roots/screw type or a couple little snails would be the money shot IMO..

BTW a stock Q45 with the AT, ECU, and headers (about 270WHP) will do 14.1 @ 99MPH... and the Y33 weighs even less by a couple hundred pounds... 340WHP should put you deep in the 13s, which isnt bad.

[maxnix]

No im not ready to spend 10k. How could it even come close to costing that much?

Depends if you want a hand grenade or a reliable car for 100K.

You are way in over your head, believe me. This knowledge is not gained by reading comic books.

[maxnix]

No one makes headers for the vh41 though do they?

Impul did, but those were for a RHD car with the spider intake plenum.

About $3K before shipping.