darktalon

http://www.ellisautoworkz.com/cars/450sx.asp this is the site that sold me on the vk45 in an s13, I originally fell in love with the engine after seeing Smokey Nagata's(TOP SECRET's) GTR-35 which runs the VK45 in a twin-turboed format(similar to the blue 280Z found here: http://www.zparts.com/showcase/engines/pag...8z-testfit.html ) with a JZA80(supra) 6speed, and through research found the guys at ellis. There's a vid on there of the first tests of the '450sx' as well plenty of build pics, and you can easily see the absurd LACK OF ROOM in that bay...

alright, so I have 2 conquests...one of which is untitled...I'm thinking scavenging most of the parts off it, and making some fiberglass to replace(fenders, doors, header panel, etc etc) and make it into a dedicated race car. I have, in my garage a VK45DE (300hp N/A) engine out of an inifiti Q45 and a 6speed transmission out of a Z33 which I had planned to put into an s13 coupe(but after finding my starquests, the project was scrapped, but I kept the mechanical stuff)... Now, my question is for those that know both the Lexus and Infiniti engines is: is the infiniti BIGGER than the Lexus, and is the starquest bay large enough without SERIOUS modification(IE: chopping up the firewall and hood) to fit this engine and the 6 speed in, as well as leave room for a pair of turbochargers(which the s13 didn't have, it was TIGHT).

I'm in for a CF, if you can wait 3 weeks for a deposit...

I'd say it'd be about the same as targa topping an Eclipse, which requires a huge ammount of cage work or reinforcement. I've talked with 2 guys that have done this to a 2G DSM, and each said they needed at LEAST a 10 point triangulated cage... one guy(who has a white GSX) actually had like a 16 point cage since his car had about 400whp(If my memory is right) and he tracked it some... HOWEVER, there is one challenge in chopping out the roof of a starquest that 2G DSMs didn't have... the door has a window frame built in, and to get the full targa effect, you'd have to cut that piece off the top, and weld it to the new targa, otherwise it'd just look goofy...