Topic: Contemplating the fate of a 1994 Infiniti Q45 in Carson City, NV

Hey there, all.

I've been a bit of a fan of Lemons racing for a few years now, and this morning started to think about Lemons as a possible solution to a bit of a quandary I find myself in.

Last year, I finally decided to part with my 1994 Q45, a car that I had truly loved for nearly a decade after having it handed down to me from my mother. The styling, the feel, everything about that car felt great. I handed the keys to a friend, and told him to go ahead and pay me over time, no rush.

After a year, he decided (for unrelated reasons) not to finish buying the car after paying half the price and handed the keys back. Unfortunately... he wasn't particularly kind to it. The paint is scratched up in places it wasn't before, there's more interior trim damage, and the "destroyed by heavy drivers" seat is pretty much flattened. The engine, however, in my experiences driving the car over the last couple weeks, seems to be in pretty good shape. The shocks are "okay", I think, and the tires were relatively new when I first started to consider selling the car.

But now, I have five cars, parking for 4 if I drive two over a curb, and need to track down the title for the Infiniti. My thought is... should I try and find a way to send her out in a blaze of Lemons glory?  I'm not going to be able to do the conversion work (cage, seats, etc.) to make her trackworthy, but if the car might be a suitable candidate for Lemons use, I'm considering my options.

I have two major things that come to mind.

First, I could sell it for a Lemons appropriate price to an established team that wants to run her in Lemons racing events.

Second, I wonder if perhaps I could barter with a technically competent team for some... repair work. I've got a 1993 300ZX Twin Turbo that has been an absolute albatross for the last five years. Mechanical problems galore, but now, the only thing (I think!) that seems to remain is some kind of possible vacuum leak that my local mechanic doesn't have any idea how to approach. If anyone has worked on a 300ZX Turbo before, they know what I'm talking about. The Z runs, but idles badly, and overheats like crazy after a few minutes of drive time. Idling, temperatures are mostly okay, but once you get on the road it's a terrifying hellscape of fear. It could be air problems, it could be thermostats, but my partner and I have spent days trying to figure it out and have reached nearly the end of the road. Wouldn't expect anyone to actually fix the Z for the trade, but a weekend or even a good day of time spent helping us look into it might be a route worth considering.

So, Lemons commentariat, any thoughts?

Re: Contemplating the fate of a 1994 Infiniti Q45 in Carson City, NV

Wish you were closer to Fl. I would try and buy the Q for its driveline (to supplement the 2.5 other Q45 already here)

It will make a nice racecar if you can get its weight down.

Homestead Chump 5th-Sebring 6th-PBIR Lemons 9th - Charlotte Chump  CrashnBurn 9th
Sebring 6th again -NOLA Chump 1st -PBIR Chump Trans Fail 16th
Daytona 11th - Sebring 6th - Atlanta Motor Speedway 2nd - Road Atlanta Trans Fail 61st-Road Atlanta 5th
Daytona 13th - Charlotte 9th - Sebring 2nd-Charlotte 25th broken brakes - Road Atlanta 14 10th-Daytona 14  58th- Humid TT 19th Judges' Choice!

Re: Contemplating the fate of a 1994 Infiniti Q45 in Carson City, NV

Team Infinniti wrote:

Wish you were closer to Fl. I would try and buy the Q for its driveline (to supplement the 2.5 other Q45 already here)

It will make a nice racecar if you can get its weight down.

Glad to hear that some Q's are already in the racing, but admittedly, I don't think I'd want to sell it as a parts car. A big reason I'm considering selling it to a team is to see the car itself go out in a blaze of glory instead of getting run into the ground by some teenager from Craigslist. smile

4 (edited by fleming95 2016-09-16 02:29 PM)

Re: Contemplating the fate of a 1994 Infiniti Q45 in Carson City, NV

TellarHK wrote:

Hey there, all.

I've been a bit of a fan of Lemons racing for a few years now, and this morning started to think about Lemons as a possible solution to a bit of a quandary I find myself in....

Sounds like the best start to the worst Choose Your Own Adventure Story evahrr!

Seriously, I like your thinking that Lemons is a 'solution' to a 'quandary' of any kind!  THAT'S optimism!

Now, let me read the rest of the post. ..

<edit>

Starts off hopeful - guy loves the family car, kindly gives car to friend, friend half-buys and gives car back half-soiled, guy now has too many cars. and story veers off and ends with a half-broken twin-turbo Z.  The mystery is. . . if the guy has a Q45, and a turbo Z, what are the _other_ three mystery machines?

Yep, pretty much Lemons in a nutshell there - and you are _definitely_ on the right track to a 'solution'.

(problem is the Q45 might be reliable enough to _not_ go out in a 'blaze of glory', and then you'll need a parts car just cuz, and, and, and....!)

Re: Contemplating the fate of a 1994 Infiniti Q45 in Carson City, NV

We have the driveline of a 170,000 mile 95q running in another model, so far in 6 events we have had one fuel injector go bad, the worst that will happen to a full size Q45 will be a overheated rear end, I do recommend synthetic trans, diff fluid, bigger front rotors, calipers, real race pads, weight reduction and expect it to run, handle and race for quite some time rather then blow in a blaze of glory  wink

When you get up close and flip one over you will find the q45 is a big,fat, heavy, wide, v8 300zx

Homestead Chump 5th-Sebring 6th-PBIR Lemons 9th - Charlotte Chump  CrashnBurn 9th
Sebring 6th again -NOLA Chump 1st -PBIR Chump Trans Fail 16th
Daytona 11th - Sebring 6th - Atlanta Motor Speedway 2nd - Road Atlanta Trans Fail 61st-Road Atlanta 5th
Daytona 13th - Charlotte 9th - Sebring 2nd-Charlotte 25th broken brakes - Road Atlanta 14 10th-Daytona 14  58th- Humid TT 19th Judges' Choice!

Re: Contemplating the fate of a 1994 Infiniti Q45 in Carson City, NV

fleming95 wrote:

Starts off hopeful - guy loves the family car, kindly gives car to friend, friend half-buys and gives car back half-soiled, guy now has too many cars. and story veers off and ends with a half-broken twin-turbo Z.  The mystery is. . . if the guy has a Q45, and a turbo Z, what are the _other_ three mystery machines?

Yep, pretty much Lemons in a nutshell there - and you are _definitely_ on the right track to a 'solution'.

(problem is the Q45 might be reliable enough to _not_ go out in a 'blaze of glory', and then you'll need a parts car just cuz, and, and, and....!)

That's pretty much how it is! I've got the Q45, a 1995 Wrangler, the Z, a 1984 Dodge B250 van (also possibly going on the sale shelf at some point), and a 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport (acquired after deciding that dammit, crossovers don't *all* have to suck and there's no affordable, good wagon on the market, so...). And yes, the story definitely meanders off into tangents but it all makes sense in the end. Sort of. Maybe. I guess.

I actually think the Q45 would be likely to survive a Lemons race mostly intact. The one thing that's a bit of a question is that the engine (which is actually its second one, after squirrels destroyed the original) had some lifter ticking when I "sold" it last year. Amazingly though, I haven't heard it at all since getting the car back. So who knows, maybe I'll get lucky and find a team that has some ideas. smile

Re: Contemplating the fate of a 1994 Infiniti Q45 in Carson City, NV

Team Infinniti wrote:

We have the driveline of a 170,000 mile 95q running in another model, so far in 6 events we have had one fuel injector go bad, the worst that will happen to a full size Q45 will be a overheated rear end, I do recommend synthetic trans, diff fluid, bigger front rotors, calipers, real race pads, weight reduction and expect it to run, handle and race for quite some time rather then blow in a blaze of glory  wink

When you get up close and flip one over you will find the q45 is a big,fat, heavy, wide, v8 300zx

I *think* the injectors for the Q45 and the 300ZX TT are actually compatible? I've got a feeling that the "blue dot" ones I have sitting in the garage someplace were earmarked as able to be used in both cars. I'd definitely be happier seeing the Q have a nice, long career in Lemons racing, but know that said 'blaze of glory' would be a certainty at some point in its final act.

Better to do burnouts than fade away. *

I've long considered the Q to be exactly that, the 300ZX's chunkier, slower, and more refined big brother. But hey, the Q45/President was also a good VIP cruiser in its home market, so maybe being the bigger brother has its positives? If I were going to be racing it myself, I'd run with that for a theme, too. "YaQza" Put some curtains in the windows! **

* Q45 capacity for burnouts limited, YMMV. Comment not valid in AK, HI, and DE.
** Okay, you probably can't put curtains in the windows per Lemons rules, but it was a thought.

Re: Contemplating the fate of a 1994 Infiniti Q45 in Carson City, NV

1.  Donate the Q to a Lemons team that is capable of building it.  Trade directly for seat time in said car.
2.  Find a fanboi to fix the Z.  It doesn't sound like a huge problem.

1990 RX7 "Mazdarita"  1964 Sunbeam Imp (IOE 2013 Sears Pointless) 2002 Jaguar x-type (Winner C-Class 2021 Sears Pointless)
Gone bye-bye
1994 Jaguar XJ12 (Winner C-Class 2013 Sears Pointless)  1980 Rover SD1 (I Got Screwed 2014 Return of Lemonites)

9 (edited by Team Infinniti 2016-09-16 04:33 PM)

Re: Contemplating the fate of a 1994 Infiniti Q45 in Carson City, NV

Correct, fuel injectors for Q45 = 300zx tt  with a catch, there are early and late versions of both, not a big deal once you are shopping, the late ones you have are under $30ea new

Lifter ticks? Ha! Our valve train sounds more like a train wreck when cold (and occasionally hot)

Change the oil with 5.5qts of old fashion 15w40 rotella diesel oil, don a wix filter, drop in a quart of lucas, bring another gallon of rotella and another lucas to the track...

Homestead Chump 5th-Sebring 6th-PBIR Lemons 9th - Charlotte Chump  CrashnBurn 9th
Sebring 6th again -NOLA Chump 1st -PBIR Chump Trans Fail 16th
Daytona 11th - Sebring 6th - Atlanta Motor Speedway 2nd - Road Atlanta Trans Fail 61st-Road Atlanta 5th
Daytona 13th - Charlotte 9th - Sebring 2nd-Charlotte 25th broken brakes - Road Atlanta 14 10th-Daytona 14  58th- Humid TT 19th Judges' Choice!