Some of you may find this idea controversial, offensive, or of a traitorous nature.

I'm only 17 and don't have a whole lot of money. Two weeks ago, my Auto Body instructor at the vocational school told us we had to scrap a few cars before the school would let anymore be donated. The cars slated for the yard include a mid-'90s Mazda, an early '90s Saturn, and a mid-'90s Infiniti G20. Here's the G20...

This is our class tradition. It's fun, helps relieve stress, builds muscle, and prevents the guy at the scrapyard from selling off all the good shit.

I jokingly asked my teacher if I could have the motor out of the Infiniti. He gave me the green light, so I started to do some research. I learned that it is a Nissan SR20DE, which some of my friends in the tuner scene say is a popular engine. The more I looked at it, the more I thought about putting it in the Vega. It's almost identical to a Cosworth engine: 2.0 liters, 4 cylinders, 16 valves, DOHC, EFI, all aluminum...and 140hp! That's a helluva lot better than my stock 2.3 can do, putting out 85hp (if that).

So, am I selling out by thinking about putting a Japanese engine in my Vega? I'm torn, because the SR20 was donated brand new way back in the day and hasn't been run since. This car may have 16 paint jobs on it but it has ONLY 23.5 MILES ON IT. It's BRAND NEW! The car was donated new, the battery cables were disconnected and the car has been moved around with wheel dollies ever since.

On the other hand, I have the stock Vega motor. Unreliable is an understatement. Of course, I do have some options with this one. First, I could put a turbo on it, as seen on this one-of-a-kind Smokey Yunnick Turbo Vega.

Interesting. However, I managed to find a rare Offenhauser aluminum 4-barrel intake. I haven't installed it yet, but I found this photo from an eBay listing for a Vega with the same intake and a Holley 600.

Also interesting. There is, of course, another option...an expensive option. The folks over at Inglese Induction sell a kit that allows you to put two Weber 2-barrel sidedraft carbs on a 4-barrel manifold.

Anybody have an opinion?