Autoblog

Our obsession of all things automotive extends far beyond the latest and greatest that comprises the majority of what you read. That's one of the reasons we've brought back the Reader Ride, so we can showcase what the majority of us roll on a daily basis. Today's ride is exactly the kind of thing we're into; a rather staid means of transport that is well loved by its owner. Flickr member thefultonhow through up three shots of his '92 Infiniti G20, along with a detailed description of life with his 'G,' and after reading his story, we couldn't help but feature it.

Purchased new by his mother back in 1992, the G20 survived the rigors of daily driving at the hands his mom, and also provided of means of learning for both his brother and Mr. Fultonhow. After 169,000 miles of dutiful service, the stock mill decided to liberate a rod while his brother was behind the wheel, and after a series of attempts at selling the G20, he decided to perform a heart transplant in his grandfather's garage. The only catch: he'd never done anything like it before.

Armed with a factory shop manual, endless patience and nearly a month of his life, he replaced the spent motor with a JDM SR20DE, mated to the stock five-speed manual. After a series of fits and starts, the SR finally came to life and after 4,000 miles everything seems to be going strong.

He's kept the upgrades to a minimum in an effort to stay within the bounds of the H-stock autocross class, with plans to install an aftermarket stereo, some new wheels and some R-compound tires mounted on the stock rollers for competition.

We're love this kind of stuff, so make the jump to see a few more pics and learn how to submit your own ride to our Flickr pool.

Quiqley has performed aftermarket 4WD conversions for more than 25 years. Now that GM is offering its Duramax diesel in the full-size G-van platform, Bowtie (and GMC) fans looking to combine all-terrain capability, diesel fuel economy and towing power, and up to 260 cubic feet of cargo room have a place to turn.

The basis of the conversion is the substitution of a Dana 60 front axle for the GM van's stock dual control arms, which is driven by a manually-shifted New Venture 261 transfer case. The stock corporate 14-bolt rear axle is swapped out for a Dana 70 unit. This is some serious undercarriage. It's also possible to get a conversion built using an independent front suspension, if the goal is better on-road foul weather traction rather than maximum off-road performance.

The conversion isn't cheap - a bit over $10K, plus the price of the van itself - but the total cost can be significantly less expensive than a typical full-size SUV, and we promise that there won't be a soccer mom in your neighborhood with anything like it.

[Source: Quigley]