krismax

iTrader: (15)

Maybe some would like to see the progress .

I will be showing lot's of pictures and the goal is to make a cheap daily driver for a few thousand (including car cost)that i can get 10-12 years out of.

this will take me to the middle of next year.

It will not be performance based, but if a part is better or costs less and it's what it will get.

Here is the car i's starting with.....2001 SE 5 speed. These are the sale pics.
Didn't take my own yet.... Car cost $1300.00

krismax

iTrader: (15)

OK first purchase so far is this. I'll take more pictures later.

2001 INFINITI I30 MOTOR WITH 40,802 MILES

In the mail next new radiator support hood latch and latch support...i will be showing pics of install.

cornholio

iTrader: (1)

what's wrong with the old motor?

krismax

iTrader: (15)

Nothing just not gonna last as long as i want. Why you want it?

I have a 1996 max se with a 01 dek in it 102,000 on it 01 trans with 93,000 on it.Had the car 9 years already.

I will clean this car up and literally drive it for 10+ years

cornholio

iTrader: (1)

just wondering, i'm at 235k and still moving. didn't know if you had a failure or swapping just because

krismax

iTrader: (15)

ok i have the engine. Gonna get some day photos soon

krismax

iTrader: (15)

Now i have the rad support parts.... Gonna do some extra welds and some body foam in the support.

http://3mcollision.com/products/soun...oam-08458.html

DennisMik

iTrader: (2)

The 2001 looks good. Hope your project goes smoothly.

Dust N Bones

iTrader: (1)

It's kind of difficult to tell from the pictures but the car doesn't look too bad already. The problem in the Northeast is that cars rot out long before they stop working mechanically. Was this previously a southern climate car?

Anyway please do continue to post pictures of your progress, it's always fun to see that kind of stuff. Good luck!

krismax

iTrader: (15)

Southern NJ is where it lived it's life..

Those are the sellers pics it actually has some rust in the rear quarters front rad support is shot and a little underneath here and there.And some dents.

I will be cutting and welding the rust out. Also any hollows will get anti rust spray inside and foamed shut. I will give links of anything i use so others can use the same product.

This isn't gonna be a fast,i'am gonna take my time. Only thing a may pay someone to do is respray the car . And i'am putting some thought into putting a 6 speed in.

Max139617

iTrader: (9)

Hey man looks great. See your from Amsterdam according to your bio. I'm in Albany we should definately meet up. And I'll let you tackle my rad support too !

krismax

iTrader: (15)

If you pick up the rad support,and other parts if there rotten and the fender pieces that bolt the fender to the front bumper plastic (most the bolts snap off, if yours are good forget that)

And if you want the color to somewhat match the car get spray paint in a can.from this place.just put your car and code in.

http://www.automotivetouchup.com/tou...niti/2004/i35/

$750 labor is what i will charge ,so parts and everything should be around 1k for you

Dust N Bones

iTrader: (1)

I'm near Albany too! I hardly ever travel to the Amsterdam area but when you're done maybe I'll take a ride out one day to see the car. I had the rad support on mine patched up last summer & I'm hoping that will hold for a while. It had just started to rot through but I'm wondering if I would have just been better off replacing it. Time will tell.

krismax

iTrader: (15)

It's sad but these cars go to the junkyard just because of the rad support issue.
Funny thing is ,i'am building this car for my wife

Norm Peterson

About how much does the replacement radiator support cost and how difficult does this repair appear?


I just happened to stumble across this thread, and my 20AE is currently in the middle of me replacing the alternator so I'm seeing the same mess first-hand. Up until now I was assuming that I was going to have to fire up the MIG welder to patch-fix what's the third car in a two-driver family.

Thanks in advance for any info and help that may show up in this thread.


Norm

95maxrider

iTrader: (32)

Looks like your wife is going to have a pretty nice car when you're done! So you picked up the motor just in case? When I had my radiator support done about 10 years ago we coated it with POR 15 and it's still looking great. I never thought about foaming it though. Let us know how it turns out!

krismax

iTrader: (15)

When i get going on the car i will post prices of things but i believe from courtesy Nissan it was around $235 ?

I think the hardest part is taking the front apart and every bolt and nut shearing off.
But what's odd is the car i bought,the bodies in good shape for the age. but the crossmember has come completely away from the rad support.

Has to be a Nissan thing,it appears well painted. And it has many holes in it,and they never looked to sturdy to me. I bet they flex and the paint cracks.

I will weld the holes shut, do some seem welding,then foam. It's a thick foam but i want it to keep moisture and salt out.

krismax

iTrader: (15)

Motor is going in when i cut rad support out. With 226 k onon old one, i don't want to go back in later.

I'am going to also yank the seats carpet out and do some body welding. Gonna seal shut those stupid rocker panel water sipping seems. Then fill with that foam.

I have some other things i need to show pictures of in this thread maybe tomorrow if i have time.

95maxrider

iTrader: (32)

I've always been curious about foaming various parts of my car, but never got around to any of it. What density are you planning on using? Post up as many pics and details as you can, I want to see how and where you foam!

Max139617

iTrader: (9)

Might take you up on that will start stockpiling parts.

We should all have a little meetup. There are a few owners around that aren't so active on here anymore.

krismax

iTrader: (15)

Here is the data sheet on the foam i will use most likely(link above in crossmember

pics)http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/4...foam-08458.pdf


Foam is water proof closed cell. Area must be water free and rust stoped.After welding burns moisture out i will use a rust converter then this stuff. BELOW video

95maxrider

iTrader: (32)

Reading through that spec sheet it's confusing trying to figure out the density of the foam when in the car. It says "Approximate foam density of 0.6 lb/gal when expansion is not restricted."

Here's the definitive thread on chassis foaming a Maxima: Link.

Guys were talking about using foams with densities ranging from 2 lb/ft^3 up to 16 lb/ft^3. I have no idea how that compares with the 0.6 lb/gal of this 3M stuff.

I've always wanted to foam my car, but never got around to it. Take lots of pics and let us know how it goes!

Norm Peterson

0.6 lb/gal ≈ 4.5 lb/ft^3


Norm

krismax

iTrader: (15)

Thanks...

The rad support shipped from courtesy Nissan was $224.65 shipped.For the 5th gen. just looked

jholley

iTrader: (13)

Nice looking 2001 Maxima. Good luck on your wife's project.

How many 200ml bottles do you predict is needed to fill the lower radiator support? I'm replacing the rad support on my 2000 maxima SE-L within the next month or two.

krismax

iTrader: (15)

It says it expands to 10 times the amount ,after it comes out. I'll buy 2-3 then use that as a basis for the amount to buy and use other places.

I'am gonna block the ends with balloons weld any other holes shut ahead of time except a couple to fill with.

There's a cool balloon trick insert balloon into cavity(or through a small hole holding end out of hole) blow up slow with compressed air. This way foam can be blocked from going out end of big cavity's that can't be accessed.

Cotozic

I'm liking the foam method. Your starting point with this car is great since, like you said, the body appears to be in great shape. POR 15 stuff works pretty well. I'm definitely a novice with body work, but the quick patches I did with POR 15, preventively or even on rust, have held up very well.

With the work you're doing, I'm sure the chassis will last a very long time. Wish mine wasn't just part of the regular annual maintenance...

Norm Peterson

First . . . how's the project coming along?



I think it's more that dirt and salt find their way inside along with the water, where they it there for extended periods of time damp (there can't be a whole lot of ventilation flow going on). By the time the damage is noticed, there's plenty of places for it to escape through.

The crossmember on my 20AE is in really rough shape, and I think I'm going to try a different approach. I'd already welded a 1x1 angle reinforcement on it to tackweld the latch support brace to . . . which was probably providing 95% of what little structural integrity was left in the middle of the crossmember. And as bad as the rust was, the two large bolts attaching the fore/aft member to the crossmember came off clean. Even the nuts they screw into are in good shape even though what they're supposed to be welded to wasn't.


Rather than drag this thread off topic any further, I'll start my own thread.


Norm

krismax

iTrader: (15)

Yeah this is a long time thing,been collecting different things . Front fans,wiper arms, hood,rear bumper and other things i have collected since last post.

My garage has never been a car garage gotta transform it first into that. Run more electricity wires,then more lights, outlets.
And half of oct i i'm in florida.

And working on house. so this is a slow project.

As for the rails and cross member. This foam from 3M is automotive and it keeps moisture 100% out.when it is applied with no moisture in there.

When i get in there i will show what it looks like. but on mine there is no bolts or boltholes . That area doesn't exist.

Norm Peterson

No holes? One more reason for me to start a new thread.

going-try-reinforcing-crossmember-again


Norm

krismax

iTrader: (15)

what i mean is my crossmember is worse than yours , when i bought the car the crossmember was a couple inches from touching the road. two bolts must have fell to the road.

Mine is in two pieces ,the crossmember

Norm Peterson

Eeekkk is right. Yikes.


Mine was at least held together by some paper-thin metal oxide, plus of course the little 1x1 angle doing a job it was never intended to be doing.


Norm

krismax

iTrader: (15)

Lighting is all up,outlets run. Cleaned garage out have the car in there.Gonna show pics all the way through . First project engine out .This is just pics of car in there hood off.Rust in some areas is more than i thought.

krismax

iTrader: (15)

Got the front off and you can see how bad the Rad support is.

The Wizard

iTrader: (43)

that is bad

krismax

iTrader: (15)

Yeah it is worse than i thought for the rest of the car also some spots are real clean though .Kind of odd.
I made good progress, gonna clean everything off the front of the car and pull engine. maybe next weekend i will have that out. I have taken a lot of pictures. Internet doesn,t come back for a week. i will post alot more pics then.

First time owning a 5 th gen have some questions that need answering.

krismax

iTrader: (15)

Well here are some pics the crossmember is completely off working on taking the engine out now.

I used one drill bit,and ground off all the spot welds that were forward facing and 4 that were on the insides. I drilled out 18 spot welds total 9 on each side.

And i want to make this clear the spot welds are structural with the bolts out with spot welds in the front is tied very strong. I didn't count the total spot welds but i would say at least 40.

And a bracket i made for a high HP turbo talon for AEM FPR .Used some maxima brackets

krismax

iTrader: (15)

new purchase

95maxrider

iTrader: (32)

Ha! I just got done doing a mild restoration of my car (see build thread for 200 pics!) and part of it was cleaning up those damn coolant tubes!

Before:



After wire wheeling and Evapo Rust:



After header paint:

Robert Baker

Where are these rocker panel seems that you speak of?