Hello to all Maxima Enthusiast out there. I am a new member, I hope you treat me to bad.

I've monitered this site for a couple of months now and you guys have inspired me to move foward with restoring my 3rd Gen max to the best possible form.

I just want to know what part of your car did some of you start with when you decided to customize. I'm not rich, so I can't afford to do it all at once. So any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I own a White 92 SE(I think) 3.0L automatic. Cloth interior, no moon roof, no spoiler
I haven't done anything yet but tint the windows and put a racing muffler on it. I don't want to turn it into a racing car. I'm basically looking to do a body kit, rebuilt engine, and some rims.
I'm definitely going to need a new paint job. My engine has just under 125k on it but runs great and I haven't had any major problems (knocking on wood). What do you recommend I work on first? Or by your past experiences, is there anything major I should prepare for?

 

I hope you DON'T treat me to bad!!

 

First of all, welcome to the .org (or at least OFFICIALLY welcome, since you've been here a while...).

Now to answer your first question, for me, I started with the interior. I'm a stereo nut, so I almost immediately snatched out the Bose system (which is actually good, all things considered) and went a couple of routes before settling on my current setup. Most people would likely recommend wheels/tires to start since it'll probably be the most recognizable aspect of your customization.

But you definitely want to ask yourself if you're going for looks or performance and go from there. Because it's nice to have those 19" bling-bling triple chrome wheels, but if they weigh 30+ pounds each and you're looking to make your Max the first 12 second VE, you might wanna rethink your approach.

As for any major stuff to prepare yourself for, look at your VTC's, window regulators, and some (if not all) of your sensors on your engine.

Any questions, just shoot 'em out there.

 

why the racing muffler, if you don't want to turn it into a racing car, all id does is add noise

 

you might want to make sure it is an SE first i though all SE's came stock with moonroof and spoiler.

 

i doubt its a SE prolly a GXE, which means - go for style and not performance. w/e you want to do just my opinion

 

spoiler, is standard on SE.. sunroof is optional on any trim, SE or GXE.

 

sunroof was standard on early SEs (maybe 89-91?) and became an option later

 

Originally I didn't know it was a racing muffler, I like the way it looked so I bought it. I didn't relize it was a racing muffler until it was installed and I experienced the loud noise (This just happend last week, so I haven't had it that long). But no, I'm not real fond of the noise.

 

Thanks for the reply, I guess I'm sort of the same way you are, a stero nut. I forgot to mention, that I do have a decent system already installed. Did it a couple years ago so I guess that's why it slipped my mind. Got a couple of rockford competition 12's in box with a 300 watt amp. Not to shabby for me.

But I guess I'm looking for looks first. I'm not gonna race it, but a little better performance wouldn't be too bad either (maybe go with some 17's instead of 19's).

What do you mean by VTC's and sensors? I'm not to machanically inclined either, but I can get my way around my engine. How would I check for these problems?

 

You are probably right on it being a GXE, is there anyway to confirm though? (i.e. through vin number or something?)

 

Well for looks the first thing I did was clear corner lens of course.
I then proceeded with taking off the side molding which was free, just a pain to accomplish. I personally like them off but others would rather keep them on.

As far as GXE or SE, check the molding around the window's as well as the grill. If it's chrome it's a GXE, black it's an SE. In the FAQ's area I think it break's it down even more.

Good luck on your modding, but save up if you want the body kit or rims. Pretty large chunk of change if you go that route.