So, I'm in school, just bought a house and my wifey and I just had our first baby. Needless to say, I have a hard time justifying expensive mods to the wife. But still, I'm jonesin to put some on. Last week I put the crimestopper remote start/remote locks in and it's great! It was pretty expensive though (I had it put in rather than ruining the car myself.)

I need some cool ideas for cheaper mods. Just anything little that's cool. I tried to re-wire my tail lights but I couldn't seem to get it to work...the wires weren't long enough.

Maybe some mud flapy things, or...heck, I donno.

Any ideas? Where can I get stuff?


newmaxguy.
93gxe

 

theres always the easy, cheap, DIY projects. like making the custom mesh grille, painting the interior, rewiring the corners and tails. i took the side moldings off of my car and i love the way it looks. best of all it was free!!

 

I've been reading some of the old posts about re-wiring the tail lights. I read one that said they had to lengthen their wires. Is that usually the case? I tried to re-wire my tails and found that the wires were way to short.

What kind of wire do I use to lenghen them, and where do I pick it up? Anymore info about this?

nmg

 

yeah i had to lengthen mine too......i just used speaker wire to do mine and used some wire connecters. you dont even need those to do it, you could just splice them together with electrical tape if you didnt wanna buy connecters. you should be able to get the wire and connecters just about anywhere....check radioshak, walmart, bestbuy, etc., any kind of place that would sell electrical stuff.

 

I had to lengthen my wires too, just buy some wire its cheap. You could also take the Nissan emblem out of your grill, I think it looks really smooth without it. Lowering springs are a good bang for the buck.. i am ordering sprint springs with a 2 inch drop for 145 shipped. headlight bulbs are cheap and nice you could get some cool blues or hiper whites. put hyper whites in your turn signals also

 

when you lengthen the wires, do you lenghen all, including the ground, or just the colored ones?

Also, I've seen blue and hyper white bulbs around...like today at Fred Meyer I saw some. How can I tell if they suck or not. I mean, I can guy some really expensive hypers down at the mod shop here, but I can also buy some for 60% less at fred meyer...whats the difference?

Also, if hyperwhite or cool blue cooler?

nmg

 

you only lengthen the wires that arent long enough. i didnt have to lengthen the grounds on mine.....not sure about anyone else.

i really dont know how to tell about the bulbs...i guess its just a risk you take when you get them. some people love the sylvannias and others say they suck. i got my bulbs from pep boys for $30. they are called "crystal hyper white" and are made by a company called 3A racing performance, and best of all they are stock wattage. they look really, really good. try to stay away from stuff that runs way higher than stock wattage though, cuz it will fry your harnesses if its too high. i think hyper white looks better, but everyone has their own opinion.

 

Speed-Holes: Get a hammer, pick, nails, or whatever will puncture metal and put holes all over your hood, they make your car go faster!

[Im hoping you watch the simpsons]
ps: hondas suck

 

speedholes!!! adds an extra 25hp! just watch for fluid leaks, loose parts, etc. after drilling!

but seriously how about a JWT Popcharger Intake($100-120) @ Cattmanperformnace.com or courtesynissan.com, another easy 15 mintue DIY job and will gain you a little more HP!

 

id stick with lighs and cheap *** mods, you can paint brake calipers for $3.69! haha just buy some engine enamel at a car store and clean the brakes and apply. lights are cool cheap stuff too. i dont think im gonna do much performance to my car, considring its a 90 11 years old and 140k miles, i dont want to put extra streess on stuff. id rather stick with non- rice visual mods (cheap stuff, like you )

 

I painted the chrome-trim on the rear taillights. It looks much cleaner (like an SE), and it will just cost you the cost of paint and masking tape. I used Krylon semi-flat black and that was the perfect "black" for this application.
This will cost you about $3. You can get the paint from Target/Wal-Mart or Hardware store.

Leather steering wheel cover - This will set you back about $15, but worth it. Just takes time to stitch. Check out your local auto parts (like Pep Boys) store.

Flush mount tweeters - This can set you back anywhere from $49 and up for quality ones. If you look at the forward upper part of the door panel where the door panel meets the dash (near the vent) that's a perfect location to flush mount tweeters. What I did was buy Infinity Reference tweeters from Crutchfield and wired it up parallel off my front speakers. The change in brightness of the music was remarkable! I needed to buy a 1.5" drill bit (or maybe it's better described as a hole saw attachemnt for my drill) to punch holes for the tweeters in the door panel. If you're a DIY, this is a great way to get better sound. I just got the new Crutchfield Catalog today and noticed they have a pair of Blaupunkts for $49. http://www.crutchfield.com
-Note, I do not have a BOSE system on my Maxima, this mod probably will not work with a BOSE set-up -

Fog Lights - $20 (real cheap) to $200 (super nice). Again, local parts store.

 

Yeah, I was sceptical at first, but those holes really work! I actually use a pic-ax as well as a chisel and screw driver...that way I get holes of all size and it goes even faster. I've found that putting some not only in the hood, but also the roof, trunk, windows, and dash works like a charm.

My wife was pretty mad when she saw it, but after she felt the additional HP, she was SOLD! We went together and put Speed Holes in all the cars in our neighborhood! Everyone will be stoked.

Thanks everyone!


PS. I want to order some mud guards (plastic mud flaps). Where can I order them?

nmg

 

u can advance ur timing for a whopping 0.00 dollors.

 

Hey tom I did the same with the black around the taillights and it does clean up the looks bigtime. what did you use to sand down the chrome? mine is starting to pop chrome back up.

those flush mount tweeters sound like a good idea. I think I'm going to do that. would you care to explain how to wire it up parallel with the door speaker?

also newmax you can get mudflaps from courtesy nissan for about 100 bucks. I got some used ones for 50.

 

Where'd you get the use muds?

Also, where can I read about messing with my timing?

Also, is Courtesy Nissan the best around or what? Its a joint in Texas no? Is that the best place to order nissan parts, even if I'm in Utah?

newmax

 

yeah courtesy nissan is by far one of the best nissan dealers in the country. they are so cool about hooking you up with parts and carry performance parts for maximas. kaleb works there. its in richardson, right outside of dallas, bout 25 mins from my house. i'd say order from them...they most likely have better prices than your local dealer even after shipping costs.

 

do you have a phone number for them?

thanks

 

phone: 1-800-527-1909

fax: 1-800-382-7891

website: http://www.courtesyparts.com

 

As for painting the chrome, prep makes all the difference. After 3 years, the black still looks perfect. Here's what I did. All I did was to clean the surface with rubbing alcohol. No sanding. I filled my bathroom sink with hot water (about bath water temp) and let my paint can soak the heat for about 5 min (Paint flows better this way). When I painted the chrome trim, I applied 4 coats.

For the tweeter, it's simple as it sounds. Positive to positive and negative to negative. Any add-on tweeter should come with instructions on the hook-up. What I would recommend is to solder the connections to the door speaker leads.

When you cut the door panel, use an exacto knife to cut the outline of the tweeter mount on the vinyl surface first (leave a margin for error, you can always cut more, but you can't fill in what you already cut).

The hole-saw this size typically has pretty rough teeth that can tear the delicate vinyl surface in a way you don't want. And no, the fiberglass guts of the panel is too tough to cut with an exacto.

Hope this helps.