I decided to pull off the tint on my e36 headlights. I didn't like that you couldn't see the headlights during the day.. the e36's are too pretty to not show off

After doing that, I decided to install my Aussie grille and corners. I thought I could modify the corners to accept the USDM 194 bulbs but it looks like it's a no go. The section where the bulb harness twists into is a good 1/2"+ thick , so my attempt to cut out the proper shape was thwarted because it's too thick anyway.

I still like them though. I'll have to figure something out for the lights. Maybe do Craig's "always on" trick for the bigger bulb, but ideally I'd like to have the 194 bulb portion lit up and the large bulb not even in (looks better at night IMO). I suppose you could put the Aussie outer section on the USDM back, but I don't care enough to do that.







Now what I'd REALLY like is some UK fully smoked corners!

 

those corners are Schweet.. where did you find them at??

 

From Australia, of course I had them shipped along with the grille and bumper lights. I'll probably put the bumper lights on my black VE though

 

Did you purchase them through an aussi nissan dealership?

 

I would be interested in seeing the back, how different it is.
for entertainment sake.

 

I have the same AUS stuff (grille, lights, signals).

I didn't like the bumper lights, since they are amber and I didn't like the look with my red car. I still haven't painted the grille.

I have lights in my corners. I didn't cut anything, but I can't recall what I did now.

I think I just swapped the light harnesses. IIRC, I had to swap all of the stuff in the signals because the plugs were different.

 

I want those corners so0o0o0o bad

 

You have bulbs in the 194 section (the smoked section)?

I wonder how you got bulbs in there. I swapped the light harnesses, and I made a template and drew the shape I needed to cut-out and started to cut it out. But then noticed the material there is seriously a 1/4" thick and so even if I have the proper cut-out, it won't work because it has to kind of "twist" in and can't with the material being so thick.

Ben, here's a pic of the back. It doesn't look any different except there's just nothing there. Lower left is the stock Aussie one, lower right is the Aussie one after I began to mod it (I shaved down that raised portion to ascribe my template to cut-out).

 

Well, I figured it out. The Aussie corners ARE thicker on the 194 back section (so as to not allow you to just cut the proper harness shape out) and there's also a thin piece of aluminum in between the lense and the backing. It took quite a bit of screwing around to get the aluminum piece out of there.

I decided to cut out the 194 bulb backing section from the USDM unit, cut out the same section from the Aussie one, and then fab the USDM section onto the Aussie cut-out. I'll get some plastic weld and finish this in the morning

 

im not a fan of the grill

 

It fits that car.

 

Same here about not liking that grill. It fits well on this car and on a few others. Always depends on the ride and mods it has. It would look fugly on my car for example.

 

I don't traditionally like the Aussie grille either, which is why I've never put it on even though I've had it for over a year. I've actually thought it was kind of fugly on some of the stock-ish 3rd gens I've seen it on here over the years.

But, I DO like it with the Stillen lip. I think it looks fantastic and kind of draws the eye down toward the lip and whatnot. Without the Stillen lip, it makes the front end look kind of like.. I dunno.. a manatee or something

I don't care what anybody says, this looks badass

 

good idea with swapping over the bulb hole/plate

didnt you have fully tinted UK-ish corners before?

 

James, they look nice! What is the nissan p/n on those corners?

 

Yeah, I had fully tinted corners before. They were painted by Michael (formerly awsm66), but one got cracked while in storage in the attic, and one was slightly darker as well.


Hmm, good question. I'm not sure what the part number would be. Here's everything on it

The clear lense part:

Nissan IKI 9178 Japan R
DOT SAE AKPP2 86

The back:

IKI 9178 R

That's everything on it aside from the wattage ratings

I got them done this morning. Man, I love plastic weld. It lets you do just about anything you want when working with/fabbing plastic. I used a ton of that stuff on my headlights and it's been 6+ years now and still no leaking!

 

thanks for the numbers


what brand of plastic weld did you use? What did you use to make the cuts on your wade covers?

 

Its Permatex brand "PermaPoxy 5 mi. Plastic Weld". I've always gotten it from PepBoys but I'm sure other places sell it as well. It's a two-part dual-syringe deal. That stuff is great, seriously. It hardens into new plastic, so you can use it to not only "glue" things together, but to actually fill in gaps, build plastic up, fabricate, etc.

I used a Dremel to cut my Wade covers, and also bought several sheets of ABS plastic to fabricate the sides and bottom of my enclosures. I have a gazillion pics from back when I did it so if you PM me your e-mail addy I can send you a .zip file with all of them.

An important trick I did was to use black paint to spray into the plastic weld while I was mixing it, which tinted it black to use on the inners of the enclosure. That way, you can't see the plastic weld through the clear lense. I also painted the inside of the enclosure housing black, and then painted the perimeter of the outside black as well.

I basically cut the plastic lenses off the e36 lights, and built a "box" (using the Wade cover as the "front", and ABS to fabricate the rest), to fit onto the e36 housings. I waterproof tested the "box" as I went along by submerging it in a sink full of water to check for leaks. Then I welded that "box" onto the e36 rear housings, and pretty'd it all up after that.

 

Looks much better.

 

Looks pretty good although I think the amber reflectors look better with the contrast to the blueness. What color is your other car?

Edit: Oh, I see.. KH1 or is that black? Well, amber looks good on both.. Smoke or clear looks nice on any color so I guess it's a toss up.

 

New Zealand had the clear corners also.

The reason that the smoked portion on the corners has no bulb or cutout for the indicator repeater is that the Aussie/NZ models have the indicator repeater on the wings between the wheel arch and door instead of in the corner lights.

Also our park/clearance lights are a bulb mounted into the reflector of the main headlight, and the corners are just cornering lights only which light up with the indicators.

NZ had the same grille for the 93-95 3rd gen Maximas as Aussie. The 91-92's had the same grill with a thick central bar instead of the 4 fine bars. Orange front indicator lenses were standard for us too.

91-92 grille


93-95 Grille. Shows the indicator repeater by the door on the wing and the clear corners. Front lip was standard to the Maxima Silhouette, which was our sportyish model in the New Zealand Maxima range. Mine comes off a wrecked Silhouette.


The Silhouette showing the front lip with driving lights. These were made by a New Zealand car spoiler company specifically for the Maxima which this is the ad for the company.

 

dang, I want one of those Silhouette front spoilers...

James, I looked at my stuff and realized that I just took the bulbs out and covered the light socket with electrical tape. I had just put in the front bulbs from my car. No cutting or anything.

 

looks great

 

looks pimp as hell james, now you live in dallas and im currently in san antonio, so it seems im gonna have to go shopping in the middle of the night to your house. i think we have to meet so that i can check out how exactly the lights are put together so that i can finally finish my damn euro lens/E60/E36 headlights.

 

Chris (maximo018) told me you were in SA now, but that you left your Maxima in Florida.. bastid

Man, there's no 3rd genners up here. Then you in SA and a bunch of VE 5 guys in Houston (and Cmax). Maybe we can all meet up one day

Here's a night shot. I hadn't even thought to check until tonight the light output of the 194 bulb. I was worried it might not be that great since the housing wasn't made for a bulb and with it being tinted and all, but the output is good!

 

This might be off topic but I'm interested to know how you did that to your trunk on your Max, it's DOPE!!!!!

 

Oh those are sweet... man I've been gone for way too long.

 

james you dont understand how tough it is not having my 3rd gen here with me. Thank goodness ill be moving back to miami. SA is nice but i really miss the family and friends back home. But i think it would be cool to meet up so that you can finally show me how i can seal up my headlights once i move back home and to check your ve. Whatever happened to your old black ve?

 

hey where did you get head lights

 

Pep boys but you gotta special order them

 

Hell you and I have to meet before you move back. And we are in the same city and haven't met yet.

 

I made them with my own skilled hands

 

dude i completely forgot that you live here. well, i am scheduled to move back to Miami this Dec. so lets all meet up and steal each others ideas except for mine since my 3rd gen is back in Miami but i will take all your ideas

 

Hah! Alright I'll shed some light on few things not all. what you up to Saturday night.

 

i talk to him in the Canadian section and asked him, he filled in the keyhole with Bondo and painted over the whole centerpiece and left the black seals.

sad thing is some lady backed into him yesterday and the car got totaled

 

what would you suggest for getting the reflective bit of crap outta there? cause i wanted to put some T10 LED's in there drilled the hole and found it was in the way!

 

I used a flathead screwdriver to get it out, but it did take a bit of weasling and prying and messing with it, but I was able to get them out. I figured out on the second one that it's easiest to use the screwdriver to pry it up in the middle, then use some scissors to cut it in half and it's easier to work with two pieces than one large one

 

Cool, as long as i don't break them lol, AFAIK there's none left in WA at wreckers,

i did a similar thing with my gf's import mx5, those little reflectors on the bumpers, i just drilled out the back and put T10 wedge globes in, but hers didn't have this barrier,

so i got all excited and made up globe holders and looms and so on took apart my corners then seemed like i was screwed, so yeah thanks for the tip