Well, if you have seen the big saddlers engine bay, then mine is laughable, but hey you have to start somewhere, right ?

I have made a few changes under the hood. I took off the Courtesy Nissan FSTB (with help from my fellow org members) and replaced it with a Cattman FSTB. The Cattman FSTB is half the weight of the Courtesy, and the Courtesy is pretty light. What I did notice is that the Courtesy bar installed closer to the front of the car by a few inches and the Cattman installed further back, towards the cab. The car feels really good with this bar on !



I also changed out the Frankencar Midpipe for the new (black/chrome) Injen Intake. Let me know what you think about it and let me know any ideas on what I can continue to do to make things look better. I do have plans to order a Dynobat Battery and toss the big nissan battery aside. I believe thats the second Nissan battery since 97.



I also tried my hand at degreasing/cleaning out the engine bay. I looked around on the internet and here at the org for information on how to do this. And keep in mind I know absolutely nothing about cars, but its never to late to learn. I thought the engine would catch on fire using some of this stuff, but now I know it will not.

All in all, the engine came out pretty clean. It was my first time and I need to polish up my skills. But im satiesfied and at the next test and tune I can lift the hood with a smile.

I wrapped up the cone filter in a walmart bag. I got aluminum foil and wrapped up every harness, wire, and such with it. I wrapped the maf sensor and the alternator as best I could in foil. I probably wrapped alot of things I shouldnt but it was better safe than sorry since I didnt really know what much of the stuff was.

Cleaning Stuff

I bought Castrol Super Clean in a big purple jug for 3.40 at walmart, and mixed it 50/50 with water. And sprayed a mist all over the engine bay. and continued this for a minute or so. (NOTE: this stuff is strong even at half strength and easily took the dirt and grime off)



Now, I had a hard time with this but I turned on the water hose and lightly sprayed the engine, and tried my best to stay away from sensitive things. I believe I sprayed to much water on the engine and will be more careful next time.

I ended up having to take a towel and work it into some places to get a few small pools of water out of some places that were holding water. LOL !

Once things were dried off pretty good. I got out some armor all and sprayed the hoses with a nice mist and got a few plastic compartments.

I cleaned all that down and the engine looked pretty good compared to what it was before.

The water and sitting time ( amount of time I let the super clean sit on the engine ) is what I had trouble with. I sprayed a little to much, and then some parts dried before I got around to cleaning them and left spots.

Not a big problem, it wipes off if you give it another go..but just somethings I will pay better attention to next time so I can get the whole engine bay flawless.

So, after all that, the engine turned over and cranked right up.. And its all history now.

Bottom line: If I ... ( the King of Kitchen Knives ) could do this.... ANYONE CAN !

Special thanks to: SuperFishstick, clee130, Dave Holmes, Xtremeracer, polishpunk68, JaTaN , ivelweyz for thoughts, info and support ! Maxima.org rules !

 

Kitchen knives as screwdrivers huh? Do yourself a favor and get a STANLEY mechanic's tool set. I just ordered one, they are pretty cheap. Looks good man...

 

Hey Ceasar, does it feel like the Injet CAI is better than Frankencar?

 

i would also like to know your thoughts on this as well...

but good job on the engine bay! looks very nice. maybe with alittle more work you can get it to look like my old 95 max's engine bay!

 

Ceasars Chariot: your bay looks sick man, keep it up!

Ant

 

Very Very nice man. I love that FSTB

 

Looks good... The more i see 'done up engine bays' the most i appreciate the look of a simple clean stock engine bay... Did you by any chance happen to weigh the Cattman bar vs. the courtesy bar?

LEMAR

 

rasta: no i didnt, i held the courtesy in me left hand and the cattman in my right and it was a big difference. Im not talking like 50 pounds but you could tell the titanium bar was much lighter.

I would guess its half the weight, possibly less.

FC midpipe versus Injen

I really want to wait until i return from the track. the injen feels real strong. I certainly did not experience any loss ! And in my opinion the Injen is louder for people on the outside. The Frankencar was louder in the car as a driver. With my exhaust , which is loud, all I have to do is roll the window down and at WOT I can hear the Injen louder than the frankencar. The frankencar is a beast on the 3.5 though from what sound clips I have heard.

 

i like it a lot

 

That looks tight Ceasar! I love the look of hte black/chrome Injen, and the FSTB looks great!

 

thanks for the credit. Engine bay looks nice and clean. Instead of armoral u can use an engine detailer. Its like 3.50 or so at murray or autozone. After u clean ur engine.. just spary it all over hoses and plastics and stuff. Leaves a nice and long lasting shine.

 

thats a good idea !

 

Ceasar since you've had both, did the frankencar have better high end (with the shorter piping thing going on)? The engine bay is very nice, i too was afraid of spraying water in my engine bay... its always hard to do. i really like the new strut bar brace

 

i think my car is liking the injen more but i really want to make several runs down the track before I say anything for sure.

im thinking about going up tonight and taking a few runs.. will be sure to let you know.

 

that would be really awesome, on the fence about intake.. you think there is any advantage to having the strut bar in the new location (further forward)?

 

there is always the arguement that its in your head but I had trouble trying to figure out if the Courtesy Bar was actually doing anything.

with this setup, i took a few turns and sharp curves and thought ...hey .. i think I can tell something is different.

so i notice something with this one and thats better than nothing with the old one ! ha ha !

i actually bought it for cosmetics and was surprised about noticing the handling. And again, I wouldnt want anyone to think its making the car handle like an indy car, its just better than the old one i had.

looks like i will not be seing any track action tonight ! possibly tommorow afternoon. the only thing im going to do is to take all my times and compare them to all my latest times with the Frankencar.

thats the way right ? get somekind of average .. the only thing is that it will be on a different track since i cant do it tonight ..

 

not too stiff, but a handling improvement, always good

 

daymn...mine really needs some work. i did this like about a year ago. it's not too showy and i keep it mild... but it's not as neat as Blkmax95c or Ceasars Chariot.

good work

 

im looking into start dressing up engine, and since i have a black max, i was interested in the new carbon spark cover hmm...cant wait until that comes out

 

2 other lightweight batteries you might consider - Hawker and Varley.
http://www.nissanforums.com/showthre...threadid=33002

http://www.dmstech.co.uk/varleyredtop.htm

Oh, and for drying the engine I find a leaf blower does wonders

 

Top 5: Frankencar Midpipe Times
Tuscola Motorsports (09.20.03)

1. 14.63 @ 94.28 - 60' 2.22
2. 14.71 @ 94.38 - 60' 2.27
3. 14.78 @ 93.89 - 60' 2.33
4. 14.86 @ 94.56 - 60' 2.47
5. 14.89 @ 93.57 - 60' 2.36

Top 5: Injen Intake Runs
Hub City Dragway (09.28.03)

1. 14.50 @ 96.54 - 60' 2.16
2. 14.69 @ 95.81 - 60' 2.23
3. 14.73 @ 95.59 - 60' 2.28
4. 14.80 @ 95.30 - 60' 2.33
5. 14.88 @ 94.89 - 60' 2.17 (missed shift 2-3)

Videos and more info on race night here:
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=251892

 

wow it looks like injen has put u up a second average. Did you match them for frankencar to lose every round on purpopse?

http://www.ionicdynamics.com/files/Dsc05064.jpg
^^^ imagine with a polish valve cover

 

Beautiful.... Glad the hard work paid off

 

good work caesar

 

meccanoble :

hey I didnt even notice that.. it was late.. but that is how it turned out. I took the five best times from last week with the frankencar and compared them with the five best times I got from the Injen last night. Nothing was changed on the car but the intakes and FSTB. What is up with 96.54 mph ? the mph is up and my launchs are better which might mean better low end power ?? but certain is giving me better times..

i dont know if this is a very accurate test but I am pleased with the new numbers. i have:

injen intake
warpspeed y pipe
custom maxima racing pipe
warpspeed b pipe
magnaflow muffler
unorthodox racing underdrive pulley

 

Nice and clean!!! Good job.

 

Nice!
We finally have some proof that injen its better over midpipe
Nice times man I will try and take mine to the track and see what I can do

 

Wire loom works wonders

 

injen looks like it gave you some improvement, congrats, it looks good. U notice any difference with the underdrive pulley? Those are some nice times your running

 

Damn Ceasar your times keep getting faster and faster! I wonder if the Injen made in improvement or you where just driving better. It seems like it definatly made a small improvment of the Frankencar if anything...

 

im loving your car ceasar!

 

good work bro, now go out and buy yourself a paint stripping pad, 400, 600, 800, 1500 and 2000 grit wet sandpaper, some rubbing compound, machine glaze, and polish. Be like me and completely kill your elbows on your valve cover and timing chain cover. It looks absolutely sick...now all i need to do is get some loom on the wires, some of that castrol cleaning stuff for the lower parts of the engine bay, and the time, ***** and willpower to take off my intake manifold and polish the hell out of that, or just buy a new one, polish that, then swap. I'd post pix of me engine bay, but only once i've finished it for the most part. I don't like posting incomplete projects. But polishing the engine bay stuff is cheap (if you have the stuff like me, it doesn't cost ya a dime), dissipates heat better, and looks great. Give it a shot, you've already spent so much time under that hood, take it to the next level If i've given a critical impression, don't take it that way. Nice going, i'm just offering up some suggestions...