peppers

ok i started working on my 95 max se after i got cutoff and the guy stopped short. so i started with some appearance of a fiberglass hood, one piece headlights, and im still working on a new type of grill. by that time the clutch was going so i went with a stage 3 clutch with an aluminum flywheel and short throw shifter. i likes the more grip so i decided to go into the motor a bit. i got a set of headers and a ypipe. i build an exhaust with a 3" cat with 2.5 back and muffler. sounded good was a bit more power. i then did my first maintence on the car and cleaned the tb. i bored it out venturi style from 64mm to 72mm on both sides so it looks like this >< pull more air like a venturi on a carb. i made up a cai. i added some new platnum 3 plugs with a varied gap that helps on the powerband. its definitly a much better ride then stock. next up is some shocks and a drop. and paint.

now of course more power is good, im on a lowered budget with the addition of my son so im not looking to blow a ton of cash for minumal gains. from what i have been reading the vi intake will need a tuner fo the injectors so no matter what im looking at half a grand on that. im new to computer tuning so id probably wind up paying someone to do it. i have seen safc2 on ebay cheaper then greddy. im thinking that its not as in depth and maybe easier for me. with this site i learned about the spacers fro the stock intake. although im not sure where to get them or how much they run. i have thought about just taking the grinder to the stock equipment and the spacers, or even porting the lower intake and making a shortram style upper intake manifold. i also thought about an aluminum crank pulley to free up some rotataing mass. prettymuch want to stay under $1000 for the rest of my mods. im not going to spray. im planning on taking it to the road course in the near future and i just love driving the hell out of it.

pmohr

iTrader: (26)

Plugs with a 'varied' gap? Making your TB flow 'more air'?

Half a grand? Seriously? And what VI? MEVI? 00VI? You can get either fully done for under $400.

Did you search for the spacers? Had you, you would've found this: http://nwpengineering.com/

A UDP doesn't help much at all.

A bigger TB on the USIM doesn't help much at all.

How did you 'go into' the motor? All I see are headers and a chewed up TB

You'll never need the stage 3 clutch, not if you plan to stay NA.

Any questions you have about this stuff can be easily found through search. Search and search some more, really.

peppers

maybe its just the way i talk i dont know. thanks for the info on the udp that will save me right there. i was planning on pulling the heads and pocket porting them and adding a 30* backcut on the valves. just not sure if i really want to do that just yet. the tb isnt chewed up. i machined it carefully with constant measurements like i have done 100 times before. i used to work for gm and a performance shop after that. im not just a shadetree mechanic. but i will admit to not knowing much about nissans as well as sucking at the internet. 90% of all the cars i owned were chevy and pontiac with the exception of my wifes santefe and this car. i have read conflicting things with the manifolds and was pming about purchasing one when the owner said all the extras he got to run it and what he spent for 30hp i was a bit taken back. im trying to search for different things and reading what i can. figured that a few people would chime in with some thoughts and help.

pmohr

iTrader: (26)

If you've been into performance for a while, then you should know that it's not about the peak numbers, but rather the area under the curve.

Also, it's not really worth the effort to port and polish the VQ30 heads, IMO.

If you want some performance under a grand, just do a VQ35 swap.

Before you ask what, how, or why, search. Read the stickies.

Leo_Koneval

iTrader: (4)

Wow you made your own CAI, can I buy one from you for a sweet deal? haha just kidding, too poor

But I was interested in the new type of grill you were talking about, can i get some details?

MaximaSpd85

iTrader: (14)

let me clarify what i said (meant), the 00vi kit ALONE will maybe gain you close to 30whp at redline...this is not including the EManage, so theres no extras to speak of. So you can spend $300 for that horsepower, not a grand.

Now you wanna buy it?

peppers

oh im still interested im just trying to find out everything i can. like i said its the first nissan im working on so its all new to me. sure motors are motors just never had a dohc car before im used to pushrod bigblocks and carbs lol. even with my gtp when i upgraded something on it i emailed a company with my mods and for a small fee i was emailed back a flash for the pcm. i uploaded it thru a program on my pc to the car and bingo tuned. this safc emanage stuff is probably easy it just seems like a lot to take in. originally i wanted to turbo the car and thats why i got the stage 3 clutch since the dealer i got the car from said they would eat the clutch i just had to pay the difference if i wanted something better then stock so i payed $125 for the flywheel and clutch since the old flywheel needed to be resurfaced too. then when my wife got pregnant i ditched that idea to put money away. i am still reading stickies if you guys could give me some real world info on the greddy and whatnot id apriciate it.

the grill im workin on is currently made of steel. once im done ill replicate it in aluminum probably. just a piece of angle iron i bent in the form of the stock grill then added supports and a covering to push air directly on the radiator. somewhat like in project car issue 9 the grill they made to flow more air to the intercooler of project black flag. i may scrap it and just mod the stock grill a llittle. when mycar got hit i replaced the radiator support and changed the headlights and the grill fit but i guess i lost the mounts for it so i rigged it. it kept falling off whenever i went over 90 so i figured time for a change. i like being just off the norm.

peppers

i had some time last nite to check a few stickies and i noticed a bunch of links are dead. any tips on search terms or good links you guys know about?

ZaxWhite97Max

iTrader: (4)

You bored out your intake..?
What brand of headers?
everything pmohr said.

And.. I want to see pics of your car

peppers

no no i bored out my throttlebody. an engine is like an air pump. it takes in air and pushes it out. to get more power you add more air but also need to get rid it. the headers are stone racing. or something along those lines. i got them off ebay but they are well constructed stainless steel. it also has the y-pipe. i added a 3" cat to continue good aitflow and then did the rest of the exhaust 2.5" to get more air i made a cai from low by the fog light area (and probably will ditch the fogs since the accident it hasnt worked) the throttlebody is either 62mm or 64mm. i forget, but to make it take more ait you can add a power adder like turbo or supercharger which you can easily add a full larger tb no problems. for na you need to force air into the tb. the venturi effect helps this. so i bored the tb at the lip on both sides to 74mm and cut back to the stock size at the throttle plate. this forces more turbulent air into the intake manifold.
ill get some pics up soon. be kind thought it still needs paint.

pmohr

iTrader: (26)

So...what's with the exhaust tip?

And FWIW your 3" converter isn't helping airflow at all, considering the SSAC Y is what, 2.25"? And your catback is 2.5". Likely all you're doing is creating more turbulence...

peppers

its a 2.5" y-pipe, and i remade the flange to the cat with a 3" hole instead of 2.25 stock.
the tip is a resonated tip. the muffler was a but loud with a standard tip which i thought was fine but the wife and daughter didnt think the same, instead of paying $80 for a borla tip i sourced that one for $25 at pep boys. not my first choice but did the trick. the muffler is a force series and a great deal. got it from summit for $30. done this setup of a few cars now with great results. i picked up a few ponies from my 80 z28 going from full 3" to a 3"-2.5" combo and it seems to have taken nicley to the max

DTrem08

iTrader: (3)

You know resonated tips are useless right?

How many hood pins do you have?

Are the sides of the front lip screwed in? I know the front is, but are the sides as well?

Can I please see a pic of this grille that deflects are straight to the radiator??? You know air goes through whatever grille you have to the radiator anyway, so theres no need to restrict flow to force it in there with a peice of angle iron?

chillin014

iTrader: (67)

omg its a transformer!

Coolsaber57

iTrader: (22)

I 'd at the transformer. I KNEW I'd seen this car before.

peppers

cant beat transformers lol. might be borderline ricy but i like it lol. the tip cut the sound so little it made my wife happy yet sounds nice at any rpm so i deal with it.
6 hood pins as mandated by nhra. 2 for the back 4 along the main points of the hood to hold it in place. i had 2 in the front when i first got it and almost lost it hitting 85 one day. put all 4 in front and have been to 120 without a single lift just some normal flex for fiberglass. i was looking at some emanage stuff today. is the ultimmate really that much better then th blue for the money?
ill have to do some searching but not tonite. regular work plus a bunch of fires the last few days i need some sleep lol

the lip is bolted just to keep it in place while adhisive was applied. i need to do a second layer then take the bolts out and fill them with adhisive. the grill is just a template out of angle iron. might just be doing to much to make an aluminum grill. been contemplating scrapping it and just putting a new screen and brackets on the stock one.

DTrem08

iTrader: (3)

Borderline ricey? I wouldn't worry about that, theres FAR more ricey things on that car...

Still want to see pics of this grille of yours too, it sounds quite interesting

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

First:

Going from 2.25" to 3" to 2.5" is going to cause a crapload of turbulence period, let alone doing it in a cat, you're robbing that car's breathing ability, not helping it by doing this, the only thing you may notice as a gain would be the sound of the exhaust beating around in the cat.

Second:
an oval shape is not an effective means of creating a venturi. The throttle plate does that just fine on its own. I want to see a picture of this too because from the sounds of it there is now a gap around the throttle plate that wont allow it to close, what does it idle at?
And I'm shocked you worked at a performance shop especially after reading that you think turbulent air is good in the intake. As well as your idea to make your own IM, it's not a diesel you'll kill the cars breathing ability even more than you already have.
I can almost guarantee you if you put the car on a dyno you are losing power from every mod you've done except the exhaust. And you'd get more from it if you put the right size cat on there.

Also you never answered about this 'varied plug gap' what on earth are you talking about here?

If your hood pins are properly adjusted, and the hood and OEM latch is properly adjusted, you're hood will not fly off, you dont need 10 freaking hood pins dude I'm sorry but that ruins the entire car it looks terrible IMO. There's always the possiblity that you bought a $2 hood though and it's just incredibly instructurally sound.

PS that 'grille' is restricting air flow more than the stock one to the rad.

Flava_24/7

iTrader: (46)

Hmmm,
Stone racing headers arent very good headers, also your TB altering reminds me of the tornado air mod.....
also, whats with the "varied plug gap"
I agree with TunerMaxima3000, Ive run two hood pins for years and have gone well over 75mph on the highway.
WTF? LOL

ZaxWhite97Max

iTrader: (4)

How old are you peppers?
The fron't has "potential" the back......idk.

You don't need an emanage...
The ultimate is overkill for anyone that is not boosted or cammed or heavily modded in my belief. And since you don't have an 00vi/mevi, you really don't need one..

DTrem08

iTrader: (3)

I'd like to see a side pic of this car too

And I was looking around for the NHRA regulations on hood pins and didnt see any. In the LS1 forums, a lot of people race and only have two hood pins. Never have I or they seen 6.

chillin014

iTrader: (67)

exact same thing I thought. NHRA???? I want to see the explanation on that.

peppers

well i have had no issues with that throttllebody style on this car or dozens of others. it works for na we have done it on many ls, l36, and other gm engines. the headers looked good to me. solid welds proper spaceing and a good y-pipe. the car has noticeable changes in the good. its definitly quicker then it was stock. the hood is not a cheapo fiberglass hood. its a quality constructed hood. it is a lift off which means you lift it off. it has no hood latch as well as no hinges. when i want to open the hood i take the 6 pins out and lift it off the car. i have had hood like these on a few of my camaros as well as my nove with an entire fiberglass front end. i asked a few questions and get no ansewers here. i tried searching and found dead links. ill just quit my work on this car and either save up to rwd this car. or just build another gm. i have raced drag, circle and autocross for the last 12 years. i openly said i dont know about nissans i have only worked on gm.

chillin014

iTrader: (67)

Its not a GM. I would love to see you convert it to RWD personally.
What was your question you needed answered? I'm not a financial advisor so I cant tell you what to spend your money on but I can tell you right now your options for bolt-on horsepower adders are very limited.

F/I is your only REAL option if you dont want to swap a motor or do any real tuning. Otherwise your looking at the MEVI/00VI set-ups which have been redundantly discussed and are also for sale in the FS section.

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

Working and functioning properly are two different things, still would love to see a picture of this, know where the idle is sitting, and how the fuel mileage is.
Also you need to keep in mind that many of the vehicles you've done this too likely incorporated a vaccuum advance distributor, so there would be definately be a notable difference in the way the vehicle ran and the performance.
the exhaust is known to be a great improvement on our cars, the only notable one on n/a maximas is the y-pipe, the rest has minimal to no gains at all shy of appearance and sound (for FI there are obiously gains) and 'seat of your pants' dyno doesn not count when you're dealing with such minimal gains.

nascar hoods are usually set up that way and they only incorporate 4 pins on the corners....safety first man if you need them you need them just seems excessive to me if the pins are properly placed and adjusted, that's all I was saying.
If you want to learn about the maxima, this is the place, your methods are very odd and that is why you're getting these types of responses, we're seeking clarification on your set ups and I know myself I'm looking for some explinations.
Also, regardless of experience there is always much to be learned, from simple to complicated, such as turbulence (intake or exhaust) in a gas engine is not only harmful to the engine but signifigantly decreases the efficiency of the engine.
If you don't want to listen and just butcher your car and waste your time thats fine, don't post on here and have a field day, but if you're willing to listen and contribute you'll gain very useful info and save a lot of headache, you say that you're not getting any answers, but you have, as well you've been given a lot of extra info, and yet you've failed to answer more than 2 questions that have been asked of you so that we can better assist.

Give and take, and the differences between the Jap engines and Domestics is fairly large, especially compared to GM, clearances are much tighter in the Jap engine and the intake and exhausts are generally excessively tested and tuned right from the factory, so just slapping on an aftermarket intake and exhaust without much research in the PROPER way for the specific vehicle normally nets losses instead of gains, as opposed to most older domestics where the vehicle is basically slapped together and gains are as simple as bolting on intakes and boring things out.
These vehicles were specifically engineered the way they are for a reason, if you want to know the things you should and shouldn't do, and how to do them to actually assist, look through the stickys, modifications, and I suggest you read through the advanced section for engines, swaps, FI, etc.

Flava_24/7

iTrader: (46)

The headers might have decent welds, but thats not what makes them perform well, their design isnt great. They arent equal legnth headers and have shown to prove no real gains. A simple Y pipe would shows better gains.
Where did you purchase this high quality hood from? Theres not many vendors that make parts for the Maxima, and the parts that are made for our cars we have all seen before. That hood looks like either a Sarona hood or the Blade hood Custom maxima was selling a while back. Either way, both of them came with hood latches. Did you jus take it off and choose not to use it?
These cars have been around for a while, many things have been tried and many things have been proven to work. You act as if no one knows what they are talking about when they mention things about the A32.
Yes, you say you have done similiar things to other vehicles, but what works for one vehicle doesnt mean it will show the same gains on another.

MaximaSpd85

iTrader: (14)

whats with the "firefighter" thing on the windshield? lol
are you planning on painting it black or another color?

peppers

[quote=TunerMaxima3000;7007798]Working and functioning properly are two different things, still would love to see a picture of this, know where the idle is sitting, and how the fuel mileage is.
Also you need to keep in mind that many of the vehicles you've done this too likely incorporated a vaccuum advance distributor, so there would be definately be a notable difference in the way the vehicle ran and the performance.

actually the engine series i listed do not have distributors its all ecm controlled. i put a lot of time and effort in things i do so i get defensive when my stuff gets ripped on. turbulent air you want on intake and smooth free flow on exhaust. the turbulance helps the mixture. i will find my external hard drive and upload some pics when i get a chance. im not sure the hoods maker. i found it on craigslist from a bodyshop in brooklyn. it did not have the latch on it or the holes to mount to the hinges. i have had experence in fiberglass parts with a few of my other cars and deemed it a good buy and a well built hood. i have not been dissapointed in it yet. i know the headers arent the big gain but the y pipe is. i read that in a sticky
the firefighter sticker is there because i am a firefighter in my town. when i put on my emergency lights to respond to a call it lights under the sticker so when i am behind someone they can read in thier mirror that there is a firefighter coming thru so move your ***. before i put that there a lot of drivers would just stick in front of me and were like oh look at the pretty lights. had much more sucess since.

as far as fuel milage i put about 5 gallons in it every week or so. i commute by buy so normally my car sits most of the week. its primerily used as my responce vehical or to go food shopping. gets about 200 miles on 89 octane.

and yes nascar uses 4 pins on the corner and 2 pins near the center of the hood to prevent bowing, lifting, and cracking.
for the money involved i may look more to the 3.5 swap. ill have to start reading on that. although i think it would be pretty neat to show up to drift in a max. i have done a couple fwd to rwd conversions before i just dont have a plasma cutter or lift anymore not being with a shop.

peppers

oh yea and im thinking of painting it some form of red. not to many red cars where i live plus my ladder truck is red sooo

MaximaSpd85

iTrader: (14)

well hey, as long as the firefighter thing serves a purpose then i cant hate on it. I was thinking it was just a nickname or something, idk.

i say go for the rwd conversion....we've heard many people talk about doing it, but its always been just that. talk. and newbies. i want to see someone get serious and atleast try something. it would be cool.

DTrem08

iTrader: (3)

you claim to be on a lowered budget, but yet want to try to make it rear wheel drive? Are you serious?

I think you should just take it easy and save some money for the baby thats on its way. Family responsibilities first, car second.

peppers

agreed dtrem. it aint happening soon. not unless someone here has a wrecked z they want to give me. i can probably source one for measurements. it really isnt as hard as most people think. id need a max frame, a z frame, and the rest is measure measure measure. my regular job i dont get a vacation, so i had a few hundred tucked away from overtime my wife said i could spend on the car since i havent had vacation in 4 years. ill probably hold onto that for a little longer.

pmohr

iTrader: (26)

chillin014

iTrader: (67)

I dont want to discourage you...i would love to see this happen...................................
But where exactly are you going to get a FRAME for a unibody car?

peppers

same way unibodies have frames. the tools are all there. use a standard max frame, cut the cross member out. cut the crossmember off a z frame (or fabricate one) weld it together. use the front suspention from the z. just have to check the geometry from the frames stock bolting location to the strut plates. an area of the firewall will have to be tunneled for the transmission. then just go with a fabricated 4 link for the rear.
one car i worked on we just fabricated a frame and roll cage with a floor plan and dropped the fwd car body over top.

to go with a standard install to make everything a little more rigid you could just add the subframe connectors that fit the max.

ImmaSquashYou

iTrader: (7)

Peppers, don't get defensive. You might know a lot about cars, but like you said, you do'nt know anything about the maxima. The maxima is not like any other cars that you have dealt with. The reason why no one has a rwd maxima is because of the amount of money that needs to be required to get ANYTHING working. Also, it is not as EASY as you might think. I personally have no knowledge, but i've read so many debates when someone tries to think they can do this and all of them, just like you, claim to be working on cars and are professionals that simply can't get it to work. Even if someone gave you the chassis of the Z, i bet that you will still need to spend more than a thousand to get everything working properly. I go back to jersey quite often and only live 10 miles away from you and have never seen your car...

peppers

well money isnt the big thing for me its time. i mean right now we have the birth of my son and by next year we want to buy a house so thats why im budgeting. im a union ironworker so im definitly making the money to do these things just in an agreement with my wife to put those things first before my toys. honestly if i had time to mess around i could probably do the swap on a $5000 budget. its just some parts and stock steel. the big todo is the geometry of the suspention, driveshaft, centering the rear. not to mention removing the interior of the car out bracing it at the pillars to cut the floor, id probably run some 3" pipe cut in half on either side of the floorpan as well to make ducts under the car for the exhaust so i could keep the car at a nice low profile. when i did these conversions they were on 2001 gran ams for a client. one was built with a 3.8 and 5spd setup for autocross, the other was outfitted with a 455 and powerglide for drag racing. materials into the car were not all much but even with a full outfitted shop it too a month per car with 4 guys on it. so figure in my garage and myself maybe 6 months earliest to do it properly. its definitly something i am going to keep in mind since i love the look of my car. if i didnt care about keeping it manufacturer specific i could do it with a 3.8 chevy motor on the cheap. a member on my other car message board just outfitted a 71 carrola with a 3.8 supercharged v6 and 5spd for under $4000 and it is on the road.

immasquashyou, my car doesnt move much during the week. i work in nyc so i walk to the bus everyday. but if your in my area feel free to pm me and try to find some time to hang out. im currently building 2 projects one on 36th st is a 65story hotel/condo with a major rush on it and the other is the world trade center memorial. been busy busy

DTrem08

iTrader: (3)

Quite the contradiction there, dont cha think?

TunerMaxima3000

iTrader: (4)

Only a certain degree of turbulence is useful in the intake. Once the fuel is sufficiently atomized additional turbulence causes unneeded pressure drops and a drop in engine performance.

The stock intake is more than sufficient to create the proper air fuel mixture/atomization in the Maxima.

Tampering with the turbulence in the engine is not good for it unless you have specifically tuned the intake system and monitoring of the PROPER atomiztion and flame front costs millions of dollars and requires supercomputers to monitor the data correctly.
As I stated previously, our cars are tuned VERY well from the factory, and changing the system usually causes adverse effects, most commonly loss of power.

you're correct that you DO want turbulence in the intake, but you should not be attempting to increase it from stock on this car, period. Once again I'm referring to N/A VQ's.

I am still interested in the pictures.
Oh and a side note as well on the intake topic, you're allowing air into the intake that normally wouldn't be there at idle due to your throttle body, the car's mixture ratio and idle speed are going to be adversy affected by this, which is why I asked what it idles at and how your fuel mileage is.
Not only that but you're affecting the vaccum in the engine, in our vehicles that's not extremely important one way or the other, but in many cars doing so will cause failure of vaccuum run equipment, distributor timing, etc.

And you want exhaust velocity you don't simply want it 'free flowing', and even if that were what you were trying to achieve you've effectively damaged the free flowing properties of the exhaust by causing too much turbulence in the exhaust from abrumptly differing pipe ID's, causing a pressure drop that will greatly reduce the ability of the exhaust to leave the system more effectively. If you put all the stock equipment back on except for the Y pipe you've put on, I can almost assure you you'll yield better overall performance from the VQ.
The better choice at this point would be to simply install the proper sized cat for the rest of the system.


I'm not saying that your methods are wrong, just that on the Maxima they are not helpful, and actually can cause you to lose more than you gain.
Hope that helps you understand a bit why I suggested what I had previously.

That's TERRIBLE for this car what did it get before your modifications?

PS >>>>>>>>>>>>> you STILL haven't answered anyone about your supposed 'vairied plug gap' are you avoiding getting into that conversation or something?

peppers

the 200 miles is pretty much all wide open throttle. i have a strech of highway from my place to my firehouse so i get on, switch on my responder lights and pin the throttle. i did take it out last summer camping and fully laden with gear, the wife kid and myself i got over 450 on a tank of 89.

the varried plug gap is something that i read about and am giving it a go with some of my friends on different engines to see how it responds. its a platnum 2 spark plug with one side properly gapped, and the other side slightly larger. the idea is more spark travel to higher rpm. to be honest i think its a load of crap. i wont really know until i get a chance to hit the dyno.

and also id like to say thank you, i have learned a bit more about nissans thanks to your posts. i cant say i havent had fun with all my gm's but driving the max definitly puts a smile on my face.