Been driving GM products since i got my license(16y/o), i sold off my '99 S10 ext stepside over a month ago. I have a '79 Datsun 620 with a Nissan Z22 5spd swap in storage that im building up, while car hunting came across a '97 Nissan Maxima 5spd and was in awh. Never knew Nissan had made a full size sedan with a manual transmission, been driving manual for 6 years now and had no intent to get a auto so i jumped on it. Now she aint perfect, but for a 15y/o car from Atlanta, Georgia with 172k she aint bad.

Just got the windows tinted including the windshield, otherwise shes bone stock. So im looking for suggestions on what i can do to improve her performance and appearance, but i like subtlety. Clean, flush, and sharp yet makes you double/triple take cause you cant tell if something is custom/after-market/OEM. Specially when it comes to performance, I hate popping the hood and seeing all these blatant after market parts sticking out like a sore thumb. I plan to make some LED panels to put inside the original tail lights to keep a original but modern touch, also looking to p/u some '16-'17 steelies with moderate low pros and subtle 1in drop.

Got some tips or suggestions? Im open to hear em, so shoot

 

Nice car! I am surprised how much tint can affect the look of a car.

 

Suspension drop and ypipe or headers are top priority IMO. I wish I could get away with tint that dark here. Nice looking car. Good luck and have fun.

 

Here are just some suggestions ontop of the person above me:

get spacers to flush out the wheels
Go to NWP's website and buy their intake manifold spacer kit and the torque brace kit
since you want to keep under the hood looking stock, get an K&N drop in filter
(just my opinion) replace tail lights with red clear set and be done with it. I just don't think the LEDs flow good with our cars..like I said, just my opinion.
With 172K miles, maintenance is the best thing you can do, replace spark plugs with NGK ONLY!!!! Replace fuel filter, etc...

Good luck, this is a great place (if you can handle the beat down every once and awhile) with a lot of knowledge..

 

Welcome to the org!

To add on to y-pipe and/or headers, you'll want to replace the stock muffler, as it is fairly restrictive. You can also check out the A/E headlights to see if thats something would like to do to your headlights. A front lip looks nice/oem. People have the L.E.D. converted oem tails on here, so you can look at their's to see if it's something you really like. There's many people here that have done custom things to their Maximas, so you can look around and try to get some ideas.

Good luck with your ride, and enjoy it!


Posted from Maxima.org App for Android

 

very nice and clean car. I wish I could fine me a decent condition 4th gen 5MT. People around here abuse them.

Why steelies?

Better yet, buy wheels with the correct offset and width to achieve the look you're after.

As opposed to? Stock muffler isn't restrictive and can support quite a bit of HP. Same goes for the stock airbox. If anything, switch to a stock 5th gen muffler and/or airbox.

Restriction is the manifolds and y-pipe. Considering the price of a set of decent headers and y-pipe, headers would be my choice. Solid 20whp gain. It all depends on what the OP is after.

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With these engines, a dark colored intake (real intake) is all you can really see as far as aftermarket, and all that;'s noticeable is the cone filter. I wouldn't suggest anything other than JWT/Stillen or custom, but for subtlety I would still say go with a 5th gen airbox and a drop in K&N. Stay away from the red, yellow chrome and blue crap out there. Headers blend right in, an ETL also looks fairly stock, and an FSTB is semi noticeable.

 

Welcome aboard. Excuse the pun, but you're going to enjoy the ride

That's a really clean car too. Great find.

FYI you have Maxima GXE which means that the computer may have a limiter set to 112 or 117 mph, forget which. The car is obviously capable of more. Best bet would be to replace the computer with a 5 speed Maxima SE computer from the junk yard. A Maxima GLE computer wont do because all GLEs were automatics.

Of course you should also make sure your tires are H,V, or Y rated, too.

And to re-iterate what NmexMax said, the only significant restrictions are the intake manifold and Y pipe. Search for 00VI and Y-pipe from Cattman mods.

Good luck.

 

CATTMAN for the Y pipe, hands down. $$ but for an extra 20 horses, best bang for the buck on the 4th gens.

For your drop, if you only want a mild drop I'd look at Tokico Blues paired with H&R springs...about an inch and a half drop while retaining good quality ride.

Check out an RSB (rear sway bar), made by Addco or Progress to minimize body roll while cornering.

And welcome!!! Car looks great already.

 

Very nice '97! Welcome! What percentage tint on windshield?

 

ooohh, yeah, how could I forget about that. Stupid USDM IM.

Do people still do the wire cut deal for this?

 

y pipe, h&r springs, 16" se wheels from 97-99, cone filter... Some good cheap mods

 

http://forums.maxima.org/forced-indu...v1-sc-kit.html
http://forums.maxima.org/forced-indu...-sale-obo.html

 

Wow I envy how clean your Pebble Beige is lol.

 

well hot damn, all the GM forums and posts i would make i would be lucky to get 1 response. the y-pipe seems to a conflicting thing, so ill have to weight pros and cons researching it. im going back and forth on the oem box mod with filter or just box delete with ram air cone, either way its the same cost. last year i came up on a '98 Passat at the junk yard on 50% off day, the car was stripped but flawless black leather interior was left untouched. so i snagged the front seats heated power seats for $50 as a set, talk about a steal i was expecting the popo to show up. im going to a buddies upholstery shop tomorrow to see what it will take to get these puppies fitted and functional, i apologize for not exactly quoting but im not 100% sure how to get it down... kind of a techno-retard.

i appreciate all the feed back, in the photos you cant see the tinge or fading on the headlights nor the oxidation on the paint. but spent about a hour buffing the front clip, slowly ill be buffing the car panel by panel till i get it in the best condition possible with a buffer. im baffled how to remove the window door trim though... its all faded and dis colored so its getting redone satin black, pillars piano black



NmexMAX:
I like steelies for their low key and somewhat beater look, sleeper status baby!


dwapenyi:
i appreciate it, i wasnt sure the class of Maxima i had p/u. there was mention of a wire cut mod, or something? is the ECU swap a straight plug and play or would there need to be some electrical work?


pMax6r:
the front windshield is medium, about 35%. no its not legal in cali, but i dgaf. im at the base of the mountains and frequently drive GMR and Baldy Rd in my last truck that also had the same tint on the windshield w/o a single problem in the pitch black of night

 

See my sig for some useful 4th Gen links. Welcome!! The "4th Gen how-To's" is the link with the "wire cut" mod.

 

You could get the 97-99 Maxima SE 16s. OEM so they don't stand out as much and considerably more stylish.
I forgot about that. Yes, you can do the wire mod too. I think you lose cruise control with that setup, though, if that's important to you.

 

I saw you mentioned painting your pillars. Just so you know, they're just wrapped in black vinyl. You could just peel and apply new black vinyl (or leave them unwrapped...).

 

In my opinion their are no pros and cons to the ypipe. Only pros. If your in Cali though emissions may be an issue but I have read you can still pass emissions as long as your cars warmed up. The pre cats only work when the engine is below normal operating temps.

 

His car is a 97 so Cali emissions wont be an issue. Just like my 98 Cali....way less emissions gobbledy gook than my friend's 99 Cali.

 

Then it looks like he's all set then. If your wanting to increase performance y pipe or headers is a must.

 

I have a ypipe (used of course) i'll sell you, message me if interested

Nice car!

 

Nice. I do love the look of the tinted windshield too. I always thought about doing it, and I know its illegal here in Iowa. If I were to do it, i would go something like 50%.

 

theres no point of doing 50%.

it will make barely even a marginal difference

 

For visiblitly and sunlight coming in the car, no, maybe not much of a difference, but for police noticing, yes. They would most likely write me a ticket for it. Even with 50% on the windshield it will still give the car a good look to it with all of the windows tinted.

 

and would still block virtually all the uv rays, protecting ur interior

 

Great to see another 4th being revived. Really nice pick up!! As everyone said the first for performance is definitely to go with y-pipe/header combo... Best ones are from Cattman. And for exterior subtlety the LEDs in the tails are really nice when done right. Also the headlights would need attention, if you decide to go that route. For a really great projector setup contact Chrisman here on the org. But overall maintain that beauty. Welcome to the family.

 

thanks for the heads up, ill remove the vinyl an paint them aswell as the rest of the window trim.




reviving neglect case cars is what i do, looked at doing some headlight mods. so far im planning for the clear lense black marker lights, i like the idea of keeping OEM looking lights that are one piece instead of two but haven come up on any i really like.





separate note, i replaced the serpentine belt but had trouble with the power steering belt and couldn't figure how to get it off so i didn't replace that one. now during idle there's a weird humming that sounds like the power steering pump is going out, is that the case? or maybe did i over/under tighten the belt adjuster?