Looks Good John, My unveiling will take place next weekend weather permitting. I'm off all next week so I should have plenty of time to install all the goodies I've got in the mail recently.

An engine bay to be proud of. Good work. (I'm sure Scotty would approve, even if it's not a warp engine).

Thanks, but I'm not done. Still want to work on wire loom, mini-clamps, and other things. Then again, with winter coming up, I'm probably as done as I'm going to get for 2010.

Can't wait to see it, Ray. Take lots of pictures, don't be shy.

For that vertical shot... use a ladder. ;)

Nuts & Bolts for Dummies
 

I've mentioned to some that I was going to do a write-up on simple nuts & bolts replacements.

Here she is

TB Wire Tuck
 

I don't know about the 5.0 gen, but on the 5.5 gen the Throttle Body wiring has this large, 3" loop taking up slack in the wire length. This loop is attached to a bracket underneath the Throttle Body, connected with a zip-tie with a rosebud clip. And this bracket itself is bolted to the TB by the lower-left casing bolt.

Why? Meh, who knows? Again, it probably has something to do with the sequence of manufacturing, and the shared Nissan parts.

Anyway...

1. Cut the zip-tie and loosen up that big loop of wires.
2. Relocate that loop of excess wire so that it's under the engine cover. Down by the valve cover is a fine place.
3. Zip-tie that new loop in place.
4. Delete the ugly little bracket.
5. Dress up your wires with high-temp wire loom.

Here's the before picture...

http://www.johnclare.com/pics/cars/tb_wire1.jpg

...and here's the after photo.

http://www.johnclare.com/pics/cars/tb_wire2.jpg

Nice!!!!^^^^^^^^^^

http://i396.photobucket.com/albums/p.../underhood.jpg[/IMG]

http://i396.photobucket.com/albums/p...underhood2.jpg[/IMG]

Maxima Dude, that engine bay is looking good. Do I see a polished intake in the near future?

That white cover is pretty unique. And it looks like you've got the Apexi-branded adapter plate for your pop-charger, yes? Can I see a close-up of that?

See those 2 yellow stickers on the front crossbeam? And that little yellow tag on the positive battery cable? I bet you'd like how things look without those things drawing the eye.

Decals, decals, decals... there are seven race-me stickers under the hood. Which is like half of rroderiques77, but I think he lost count. :p

Racingline Performance decal this morning.

http://www.johnclare.com/pics/cars/r...ine_decal1.jpg

http://www.johnclare.com/pics/cars/r...ine_decal2.jpg

thanks guys ... yea the yellow will be comin off soon and my next thing might be paintin the intake mani/timing cover black....shuld make the white cover pop lik a mofo lol and if you noticed i painted all my a/c lines and brake lines and everything u can see... wiper motor...etc. its easy cause my car is black so i can black everthing out lol

It's the Berk w/ Apex'i setup. The filter has an adapter which has the Apex'i logo on it.

Hey Rochester, I was just thinking... why don't you flip your MAF housing over so you can't see the sensor plug? Just like maxima dude did...

I've read a number of comments about how the MAF Sensor should be upright. But IDK, really.

Urban myth? :gotme:

It's the kind of thing I'd like an expert opinion on.

^^ i had it like that for a year...no problems lol

DressUpBolts.com has added Titanium Fluid Caps to their product line. It's a new thing, and certainly attractive in the photos, but I'm still trying to get a handle on how they work, price, etc.

Anyway, for fitment on the 5th Gen Maxima, I started wondering how many of these reservoirs are shared throughout various Nissan models. Or more specifically, just the caps. To help me with that, I asked SLCPunk267 to do some comparisons between his 2003 Maxima and his 350Z, since he is uniquely positioned for that compare, having access to both cars.

Turns out they're a perfect match, except for the retainer clip on the washer fluid cap, but that's a minor nit.

And then I realized that NISSAN makes these caps in a variety of colors depending on the make & model... yellow, black, blue, etc. In other words, we could replace these yellow caps with black ones, since the yellow clashes so much.

• (yellow) Coolant Fluid Overflow
• (yellow) Washer Fluid
• (black) Power Steering Fluid
• (yellow) Brake Fluid
• (black) Clutch Fluid

It's certainly worth looking into further. I really don't like the yellow caps, and don't have much interest in painting them.

Just for their interest if they are reading, I'm definitely interested in a Maxima kit with those Fluid Caps. I hate the yellow things, and I figure they are just gonna chip if I paint them.

I don't think they're reading this stuff. Just go to their website and send them an email. They said there are cap kits for all the cars they have bolt kits for, and like I said, for us that means the 350Z.

But IDK about price, and how they work. Some of these caps press on with a rubber bushing underneath, some clip on, and some are threaded. I think this would seriously complicate things trying to come up with a universal design... so like I said, I don't know how these work.

I'd like to see an underside photo.

And pricing. That would be nice.

http://www.johnclare.com/pics/cars/dressup_caps.jpg

I would definitely consider this if I hadn't painted mine.

Rochester, where did you find the hole plugs? Home Depot?

LOWES. They have black hole plugs for all brands (GM, Nissan, etc.) Don't go by brand, however, just get the ones to fit your needs. The Nissan ones are actually too large for little M6 holes.

I just got correspondence back from DressUpBolts.com. These aren't fluid caps per se, they are cap "covers" that are intended to go over your OEM caps.

You gonna try them out?

No. I'm going to buy the rad overflow cap, and the master cylinder cap, as OEM parts for a 350Z. The fitment and function are identical, but the plastic is black.

Not sure what to do about the washer fluid cap.

Any goods leads for an aftermarket power steering reservoir?

^^ my friend actually made an aluminum cover to go over it...looks amazing...im prolly gunna make one myself

http://www.zeetoyz.com/350zengine.htm

might get the polished set in blue...

350Z polished power steering reservoir
http://g35driver.com/forums/group-bu...ring-tank.html

Those silver caps look real good in the studio photo, but then (IMO) they look tacky when actually on the car.

Still, nice find, knight_yyz. Now that I've confirmed the Maxima is sharing reservoir cap specs with the 350Z, I'm going to poke around some more.

for more bling check out pi-thon hose clamps. 200+ for the set of 4 clamps for the rad hoses. LOL all CNC machined aluminum

http://www.pi-thondesigninc.com/products.htm


check out the polished engine bay!!!
https://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e...9/CIMG8162.jpg

Rochester, have you gotten a quote how much the Z OEM caps are? If they come in black, and are a direct swap, I'll definitely jump on that.

The only thing I saw from Zeetoys I liked was this, and it's not engine related:
http://www.zeetoyz.com/keysnew3.html

Use CourtesyParts.com to look up part numbers and get a sense of pricing.

I'm thinking of driving down to my Nissan Dealership and popping the hood on a current model Murano. The caps appear to be direct swaps.

http://image.trucktrend.com/f/175137...e_bay_view.jpg

oooooo, i like that engine cover

wow zeetoyz is 5 minutes away from my house!!

:sprint: on the engine cover

B

I just drove down to one of our Nissan dealerships, and popped the hood on a 2010 Murano. I had caps in hand, and physically tried them on the Murano, who's caps are black.

The rad overflow cap and the master cylinder fluid cap are a 100% perfect fit. And black.

The wiper fluid, not so much. Grey and oblong. The search continues for that one.

Dang I need a new engine cover... Especially liking that white one!

Paint it.

Might have to do that.

I've got Southpoint Nissan researching the 2005-2007 Murano washer fluid cap, because they can't find it in their system. :gotme: However, CourtesyParts has it listed in a configuration that looks like a match; (i.e., black and round.) If this doesn't work out, then the 2004 Maxima fluid cap (same as 350Z), which is blue.

The other two are a lock, both black, and confirmed by me, in person today, as a perfect fit:

Now that these yellow caps will soon be swapped, here's my intended color scheme:Period.

Everything else is in process of being swapped or painted. This means I need to paint my yellow dipstick loop something other than yellow.

Red, maybe?

black black black

I've been in touch with Terry from zeetoyz. Since he lives so close we are going to test fit the 03 z caps on my car. I'll keep you posted