How do I find out the exact outer-diameter sizes for a variety of hoses in our cars, without buying the proper measurement tool?

The water pipe hoses are 1". Got that. What about:

• Evap lines
• Radiator overflow
• Power Steering hoses
• Brake Booster hose
• Front VC breather hose

These are the ones that are readily visible and accessible. The FSM isn't telling me the sizes, nor is CourtesyParts.com. I can measure in a lame, half-azz way by eyeballing against a ruler. Without buying the proper measurement tool... any ideas?

 

Not sure on that, but you may be able to get a caliper pretty cheap to measure with.

 

I know that, Sparks. That's why I said "without buying the proper tool". I said it twice.

Now I have to go to Staples. I don't want to go to Staples.

 

1. Anybody know how much these lines are and how much of a pita they are to install,its the only rusty thing in my engine bay and ticks me off everytime i open the hood.I think they are a/c lines.Sorry the pick is so small,they run under the o2's.

 

Follow them. Are they going to the evaporator? I'm guessing not.

You're probably talking about the water pipes. Yeah, they rust. But they can also be replaced at about $50/each. I just bought a new set from CourtesyPart, and they're at the powdercoater right now. knight_yyz coated his in POR. Roy (the guy you bought your cover from) had his powdercoated gloss black.

Read the thread. Take better pictures.

 

Instead of measuring all the hoses I bought 6 feet each of 3mm 4mm 5mm 6mm 8mm 10 mm and 12mm, those sizes cover just about all the hoses under the hood. Those are ID's by the way.

 

Cool thanks Rochester.

 

co-sign

----
wtb engine cover

 

Don't forget to purchase the little rubber O-rings at the ends of those water pipes. When taking off the old pipes, you have to replace them before putting the new pipes on.

http://www.courtesyparts.com/21049-s...3-p-45100.html

 

Just for you, sparks, I went to Home Depot and purchased a $10 caliper.

I think the OD measurement on these hoses is still imperfect +/- one millimeter, because of compression with the clamp, and stretching with the pipe inside... but I think this is a "good enough" representation of the obvious and accessible hoses & clamps.



So to test the waters, I ordered (1) 1/2" cap for the radiator overflow, and (2) 5/8" caps for the brake booster line. You can get them in clear metal, black or a titanium finish on the aluminum caps. I ordered the Ti-caps.

 

Unfortunately, the hose sizes are the inside size, but the clamps are the outside sizes. Mostly due to the fact that a 5mm low pressure hose will have a much smaller wall thickness than a high pressure hose with the same inner diameter and therefore both will need different clamps.

 

Hey John, take a look at Gates PowerGrip hose clamps.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GH1po8kP9c8

http://www.jscspeed.com/catalog/Gate...mps-152-1.html

 

Right. Don't care about the ID on the hoses, because I'm not replacing them. It's matching up the OD on the rubber to the proper clamp that takes a little bit of thought.

 

Should have went to a surplus store you can buy the plastic calipers for like $1

Just saying

I have so much work to do in my engine bay this year, thanks for reminding me with all the beautiful pictures guys.

 

 

Looking real good, NissanTun3r! I like the blue on the FSTB brackets and the way the color ties into the engine cover and the blue battery tie-down. That's not an AE cover... what is that?

Such a nice bay; (although your dipstick is quite conspicuously yellow.)

 

Just like my license plate

That's a painted run of the mill cover. Same as the 4th gens in stock form, only the 5th gen was a different color. (red/gray vs black gray).

And not to muck up the thread with random bays, I just linked the pic.
http://photos-h.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos..._4524313_n.jpg

Image is too damn big so I wont post it, but it's the 4th gen version:
http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/2...ture0010mr.jpg

 

Oh, I get it now. That's the VC for the 3.0, not an engine cover. That looks fantastic painted the way NissanTun3r did his.

We need an engine cover on the 3.5. Our VC's are seriously fugly.

 

yeah they look naked. Jime retrofitted a 3.0 VC cover on his 3.5 once upon a time.

His pictures died a while back, but here's him explaining the situation:
http://forums.maxima.org/3714744-post8.html

 

Hmmm I never thought to actually clean my engine bay, but these images have really influenced me. The red tape my be "ghetto" but it looks really nice under the hood.

 

Hey, it matches the Walmart battery decal. Truthfully, I wouldn't even have noticed because I was distracted by the woman reclining in his sig...

BTW, I have the same Walmart battery, it is awesome...but I peeled that sticker off of it, along with the one on top.


NissanTuner, I checked out your Digital Medai Zenfolio. You have done a very nice job on most of those photos, what camera do you use?

 

Hey, Trooper, what's your beef with battery stickers? Or is it Walmart specifically that you have issues with?

My battery helps me brake, and it's lightened to reduce rotational mass.



No. Of course, it's just another place to put stickers.

 

Unless it is an Optima Yellow/Red/or Blue (like in my boat)
Batteries should be Black.

Now if you want to use your as advertising for brake pad companies, I hope they are paying you for the space...

 

I looked into that. Hawk said they could work something out if I drove around with my hood open.

So obviously, I'm considering it.

 

Roch, did you paint your rad support brackets or are those just new ones?

Mine are ordered I was thinking of a light sand and painting them before install.

 

The ones on the car now were scraped down to the metal on the wire-wheel, and painted last summer. But this time around, I bought new ones, and they're at the powdercoater this very minute, getting blasted and coated in Black Chrome, to match the FSTB brackets. Should look real good with those polished titanium M6 flange-nuts and SS washers.

Anyway, they cost less than $5/each at the dealership. Good for you buying replacements. So many people overlook those things.

BTW, the powdercoating is like $5/each, as well. Pretty inexpensive, IMO.

 

It's justa regular valve cover, no engine cover. I painted the dipstick blue to match the other stuff, and also replaced the red air filter in that picture with one that is blue.

That walmart battery is great, I use a canon 50d.

 

I ordered a couple of these hose-ends, just to see what they were like. They showed up last night.



Right away, I realized my measuring skills are lame. When the clamp says "half inch", that means the inner diameter of the hose, not the outer diameter. The reason being, these aren't just covers, they're end-caps. That's a significantly different thing. What you can't see in this picture is that the cap has a lip on the one end which wraps around the edge of the hose, for a seriously nice, finished look.

Regardless of my confusion, the "half-inch" cap seems to be the perfect size for the brake booster lines, and the power-steering lines, which would be a total of 8 pieces.

I'll play with this some more when it gets a little warmer than 15 degrees Fahrenheit outside. Damn winter. I'm not about to be getting PS fluid all over the place when my fingers are frozen. This is best left to a warmer time of year.

But for now, it still has possibilities.

 

knight_yyz pointed out that 1" clamps are 25mm, so I ordered a half dozen 25-27mm, stainless steel, t-bolt clamps through ebay. On first impression, they seemed somewhat tarnished... but then they easily cleaned up with metal polish to a really good shine. Also, the bolt retainers look big for something so small, so there's this weird Mikey Mouse Ear thing going on... but if you turn the clamp appropriately when mounted, it tucks away well-enough from notice.

They're a somewhat more mechanical look than clamp covers, but substantial and clean. And they match the SRI and main Radiator clamps.

Here's a picture of one on my VC breather line:

 

Well I'm trying to make my engine look pretty by putting my engine cover back on. Unfortunately, my friend who painted my engine cover for me isn't the brightest and lost all the screws for it even after I told him multiple times to put them in a safe spot where he wouldn't misplace them.

What kind of screws do I need to replace those ones and where can I get them at? Sorry if this is a dumb question, I'm just sick of looking at a naked engine every time I pop the hood.

 

I'm happy to see you putting high quality clamps on. Most guys that 'dress' the engine bay do it with the hose clamps you posted earlier that are covered in a 'nice looking' finish. Hose clamps work, but they're a cheap, cheap clamp, and most people overtighten them, causing issues down the road.

Not accusing you of any such thing, I'm very happy to see someone pony up the dough for proper clamps. They look very clean too.

What's that dial for under your TPS wires?

 

No, What's on Second... Who's on First.

 

Standard M6 thread, like everything else. But the length is dependent on the style of bolt you use. 20mm is a safe bet for whatever you go with.

This thread might answer some more questions:

http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...uts-bolts.html

 

Oh found a nice place for cheap intake couplers, and other under hood stuff.
http://www.rtmracing.com/xcart/home.php?cat=1463&page=1

Just generic stuff but decent pricing

 

The radiator tie-down brackets on cars cost less than $5/each at the dealership. Another $5/each for powdercoating, with a titanium M6 flange nut and washer... and this makes quite a big difference:

 

MMMMMM dam that looks good John, what colour did you powdercoat with?

I'm toying with the idea of painting a bunch of items body colour. I don't know how the caps would turn out though.... maybe I'll grab those Z caps you posted, I can drive down to get them sometime or get my sister to grab em, she lives that way.

The biggest problem is Pearl white is 3 coats, so I'd have to buy 3 cans of Spray balm to do it DIY. And I'm not sure if I can get it in a high-temp type paint.

Anyone with pictures of white engine cover/white engine theme?

 

Yeah man, I'm extremely happy. The color is Black Chrome, with a clear-coat.

Same as my FSTB brackets, and same as my new water pipes, and my newly refreshed NWP Torque Link Connector. Here's the torque link. I'll take some pics of the water pipes later.

 

Man that looks ridiculous

Can't wait for the pics man, excellent choice. Are you keeping a tally on how much you've invested on underhood cosmetics?

 

Oddly enough, yes, I have been. In the last two years, I've spent exactly $8,600 on the car in total. $1,700 of that was purely for cosmetics, under the hood and elsewhere.

For two years prior to that, I spent virtually zero dollars (except for the exhaust). And for five years prior to that, I was making car payments.

All told... not a good financial investment. Figure I'll probably be selling it next year for around $6K, because that's realistically all I could get for it. Certainly whomever buys the car will be far more lucky than they could realize.

All in, I have no regrets. It's been fun.

 

I'll hold on to mine hopefully til 2013......and unmod it and sell it......then sell all the parts.......