sorry i hurt a couple people's feelings

In all likelihood, no one cares. Well, Roy cares, but he's nice to everyone.

when i had the maxima, didnt focus a lot on changing a lot of things in the engine bay...focused on just keeping it clean and shiny

just realized you have a NWP sticker in the same place i did :thumbsup:

That front upper cross member (?) is the perfect spot for things like that. Better yet when removing that big, yellow sticker that is there from the factory.

We should see a picture of the underside of rroderiquis' CF hood... or did we already? I know we talked about it.

I was big into engine bay bling when I was young, driving around in my modified T/A thinking I was hot, suburban shat. (I wasn't.) Then I lost interest over the years, only turning back to this very recently, starting last year with Racingline's FSTB. I didn't purchase the FSTB for bling, but it looks so nice, it inspired me to keep going.

yeah i removed those yellow stickers (i know i shouldnt take the cap off of a hot radiator) and put a couple stickers there

yeah my FSTB was otto and had the name painted on the middle and the two side brackets were a bronze color...removed the name when i sanded it down (brushed aluminum look)...and painted the brackets silver to match

speaking a brushed aluminum (OT from engine bays) i bought the "chrome" door sills from an AE but didnt like the shine...so i sanded them down...loved the way they looked....i didnt have much of anything on my car that was shiny...continued my theme of subtle mods that only a good eye could see...when people saw it they said it looked "clean" and "different" but didnt know why

we need a thread about making the interior look pretty...had a few things done in there

Who's stopping you?

Considered getting the AE sills a few times, but kept deciding not to, primarily because they were too shiny, and I didn't want something that was going to make me always watchful they didn't get dinged up.

Never occurred to me to sand out the shine. That's interesting.

yeah...sanded them down...only part that shined was the recessed part

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y22...Picture028.jpg

John, you can replace the ****ty vacuum clips with stainless steel...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ORG-2...Q5fCarQ5fParts

:sadpace: I LOVE that 3rd pedal.

Nice find, Ray! I was looking for SS spring clamps, and came up empty. However, I did find these "mini-clamps" in SS. rroderiquis just ordered a handful of them, so let's wait and see what he thinks.

http://www.ultimategarage.com/shop/p...products_id=36

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

I'm ordering the ABA clamps off of ebay, there is a guy that lets you mix and match the sizes you need.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWAX%3AIT
1.60 each any size from 1/4 id to 3/8 id. I just have to go out and measure the hoses.

We should make a list of hoses and hose sizes. I wonder if that info is available through the FSM?

I say that, because just this morning I tried to do some hose measurements, and quite frankly I ended up kind of confused between my measurements and the various "size" classifications observed online.

All hoses are measured by the Inner Diameter, so a 1/4" or 6mm hose needs a 1/4 clamp.

The ebay seller of the AWAB clamps has made it easier though. He put down the OD of the hoses that the clamps will work for. Mostly because a 6mm tube made by one company may not be as thick as a hose made by another.

So a 1/4" AWAB will fit 11.5mm-13mm
5/16 AWAB fits 13.5-15 mm
3/8 AWAB fits 14.5-16mm

Some clamps have numbers on them, like #10 or #12. If I am not mistaken each number represents the number of 16ths of an inch. so #10 is 10/16 or 5/8 etc..

We have 4mm id, 6mm id, 8mm id, 10mm id vacuum tubes on the car. Measured them all the other day so I could buy all new hose.

:D

:confused:

FSTB?

not really the thread to ask this questions...would have been better in the newbie thread

all FSTBs do the same thing (which isnt much)...buy one you like the price and look of

I like it. Strong, light, attractive and priced right. It does the job.

Welcome to the Org. Now open wide...

http://forums.maxima.org/picture.php...ictureid=20324

lol...thanks Rochester. Pretty clean setup you got under the hood btw.

Haha, it's all in fun. Just saying, this thread would be pointless if we just didn't bother to make our engines look decent. Let them rot and burn... oil.

This is all you need to do to make your engine bay look good. lol lol

http://carphotos.cardomain.com/ride_...0047_large.jpg

I was thinking today about making a list of all the obvious and accessible nuts & bolts that would be ripe for replacement, identify them through the FSM, organize a list with pictures, sizes and suggestions. I'm not saying go Titanium on everything, (although that's tempting), because SS is just fine, polished or otherwise. But there sure are options. Like swapping a basic hex bolt for a tapered socket-head with a SS washer... stuff like that.

Another specific example, the engine cover bolts on the 5.5 are M6-25mm Socket Head Caps, but really they have a tapered thread tip, so a replacement would be M6-22mm. (20mm would work, too.)

And another, there are bolts holding the 2 water pipes on the tranny side of the engine, which would look real good replaced with shiny new flange-heads:

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

Does anyone thing such a listing would be interesting or useful? Seems like a new thread idea... and something to keep me engaged while not really spending big bucks otherwise.

If you say so :rolleyes:

That would be great John^^^^

I was considering replacing my engine cover bolts with Tapered Socket-heads, and SS washers...

http://www.johnclare.com/pics/cars/t...cket_heads.jpg

...but then I saw these "Spike Head" bolts, which takes the "tapered" concept to whole new heights (no pun intended.) And thought, let's toss these out there and get opinions.

What do you guys think? Too weird? Or unique enough to be attractive?

It's the first I've seen them, so I'm not really sure where I stand yet.

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

20mm, Ray? Are you planning on using washers, too?

I like using those SS washers that have a rubber seal on one side.

Last year, I ground down my OEM socket heads and painted them with engine paint. They look fine, but I'm liking the idea of tapered sockets head titanium bolts.

The more I look at these SS coneheads, the more silly they're seeming to me.

http://i400.photobucket.com/albums/p...z/DSC_2046.jpg

http://i400.photobucket.com/albums/p...z/DSC_2048.jpg

Ignore the rusted coolant pipes and the stickers. The stickers are coming off and the pipes will be replaced very soon

The original taper heads look too small in the pockets of the cover. These are 16mm "button head". They are not a true button head though as a real one would have a rounded head. He also has them in a 12mm head diameter

BTY someone asked about the guy I am buying from, about shipping to the states. 5 bucks shipping to North America.

Damn that water pipe is rusted. I am soooo glad stuff doesn't rust like that out here.

I like the cover. Keep them coming. I will have some pics of the mini clamps soon.

Those bolts are kinda, I don't know... heavy metal??? If you like them, roll with them...

You are correct, Sir... the taper heads (and your new parallel socket heads) look too small in the wide holes on the engine cover. Excellent of you to take pictures of all types.

I have observed that the OEM parallel socket heads are really, really thick. And that the super-wide button-heads you found have that same head diameter.

I like those. Links, please.

Mine are similarly rusted, and I hate it. New water pipes would be $90 for the pair, Roy. I'm thinking of getting some (eventually), and painting them w/engine paint.

Knight_yyz is doing that as we speak (write). :p

I wish these hardware manufacturer's had kits like the other more "popular" vehicles.

LOL! Yeah, kind of Gothic, like a spiked dog collar. :laugh:

It's taken me all of 2 hours to decide "no" on those.

I was thinking more like Pin Head from Hell Raiser :laugh:

With the 5.5 engine cover mounted, there are 6 of the 10 front valve cover bolts readily visible.

Suppose all 10 should really be replaced, rather than just the 6 most obvious. Aw, geeze... :rolleyes:

http://www.torontocycles.com/Selling...ium_Bolts.html

Order all your bolts, then you have to add the color to the cart for 2 bucks (click on the left side titanium anodizing then "add to cart"). Shipping is 5 bucks.

I wouldn't replace those. They have special collars on them to keep the cover aligned. You would have to find separate collars of the right length and inner and outer diameters.

When I installed the new cover bolts I noticed a few other bolts that can be replaced. The wiper motor, and the master clutch line bracket. A few odds and ends here and there. Not much else really.

Ray, I'm looking at Toronto Bikes, and notice they have 2 options on the M10 flange nuts (for our struts):
What is "pitch"? And which ones did you get?