Slow process cleaning up my replacement Maxima, but here is where I am at now.

Optimum No Rinse Wash, Meguiars clay and Optimum Opti-Seal on the paint. Need to set aside a whole day to really polish it out and apply the Optimum Coating, might be a week or two before I have time.

 

Went hard into the interior today.

Vacuum
Woolite/water at 20:1 dilution to clean the vinyl and leather
BioKleen Traffic Lane Cleaner at 32:1 dilution to clean the carpets and headliner
Optimum Power Clean at 3:1 dilution to clean the mats
Optimum Protectant Plus to dress the vinyl
Leather Master's Leather Vital to condition the leather

 

Congrats Scott. Nice pickup, glad to see you bought another 5.5.

 

Jealous of your black interior.

Nice pickup. Car looks good.

 

verrry nice5.5 very clean, wish mine was dat clean lol

 

looks real good

 

urrrgggggg give me that black interior!

 

def a great pickup and clean as well!

 

whats up with the shift ****? lol black interior FTW!

 

If it is straight, it is a bit loose, where it is now, its tight.

Oh yeah, I did manage to reach under my hood of my old car through the base of the windshield and get the K&N filter out of it (put the one from the new Maxima in my old car. Then I did the GAB mod like I did on my other car.

I need to put some penetrating oil on the converter bolts so I can pull the test pipe off my old car and put the cat from the new one on it. My insurance company said I can swap out any aftermarket parts I want to keep as long as the OEM parts are with the car. However, I can't remove anything like the armrest (the one in the new car has a small tear in it) and replace it with one in worse condition.

No way I'll be able to get the block plate even if I could get the hood open, the strut tower is mashed up against the timing cover and there is no way to get at the bottom bolts on the block plate.

 

Your interior looks amazing. The carpets and everything look brand new. I had my 5.5 looking just like that before winter came

As soon as the snow stops falling here, I'll be on that, making sure it looks just as clean as yours! Congrats on the new ride.

 

nice pickup, glad to hear they finally gave you the check

 

Coming form a veteran detailer nice work.

 

Nice pick up man, you must love it.

 

Looks good man !

 

Nice. My interior look just like that. except i got all season floor mats that dont look good at all.

 

Really nice! Exactly the same as my car (except mine's a bloody 4AT)

 

Nice car!!

I noticed that you have a few knicks in the steering wheel from rings, etc. I've got a little trick that worked really nicely for me.

-Take painters tape and tape up the side sections of the steering wheel (i.e. 10 and 2)
-Take 150 grit sand paper and lightely sand both the top and bottom sections of the steering wheel, not touching the side sections. Do NOT use a sander, just a little elbow grease! Just lightly sand off the top layer. Also, try not to sand the stitching.
-Take a wet towel and clean up. Then take hand lotion and work it in.

Now it looks like an M3 style steering wheel. Just a thought, but I'm **** when it comes to how my car looks and I'm super happy with how this turned out.

Enjoy the new car!

 

Glad to know you got another maxima. Any actual mods planned for this one?

 

I was wondering when we'd see this thread.

Glad to have you still with the Org, Scott.

 

quick question, how do you clean the headliner?

 

i wish you were local, i'd have you go ham sandwich on my interior...man i'm highly jealous. where did you get your solutions for cleaning the carpet? i have a steamer (for clothes) that i was going to use to remove the tint from my wife's car, but i was also thinking about steaming my carpet this time, have you ever done carpet steaming?

 

Interesting. Any pics of this?

Scott, for the armrest, I'd recommend the RedLine Boots armrest cover (along with the boots) to replace the torn one. I had the same issue when I bought my 5.5 and the RedLine leather is definitely much better quality.

 

If you do that, get RedLine's eBrake boot. It would look perfect with that black interior.

I really don't know why Nissan didn't use a leather boot for their eBrake handle. It seems so crude without it.

 

Nice pick up, glad you found a 6spd. Remember to do the ES shifter bushing, you gonna like it!

 

nice find!

 

If you unscrew the shift **** and wrap a little teflon tape on the threads of the shifter, that will tighten it up. Then you can play with the amount of tape required to get it tight when straight.

 

I was just about to say the same thing. The teflon plumbers tape would work perfectly for that.

 

Good find, welcome to the 6spd crew!

 

Congrats Scott! I love my black leather interior. I've been driving with the crooked shift **** for 7 years now... maybe I'll try the teflon tape fix mentioned above.

 

Your post reads like something I would see on www.deatailedimage.com (been spending some time there lately). I like what you've done to ti so far. ANy plans for detailing the engine bay?

 

Looks great, if you don't mind me asking what did you pay for it? I pick up an auto 2002 with about that mileage about a month ago and it's not nearly as clean.

 

It will be interesting to see what Scott does to clean & condition his headlight lenses. I've been reading good things about Turtle Wax Headlight Lens Restorer.

 

Very nice pick up the interior is in amazing condition...and the exterior..very nice find....

 

u have the exact same car as me except mine is a TE. Very clean, ive been looking for some stuff to do my leather, but havnt tried any yet, gonna give ur stuff a shot! BTW mine is that clean as well, just gotta polish it

 

Two grey Maximas, but different model years and different trim levels... what are the odds?

 

Damn, i am comming to your place to get my carpets done, there horrible and the back seat feels like rough sandpaper

 

I don't say a word about the car. Once the tow truck comes I doubt they're gonna see it again and whatever you take/switch would have to be glaringly obvious for anyone to care/notice (especially when it's really totaled). I was thinking sledge hammer and sawzall for the BOP.

 

That stuff is USELESS. You want this stuff, LighteRite: http://searchautomotive.net/

 

Go easy on the clay bar. The paint on our Maximas is thiiiiiiiin as it is,