Just got the car back today with the HD2 kit installed. 2-3 shift flare is gone! Im really psyched about that. It was the main reason I bought the kit.

Everything that I have read and been told about it are true. All the shifts are firm and immediate. 1-2 shift on mine is hard like expected, but the 2-3 is just rowdy! Anything at least half throttle and up is just BANG on the 2-3 shift. Definitely put a grin on my face.

I have yet to really get on it because of the big city to little city traffic. I did get to WOT all of second and into third once. It felt like I went past redline or at least past the normal shift point. I went to look at the tach right when it shifted into third and I missed what rpm it actually shifted at. I will try again later and pay attention this time.

Im waiting for a mail package and then I will do a proper GAB mod with pics. Also ordered a NWP basic BOP for the hell of it. Damn bug! I initially had no plans on doing ANY mods. :-D

 

^ Nice.

And theres no doubt the car shifts higher with transgo than stock, since the stock setup is made to protect tranny and not shift at full force. My stock 4AT used to shift ~6200 and now it clearly hits redline, which in a 5th gen makes a big difference considering hp peaks at 6500 and entire rev band is useable.

Not sure how this differs on 5.5gen, considering the powerband peaks at 5800. Never really looked it up..

 

Before:


After:


Not as ghetto as a coat hanger but still pretty ghetto.
I left a spine in the middle for, umm uhh....structural integrity....yeah, thats it :-D
Thanks Dremel tool

Update: I installed and went for a ride. Its not as loud as the coat hanger version. It doesnt scream like it did but still sounds awesome. The minimal amount of extra pep this mod adds still seems to be there, just a little bit more quiet.

 

Dude you effed that up unless I'm wrong you already cut too much!

I read somewhere that a certan amount of holes had been drilled on those 8 spaces and dyno'ed simultaneously and for the best gain in power was like four holes iirc.

 

^I can post my pics. 4 one inch holes. so perfectly spaced and filed smooth. thing of beauty.
I was happy....Until i made my custom mid pipe that is . Gab's such a starter phase.

 

Yea someone here tested it with 8, 6,4,2 holes.... Turned out 4 holes gave the biggest gain.... Not much but it was best.

 

True. Be a man and install a real intake!



GAB I believe was my second mod, after smoked side markers. It lasted about a week and went thru two design changes in that time...pulled all that crap out and got a real intake. Never looked back, been fine tuning it ever since.

Btw my entire airbox setup with snorkel and all that jazz, showed ~25lbs on the scales. Real intake FTW!

 

What? So you guys dont think Im super badass and cool now? Damnit!
It will have to do for now. A real intake isnt in the cards at the moment.
Unless a33 ridah wants to hook it up with a discount :-p

 

I put on my g35 ray's I just got. Now I just need some springs asap to rid of that gap.

 

^ Those wheels look sick on a silver Maxi...

But now you should clean up those brakes behind it to finish the look, otherwise it dont look too great.

And whats with the Volkswagons in the 2nd pic?

 

Just finished swapping over the upper and lower oil pan from my 03 to an 08 quest engine wit 52000 on. Hope everything works out well for me

 

The golf is my 35+ mpg beater, the GLI is my 22+ psi noise maker (vroom pshhh) and now the max is my all motor luxury beast lol. I've always been a Euro guy, mostly vw/audi. But I stumbled across this max and the deal was just too good to pass up. My buddy had a 4th gen Se in high school and I always loved it. The 5spd sports car that poses as a luxury sedan. You get the best of both worlds.

 

Word, well good choice on the Maxi. As for VW/Audi, I have nothing good to say about them. so I digress..

Lol

 

@Dabull69: Rims looks great. I need to get mine on...started refinish process and painting...but gonna get powder coated instead.
btw i see a small speck of rust pinholin' on rear fender well...start of bigger worries later

 

Yeah the other fender has a couple spots as well. I'm in the process of getting some quotes to have the whole car patched and re sprayed. My wheels will probably be coming back off pretty soon so I can start refinishing. I was thinking about color matching them to the front grille but after seeing them on I'm kinda liking the polished.

 

+1

 

Got the brakes done today, it has been pouring rain out here, so better pics to come...



Sorry for the big pic, and in general a crappy pic...Will do better soon

 

^^ that spoke covers the caliper :-/

I picked up a sawzaw to get my 5th gen maxima look'n right ... next is a tube bender, kinker and miller 175 welder!!

 

Did the seafoam and after i put in some fresh castrol gtx high milage with the mobile1 filter...

 

^^Be prepared for fouled up plugs soon. In my opinion only seafoam if you are near a spark plug change interval (doesnt come around often)...This is the common consensus i have found over multiple vehicles/forums. This may only apply if you did the 3 way split of seafoam.
If in crank case; an oil change typically 200-300 miles is ideal...or stick to the full tank of gas rule of thumb.

ideally; using seafoam is best say a gas tank before you are changing plugs imo.

 

^^ I agree.

I would only ever use it in the gas anyway, SeaFoam is just light snake oil (oil+naphtha) and not really designed to be going thru rubber brake booster lines or pcv..

IMO it does no good, period. Putting it in your crankcase or sucking up thru vac line is only gonna burn that oil and produce a bunch of smoke, causing fouled plugs and dirty oil, and not much other benefit. Oh and it will help destroy your cats too, burning that oil. And MAYBE it will remove a tiny bit of carbon in the process, if your engine is that dirty.

I prefer PAE based fuel additives few times a year, namely Chevron Techron and Redline stuff. That stuff actually does something.

 

The seafoam ran in the crank case for a lil over a day,and the pcv side didn't give me the smoke show like the first time i did it , i also run Lucas in the gas tank regularly .

I'm getting ready to remove the upper oil pan in a couple weeks to change the seals so i want to get all the ish in there loose,

I replaced the plugs about a year ago with ngk iridium so i guess it can be the excuse to go with the ngk coppers to see wuz up...

 

Here is something......take your windshield washer fluid line. Hook it to a vacuum line on the intake, drive around a bit holding the squirted button down....BAM! Freshly steam cleaned combustion chambers. Water does wonders for an engine. I have a water injection kit on every vehicle I own hooked to an rpm switch. Try it out if your 3.5 pings a lot.

 

Is that like nitrous or somethin'?

My wiper fluid is diffrent so! http://youtu.be/tuk_s2SVQR0,

 

Lol......alchy injection.....even better.

 

Bought some new rims to replace my "GLE (GXE..)" ones.. They look pretty damn good for $150!

 

^Degreased and Detailed my engine bay today. Used a product i hadnt in the past. Looks much better but still has minor imperfections.

Also fabbed an aluminum bracket to mount my sri intake. No more Zip ties YAY! Secured using one of four maf housing bolts.

 

What product do you use to degreaser and clean your engine?
I'm planning on doing the same this week.

 

Used a product line called Gunk. I bought two cans. step 1 and 2. First the cleaner; second being a protectant shine. Got at autozone for $6 both-b1g1f sale.

 

^ Pics or it didnt happen?

My engine bay has never seen a degreaser or other cleaners, especially no shiny crap. Hate that stuff.

Be a man, get some brushes, and just use some rags and man power.

 

^^Come out and be a man stillwell. stop hiding behind the couch! Muahahahaaa
I did use some brushes and rags..technically its just to help break the gunk apart...not like it does "all" the work for you. I ran out of day light fast...its not as clean as i would like it to be still.. The uim still had some pits of dirt that wouldnt budge.
After that i worked on the Intake sri bracket which i sent you pics of to your celly brody.
(dang G its 2 am on your coast!)

 

My mistake Brody... thought u did the degreaser and rinsed/washed with water like some do.

I can never bring myself to hose down an engine with water. Maybe on newer cars that have all plastic covers on the engine, but not the Maxi-pad.

I still dont have a bracket to hold my SRI, the AEM filter is wide enough to hold itself up in that space. U think I should do a bracket?

 

What chemicals do you use to degrease the engine?

 

I've heard Simple Green lots of times. Personally I only ever use aluminum cleaner on the metals (valve cover) and the rest gets a wipedown with no added chemicals.

 

Sorry for whoring out this thread so much lately, but I did take some better pics finally of the brakes.

Sun came out, it's a nice looking day.. These pics still aren't very good, and I still need a shot of the whole car with the brakes...more to come


This is the rear, finally got a nice shot of the caliper. The front still hasn't been stopped in a good position, and it's almost twice as big as the rear so hard to get it in between the spokes...


This is the front. At least you can see half of it with the new hardware for now.

Besides the pics, I am greatly enjoying this kit right now. My brakes feel nice and strong, and I've only driven 50/100 miles of the break in period so far.
Zero noise, no vibration, and smooth as silk despite the drilled/slotted rotors, I would recommend this powerstop kit to anyone wanting a nice, noticeable upgrade over OEM replacement without going BBK. Works well for those who are weight concious like myself, this kit offers nice weight savings over the OEM setup and especially over BBK.

 

^^there is def no weight savings over an aluminum caliper on a BBK, even though the rotors are larger! especially with aluminum mounting bracket. However, for a daily driver, you're getting a good setup for increased stoping power and decreased stoping distance with higher temperature tolerances! thumbs up!!

 

Sad day. Today I ran over a squirrel.

 

False.



These are the calipers I got (aluminum).

They are well lighter than stock, lifted the box that has my old caliper cores and pads in there and it weighed (felt like) almost as much as my entire new brake setup with rotors included!

Plus rotors are drilled + slotted, well lighter than solid rotors esp. bigger ones.

 

ahha! they are aluminum, very nice! i thought you'd painted the OEM, and got pads and rotors job well done... what is the piston made of!? -- I just got a second maxima & need a setup!

 

Word, I hear ya.

I got the kit from them that had everything. Rotors, pads, and calipers are powdercoated.

As for piston thats a great question, I have no idea now that u said it...pretty sure its steel.