Thanks for the link it is saved. But i already ordered the cardone one before i seen it.

I have a lot of stuff done, lost some pictures gonna have to retake some. Was gonna show back of car.

Underneath of car has been all washed with POR 15 degreaser. That was very hard to do

Sub frame is painted and will be cavity waxed.

Should have subframe ,rack and control arms on. This weekend.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/CATBACK-EXHA...72.m2749.l2649

Here's a stock picture of the exhaust i just purchased. $349.99 shipped.

 

Ok here you can see the before and after of the trunk area.

 

Ok this is my progress on the rear wheel wells.

Pictures show outline welded back in, then fiberglass mesh POR 15 in gaps from behind .
Then bondo fiberglass waterproof resin fills the rest of the mesh from front and back. And adds massive strength .

Then final pictures show regular bondo filling in holes and remaining gaps.still having mesh to stick to.On the front area.

Next steps i will sand to get back to final shape, then coat bondo with POR 15 then before it drys i will use a filler primer over the POR 15 .

Maybe 3 coats ,sand then use a finer primer over that.

Underneath of car is 100% washed and POR 15. Also the one puncture hole and rust from it is also meshed and jelly resined with the waterproof stuff. I will show pics of that soon.

Here's a picture of the subframe painted. This week that and the steering rack is going in.

 

Also going to get the lower butterfly holes welded shut soon.

Then i;m gonna do a porting and polishing, like i have always done on all my lower IM's.

I use this first,and they cut real good. This is 40 grit ordered 120 didn't do the trick.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/260903919359...84.m1436.l2649

Then this to polish, i ordered 3 inch should have been 2 inch.
Link is right size below now.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/381935641071...84.m1436.l2649
Valves removed and holes are dimpled to make it easier to weld.

Also last picture shows engine harness tape and cover off . Glad i did this water and oil came out. Must have been from leaking engine and PS fluid over the years.

 

Wow, nice work as always! I'm going to have to do some similar, but not as deep, work to my PS rear fender at some point. How many hours would you say that whole job took? Are you also going to handle the paint?

Also, refresh my memory on welding up the butterfly holes, what's the point of that? I like those tools for the lower IM, I don't have any like like those yet, might have to pick up a set. Got a process you follow? Does it really qualify as porting?

Keep up the good work! I still don't quite understand why you're going full restoration on some random beat up 5th gen when you could have picked up a better car for not much more money, but it sure is fun to watch!

 

wow impressive !, and +1 with 95maxrider, not sure of the motivation on this one ! but nice work none the less

 

Sh*t dude, this car is really coming together, nice work!

 

You must have had water leaking into the trunk puddling up in the spare well to have rust.
My guess is the seam sealer Nissan put in failed or the tail light seals are bad.

 

Thank you.

I'm doing both sides, just showing one side for now. I will show the other also. As for time i don't keep track,but i am not in my garage that often. I can go 4-8 days easy without doing anything. I would say what i did on both fenders in the rear would take 20-25 hours.
I'm gonna finish the car,use a cheap paint that matches somewhat. And then see how much rust comes back if any. If it stays away i may try to paint it or have a shop finish not sure at this point. I see what you did and liked the results.

Because the rear behind the 1/4 panels were a mess. So i had to cut a lot of metal out and some bolt locations had to be figured out again and redone.
I did this by using the old bumper cutting it a part. So i would bolt or hold it in the location then measure where the mounts were suppose to be.

As for the IM ,i have done many like this. If the sides holes aren't sealed it would be a vacuum leak. And i don't know for sure if this is needed, but i seal all of them to stop interference, with other tubes.

I can't imagine anything in the way of airflow is good for power. I also use these wheels on throttle bodies. And the openings of aluminum and plastic upper IM's. Area has to be 100% grease free,when these are used.

80 grit flap wheels are better but got a good deal on these. Usually use 3M but they are to much money now. Hope they do the job.

These flap wheels create a uniform material removal. When these spin at 8000-12000 rpm they remove a lot of material .
And they don't bind up or hold material. And i can get the whole tubes from top to bottom with these. I'll measure the area's to show how much i remove. More time you put in the more material is removed.

As for why i am doing this. I intended to "clean it up" not restore, my OCD got they better of me and i did probably 90% more than i intended .But also the car was in worse shape then i knew.

I am at the point now where the car is going back together. And the hard stuff is behind me.

I need to make another junk yard run i need hinges for the driver's door. Some big person must have liked leaning on the open door and they crushed the elbow rest area .On the driver's door panel.
I also need the power steering tube, that goes from the strut tower to the steering rack.

 

great info, and my elbow rest area is cracked right at my boney elbow resting spot while driving and im not over weight.

great work , OCD explains the extra measures in the steps now.

 

OK here is the picture of the Exhaust box.

This thing is awesome It is 100% high grade SS ,magnet sticks nowhere.

Not even on the flanges ,pictures maybe tomorrow.

Also showing some before and after shift linkage area photos. Here is some before photos. And what i plan on using for the bushing. Got the idea from others on the ORG.
Need to cut the rubber in half,then take out 1/8 inch from middle. And metal needs 1/8 taken off,from side facing front.

Linkages cleaned painted,and cavity waxed. pics later


Been busy not much done.

 

I live in New York and had a bodyshop replace that radiator support for my 2k2. The car was rattling like crazy everytime I would hit an imperfection in the road. The car felt so sturdy after the job was done.

 

Yeah i'm thinking with the welding and stuff iv'e done it will be tighter than a drum.


Here's the exhaust pictures one shows the inside on the right side

Also i finally found a tube for the steering rack i needed. Drove over 400 miles for it. I noticed the 02-03 is the same except they don't have the speed sensitive power steering built into the tube.As seen in the second line picture.

Those things are almost impossible to get off ,with the engine in and it on the ground

 

OK this is a before and after of something i cleaned and POR 15 fiberglass meshed and then used waterproof bondo resin jelly over it then POR 15 over that once it dried.

 

Steering rack finally in,not easy at all.

Rack was not centered from rockauto. Cardone reman rack. Had to take it off and center it. Our rack is 2.63 turns lock to lock.The SE rack that is.

That is a sporty tight measure,it's only 1.3 turns from the right or left to lock. To center you
1. take the rack off

2. use vise clamp pliers over a thin rag to turn rack till it stops all the way to the left or right(whatever you choose)

3. Take the vise clamps off and put center them to the 12 or 6 o clock position.Then go all the way to the other side,counting the turns to the other lock. I did this but i didn't have to .I already new the rack was 2.63, but i verified it.

4 after you get the total,which for me was 2.63 turns total. Divide that in half and rotate back half the amount.
Or for me 1.30 turns.

After i put it on the car put suspension and hubs and brakes on it was extremely accurate. Steering wheel did the 1.30 turns either way . Thats when i knew it was centered pretty good. The tie rods will clean up the rest with the toe adjustment.

I have the sway bar and end links and control arms on also. New power steering hoses and a used one from a 01 from a junkyard i needed.

All hoses will be replaced. Fuel hoses under hood will be done this weekend also.

 

I also have been shin etsu everything that is rubber.

made the the shift bushing from others ideas. cut down the middle then belt sanded it inside to get to 1/8 inch thinner overall. Did the metal bracket this way to on both sides.

I will be putting shift linkage back in soon. It is all cleaned and painted.

Also front and rear stays are painted and on.

 

Nice job on the shifter! Are you ever going to stop working on this thing and drive it?!?

 

Anybody see anything wrong with this motor mount !?

Put washer tank in after a good clean.

Put new hoses on the PS ,still need the hose to the pump.

And cleaning engine and getting it ready...still need the lower IM welded and i put the hole in the shorty for it to be welded.

I couldn't do a spot that would be at the runners merging point.I had to do it in one runner hope that's fine

 

Ok the lower IM is ported and slightly polished.

I haven't used the scotch bright wheel the brown thing yet. Because i bought the wrong size, but i'll used the bigger one to polish other things

I'll show that later.

Pictures show IM butterfly holes all welded shut. And the SS bung welded on the front shorty header.

 

New coolant overflow bottle about $17 .LINK ADDED

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Radiator-Coo...72.m2749.l2649

Stock one is shot with a hole in it probably more holes would be on the way.

next i have to put this on and i will be cleaning up the engine getting motor mounts ready . Bolting the upper and lower IM on and power steering pump.

 

Great looking build you have going there. Nice job!

I've been toying with using z32 bronze bushings in the shifter linkage. The size is NOT a 100% match and will require some adaption on linkage part that connects to the transmission. I think I can make them work. It's just finding time. The bushings in this part of the linkage leave a small about of slack that I think I can take up with some type of outer washer. Again, these are close but will require some adaption to make work. This is about the closest that I've been able to find.

Here's an idea if you would like to take it a step further.

 

Thanks.. i would like to, but i don't have a spare linkage. I will have to find one. but there very hard to find.

 

Please do so with links

 

people are not really showing much interest in what i am doing for the most part.

Also some things i only found one of the item. And or i modified a stock version,of something.

I showed links for most things. if there is any link you would like put in a post of mine tell me and i'll go back and add it.

 

i like how you've documented your revival. a little outside what i could handle but cool to see a diy refresh. gr8 job m8

 

I am extremely interested in your whole project for this car. I have been checking on this thread every few days since you first created the thread over a year ago! I'm not very mechanically inclined so there are a few things I'm not exactly sure what you're doing but I can't wait to see the finished product. I hope you continue to at least update us once in a while whenever you the time.

 

Wondering if I could use your time and expertise to help me change he rad support on mine, the salt here in PA rusted the rad support and I have no one here that won't try to make my wallet bleed. If this something you can do? If yes please inbox me how much will you charge for your time

 

Ok i have been very busy, car is going real slow.

i have been putting mounts ,intake manifolds,brackets and the such on.

And i have been cleaning the engine of grease and as much oxidation as reasonably possible .

 

Looking real good, how much more until it's back on the road?

 

Don't have a date, i do so many things. i probably spent 2 hours on car last 3 weeks

But by the 26 of sept, i had a goal to have the engine in.

But still have to finish the body work ,which i stopped .Because there was too much dust in the engine bay area. Then i switched to the engine bay. Gonna complete that ,then seal it with plastic and tape.

But there are many things i am doing with this car then what i show.

For instance i modified the axle support bracket,i made it stronger.I'll take some pics and show some stuff later.

 

You going to fill up with Nissan genuine antifreeze?
Genuine Nissan Fluid 999MP-AF000P

 

Thanks..i'll do that heard it's pretty good.

Here's the axle brackets. one modified one not.

I'm gonna do a little more work on the one on the right . before i bolt it on the engine.

 

cleaned up the Throttle body bolted it on the Intake manifold. Polished the inside.Got some replacment SS bolts for IACV. Used RTV copper for IACV gasket.

I had two of those EGR block off bracket coolant things cut the triangle off the one bolted it on the IM saved about 1 1/2 lb. And saved room and it deleted the coolant going to IACV.

Picture of it bolted on IM

Ordered new PS suction hose.$54.11 shipped

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Power-Steeri...72.m2749.l2649

Also ordered 9 exhaust manifold studs and 12 nuts.from courtesy nissan. I just noticed that there was only 3 in the heads. That is gonna set project back.
I had a lot of time off to do this car haven't done much. But i have been installing a 150 foot fence with farm gate. Cut down many trees. this is taking a lot of my time

 

Got the 9 exhaust studs from courtesy Nissan,and nuts,and some fender grommets.

I hope these are the right studs, didn't have any listed for 3.0

I also have the suction hose ,and the new power steering pump i bought. Pictures later.

 

Ok studs are in work perfect. And they had none listed for 3.0. It says it's for a 2016-17 maxima

I used a 7 mm socket to install them.
Also i installed the front coolant tubes and painted them with VHT paint ....guess the color

I Got a new power steering pump,but i think it's rebuilt.The suction hose has arrived and also bought some AC oil. But i have to find out how much to put in.

 

Ok engine is all dressed cheap ebay headers are on .they did not go on easy.

Problem is either the headers are off or the y-pipe but they don't line up. I have been bending the y -pipe .gonna wait for studs to arrive ,before i do anything drastic .

Ordered studs for the headers ,gonna use OEM exhaust studs then weld them on.

Usd pag 46 ac oil 6.8 ounces

With a pic or two, toy camera effect on by accident.

 

krismax,
I have been wrenching for some time but looking at what you have done here is humbling.

 

Wow, I missed the beefed up axle bracket before, that's awesome! Wanna make me one? I cracked mine not too long ago!

 

Thank you,i am no expert by any means. Just doing my best.

95maxrider I probably would, but i would have to charge for my time. And first you would have to send me one that's in decent shape.I prefer one not cracked.I have sent those by mail they fit in a flat rate envelope for $5.99. With bubble wrap around them.


I received the 6 studs and nuts in the mail ,from courtesy nissan.That will be installed in the EM flanges. Then from there i will make the y-pipe line up.

I also bought new nissan heater hoses from same place. price and pics later.

 

got the heater hoses,studs also to put in bottom of EM.

Inlet Hose 92400-2Y900 Qt1
$31.84

Outlet Hose 92410-2Y900 Qt1
$28.63

Exhaust Manifold Stud 14064-31U0C Qt1
$2.19

Nut 14094-JG30A Qt1
$0.81

New vice $75 from lowes

Had to cut the y-pipe up and fit it up. Bending wouldn't work.
I need to weld a bung in the rear in the cut section of pipe for the other O2 . I have a spot for 3 so far.
My car has 4. The O2 is going to very far in the back hope it reaches.Rear B-1.The stock has an equal length y-pipe that places it closer, i don't have that.