Revamping the Deus Ex Maxima
02-03-2016, 03:23 PM
#1
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Revamping the Deus Ex Maxima
I started modding my Maxima from Day 1 when I bought my car new in Nov 2004. I have one of the most modified Maximas around. I went to car shows, raced the car, and daily drove it.
Now it has 139,000+ miles and its aging. I have also aged and I am re-thinking how I want the car to look and perform. I want it less attractive to cops and I want it more user friendly to me.
The first order of business is to get the car to run well. The Check Engine Light (CEL) and airbag light were on for many many years. The gas mileage and performance were down and the airbags were not armed. I replaced both upstream O2 sensors, replaced a cracked intake coupler, cleaned the MAF and TB and did the idle mixture relearn, and throttle position relearn. The car ran waaaaaaaaay better - more responsive, more power, quieter - and got much better gas mileage.
I fixed a rattle in the rear that turned out to be loose shocks (KYB AGX adjustables). I replaced the idler pulley which quieted the engine even more. I replaced the incredible JDM Nissan steering wheel with the original unit and got back my cruise control, radio controls, and heat.
I have an original RLM front bumper. Over the years its gotten beat up from being so low. I put my Racing Hart black with red lip wheels with factory-sized tires on. This raised the car and quieted it even more since my other tires were wearing out any way on the bronze rims. I filled in the two openings in the bumper with black mesh. The lower grill which has my front license plate attached had come off and was resting against the front brace. I reattached the grill to the bumper. I replaced both foglight bulbs and adjusted them lower (they need minor adjusting still). While I had the bumper off, I replaced the left headlight ballast with a used factory ballast ($50 versus $425 from dealer!!!).
I had a roof spoiler that I made from a Mazda3 spoiler and modified it to fit my car. Its one-of-a-kind but I decided it had to go in conformance with my plan to tone down the car.
I had decals on my side skirts showing many of the products I had on my car - Recaro, Sparco, Racingline, Cattman, Momo, etc. I removed them. I also removed the Nismo badge on my front grill. I got rid of the fake carbon fiber decal on my mirrors. I also replaced a burnt out license plate light.
FUTURE PLANS:
The car is much more pleasurable to drive, but there is much room for improvement. I have a single 3" exhaust with two resonators into a Vibrant muffler. Its still too loud. I need a quieter muffler. I have considered variable mufflers but they are either very expensive, or unreliable.
The front bumper is still too low. I plan to cut the lower part off, shave it about an inch in the front where it scrapes the ground, and attach the lower part with fiberglass. I also plan to remove the LED turning lights (one fell off anyway) and fill in the remaining holes, and possibly put a row of white LED running lights under the foglights.
My Koni yellow struts seem like they are blown. Supposedly they have a lifetime warranty so I plan to send them back for a rebuild. The Racingline front sway bar endlink is broken, so I need new ones.
The engine compartment and trunk are missing a bunch of fasteners and need to be spruced up. The trunk floor is pushed up from being jacked up improperly
I need to pound it back down so the spare tire can fit and my trunk doesnt look ghetto any more.
I had a mishap with my right front fender. I replaced it with a fiberlgass vented fender but I decided to put a factory metal fender back on. I happen to have one that I painted so that should be a fairly easy swap. I swapped my original hood back for the carbon fiber one that was on there. I may put the carbon one back on and paint it black and fade it to a carbon fiber center. I saw a hood like that at SEMA one year and it looked great.
Id like to have a red trim on my front grill. Id have it go down the sides and across the bottom, but not go across the top.
The sunroof needs fixing. The windshield washer doesnt work. Im toying with teh idea of removing the heat elements from the original seats and installing them in my beautiful leather Recaros.
Any thought on this plan? Any suggestions?
Partially fixed up RLM bumper:
Side view:
Old pic from about 8 yrs ago:
Now it has 139,000+ miles and its aging. I have also aged and I am re-thinking how I want the car to look and perform. I want it less attractive to cops and I want it more user friendly to me.
The first order of business is to get the car to run well. The Check Engine Light (CEL) and airbag light were on for many many years. The gas mileage and performance were down and the airbags were not armed. I replaced both upstream O2 sensors, replaced a cracked intake coupler, cleaned the MAF and TB and did the idle mixture relearn, and throttle position relearn. The car ran waaaaaaaaay better - more responsive, more power, quieter - and got much better gas mileage.
I fixed a rattle in the rear that turned out to be loose shocks (KYB AGX adjustables). I replaced the idler pulley which quieted the engine even more. I replaced the incredible JDM Nissan steering wheel with the original unit and got back my cruise control, radio controls, and heat.
I have an original RLM front bumper. Over the years its gotten beat up from being so low. I put my Racing Hart black with red lip wheels with factory-sized tires on. This raised the car and quieted it even more since my other tires were wearing out any way on the bronze rims. I filled in the two openings in the bumper with black mesh. The lower grill which has my front license plate attached had come off and was resting against the front brace. I reattached the grill to the bumper. I replaced both foglight bulbs and adjusted them lower (they need minor adjusting still). While I had the bumper off, I replaced the left headlight ballast with a used factory ballast ($50 versus $425 from dealer!!!).
I had a roof spoiler that I made from a Mazda3 spoiler and modified it to fit my car. Its one-of-a-kind but I decided it had to go in conformance with my plan to tone down the car.
I had decals on my side skirts showing many of the products I had on my car - Recaro, Sparco, Racingline, Cattman, Momo, etc. I removed them. I also removed the Nismo badge on my front grill. I got rid of the fake carbon fiber decal on my mirrors. I also replaced a burnt out license plate light.
FUTURE PLANS:
The car is much more pleasurable to drive, but there is much room for improvement. I have a single 3" exhaust with two resonators into a Vibrant muffler. Its still too loud. I need a quieter muffler. I have considered variable mufflers but they are either very expensive, or unreliable.
The front bumper is still too low. I plan to cut the lower part off, shave it about an inch in the front where it scrapes the ground, and attach the lower part with fiberglass. I also plan to remove the LED turning lights (one fell off anyway) and fill in the remaining holes, and possibly put a row of white LED running lights under the foglights.
My Koni yellow struts seem like they are blown. Supposedly they have a lifetime warranty so I plan to send them back for a rebuild. The Racingline front sway bar endlink is broken, so I need new ones.
The engine compartment and trunk are missing a bunch of fasteners and need to be spruced up. The trunk floor is pushed up from being jacked up improperly
I need to pound it back down so the spare tire can fit and my trunk doesnt look ghetto any more.I had a mishap with my right front fender. I replaced it with a fiberlgass vented fender but I decided to put a factory metal fender back on. I happen to have one that I painted so that should be a fairly easy swap. I swapped my original hood back for the carbon fiber one that was on there. I may put the carbon one back on and paint it black and fade it to a carbon fiber center. I saw a hood like that at SEMA one year and it looked great.
Id like to have a red trim on my front grill. Id have it go down the sides and across the bottom, but not go across the top.
The sunroof needs fixing. The windshield washer doesnt work. Im toying with teh idea of removing the heat elements from the original seats and installing them in my beautiful leather Recaros.
Any thought on this plan? Any suggestions?
Partially fixed up RLM bumper:
Side view:
Old pic from about 8 yrs ago:
Last edited by DeusExMaxima; 02-03-2016 at 03:56 PM.
02-04-2016, 10:46 AM
#3
My Koni yellow struts seem like they are blown. Supposedly they have a lifetime warranty so I plan to send them back for a rebuild. The Racingline front sway bar endlink is broken, so I need new ones.
Originally Posted by DeusExMaxima
The car is much more pleasurable to drive, but there is much room for improvement. I have a single 3" exhaust with two resonators into a Vibrant muffler. Its still too loud. I need a quieter muffler. I have considered variable mufflers but they are either very expensive, or unreliable.
This thing is wild huge, but it helped so much, car sounds so much more refined (headers/this thing/Cattman 5th gen rear[straight through])
Last edited by NmexMAX; 02-04-2016 at 12:20 PM.
02-04-2016, 12:57 PM
#5
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Nmex: I have headers with O2 sensors, y-pipe with cat and O2 sensor and then the single 3 incher all the way to the back. Ill check out that carltonator thing. Maybe I can swap it for my two Maganflow resonators. I noticed that my front end, particularly the right side, bottoms out VERY easily. Im sure the Koni yellows are blown. They have a lot of miles on them. Im not sure how to prove Im the original owner and where to have them rebuilt.
Does anyone else make a rear valence or rear side skirts other than Stillen? Id like something to match my side skirts. I have a Stillen rear but I cant use it with teh single exhaust unless I went back to dual, which I might do.
Id like to re-paint the car after all re-vamping is done....get a nice fresh shiny coat of KH3 on it!! I may do a red stripe along the bottom like the some of the Nismo Maxima concepts Ive seen.
02-29-2016, 06:28 PM
#7
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This weekend, I decided to go through the front suspension. The first objective was to replace the clearly blown out Koni front struts. These struts where purchased almost 10 years ago, and supposedly they had a lifetime warranty but Koni does not honor it because there was no specific application for Koni struts on a 6th generation Maxima. Since there is not a lot of options, I decided to go with the KYB gr2 struts which are supposed to be slightly stiffer than factory even though KYB makes the factory struts supposedly. When I pulled the front wheels off, I found that the drivers side sway bar end link had broken. It is made by Racingline and they don't seem to be responsive so I purchased some stock end links in the aftermarket for about $20 each. I also have the wonderful aluminum 300 ZX twin turbo calipers and noticed that one of the pads was worn. I am going to apply brake grease to the other brake pistons and replace the front pads and hopefully the brakes will work better than they do which is already really good..
Last edited by DeusExMaxima; 02-29-2016 at 06:55 PM.
02-29-2016, 09:00 PM
#8
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This weekend, I decided to go through the front suspension. The first objective was to replace the clearly blown out Koni front struts. These struts where purchased almost 10 years ago, and supposedly they had a lifetime warranty but Koni does not honor it because there was no specific application for Koni struts on a 6th generation Maxima. Since there is not a lot of options, I decided to go with the KYB gr2 struts which are supposed to be slightly stiffer than factory even though KYB makes the factory struts supposedly. When I pulled the front wheels off, I found that the drivers side sway bar end link had broken. It is made by Racingline and they don't seem to be responsive so I purchased some stock end links in the aftermarket for about $20 each. I also have the wonderful aluminum 300 ZX twin turbo calipers and noticed that one of the pads was worn. I am going to apply brake grease to the other brake pistons and replace the front pads and hopefully the brakes will work better than they do which is already really good..
03-01-2016, 01:24 PM
#9
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. I took the boot off and got the joint back together (see my thread on this). When I get it all back together, Im looking forward to a proper handling car.I am disappointed in the complete lack of aftermarket struts for our car. It seems that the aftermarket skipped our generation. The only option other than the KYB GR2 was the Koni inserts done by www.activetuningmaxima.com and they dont seem to be responsive.
03-03-2016, 03:34 PM
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I do. What did you have in mind? I think LEDs on the bottom would be nice and polishing the lense.
I got the car back together but something popped and I found brake fluid all over the passenger side fenderwell. I removed to 300ZX TT calipers and am having them rebuilt.
In the short drive, I can tell the ride is quite firm. Ill get a better sense of the suspension when I have properly functioning brakes, probably sometime this weekend. I also need to install the rear shocks. At some point, I may rebuild the blown out Koni yellows and the KYB AGXs but I need to find someone to rebuild them and for a reasonable price.
I got the car back together but something popped and I found brake fluid all over the passenger side fenderwell. I removed to 300ZX TT calipers and am having them rebuilt.
In the short drive, I can tell the ride is quite firm. Ill get a better sense of the suspension when I have properly functioning brakes, probably sometime this weekend. I also need to install the rear shocks. At some point, I may rebuild the blown out Koni yellows and the KYB AGXs but I need to find someone to rebuild them and for a reasonable price.
03-04-2016, 06:59 AM
#13
03-07-2016, 02:10 PM
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The brake rebuild turned out great. The pistons clearly moved in and out much easier. When I hooked up the brakes, I saw a pinhole leak come from my steel braided brake line on the passenger side . I removed the brakeline this morning, and took it to a great local hydraulic line place and they made a DOT steel braided brakeline for me. If it fits well, I might have them do the other side since the line is much thicker.
. I removed the brakeline this morning, and took it to a great local hydraulic line place and they made a DOT steel braided brakeline for me. If it fits well, I might have them do the other side since the line is much thicker.
03-08-2016, 01:05 PM
#17
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Last night, I got the brake line installed and bled the brakes. I drove the car on regular city streets ad in the mountains for a bit. It handles great, again. The car corners very flat and is nice and responsive. Through fairly aggressive corners, the car tracks much better than before. The ride is fine, stiff but not too much so. It does not bottom out like it used to. I noticed a rattle on the left side. I think the top nut of the strut just needs tightening. I also notice a scraping sound. I think it has something to do with something rubbing on the rotor.
Overall, very pleased with the outcome. Next up: installing rear shocks.
Overall, very pleased with the outcome. Next up: installing rear shocks.
Last edited by DeusExMaxima; 03-09-2016 at 10:11 AM.
03-11-2016, 10:52 AM
#18
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Scraping sound was the thin metal dust shield rubbing on the rotor. I just pulled it away from the rotor and problem solved. I tightened the top nut on the left strut and that rattling sound went away too. I love the overhauled suspension. I can drive over dips and not bottom out. The ride is firm but nice. With the front anti-sway bar connected, the car corners flat now.
03-14-2016, 03:15 PM
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I was at a junkyard yesterday and found a 6th gen max. It was an SE with a 6 speed manual tranny!! The seat airbags were blown,...... sooooooo I took advantage of the partially torn apart seat and removed the heating pads and wiring. I plan to install them in my Recaro seats so Ill have factory Nissan seat heaters! I also got a trunk liner that goes under the rear speakers. Part of my revamping is to restore my trunk to new condition. I need to fix the liners and install the spare tire and all the crap that went back there.
I took the liners off to install soundproofing and then never really put it back correctly. I hope to fix that,
I took the liners off to install soundproofing and then never really put it back correctly. I hope to fix that,
04-08-2016, 11:56 PM
#20
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I installed the factory Maxima seat heater pad in my drivers Recaro seat. It does not get as warm as I remembered but it is nice to have heated seats again. I had to do a bit of modifying to the clips that hold the weather in place to allow for the wire harness to come out in order to connect to the car. Here are some pics:
Finished product..heated Recaro seat!
Finished product..heated Recaro seat!
04-13-2016, 03:29 PM
#22
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The seats are warm but they dont get as hot as Id like. Its better than nothing.
05-02-2016, 12:21 AM
#26
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I started modding my Maxima from Day 1 when I bought my car new in Nov 2004. I have one of the most modified Maximas around. I went to car shows, raced the car, and daily drove it.
Now it has 139,000+ miles and its aging. I have also aged and I am re-thinking how I want the car to look and perform. I want it less attractive to cops and I want it more user friendly to me.
The first order of business is to get the car to run well. The Check Engine Light (CEL) and airbag light were on for many many years. The gas mileage and performance were down and the airbags were not armed. I replaced both upstream O2 sensors, replaced a cracked intake coupler, cleaned the MAF and TB and did the idle mixture relearn, and throttle position relearn. The car ran waaaaaaaaay better - more responsive, more power, quieter - and got much better gas mileage.
I fixed a rattle in the rear that turned out to be loose shocks (KYB AGX adjustables). I replaced the idler pulley which quieted the engine even more. I replaced the incredible JDM Nissan steering wheel with the original unit and got back my cruise control, radio controls, and heat.
I have an original RLM front bumper. Over the years its gotten beat up from being so low. I put my Racing Hart black with red lip wheels with factory-sized tires on. This raised the car and quieted it even more since my other tires were wearing out any way on the bronze rims. I filled in the two openings in the bumper with black mesh. The lower grill which has my front license plate attached had come off and was resting against the front brace. I reattached the grill to the bumper. I replaced both foglight bulbs and adjusted them lower (they need minor adjusting still). While I had the bumper off, I replaced the left headlight ballast with a used factory ballast ($50 versus $425 from dealer!!!).
I had a roof spoiler that I made from a Mazda3 spoiler and modified it to fit my car. Its one-of-a-kind but I decided it had to go in conformance with my plan to tone down the car.
I had decals on my side skirts showing many of the products I had on my car - Recaro, Sparco, Racingline, Cattman, Momo, etc. I removed them. I also removed the Nismo badge on my front grill. I got rid of the fake carbon fiber decal on my mirrors. I also replaced a burnt out license plate light.
FUTURE PLANS:
The car is much more pleasurable to drive, but there is much room for improvement. I have a single 3" exhaust with two resonators into a Vibrant muffler. Its still too loud. I need a quieter muffler. I have considered variable mufflers but they are either very expensive, or unreliable.
The front bumper is still too low. I plan to cut the lower part off, shave it about an inch in the front where it scrapes the ground, and attach the lower part with fiberglass. I also plan to remove the LED turning lights (one fell off anyway) and fill in the remaining holes, and possibly put a row of white LED running lights under the foglights.
My Koni yellow struts seem like they are blown. Supposedly they have a lifetime warranty so I plan to send them back for a rebuild. The Racingline front sway bar endlink is broken, so I need new ones.
The engine compartment and trunk are missing a bunch of fasteners and need to be spruced up. The trunk floor is pushed up from being jacked up improperly I need to pound it back down so the spare tire can fit and my trunk doesnt look ghetto any more.
I had a mishap with my right front fender. I replaced it with a fiberlgass vented fender but I decided to put a factory metal fender back on. I happen to have one that I painted so that should be a fairly easy swap. I swapped my original hood back for the carbon fiber one that was on there. I may put the carbon one back on and paint it black and fade it to a carbon fiber center. I saw a hood like that at SEMA one year and it looked great.
Id like to have a red trim on my front grill. Id have it go down the sides and across the bottom, but not go across the top.
The sunroof needs fixing. The windshield washer doesnt work. Im toying with teh idea of removing the heat elements from the original seats and installing them in my beautiful leather Recaros.
Any thought on this plan? Any suggestions?
Partially fixed up RLM bumper:
Side view:
Old pic from about 8 yrs ago:
Now it has 139,000+ miles and its aging. I have also aged and I am re-thinking how I want the car to look and perform. I want it less attractive to cops and I want it more user friendly to me.
The first order of business is to get the car to run well. The Check Engine Light (CEL) and airbag light were on for many many years. The gas mileage and performance were down and the airbags were not armed. I replaced both upstream O2 sensors, replaced a cracked intake coupler, cleaned the MAF and TB and did the idle mixture relearn, and throttle position relearn. The car ran waaaaaaaaay better - more responsive, more power, quieter - and got much better gas mileage.
I fixed a rattle in the rear that turned out to be loose shocks (KYB AGX adjustables). I replaced the idler pulley which quieted the engine even more. I replaced the incredible JDM Nissan steering wheel with the original unit and got back my cruise control, radio controls, and heat.
I have an original RLM front bumper. Over the years its gotten beat up from being so low. I put my Racing Hart black with red lip wheels with factory-sized tires on. This raised the car and quieted it even more since my other tires were wearing out any way on the bronze rims. I filled in the two openings in the bumper with black mesh. The lower grill which has my front license plate attached had come off and was resting against the front brace. I reattached the grill to the bumper. I replaced both foglight bulbs and adjusted them lower (they need minor adjusting still). While I had the bumper off, I replaced the left headlight ballast with a used factory ballast ($50 versus $425 from dealer!!!).
I had a roof spoiler that I made from a Mazda3 spoiler and modified it to fit my car. Its one-of-a-kind but I decided it had to go in conformance with my plan to tone down the car.
I had decals on my side skirts showing many of the products I had on my car - Recaro, Sparco, Racingline, Cattman, Momo, etc. I removed them. I also removed the Nismo badge on my front grill. I got rid of the fake carbon fiber decal on my mirrors. I also replaced a burnt out license plate light.
FUTURE PLANS:
The car is much more pleasurable to drive, but there is much room for improvement. I have a single 3" exhaust with two resonators into a Vibrant muffler. Its still too loud. I need a quieter muffler. I have considered variable mufflers but they are either very expensive, or unreliable.
The front bumper is still too low. I plan to cut the lower part off, shave it about an inch in the front where it scrapes the ground, and attach the lower part with fiberglass. I also plan to remove the LED turning lights (one fell off anyway) and fill in the remaining holes, and possibly put a row of white LED running lights under the foglights.
My Koni yellow struts seem like they are blown. Supposedly they have a lifetime warranty so I plan to send them back for a rebuild. The Racingline front sway bar endlink is broken, so I need new ones.
The engine compartment and trunk are missing a bunch of fasteners and need to be spruced up. The trunk floor is pushed up from being jacked up improperly
I need to pound it back down so the spare tire can fit and my trunk doesnt look ghetto any more.I had a mishap with my right front fender. I replaced it with a fiberlgass vented fender but I decided to put a factory metal fender back on. I happen to have one that I painted so that should be a fairly easy swap. I swapped my original hood back for the carbon fiber one that was on there. I may put the carbon one back on and paint it black and fade it to a carbon fiber center. I saw a hood like that at SEMA one year and it looked great.
Id like to have a red trim on my front grill. Id have it go down the sides and across the bottom, but not go across the top.
The sunroof needs fixing. The windshield washer doesnt work. Im toying with teh idea of removing the heat elements from the original seats and installing them in my beautiful leather Recaros.
Any thought on this plan? Any suggestions?
Partially fixed up RLM bumper:
Side view:
Old pic from about 8 yrs ago:
05-03-2016, 02:32 PM
#27
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Now I have custom LED tail lights that I designed years ago, that someone put into production.
The inspiration for these are the Infiniti G35 tail lights.
06-17-2016, 07:16 AM
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Good stuff Deus. Is this going to add some weight back to it? You done with the road racing? I'm at 215k and it's in need of some work. Timing belt, tranny, headers seem to be having exhaust leaks and other issues. Glad to see you still have the time to keep working your yours!
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