Well, after 6 months of "ownership" of the I30, it has come time so have to sink some cash in to her. I say "ownership" because it was just this past Friday that I was able to register her, due to a snafu with the title in the state where she was titled prior to the sale. Anyway, enough of that.

So far, I have swapped out the rear AGX for some sliky-smooth Illumina rear struts, changed rims and tires, and done some small comfort and convenience mods, but now the real work begins.

My clutch is going out (read: shift below 3K for the last 2 weeks to get to work), but this weekend I will be replacing the clutch with OEM components from Japan (not the US-spec replacement parts) AND I will be testing out a new option for the 4th gens- utilizing the pressure plate from a 5th gen. This should give me 200 lb. more clamping force. The Sentra guys have been doing this for a while, but I will be the first known 4th gen to give it a shot. I bought the 4th gen PP just in case this ones does not fit, but the test fit shows that we should be all-systems GO.

Secondly, I will be pulling my Intrax lowering springs to swap in some Tein H-Tech lowering springs. I know, I know, moving UP, not down, but I am doing it for several reasons...the first one being overall comfort. Nothign wrong with the intrax, but I hear that the Teins are super-comfortable. Time will tell. Anyone interested in buying the Intrax, let me know. I can sell cheap.

Next, I will be pulling out my Warpspeed Performace B-pipe and trading in a stock one. I do a LOT of driving, and just want to quiet things down a bit. This will also be for sale.

Before the "fun" mods come I will be fixing my CEL (I hope, I hope) through the replacement of the EVAP valve and the EVAP canister. $80 seems like a waste, but I need it to pass the omissions test by the end of the month.

Lastly, I will be swapping in some OEM Cefiro 1-piece headlights. Before I bought the car, it had a set, and from the pictures that I saw, they ooked great. The seller of the car sold them when he parted put the car this winter, so I never had the chance to see them in person, but after seeing them on 2 other I30s (Pizzat's and 95maxrider's) these look great, and I am pumped to get a set. The smoked ones on Nick's 96 (95maxrider) looked sick, and he is being cool abnd giving me a deal on his OEM ones. New eyes, here I come!

So anyway, that is the up-and-coming for the I30.

 

Sounds like a plan Patrick. I think you should remove the mud flaps as well.

 

Splash Guards!!!!!

 

I just realized that I used a $h!+load of commas in that first post...

 

Mud splash flaps

 

I was just carrying oin my theme from the other post in this forum...Mud Flaps makes me think of a lifted 1986 Chevy truck on 35"s.

 

If the WS B-pipe is the one with a resonator, I might take it off your hands.
Name a price.

pd

 

Do yours have Yosemitee Sam on them?

 

Nope- nekkid ladies.

 

It is w/o a resonator, but I have been told that the OEM one can be used.

 

boo-yah Patrick. I bet you're gonna be real happy when all these things are done. Your car will be more enjoyable to drive in pretty much every aspect. I don't know if you already got everything you need from Louie, but you can get the Cefiros anytime you want.

 

I want to get the clutch fixed before I make the trek up there, and we are doing that this weekend. Are you going to show up to shoot the $h!+, or are you busy w/ school?

How are the lights doing? Did you check the fog fuses? How about the dash situation?

 

yeah... the problem is my OEM resonator... Thanks tho.

 

I might be home this weekend to get my MEVI installed by Paul. If it happens, I should be free Sunday, so I could come meet up with you guys.

I didn't check the fuse yet. The dash is working more consistantly now, but the speedo still sticks a little cometimes. For a while the tach wasn't working, but then one day I notice the trip odo. is at 350 miles, when it was only at 200 a few days before. Maybe all the miles it missed came back at one time? I think I found out how to wire up the shift light...there's a thread in the SC/TC forum about it with a pic. If I meet up with you two I could bring the Cefiros.

 

Send me a PM with a link to the shift light thread and we can see how long it looks like it will take. Or just post it here. I can ***** my own thread...

 

Tein Springs installed- impressions to come.

Say, Nick- did I leave any tools in your car? I cannot find 2 sockets and a wrench. It was the ones that we used on the dash.

 

I haven't noticed anything lying around, but I can look when I go out to my car.

 

It is the 10mm socket, the 12mm socket, the wrench, and the long extension bar.

 

What is so special about the JDM clutch and how much was it?

 

Nevermind- they were under my emergency response gear in the back seat.

 

The JDM clutch is what was originally on the car (factory). It is made in Japan and is fairly high quality.

The "Key-Value" replacement clutch that the dealer offers as a replacement here in America is mad in America by the Daiken corporation, who also make some Exedy Stage 1 clutches. They use components made by Luk. These Daiken clutches are OEM for the Altima and nearly all US-made Nissans. The catch here is that they usually are slightly LESS reliable over the long run. For some reason, they seem to fail prematurely at a rate that is greater than the OEM Japan-made units. They are still within reasonable tolerances and failure rates, but enthusiasts (like us) drive in such a way that problems manifest themselves or become apparent more quickly than they would with a “regular” group of consumers.

Now, with all of that said, I have gone with a 5th gen OEM Japan-made pressure plate. This has 200 lb. more clamping force than does the 4th Gen OEM unit, and it is slightly thicker, but still appears to fit in the housing. Everything seems to line up properly.

What all of this should do is to give me more clamping force with only marginally more pedal stiffness, and should last as long as- if not linger than- the factory setup.

 

How are the H-Techs?

 

There is a whole write-up on my impressions in the 4th gen forum.

 

Would you recommend that I get the JDM OEM w/ 5th gen pressure plate, or should I get like a stage 2 from Exedy or Spec?

 

I will let you know once it is installed.

 

Sounds good. Thanx.

 

so where did you buy the clutch parts from? i need new stuff too, and i do not want the Key Value crap. are the part numbers different between the 2? I have the part numbers from your clutch thread in the other forum. are they the real JDM ones?

 

I ordered from Southpoint Nissan in Texas. David Burnette gave me a hookup on the right parts, and just to let you guys know, the 5th gen pressure plate worked perfectly. I will post more tomorrow.

 

Update:

I now have a new clutch, and a big smile. I had stated that I was going to try a 5th Gen pressure plate in my A32, and it worked. The best part is that the 5th Gen pressure plate was a direct fit in the my 4th gen, thus offering us a cheaper OEM option that has 200 lb. MORE clamping force than the stock 4th Gen PP and is a direct bolt-up procedure. Delvin (my mechanic, and a fellow 4th gen owner) said that it went in just as the 4th gen would have, and that it required no modifications whatsoever.

As to the costs, I can pull the exact figures from the invioces, but I have around $350 invested in the parts. This includes the pressure plate, throwout bearing, clutch cover, fluids, rear main seal, axle seals, etc. I used Mobil 1 synthetic gear oil, and I replaced all of the exposed seals. I needed a new rear main (~$60-65 at a local dealer), plus $20 for 2 axle seals. The pressure plate was from a 5th gen, and the clutch cover was 4th gen OEM, as was the throwout bearing. I could have gotten the seals for cheaper, but I had to buy them locally at the last minute.

I also got a free battery out of the deal because they let mine run down during the install and felt bad, so they gave me a discretionary replacement.

The car is like a new car- better pedal feel, TONS more grab, and an overall improvement that is nearly indescribable.

 

Okay, BIG joke on me!!!

It was actually the 4th gen OEM clutch that was installed. 100% OEM. I am mad b/c it was supposed to be a 5th gen pressure plate, but there was a mix-up.

I had both the 4th and 5th gen pressure plates shipped to me, in case the 5th gen did not work, and we installed the 4th by accident.

After pulling the invoice to list all of the part numbers for what was in the install, I realized that we installed the 4th gen OEM clutch. I had a HUGE write-up on it, and when I went to copy the part numbers for people to reference, it turns out that we installed the standard 4th gen PP with the kit. No wonder it went in with no snags.

There is a good reason for the mix-up, though. Nobodys fault on this end, but they were supposed to be marked by the dealer. We got the box, and David Burnette (who was very helpful throughout) had told me that he had lined up the 5th gen PP on the 4th gen clutch disk, so we looked in the box and only one pressure plate had been opened. We installed that one.

It turns out that David either did not ship the particular 5th gen PP that he had opened, or HE got the parts mixed up and fit-tested the wong one prior to shipment. Either way, I had the chance to refer to the invoice to double check, but I chose not to. I knew that they 5th gen PP was the cheaper one, and I could have referenced the numbers, but I did not. I still am happy with the install and the new clutch, but I wish that I had something monumental to report. A minor dissappointment.

 

How was the install on that rear-main? I was thinking about doing mine when I drop in the 5sp in a few months.