Rochester

iTrader: (3)

Yes. You're an igit.

phatboislim

iTrader: (27)

if you say so

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

lol guys

I ended up buying the oil and filter and the shop changed it for 10 bucks...so for me it was a 10 buck difference than to have the shop do it all...and I got the oil/filter I wanted instead of the stuff they had at the shop.

And Rochester, don't give me too much credit, I am quite lazy you know.

That being said, will be stopping by the hardware store for washers and nuts after work today...provided my lazy doesn't take over.

D I R T Y I 3 0

Arguing about oil changes I see? We have some children in the house, smh...

I do my own for the satisfaction I get from working on cars, and I don't trust shops. In the end, It's whatever floats your boat.

phatboislim

iTrader: (27)

no argument, i'm being misunderstood, tried to explain, but still misunderstood. it's no skin off my back...proceed :

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

I should start doing it, mainly because I'll know that what I want in it gets put in it.

phatboislim

iTrader: (27)

i definitely dont knock that. i was just considering cost effectiveness, convenience, and shop trustworthiness

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

Just for you, Rochester:



Swapping out nuts and bolts underhood...got the spare engine cover in paint process... same with the top radiator supports, as well as dipstick...all BT4 lakeshore blue pearl:





More to come when its all back together.

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

Finished painting the rad. support brackets, threw a nice SS M6 flange nut on each one...it so pretty...

Cleaned the brackets up with wire brush, then 2x paint and 2x clearcoat, looks great!

Some other shots...not sure I like the engine cover, though...


Looks cool @ this angle:



I DO have the regular engine cover that I can paint as well...I may just try clearcoating this one and seeing if I like it more...OR just paint the "NISSAN" part with the body-color paint...

Rochester

iTrader: (3)

Those lower frame bolts look better than otherwise, but you do realize the bolt holes are such that everything is kind of off, right? I think you've got a side project now of searching for a better plate frame.

Replacing the radiator tie-down brackets... But wouldn't they look better body-color?

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

Yes...and I reused the rad. brackets, I DID paint them body color...pic was taken at night in the garage so maybe the color doesn't show well

phatboislim

iTrader: (27)

i woulda just did black, like a semi gloss black..it's hard to color match on a car of that age. semi gloss would have looked more stock...or you could have polished them by hand. looks clean no doubt, but you'll be able to see the color difference, that flash just makes it more evident

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

yeah...I thought about Plasti-dipping them but decided against.

Rochester

iTrader: (3)

Good. I'm so sick of this stupid plastidip fad.

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

I did plasti-dip some parts of the car...like the windshield wiper arms and splash guards (before paint), and it looks just like it belongs. May not even buy spray paint and re-do it, it looks so natural. Dipped the wife's wiper arms as well and it looks great.

What the above pics don't show you is the nut/bolt replacement I've done. Using your writeup as a guide, I did the fender bolts and the ones that hold the fuse box by the battery down.

phatboislim

iTrader: (27)

same plastidip look can be accomplished w/ trim paint, just not removable

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

Gonna try my hand at a different style of painting that engine cover...gonna do the spray paint and mask...but use vaseline or chapstick for the masking...wipe off when done and dry. That should give me the even-ness I am looking for.

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

Not perfect...but better than the first attempt. Will re-do the first one like this, with the spray paint and chapstick.

Yes, chapstick actually worked great on the raised lettering in the bar area...a light coat and clear the overage...spray right over it, wipe off when dry. Where I went wrong on this one, was I didn't originally mask off the NISSAN lettering...I just covered it and masked off the area with the bar...that part worked great...aside from a bit of tape-alignment. I SHOULD HAVE masked both off at once. Don't know what I was thinking at the time...


Gave it two coats of clear after the pic was taken...looks great (color-wise) in the sunshine!

Rochester

iTrader: (3)

Big improvement.

If you start down this path (detailing the engine bay), get comfortable for the long-haul. The more you study things, the more details you'll become aware of. Before you know it, you're into full-blown obsession.

I've got a bar-stool in the garage, and I mounted a flood light on the back of my garage wall, just so it could shine down into the engine bay for when I'm needing it.

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

Thanks, Rochester.

When we bought the house 2 years ago, it already had a flourescent light fixture hanging in the front...it does a pretty good job, but I have to remember to park further back than normal if I want the whole engine bay to be lit up...the placement could have been better, like a foot further forward...but that floodlight is a good idea...hmm...may try that too.

Rochester

iTrader: (3)

There are all kinds of lights. A trip to SEARS or Home Depot and you're in business.

infinimax96

What's funny is I can actually picture Rochester sitting on a stool in front of his engine bay wearing some kind of magnifying/light head contraption polishing every nut and bolt.

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

Yeah no kidding I have to say, though...that several choices I've made with regard to my car have been inspired by Rochester's past work on his Maxima.

Understated Elegance...Rochester has that down pat.


^^engine cover in its new home...^^

Rochester

iTrader: (3)

Thanks, dude. Now get rid of those yellow stickers, and stop calling that thing an engine cover.



See those two metallic lines on the left? They're part of your power steering system, and they will polish up to a chrome-like finish with hardly any effort at all. Same for the Air Conditioning lines... both the large one one the left, and the little loopy one on the right.

Surprised you haven't put a SRI in that car. Intake howl is fun.

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

So the PacNW meet was really fun yesterday, ended up with 9 Maximas there

So I think I've got a small oil leak out of my CPS...Passenger side of engine, immediately right of the Timing Chain cover...

2brosgixxer

That sensor has an o-ring on it which you can simply replace. You will not lose any oil when you take the sensor out so just go to parts store with car, use 10mm so ket to take sensor out in the parking lot, pull o-ring off and go inside to get a new one...then re-install in the parking lot.

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

yeppers, that's about the same as what I read when I searched...though I thought about being a douche and finding the oldest CPS thread I could and bumping it


Engine degreaser work well to get rid of that stain left from the leak?

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

Shame on me, letting my own thread die like that


Since July, I have been just mainly driving her around, nothing special but a LOT of miles. Driven down to southern Oregon and back twice, and also down to another wedding a few hundred miles away...

Started the TC-W3 additive and noticed a quieter engine (I actually measured at idle, and the engine is 9dB quieter with the TC-W3 treatment than it was without). Will continue using it for its cleaning and lubrication properties, regardless of if I get a mileage boost or not (some do, some don't).

Ended up getting my credit cards all paid off (yay me) and then started looking at some stuff for the car...ended up buying an Ionic Dynamics rear window / roof spoiler that I will color-match BT4 to the car and a Cattman Stainless Steel Y pipe. Also bought a set of ebay red/smoked tails.

Haven't installed 'em yet, but will soon. Also, looking at getting 25% tint in a couple months (dropped hints to my wife, my birthday is in March)


Also, installed this mod last week:

SpeedCrazie

iTrader: (81)

Looks great, keep me in my mind if your looking for parts.

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

thanks, JP

Will do...local is so much better for parts

SpeedCrazie

iTrader: (81)

Yes, and I have many, I may be selling more soon.

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

Got any g35 6 spoke OEMs you'd let go for cheap?

Galactica

iTrader: (5)

I need a cali-spec y-pipe... Got one of those??

2brosgixxer

Did your seat come with one of these...It should have http://www.drivewire.com/images/shop.../rb74356_1.jpg seatbelt retainer things? It would probably be on the underside of the base or somewhere on the seat itself. If you find one, use it. The seatbelt may loosen if you don't which obviously will make the base not secure.

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

yeah it did, and I installed it after I realized it...re-did the seatbelt thingy, adding the retainer clip.

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

hard to believe that doing this ^^ has such an effect on ride quality...WOW
(Subframe Collar installation, for those who don't recognize it)

Also did a little swappage of the rear:

Looks good from that close, but get any closer and you see the inners don't sit flush:


The issue:


Got new inners coming from the ebay seller...if those don't fit I'll have to break out a drill or dremel or something...no big worries, just a minor inconvenience. BUT the red/smoked looks really really really good with my BT4 color, I think.

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

so here's the issue with the inners:



The ring around the studs needs to be shaved down so it doesn't stick out that much. Other than that, it should fit juuuust fine.

niceguy

I'm impressed that you didn't have paint crack and chip away when tightening down those flanged nuts on the radiator support brackets...I prepped, painted and cleared mine and let me sit about a day and they still cracked when the coarse underside of the flange nut grabbed the paint and 'twisted', cracking it.

Oh well, those cheap Sears powdercoat guns sound fun for small parts like these....I'm also surprised that those subframe collars helped the ride. OEM bushings shot, huh??

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

That was freshly painted and clearcoated radiator support brackets, and brand new flange nuts

Yeah the subframe collars sure helped the ride, all right. NVH isn't too bad either...mainly a bit more vibrations through the steering wheel but nothing bad at all.

Amerikaner83

iTrader: (17)

allrighty then...so I put the carseat mod to good use...Wife and I had a baby girl on the 15th Now the sleeplessness has begun!

The day before that, my father in law and I used a dremel to grind down the ring around those studs in the tails...looks nice and flush now! And just in time, too, since we took that car to the hospital at 2am!

Momma and baby are doing good, baby Emily likes car rides which is nice Maybe when I install that Cattman Y pipe I've got laying around in the garage she'll like car rides even more




*aside from shaving down the ring around the studs, you can see that the studs themselves are longer. Well, re-using the original, capped flange nuts isn't possible. So I went to my local Ace Hardware and got 4 (2 for each side) flange nuts, M4 I believe and all is well.