Question..... Has anyone else discovered that the cowl vent drain area is all rusted-out when they've had their fenders off?? I went to install my amps power wire the right way yesterday, which required the removal of the drivers side fender and at first glance, the area showed signs of rust, but generally looked pretty good. However, upon closer inspection, there were already small holes forming and the metal was REALLY rusted in the seams. (here are some pics of the area when I 'repaired' it on my silver car - bottom half of the pics on this page) http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/376954/3

I'm not *****ing, just curious if anyone else has run into this, and trying to determine if this is a cold-climate only issue.

 

Well, I have, but I'm in Iowa, home of the rust, I also thought I had to take my fender off, and i took the mudflap off (driver door) and found there was about 2 lbs of dirt/salt/sand in that bottom section of the fender, so I kicked it all out, I went out yesterday and kicked around that area and some more sand came out...I hate rust..

 

LOL!! Ya...., I had the same '2 pounds' of sand, leaves, rust, etc. come out when I took the fender off yesterday.

 

I see the rust on the inside, but nothing is showing on the outside, so **** it

 

hey shvelle,
you should've come out to the torontomaxima bbq on saturday man!
i still really want to take a look at your ride and the body work you've done.

 

Was trying to squeeze it in, but in the end it didn't make the cut cause I learned it too late and already had plans to go to a Chevelle show in the states, then to Niagara Falls.
Even when you do see it, you won't see all the body work I've done, cause most of that work was done on my first max - the silver one. The black max is the second max I've owned. (still have the silver one, just not sure for how long, and it's not plated to drive)
We don't need a scheduled show to meet. Where exactly are you located? Perhaps next time I go to IKEA or something I'll schedule a time and place to meet. My car is always in a current state of flux tho - so I can't promise it'll be presentable...

So shock....., have you had your fenders off?? Seeing as you're in the exact same clim as me, your car would be a good one to gauge whether or not this is a typical area prone to rust or not.

PM me and tell me how the meet was! Any pics? If so, you should post a link for all the US guys to see as well.

 

internetautomar - when you say you can see rust on the 'inside', what area are you referring to exactly? Sounds like a stupid question - I know...... - but you can't really see the 'inside' of this area unless you've got your head right under the dash and you're looking up at the metal directly above where the main wiring harness goes through the firewall. So when you say 'inside', do you mean the door jam? Cause if so, that's where I could see the first signs of this problem on my silver car. The rust sort of 'leaks' out the seam on the upper portion of the front door jam. My passenger side was so far gone that there was an actual HOLE at that seam!!

 

I mean that if I look through the door jamb by the hinge I can see the rust. but from the outside of the car it all looks fine

 

i'm in north york. is your silver max a 5spd too?
i have the same rust in the same locations as you. i have to do body work before the end of fall this year or else my car is going to look brutal next spring. i'm debating on whether or not to do the work myself though.

the meet was pretty good. i showed up fairly late though so i missed out on a lot. there was around 45-50 maximas there. only about 5 3rd gens though. for some reason a lot of the 3rd gen guys neglected to show up this year.

 

Hey shock - just checked your site for a quick refresher and noticed we have the same deck!

So you do have the same rust. Hmmmm..... I was thinking when I get around to doing the passenger side (cause I know it'll need it), maybe I should work on making a template for the repair - seeing as it seems to be a common problem.

North York isn't that far. A spare day will be the only scheduling problem.
Ya, my silver car is a 5-spd too.
Only 5 of us showed-up??!?!?! Damn.... Well..., I'm already planning on being there next year - hopefully with new paint and roll'in on 18's.

 

would you consider parting with the tranny from your silver max
i'm itchin' to do a 5-spd swap.
hopefully we'll have a chance to meet up before summers' through

 

Sure!! Here are my terms tho... $1000 cash for the tranny, and you get a nice Maxima shapped gift box for free. And if you order now, I'll throw in a genuine Nissan cassette radio and the shaved trunk lid with Supra LED 3rd brake light for free!

No, seriously tho......., I'm either keeping it and doing something increadibly stupid with it......., or I'm selling it all together. I don't have anywhere to put the shell if I start to part it out - otherwise I might consider it. Sorry.

 

well if you want ideas on how to do stoooopid stuff with your spare 3rd gen, take a look at the pictures i posted on tmec of my parts car tear down. i had the car for a week and when it was towed away the oil pan was filled up with bottle caps and junk bolts oh...and it went away on two donuts with no bumpers, hood, trunk, fenders and only two doors.
it was a fun week!

if you'll seriously sell it, i may consider buying the car off of you in a month or two. i'm moving at the end of august so that's why i have to put it off for a bit.

 

Oh that was you??! Ya, I remember seeing those pics. So how many cars has it taken so far to make the 1 you drive?
I'll seriously sell it - but I seriously won't take a dime less than $1000 - I just have waaaaay too much time and money into it (more than $8000).

 

my car has been pretty good to me actually. i've only taken electrical components from other 3rd gens to keep as backups if anything on my car should go (ie; ecu, maf, tps, iacv).
you might have it sold sooner than you think.
email me: shock_211@hotmail.com
i need to ask you a few questions about the car. i don't want to ***** this thread up anymore