Alright, how can you tell just by looking at the outside of the car an 87 from an 88? There is no prize sorry.

 

ill only do it for a prize::









i really dont kno tho......

 

There isnt any I was just posting because I was bored!

 

those two years are very close and I think the only differences I can think of are for an SE vs a GXE.

I used to work with a kid who had an 87 SE that was exactly identical to my 88 SE. I don't think his had the little spoiler in the back.

 

Usually the only way to tell some 87's from 88's is to look inside at the dash and steering wheel....but that doesn't always work.

S

 

the only differences I can think of off-hand are (1) the voice warning system, I think, and (2) the 87s had the sensor and low coolant warning lights, and ones for a burned out headlight and tail light. I think there were a variety of interior patterns that were used both years that are even the same.

 

Yeah you can tell an 87 v.s. an 88 by the Interior I dont doubt that! My trivia was on the outside of the car. Of course there wasnt any, though. The interior would be the dash lights in some, Steering wheel in some, and the seat belts in some. Only because during a certain production date Nissan Started adding the automatic seat belts and taking other things away and adding certain things. I do want an SE Steering wheel though. Its so sporty, I hate my lame GXE one. Did you also know that the same designed GXE steering wheel was also in the same model year Toyota Corollas. I noticed it in my friends old one. Instead of Nissan it says Toyota. I also wouldnt mind if I could find some SE front seats that are in good condition. They look sporty. Im still wanting a front spoiler and rear spoiler in good condition. Buying the rear one is wayyy too expensive brand new.

 

you could probally find them both in the junkyard 20 bucks each, and the wheel you could get here for 13 bucks in good condition, at least here in san diego..

 

Yeah, it seems that California is where all the clean 2nd gens are. Some that I have seen for sale on Cars.com and Autotrader.com.

 

how hard would it be to put a 24 valve heads from a late vg30e on to a early vg30e form a 90 300 zx to a 85-86 maxima, and did some maximas come with dohc and 24 valves?

 

Well, first off, you're going to need to cut the front clip off the car, and extend it about 8 to 10 inches, to allow clearance for the excessive extra width of the DOHC VG30 heads from the Z32...

No Maxima came from Nissan with a DOHC VG30...IIRC, the first DOHC engine in a Maxima was a VQ30, and I DO remember that it debuted in the '92 SE model...

 

Automatic seat belts.. Keyless entry....

 

Keyless entry was on all gxe's, including the 85-86. Can't be that.

MaxWgn: Your confusing the VQ30DE with the VE30DE that was in the 92 on SE's. The VQ30DE came in around 94 as in the 95 maxima.

S

 

The 2nd gens are my favorite bodystyle so I know a little bit about them. To add some clarification, 1987s were introduced early in 1986...those that were built in '86 had manual seat belts and the '87s actually made in '87 had automatic ones. Things get really weird when you start to talk about "floaters"...cars that were kinda grey market (they were actually intended to be sold in other countries) but were rerouted to the U.S. and sold with full factory warranties. Story here:

http://home.earthlink.net/~maxfaq/history.htm#Floater

To my knowledge, the only thing I know for sure is that the white/gold two tone paint on GXEs was '88 only and the monochrome white SEs with brown suede interior were also '88 only. Digital Touch Entry System was part of the electronics package and could be bought on any GXE. Also, the Sonar Suspension was '88 only.

If you're looking for replacement bits for your cars, check this place out. They have a TON of N.O.S. parts. Interior--door panels, seat covers, entire seats, steering wheels (but no center covers), mechanical, and lots of things inbetween. They also sell on Ebay under the name "parts_outlet". Don't go buyin everything up as I'm still about 2-4 months away from buying an 87 or 88 spare car.

http://www.oem-surplus.com/nwp/maxima.htm

 

I had adjustable suspension on my 87, so that is not a difference.

 

Well, to further the issue, yes, mine is a floater, for certain - no voice alert system, and all of my under hood labels appear to be in French.

My build plate shows the car to have been built around Nov. of '86, yet I had the auto seat belts (WHICH I HATE), the late 87-88 gause cluster, based on above description, and the later produced trim panel in the dash, allowing for a full, double-DIN stereo, and not like the earlier ones where the space was split.

Mine did not have the electronics package on it, so it's got the standard analog gauges, and no keyless either...

I do have the dealer installed Nissan branded mud flaps, and the dealer installed roof rack - as it's a wagon.

It needs one front strut and mount, problem all four springs replaced, need to replace my sway bar bushings again, as when the tranny was tore up, it also came close to tearing out the drivers side control arm, and did tear off the bracket holding the sway bar tothe chassis...bolts are still there, but the bracket is gone, and the bushing is still there, but shredded up pretty badly...Needs a new A/C push button for the dash - replaced the control panel, and that is functional, but the cables need asjustment.

Now, I'm sinking about $500 or so into it, to replace all of the exhaust manifold studs on the right (back-side) head...

The car's due for a timing belt, but that will simply HAVE to wait, as providing the family comes first...

 

Actually, the difference is that the adjustable you had a button to choose how stiff or soft you wanted your ride. I believe the sonar ( Im not too sure about this part about them) had that option but the difference is that they had a box in the bumper that sent and received signals to the road ahead of you. So, if it read that a pot hole was going to come on the right side of the car it would automatically adjust the suspension to take that pot hole at the best comfort for the driver. Very few of these existed. Ive only seen two in a juinkyard that had them. We do know about the floaters though. Thats old news. Ive actually seen some of the all white Special Edition SE maximas, why they made them all white I dunno because those white rims looked hideous on the car. Someone around here has one in good condition. I wonder if they will be willing to ever sell the car. I just want the front spoiler off that piece and the rear deck lip. Switch the steering wheel and if they have good seats hit those up too.

Oh, and I do love my suede interior too. Its on the A pillars and outlines the bottom of the ceiling of the car and goes down the B pillars and C pillars. Now you sid that the suede interior on the all white Special Edition maximas was only for those in 88. Do you by any chance know what else was suede in those cars? Im just trying to compare to my 88 GXE that has suede interior pieces. If my Nissan bronze/white combo holds to what you are saying being it was only on the 88's then my car's color combo is pretty damn rare.

Yeah that oem surplus place has tons of stuff for our cars I searched there one time. I think someone at another site has that as a link. Their prices for me look damn high though on some pieces.

 

Suede door panel inserts were included along with the full seat coverage. I know that the 2nd gens had the flocked pillar trims as opposed to the 3rd and early 4th gen GLEs which just had the headliner material covering the same parts. Different manufacturing process and the flocked trim does indeed look a fair amount like real suede. Unless a former owner was being crafty and covered the parts, I'm gonna bet you have flocked trims but I've never seen a white/gold baby up close. Pop an a-pillar and you'll have your answer.

I've seen door panels from oem surplus on Ebay with starting bids of like $25-30. Been awhile since Maxi parts have been listed but from what I've seen, I'll be willing to check with them for stuff once I get my 2nd gen.

 

Q.,
The prices they list are the prices a dealer would charge - they supposedly quote a lower price when you contact them...

 

I may be wrong but I think the 87s had the built-in clock in the dash next to the equalizer. I've seen some that have em and some at don't. my 88 se had two DIN sized slots, top for the head unit and bottom for the eq. I was able to put a CD player in the top and fit the factory tape player on the bottom. no built in clock.

 

Thats what that little black box under my bumper is
Wow thanks for that it had been a mystery for me

what about climate control anybody else got it?

and electric folding mirrors

And what is the computer in the boot for?

 

What do you mean? Is all I know is that the electronic climate control had a sensor on the dash that would some how use the light of the sun to determine how cold to make it or to turn the A/C on when it was in that mode. We have electric mirrors that adjust. But I believe our mirrors are all manually folded when it comes to folding them in towards the window.

The computer in what boot? The boot of the struts?

 

the boot is the trunk.........it might be the anti theft box, keyless entry box and or the ampif we had one.

 

amp is behind the radio and in some cars is PART of the radio....i know mine is part of the radio, since mine is the floater standard Double Din radio instead of the werido shapped US cars that have a funky shape...

and i also know because i took it apart once...i like taking things apart....some times i dont like putting it back together