Remember this car?

 

Well, we bought the car in California and drove it to Texas where we started reconstruction.

Donald sold me his JDM with the car, so that’s what we did first.



We cracked open the tranny to make sure everything was kosher.



With the engine bay torn apart, we replaced the following (from memory, so I’m sure many many things I am forgetting.) By the way, I don’t want to sound repetitive, so I’ll just say that everything I replaced was new & OEM unless otherwise mentioned…(which wasn’t much). Things marked with an “*” means Donnie already had it on the car.

Engine compartment
JDM
Motor Mounts
Tranny Mounts
4 bushings on Engine Crossmember
Control Arms
Full-assembly axles
All vacuum hoses
All air and water hoses
A couple valve gaskets and an intake gasket
A/C compressor
Alternator
Both steering boots
All steering components and bushings (except rack & pump)
Bigger Optima red-top than was in there before
Hood struts
Spark plugs
Tranny seals
Belts

 

Brakes
Discs all the way around
Pads all the way around
Two front ABS sensors
All wheel bearings, races & 1 front hub

Exhaust
*Warpspeed SS Y-Pipe
*Catco catalytic converter
Muffler
Borla exhaust tips welded on
Everything from the cat down was powdercoated black



Suspension
Eibach springs
Koni reds
New boots on 4 corners
Strut mounts on all 4
Strut bearings
*Warp-speed subframe connectors
*Otto front strut tower brace
Both sway bars with bushings
Rear lateral link bushings
Rear torsion bars







Body
Hood
Both fenders
Front bumper
Rear bumper
Grille
Headlights
UK corners
Windshield wipers
Non-OEM Front glass
Non-OEM Rear glass
Tint
All front door hinges
All body moldings & window trims
Antenna
All door handles
Fog lamps
Front license plate mount
Trunk seal
Door seals
Side view mirrors
Front turn signal lights

 

Interior
*Pacesetter short throw shifter
Air-bag steering wheel w/ cc switches (it is a non-airbag car)
*Alpine headunit
PPI amp
6.5” Eclipse and 6x9 Eclipse speakers
Alpine 6-Disc changer
Seats from ’90 Maxima
Door panels from ’90 Maxima
All 4 window switches
Upgraded alarm system w/4-window roll-up
Window regulator & motor for driver’s door
Have new switches for under the steering wheel, but haven’t installed yet
That or the new temp/fuel gauge

Wheels & Tires
*17x8 Typhoon 5zigen
ZR rated Dunlop Sport-Maxx


Misc
Gas tank Line-X coated
All new fuel lines (that were rubber)
Non-OEM fuel pump

 

Finished product

 

doesn't thrill me for some reason.

 

Pretty Car.

But please add warning about the number and size of pictures.

 

Wow, that's really clean. Good job.

 

@ Brian - It's not supposed to "thrill." It's a '92 Maxima.

@ Jack - trimmed pics down to thumbs

@ 94 - Thank ya! The wife loves it. After a year of labor and love I'm glad you like it too.

 

Nice work.

 

nice work! VE or VG?

 

Er.. I'm guessing VE.

 

unless he's showing pix of another car

 

Thank you kindly, GreenMax & ustfdes.

Yes, ustfdes, 94's right...she's all about the chains.

 

All I can say is WOW!

You must have serious $$$ into that car now. It is definitely stunning though, just like new. I mean, WOW. You seriously replaced just about everything. The car is good as new and should last you another 300,000+ miles EASY. You definitely bought the right car for the project, it is SOLID. I really thought you were a little crazy when you told me you were going to replace all the used parts with new OEM parts, but you did it. I am proud! Enjoy that baby.

How is the power with the JDM engine?

 

****e...the only pic i missed was the engine, my badz y0

= VE

 

looks good man!

 

Hey Donald!

Your car is solid. I absolutely cannot disagree. It had never been in a major accident, was completely rust-free... It was a dream to start with. The few quirks that we had were so small that it never slowed us down.

I have to hand it to you, you were right about what you were selling.

The body guys took it down to metal and sprayed it with self-etching primer to start with, then primer, then paint, & clear, so this thing is going to look great for a looong time.

The JDM is pretty good for the power, but the VTCs are clacking (as suspected.) So, since I've already gone this far, I'm going to get a reman from Nissan, get the heads ported & polished along with the intake & have a good shop to take a look at what we can do for a few more ponies for the wife.

I plan on doing that, some Brembos, and getting the interior redone. But, over time.

I really want to thank you, though. You've been an honest and excellent person to have bought a car from.

Out of curiosity, though, how's the Stang & the boat coming along? I know that boat, with the way you were intending on building it, was going to rip you AND the seat off its' hinges!

 

@505 - Thanks man!

@ustfdes - Yeah, I've done that a few times.

 

If that was supercharged it would really be a nice car.

 

So it's not a nice car now?

can you tell us where he would get a supercharger for a 3rd gen?

 

looks good but in the rear shot (last pic) it looks like there is a lot of orange peel on the car because the images are not sharp (distorted by the dimples of orange peel). Have you cut and buffed it...if not I highly suggest you do it.

 

I hope you are incorrect in that statement (it appears in that pic you are because it doesnt look like it went to the metal in some of the pics).

On a car with the original paint there is no need to go to the metal and as a matter of fact its a bad idea.

The reason its a bad idea is because no primer even self etching primer is as good as the factory E-coat.

Again it doesn't look as though they actually went to the metal though because in the sand through of the gray primer it is black under it...that looks to be the factory paint or a black epoxy primer (my guess if it did indeed go to the metal). I am not sure of any black self etching primers (not saying there aren't any because there are a LOT of primers out there) and epoxy is really the way to go on bare metal anyway.

another clue that they didnt take it to metal is in this pic (middle body work pic if the link doesnt work). You can see that they did body work on top of the paint in the rear corner (standard practice on small dings...just use glazing putty). you dont do body work and then strip the paint down to the metal because then you have to re-do all the body work again.

anyway just wanted to throw my .02 in on it.

 

When did I say it wasn't nice?

 

yeah, it'd down to bare metal on the corners themselves, but not entirely across the body panel....i'd be suprised if it is even fully past the clear in all spots...but still lookin good.

 

oh yeah I dont want my post to sound too negative. The car looks great and as a matter of fact I even said that its not good to take an entire car down to bare metal if you just have one layer of paint on it because of the factory e-coat. i am just wondering why he made that statement unless the body shop was bs-ing him.

you know me I just critique paint and body work because its something I actually know about...I don't mean any harm by it. .

 

quicky: the way you stated it sounded like you didn't think so.


but i am curious about the supercharger...

 

looks good. nice to see another nice 3rd gen in the lone star state. i miss my 3rd gen looking at that car.

seeing dmontzsta's sn is sorta nostalgic.

 

If I didn't think it was nice I wouldn't be on this forum. I was just dreaming a bit, imagine that car all black and clean like it is but with a s/c, would be a really nice car. Good luck on making it a reality.

 

Wow nice! Kinda like what I'm doing exept mine is little by little. Maybe by SPring I'll be doing the body

You say thats the leather off a 1990...can you confirm if its the same as this?

 

Wow man, nice work, but you must have an absurd amount of money invested in it by now, and it's money spent on parts it probably didn't need.. Props, but I think you should see the doctor about possible OCD.. What do you need brand new switches for? Paint looks very nice. Should have dropped a few bills for new leather, carpet and headliner imo.

 

There is a solution for putting a supercharger on a third gen. Thomas Knight Turbo, (in florida I think) designed and built an electric supercharger. Yes, you read that right. He was looking for people to
try his product, and was kind enough to send me a complete prototype
for development on a SOHC 3.0 VG30 (like the one on my '89). The SC uses three, high-speed, high-torque starter motors with custom windings, that drive a small roots type blower through a gear drive
set up. It's really a Kool idea! I've been tied up for a year with a job
for Ranger Boats company, but will soon have the time to fully document
the conversion. The unit fits into the inlet system, (not the little fan motor SC featured elsewhere on the net). In order to put this assembled unit in the engine bay, right above the transaxle, it is necessary to move the battery to the trunk. Several heavy gauge, multi-filament wires connect the truck and engine bay, and several deep-draw ATV batteries to drive the SC. Everything is recharged through the regular Maxima electrical system. The current runs through a number of relays that are controlled by a WOT (Wide Open Throttle) microswitch on the throttlebody, and spool up the starter motors sequentially. There is a large agricultural well water flapper valve installed inline to cut off ambient flow once compressed flow is introduced by the SC. I am working on a more sophisticated device, that puts fewer bends in the intake system according to the way TKT originally designed the system. Hopefully that will mean better flow and more horses too! If you Google his website, you can probably find photos of such an installation on his Altima along with quarter mile timeslips. Right now, I'm still a "newbe", so once I've crossed the 15 post threshhold, I'll load up some pix. I've already ported and polished my intake and heads, so I can't wait to see what this SC will do for my car! You're gonna LOVE it! Check out this link!
http://www.turbomagazine.com/tech/04.../photo_02.html

 

if this is as good as you say it is, i see a few potential flaws.
traditional tc/sc puts out boost at all rpms. you say its only at wot?
to make it usable all the time, you'd need an alternator with better output for the 1, 2, or 3 motors.(I understood you to say they come on as needed...)

now that i got the most of my scepticism outa my system,
it sounds a hella lot better than the fan types you mention.
just keep us posted.
remember, we want life expectancy, performance on AND off the street, and before/after dyno/time sheets. that'll show us what these things are worth.

 

hmmm, kool!

 

Good to see nice 3 gens rebuilt!

 

If you follow the link provided, it will also give a history of the development of the TKT Electric Supercharger along with the reliability
factor. It is considerably longer than a belt-driven SC. As for the battery
powered system here, there are trade offs. First and foremost, because
it is electrically powered, there is little or no parasitic drag on the engine
under normal driving conditions, like you would have with a full-time, belt-
driven SC. Secondly, it is only spooled up during acceleration, which is
the time when you would really WANT more horse power and torque.

The only real downside I can see is in an all-out road racing situation, (illegal anyway) where you accelerate, decelerate to take a curve and then are back on the throttle again. Because of the way the system is wired, your repeat use of the SC at WOT is limitted by battery charge.
That is not to say that you couldn't have several battery clusters to draw from by alternating to a freshly charged group as the batteries you're
drawing from become depleated.

I think that under the circumstances, this is a pretty good design. I explored buying a centrifugal blower from Stillen, designed for a fourth gen Maxima, and trying to make it fit. The biggest problem is that the front of the engine with all the pulleys is too close to the frame rail to install the wider serpentine belt system required to drive the blower. Mark Cookson's turbocharged Maxima is agreat example of what might be achievable, but with that approach, you're talking about dismantling two engines-- your own and the 1989 300ZX Turbo motor for the internals to make the engine street legal, then fabricating a complete exhaust system to accommodate the placement of the turbo above the 3rd gen trani. Not to mention rerouting a lot of other system components to make it work. The Thomas Knight electric SC really seemed to be a nice compromise, with fewer headaches during the modification process.

As I finish the install, I will definitely keep ya'll posted.

 

I thought porting out the heads on a VE is useless and doesnt improve much in power output.

 

It's a matter of opinion. From my perspective, there was quite an improvement; especially after porting and radiusing certain areas in the intake manifold set. I also used JB Weld to fill in the inside depressions
left by the two freeze plug-like caps on the back side of the manifold,
then wet-sanded the area flush for smoother flow. The area around the
valve guide and pocket can be greatly improved by grinding that Aluminum
at thebase of the valve guide, (shaped like a little volcano) into more of
a contour similar to a boat's bow. If I had a flow bench, I'm sure I could
demonstrate some improvement. I recently blew a timing belt and will be
opening up the engine to replace some badly bent valves. (Ouch! ) When I do, I will post some photos of the mods. Stay tuned!

 

It sounds like you're talking about the VG. He is asking what the gains would be on a VE engine. VE = Chain, VG = Belt.

 

Oh! Sorry! Missed that! Couldn't tell you on the VE; but I've done the same sort of porting work on every car I've had the engine apart on, and
have seen consistently improved results. BTW, anybody ever do a VG to VE swap? There's a complete VE (the DOHC engine, right?) in a wrecking yard near here. Wondering if it's worth the work...