Pictures of the body work I did on my maxima
Pictures of the body work I did on my maxima
So I bought my 1997 Maxima wrecked from an auction. I got it for $600 and I figured since I would be doing all the body work and painting myself it was cheaper then buying a non-wrecked one for $2000. I also had a 1995 (maybe 96) maxima I had for parts.
On top of the 2 major hits, this car had large dents and dings all over the car.
Side view of first hit:
Back view of it:
The body shop who fixed this prior to me buying it at the auction did such a terrible job... nothing was aligned and they forced the bumper in place. I had to re-do that whole area:
Front View of it:
Picture of the rear with everything taken apart:
On top of the 2 major hits, this car had large dents and dings all over the car.
Side view of first hit:
Back view of it:
The body shop who fixed this prior to me buying it at the auction did such a terrible job... nothing was aligned and they forced the bumper in place. I had to re-do that whole area:
Front View of it:
Picture of the rear with everything taken apart:
Originally I planned on putting the car on the frame machine and pulling it, but I couldn't get it to line up with the trunk and tail light quite right, so I said screw it and i cut the rear quarter off of the 1995 donor maxima. I cut the quarter off of the 1997 maxima and welded the 1995 onto it. After doing that the trunk was still being a pain in the rear and wasn't quite lining up like I wanted, so I decided to take the trunk off the 1995 and use it on the 1997. This way I didn't have to order new tailights either, I could just use the 1995 ones. Only down side was I had to drill a few holes for the spoiler since the 1995 trunk didn't have one.
Pictures of everything fixed prior to being painted (terrible quality, took it on my phone):
I'll upload pictures of the finished and painted maxima later.
Pictures of everything fixed prior to being painted (terrible quality, took it on my phone):
I'll upload pictures of the finished and painted maxima later.
Last edited by L2theBR; Feb 18, 2010 at 11:15 AM.
This is before I primed the car (after letting it dry over night, I had to move it out of the garage and finish it in my drive way lol).
FINISHED PRODUCT (Dirty from all the rock salt and snow):
FINISHED PRODUCT (Dirty from all the rock salt and snow):
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 130
From: Suffolk County, Long Island, NY
very impressive. I'm curious about the paint, approximately what did it set you back for the nissan color and the clear coat.
I have gotten outrageous price quotes for repainting a trunk lid and hood, and the reason given is that the price of paint has skyrocketed.
I have gotten outrageous price quotes for repainting a trunk lid and hood, and the reason given is that the price of paint has skyrocketed.
Money. I had a wrecked 95-96 maxima (front end collision, completely destroyed the entire front end) where the entire rear was in perfect condition so I just took parts off of it. Only thing that I opted to buy new was the bumper reinforcement.
It cost me nothing to do all the body work, and re-paint the entire car (High Quality DuPont paint). Benefits of my dad managing the body shop 
Last edited by L2theBR; Feb 18, 2010 at 12:01 PM.
Not sure why you went with that ugly OEM paint, which I hated when I had it on my car.
I'm shocked you paid $600 for a wrecked 97 from a auction. Must had been a public auction, cause the auction I've been to, 95-99 Maximas go for $300-$1000 without them being wrecked.
I'm shocked you paid $600 for a wrecked 97 from a auction. Must had been a public auction, cause the auction I've been to, 95-99 Maximas go for $300-$1000 without them being wrecked.
Nice work. I too thought 600 is insane, the local dealer/junker auction is near my place of work, and I watch on my lunch break seeing 08 SUV's with rear quarters gone go in the low 2'g range. Either way, you now have freshly painted car for cheaper than a used maxima with non-fresh paint.
Was this a single-stage paint job? How much would this have cost if a stranger came into the shop wanting the same thing?
Was this a single-stage paint job? How much would this have cost if a stranger came into the shop wanting the same thing?
Newbie - Just Registered
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 11
hey i have a question i know the inner tail lights are different fromm 95/96 to 97 up cars size wise my car is a 95 but has a 97 trunck on it so you can imagine the tail light combo on it but the ? is are the outer taillights the same to where i could just get 97 lights to mtach up instead of having to get a whole trunk
hey i have a question i know the inner tail lights are different fromm 95/96 to 97 up cars size wise my car is a 95 but has a 97 trunck on it so you can imagine the tail light combo on it but the ? is are the outer taillights the same to where i could just get 97 lights to mtach up instead of having to get a whole trunk
and OP congrats on some killer body work
Nice work. I too thought 600 is insane, the local dealer/junker auction is near my place of work, and I watch on my lunch break seeing 08 SUV's with rear quarters gone go in the low 2'g range. Either way, you now have freshly painted car for cheaper than a used maxima with non-fresh paint.
Was this a single-stage paint job? How much would this have cost if a stranger came into the shop wanting the same thing?
Was this a single-stage paint job? How much would this have cost if a stranger came into the shop wanting the same thing?
Thanks, and it's around 153k right now ( got it at 151k )
I was at the shop today replacing some O2 sensors and I got a copy of the price for the paint and the code:
$153.80 was the price for 2 quarts.
Paint Contents:
DuPont CHROMABASE BC
813J MED COARSE AL 281.00
4530S FLOP CONTROL AGENT 401.9
807J LS BLACK 442.4
890J TRANSOX YELO 477.9
884J LS RED OXIDE 492.2
855J LIGHT RED 498.5
150K B/C BALANCER 1423.2
175K BINDER 1726.6
I'm not sure on the clearcoat however.
And if anyone was wondering the name of the body shop, its Bernier's Quality Body Works in Fall River, MA.
Member
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 37
From: 201 jersey city nj
am sorry but this son of a gun is the shytttttttt my man fixed the whole thing and painted it and it looks brand new nah nah nah he took a pik of an old ladie maxima lmao jk nice job man i wish u was around here cuz i know maaco be doing cheap work but looks funny
Awesome work, I wish I had the talent and resources to do something like that... I really could use new rocker panels on my 95. They are really starting to rust badly and I'm really trying to see how far the engine and trans will last. I just reached 328k last night 