Hi guys and gals,

After selling my '99 SE several years ago I've been in some fun cars...but I just picked up a '98 SE that needs some tlc. Sterling mist with black leather. Security and Convenience, SE Leather Trim, and Deluxe Seating packages. 145k miles, one owner, and no wrecks. The car was pretty dirty though. The black leather interior is pretty trashed.

So far I have replaced the hood struts ($42@advance auto) and found the 10mm nut that holds my driver's door handle hiding in the door. (free )

I need to replace the front rotors and pads, drive belts, valve cover gaskets, knock sensor, coolant, manual trans fluid, plugs, one radiator fan motor, and fuel filter. Anything else I should look for? (I had the axles checked before I bought the car, no play and no leaks at the diff)

I ordered some centric rotors and akebono proAct pads on Amazon, only $89 with free shipping. I'm planning on picking up the the drive belts and fuel filter at courtesy when I'm in Dallas in a few weeks. For the valve cover gaskets I'm thinking the fel-pro set since it includes the grommets. OEM knock sensor on fleabay for about $45. Just plain old coolant, right? Redline mt-90 for the trans, and some copper ngk's and a radiator fan motor from autozone should round things out.

I'm going to search the junkyards for seats when I'm Dallas too. From browsing car-part.com it looks like I can pick up a black I30 rear seat for about $75 and fronts for about $300. I have seat airbags and heaters so that should be fun. I would love to put in a nice katskins set of leather/suede but it's kinda 'spensive.

After that I'm planing on picking up a set of covers from redlinegoods to freshen up things. Then I'll turn my attention to the exterior. The paint is a bit faded so I need to wash, clay bar, and go after it with the compound and zaino. It's gonna be a fun couple of weeks! I'll take some pics of the work.

BTW, I was a mecp installer for 7 yrs when I lived in Dallas...so if you guys need any audio or security advice feel free to ask!

-Brian

 

Welcome back. How much did you pay if you don't mind me asking? I ask because it sounds like the car was in pretty rough shape when you bought it. Hope everything works out for you so you don't have to spend an arm and a leg.

 

any pic of the new v

 

welcome back should have never left

 

They always come back.!

 

I paid $2200 after tt&l. I work for a dealer and it was a trade in. It's not really that bad, but it does need some freshening up. I would much rather have a car that needs basic maintenance and has never been wrecked. I can't unwreck the car but I can clean it up.

I got the brakes done today...

 

And the pictures are??

 

LUCKKYYYYY! I paid much much more than that... But I dont believe ive got as much clean up as you lol. Oh well, the perks of a tour and no bills!

I'm from the dallas area too, so when I get back home and you happen to be in town, I may hit you up on some security help, im thinking Clifford G5 line?! lol Not to mention a good junk yard partner is always nice to have! lol You can almost get lost in those pick-n-pulls! Plus itd be cool cruising around in 2 Sterling Mist SE's! lol Welcome back by the way!

 

I always see black leather seat covers on the bay for the 4th gen. I believe they are from leatherseats.com. Might be worth a shot instead of 300+ for junkyard seats.

 

i just went to crazyrays junkyard last saturday, and to my surprise i saw a black 98 with black leather interior, im talking bout all the seats, and door panels, even has the bose radio, its like it just got to the yard. when i was trying to find this stuff for my max, i couldnt, now when im not in need, i find everything

 

Any car will never go away if there are enough of 'em. By that I mean, once I realized I was going to buy a Maxima, & reading about them, I wanted a 3rd generation first. But quickly I realized that being almost 20 yrs old, I wasn't going to wait to hunt one down. Thru craigslist I learned there are plenty of 4th gen. & equally if not more, 5th gen. for sale. Then it goes down because of price. But 4th gen. will go the the way of 3rd gen., attrition knocking 'em off the road.

 

I'll take some pics tomorrow. I ran out of time today.

I'm leaning towards not replacing the front seats actually since they aren't in that bad of shape. Depending on how adventurous I feel, I may try taking the front covers off and replacing the middle section with some faux suede.

Today was the first time I really drove the car since I just babied it home from the dealer due to the front brakes being toast. Not too bad overall. The shifter is notchy and feels like rubber, which I'm hoping the RL MT-90 will alleviate. The clutch pedal/car vibrates a bit too much from a take off. I think this is just wear on the clutch lining, right? The struts are originals and will probably be replaced with some tokico blues soon. It's hot in Austin...how the original owner never tinted the windows is beyond me? I will hit up my tint hookup when I'm in Dallas for some 20% metallic pimpage.

@max_dreamer...yeah dude, my parents live in Allen so if I'm in town and I have time I can help you with an alarm install. I don't have any significant hookups on the alarm though. Actually, you can buy an alarm on soniceletronix for less than what I could buy them for when I worked at Car Toys.

 

pics are good! n maybe when your in town we can find a cool spot for a max.org photo shoot. Im pretty sure all the DNE guys and locals would be all about that... sucks theres not really a track anywhere neer us though...

n yeah that would be awesome! im looken at clifford, either 590.2X or G5... Dont know crap about the G5 system, but I had a similar alarm from python (circuit city) compaired to the older cliffords... either way, I would think you know far more about the cliffords than I do! lol

 

 

My 20 minute radio install looks nasty but I will clean it up in a few weeks. The radio works well and hard to beat for $120.

 

I need to clean up my headlights!

 

damn yours is cleaner than mine i just bought and i paid 2500. without leather and heated seats too.. jeez. but i wanted pearl white