Aackshun's Garage

It's VQ35DE Season

2011-04-27T23:14:00.000-07:00

Enough procrastination, I've made up my mind, I'm through with the VQ30DE, I still love and respect the motor, but I want to finish A LOT of this car up by August because I want to go back to school full time (I know, school > car should have been spending $$$ towards school and not the car, but I can't help myself).

This is the to buy list.... and prices I hope to pay for each item

FWD VQ35DE (05-06) ($700)
VQ30 Timing Chain Kit ($250)
VQ35HR Head Gasket ($50)
VQ35HR Head Bolts ($60)
Solid Mounts ($60)
Intake
- 6" Pop Charger
- Pathfinder Throttle Body
- Custom UIM?
FPR Regulator ($40)
Walbro 255lph ($100)
JWT ECU ($600)
Cam Adapters ($125)

I'm hoping for around 270whp and 275ft/lbs, a bit high I know, but one can always dream ^_^

Depends on the current job situation is how fast I can get this done, but little by little I'm going to be chomping away at this.

Sidenote, I did install my coilovers, but i want to make a good detailed post about it, so give me some time on that.

And yes, there's a 6spd installation post I need to make too, it's in the works.

OBX 02-03 3.5L Maxima Headers INSTALLED!

2011-01-26T20:51:00.000-08:00

This post is a little late, but I've installed the infamous OBX 3.5 Headers on my car.

I do not have that many pictures, but here is a quick overview of the installation process, I will not go into gross detail, because the swap happened awhile ago.

Installation (Sort of in order)

-Put the front end of the car on stands
-Remove Upper Intake Manifold
-Remove 02 Sensors
-Drop the Y-pipe
-Work on the front collector (6 bolts)
-Begin to unbolt the rear manifold (if you're really pro you can do all 6 bolts)
-Get the jack and support the engine/tranny
-Drop the crossmember
-Remove the rear mount thingy (4 bolts on the motor, it's what the rear mount attaches to)
-Drop the rear header
-Install OBX headers
-Delete EGR
Reverse process, starting w/ the rear mount thingy.

Problems/Things to know...

-There will be an EGR delete during this process, I'm still working a way around this so I won't have a CEL
-Two M18x1.5 bolts will be required (unless you're running a wideband and want to plug it into the headers) to block off the extra O2 ports.
-You can not put the rear o2 sensor on the rear collector, the steering rack is in the way, I used one on the front bank and one near the oil pan, use the screws on the rear collecter and the other o2 port near the oil pan.
-I had to extend the O2 sensor wires for it to reach the location pictured below.
-Get OEM nissan gaskets, atleast the O shaped one, people suggest re-using the old header gasket on your car, they say it's a superior design, I am using the OBX manifold gaskets and so far no problems, but if you really want to go the extra mile, order some new nissan manifold gaskets and O gaskets (remember you're still saving hundreds of dollars compared to cattman, so put that money to good use).

Onto the media/fun stuff....

Drive around with your max like this, you will OWN THE ROAD (it is scary loud, see vid below).

The Cattman 3" Catback

2010-12-27T16:27:00.000-08:00

So I have nearly completed my Exhaust setup, with this being the focal piece of it, a 3" catback...

The Cattman 3" Catback system for the 4th gen (1995-1999) Nissan Maxima with an extra bung for a wideband sensor, this ran me right around $810 shipped to my front door.

The System

Just some pics here and there....

(The stock muffler is HEAVY)

Here is a good post on the org for some more comparison shots: here!

The Installlation

The installation is relatively simple, my only reccomendation here is to install the O2 sensors last, because of the location of it when you bolt up your main catylitic converter gets in the way of a ratchet, also make sure you set the car up on stands fairly high, this is a 3" exhausst sytem and getting the rear section over the axle with a low clearance can be tricky.

If you need install help use this site here: Click Here

If you haven't already, buy one of these to replace the gasket from Cat->Catback, the part number is in the picture, either local, courtesy, or Dave B. from southpoint nissan, shop around. Do NOT use the walker gaskets, only OEM, my walker gaskets lasted only 2 days, on the 3rd I had an exhaust leak from them.

You'll need new sets of these if you haven't replaced them. These are exhaust hangers, you'll need 3 for the muffler and 1 for the midsection. People say use the nismo hangers, but others have said that the walker's are just as good (NOT FOR GASKETS THOUGH! The gaskets SUCK!) and they seem to be holding fine!

Muffler Hangers : Part Number: EXH 35725

Midsection Hanger : Part Number: EXH 35460

After that you should have your exhaust in with no problems! Just need a floor jack, jack stand, some PB Blaster, 14mm socket, a ractchet, a 14mm wrench and off to the races!!

Final Installation Pics:

Performance

The first half of this will be my opinion with the warpspeed Y-pipe ("Exhaust Leak" setup) not the OBX headers.

As soon as I left the driveway I noticed a major increase in the low end torque and part throttle acceleration, but I could not wail into it because the car had not made it's adjustments and it would misfire if I gave it anything more than 1/2 throttle.

As soon as I hit the 51st mile... I had a completely different car, the gains were felt throughout the powerband and at ALL throttle positions, throttle response remained the same, but I gained some precious, precious top end in my car which gave me a big edge over those Hondas in 3rd gear (before I would lose to them in 3rd gear, but now the car stays in the race in 3rd gear then when I get into 4th, which is a short gear btw, I walk away!).

As for the comparison with the headers....

It is quite unfair to compare these to the headers, my only initial reactions will be a header vs. y-pipe reaction and not too much of a stock catback to 3" reaction.

Sound

Well besides the performance this is the other crucial part to having an exhaust system... The sound!!

I will let the vids do the talking for me here.

The "Exhaust Leak" Setup:

-Bomz SRI

-Warpspeed Y-Pipe

-No gaskets (or completely rotted away) between the manifold->y-pipe.

-Magnaflow High Flow Cat

-Stock catback

The "New" Setup:

-Same as above but instead of the stock catback, it's the Cattman 3"

The "Final" Setup

-Bomz SRI

-OBX Racing 02-03 Maxima VQ35DE Headers

-Magnaflow High Flow Cat

-Cattman 3" Catback

From a Dig:

- The Exhaust Leak:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dFCZ4Tkqrs

- The New Setup

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17s6JJMpeM4

- The Final Setup
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcFQBOUAtKM

From a 40 Roll:

- The Exhaust Leak:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SdVNLixOlQ

- The New Setup

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCWfRVlUDRs

- The Final Setup
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tARuvMAbN8

High Speed Flyby:

-The Exhaust Leak

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh9MmWAtggI

-The New Setup

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_wRb48nbxyA

-The Final Setup

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZZgf3CUp50

In Car Pull:

-The Exhaust Leak

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWxvQNA5Wmo

-The New Setup

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gJtVaYdz8s

-The Final Setup

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVXLzLoh4oM

Final Thoughts

Well all and all, I truly think this is the last mod you will need if you want every ounce of your 4th gen's performance (N/A or FI'd), I don't regret one single penny involved in my ehxaust, I am really happy with how it sounds now, and I hope the test pipe I will be getting won't change much.

I guess I'll include some complaints in here too...

Rear 02 Sensor mount: I do not like how the post cat 02 sensor is mounted, I wish it was done another way because removing the cat becomes annoying because of the position of the 02 sensor on my catback, of course dropping cats aren't an everyday thing but it's just one thing to gripe at.

The "Drone Zone": If you have been researching cattman catbacks then you should already know about the drone between 2k-2.6krpms, if you don't know, just know that the catback has a drone between those 600 rpms, you can literally cruise @ 4k and it would be quieter than 2500rpm. The catback is whisper quiet @ 3k though which is awesome for those highway cruisers (like myself).

Dyno? Sure...

Just Clearing My Head...

2010-08-19T08:34:00.000-07:00

The long delayed 6spd project is finally about to go down... Sometime in the future... See note below... I'm pretty excited and scared @ the same time because this mod features a "POINT OF NO RETURN" so if I mess up I could be stuck w/o a car for awhile.... Anyways, I've come to terms with that and now I have to just focus my time and energy on reassembling the transmission correctly and make sure this goes as smoooove as possible.

Anyways, here's a quick price list of my swap...

Swapping a 6spd HLSD Transmission from a 2003 Sentra SE-R Spec V into a 1999 Maxima SE-L....

Parts that I've brought for this project

$105 Maxima Bellhousing and a Final Diff

$300 Fidanza Lightweight Flywheel

$43 '03 Maxima Pressure Plate (Brand new)

$86 New Clutch Disc (G35/350z 6mt clutch disc)

$42 6spd Cable Shifter

$213.15 Spec-V Transmission

$17 Clutch Fork/TOB+Bolts+Slave Cylinder

$142 6spd Mount, 04 Maxima oem shift knob and bolts.

$37 Starter from an '03 Altima

$40 Custom Timing Ring, Sentra shifter cables, flywheel bolts

Side Project: Poly Urethane Suspension Update

While the car is in pieces why not take advantage of this and update the suspension? Plus my bushings are blown so my car is literally ALL OVER the road whenever I get on that gas... and that ain't cool.

$40.95 ES LCA Bushings

$17 ES Anti-Sway Bar Bushings

$61 Ball Joints
$22 Anti-Sway Bar End Links

Anyways, expect the next post soon as it will be full of pictures and details as I try to attempt a "How-to" on this stuff....

Random: I also purchased a brand new Diamond Audio D3 12" Sub via ebay for $59, that's my "Good job boy" present to myself... the box and amp will be my victory celebration after the swap.

[Edit]
6spd is postponed until further notice, ran into some things today and I did not want to continue w/ this project because there is NO going back once I saw off my old transmission/motor mount. So I'm going to wait until everything is purffffect.

But I did do the side project and man does my car feel AWESOME!!!! I highly recommend anyone who corners hard to make sure they keep the front end of their car properly maintained.

6speed Swap How-To Teaser Pics

2010-05-12T14:52:00.000-07:00

This summer I will be embarking on a nice fun little project, a 6speed transmission swap.

Anyways, I haven't done it yet but I helped my friend w/ his, and well it wasn't as scary as I initially thought, but anyways, here are some pics to tease you guys with.

Replacing the Front Bumper on a 1996 (CD) Accord LX

2010-03-16T17:55:00.000-07:00

So today I helped my friend Chris replace his front bumper. He had gotten into a little fender bender and was tired of the hole there.

So you don't know how to remove the bumper eh? Well here is (what I think) a very detailed writeup, you should be able to teach your mom how to remove a bumper with these directions ^_^.

Side Note: I really HATE those silly black screws w/ the black plastic housing around them that you have to pop out, in my opinion I find them VERY annoying and easy to break, if I had more time and wanted to put more effort into this I would've went to ace hardware and try finding a metal bolt, something that won't easily break or strip. YOU MUST BE CAREFUL NOT TO STRIP OR BREAK THESE, because then the bumper will be stuck on in that location, and the only way to remove it without removing the screw is by breaking the mounting hole on the bumper.

1. We'll start from the very first screw under the wheel well (pictured at the bottom)

2. Then we'll remove the corner/parking lamp by unscrewing the one screw up top and you'll see one screw there.

3. Next the three screws

4. Repeat step 1 and 2 for the opposite side.

5. Now, this was the least fun of the whole bumper removal... Actually it took the most time... The front turn signal light removal... Ugh.
There is only one screw for each light but I had an extremely hard time getting to it, if you peek your head into the lower grill you'll see a little opening for a phillips head screw driver. These two screws are different from the bumper screws (obviously).

(View from the opening)

(Close up shot of the screw)

You have to stick your Phillips in there and unscrew that screw quite a few turns, after that slide the signal light towards the outside of the car then it will come right out.

6. After fooling with the bumper lights, you're about halfway there, behind each light there is one screw.

7. Now it's time to go under the bumper and remove two of these screws...

This is where they are in relative position to the car.

8. This may be optional but I removed these two bolts (and then we didn't put them back on lol).

9. Another possible step.... You may have to remove the headlights if you have screws in these locations, when we removed the bumper there weren't any screws there.

-Location of screws that we removed. (Not Pictured: Two screws under the front turn signal lights)
-Location of possible screws that we were somehow missing.

10. Give it a little tug then... Tada...

Removing the lower lip is simple, just unscrew everything at the bottom and then it comes off

Again, comments, complaints & compliments are always welcome.

Autocross!

2010-03-09T13:15:00.000-08:00

I had my first experience attacking corners in a car last Sunday, I had fun but man did I suck... I hope to post more videos of my endeavors hopefully getting better as I go along.

Anyways, without further delay... The in car Video.

http://www.facebook.com/v/360495563936

I had a really hard time learning about tire psi settings and such, when I get a grip on things I'll post my results.

Happy Birthday to the Max

2010-03-09T13:11:00.000-08:00

I forgot to post this earlier lol.

But in February 1999, my car left the factory where it began it's journey....

11 Years later it's still kicking strong and now no longer missing it's stock components, fog lights.

And then I finished the rest of the interior, clock, auto A/C and radio.

Finally I added a Maxima.org sticker, but I placed it off center :(.

Happy Birthday Reddy Max.

Doubt Post: Side Project-Windshield Wipers / Interior Update!

2010-02-07T17:32:00.000-08:00

So when I'm bored I just take care of annoying ugly things on my car. Earlier it was the battery tray, now it's the windshield wipers...

There's really no need for a writeup... I think the picture gives anyone a good enough idea.

I like this de-wipered look...

Then onto the actual work... (Using the leftover BBQ Stove paint from the headlight project, and various sand paper grits... CLEAN AND SAND THEM GOOD! The paint didn't take too well originally)

Done!

Interior Update

I haven't mentioned much about my interior because I'm not too proud of it, it needs work, and I'm getting there ever so slowly.

First thing was first, I had to fix that "Knuckle Buster" shifter I had in the car. I brought a stock shift rod (which is not fun to install, I used a Short Throw Shifter installation guide to install it, but I can't drop the cat beacause it's welded to the B-Pipe and Y-Pipe!!!).

Anyways, a few days later I soldered some LEDs in the car (well only one switch, I got lazy/tired and took a looong nap).

And the next day, I finished the job... Kinda... I'm not gonna be doing the rear window switches, A. The LEDs are hard to find, B. They're hard to solder w/ my $8 radio shack kit, C. Not too many people sit in the back...

Foolin With Azcui's Accord aka the "Storm Trooper"

2010-01-21T20:40:00.000-08:00

One of my good friends owns a '96 CD, I've helped him in choices with some of his mods and it has certainly come a long way from stock.

Anyways this is what it looks like now a days, he has a few final exterior touches and then in my opinion I would consider it done exterior wise, he has other things planned for it but you'll only hear about it if I'm involved with any further activities.

So you guys ask "why do I bring this Accord to your attention?" Well he's having idling problems and I stopped him before he invested in a new ICV (Idle Control Valve), I told him I'd swing by and clean out his whole intake assembly and check out his vacuum lines and such.

I pop the hood to find .8L missing and my long lost love for Hondas.

The F22B2 out of a 1996 Honda Accord LX.

This goes without say and should be obvious... But to my shock there aren't any similarities between the VQ30DE which I call my own and the F22B2. Even though I had an idea of what I was gonna do I was slowed down with the vast differences in technologies and philosophies on how the two motors suck in air... After a short fight to work my way to the throttle body, and some WD40, I finally free'd the bastard...

The Throttle Body Assembly out of the F22B2.

[Before I continue, please excuse me for not being consistent in saying ICV or IACV. In my (Nissan) world we refer to it as the IACV (Idle Air Control Valve) and in the Honda world they refer to it as the Idle Control Valve.]

A bit more complicated than mine but there it is, the F22's Throttle Body, TPS (on the left side), Thingamabobber (Map Sensor on top), FICV on the bottom and Throttle Cable on the right

Anyways, after fooling around inside of the engine we finally got to his ICV, cleaned it and did not get lucky, it turns out his ICV is bad and he had to replace it (I've seen quotes for the part north of $200, ouch!!).

Anyways his car is back on the road now, hope to get it in a photoshoot sooner or later.

2010 Import Faceoff: Houston

2010-01-19T10:29:00.000-08:00

Well I went to Import Faceoff again, but this time I went to a damn good track in a damn good place, with good 'ol 93 octane also. My pictures aren't the greatest but here's the link to some of them. I tried bracket racing for the first time and lost in the first round but oh well, the GOOD news is that I have a new PB:

60': 2.30
330': 6.37
1/8: 9.74
MPH: 73.9
1000': 12.638
1/4: 15.07
MPH: 91.7

I'm pretty sure I could have gotten into the 14's that day but driver mod needed, either way I'm stoked and I can't wait till I get a chance to return to the track, hopefully to race against my friend Ian's '07 V6 5Speed Mustang which he swears up and down he is faster, and he was at Capitol Raceway the same day I was @ Baytown and he was doing pretty well over there. I would say our head to head competition would come down to drivers and not cars anymore.

Side Project: Engine Bay

2010-01-15T23:11:00.000-08:00

Well, I was planning on attending the 6th Cup Cake Meet in Austin, TX, but I can only go out of town so often and also Houston-Nissans has another Meet-n-Greet set up that date so I dropped that idea and decided to roll with Houston-Nissans.

To get prepared for the meet I wanted to clean up the inside of my engine bay, I began with the battery tray because: A. it was already out of my car and B. I thought it was hideous even though no one sees the bottom of it, at least for what little shows of it it won't look like....
....this

After a few layers of BBQ Stove paint... Viola!

Anyways, I'll continue to update this post once I repaint my valve cover probably in a week or so...

RTP Stainless Steel Full Clutch Line Replacement

2010-01-04T21:47:00.000-08:00

Well a week ago, I ran into more clutch troubles, I decided to cut my losses and replace the whole clutch line and remove the upper bleeder for the Maxima with the RTP Stainless Steel Full Clutch Line replacement.

The old silly straw line with the upper bleeder still attached (THIS IS NOT FUN TO GET OUT OF THE CAR)

The Stainless steel line is now installed, goes straight from the Master Cylinder to the Slave Cylinder.

I will take more detailed pictures tommorow.

I would write a how to, but it's really not that complicated, it's just unscrewing things and putting them back in....

-Here's a quick writeup- [Edited 3/15/08]

I removed the following:

1. Intake

2. Battery

3. Battery Tray (I left the wire relay box in the car, just pushed it over)

4. The main ground wire to the body and engine

5. The L shaped harness that holds the main ground wire to the engine (for slave cylinder removal)

6. Unplugged the wire harness that's in the far corner behind the driver side strut tower

Then I began unscrewing everything I could associated with the clutch line, sooner or later it became pretty loose then began the really hard part, removing the line out of the master cylinder, believe me this takes time and patience but eventually it will come out. After that, your second big challenge is to thread that sucker out of your car, I ended up bending a few lines so I can get the angle I wanted so I could get that sucker OUT!

Then installing the RTP line is simple, While the slave cylinder was removed from the car, I screwed in the slave end of the line. Then my next nightmare... I had to screw the master in of the line back in..... Ugh. After dealing with CTS (Carpel Tunnel Syndrome), I finally got it screwed it (It needs to be in nice and tight, not crazy tight, but secure because I tried pressurizing the line and it leaked @ the screw, so if that happens crank on it a little more).

RTP SS line at the master end of things (need to make sure nothing is leaking up here!!)

The SS Line going to the slave cylinder (now you see why I removed that L bracket for the ground wire)
EDIT: The hole in the screw does NOT need to line up with the hose, tighten it down without worrying about the alignment for the hole in the screw.

Do not reinstall the slave cylinder just yet... You can gravity bleed it while it's out of the car!!!

Bleeding The Clutch

If you've removed your slave cylinder and just installed a new clutch line then goto the bottom of this section.

Just google bleeding brakes or clutch, the systems work EXACTLY the same... Except when bleeding the clutch in Nissans w/ a Dual Bleeder system you do the lower bleeder first then the upper bleeder.

Just from my experience, I have gotten lucky once and successfully bled my clutch using the dual bleeder system, but that was after MANY failures. Do not let the car get you down, if you keep messing up after trying to bleed the upper valve then don't even fool with it, just bleed it the best you can w/ the lower bleeder and if your clutch works, then leave it alone.

Just installed a clutch line? Well use my gravity bleeding trick below.

(The clutch is off of the floor/disengaged during this whole process) If you have removed your slave cylinder then well... Leave it dangling in your car (as low as it can go), then disassemble it by removing the rubber boot over it (be careful, the piston has a spring attached to it, it will fly out at you like an angry ninja!). After the boot removal you'll have hydraulic fluid leaking everywhere, it's cool just leave a tarp, cardboard or w/e below your car and watch it drain away as you refill the master cylinder with hydraulic fluid.

As you let the slave cylinder dangle w/ the boot and piston removed you'll see fluid trickle out of it, keep the master cylinder filled up to max line as you watch fluid drain away (I reused the fluid that drained out, cause at this point in time it was pretty clear and not dark). Eventually it will slow down to a very slow drip and you'll start adding less and less fluid, weird right? Whenever you get bored enough and the drip has slowed down to an almost non existent drip, re assemble the slave cylinder. After re-assembly, re-install it and give your clutch a try, if it works then you're good to go! If not then you should at least have some resistance and you've given yourself a good start to resume bleeding either the regular way or using gravity. No you don't have to take the slave cylinder off of the car again, just open the valve and watch it drip away and continue refilling the master cylinder until the dripping has come to a complete stop. If you haven't had any success gravity bleeding then you can check your lines for leaks and then try it the old fashion way, or just give me a message, I'll talk you through it.

Comments? Complaints? Don't be afraid to leave any, I'm trying to make this blog useful to somebody out there...

[EDIT! 03/08/10]
This did not solve my problem, even though it will prevent any further headaches and I can feel the engagement better. I would say if your Maxima is having any problems with clutch fluid leaking, replace the whole system with this SS steel line AND buy a slave cylinder rebuild kit along with a master rebuilt kit from courtesy nissan (When I originally made this post there was such a thing, I don't know if this still exist today). (The line + Rebuild kit will run you under $50), this will prevent allot of problems in the future and you won't have to remove things over and over like I did. If I would have taken some people's advice from Maxima.org I would not have any clutch hydraulic issues... Well I'm still ignoring some advice, they say that the Clutch Master Cylinder likes to go out after a certain amount of time too... I will just wait until it starts to give me trouble, then I'll attend to it.

Just face it, I have one of the youngest 4th gens out there, and I would say that if you haven't serviced your clutch line then you're lucky, and eventually you will have to get to replacing these parts, not nissan's fault, it's just that time does degrade parts. My car as of last month is now 11 years old, most likely your 4th gen is older than that, you're going to be replacing old parts, that's just true with any car.

Thank goodness this isn't much of a daunting task, if I knew what I was doing I could've had it done in a few hours instead of a long day.

Welcome! First post is a ldoozy..

2010-01-04T19:53:00.000-08:00

I decided to start a blog for my daily struggles with learning the delicate ways of modding/tuning an automobile.

I have had the fortune/misfortune to come across many different vehicles, including: 1997 Buick Le Sabre Limited, 2001 Nissan Maxima SE, 2005 Toyota Camry LE, 1998 Chevrolet Camaro V6 5-speed, 2004 Ford Mustang LX, 2007 Chevy HHR LS, 2007 Chrysler PT Cruiser Limited, 2007 Hyundai Sonata SE V6, 2001 BMW 330i (5spd) and then onto what I own now. I currently own a 1999 Nissan Maxima SE-Limited, along with it in my immediate family are the 2008 Honda Accord LX and the 2002 Mitsubishi Diamante LS.

I purchased my Maxima in April of 2009 with around 155,000k miles. I purchased the car with many modifications were already done including the Warpspeed Y-Pipe with a High Flow Catylic Converter, Random Tech Underdrive Pulley, 2003 G35 Coupe 17" Staggered Rims, trunk badges removed, Dropzone springs, RTP Crossdrilled & Slotted rotors, PBR Metal Master pads.

I was up in college (@ KSU) playing football when during spring football I incurred a serious knee injury which prevented me from being able to drive a manual for while.

In June, I flew home and finally saw it...

I purchased the car with:

Manual 5 Speed

Auto Climate Control

No ABS

No stereo and speakers

Ceased AC Compressor

The aforementioned mods

All for $2600 + Kansas Tax/Registration = $2940.77

First thing is first a good washing and waxing, I used the pictured products, some no name (Blue Coral?) car wash soap, Meguiar's Cleaner Wax and Black Magic Tire Shine.

After a wash it was to the shop... (this was before I got adventurous with the tools in my garage), to my surprise there was more wrong with the car than I thought, there was a leak in the Power Steering Pump (again before I really learned about this car, it was probably a bad seal which could have been a $5 fix instead of $350), along with three oil leaks which were leaking a good amount.... Anyways left the shop poorer but safer (With the pump leaking, it leaked directly onto the rubber axle seals which are rubber, and rubber+oil = fail). Then returning home I installed the stereo. The rear deck has 6.5 Infinity References, the front panel has Clarion 6.5s all connected to a Pioneer DEH-P6800.

then onto it's first photoshoot with my friend's fancy DSLR camera and his 1995 Saab 9000 Aero.

The duct tape was on there because there is a little white grommet ( part 26110J) that belongs behind the bumper lights missing, for a little less than $3 I got that taken care of along with ordering black bumper lights.... which had a slight flaw in them... the screw out of my oem bumper lights did not fit the ebay black ones... oh well... 30 mins w/ a drill solved that then...

So that was my official first visual mod to my car.

After driving it back and forth to Kansas, I came back home for the Fourth of July and of course more photos.... Red, White & Blue Photoshoot.

Before leaving town again I had a very interesting turn of events....

I installed my new Kenwood DPX-503

The next night the hose leading to the slave cylinder decided to leak, and my car was dead on it's feet, so while attempting to fix it, during the day while I was out collecting parts...

Someone decided to back into my car and not leave any info. Enough of that, I don't like talking about it.

In September Import Faceoff made it's way to Kansas City Missouri, which is around 1 hour and 30 minutes (of my driving) from Manhattan, KS, it was there where I had the opportunity to partake in my first real "Drag Race". No pics of the slips but the best out of 4 runs that day was:

'60 foot time: 2.490

1/8 Mile ET: 10.032

1/8 Mile MPH: 71.89

1/4 Mile ET: 15.416

1/4 Mile MPH: 92.41

Density Altitude: 1810

Track Name: KCIR

Anyways still up in Kansas I decided to clean my maf to help fix the stuttering while accelerating @ low rpm problem, but while taking it apart, I failed and broke my MAF-> Cone Filter piece, after some duct tape and eBay shopping, I came across a used Bomz Short Ram Air intake for $20.

It sounds much better than my previous generic K&N cone because of it's a JWT Pop Filter knockoff, I doubt I'll gain any HP w/ that sound but hey, atleast it makes me think I'm faster, and that's what counts right?

Around November, 4 months after purchasing those GOD AWFUL Goodyear Eagle LS-2s (Just look @ my '60 foot from KCIR, those tires weren't hookin up to save my life), the Eagle's just about had it (w/ 5000 miles on em, not Goodyear's fault, mine) w/ 2-3/10s remaining I purchased some used Bridgestone RE960 Pole Positions. Immediately after leaving the shop the belt broke on my passenger side tire, to my luck the tire did have a sidewall gaurantee so I returned it, only to learn that they only had a Bridgestone S-02 in stock, so I took it and went on my merry way. After driving on these for awhile I've gotten the feel for em, the RE960 is better in rain over all, but the S-02 grips so well when it's dry outside that I will always get summer tires from now on (I plan on purchasing Michelin Pilot Sport PS2's later this month).

So in early November it was time for an oil change, I decided to go w/ Amsoil XL Synthetic w/ a Wix filter. I went to 10w-30 because of the oil leaks, and whaddya know? Less oil is leaking, but as for the oil, so far so good, I still maintained my mpg, since I got it part of a group deal (cheaper than going to the website) I see no drawbacks and I will continue to use Amsoil.

During thanksgiving break I decided to do Digital's Cefiro Clone mod but with the 95/96 Headlights (they came w/ the car) and 95/96 corners. This is the link to the thread on maxima.org.

Then I (Well not me, my friend Andrew w/ the Saab) snapped some more photos of the car.

And well after all of that, here you are now, the beginning of my blog.

Welcome, and I hope to provide you with as much useful information as possible, I plan on making how-to's and reviews and try to entertain you with videos and other media as well.