New to NICO, but not to Nissans!

A General Discussion forum for cars and other topics, and a great place to introduce yourself if you are new to NICO!
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95maxrider
Posts: 31
Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2012 11:03 am
Car: 1996 Infiniti I30, 1988 BMW 528e
Location: Kensington, MD
Contact:

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Hi everyone,

My name is Nick, and I've owned Nissans for the last 15 years or so. I first got a 1995 Maxima (automatic) when I was in high school, but sold it after two years to pick up a stick shift 1996 Infiniti I30, which I've had ever since. I started out doing drag racing, but later moved on to auto-x and road racing. As such, the car has been heavily modified to be as competitive as possible for a 20 year old FWD family sedan.

Here's my article!

http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/featur ... oject.html


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numbnuts240
Posts: 32395
Joined: Sat Jul 01, 2006 4:17 pm
Car: 1999 exploder 4-door 5-speed, 1974 fairlady z 250gt, 2011 ford focus, 2010 mazda3
Location: TJ

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very cool. welcome to the club.

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frapjap
Posts: 13702
Joined: Thu Jul 01, 2004 2:46 pm
Car: '99 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am
'07 Subaru Legacy
Location: South Coast Massachusetts

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Welcome to NICO!

That is a cool freggin' car! Are you kicking a** and taking names at the local course?

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95maxrider
Posts: 31
Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2012 11:03 am
Car: 1996 Infiniti I30, 1988 BMW 528e
Location: Kensington, MD
Contact:

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Thanks guys!

Well, compared to a lot of cars a local auto-x events I do pretty well, but up against well prepared Cobras on 335 Hoosiers in XP, I don't really stand much of a chance. Still, it's quite fun when guys with 911 Turbos come up to me after events and ask why my car is so fast!

I almost forgot one other unique mod to my car- the 2J Racing Scott-Russel linkage to panhard rod conversion. As far as I'm aware, I'm one of 3 Maximas that has this mod. It was totally worth it!

Stock:
Image

Panhard rod:
Image

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frapjap
Posts: 13702
Joined: Thu Jul 01, 2004 2:46 pm
Car: '99 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am
'07 Subaru Legacy
Location: South Coast Massachusetts

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That is pretty cool!

Where is your exhaust dumping? Or did it happen to be off in that photo on the lift?

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95maxrider
Posts: 31
Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2012 11:03 am
Car: 1996 Infiniti I30, 1988 BMW 528e
Location: Kensington, MD
Contact:

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frapjap wrote:That is pretty cool!

Where is your exhaust dumping? Or did it happen to be off in that photo on the lift?
I can't find any pics of the panhard actually on my car, so I pulled those pics from Google. My exhaust exits normally at the rear from a G35 sedan muffler (2.5" inlet and pretty quiet).

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AZhitman
Administrator
Posts: 71061
Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2002 2:04 am
Car: 58 L210, 63 Bluebird RHD, 64 NL320, 65 SPL310, 66 411 RHD, 67 WRL411, 68 510 SR20, 75 280Z RB25, 77 620 SR20, 79 B310, 90 S13, 92 SE-R, 92 Silvia Qs, 98 S14.
Location: Surprise, Arizona
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Nick, that is one sexy i30 - I always loved that particular style, and yours is subtly wicked.

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float_6969
Moderator
Posts: 19853
Joined: Mon Aug 26, 2002 1:55 pm
Car: CA18DET swapped 1995 Nissan 240sx (too many mods to list)
2015 SV Leaf w/QC & Bose (daily)
Location: Topeka, Kansas
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I love this! Atypical builds are my favorite!!! How did the rear suspension change affect the handling?

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95maxrider
Posts: 31
Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2012 11:03 am
Car: 1996 Infiniti I30, 1988 BMW 528e
Location: Kensington, MD
Contact:

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float_6969 wrote:I love this! Atypical builds are my favorite!!! How did the rear suspension change affect the handling?
I got the panhard rod installed when I was still on Konis/Eibachs (before the BC coilovers) so I'm guessing its effect was more pronounced than it would be now with the stiffer spring rate, but from what I remember it made the rear of the car stay flatter through corners, similar to a RSB (which I also have). The ends of the bar are a little noisy, but it's a fair trade off. I would do it again given the chance.

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Ace2cool
Posts: 12672
Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 5:21 pm
Car: 1991 Nissan 300ZX TT
1966 Datsun Fairlady 1600
2005 Suzuki GSX-R 600
1974 Honda CB550 Four
2009 Ford F150 Lariat
Location: Murfreesboro, TN

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Image

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numbnuts240
Posts: 32395
Joined: Sat Jul 01, 2006 4:17 pm
Car: 1999 exploder 4-door 5-speed, 1974 fairlady z 250gt, 2011 ford focus, 2010 mazda3
Location: TJ

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bump for an awesome article about an awesome car. i actually never even knew i30's were offered in a manual. i'm loving everything about this car, from the quality mods, to the performance, all the way to the passionate owner. kudos, brother. glad you found your way to our, and hopefully your new, home.

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numbnuts240
Posts: 32395
Joined: Sat Jul 01, 2006 4:17 pm
Car: 1999 exploder 4-door 5-speed, 1974 fairlady z 250gt, 2011 ford focus, 2010 mazda3
Location: TJ

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vonscorpio
Posts: 109
Joined: Thu Oct 16, 2014 10:16 pm
Car: Current:
15 Q50S
91 M30
Past:
16 QX50
11 G25x RIP
97 I30 RIP
01 QX4
11 G37 Sedan
07 Maxima
Location: WA, USA

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Sorry to resurrect a few-month-old post, but I saw your write-up featured on the front page of NicoClub...

I really enjoyed the write-up and bravo on putting an I30 into the spotlight!

I really like your headlight mods and was wondering where can I find ones like those?

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95maxrider
Posts: 31
Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2012 11:03 am
Car: 1996 Infiniti I30, 1988 BMW 528e
Location: Kensington, MD
Contact:

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vonscorpio wrote:Sorry to resurrect a few-month-old post, but I saw your write-up featured on the front page of NicoClub...

I really enjoyed the write-up and bravo on putting an I30 into the spotlight!

I really like your headlight mods and was wondering where can I find ones like those?
Thanks for bumping it :biggrin:

The actual headlight housings are just regular/base Cefiro pieces that are slightly blacked out when you buy them. I sent mine to a guy on another website who did the projectors on both them and the fogs. He also painted the housings completely black while he was in there. You can buy Cefiro headlights that come with a projector already installed, but it's not a very good projector, so I got all my stuff through The Retrofit Source instead.

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vonscorpio
Posts: 109
Joined: Thu Oct 16, 2014 10:16 pm
Car: Current:
15 Q50S
91 M30
Past:
16 QX50
11 G25x RIP
97 I30 RIP
01 QX4
11 G37 Sedan
07 Maxima
Location: WA, USA

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Thank you 95maxrider!

I've seen them on pictures online but no one would divulge where they came from. Knowing that the Cefiro light is an exact fit is a tremendous help!

Now I just need to acquire a pair of those lights and start modding!

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95maxrider
Posts: 31
Joined: Fri Jul 06, 2012 11:03 am
Car: 1996 Infiniti I30, 1988 BMW 528e
Location: Kensington, MD
Contact:

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vonscorpio wrote:Thank you 95maxrider!

I've seen them on pictures online but no one would divulge where they came from. Knowing that the Cefiro light is an exact fit is a tremendous help!

Now I just need to acquire a pair of those lights and start modding!
These should do it :)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Infiniti-I30-Ce ... a1&vxp=mtr

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RARE-Black-Chro ... 3d&vxp=mtr

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AZhitman
Administrator
Posts: 71061
Joined: Mon Apr 29, 2002 2:04 am
Car: 58 L210, 63 Bluebird RHD, 64 NL320, 65 SPL310, 66 411 RHD, 67 WRL411, 68 510 SR20, 75 280Z RB25, 77 620 SR20, 79 B310, 90 S13, 92 SE-R, 92 Silvia Qs, 98 S14.
Location: Surprise, Arizona
Contact:

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^ Spectacular.

I'm a fan. :)


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