Cima Mascot Installation...

[LongBeachQ45]

I just got my mascot in from Q45VIP (great to work with and quick shipping) and will be installing it today. My question for those of you who have done this is what is the best distance from the front grille to mount it? I will be taking some pictures and may do a write up if anyone is interested.

[Q45tech]

Glad to see you are treating your Q41 as the Cima it really is!

[qship96]

OUCH!

It was,unfortunatly,the pivital point where Infiniti gave up on the top end luxury market and conceeded to the ls400,s class,7 series,etc-never being able to play again at this level,what a shame

[LongBeachQ45]

I would be offended if the power to weight ratio on my "q41" wasn't the same as the the older dinosaur Q's.......

Be that as it may, the installation went off without a hitch and only took about 45 mins (most of which was double and triple checking the measurements) and looks awesome. Here is a step by step process of what I did:

1) To measure out the exact midline I placed a piece of tape (3M blue painters tape is advised so that it removes easily without leaving a residue) between the winshield washer nozzles and measured the distance from the dead center of each twice, once at the top, once at the bottom. I found the midline to be about 13.75 inches.

2) I drew a line between the 2 centered marks at the washer nozzles and used a right angle to make double sure the line down the center was 90 degrees. Next I ran another piece of tape vertically down the hood to the dead center of the grille emblem (use the old Infiniti grille if you still have it, it makes things easier and its not hard to swap back when you are done) and used a straight edge to connect the earlier centered markings with the center of the gille.

3) Next I looked at the shape and curve of the mascot itself (it should stand sraight up if not a few degrees slanted back) after I marked where I wanted it to begin, I took off the plastic gasket that came with it and traced its design on the tape, checking once again to ensure everything was at 90 degree angles. After all this, the rest is just drilling. 3 holes need to be drilled, one for the upper hole which is an expandable plug fastener (included), one is for the center hole which is used to house the internal flexable portion of the mascot so that it wont snap off if abused, and the hole closest to the grille is a 5mm threaded male end which you need a washer and nut for (I used a 6 grade locking nylon coated washer and nut, about $1.50 worth of parts at Home Depot).

SIDE NOTE: The tape that was laid on the hood stopped the paint from tearing or pealing, but to protect against potential rust from the bare metal around the holes, I used a paint patch stick on all exposed metal.

Yes, its actually really easy to do, and now everyone who wanted to (minus the fartknockers who want to make jokes that forget Infiniti was made by Nissan) can give it a try. I can create a template of the exact location of mine for anyone that desires. Hope someone out there can use this.


Modified by LongBeachQ45 at 9:57 PM 8/18/2007

[q45VIP]

I just got my mascot in from Q45VIP (great to work with and quick shipping) and will be installing it today. My question for those of you who have done this is what is the best distance from the front grille to mount it? I will be taking some pictures and may do a write up if anyone is interested.

Good to hear you got it all installed.PIcs please.

[maxnix]

Glad to see you are treating your Q41 as the Cima it really is!

So true! One of the nice things about the Q45 that Infiniti got right was not to ape MB with hood ornaments like JDM wannabes.

And Nissan has some God-awful ugly ones too.

Realize that most of these are derived from early luxury marques when the were on the caps of external radiators.

On modern cars, they are just a cosmetic affectation. Even MB realizes this. BMW, Aston Martin and Audi never had them.

[maxnix]

It was,unfortunatly,the pivital point where Infiniti gave up on the top end luxury market and conceeded to the ls400,s class,7 series,etc-never being able to play again at this level,what a shame

Well, not in Japan where the G50 survived through 2002, a nice 14 year run.

Keep in mind that Toyota attacked the US market with their Cima equivalent, the second line Celsior.

And now Nissan's President is just a Cima with more makeup by Tammy Faye.

[qship96]

Toyota could have brought the Century over instead of the Celsior,but it was one old outdated looking barge with zero exterior sex appeal but with a nice v12 motor and interior!

[maxnix]

Yes, but I think even the motor is a little dated. It was for smoothness, not performance.

Gotta give Nissan credit for at least trying. Newer Ghosn era Infiniti are clever and more market appropriate, but not quite as compelling to me.

Ever checked to see who has a LSD on a large V8 sedan now days?

[elwesso]

The F50 isnt a cima, its a president.... The cima's always had the Y chassis code as far as I know.

I dont want to add fuel to the fire, the weight/power ratio doesnt mean crap, the G50 is a faster car than the Y33, plain and simple. Even the higher (numerical) gears couldnt make it faster... Maybe not so much from 0-60, but at 60+ theres no chance... Everyone says a 96 Q is slower than a Y33, but I HIGHLY doubt that. The VH45DE in the G50 is easily 300HP whereas the 260HP VH41DE in the Y33 is probably about where it is.

It does other things better than a G50 IMO, but going fast is not one of those things.

Unfortunately, Infiniti now has to put a bunch of electronic gizmos in their cars to give them appeal over most other cars... Fortunately, unlike their german counterparts they are fairly reliable... If Infiniti made the G35 a lot more like the 335, with a much more simple, clean and small dash id like it a lot more.

[Q45tech]

Strange that the Q41 was the only out of sequence falsely labeled as to displacement. in the last 20 years. Obviously they were severely chastised and fixed this in 2002..........but to blatently lie for 5 years should have resulted in a few sucides.

Thank goodness the Chinese still covet this custom make bad toothpaste or toys and defenestration is the norm.............