My new Q4

[mtcookson]

Picked it up a few days ago. Some of you may have seen the thread in general chat about the guy giving away the Q in Wichita. Turns out with just a bit of brake and power steering fluid I was able to drive it back home. Needs the brakes bled, power steering hose, a tuneup... well, you guys know, the regular. It does have some body damage in areas and the seats aren't in the greatest condition but for being free, its not bad at all.

Sorry for the dark pictures, getting too dark after work now.









Oddly enough this picture got named Q4 (plus its the reason for the title)











Some of the bad spots:

Doesn't look all that bad but it did cause the hood to bow a little bit





Can't see it here but there are a couple dings



Doesn't look quite as bad in person... but still needs some work regardless







Nothing bad here, rear seat is in pretty good shape.



Planning on restoring it to its former glory over time. I still have quite a few projects to finish in front of it but there are some things I need to do before I'm confident driving it. Needs some spark plugs, probably a knock sensor, pretty sure the fuel pump needs replaced and probably the fpcu, brakes (going with Z32 as I have tons of Z32 parts laying around). Probably run some Seafoam and/or BG44K to get it cleaned out the best I can. Planning on doing a simple exhaust to let the VH sing a bit.

[AlabamaDan]

He just gave it away? How come I never find these things?

[mtcookson]

Yup. He actually got it free himself, which is why he was giving it away.

[maxnix]

Welcome to the Q45 restoration crazies.

It's worth it.

[qsiguy]

Looks like a prime candidate for some big mods! Turbo that puppy! Incredible find!

I thought I did good on my 2nd Q but mine cost me $500. My doesn't run tho Of course, except for the engine not running it's in better shape than my turbo Q and it's got NOS, Brembo Brakes, and nicer wheels than my other one.

[mtcookson]

Most definitely. I actually have a 90 Q as well but I bought it to put the VH and other various parts into my Z32. Ever since driving it though, I told myself that I would definitely get one again to drive. Definitely couldn't pass up on a free one to work on.

Edit:

That's weird... you must have posted at the same time as me as I didn't see your post when I posted mine.

Anyway... as far as future mods I'm thinking I may attempt a 5-speed swap as I don't think the auto is going to last all that long. That will definitely come after the Z is running though. I definitely would like to boost the Q but that will probably come after boosting the Z first as well. I have a few different things I want to try with the VH in the Z and if they work out like I'm hoping I'll do the same on the Q.

[brymax]

Yup. He actually got it free himself, which is why he was giving it away.

BEWARE!

I rec'd. a Himalayan / Persian cat for free one time back in the day. That's like a $2000 cat (to some cat lover I guess) and we couldn't believe the guy was "Just giving it away".

Oh we took the cat alright. We eventually changed his name to Ralph-Alpha. God damn cat puked and crapped over everything in the whole house, was meaner than anything I'd ever seen before, and tore up my $2000 leather sofa.

So I gave it away to some other poor sap who also could not believe I was just giving it away.

Beware of a curse. Perhaps the conditions of relinquishing himself from the curse was that he could not receive money for the car. It had to be given away.

Always lookin at the bright side, I am.

Good luck.

[mtcookson]

He said they let their daughter drive it and, from what I can tell, they put at least 10k miles on it. Being that is has right over 200k miles on it he probably didn't want to invest much into it.

Luckily I already have quite a few of the parts needed to get it in decent running condition so hopefully it'll turn out to be pretty good. Before doing much driving though I need to get into the engine and see if the chain guides have been updated. Being that is has 200k miles already I would think that it possibly could have them but... its hard to tell and I don't want to risk it.

I'll probably do a compression check while replacing the plugs as well just to get an idea of the internal condition of the engine. Minus the p/s pump, there aren't any abnormal noises so I have pretty good hopes for it.

[Haitian_King]

Nice Q. Just like mine, but I don't have the wood on the doors. Is that a stock option? I have it on the dash and shifter.

Did the P.O. just carry razor blades in his back pocket? That looks intentional. Overall, it was free. Good deal.

I may head over to the General chat myself if free cars are available.

[mtcookson]

I think the wood is one of those aftermarket dash kits. I'm probably going to put the stock black, leather dash back in as I have one in my parts Q. The wood doesn't look all that bad... but I hate to cover up that good looking leather.

[qship96]

Dash is NOT leather, but a high quality man made imitation.

[mtcookson]

Ehh, you know what I mean.

[AlabamaDan]

I thought that wood looks pretty nice. It looks like something that might have been stock on a Q. Not like some of the other aftermarket stuff.

[mtcookson]

I agree, it definitely doesn't look bad at all. I actually generally dislike wood interiors like that but this one I don't mind... but I think I'd prefer the stock black dash over it. I like darker interiors.

[Haitian_King]

Well if you get rid of it, I wouldn't mind having it. I don't have any wood on my doors. I'd take the whole set off you, if you're not going to keep it.

[mtcookson]

Sounds good. I'll let you know what I end up doing.

[q45infiniti]

Nice find man. Interior looks a lot like mine right now,(without the wood trim), but Im planning on restoring it soon also. have fun Keep us updated!!!!!

[mtcookson]

Will do!

[mtcookson]

Update:

- Z32 Brembo blanks are ordered to go along with the calipers I alread have- Under plenum hose kit ordered- New knock sensors ordered (cheapest I've found yet that appear to be JECS, gonna try 'em out http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...h=003)- Valve cover seal supplies ordered

I'm going to start taking it apart this week to prepare for the stuff above as well as new spark plugs, new accessory belts, fuel pump and probably FPCU, and the metal backed guides. Also need to adjust the shift linkage so will be doing that as well. Should be running great again very, very soon!

About forgot, I'll also be putting on the struts from my other Q as they're still in decent shape unlike the ones on it. Hopefully soon I'll be getting some Tokico's and those springs if we can get enough people.

Will also be modifying the headlight switch to turn off the low beams when the high beams are on. You can see much further when the low beams are off making for night drive that much safer. Its very easy to do as well, already did it in my M30. I just used a little plastic piece from the inside of an 89-94 Maxima headlight switch. Its a little square plastic piece that slides across three buttons inside the assembly (two buttons for high, one for low... two being for constant on and flashing the high beams). Little recesses in the surface of the plastic piece dictate which switch is pressed according to the position of the headlight switch arm. In the case of the Maxima switch, there is simply a recess for the low beam when the arm is forward for the high beams keeping them off. I'll be sure to take some pictures of the process.

Lastly, I'll be doing some exhaust mods... want to let the VH sing a little bit.

[mtcookson]

Started taking stuff apart last night and have decided on a few other things:

- Replacing alternator while I'm in there. Spun it by hand and it has a bit of a catch... I have a feeling it won't last too long and I luckily already have a fresh replacement.- Definitely doing the water pump. Spinning by hand it also feels like its almost dead.

Thinking of trying another modification... I absolutely hate mechanical fans used on most RWD vehicles so I'm going to put in the radiator and electric fan from my Maxima (I mostly hate them because of the noise... they remind me of big trucks and they take up a lot of space). Core wise, the Q45's radiator is only marginally bigger by roughly 20 or so square inches (and that's outside dimension, not true core dimensions, difference will be even less) and the thickness of the two are the same so I don't think I'll have any cooling issues. Inlet and outlet are in the same generally location, will only take minor trimming of the hoses to fit. Already have a control unit for the fans to kick them on when needed. Biggest reasons, the fans are only on when needed and I'll gain a few inches of space between the shroud and the engine making any needed work in front of the engine much, much easier (i.e. no removal of fan shroud or anything). If I do happen to experience any issues I'll still be hanging on to the old radiator and such to put them back in if need be. I also found out last night that the fan used on the VH appears to be the same as the fan used in the Z32 300ZX... so, those of you with cracked fans can use the Z32 fan as they are probably a little easier to find and for whatever reason seem to always be in better shape from what I've seen.

Will also be installing a transmission cooler (old Q actually had one... must've been put on too late though because that transmission had issues).

More to come!

[mtcookson]

Got to the guides tonight... engine has right over 200k miles and surprisingly the right guide was still mostly intact while the left guide...... well, it appeared to break while in my ownership or not too long before. The main back piece of the left guide was sitting down on the oil pump's lower guide. The whole back piece was intact but chewed up a bit.

Got the new guide in on the right after some heavy fighting against the stock guide bolts... twisted two allen wrenches trying to get them out. I had to cut one of the twisted wrenches, put the piece of the wrench in a 5 mm socket, and put use 1/4" - 3/8" and 3/8" - 1/2" adapters to use the little thing with an impact wrench (didn't have any 5mm allen/socket things so had to make my own but it worked great). Anyway... got that side done and was going to do the other side but started getting too cold and tired and decided to quite for the night. Don't have any heat in the garage and its been quite cool the past few days so couldn't handle much more of it.

Should hopefully be getting the rest of my parts this week and, if so, will hopefully have it running by the weekend... definitely can't wait.

[bullittandy]

I'm reading this thread and your parts list and am having deja vu. I just bought a wrecked $700 99 Q45 and a $1200 97 parts car. I figured that after I sold the parts I didn't need (after taking the ones I did) I should have about $1000 invested in a beautiful 99Q45. Right?

Wrong! Doing the same as you, "Well while I'm here......"

[mtcookson]

Yeah, I definitely know how that goes. Have a few projects that are getting the same treatment... like my Z, have the engine out and just recently decided that while its out I'm going to do some extra mods to it.

Need to add fuel filter and air filter to the list. I'm going to do a sort of custom cold air setup. Basically just building a new air box to use the stock air inlet hole and maybe a few others underneath it but mostly just so I can get a dry cone filter. I have so many laying around that aren't getting used that I'd like to start going through some of them.

[mtcookson]

My eBay knock sensors came in just a bit ago... look like the real deal. The sensor itself has on it:

6530 Unisia JECS Japan [Nissan symbol] A53-600 M01 and a yellow dot.

I haven't seen the stock sensor yet so don't know what is stamped on it but looks to be like the correct sensor. Got two for $110 shipped on eBay.

[qship96]

Nissan really over-prices their knock sensors and oxygen sensors

I would bet each cost less than $10 to make

[mtcookson]

I believe there were just worries that some of the knock sensors on eBay are sold as Nissan sensors but really aren't. I agree though, they definitely charge a bit much on a lot of their parts.