Thanks guys - some completed tasks and tasks comming soon

[cccpman]

Well the last couple of days I had a army buddy in town and we got to work on our cars using our combined tools and muscle to do most everything, however I did have to make three stops at the mechanic

I dont have a complete list, I will however compile it and write down the mileage/date when everything was done to keep my service record up to date

Replaced all 4 shocks w/ blues (along with dustcovers, some rubber parts that were worn in the rear)

Transmission Flush (switched to synthetic, ended up flushing it twice. Im extremely embarrassed to say but the fluid did come out black, and smelling foul. Thats the reason for the second flush, it was broken down the second time to make sure the transmission was in one piece after shifter worse, now its smooth as silk and firm as a rock when needed. My only trusted shop looked at the fluid and refused to replace claiming it wouldn't run afterwards The shop did the second flush and removed some crud)

Cooling system flush (used BG product to help clean out, its running a 60/40 mix right now, the temp stays cool for much longer also, the fluid had alot of particles floating around and it looked like some rust deposits)

Oil flush (nothing special, now I have a leak, going to repair tomorrow, switched to synthetic)

Power steering pump replaced (12 bucks! Thats right took it right out of a car and the guy said nobody takes parts from that anymore so he piratically gave it away. 47k miles on it though, if it is original)

Power steering system flushed

Replaced all 4 tires with Michelin Destiny's (I was able to get my hands on some Pirelli tires, they had slightly stronger grip to the road but were annoyingly loud on the highway and I dont want used tires anyways. This is shop 2)

Bleed brakes (nothing special)

Replaced 1 idler pulley (Have a set of 3 coming from a nico member in a couple days, will replace them all, along with belts if I can find any locally as they look like 2 need replacement)

Cleaned out the car (it took two hours, really it was harder then most of this)

Upper links replaced! (One was replaced by a shop, the 1" socket broke even after a full can of WD40 was used so I let them do it for $90 and they used my part, took them about 15 minutes)

Car aligned (Shop 3)

Finally, cleaned the entire engine with degreaser and washed the car up real nice

Thats most of the work, we replaced a couple hoses under the engine with some new ones that came in (similar to joes summarize kit). Flushed out the A/C system a second time, started from scratch and added 2 cans, Freeze 12 blows still colder then before (amazing, we had to turn it off most of the time we were driving because it was far too cold - make the switch guys im happy as can be)

To do (advice, answer questions, anything you could help with)

Fan clutch (looks straightforward)

Fan Blade (this one has two small cracks, the one i have now has like 100)

Fuel injectors (where do I place the tool to check the resistance, and to ground? Normal is? I think I recall 10-14 ohm? I bought used ones but with some awesome low mileage, I hope two or three are working really well, 37k miles for 8 injectors and fuel rail)

Knock sensors (where the hell are these things, under the plenum? I have an image from somebody who requested to see where they are, but did they remove the plenum to take it?)

Pop Charger (not sure why I bought this, maybe to get a better sound - er or something)

Belts (do I have to remove the idler pulleys to put these bad boys on, I saw reference to a tech article on it so I will brows it for more info tomorrow morning)

Steering rack is supposedly totally shot with a bad bushing or bearing or something (basically missing) on the drivers side. I was told I probably wouldn't notice it but it could end up making sound and dieing sometime soon. How much work is that going to be, something you think I could handle?)

Also have to get a new windshield tomorrow, I almost took it off the junk car but found it was cracked at the bottom from somebody else making the attempt.

Transmission checkup, to make sure its all running well and has no air bubbles in the system

My front seats are all sorts of ate up, along with the armrest in the center. The car I was looking at I wasn't allowed to take them even after I offered 200 bucks (not a lot, but I have no idea what a fair price is.) Question is where could I find seat covers, or just new seats that fit and look nice, for a nice price?

Paint/body work - neighbors kid went on a destruction run, placed worms on my car probably a week ago, they baked in there all day and night and it ate right through some clear coat and left white residue that just wont wash off no matter how much work i put in. Also have a nice new set of baseball dents (yelled at him after the first, ended up hearing a thud and seeing him go running after the second). The hood is slightly bent on the passenger side where it connects (like near the bumper) - easy fix? Finally, rust spots, colorado was hell on the car and it has rust behind both rear wheels, it ate all the way through pretty much. I could sand it down myself but what should I do to fill it, I have no way of working metal so what sort of playdo or whatever type stuff would you recommend? I plan on getting paint as soon as the guys at InfinitiPartsUSA (Now its partially my fault, but I did follow their instructions to order them on JULY 10th! - had to reorder when they never arrived on July 31, after getting 2 day shipping its a hell of a long two days...) send me the new bolts for the fuel pump assembly (missing a couple, o-ring does not seal well and the car smells of gas... AGAIN, also needed the bolts that were supposed to come with new under engine cover... same story had to reorder and still waiting)

NICO ECU - *wink* *wink* *cough* *cough* man, I have wanted this so bad, tomorrow the car should be like new and ready for it... if anybody (hopefully this isn't the way I end up acquiring it) totals their Q I would love to get it off your hands for equal or more then you paid for it. If not I would love to be on the waiting list, I missed it last time because I wasn't home and was not going to be home for a long time but that time has passed

The first advice I hear is send a message to them at infinitipartsUSA , thats being done right after this. What sort of advice or cautionary tails do you have for the up and coming replacements and repairs?

And finally, the part that started this. Thanks guys, without your help this Q would have been in the grave a long time ago. Wes, you made that A/C article before I got to it - oh well I admit yours is much more in depth and useful then something I could have come up with. This forum sustains the life of so many veichles, the mechanics who got a look at her today were blown away, in fact one called it a technological marvel for its time, one I let drive it said it made him feel like he was in a good old American muscle car (finally, compliments!). The last thought I was bringing in an 80's jag when looking out the window. Thanks again guys, it feels great to have a hobby and have the knowledge and support from you guys to DIY and know everything is being done well and correctly

[elwesso]

Good reading about this, I'm glad with the progress youre making.

To do (advice, answer questions, anything you could help with)

1. Fan clutch (looks straightforward)

2. Fan Blade (this one has two small cracks, the one i have now has like 100)

3. Fuel injectors (where do I place the tool to check the resistance, and to ground? Normal is? I think I recall 10-14 ohm? I bought used ones but with some awesome low mileage, I hope two or three are working really well, 37k miles for 8 injectors and fuel rail)

4. Knock sensors (where the hell are these things, under the plenum? I have an image from somebody who requested to see where they are, but did they remove the plenum to take it?)

5. Pop Charger (not sure why I bought this, maybe to get a better sound - er or something)

6. Belts (do I have to remove the idler pulleys to put these bad boys on, I saw reference to a tech article on it so I will brows it for more info tomorrow morning)

7. Steering rack is supposedly totally shot with a bad bushing or bearing or something (basically missing) on the drivers side. I was told I probably wouldn't notice it but it could end up making sound and dieing sometime soon. How much work is that going to be, something you think I could handle?)

8. Also have to get a new windshield tomorrow, I almost took it off the junk car but found it was cracked at the bottom from somebody else making the attempt.

9. Transmission checkup, to make sure its all running well and has no air bubbles in the system

10. My front seats are all sorts of ate up, along with the armrest in the center. The car I was looking at I wasn't allowed to take them even after I offered 200 bucks (not a lot, but I have no idea what a fair price is.) Question is where could I find seat covers, or just new seats that fit and look nice, for a nice price?

11. Paint/body work - neighbors kid went on a destruction run, placed worms on my car probably a week ago, they baked in there all day and night and it ate right through some clear coat and left white residue that just wont wash off no matter how much work i put in. Also have a nice new set of baseball dents (yelled at him after the first, ended up hearing a thud and seeing him go running after the second). The hood is slightly bent on the passenger side where it connects (like near the bumper) - easy fix? Finally, rust spots, colorado was hell on the car and it has rust behind both rear wheels, it ate all the way through pretty much. I could sand it down myself but what should I do to fill it, I have no way of working metal so what sort of playdo or whatever type stuff would you recommend? I plan on getting paint as soon as the guys at InfinitiPartsUSA (Now its partially my fault, but I did follow their instructions to order them on JULY 10th! - had to reorder when they never arrived on July 31, after getting 2 day shipping its a hell of a long two days...) send me the new bolts for the fuel pump assembly (missing a couple, o-ring does not seal well and the car smells of gas... AGAIN, also needed the bolts that were supposed to come with new under engine cover... same story had to reorder and still waiting)

12. NICO ECU - *wink* *wink* *cough* *cough* man, I have wanted this so bad, tomorrow the car should be like new and ready for it... if anybody (hopefully this isn't the way I end up acquiring it) totals their Q I would love to get it off your hands for equal or more then you paid for it. If not I would love to be on the waiting list, I missed it last time because I wasn't home and was not going to be home for a long time but that time has passed

13. The first advice I hear is send a message to them at infinitipartsUSA , thats being done right after this. What sort of advice or cautionary tails do you have for the up and coming replacements and repairs?

And finally, the part that started this. Thanks guys, without your help this Q would have been in the grave a long time ago. Wes, you made that A/C article before I got to it - oh well I admit yours is much more in depth and useful then something I could have come up with. This forum sustains the life of so many veichles, the mechanics who got a look at her today were blown away, in fact one called it a technological marvel for its time, one I let drive it said it made him feel like he was in a good old American muscle car (finally, compliments!). The last thought I was bringing in an 80's jag when looking out the window. Thanks again guys, it feels great to have a hobby and have the knowledge and support from you guys to DIY and know everything is being done well and correctly

1 and 2. Replace the fan and clutch together. You pull the fan off with the clutch and if you want to seperate the fan and clutch you do so off the car. You shoudlnt have to loosen the belt or anything.

3. If your testing them on the injector itself, just put the meter on the lowest setting OHMS and then put it on the 2 leads of the injector.

4. Yeah you gotta pull the plenum. See the writeup on Q45.org and ceningolmo's photo thread

5. not really worht anything.

6. You dont have to remove the idlers if you dont want, however it may be easier than cranking the tensioners enough to get the belt off. Your call, normally I take them off so that I can inspect them for bearing wear.

7. If your steering doesnt center properly then the rack bushings need replacement. I would go ahead and reaplce the bushings, theyre not that hard to do. Makes it easier if you remove the steering joint (be sure to mark its position

8. You cant use used windshields. Try and get the best quality glass you can.

10. You can do whatever, i might hold off for a nice set of used ones else you're best off having them recovered.

11. Did you call Joe, or did you do it over the internet. I always prefer calling. SOunds like some neighbors need a can of whoopass opened on them. Sell the cone filter and install a flame thrower alarm!

12. See my other thread. 13. Call them. CALL THEM.

[cccpman]

Great thanks Wes. Most of the work has been done via messages (8) but there have been 3 or 4 phone calls thrown in there. I wasnt aware but the messages ended up being answered by somebody else then Joe (forgot his name, maybe mike? It was in another thread) so I was working with him... still am. I really am just pissed off I cant get a paint when the thing smells like its going to explode, and of course I smell of gas, you would think I do it for a living

As for the charger, I wasnt sure if I wanted a high flow intake or a charger and the charger is all that I could find... but now that im a little more experienced I realize that the vanilla intake is about as good as things could get

Im starting to look for things to give me more horsepower now that its all come together like this - ECU, maybe the charger (probably not, would suck in hotter air), my accounts starting to really drain so the turbo/super chargers are out for a good while, NOS is also a little expensive. I keep taking a peek at that article here on performance mods but its all way out there as far as price to HP gains and thus actual value. I have a friend that has professionally ported and polished Intake/Exhaust and combustion chambers and is willing to do it for the cost of parts (next to nothing he says) and my time to help it get done but im skeptical of if it will really help out on this engine as its not some cheap carbon fiber import car he normally works on. If nobody else has tried it, and its probably not going to hurt her I would be more then happy to do it and do a write up on that (is it safe sir? Is it worth the time...)

[AlabamaDan]

Nice going. I'm in a similar boat as you.

[elwesso]

Im not sure the kind of headwork he would do would do anything for the VH45. Maybe for some, but not this motor. I wouldnt expect much, if anything from that.

By far the best mod is the ECU.

[cccpman]

Today was much much less productive, I decided to repay my friend by spending most of the day working on his car, the previous owner to his car always kept things in good shape... thats the problem... All four shocks were slightly different, the shocks sold locally were a pain to install because of this (being that to change the front shocks you drain the fluid and replace the center part, there is no removing of springs, its all done through the engine bay from above). The kit that came with it - we broke three of the tools and now have to pay for them before returning it :P. Rear shocks were very hard to replace, somebody decided one day long ago to weld or solder the nuts to the screws - so off it came with a grinder but its slow work not destroying threads. Sanded down his car and completed an extra 4 hours of bodywork (everything near a tire was rusted, as soon as we sanded off the paint we ran into rust that just hadn't bleed through, but the pain was bubbled) to prepare the car for paint

The Q had something nice happen, a very nice windshield was added. I think its the one with the blue'ish tint and of course the molding all around it needed replacement.

I made repairs to the new fan blade with high heat adhesive, hopefully didn't destroy it but it really looked great and almost matches the color exactly.

Cleaned up the MAF, used a full can of the electric parts cleaner and am letting her dry. Washed all the windows except the new one (this is the first time since I have been back, and while I was gone they were not washed, will rewash tomorrow). The best cleaner I have ever found was today, we had 5 cleaners so tested them all on their own windshields, it looks and feels like carpet shampoo - strange that it works best if wiped off IMMEDIATELY

Ran into a pretty big problem, was pulled over for having only the center brake light working. Did some searching and found a post where DrewQ45 sums up the usual suspects and includes the fix's for it. Sounds like a sensor thats right next to the license plate, I will remove it in the morning and take a look

I was unrealistic with the amount of planned work for one day, so im going to make it simple for tomorrow (and I have to travel a little tomorrow so im short on time). In order of future completion - Window wash, Full car vacuum (did not know how to spell that), full carpet shampoo (and including everything above my head as well), properly install the rear seat (its not, its just sitting, im lazy I know), car gets the transmission fluid checked to make sure there are no air pockets with recent flush, fan clutch/blade install. If I actually complete that (we have work on my friends car again but its about an hours worth) I will try for fuel injectors replacement, and if that gets completed the knock sensors so my consult laptop stops telling me about it (have the blazt USB hookup w/ Nissan Datascan and the graph software - its nice but has limited uses after a few days)

Also, time to let the heat off infinitipartsusa , claim it was shipped yesterday (no, it was shipped today, you took it to fedex and they agree too) so the parts are in the mail. Finally... finally! Soon the gas smell will be gone forever, my girlfriend will sit in my car (but not touch anything) and I wont have to worry about spontaneous (actually I looked that word up too) combustion

[cccpman]

Got to the green box for the brake lights, cleaned it real good but there was no sign of burning or anything wrong (and I dont know how to take it apart, the green box is the sensor right?). Tomorrow it will be alot less TLC for that part, what a pain in the next to do with only a flashlight for light - I will do some of the hard 'tapping' recommended. What sort of cleaning would be recommended, all I had on hand was a stiff small brush to clean connectors, maybe some electric parts cleaner from my MAF job tomorrow will help? If not, any idea how to disassemble it as another user reported being able to do so and solder a couple of bad spots. And FYI, it was not easy at all, I did not find a single plastic clip, I found a bunch of screws that required me to take them out, and had to slightly bend the darn harness thing to slide the green box out because the screw holding it on is tighter then I can manage with a hand held Phillips

[maxnix]

Read the posts about OEM accesssory bulbs and TexasOil about the electrical contact dressing.

If your base has a hobby shop with a lift, you are in clover.

[cccpman]

Well it has been a slow couple of days - today the bolts FINALLY arrived from Joe's so the fuel tank was totally cleaned out, re-soldered a connection on the pump, added a new O-ring, and put it in using the new bolts. Under engine cover had the same thing go on. The part I did get that has nothing to do with stock is the pop charger (short air intake basically). I installed it and couldn't help but take it for a few test runs - the results are nothing great and maybe not even good. The car sounds like a real V8 with a lot more power under the hood, Waaa, Waaa that sort of thing as the RPM's climb. However it felt like during the mid day test runs the car was starving for air and had much lower HP ratings then with the stock air intake. Im willing to bet it all has to do with engine heat (the damn thing is hot after 30 seconds and stays hot for hours) so I may take up a project to build a heat shield with some heatsinks or something included that will get an air tight fitting to the hood and rest of the parts to totally separate the intake. However this late at night I notice a little more umph, but its not off the line like I had hoped, its at 5k+ RPM's (and at night, driving at WOT with this installed is less then curtius if your near any houses)

I know we have a few members with the new massive pop charger intakes running, anything you did to help out with keeping the air it sucks in cool and getting back the off the line response from your Q?

Oh well things keep on coming along pretty well

[maxnix]

Someone is selling a complete OEM CAI on the parts forum.

But it, install it, and make the "vroooom vrooom" sound with your lips and you'll be faster and better protected too.