Today's hunting trip.

[OwnerCS]

Today while many of my relatives, friends, and neighbors went back to their "rice country" (Stuttgart Ark) duck clubs to (purportedly) hunt some duck after a day of eating turkey, I engaged in a different kind of hunting trip.

Yesterday I found three (94-95) model Q45s at a Pick-n-Pull (p-n-p) in Little Rock. To me that find was better than any Black Friday sale could ever deliver expecially if a Q45a was available to provide a sway bar. In the past I have made the trek to a Pull-a-Part (p-a-p) in Memphis. So this morning I placed a call to p-n-p in Little Rock to ask if by chance one of the Q45 models was a Q45a. Amazingly, a guy answered the phone and referred my question to some office system where he determined one of the Qs was in fact a Q45a. Bingo! Here’s my chance to pick up a rear sway bar. Actually there is a Q45a that lives near the yard that I visited last summer as a potential parts car purchase. I was hoping the car made it to that yard, as the only thing I really wanted from that car was the rear sway bar. I already have a 20mm front bar from a Q45t.so this would have completed my Q45a sway bar set.

When I got to p-n-p I found a Q45 with the hydraulic pump under the hood and the letters Q45a spray painted on the side of the car. The rest of the car looked like a base model to me – though I’m just beginning to learn about the different models. I checked all of the cars and no rear sway bars could be found. Ah well duck it! No hunting prize for me today. So without being able to get my duck today at the salvage yard, let me make the best of this outing. Now the p-n-p in Little Rock is much different from the p-a-p in Memphis in regards to facility quality. The Memphis p-a-p really looks like the web site pictures. The Memphis p-a-p check out girls are courteous and friendly and if you wink and smile (e.g. flirt) with them, they will let you have some connected items at a deep discount. Now there’s an example of how it pays to make friends in high places.

The p-n-p in Little Rock is a tired old facility that has been a junkyard for as long as I can remember – which I must admit is a long time -- as it were. There were no wide check out lanes or friendly girls like at the p-a-p in Memphis to add another minus to the experience. What I did find were three nearly complete Q45s that were quite ripe for picking – no pun intended. You can bet I will be back for more stuff in the future. Now p-n-p prices are higher than the p-a-p in Memphis so I am paying a premium for a close location. .

So at check out time, I decided to do some “at the register” negotiating because there was no way that I would have paid $8 each for some injectors that happened to be stuck in a fuel injector rail. I told the guy that he could keep the dried and cracked looking injectors, as I only wanted the rails. He fiddled with his computer for a minute then decided to just duck it and let me have the rails, harness, and old dried and weathered injectors for $50. Also their web site didn’t list a price for a TCU so I got the guy to sell me one for $25 where he wanted to charge $50.

So if I compare today’s parts hunt trip to a duck hunt, I did come home with a few teal and maybe a wood duck or two.

Here’s what I got for $189.

1) Passenger front seat lower moulding (bolster) that is cracked on mine. Yep I know the tan is slightly different between a 91 and 94. I think is will be close enough to work if the moulding will fit my 91 seat.

2) An FPCU part number 17001 60U01 from a clean looking car with 150,000 miles that looks like it rear ended something that must have caused it to have been toatled by an insurance company. .

3) An ABS control unit from under the package shelf. That appears to be one expensive item at over $1,200 for a new one.

4) A 95 model TCU. A guy who has been trying to sell me his silver 90 model needs a first gear start TCU in the worst way.. He lost his transmission and replaced it with a salvage yard special that is weak at best. Since he has been underemployed lately, I offered to just give him a TCU from a 94 model to hopefully save current or whatever 3rd transmission finds a home in that silver and black 90 model – that actually looks great in the pictures. I like to help out a neighbor whenever I can -- espeically when I've had such a good year. Though I’m not ready to even think about another timing chain project till I get the timing belts replaced in the Ridgeline and attend to some misc preventative maintenance items on the Maxima. Though I would enjoy having a Q as a daily driver that at least had its first door ding that I could stop by a Wal*Mart without fear of catching a ding on the way home from the office.. The junkyard donor Q looked like it might have had some care in its life as the engine and interior was clean for a junker.

5) Injector rails, 8 dried out injectors, and an injector harness. This was my first time to find junkyard rails that hadn’t been previously manhandled and bent in some way or another.
6) Three Infiniti plenum emblems all in perfect condition that will soon be nickel and 24 k gold plated -- so they will look good with somebody’s platinum and gold Rolex jubilee edition watch.. LOL.
7) Another intake plenum. My son wants to polish one like I polished the one for my 91 and offer it for sale as a way to have something to do this winter. We snagged another plenum on a previous trip to Memphis complete with EGR and cables and as many hoses that stayed attached to it after the cut and run removal.
8) A floor mat that I will use in a color removal theory test to lighten a gray OEM mat it so it can be custom dyed tan thus to match my tan 91 model's carpet.
9) Three front strut tower plugs.
10) A handful of assorted screws.

The good news is I found three relatively complete Q45s (for parts cars) within a 30- minute drive. I’m glad that I can have three parts cars without making my neighbors any more upset than they already seem to be about a guy seen working on a car in his garage every evening and weekend.

In the end, was this hunting trip so bad after all?

Now back to the garage for me to hook up more freaking vacuum hoses.. Quack quack! .

[elwesso]

You're lucky you can find parts so local. I would be lucky to find any Q45 within a 2 hour drive.

[Q451990]

Sounds like a fun trip! I'm going back through ATL on Monday... which has three PAP locations - but sadly my wife and 1 year old son wouldn't have much fun there. And I don't have tools with me. The 3.5 hour drive from Columbia to ATL is tempting to just make a long day trip sometime... they probably have a dozen Q45s between the three locations, plus the Augusta location that would be on my way.

Did any of these 94+ Q's have a black interior? I'm looking for some black a-pilar covers so that I can add the tweeters...

Heath

[OwnerCS]

Sounds like a fun trip! I'm going back through ATL on Monday... which has three PAP locations - but sadly my wife and 1 year old son wouldn't have much fun there. And I don't have tools with me. The 3.5 hour drive from Columbia to ATL is tempting to just make a long day trip sometime... they probably have a dozen Q45s between the three locations, plus the Augusta location that would be on my way.

Did any of these 94+ Q's have a black interior? I'm looking for some black a-pilar covers so that I can add the tweeters...

Heath

As a matter of fact one did.. That car looked so good that I didn't want to bother the interior. The front seats were about like my car.. While I was removing the rails, two guys came up and stated "you're not going to be going inside it are you? Because WE'RE taking the seats." I replied "Well bubba I don't need the seats as I'm here to get engine parts! So I had to ask if they were going in another INfiniti. He replied "Nah they're for my pick-up." Don't you know that's going to present some interesting problems? We might have someone arrive in a few days needing help decoding the seat wiring harness.

My guys got bored with it after they check out every type of car there. But you can bet that I will be back soon to harvest everyting of value from those plums.. I'm going to need instructions on how to remove the A pillar upho9lstery without damaging it.. LOL

Let me know what you need as my workshop is running out of space fast.

[goody90q45]

.....Here’s what I got for $189......

You got quite a good haul for your $$. There's usually a dozen Q's in the local junkyard here but they don't have more than a bunch of fasteners left on them. They get picked over quickly. I also have to negotiate the price down at the counter every time to get a fair deal.

Where are you at on getting your Q up and running?

[Q451990]

As a matter of fact one did..

I'll have to look again when I get home to see what it'll take to remove them. I think it's just a matter of pulling the grab handle on the passenger side, and poppling them out. Can you check with the yard about pricing before you make your next trip?

Thanks!

Heath