Year: 1997 Model: Maxima Color: White Transmission: 5-Speed Manual Trim: SE
Highlights: Car ran 13.53 @ 101.32 mph on July 17th, 2007 at Champion Dragway, New Zealand
I purchased the feisty 4 door sedan known as Maxima, back in 1997, and basically its main duty was to be a work car and daily driver. It was not long after owning the Maxima that I soon realized, ” hey this car is kinda quick!” And having the 5 speed manual transmission in SE trim really made all the around the town driving very enjoyable. I’m sure I misjudged the cars speed and power by an initial seat of the pants dyno, lol, but the car was certainly quick and felt eager to boogie through the first 3 gears. For several years I kept the car stock, and it was only until I came across the Courtesy Nissan website that I decided to do my first two maxima modifications.
Mod List:
Engine Mods
K&N Filter
Frankencar Midpipe
2000 Upper Intake Manifold (A33)
2000 Lower Intake Manifold (A33)
2000 Fuel Rail & Injectors (A33)
2000 Rear Coils (A33)
Stephenmax IACV Adapter Plate
Cattman Headers
Custom Enterprises Polished Straight Racing Pipe
Cattman Catback
Unorthodox Racing Underdrive Pulley
Technosquare Upgraded ECU
Greddy Emanage Ultimate
Greddy Emanage Ulitmate wiring harness
Courtesy Nissan Short Throw Shifter
Odyssey PC680MJT Lightweight Racing Battery
Nissan 300 ZX Fuel Filter
Castrol Formula R Synthetic 5w-30
NGK Platinum plugs – PFR5G-11
Nismo Oil Cap
Nismo Radiator Cap
Exedy Racing Clutch (Stage 1)
Raxles Hi-Performance Axles
Redline MT-90 Manual Transmission Lubricant
Eibach Prokit Springs
KYB AGX Shocks
KYB Dust Boots
Genuine Nissan Rotor
Wheels SSR Competitions ( Anthracite w/Mach Lip )
16 x 7.5 Nissan Silvia S14 OEM factory wheels 16 inch (daily driving duties during drag season)
Tires Toyo Proxes T1R 225/50/16
Yokohama Avid S306 205/55/16 (daily driving during drag season)
Hoosier Drag Radials 225/50/16 (upfront on drag days)
Year: 1999 Model: Maxima Color: White Transmission: Automatic Trim: SE
Mod List:
Horse Power and related mods:
Vortech/Stillen V2 supercharger with V2 plate
2.87” Vortech SC pulley (11-12 PSI)
Custom 2.5″ intake piping
A 5”D x 8”L PWR water to air aftercooler (barrel design) with a Bosch water pump, a Jackson Racing front-mount heat exchanger, and a Vortech ice chest/water reservoir.
4th gen. Variable Intake ( ” MEVI ” ) set at 5200 RPMs
One-step colder NGK platinum plugs gapped to 0.037”
12.5 lb 12.2” front rotors (stock are 15lb ea.)
Warpspeed Fed Spec aluminum Y-Pipe
Cattman cat-back exhaust
Budget test pipe (just for dyno and track days)
Fed Spec. left bank manifold (CA spec –> Fed Spec left exhaust bank manifold conversion which eliminating the large left bank California pre-cat. Cattman O2 simulator for the two downstream O2 sensors)
Perma-Cool oil cooler
Autometer electronic Phantom style boost gauge
Autometer dual intake temperature Phantom style gauge
Custom steering column dual gauge pod
Very rare “manumatic” transmission control module (only +/- 7 made) – A combination of strategically placed thermal insulation and increased engine bay air flow via piping, inlets, and 12V fans for cooler engine and intake temperatures (in progress)
Dyno’d at 323HP/308TQ
Accelerating/Braking/Handling mods:
Over 200 pounds in cumulative weight reduction with little/no sacrifice to safety or comfort/convenience. Current weight is sub 3,000 lb
20.8 lb (total per wheel) 12.2” lightweight Wilwood Big Brake Kit (BBK); Wilwood Superlite calipers, Hawk HPS pads and Coleman lightweight 2-piece rotors (OEM = 26.2 lb total per wheel)
Brembo cross-drilled rear rotors with Hawk HPS pads
Steel braided brake lines
Valvoline Syn Power brake fluid
Tokico shocks (blue)
Intrax springs (purple….eeerrrr I mean ‘grape’)
Under body aerodynamic/wind diffuser paneling (in progress)
Looks (outside):
Recent complete paint job (OEM Icelandic Pearl)
Stillen ’97-’99 front lip
Ionic Dynamics side skirts modified slightly
Ionic one-piece ’97-’99 rear ground effect modified to be filled in flush (no wave) on the back plane
Vertical “mouth” slats and license plate holder section from the OEM front bumper cover removed
Side view mirrors painted all body color
Door guards shaved, all four doors
Black ring around the SE door handles painted body color
Line that goes all the way around the car has been filled in/shaved
Shaved antenna
All emblems shaved
Shaved trunk keyhole
Shaved windshield squirters
Shaved SE spoiler
Functional 4th generation Toyota Supra turbo hood scoop (available only on European Supras)
One piece headlights (R34 style)
Sarona grill (version 2)
’95 trunk conversion with the “wave” filled in flush
Custom Enterprise diamond/euro red/clear taillights with chrome/amber bulbs
Body color rear license plate frame
Rear OEM calipers painted black to match the front Wilwood calipers
Diamond clear bumper lights with chrome/amber bulbs
Looks and creature comforts (inside):
All 6 hard plastic A,B,C pillars were replaced with “fuzzy” I30 pillars
Black leather tilting I30 headrests
Black leather I30 e-brake handle
Lowered 3″ automatic shifter. Half brushed aluminum (to match dash kit)/ half perforated black leather (to match SE steering wheel), converted to push-down-to-shift (instead of push button) with black leather auto shift boot
Real brushed aluminum dash kit
Brushed aluminum sport pedals with black rubber inserts
Real leather (black) Redlinegoods e-brake boot
Real leather (black) Redlinegoods armrest cover with extra foam padding between the armrest and the leather.
Real leather covered foam padded door elbow/armrest pads (“Mom made”)
In-console cup holder (available only on ’96 Maximas)
Kenwood double din DVD/Navigation (8017) with fake 2-dimensional security decoy face
Auto dimming mirror with temperature display, digital compass and dual map lights
Additional OEM Security red LED to the right of the steering wheel (for symmetry, added security and to fill the OEM “dud” panel)
15% window tint all around including a limo windshield strip and limo on the sunroof
Back seat “fold-up” mod for transporting large/long items
New Zealand “PRND21” instrument cluster display (in progress)
Ok so I figured it was about that time to start a build thread. I have enough pic’s to keep the thread going for awhile so here we go.
I grabbed a 5spd 4gen from a local member for $500.00 with a stillen exhaust, sts, popcharger, alpine radio and upgraded shocks and struts. My plan was to use it as a daily as gas is high and my current daily was a Armada which sucks.
Bringing home the new ride, all loaded up, the truck towed this like it was nothing there.
Hard to think no one bought this for 500 bucks, WTF is happening to the Maxima game.
Needed to make room for the turbo so I relocated the batter to the trunk
Well I’ve seen worse….
Cut out the rust and boxed it back it
Time to start modding the front motor mount to clear the downpipe and semi-lock it out.
Filled it with window weld
Cut out a template for my semi lockout mod while waiting for the poly to dry
OK now to transfer this to metal
Made a plate for both sides and welded it on
Notched the mount to make room for the downpipe and reinforced it a little
All primed, painted and ready to be installed
Installed a stephenmax pftb to dek adapter plate and ported the neck on the intake to match
IACV removed and filled with jb weld, just need to sand it down and make a cover plate for it. Also made a egr bop too.
VAIS bop, now just need to clean up the edges
OK now for the good stuff
1st part of the feedpipe
Starting on the 3inch dp
Wastegate added
Routed the wastegate back into the exhaust seeing how I hated the sound of a open dump on my old car
Feed and downpipe both runs under the oil pan
Added a support bracket on the dp to the trans mount and started to heat wrap everything with lava wrap
Ok so I don’t have a turbo yet and need to keep this project moving and the car driving to save gas. So I made a turbo bop so I can mount the hotside and still drive the car
Done
Exhaust housing and turbo bop installed now just need to make something to connect the dp to the catback
Another angle
Downpipe on
Made a the second half of the downpipe to connect it to the catback in the stock location. I also added a bullet muffler where the car would have been to help keep the noise down. All I want to hear is turbo spool and bov
I am currently driving the car with the turbo bop and hotside install. Next up is to install the coldside while I’m waiting for my turbo in the mail. My goal is to save the foglights so I cut a hole in the rad support and ran the lower intercooler pipe through it.
Ran into a problem didn’t know the foglight brackets bolt to the bumper support. Got to figure this out
Retained the bumper support ends, welded some extra support brackets to them and bolted the passenger side on but had to gut the drivers side so I could run the intercooler pipe inside and welded that it on the body.
Painted the intercooler black
Put the bumper cover back on a ran into a new problem
This is how I fixed it, I extended the light harness and moved the bulb from the center to the end of the lens
How it looks with the bumper back on
Tinted the fogs
Added a stillen front lip
Running the rest of the intercooler piping
Made a intercooler pipe bead roller so I don’t have to keep running to the shop
Intercooler piping from turbo to intercooler is done and rolled, yep one pipe that’s it
3″ intake pipe so I can retain the IACV
Rolled
Solid one piece cattman MAF adapter
Turbo came so I ran the intercooler piping to the tb
Found a good deal on some coilovers with one blown strut so I sold my blues and stechs
Had to make some brake line brackets out of some sheet metal I had sitting around
Scored some 5.5gen calipers, brackets, pads and rotors for cheap
4gen vs 5.5gen
All buttoned up
So I dropped the car another 1/2inch all around over the stechs for a total of 2.75 front and 2.3 rear
Another angle
The stock drivers seat had a tear in the leather and I couldn’t find a decent replacement for less than 100 bucks. So I got a pair of these with sliders for 258shipped
Since no one makes brackets for a decent price and I had no clue if the ones I found would fit these seats I made my own brackets out of the OEM seats
Welded the brackets directly to the seats
All buttoned up, just need to figure out the seat belts now
New gauge pod with a wb02 and vac/boost gauge
Turbo came, gps gt35, t4, off center, 3inch vband dp, .68 exhaust ar
The pftb, 2013 GTR injectors, vias bop, ported 00vi, cleaned, painted and ready to be installed
1st up timing cover
So I treated myself to a racing jacket, another vafc2 since mine took a crap and going to upgrade some of my intercooler piping from 2.5 to 3inch
New engine bay pics with 3inch intercooler piping, more deleting, cleaning and polishing
Did some painting too
Aas you can see I blew my MAF apart which is common but nothing rtv and zip ties can’t fix, lol
ditched the crappy looking rusty oem rad brackets for these
finally scored a pathfinder bose radio
ordered a meth kit
Went to a dyno meet the following day and made 300hp on 7psi with the spark blowing out
This post will go into detail about the Maxima that you have either heard about or seen in the movie “The Fast and the Furious”. Below is a rundown of what has been done to this car and a little bit of history behind it.
Photos:
FEATURES:
Stillen Supercharger
Dodge Viper GTS Blue paint
Reverse mounted louvered hood
13-inch AP Racing brakes with 6 piston calipers
Stillen Suspension and strut tower bars
18-inch HP Racing chrome wheels mounted on Toyo tires
$20,000 audio system which includes 3 TV’s, DVD player, Playstation, 5 JBL Amps, and 3 12-inch JBL W12GTi subwoofers
Interior neon and strobe lights
Under body blue neon kit
Stillen body kit
Custom exhaust system
Blue carbon fiber dash kit
Autographed by the actor
30,000 original miles with air conditioning, tilt steering wheel,
factory moonroof, and heated leather seats with blue suede
upgrades.
CAR HISTORY:
The car was owned by Craig Lieberman, Technical Advisor to the movie. The car was purchased new in 1999 as a daily driver. After undergoing some mild modifications, the car went under the knife for a complete makeover in the Spring of 2000. Dodge Viper GTS blue paint was sprayed over the Stillen-enhanced body. With a custom reverse-mount hood (like a Viper), the car was the most modified Maxima known at the time.
For performance modifications, the car went to the leader in Nissan performance, Stillen, who added their supercharger kit and other accessories, including a Formula one braking system from AP Racing. The car produced 221 hp to the wheels. A Veilside carbon fiber wing and Bomex side mirrors from Japan round out the car’s exterior styling.
For the interior, Trimmasters provided a one-off blue carbon fiber dash kit and Stitchcraft provided the upholstery work. A $20,000 In-car electronics system comprised of extensive Audio/video component was installed as a Clarion/JBL/Infinity joint venture with the latest offerings from each company finding their way into the car. The car’s three huge JBL W12Gti woofers weigh more than 20 lbs. each with a special support system needed. The car’s five JBL amplifiers produce more than 4000 watts and required two additional batteries to support the electrical load.
Other lighting and trim accessories were provided by Toucan/Ractive/Eurolite and can be found throughoutthe car. The engine compartment was dressed by Hose Techniques. Motegi Ro_Ja wheels were produced just for this car and custom suspension work was done by Ractive.
The car was used by the character Vince” played by Matt Schulze in the movie.The car was used in a few action and chase sequences. The car’s performance mods were performed by Stillen in preparation for the movie. One sequence in the movie, a fight scene between “Brian” and “Vince” damaged the quarter panel and doors. The studio repaired and restored the car to perfection.
The car was valued at $75,000 during this time and era.
Year: 1999 Model: Maxima Color: Sterling Mist Gray Transmission: Auto toManual 5-Speed Trim: SE
This feature is dedicated to Jose Vargas who is a long-time Maxima OG and good friend from Brooklyn, NYC. The photos are low resolution as they were taken many many years. Hope you enjoy his awesome build!
Full Mod List / Specs:
V2 SuperCharger Kit 13PSI
Blitz BOV
Walbro Fuel Pump
350Z Fuel Injectors
Cattman Headers
Apexi Exhaust System
Short Ram Air-Intake
00vi Intake Manifold (Port & Polished)
Grounding Kit
Lightweight UDP
Fidanza Light Flywheel
Stage 3 Spec Clutch
1-piece Stainless Steel Clutch Line from MC to Slave Cylinder
ES inserts (Polyurethane Front & Rear Mount Inserts)
Left & Right Polyurethane Filled Mounts
5-Speed Swap Done in Jan 2007
Eibach Springs – Front 1.5 Rear 1.3
KYB GR-2 shocks
Front Strut Bar
Rear Strut Bar
Rear Sway Bar
Eibach Pro Alignment Kit
Energy Suspension Front Control Arm
Front Sway Bar
Subframe Bushings
18″ Azul rims
300ZX Big Brake Upgrade (4-Piston 30MM Aluminum Calipers in Blue)
13″ Cobra Rotors Drilled/Slotted
SS Brake Lines
Stillen Front Lip
Stillen Rear Skirts
Sarona Side Skirts
JDM Headlights
H.I.D Headlights Deep Blue
H.I.D Foglights Golden Yellow (Rewired to work with park lights)
Mod List:
