EXTERIOR Sticky- Don't Post Questions Here! (UPDATED)

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10-18-2001, 12:48 PM

phenryiv1

Mod her. Ate her.

Thread Starter

iTrader: (19)

Join Date: May 2002

Location: Martinsburg, WV

Posts: 9,827

EXTERIOR Sticky- Don't Post Questions Here! (UPDATED)

Last edited by Kevlo911; 06-23-2009 at 09:46 AM.

10-19-2001, 07:41 AM

clee130

Supporting Maxima.org Member

Join Date: Oct 2000

Posts: 9,159

Is it possible to make the rear windows roll all the way down?

No. It's a physical impossibility. The doors aren't long enough.

Measure the height of your rear door window. It is 17 inches. Now open the rear door and visualize where the trailing edge of the glass would be if the window was rolled down 17 inches. It's not inside the door!

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=33861

Can I change my 95/96 front/rear end to a 97+ front/rear end?

Yes.

Front end:
Bumper:
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=35296
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=13726
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=64396
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=64396

Headlights:
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=16535
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=65773

Grill:
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=8247

Rear end:
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=32529
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=54187

How much would it be to paint my entire car?

For anything decent, $2K if it's the same color. For a color change, add on another $1-$1.5K for a good job. Some paints cost more than others.

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=56888
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=51398

Where can I find touch-up paint for my car?

http://www.paintscratch.com

Touch up paint bottles start at $14.95
Spray cans are $29.95

http://www.towerpaint.com/ also carries custom spray cans.

I saw a Max with no rear emblems, how can I do this?

To shave the rear emblems, you merely take fishing line and "saw" the adhesive off. Then use bug n tar remover, prep sol, lacquer thinner or goo gone, or a combination along with elbow grease to get rid of the residue. After that, you want to clay bar the surface and then wax over it. You may see slight discoloration from where the emblem used to be but that eventually goes away. The rear emblems will leave no holes. The front one in the grille, however does leave holes.

How do I make the door pillars body color?

The black between my doors fading, what should i do?/How do i make the door pillars body color?
the black between your windows is actually vinyl tape, dont waste your time and money painting them black, do something original and even better, free

, this is how to remove the vinyl and get body colored door pillars:
1. open front door
2. use fingernails to pull up vinyl behind door
3. heat up the vinyl piece with a hairdryer so it will come off in one piece and you have less glue left on it
4. pull the piece, follow the edges and make sure to get it out from under the trim, its much easier if you can keep it in one piece
5. now you see paint, mine was very close to the paint color, already clear coated, no scratches, use some adhesive remover to get rid of the glue stuff
6. wax
7. back door: open both front and back doors
8. you need to pull back the weatherstripping a little in order to get the piece started
9. once you start pulling off the piece repeat steps 2-6
10. enjoy

other q's can be answered here:
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=70176

How do I remove the black plastic from the "B" pillar?

tools you'll need:
razor blade
heat gun
goo gone
wax

use a heat gun to heat up the black plastic and then use a razor blade to lift up on a corner be careful not to cut into the paint.

after you get all the plastic off use goo gone to remove all the extra glue from the plastic

next wax it and you're all done

What body kits are available for my car?

Check out this thread: "4th generation body kits explained"

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=145153

Note: This thread is a little outdated now. Since a few new body kits have come out for the maxima, plus i now know some new info about the old ones. I will hopefully redo the thread sometime in the future.

Can I fit a Stillen bodykit onto my I30?

Yes. For the front piece, you will need to get two front lips and mold them together.

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=66214
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=71025

How to install 97-99 grille on 95-96 - http://jrdesigns2003.com/99grill.html

How to replace a broken antenna mast

http://www.installdr.com/InstallDocs/Nissan/Maxima.html

Pick up a replacement mast of Ebay or PepBoys etc.

Last edited by phenryiv1; 01-11-2008 at 06:44 AM.

03-18-2002, 02:08 PM

ericdwong

Senior Member

Join Date: Aug 2000

Posts: 2,530

I want to put a trailer hitch on my car

How do I put a trailer hitch on my car

This may be of some interest to a few of you, who may own jet ski's, motorcycles, bikes or just would like to tow a light trailer from time to time. I put on a Hidden Hitch (www.hiddenhitch.com) 60945 hitch. The Maxima is capable of taking a class 1 hitch. While the hitch can take 2000lb/200lb trailer weight/tongue weight, the owner's manual states that the car is capable of 1000lb/100lb trailer/tongue. I choose the 60945 hitch because is a drill less design, that uses existing bolts and holes to fit on, and it has the detachable 1 1/4" receiver that can be used with a bike rack with an extension. It weighs I'd estimate at 30-40 pounds, so it will increase the weight on the car, but it isn't too bad. When the bar and ball are not installed, the hitch is almost completely invisible, except for the receiver poking out from where under the license tag is. Put on the included cover and it almost vanishes. Reese, Dalan and Draw-Tite also make hitches.

Installation was fairly straight forwards, needing 12 mm, 14 mm, 17mm sockets (6 point) and a torque wrench. Remove the 2 rear tow hooks, and let the muffler hang down. Then remove the right muffler bracket. The hitch will replace one of the muffler hangers. Bolt the hitch into place, and then torque it down. Reinstall the muffler and thats it. One step did give me a pain though, on the right side of the hitch, you need to fish through a carrage bolt with a rectangular reinforcer plate through the unibody frame rail of the car. It provides you with 3 sets of these including the bolt feeders, as the 00-02 maxima's need 3, while the 95-99 only need 1. I wound up accidentally stripping one of the right hand welded nuts for the tow hooks in the unibody frame rail. What I wound up doing, was to drill out the nut entirely, use touch up paint on the open wound, and then fish another bolt with reinforcer plate through.

Fishing the bolt and reinforcer plate through is kinda stickly, but its pretty easy once I figured out the trick. Open up the trunk, and unbolt the 2 14 mm bolts that are on the trunk floor covered under 2 plastic pop covers. This will give you increased clerance. Then, while you are under the car, either use your foot or jack to hold the bumper (the actual steel bumper) up, now that the bolts are no longer holding them in place. This will prevent you from alot of swearing.

For those with aftermarket mufflers the hitch may not clear the muffler tip. My OEM muffler has a 4" tip put on by me, and I had to slightly modify the tip. The tip contacted the hitch by maybe 1/8".

I also added large washers in addition to the ones provided with the hitch, as I found the included washers were getting bent in the hitch slots.

My car had no problem towing a trailer. Where it could use work was the suspension. My stock SE's rear suspension (with probably blown struts) had a difficult time dealing with the trailer on the highway over bumps. Stiffer springs and shocks could definately help. My car was pretty trailer ready, mostly from getting it race ready. It had performance mods to increase the torque and horsepower. It also has an ACT clutch and Quaife differential to get off the line. I have a polyurethane motor mount to hold the engine down in place. The rear sway bar helps keep the back end control. My transmission parts are cryogenically treated for strength. While I am not yet lowered, a aftermarket suspension will definately help as well, with stiff springs and shocks. Automatics should consider a transmission cooler.

As for lights, the installation was also pretty straight forwards. I used a universal wiring harness kit from my old Toyota Camry. It has 5 inputs, brake, tail/park, right turn, left turn and ground. Ground is self explanatory. The others, just identify which wires go to which bulb and splice into the wires using tap slices. I recommend splicing at the left tail light, since all the wires including the wire to the right turn wire are all there. If you have your front corners rewired (97-99 models), you may need to increase the "tail" fuse from 7.5 to 10 amps. I have not had any problems with mine. Since I only use my trailer once in a while, I opted to keep the wiring in the trunk and run it out the trunk lid when needed.

I consider this a wonderful "bolt on mod" that increases the usefulness and utility of your car.

Last edited by phenryiv1; 01-11-2008 at 06:47 AM.

08-06-2002, 01:44 PM

phenryiv1

Mod her. Ate her.

Thread Starter

iTrader: (19)

Join Date: May 2002

Location: Martinsburg, WV

Posts: 9,827

I need centering rings for my aftermarket rims. What size is the Maxima's hub?

You can get the size of the rim bore from the wheel manufacturer. The size for a 4th gen (and I believe 5th gen) Maxima is 66.1 mm. Most aftermarket wheels are around 72-75mm. Rings cost about $5 a piece.

Tire Pressure: Where can I find the "Recommended Cold Tire Inflation Pressure" Label?

In my 1998, this is located in the arm rest between the passenger and driver seat. Pull up/Open the arm rest and the sticker label is on the part that you lift up.
Front Tire Recommended Inflation = 32
Rear Tire Recommended Inflation = 29

Also includes:
Vehicle Capacity Weight = 900 LBS.
Tire Size Dimensions = P215/55 R16 91H
Spare Tire Dimensions = T125/70 D16

What tire size can I use?

http://www.miata.net/garage/tirecalc.html
http://members.aol.com/agspeed/tiresize.htm

Aftermarket rim weights:

http://www.wheelweights.net/

I chipped/scratched my rim. How can I fix it?

There are places that refinish damages rims. It usually costs $80 or $100 a rim though. Try http://www.rimpro.com or http://www.bentrim.com or do a search on the web for 'rim repair' you will get a bunch of hits.

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=26938
http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=56772

Can I put 20's (dubs) on my Maxima?
Yes.

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....ghlight=dub%2A

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....ghlight=dub%2A

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....ghlight=dub%2A

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....ghlight=dub%2A

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....ghlight=dub%2A

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....ghlight=dub%2A

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....ghlight=dub%2A

What size bolts do I need to remove the rotors?

Front rotors: M10 x 1.25
Rear rotors: M8 x 1.25

Last edited by phenryiv1; 01-11-2008 at 06:42 AM.

04-08-2004, 11:17 AM

Ludacris

Senior Member

iTrader: (11)

Join Date: Jun 2001

Location: S O C A L

Posts: 3,678

How to paint your wheels

How to paint your wheels

What you will need
-Jack
-Jackstands
-Tire iron is handy but not necessary
-Duplicolor wheel paint in the color you choose (I used one can of "Graphite" for four wheels)
-Duplicolor wheel paint in clear
-Aircraft stripper ($4 can at Autozone)
-Plastic scraper (I actually just used some of those plastic knives they give you for cutting cakes)
-Wheel brush with plastic bristles (comes in handy)
-Masking tape
-Index cards (I used 3x5)
-400 grit sandpaper

Steps

1. Take the wheels off the car.
2. Wash/dry the wheels throughly.

3. Once dry, spray on the aircraft stripper in an even coat. It is ok to get some on the tire, just don't let it sit too long and wipe it off with a paper towel. Try to use some protective rubber gloves, if you get any aircraft stripper on your skin it will burn like hell.
4. Wait anywhere from 10-30 minutes depending on weather conditions for the stripper to work. The paint should be soft and easy to scrape off and look like this...

5. Once you scrape all the clearcoat/paint off that you can brush off the excess shavings, etc. with your wheel brush and repeat steps 2-4.
6. Wash/Dry wheels again.
7. Get the 400 grit sand paper and sand down the wheels till the painting surface is nice and smooth.
8. Wash/Dry wheels again.
9. Put the index cards in the gap between the tire and wheel like this...

this is done to prevent overspray onto the tire.
10. Spray on LIGHT and EVEN coats of paint. Wait for the paint to dry completely before spraying on another coat. I sprayed on 5 coats of the actual paint followed by 3 coats of clearcoat.

11. When your last coat of clearcoat is dry you are done, get the wheels back on your car and enjoy.

Tips:

1. Be careful with the aircraft stripper, you do not want to get this on your skin, in your eyes, etc. it burns like hell. I'd recommend at least wearing rubber protective gloves to prevent the stripper to get on your fingers when you are spraying on the aircraft stripper/scraping off the paint. Try to wear glasses and a face mask too.
2. Do this during DRY weather, moisture in the air screws with the way the wheels dry and makes the painted wheels bumpy. We had to sand the wheels down and do another coat bc of this. It also lengthens the drying time dramatically...from a couple minutes to over an hour.
3. If you wanted to leave the lip bare metal you would (when scraping the paint off the wheels) need to scrape the lip area down to BARE METAL. Leave no paint or clearcoat on the area at all. I used a sturdy metal chisel to do the job.
4. This thread can be helpful...read through it, there are some pics of wheels painted different colors.

http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=316500

06-07-2004, 09:18 PM

Ludacris

Senior Member

iTrader: (11)

Join Date: Jun 2001

Location: S O C A L

Posts: 3,678

How to make your own "Ludalip" (as Maxima10to1 put it )

This is a really straightforward mod...just making the write-up in case of any questions.

Materials
Double sided tape
Tape measure
Masking tape
Plastic lower wall molding (Base Cove Wall Molding)
Screws
Drill

Steps
1. Measure around your front bumper to find out how much of the lower wall molding you need (I got 93 inches...a bit extra 95-96 bumpers may be a bit different).
2. Go to the Home Depot "Flooring" section (where they sell carpet, tiles, etc.) and look for some plastic lower wall molding. They should be all grouped together in a section of the aisle in rolls.
3. Ask someone to cut you however much you need.

4. Test mount it first...probably get someone to help you bc its a lot easier.
5. Put masking tape on the bumper to mark where you want the lip to line up.
6. Clean off the lower bumper area that you will be applying the lip to
7. Apply doublesided tape all around the area of the bumper that will be holding up the lip.
8. Slowly and carefully push the lip onto the doublesided tape from one side while someone helps you pull the plastic to keep the lip tight and without ripples.
9. When it's mounted on the bumper use some screws and drill the lip onto the bumper to further secure it. I used some black screws a friend had laying around, much less conspicuous looking on the black lip. I really recommend using the screws bc the double-sided tape doesn't work too well and will eventually lose its effectiveness.
10. Done...

03-02-2007, 06:45 AM

phenryiv1

Mod her. Ate her.

Thread Starter

iTrader: (19)

Join Date: May 2002

Location: Martinsburg, WV

Posts: 9,827

How do I Aim my Headlights and Foglights?

The adjustment bolt closer to the parking/corner lights (outboard of the vehicle) is for the up/down aiming of the headlamp. The one further inboard is to control the right/left aiming of the lamp. You'll need a 10mm wrench to perform the aiming task.

To do the height adjustment, park your car so that the headlamp lens faces are about 25 feet from a wall. This wall should be perpendicular to the ground and level in all aspects. Measure the distance from the center of your headlamps to the ground. Mark this dimension on the wall. From this mark, move down 3.75" to 4" and make another mark. Begin to turn the adjustment bolt so that the centers of your low beam patterns land on that second mark that you made. As for your right to left adjustment, mark the centers vertically and aim so that they point straight out. Bear in mind that sometimes adjusting the right/left bolt can change the setting of the height adjustment slightly.

By the way, the foglamps can be aimed the same way. The foglights are 8mm.

Credit: Albertt and j-95G (for the foglamp info)

Two really good articles on aiming of headlights and auxiliary lights:
http://www.autooptiks.com/aiming.html
http://lighting.mbz.org/tech/aim/aim.html

How can I make my headlights turn off with the ignition?

http://maxima.bryanb.com/fog/fogrewire.html

How can I make my headlights turn off with the ignition?

You will need an automotive relay, some primary wire and a fuse holder with a 5 amp fuse.

Remove the bottom portion of the steering column trim and the bottom dash panel. Locate the grey/yellow wire in the steering column (this is the headlight wire). Cut this wire and solder/butt connect a legnth of primary wire to each end.(soldering is much better)

Attach those two wires to the 87 and 30 poles on the relay(does not matter what wire is connected to which pole).

Next, connect the 85 pole of the relay to chassis ground.

Then you need to locate the black/yellow wire in the cars ignition harness(located in a loom under the dash. Look for the loow leading to the ignition switch) strip this wire with a razor knife (do not cut) then wrap wire around the bare ignition wire and solder the connection. After you solder this wire wrap tape around it very well and put a ziptie over the tape, this is also the wire that gets the inline fuse holder and 5 amp fuse.

Finally attach this wire to the 86 pole on your relay and there you go. for myself being an MECP certified installer this would take 30 minutes or so, the average novice with moderate ability could do this in an hour to an hour and a half.

Link to original thread: http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=202922

How to Install Projectors

ok seems to me like alot of people are interested in knowing how to do this.
imma do my best to explain it and all thoes people who have experience can throw in some of their own explanations.

stuff u need--
~Projectors.....u can get them from ebay for like 100 to 170 for good ones,
~headlight bulbs....depends on what bulb holder u have, i had H7 with no high beams so i only had to wire up 2 wires only but regulars are 3 wires.
~bolts and nuts........for mounting or u can use some good glue like epoxi but then u wouldn't be able to adjust them if u have to.
~razor blades..............so u can cut out all the unnecessary plastics on the back like i had to do on my cefiros so the bolts would go through
~electrical tape
~tools................screw drivers and some simple tools that im pretty sure most of u have
~black paint..................if u would like to black them out

1- Take off the headlights - on the stock headlights u would have to pop out the corners by the headlight (stick a screwdriver in between and pry them apart) then u would have 2 bolts on the side of the headlight and 2 on the back that are holding them in. For cefiros there would be 2 bolts on the back and how ever esle u mounted them on, u used zip ties to keep them in including the 2 bolts. Then all u have to do is uplug them and they are out!

2- Taking them apart - the most successful way of doing this, is stick them in the oven for 15 to 20 min at 225 and then just pry them apart.

3- test fit the projectors in and align them the way u want them to see where u would have to drill the holes for the projectors to be held in place.

4- once u have marked the holes for the projectors u can go ahead and drill them out. In some cases like on the back of the cefiros there is a plastic housing that would get in the way of the bolts. so u would have to cut into that also just so u can get nuts on there to hold them tight in place. On the stock headlights i don't think u will have this problem.

5- Wiring - there might be a couple of different step on wiring depending on what kind of bulb u have. all i know is for H7 u only use 2 wires on the harness and its black and white the blue is not used cause its high beam and H7 don't have high beams, i can get some more instructions for the other bulbs but not at this time. Just use common sence when u wire and refer to ur old plug/harness and ur new plug harness.

6- Before u put them back together u might wanna take it out and point the headlights at the wall just so u know u have them aligned the way u want them and just so they are not shooting up in the sky and blinding other drivers.

7- now that u get everything the way u want them, u can paint them. I painted them before i mounted the projectors in just so i didn't have to take them apart again which would just take too much time.

8- now ur ready to put them back together. The way i did this is i put them together the best i could with out any pressure and stuck them back in the oven using the steps above.....225 for 15 to 20 min...... Then once u take them out of the oven then u can apply a little pressure on them to make them seal right and put the clamps back on and what u can do after that is stick them back in just so they get a good seal.

Put them back on plug them in and ur set to go.

If anyone has any questions feel free to drop me a line, im on the net when im at work which is everyday.

u can get a hold of me on AIM ..... maxima98vspec
msn........ maxima98vspec@hotmail.com
or my other email............... maxima98vspec@gmail.com

"Cefiro" Headlight Clone Mod

http://digital.ic3donline.com/ae-cefiro/

(Basic) How-to install angel eyes

http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/549073
remove your headlights by doing:
1st remove your corner lights one screw holding them in and them wiggle them out.
2nd pop the grill off
3rd there is 4 bolts holding the headlight on
there are two of them on the side where you took the corner light off the other two are behind the headlight you'll have to mix and match a 1/4 inch drive socket and (10mm) and a small extenshion
4th after you get the headlights off the car there are 5 little clips you'll use a flat head screw driver to pop them off
5th remove the headlight bulb from the headlight
6th pre heat your oven to 250 degress
7th put the headlights in the oven for 10-15 mins
8th when the time is up use a flathead screw driver and separate the glass lens from the housing be careful not yo chip the glass len
9th next let everything cool off
10th drill a small hole in the top of the headlight
11th use silicone and glue it bottom of the angel to the bottom inner corner of the glass len
12th after it dries reheat the glass and the housing and put the glass back onto the headlight assembly
13th next you are goin to splice into the corner light
14th on the angel eye there is a pos. and neg wire
use wire taps to attach them to the corner light red from angel eye to red on the corner light and black on the angel eye to the orange on the corner light
15th re install everything silicone the whole that you drilled in the headlight where you passed the angel eye wire thru
and the angel will come on when you turn your park light on and when you have your headlights on you wont see them

Last edited by phenryiv1; 01-11-2008 at 06:40 AM.

03-02-2007, 07:01 AM

mzmtg

Minister of Silly Walks

iTrader: (11)

Join Date: Oct 2000

Posts: 13,786

97-99 cars running rewired front corners and side markers

I was working on my friend's 98 Max rewiring the corners to utilize the 27 watt side of the bulb, but I had the problem that I kept on blowing the 7.5 amp "tail" fuse on his car. I thought I had done something wrong and that the wire kept grounding out. This one had me really puzzled, cause my rewired corners have been rewired for over a year with no problems at all. There was one variable that I did not account for, was that he was running side marker lamps. I got technical and brought out my basic EE skills. In a 14.4 volt system, one watt is equal to about .06944444 amps. Since they are light bulbs, the tolerance isnt as tight as say a computer's power supply. Anyway, the tail light fuse is 7.5 amps, and it includes the corner light, the front marker light, the rear marker light, tail lights and the license tag lights. On my car (without side markers), with the rewired wattage of 27 watts and all the other bulbs using aboug 5 watts, this comes out to about 104 watts being consumed. Since watts= amps x volts, here 104 watts divided by 14.4 draws about 7.2 amps it is not enough to blow the 7.5 amp fuse. Now since my friend has 10 measily additional watts for his side markers, this brings the equation to 114 divide by 14.4 equals 7.919 amps that WAS enough to blow the 7.5 amp fuse. No wonder I was sitting there scratching my head why his fuse kept blowing. It also explains why when he took out one of the 27 watters (which we thought was grounding out), it didnt blow, cause that would have put him well under 7 amps. We replaced it with a 10 amp fuse, and so far its still working. I believe the 10 amp fuse should be OK for his wires, but I told him since we did up the wattage to check the wires to make sure nothing is melting. So, if you rewire your corners and have side markers or additional lights wired to the tail light circuit and you scratch your head why its blowing, this is the reason why. All it took was an additional 10 watts. Same thing if you run trailer lights on the "tail" circuit.

I have been seeing "Diamond Cut" Clear corners on ebay and for sale on the site, are these just the same old clear corners?

No, the Diamond cut clear corners are actually much different looking. They are more clear than the regular clear corners. The regular clear corners are sort of foggy. These are as clear as your headlights. There IS a difference between the two. Expect to pay $40-50.00 for them.

To visualize the difference, think of the difference in appearance between the 95-96 headlights and the 97-99 headlights.

How do I rewire my clearance lights so that they're brighter? (95-96 and 97+)

This mod is very simple, but since theres tons of different writeups on it out there, and lots of rumors, it can be confusing. But this is a great way to help your Max look better. Here goes:

Stuff you need: Phillips head screwdriver, flathead screwdriver, nailclippers, electrical tape

1)Remove your clearance light housing. It's pretty simple, just pop the hood and remove the screw that holds it in. With a little bit of tugging, you can pull the side closest to the doors (not the front side) out (it goes behind a little plastic flap). look down into the hood and find the little ball joint socket that holds the clearance light in. take a screwdriver (flathead) and pop it out of that socket. there the light is out.

2)Remove the bulb from the light by twisting it and pulling it out. Place the clearance light housing onto the ground.

3)In your hand you should have the bulb in socket connected to the wires for it. The bulb can be removed from its socket by being twisted and then pulled out. do so now.

4)Look at the bulb closely. On the metal base (below the glass) you can see two metal "nubs." Take fingernail clippers and snip the one CLOSEST TO THE GLASS (the higher one).

5)Cut a strip of electrical tape about 2 inches long and 1/4 inch high. Wrap this tape around the spot where the nub was so that it covers the spot (but not the other nub). This is to ensure a secure connection in the socket.

6)Look down into the socket of the bulb. You can see two notches where the nubs were to be secured (one for the higher nub and one for the lower nub). The bulb, however, now has only one nub (the lower one). Heres the tricky part: you want to put the bulb in so that the lower nub (the remaining one) goes in the spot that the higher nub was supposed to (dont worry if the electrical tape gets pushed a bit).

7) Now that the bulb is back in socket, replace the socket in the housing but dont put the housing back on yet. Flip your lights on to make sure that the job worked (I haven't seen it fail when you use electrical tape). Once your confident that it worked replace the housing (make sure its in there!).

8)Repeat on other side.

Thats it! Took me less than 10 minutes to do!

What do I do if I want to get rid of the Red/Amber tails on my 95-96?

The options here, sadly are rather limited. While the 97-99 models have a part made by www.custommaxima.com, 95-96 owners are kind of left in the dumps.

Here are your options:

1) Cruise ebay and the Parts for Sale Forum like a vulture and when a set of red/clear tails for the 95-96 pops up, jump on it. (You have to get lucky).
2) Buy a set of completely clear tails (ebay). Then using paint paint the bottom half red and the top half white. (Very hard to do/match the existing paint. Also paint has been known to fade with time.
3) Do the mod detailed below.

If you have a 95-96 this is the only way you can get red/clear tails until someone starts manufacturing them.

_________________

I've explained this alot of times but i thought i'd write a clean explanation on how to "red-out" your tails. This really goes out to all the 95/96 owners who want to at least get rid of the ugly ambers on their tails. This process requires some effort but is worth it in the end. There are 2 ways to red them out... using red tape or painting them. This is how to use the tape. Of course the real red/clears look great but this is a pretty simple $3 cosmetic mod!

Things you need:

-HeatGun or BlowDryer (heatgun works better)
-Soapy water (water mixed w/ dishwasher fluid works)
-Red Translucent Vinyl Tape (can be purchased at a hobby store... one sheet would be enough to cover both ambers; $3 per sheet)
-something flat and hard... a credit card works perfect

Procedures:

1. Wash/Clean both tails so that there isn't any dirt on em

2. Now, apply LOTS of soapy water on the tails... let it run down, it doesn't matter, but they need to be wet as you apply the tape. The reason for the soapy water is to avoid any air bubbles or having the tape annoyingly stick onto the surface where u don't want it to be.
3. Now place the tape on the ambers and position it. With the water under the tape, you will be able to move the tape and adjust it properly.

4. After adjusting it, use the credit card to squeeze out the water underneath. Start from the middle, then move outwards. Keep scraping the top of the tape so that the water underneath will squeeze out from the ends of the tape. Don't worry, the adhesive will still be 100% sticky.

5. Now that you've squeezed out as much as u can on the most flat surface and the tape is stuck to the ambers, you will realize that u have to do the outwards of the ambers where they curve. For this to be done properly, use your heatgun/blowdryer to heat the tape so that it "melts" or become softer and stretchable.

6. As you heat up the curved parts of the tape, stretch the tape out as hard as you can w/o ripping it hopefully to wrap around the curve and not form any air bubbles. CAUTION: Don't burn your fingers!

7. After doing a satisfactory job w/ the tape stuck to the ambers, use an exactoknife or razor to cut the excess tape off. CAUTION: Don't cut yourself in this process.

Voila! No more ambers.

As you read this instructions, you may start to realize this is EXACTLY how tinting windows are done. Basically you are doing a tint job on your ambers. Good luck!

References:

Here's a website that show's you how to red out the tails on an RSX... but it's the same process provided w/ pics. For fun... can you see a reflection of the maxima on the body of the RSX??

- Visual Instructions (RSX)

Pics of the red out done on a superblack '96:
- http://npx1.cjb.net

Option #2:

Credit: drivinmax

Make Your Own Red And Clears 95/96

If You Own A 1995 Or 1996 Maxima You Are In Luck. If You Dont Want To Spend 300 Dollars For A Set Of Red And Clears.

Things You Will Need:

-outter 1st Gen Euro Lights

-your Stock Outter Tail Lights

-silicone

-clear Ceiling Plastic

-duck Tape

-testors Candy Red

-testors Clear

-masking Tape

-dremel

-cut Off Wheels

What You Are Going To Do Is Remove The Lenes From The Stock Lights And The Euro Lights

Then You Are Going To Paint The Lower Half Of The Clear Euro Light Lens And Then Put The Red And Clear Lens That You Made On The Stock Housing And There You Go You Have Red And Clears

***i Know This Would Be Better With Pictures But I Did It Awhile Ago And Never Took Alot Of Pictures****

Remove Your Stock Tail Lights From Your Car
Remove The Lens From The Housing On The Stock Lights Using A Heat Gun
Also Remove The Clear Lens From The Euro Lights

After Removing All Lenes From The Stock Light And The Euro Lights,
Use A Dremel With A Cut Off Wheel And Cut Out A Piece Of Clear Plastic To Go Over The Upper Half Of The Stock Tail Light Housing.

Use Silicone To Glue It To The Housing Use Duck Tape To Hold It Down While It Dries

Clean And Paint The Inside Of The Clear Euro Light Lens 3 To 4 Coats Should Do It Clear Over The Red

After The Silicone Dried Remove The Duck Tape And Reheat The Glue On The Stock Housing And Attach The Painted Red And Clear To The Stock Housing

How to Install Clear Corners

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=392644

Last edited by phenryiv1; 01-11-2008 at 06:39 AM.