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NEWS and UPDATES ARCHIVE

10/8/06 - I recently did a brake job on my Maxima. I installed Axxis Metal Master brake pads, turned my Brembo blank rotors, replaced the brake fluid with Valvoline Full Synthetic with a 500*F Dry Temp, and installed Techna-Fit Stainless Steel Brake Lines. After I bled the brake lines with my vacuum hand pump, I went out to test the brakes. BOY, what a difference! My car can stop! Before I had very old brake fluid in there. So that was probably the biggest difference I felt. But the brake pedal feel is MUCH more firm. It makes the car a lot more fun to drive!		9/30/06 - I did another video. This one is an exterior shot of me doing a rolling burnout in a straight line! Go to the videos section to check it out. Or download it here by Right Clicking and Save As
9/26/06 - I added a lot of pictures of the interior of my gutted Maxima in the Pictures Section. I also added a new Photo Gallery in the Pictures Section which shows pics of my Summit Racing Fuel Pressure Gauge.	9/23/06 - I added a new video of doing a small burnout then going through first gear into 2nd. Enjoy! Videos Section Or download the video right here by Right Clicking and Save As...	9/22/06 - I know it's been a long time since my last update, but I've been VERY busy. Since I posted last, I had to move out of my old house and rented a place while I bought my new house. Well I finally got moved in after many months of headaches. Check out my house and a riding lawn mower shortly after!! Also, I made a little video tonight since the weather has gotten so cool outside, I had to document the slight increase in power! Feel free to see more in my Videos Section.
3/31/06 - A lot more has happened since my last update! I had a severe rich issue that I couldn't figure out. After several weeks of diagnostics, I found a lose connection in my oxygen sensor signal wire! It caused me a lot of headache, but I finally found it. Now that the richness problem was fixed, I could concentrate on tuning my Air/Fuel Ratio. I ordered an adjustable Nismo Fuel Pressure regulator. I also installed a Summit Racing Fuel Pressure gauge. Here are some pics: Once I got my fuel curve right, I installed some NGK spark plugs that were one step hotter than stock. I installed the BRK4E-11 plugs. This did make me more susceptible to detonation, but I solved that issue by adjusting my timing and with 100 octane unleaded fuel. Once I got timing straight, I headed to the drag strip. And at the drag strip, I proceeded to run a 13.79 @ 100.3mph!! It was the first time I have been in the 13s. My last run was a 14.30 @ 94mph at Moroso Motorsports Park in South Florida. So it's a HUGE difference! Since my last visit at the track, I reduced the weight another 140 lbs, roughly and I added one step hotter plugs, Mickey Thompson 22x8x15 slicks, and a shaved ASP Under Drive Pulley. Here is a pic: Here is a pic of my timeslip:
3/9/06 - A lot has happened since my last update. I went down to Florida and met with Ash Powers of Ash-Spec Performance & Tuning. I checked out his shop and his latest insane 300zx project. We were hoping to have some luck with getting the ZEMulator tuning system to work with the VE30DE Maxima. But we have more research and development to do. With my latest discussion with Ash, we are going to attempt to swap in the Z32 ECU in my Maxima once again. Last time, I aborted that project because I couldn't get some idling and stalling issues sorted out. Besides, it was not making more overall HP than my stock ECU. But, this time, Ash thinks I had the injector void and blast settings incorrect as well as the injector K value. So I should have an update within the next few weeks about that. Also, I still have not made it to the track for this winter season. Life has been pretty busy. I am still on schedule to run high 13s very soon. I am just in the stressful process of buying a new home with a nice workshop! Here are some pictures I took around Ash's shop:
1/11/06 - This past weekend, I bought a 1992 Nissan Maxima SE parts car in order to fix up my main Maxima. Below, you will see the accident my main Maxima was recently involved in. I found this parts car in Northern Florida for only $400. The motor runs and has 190K miles and the tranny goes into gear and I can actually drive it. The exterior is white and interior is black with gray tweed seats; identical to my Maxima! The only difference is that the parts car doesn't have an airbag or ABS. That shouldn't matter to me. The car is very clean! So it was definitely a good find for only $400. Now I can swap body panels and the parts I need in order to get my main Maxima back on the road and back on the drag strip to run those 13s I'm destined to run this winter. I am parting this car out to the public. Contact me for any parts requests and a price quote. Here are some pics:
12/27/05 - A couple weeks ago, I hit a dog and did some major damage to my front end. I've never hit anything before nor been in any accident. Luckily, my insurance covered the damage and I now have a check that should cover the damage. I am searching for a Maxima parts car with the same paint so I can fix it myself without need for any painting. Here are some pics of the damage:			11/26/05 - Last night, I was coming home late and when I was about 2 miles away, my Brake and Battery dash lights came on. And the ABS lights flickered and my tranny instantly went into fail-safe mode (locked in 3rd gear) aka "Limp Home Mode". I get home, shut the car off where I know I can work on it, then tried to start it and nothing. Won't crank up. The ENG CONT 10a fuse blew. Last time, this fuse blew was when the o2 sensor wires got pinched and shorted out. That was years ago. That wasn't the problem this time. So I haven't figured out why that fuse blew, but I will look into it further if it blows again.
11/14/05 - 4 new videos were added to the Videos section. I burned off about $50 worth of rubber while doing a monster burnout. I could have held it much longer, but for the sake of my tires, I let off. Plus, I couldn't breath anymore b/c the smoke was bellowing out of my car too much. I also added some pictures in the gallery in the Pictures Section.			11/8/05 - I just added 2 new videos in the Videos section of some 3rd gear runs with my cutout closed and then open. Enjoy! Visit this website soon b/c I'll have 13s and plenty of videos and updates!
10/30/05 - I just drove my Maxima back to NC from FL after Wilma ripped through the state. A category 3 hurricane tore through Palm Beach County. The eye passed straight over us and luckily there was no damage to my brother's house or my Maxima. But, about half the cars in his neighborhood has severe damage from roof tiles, coconuts, and trees moving at over 60mph! I was very fortunate!			10/23/05 - I recently drove down to South Florida and sure enough, just in time, I'm going to meet hurricane Wilma. This hurricane is going to hit Palm Beach County early morning tomorrow. I plan to park my Maxima away from large trees. I think she'll be ok. As soon as I get back into town, I will start my very large heater core replacement project.
10/14/05 - Energy Suspension Polyurethane Lower Control Arm Bushing Install finally complete! Boy, what a difference! My stock 14 year old bushings were pretty shot. So of course, this mod will be a night and day difference. The car is much more confident in turns and in turns while braking and accelerating! It was a big hassle that took a long time to complete, but well worth it! I installed the 4th gen (95-99) Maxima Energy Suspension bushings. You just have to make 3 cuts on 2 of the bushings. There are a total of 2 per control arm. I also installed new ball joints and new tie rod ends. Next up, a new heater core! Now, that's a big job!			10/12/05 - I just added a javascript popup feature to several mods on my Full Mods List page. When you click on the "What's This?" button, a window will display and provide a full description for that particular mod. I plan to have this feature on every single modification that I have done to my Maxima. I will work more on this in the very near future.
9/15/05 - I just transferred this website to a different server and domain name. If anybody has any problems with the site or notice any dead links, please send me a message in the Contact Me section or send an email to webmaster. Also, about my hesitation issue that I had on 9/1/05, it turned out not to be my MAFS. It was a bad connection on my o2 sensor! I didn't need to replace it. I removed the o2 sensor and clean the connections, plugged it all back in, and everything has been working great for the past couple weeks. Pretty wierd!			9/1/05 - I just moved from South Florida to Eastern NC. I am still getting settled in. I hope to resume racing my Maxima shortly. Also, recently I had a little hesitation issue arise after driving my car from FL to NC. I would be cruising along with very light throttle pressure and when I apply a little gas, my wideband O2 sensor immediately goes lean and the car stumbles. After testing the fuel system, I thought MAFS. Within 15 minutes, I popped a spare one in and the problem went away! It's nice to have a bunch of spare parts laying around.
8/17/05 - I just added 3 new large photo galleries in the Pictures section. Enjoy!			8/16/05 - Also, I added more pictures in the Pictures section. They are of my exhaust stud replacement and exhaust manifold porting job.
8/16/05 - Yesterday, my Heater Core cracked and started leaking hot coolant all inside my cabin, on my feet and on all the wires around the ECU. Since I was out of town when this happened, I needed a ghetto repair so I could drive my car home. I simply unplugged both heater core hoses and rerouted the longest hose to completely bypass the heater core. Then I blew out all the coolant that was left inside the heater core so that it wouldn't drip any more coolant inside my car. I've decided to draw up a diagram to help everybody to understand how to quickly bypass your heater core if this happens to you in the future. The entire job took me 10 minutes.			8/5/05 - I added a contact form to the website. Feel free to send me any questions or comments.
6/12/05 - I recently hit a rather large dead turtle on the highway recently. He smacked my crank pulley pretty hard which stripped a rib off one of my belts, scratched my aluminum pulley and caused my front main oil seal to start leaking oil. I was able to replace my crank seal and that fixed the leak. Also, I added in some Javascript to the website which gives all the hyperlinks a hover over function.			5/31/05 - I put some racing stripes on my Stanza. Check it out!
5/30/05 - I finally uploaded a copy of my 14.30 timeslip at Moroso. You can view it by clicking on the 1/4 mile time above. Also, I recently bought some Mickey Thompson ET slicks. They are 22x8x15 and are mounted on the 11lb 15x6 Mazda Millenia wheels that use to have my BFG Drag Radials on.			5/21/05 - I spruced up the Videos section a little bit by adding screen shots of most of the videos.
5/7/05 - Recently my front right Bose speaker got really quiet. I did some research and found out that the Bose amps are prone to quit after 13 years. I replaced 7 capacitors in the amp and it fixed my problem. Now the speaker is working perfectly. Here is a link that has more information about this procedure: http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=144898			4/17/05 - I finally made it to the track last Wednesday night and ran a 14.30! My previous record was a 14.57 set in Southern California last year. I also set my personal best 60 foot time of a 2.08. My previous best was 2.17. Since my 14.57 time, I reduced my weight significantly, added intake spacers, bored my throttle body, installed a variable intake system, ported my exhaust manifolds, and put on rear skinny tires. I am still working on getting the ZEMulator to work in my car. Hopefully, it will be done in the next few months. I also have plans on building my transmission so it will hold the extra power I am going to put through it once my turbo setup is install in the near future. I am going to raise my stall from 2900 to around 3500 rpm, install a switch that will lock up my torque converter at wide open throttle, install a 4.10 final drive (3.64 is stock), and firm up the 3-4 shift into overdrive so it will hold the added power. On top of that, it will be guaranteed to hold at least 480fwhp! Once I get the ZEMulator working, the built transmission installed and full racing slicks, I will probably make another "all motor" 1/4 run (maybe 13s). After that, I will completely concentrate in my turbo project.
3/7/05 - I went to the track last Wednesday. But I didn't get a single run in b/c cars kept breaking all night. I will have to attempt another 1/4 mile record run hopefully this week. I still don't have the ECU tuned. But I advanced the timing to 28 degrees and put in some 100 octane. I added a nice velocity stack for my track intake and removed my air filter. This should yield some nice gains. I also added a Dynomax strap exhaust coupler to my muffler so it can easily be removed at the track in only a few seconds. That's another 25lb weight reduction.			2/18/05 - I recently bought a 1990 Nissan Stanza AT with 218K miles for $100. It runs but all 4 wheels were bent and the driver's axle needed replacing. So I've fix all this and just got the new rims and tires balanced and it's smooth on the highway! So far, I've spent only $180 in getting this car road worthy. Now that I am driving this to work everyday, I am going to get my Maxima ready for the track. My ZEMulator project isn't looking so great for this winter. I am going to have to try to set records without proper tuning of the ECU. 14.2s might still be possible without it. We'll see. Below, is a shot of the Stanza. Click HERE for more pics.
1/31/05 - I just added pics of my rear skinnies and my Summit Racing seat installed. Click HERE!			1/28/05 - Check out my new FORUM!! Please post something, even if it's just to check in and say hey. Also, I put new tires on the RX7 rims you see below. Instead of the 18lb Dunlops you see below, I put on 9lb Metzelers! I will try and take a pic in the near future.
1/23/05 - I just installed my 12lb Summit Racing seat. When I put all the necessary brackets on, it ended up weighing 20lbs. This will give me a 20lb weight reduction over the stock seat. As for my VE ZEMulator, it is still in the works. Ash hasn't gotten it working in my car 100%. But we are getting there; we just need a little more time.			1/13/05 - I recently got rear tires for my car. The wheels are 11lb 1994 RX7 spare wheels with 18lb Dunlop motorcycle tires.
1/3/05 - This past weekend, I replaced all my exhaust studs and ported my exhaust manifolds. It took me all weekend, but I got it done. Click HERE for all the pics to that weekend.			12/28/04 - I just got my car running again after a 2 day project this past weekend. I repaired my VTC sprockets and got rid of my VTC tick. I replaced one bad injector, installed 1/4" spacers, bored throttle body, and a variable intake system and got it all working. Things are starting to come together for the track this January.
11/16/04 - I got new tires! Falken all season performance. They aren't too bad. I got them because they would last longer than my previous tires, Yokohama AVS ES100. If I want traction, I have track wheels for that. Also, I added a Nismo thermostat and a 16psi radiator cap.			11/11/04 - I added 2 videos of me racing at my local drag strip. I've also added navigation capabilities at the bottom of each page for browsers that do not support java applets. I am currently making arrangements to get the Zemulator working in the VE30DE ECU. This involves adding a daughterboard with 2 EPROMS on it. This will allow me to have full tuning capabilities with my ECU. It's even better than a $2000 full standalone ECU management system. Hopefully, I will have this working before the end of the year. I am also ordering parts to get a variable intake manifold working.
10/11/04 - 5 new videos have been added in the Videos section. Enjoy!			10/7/04 - I recently moved from Las Vegas, NV to Palm Beach County, South Florida and I'm just now getting settled. The 4 hurricanes that hit our state this year have been a real pain. But, my car is fine. I haven't gotten back into the racing scene quite yet. The main priority right now is to find a job. If anybody has any connections in South Florida for jobs in the Computer Programming and Web Development fields, please email me at adogg18@hotmail.com (Update 11/16/04: I found a job, so please disregard my plea for help). Other than that, I hope to resume my racing very soon. I hope to see some low low 14s this winter. Thanks.
6/30/04 - I added a picture on how to wire in a manual cooling fan switch to your 3rd generation Maxima. Click HERE to see. I also have updated the navigation bar at the top of this page. Hope you like it!			6/19/04 - There was another bracket race tonight. But, I didn't attend since I decided to end my bracket racing season in Las Vegas. I am moving out of town and I don't have a chance of winning in the points since I will be missing too many races this season because of my absence. I wish I could continue, but I have to move. I will probably continue bracket racing at my new location and/or try to beat the record of the fastest 1981-2001 all motor automatic Maxima in the world. Feel free to sign my guestbook!
6/7/04 - I recently attended the #5 (out of 10) points bracket race of the 2004 season. Unfortunately, I was eliminated in the 2nd round when I cut a .450 redlight. I truly don't know what I was thinking. Since I was eliminated so early, I lost my #1 spot in points for the season to the guy who won the event Saturday. My next race will be Sat 6/19/04 when I hope to redeem myself and take back my #1 spot in points.