DJQuin's Method to the Modness build

Jack Stilts

Jack Stilts

Skid Plates
Location
Michigan
I just died laughing at Liam Nissan. I've never heard that before.

I'm really looking forward to lightsaber jokes, and also "something was taken from me and I will find you all."
 
DJQuin

DJQuin

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Hampton, GA
I was gonna name it Genny, as in General to go with the whole military theme... looks like Liam got the nod though. Like I said, it makes me chuckle, so no complaints from me.
 
DJQuin

DJQuin

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Hampton, GA
Okay, just got an awesome deal on 2 Super Swamper IROK ND 285/75R16s from my cousin. Won't be able to go pick them up for a while, but hey, that's what family is for. I'm going to get the other 2 from either Summit or 4 Wheel Parts. 4 Wheel Parts has them for $154 ea. Nice n' cheap. I prefer to get them from Summit and they carry Interco / Super Swampers but the IROK NDs aren't listed on the site, so I'll swing by and see if they can get them. Anyway, if you're looking for 33's / qualifying tires for WentWindrock, then you can't really beat $616. I'll be using mine for trails and traveling to/from said trails only. Anyhoo, this is them:

 
DJQuin

DJQuin

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Hampton, GA
Things were ordered today... things I can't talk about... I don't know if this mod has been done before... but it's coming.
 
DJQuin

DJQuin

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Hampton, GA
Xado89 said:
New Hi-Lift mounting ideas!
Click to expand...

An excellent guess! No.

In other news, a spontaneous mod happened today. I was at the Army/Navy store and I picked up an old inert grenade for $7.95. I stopped by a friends shop and we welded a nut onto the bottom of it and I have a new Tcase shift knob!!


 
DJQuin

DJQuin

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Hampton, GA
Well... the Top Secret mod failed. :-( The material I used was too thick for this application, so I'm going to try it again with another, thinner material soon. In the meantime, I'll expose the secret.

Here is the piece I ordered:


Next step was to remove the hood:


Then I set down the lines for the cut-out and attachment tab points:


Next, I cut down the grill material to a more manageable and approximate size:


Then, using a template cut from painter's tape, I finished the fine cutting on the grill piece:


All cut down to size:


This is where the problem arose, the material was too thick, and alignment was a major problem with the holes and getting clean lines:


So, that's where I am right now. My next step is to get a thinner piece of sheet aluminum and cut it to the exact size I want and put the holes in it AFTER I have a clean shape and install. I'll keep everyone updated on this as it happens, lol.
 
DJQuin

DJQuin

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Hampton, GA
caseycamby said:
Interesting.. What made you wanna do this?
Click to expand...

A. I'm nucking futz
B. It was the "Hood riser mod" that kind of inspired me, as I'm in the "it looks silly" crowd
C. I come from a strong muscle car background, so from the moment I saw that bit of rise on the hood, I immediately thought "Cowl Induction"
 
DJQuin

DJQuin

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Hampton, GA
Had an awesome weekend and first time at Windrock. I'm even more amped for nXm now. I haven't updated much so I'm going to do a massive photo dump here. New stuff is a a set of ProComp Explorer 55 lights that I snagged at Summit the other day, tail light guards that I got from JackStilts (thanks again, BTW) and the biggest thing are the new P&P Engineering Standard Sliders. Massive "Thank You" to Kyle for everything.

Pics in 3...

2...

1...

















 
DJQuin

DJQuin

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Hampton, GA
The tires have been performing great, I'm running them at 30psi. The clean mud really well, they do however pick up the occasional rock and start tap dancing when you get on asphalt, but that is usually a self-correcting problem, lol. Tread wear seems good so far, but I've had them less than 10k miles. At this point, I'd give them the nod.
 
TheFauxFox

TheFauxFox

Titan Swapped / SAS'd
Founding Member
Location
Huntsville, AL
Cool. I was back and forth on them when I got Duratracs for my TJ. I'll be looking this direction on my next set. I'm really dig'n the plasti-dip job.
 
DJQuin

DJQuin

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Hampton, GA
Yeah, for the price I paid and the 10-ply equivalent, I pulled the trigger. When you're ready for your next set, let me know and I'll update you on any changes or new thoughts. Thanks, much appreciated.
 
Intender

Intender

Wheeling
Location
Lewisville NC
DJQuin said:
Well... the Top Secret mod failed. :-( The material I used was too thick for this application, so I'm going to try it again with another, thinner material soon. In the meantime, I'll expose the secret.

Here is the piece I ordered:


Next step was to remove the hood:


Then I set down the lines for the cut-out and attachment tab points:


Next, I cut down the grill material to a more manageable and approximate size:


Then, using a template cut from painter's tape, I finished the fine cutting on the grill piece:


All cut down to size:


This is where the problem arose, the material was too thick, and alignment was a major problem with the holes and getting clean lines:


So, that's where I am right now. My next step is to get a thinner piece of sheet aluminum and cut it to the exact size I want and put the holes in it AFTER I have a clean shape and install. I'll keep everyone updated on this as it happens, lol.
Click to expand...

I really like this idea. If I were going to do this, I would have left the whole piece intact and cut the hood with some nice clean cuts. tack weld the metal to the bottom side of the hood if its steel, or figure something out if its aluminum. After words slather the edges where the hood and vent meet with a ton of bondo and sand it down clean. use a dremel with one of the small pointy attachments to clean the bondo out of the existing holes and paint it all up to match. However I think that the underside of that part of the hood is really thick with a bulge under it to give it more rigidity and you might have to cut that off or pry the back edges apart and slide it in the gap. I would attempt this myself, I am the kind of person that can visualize all of this in my head, but if I did it I would start off really well, but at some point get too impatient to do it properly and screw it all up before I was done.

edit:

doh, your 1.5 gen has the raised hood and the backside where you were going to put that is slanted down so disregard everything I said. You have to cut it to make it fit in there. But I still like the idea a lot.
 
NismoFire

NismoFire

Titan Swapped / SAS'd
Founding Member
Location
Smyrna, TN
The non-US models have a true cowl induction hood on the SC models...let me see if I can find a picture for you...
 
NismoFire

NismoFire

Titan Swapped / SAS'd
Founding Member
Location
Smyrna, TN
DJQuin said:
Interesting... I want mine to be a bit more... subtle.
Click to expand...

The Brazilian models came with a 2.8L diesel, and that hood is OEM. I've always been a bit jealous of the diesel AND the hood m'self.


But yeah, I get the subtlety of cowl induction vs the RAM air style.
 
N

Nailbomb

Test Drive
Location
The Evil Empire State
Love the build.

Had the same idea with the hood myself. Did it on a 2001 Ranger before. It'll act more as a Vent to release underhood heat, that may help your intake get colder air, or not. I can say it made the truck take longer to warm up in the winter. Snow and Rain will find its way in.

Not saying not to do it, just trying to give some insight. As I said, I've thought about doing this to my X also.
 
DJQuin

DJQuin

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Hampton, GA
Sooo... I haven't really been around a lot and that sucks. I've been working a new schedule from 10am - 7pm and it's messing with everything because I'm still in classes as well. I wanted to hop on and give everyone an update as to Liam's status and progress. Future mods for him are kind of shelved for the moment as I recently performed a $11,000 mod that gets me 38 MPG by adding a 2012 Ford Focus to my stable. I was spending almost $500 a month in gas just getting the ol' X through Atlanta traffic on a daily basis. However, before the mod flow was cut off I did manage to squeeze a last hurrah in. Liam now has a 3" AC suspension lift with shiny new UCAs and AAL's in the rear. Oh joy! :) Now, I intend to have the Focus paid off within 12 months, hopefully less, and that means a couple of things for Liam. First, he is now purely a trail / weekend truck and while he still needs to remain street legal, there is more freedom in what mods are "acceptable" (eg; sway bar delete, SAS...) Second, once the Focus is paid off, there will be a much larger percentage of my income that can be thrown at Mr. Nissan in order to progress the build. WOOT! Lastly, as you will notice in the picture below, the PlastiDip has been peeled. While I loved the color and how well the plastic protected my paint, it was peeling in high wear areas and I am now looking to actually paint the truck in flat green. So there's that.... PICTURES!!


 
caseycamby

caseycamby

Suspension Lift
Location
Marion, NC
I've never thought I would be a big fan of a fully plastidiped off road rig.. But that's me!

New ride looks clean! You gonna do anything to it?
 
DJQuin

DJQuin

First Fill-Up (of many)
Location
Hampton, GA
The good part about dipping the X was that it confirmed that I would like it as a permanent paint job.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk
 
akinc

akinc

Skid Plates
Location
Dayton, Tennessee
Glad to hear you got a DD. Also glad the job is working out for you. I rented a Focus back in November. Great mpgs but not comfy inside, for me anyways. Probably because I'm a little wider than you......
 
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