Sol's White Xterra

[gots_a_sol]

2002 SE 4WD in glorious white

Snagged this off craigslist for $800. Seller said the engine died on him so he just bought something else.

Current pic:

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Mods:


Drivetrain:
SC model radiator
Full engine rebuild (217,411 mi)
DT headers
HD motor mounts
Nissan Quest alternator

Exterior:
2" body lift
Hummer H3 Wheels
235/85-16 Duratracs

Interior:
Mastercraft suspension seats


Audio:
Pioneer avh-x5500
Sundown audio 8" sub

 

[gots_a_sol]

Seller said his mechanic said the engine was toast. I dropped a battery in it when I got home and it ran, just very poorly.


First obvious problem, replaced with an SC model radiator

So was missing terribly. Yank the plugs and ew.

Since plugs were out, I did a leak down to see how bad off it was. 2 cylinders on the drivers side had 75% leakdown on them.

Pulled the drivers head off. The shiny stuff is gas I poured down the intake ports to try and get an idea how bad it was.

Also found some nice vented manifolds

And a ruined cat

 

[gots_a_sol]

So I got to this point and decided screw it, might as well do a full rebuild

Rebuilt heads as the machine shop I took my stockers to said they were fooked.

They could have packaged them better though. I found 3 exhaust studs in the heads (they were in a baggie in the shipping box and spilled out). I had to pull the rockers and everything to get this one out. Also note the heads were not in any sort of bag and ended up full of styrofoam dingleberries too

Got some DT headers to replaced cracked manifolds/ruined cat.

Drivers motor mount was trashed, so made up some replacements

Also did a quest alt while I was at it.

 

[gots_a_sol]

Got the engine back in on 12/14

A little more buttoning up beyond the pic and she fired right up.

Went and got tags on Monday then took her for a 20 mile loop. She ran great, other than I tried to sabotage my entire investment in the engine. It seems I did not tighten the oil drain bolt when I put the pan back on and it fell out. Fortunately I was about 1/4 from home and it was all downhill, so I just coasted back.

 

[gots_a_sol]

Drivers seat had a big hole in it. Just sitting in the truck playing with my new radio, I quickly determined it wasn't very comfy.

It may have had an accident.

Taking its place is a Mastercraft suspension seat. I have another for the pass. side, just haven't gotten to it yet. I had these seats from a jeep project I haven't gotten to, so I all I needed was some steel and hardware. The way I figured it, worse case, I would have needed a new drivers seat anyway, so no loss by chopping it up for the mounting feet.

The radio. I didn't NEED this much radio, but screw it, it was on sale haha.

And that is pretty much where I'm at now. I have the pucks/bolts to do a body lift on the way. I hadn't really planned to do much lifting of this, but I seem to have a clearance issue between the driver side upper o2 sensor and the firewall. I think it is a combo of the DT headers and my possibly slightly taller than stock motor mounts.

 

[Xterrafauss]

Glad to see the build made it over! :bmmd:

Work you have done is great man, good revival!

 

[yellowx16]

nice work! can't wait to see what else you do.

 

[gots_a_sol]

Thanks guys.

Also, apparently my buddy was so jealous of mine, he went out and bought one too. His is a manual trans though, bastard.

He was looking for a 4-runner originally, but determined he could get a much newer X with less miles for the same cash.

 

[Xterrafauss]

Thanks guys.

Also, apparently my buddy was so jealous of mine, he went out and bought one too. His is a manual trans though, bastard.

He was looking for a 4-runner originally, but determined he could get a much newer X with less miles for the same cash.

He made a good choice!

 

[SKAVYNGR]

That's so sick. A few hundred bucks for an X? I envy you that you put all your time and dedication into the X. I would never know where to start off or even begin.


-Jonny

 

[02Xterra]

Cool project man, glad you got it running good again!

 

[drbandkgb]

Very sweet project

 

[gots_a_sol]

Bolts for the body lift arrived. I think I may have been sent some incorrect ones.

On top of that, I seem to have ordered the wrong pucks (2" diameter vs 3"). Fortunately it was from Summit, so it shouldn't a problem to send them back and get the right ones.

 

[gots_a_sol]

Dumped the side steps and mud flaps (was missing one anyway)

Picked up a set of wheels today, just need to figure out what size rubber I want to throw on (and rob a bank to pay for them haha)

If you scroll back to the first post, you may notice the wheels on my dodge are very similar lol.

 

[Xado89]

Looks great man! I'm digging the head unit. Also how does out sound with those headers?

Sent using highly technical equipment involving satelites and space and nerds.....lots of nerds...

 

[gots_a_sol]

Headers give it a nice rumble inside the truck. The exhaust note is a touch louder also.


*edit* Had to put a battery in it today also. It almost didn't restart when I went to leave the guys house I bought the wheels from. No idea how old the battery that it came with was. Just stuck an autozone battery in there, did go with the group 34 though.

 

[Roadwarrior]

I'm going to be interested in seeing the H3 wheels looks on the X, if I can recall I've only seen it done once before, on a silver X I do believe. It's a rare mod.

Sent from space and stuff

 

[gots_a_sol]

Yea I've only seen these on the silver X also. As soon as I saw that pic I went straight to craigslist to find a set. May not care for the hummer h2/h3's, but they have some nice wheels on them from the factory haha.

 

[02Xterra]

I'm diggin the wheels man, that'll look really good. Are you leaving them silver or going to paint them?

And the Xterra you posted has an 02-04 lower bumper on it.. never seen that before but it doesn't look half bad!

 

[gots_a_sol]

Going to leave the wheels the way they are.


In other news, went up to step-mothers house yesterday for x-mas and I had a check engine light come on along with no more torque converter lock up. Did all the diagnostic crap on it and the lock up solenoid is bad. Thanks Xterra for that x-mas gift. So now it is back in the garage with the trans pan off. At least nissan was kind enough to put a drain bolt in the trans pan.

I suppose I'll replace the t-stat housing while it is in the garage, that looks like it will be super fun...


I hope this truck isn't going to continue to be this way. Guess time will tell.

 

[Gigashadow]

Pretty slick ride, and I'm digging the seating option. It's the second of that type I've seen and I'm considering it. Mine's more of a daily ride so I think I'd want it sorta low key.

How's it feel going down the road on a daily basis?

 

[gots_a_sol]

I've actually only driven it 3 or 4 times. I have a work truck I bring home (green superduty in the background of any of my pics) so this is basically just for running errands. I will say it is amazing compared to my dodge though, mainly because it doesn't take an hour to warm up haha.


Seats are comfy. I do wish I could recline them in this truck (no room to do so in the jeeps, so wasn't a concern when I bought them). I've shimmed the seat to tilt the entire thing back some, but it still needs a bit more I think.

 

[gots_a_sol]

Body lift is underway. Still need to do the bumpers and look for any other issues. This has fixed my #1 problem which was the drivers side upper o2 sensor touching the firewall.

Picked up rubber and mounted it up. Need to run them by a shop to get balanced. Size is 235/85-16. I wasn't really planning on this aggressive of a tire (although they look badass), but I picked this up for a decent discount off craigslist. Guy had them on for less than 3k miles then decided to trade the truck in, so took them back off.

 

[Dbrown016]

I was going to tun some H3 wheels before i got my cragars. They look great on the xterra. Im a fan of all the spokes they have instead of just the stock nissan 4 spoke...

 

[Roadwarrior]

If I had them I would paint the one solid spoke whatever your accent color on your truck is.

Sent from space and stuff

 

[gots_a_sol]

I still have other things to do while it is in the garage, so better pics will have to wait a bit.

If I did any painting, it would be to paint that solid spoke black so it is less noticeable.

 

[Big_THanks]

The hummer wheels look great. I would either paint the inner part of the fat spoke black or I think it would be cool to do like the nismo wheels and put a decal on that part. Maybe saying "xterra" .


Sent from my Note 2 using Tapatalk HD

 

[Jmac289gt]

Digging the deal you got on this.

 

[gots_a_sol]

So after I had the motor together, I had a tiny leak. Just a few drops here and there. It was coming from under the intake manifold and I narrowed it down to the t-stat housing. Unfortunately the stupid thing requires removing the lower intake manifold to replace


Finally replaced it today. The 2 small holes are where it was weeping coolant from (I poked at it with a pick and opened up the holes)

 

[gots_a_sol]

 

[drbandkgb]

Really digging the rims

 

[SKAVYNGR]

Looking like H2 rims?


-Jonny

 

[gots_a_sol]

H3 wheels - 16" and 6 lug. H2's are 17" and 8 lug (I have a set of those on my dodge in the first post)

 

[gots_a_sol]

So went to play in the snow the other day and found I had no 4wd. Drivers side auto hub was dead. I searched around a bit for oem Hardbody hubs without much luck, so Warns it is.

 

[gots_a_sol]

Pic from today

 

[gots_a_sol]

Guess I didn't post it in this thread, but built a bit of storage in the back to hide my tools/junk in.

 

[blackx09]

Guess I didn't post it in this thread, but built a bit of storage in the back to hide my tools/junk in.

Where you at in wv man I got a buddy with an x in falling waters and also one in Winchester got family all around martinsburg even though I live in pa I'm down in that area a lot

 

[gots_a_sol]

I'm about 20 minutes from Martinsburg.

 

[02Xterra]

The storage box looks good!

 

[blackx09]

I'm about 20 minutes from Martinsburg.

I'll have to talk to my buddy he's currently building a heep for his wife and we could always use a helping hand if your interested