jj big shoe

First thing I'd do is assess the condition of the frame. Get The scale off it with a wire brush and bang on it all over with a hammer and a screwdriver. 95 frames have a tendency to rust thru above the rear wheels. You'll have to cut out any bad spots and weld plates in. Check the junkyards for fenders, or new aftermarket ones are about $75US. Or if you feel creative, find some Chevy or Ford Bushwaker cut-out flares on Craigslist and make 'em fit. Otherwise you're going to have to do some real bodywork on those rear quarter panels or cut-and-roll them. It's usually done with a baseball bat on dropped cars to flare the lip out and under for wider tires. Anyway, other than the worn suspension parts and the door lock, I'd get the rusty stuff under control first.

Did it ever get over 3000 RPMs since you've had it or did this problem happen after the rebuild? Check the timing yet?

Does your floor look something like this? I cut out all the rusty stuff and got a big sheet of 22ga sheet metal to patch it up. I didn't have a welder at the time so I used RTV silicone and rivets. First, measure where the seat brackets and seat belt mounts need to be when you reinstall them then cut out all the rust. Don't leave any or it'll creep back on you. Be sure to look under the truck to make sure you won't be hacking thru a bracket or something (driveshaft hoop mounts, fuel and brake lines, etc.). Spray the edges with a rust inhibitor and spray paint then get a sheet big enough to cover up the hole and overlap the good metal and inch or two. Form the sheet to the original contour (or close enough so your seats will sit correctly) and drill holes for the rivets. I used about 150 rivets for mine. This is a shot while in the cargo area looking forward. I overlapped up to the brace in the top of the pic and just below where the cargo floor starts to slope down. Secure the sheet with rivets then fill the gaps inside and underneath with RTV so no dirt or water can collect between the sheet and body. If your is like mine was, you'll have rust in the wheel arches and other spots where you can't easilly form the metal. For those areas, use fiberglass patches. If you look above the brace, you'll see more rust holes. Be sure to pull all the carpet out and fix them all. Under the driver's right foot is a pretty common spot as well. Sorry, can't find pics of the finished work. Just think Michelangelo meets Chip Foose with a touch of Jessie James. I haven't remounted the seat belts yet but when I do, I'll prolly use another large, thick sheet of metal to act as a washer under the new metal to be sure the belts won't pull thru in an accident.

Hmmm...I have to try that. My lifters have been ticking since I put the reground cams in. I hadn't really noticed over the exhaust leak(s), but now that I fixed that, sounds like I have a Nissan sewing machine.

^^What he said, but you may want the body a bit higher or at least have enough room to get under it to repair the floor pan. And lay down some plywood, maybe get yourself a carport tent or something. It'll make working outside much more pleasant plus keep some of the elements from getting into the truck. Your energy and ambition is great, but you may want to slow down a bit and think about the steps in this project with a little more detail. Not trying to knock what you're doing, I just don't want you to overlook something that could've made that step much easier, safer or more comfortable. I've hurried or didn't think a project through and really regreted it later, believe me. Oh, and baggies, baggies, baggies! Put all nuts, bolts, clips, etc. in labeled baggies, even the busted ones. Given the depth and time of this project there's no way you'll remember what went where.

All I seem to collect is dust and bills.

Whaaa? I don't see how unless you mount the spring transversely, like the rear suspension of a Corvette . Are you thinking to use a leaf spring after a solid axle swap or am I missing something?

Coming soon...super busy latey.

Niiice. I really like that grille. Are they still available and would they work on a Pathfinder?

Here's a couple before I had it painted (and the main reason I did) Here's a couple after I had it painted Here's after I finished painting it again with Rustoleum in February

I've had an annoying tick-tick-tick for quite a while after installing the "new" engine, porting the heads and installing new lifters, springs and a reground cam. I figured it was the lifters so I resurfaced the originals and put them in. No change. This weekend I tried putting a spacer in the lifter body to increase preload following MY1PATHs advice and Youtube vid, but there was no change. I did notice there's some side-to-side play on the rocker arm when the valves are closed (less pressure from the valve stem and the lifter). There's no slop or space between the rocker arms and where they contact the lifters or valve stems, but I can move the rockers a bit side-to-side along the shaft. I was wondering if this is a sign of wear or is it typical of the VG30 design or does this indicate my rockers and/or rocker shafts are worn?

That's good news! You prolly won't have to tear into it for quite a while now since you've replaced so much either.

My duess is that you accigentally typeg it wrond when you sidneg up. Maybe one of the mogerators coulg help you out.

If you trust the info on this site (no reason you shouldn't, I just haven't been to it before) then your crankshaft part # is 1220121V80. The alternate is apparently specific to a Nissan Quest. If you go to the link you provided and click each part #, they list what year and vehicle it applies to. Funny thing is, if you Google those part #s, you get a bunch of Russian and Spanish websites. Plus the pic on the Nissan4u.com web page is of a Nissan Fuga. Are you sure you're not ordering something for a European spec VG30? There might be a difference being left-hand drive or something.

I'm a couple hours south in Sarasota.

Well, it did the sputter-sputter yesterday so I guess I still haven't found what's wrong. It does seem to be less frequent now, maybe there's some goop in the fuel system that's slowly finding its way out. One 3 second hiccup in the last five days or 500-600 miles doesn't really make it to the top of my worry list right now so I'll concentrate on finishing a few other things and get back to it later (if it doesn't correct itself). Thanks for the input and I'll post the solution if I find it.

How does it run otherwise?

Bah, don't let folks get you down. It is going to be one helluva lot of work, though so be prepared to spend three times the cash you've budgeted and six times the hours. A couple of the biggest problems you'll encounter are going to be the unexpected stuff that comes along with a 15 year old truck like rusted/stripped bolts, brittle plastics that'll snap when you try to remove them and rust in places you hadn't seen until disassembly. But prolly biggest of all will be very little aftermarket support. Those guys with the sweet looking Jeeps, early Broncos, etc. have the luxury of plunking down a wad of cash and getting exactly what they're looking for. Hell, there's prolly over 300 companies that supply TJ parts. Our trucks on the other hand are a rarity when it comes to offroading and/or restoration. It's not impossible, but you might have to be a bit creative when it comes to certain things. Oh, and once you get it all apart and have an idea what you're going to need to do, put it down on paper as a list. Believe me, it'll help you decide what direction to go, the order in which to do things and assist you in making smaller project goals within the build. Good luck and keep us posted.

The road test will be tomorrow, but I think I found the problem. Looks like the wires to the O2 sensor laid against the headers and melted some insulation off. I assume it would flop around from vibration and wind and short to the body or trans and give inaccurate readings. I cut the bad parts out, spliced new wires in and rerouted them away from the exhaust. I'll know its fixed after driving it a few days and post again.

Something mechanical in the latch, huh? Damn, I suppose I lost my dollar bet. Well it could be the...nah, I've given enough bad advice on this. I'm bowing out.

I have a capacitor, too. It keeps my headlights from dimming when the subwoofer hits.

I'm wondering how much you'll get from a 3.3 with a turbo. Have you thought about a SBC swap instead? You could easily get 400hp and no spool up time, you'd have torque from the get-go. Supercharge that and you're gold. Then again, I'm more of a hot rod kinda guy than I am a tuner.

You're not thinking that your belt jumped because the mark on the belt isn't lining up with the dimple on the cover, are you? Those belt marks are only there to aid in putting it on correctly. They only line up with all the marks every (insert random number) revolutions or something. If you haven't already, you should count the teeth between the gears to see if the belt jumped. There should be 40 teeth between the cam pulleys and 43 between the left cam gear (driver's side) and the crank pulley.

My passenger door would do the exact same thing when I had that problem. Once you forced it to unlock it wouldn't shut right again. You could pull the lock knob up then it would immediately pop back down. I'm betting he's got an issue with the actuator or possibly some shorted wiring. BTW PFNoob, If it ends up being the actuator there's plenty of folks parting out their trucks here.

I had a similar problem on my 2-door. There's a relay/circuit board assembly called a door lock actuator. Mine was behind the panel where the driver's seat belt runs out, dunno where it'll be on yours. Anyway if this circuit board shorts out from rust, wear or funk it's like someone is constantly pressing the lock button. Sound like the problem you're having?