Slartibartfast

The two resonators (not catalysts, just baffles in cans) are factory, but they've apparently got heat shields for some reason, so people mistake them for cats. The smog guy likely made that mistake, noted that the number he thought he saw didn't match what his computer said, and marked it as a fail. Nevermind the obvious factory welds or the question of why someone would add two catalysts to an exhaust system. And yes, I'm very happy to not live in California.

Good luck!

Might be worth trying a locksmith if you get really stuck. I'd probably pull the seat (to give me a little more room to work) and see how much of the door panel I could remove. If the trim around it doesn't overlap it you could probably get some kind of pry bar with a 90° end in there to pop the clips free. If you can get that off, then you have the fun of sticking your arm into the door and fishing around for the latch mechanism.

Pages 10 and 11 of the FE section of the '03 manual have diagrams of the exhaust system showing all of the components. You can download the '03 manual here. The manual doesn't label the resonators for some reason but shows the TWCs (three-way catalysts) bolted to the manifolds as the only cats in the system. The parts diagram here shows them as present, but doesn't say what they are. This thread says they're just resonators, and suggests that Nissan didn't make them right (there's a shock) and then came up with a half-assed "fix" to slap on when they failed (this seems to be a pattern). This thread also talks about whether or not they're cats, and the last poster had a link to the actual part. +1 for finding an inspector who's not a halfwit. Wouldn't hurt to have the diagrams on your phone or something in case the next guy's also an idiot.

Just to clarify, I swapped a stock radio for another stock radio.

My solution to most of my paint problems is a black paint pen. No mess and it looks alright if you stand far enough back!

I can't quite see your diagram (loads about the size of a wristwatch on my screen for some reason) but the sub may actually be a reasonable place to pull power from, depending on how it's rigged up. I haven't gone too far down the car audio rabbit hole but I think they're generally set up with a constant power connection (fused but not switched) and a signal wire from the head unit to the amp to turn the amp off when the stereo's off.

My dad's '03 ate a quart/1k miles. New PCV didn't seem to help. Not uncommon for the VQs unfortunately.

My guess is that the #4 injector has a slow fuel leak. When the engine's off, it's leaking fuel from the rail into cylinder 4 (or just its intake runner, if the valve's shut), flooding it and making it misfire when you start it up. Some of the fuel seeps past the rings to contaminate your oil. Because the leak is small, you don't notice it when the engine's running, at least not after the puddled gas has blown out of #4. I don't know the VQ computer too well but I wouldn't be too surprised if the high idle was trying to compensate for something. The mucked up PCV sounds like something to address, but unless the PCV is dripping goo into the runner for #4 or something, I doubt it's causing your misfire. Don't forget to change the oil after fixing the injector (if that does turn out to be the issue). Good luck!

I swapped out the radio in my dad's 03 years ago when it crapped out. Installation was fairly simple from what I can remember, with no stupid security codes or anything like that. Should be plug and play.

That fuel hose leaked on my '95, too. I just tightened the clamps a little and it stopped.

Good to hear you got it! Nice when it turns out being something simple.

VG33 swaps are common and fairly well written up. Also check out Mr. 510's build.

High beam is probably the contact in the headlight switch, which isn't too hard to clean out if you're careful. Probably unrelated.

Good work getting the engine back together! Fourth is overdrive.

Looks good! Fill in the gaps under the lights and it would look like it was made to fit.

I picked up a box of Carquest-branded filters from a Rockauto clearance a while back for a couple bucks each.

Hmm. Yeah, that sounds like low line pressure, though again I'm not a tranny expert either. I've read that the usual trans failure in the WD21s is because the pump craps out and pressure falls until it won't engage reverse, with other gears following soon after. Given that your '04 has an updated version of the same slushbox I wouldn't be surprised if it suffered a similar failure. I wouldn't rule out a valvebody issue though given that it does lock up once it's in gear. I'd also want to check the TPS just for grins, but even if that was completely hooped it should still at least try to go into gear.

I haven't run enough wire to have the gauge quite figured out by eye either, but I can compare the diameter of the conductor to the grooves in my wire stripper and get a ballpark estimate that way. I should probably print that chart and put it up somewhere. Different climate on this side for sure! And thanks.

That's my video! Looks good Jax. And yeah, OSB, do it! It's so much nicer to work under the hood when you can see what you're doing.

I have no idea what's in there, unfortunately. They look a bit like the grain-of-wheat bulbs my model trains used when I was a kid but they're shorter. There isn't really a base, just a rubber plug with the bare wires from the bulb wrapped through the holes and pressed over a pair of contacts. I've been going through my dash switches and soldering in LEDs rather than tracking down a plug-in option. You have to take the switches apart to get into them. Don't try to take the rocker part out, the tabs will break and the switch will be junk; separate the switch from the back (you'll see the little locking tabs back there) and the bulbs should be easily accessible. I've been meaning to do a writeup when I do the last two (actually my e-at and rear wiper switches), but I have yet to figure out how to remove them from the dash without taking the whole dash out, and I'm in no hurry to do that again. I seem to remember somebody tracked down a Radioshack part number for them at some point. I might be thinking of the bulbs for the climate control, though. Edit: here's a part #. Hopefully the indicator uses the same bulb as the general switch illumination.

Had a look at the manual and yep, it's the light in the switch that flashes. The manual has you check the operation of the OD light while you're at it, but just to see if it's working (the "go to" goes to a diagram of the circuit). I had a look at the '90 manual and the dash looks different, but the procedure looks the same. The '97 manual shows the OD light flashing codes. My '93 doesn't have a light in the switch, but it's got an idiot light on the cluster surround that says POWER. I'm not sure about the '95 (been a while since I had a round-dash) but on my square-dash cluster, the 194 bulbs do the backlighting and the turn signals, and a couple of the idiot lights (fuel and battery IIRC); I think the OD light uses one of the little ones. I posted a thread a while back when I was looking for the little bulbs. Hopefully one of the posts there helps.

Timing set way off?

The manual transfers have trouble disengaging if they're torque bound, but the ATX14A uses clutches for 4x engagement, so it shouldn't have that problem. Again, I'd go through the diagnostics in the FSM and see if you can get any answers out of it that way. Might not hurt to check the fluid level/condition while you're at it.

I solder/shrink just about everything. When tapping into a wire, I usually either cut the wire (so I can slide the shrink wrap on), strip it, and solder it back together with the new wire included, or cut the insulation in two places with the strippers, slit between the cuts with a razor, then peel off the insulation and wrap/solder the new wire around the bare spot. The trouble with the second way is that you can't get shrink tube over it, so you're stuck using tape or liquid schmoo; the trouble with the first is that the original wire gets shorter, which isn't really an option if it's part of a harness. Look for the shrink tube with the glue inside. It melts when you shrink the tubing, sealing the joint against moisture and preventing the tubing from slipping off. I think it's the marine grade stuff.