What's up guys. Figured I'd register to give me a place to save any relevant tech info on this car. This site comes up so often on Google searches for various issues.

I got a G35 2003 model for next to nothing with $160,000 mi on it. The brake fluid was crystal clear the oil was getting clean coolant look new so it appeared they took good care of it before they parked it under a maple tree. Now I just learned this if you don't know a maple tree set will destroy clear coat and paint and it will rust out whatever it sits on for a good long period

They said it's been sitting for 2 and 1/2 years, they parked it because of a cracked radiator and a failing crankshaft sensor. And after I picked it up and attempted to remove the drive shaft to load it onto my car dolly. So needless to say after much frustration I feel the cooling up and I drove in an hour and a half back to the house I had my friend follow me in the truck.

​​​​I wanted to learn how to repair paint and rested body panels maybe later move on to damage body panels and this look like a solid project that would be fun. So far all I've done is clean because the car inside and out reeks of spoiled maple syrup.

About got it together though. This boy ain't afraid of hard work or a little frustration. Sorry. Pictures are not in order. Later today if I get back around the shop I'll get a picture of the interior of the car now.



I guess he used the car as a chief ride in the backyard. Because there wasn't an inch of this thing that wasn't covered in lighters, soda, candy wrappers. And Nerf darts. Clean the best way I know, pulled the carpets and the seats and all the trim and pressure washed it.

Down to bare metal after sandblasting with fine fine grit coal slag after blasting with fine grit: Cole slag. Tried Walnut shells, they stripped that old paint off quick but they are expensive and don't get down inside the little small rust pits.

What is that smell? I knew this car was going to be a little work but I didn't know I was going to have to remove fenders and bumpers and tail lights and headliner to get to all the spots where the spoiled maple syrup has settled.

Most recent photo after waxing and the roof primered

Parts, once I got the car out of the way I got every single piece of trim minus the dash cleaned in about an hour and a half.

The roof behind the sunroof before I begin stripping the paint and rust. Through the whole process I kept telling myself I am never doing this again sanding sucks sandblasting sucks. But after completing each step of the process, I still thoroughly hate sanding and painting a car. Anything else, but a car just makes me so picky I can't get anything finished


Yeah I know what you're thinking, did it all really have to come out? Yes every bit of it was covered in something brown and sticky or red. But as a bonus I did find $35 worth of nickels dimes and quarters and pennies under the carpet under the console in the cup holder in the trunk and the door panel behind where the radio should be .

 

Definitely familiar with the maple trees, avoid them like the plague when it's "pissing season".

Good project car though, for that crank sensor definitely only use a Hitachi or Genuine OEM Nissan sensor. These cars don't play well with any aftermarket ones.

Welcome to the forums!

 

Looks like a fun project and should be a lot of fun when you are done with it. Mani sure hope you took advantage of having the interior out to run sealer wires, install sound deadening, or at least sign your name on the floorboard 😂! It is nice when you are done with a project like that because you know it was done thoroughly and done right, and you won’t have to worry about it anymore, and now you can just enjoy a nice clean interior.

Just curious, what’s the reason for the white paint on the roof? Are you planning on painting the whole car white or just going for a different look?

 

Oh the white paint is primer and filler primer. I still have to sand it and coat it with the base paint and clear coat it but I don't have anywhere to do any paint at at the moment.

I pulled my crank sensor out last night and it looks brand new and it is a OEM parts with OEM part number stamped on it. And the two cam sensors look brand new as well and one of them looks like it has a brand new plug in on the harness.

I did find a fuel leak on the passenger side. It's a plastic quick connect fitting. And the car has gotten to where it's will run until the engine is warmed up after a ECM reset and then light up all the dash lights and limit the RPMs to under a thousand.

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My goal here is to spend as little money as possible getting the vehicle back to stock condition.

I heard a quote from an obviously very wise man.

"If you want nice things but don't have the money to buy them.... then you had better get to making making it"

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My ipdm was soaked from all the car washing and it flooded the battery compartment. I took it out and dried it and afterwards I got the p1122 p1126 codes.

After some troubleshooting I found that the wire that engages the throttle motor relay was loose at the harness connector e8. So I twisted all the pins slightly to the right and forced the plug on it.