Brett_Murphy
New member
I picked up this 2000 Xterra for $350 a while back. It had just had new Michelin tires put on a few days before the timing belt failed. The owner was asking $1000 for it, but after it sat for a while at the garage that found the timing belt, he just wanted it gone. At that price, plus $100 tow back to my house, I couldn't say no. However, it was project number three in the rotation, so it has sat around for a bit. This build thread is going to be condensed from the past 12 months of work, which has been going slowly.
There is a bit of light rust on it. People from salt states would consider it very minor, people that are only used to cars in my area may get tetanus just looking at it. That just means I won't feel bad about driving it on the beach.
The issue when I bought it was a dead engine. It's messy.
And it probably has some damage to the valves.
Luckily, I have a much lower mileage replacement lined up and ready to go from a 2004 Xterra.
While it will move, it did hit something hard. I had to employ the sawzall to be able to turn the wheel.
The plan is to swap the good engine into the good chassis. Apparently I am going to have to reuse the intake and exhaust manifolds off of the dead engine in order for it to fit into the bay of the 2000. There might also be some work involved with the starter. We'll see.
Just to be safe, a timing belt/water pump replacement will be done while the engine is out of the car. The lower mile, rust free shocks and leafs may also get swapped into the good body. The 2004 seats are also going to get swapped.
There is a bit of light rust on it. People from salt states would consider it very minor, people that are only used to cars in my area may get tetanus just looking at it. That just means I won't feel bad about driving it on the beach.
The issue when I bought it was a dead engine. It's messy.
And it probably has some damage to the valves.
Luckily, I have a much lower mileage replacement lined up and ready to go from a 2004 Xterra.
While it will move, it did hit something hard. I had to employ the sawzall to be able to turn the wheel.
The plan is to swap the good engine into the good chassis. Apparently I am going to have to reuse the intake and exhaust manifolds off of the dead engine in order for it to fit into the bay of the 2000. There might also be some work involved with the starter. We'll see.
Just to be safe, a timing belt/water pump replacement will be done while the engine is out of the car. The lower mile, rust free shocks and leafs may also get swapped into the good body. The 2004 seats are also going to get swapped.
