First, don't go to Mexico to get the lights. Mossy Nissan in Oceanside, California, is less than 100 miles from Mexico, and they stock the Mexican lights at a better price than Acapulco Nissan. They also speak English and sell everything you need to do the conversion in one handy kit. That includes some trim pieces I had to find in an American junkyard, the hideously ugly Mexican grille I didn't get in Mexico, and the new electrical connectors for the updated headlights and turn signals that I finally got from Mossy.* Lesson #4: Buy Mexican parts in California.This conversion is relatively easy if you have a 1993-94 SE-R. I have a '91. 1991-92 Sentras had a single metal trim piece stretching below both headlights and the grille. The 1993-2007 cars had separate plastic trim pieces below each headlight, with the grille trim integrated into the bottom of the grille.
The early trim piece is slightly taller than the later one, and the late Mexican headlights are narrower than early U.S. ones, so the 1991-1992 trim panel won't work with the new lights.
I made do with 1993-1994 U.S. trim from B&R Auto Wrecking way up in Oregon. Of course, I painted the bumper before realizing I needed new trim, so I had to paint the trim pieces separately.* Lesson #5: Test-fit first, paint second.
Next problem: The back of the Mexican headlights hit the early lights' mounting brackets. The brackets, naturally, are welded in place. Be prepared to cut and/or grind to make room.* Lesson #6: Sparks are bad for brand-new bumper paint.
Neither the early or late U.S. grilles fit with the Mexican headlights. Two Mexican grilles are available, but both look incredibly stupid. The Sunny grille that came with my bumpers, however, looks quite dashing with its mysterious, Marvelesque stylized "S"-badge, so I decided to make it work.
Whether or not it actually worked is open to debate, but it still looks far less bad than anything sold in Mexico. Filling the gap below the grille meant cutting the '91 trim panel to the approximate height of the corresponding part I didn't get from Japan and narrowing it to fit between the junkyard parts from Oregon. The grille was designed to snap in place at five points, none of which exist on this car. Instead, I fabricated two simple aluminum angle brackets for the top of the grille and two hardwood brackets (cut from the handle of my favorite wire brush) for the bottom. This left only the large, irregular gaps between the grille and headlights to fill.
Weeks passed as I tried to figure out how to bridge the gap without reducing airflow. The final solution, it turns out, was sitting right there between the duct tape and the zip ties: flat black spray paint. Painting the sides of the headlights turned the glaring gap into a cleverly shaped cooling duct. Magic in a can.* Lesson #7: Maybe this whole thing was a bad idea.
Done with the cosmetics, it was time for more weight savings. Thirty-six pounds was a nice start, but like more power, less weight is addictive.
The 16x7-inch Black Racing N1 wheels we installed last century (1997) were reasonably light for cast wheels at 15 pounds each, but years of abuse had turned them square. It was time for a change.
Visually, 16s are the right size for an SE-R, but the selection of 16-inch tires is pathetic. 17s look like dubs on a B13, so we went down to the land of lightweight and abundant race rubber. The land of 15s.