I'm going to buy a 87 Maxima GXE tomorrow (with only 79k miles... lovely).
In doing some online research, I came to find that there is a problem with
the 87's fuel injector. There's was even a standing recall order for them
from Nissan. I read this off the CarSurvey.org site, from the owner of a
87 Maxima:

"I initially bought the car through the internet on a yahoo auction, I
paid $4200. A bit high. But I am a Nissan believer. I flew down and picked
it up in Florida, car was spotless and had been freshly buffed and
detailed.

On the ride from the airport it ran on three cylinders instead of six,
appeared to be the spark plugs not firing correctly. Seller repaired. This
showed up once again in Louisiana, until then the car ran smoothly. From
Louisiana the car fired on three then six cylinders, intermittently, I
believe this bumping and forceful jerking back and forth took out two of
the motor mounts. I took it to my mechanic who diagnosed that the fuel
injector harness was not making correct contact consistently which forced
it to fire incorrectly. THIS had been a recall item when the 87 Maxima
first came out. This work had been done by a Florida dealer, but factory
installation specs direction was that it was to be soldered and not
clamped. The dealer had used the clamped method. The repair shop did a
timing chain and soldered the fuel harness."

Hope that proves helpful to you.