theretrogarage Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 (edited) Hello all. I'm starting this thread not only to document for myself but to ask questions to those who have already been down a road very similar to mine. Not new to the car scene, have had a couple of project cars thus far. Bought this VW Corrado completely stock minus exhaust and steering wheel. Turned into a shaved bay, stage 5, 4 year project while I was still in school. The reason It took so long was because I was a part of the FSAE team at Akron and that took up the majority of my time. Ended up selling the Corrado to a younger guy that wrecked it. SO... Here we are Graduated with nothing to do after work... I stumbled upon this Z in the fall of 2014, hearing about it through my cousin. Gentlemen was moving to SC and had left the car here with his brother. The car had sat in a garage for the majority of the past 30 years. All the work being done to it back in the 80's This included the SBC swap and Suede interior. The 240z was never a car I thought I would buy, I always thought they were awesome, but I couldn't see myself owning one. Well, that changed when I found this one. I quickly began working on it (my dad got really excited too) just to see if it would run. It did, after buying a few parts and cleaning a few things but I wasn't happy with it... I wanted more power, so I thought... do a cam, do some heads call it a day... Then things changed when a friend hooked me up with a set of Holset VGT turbos. So here I am today, joining you guys that know way more than me about the S chassis for help where I may seem like I am doing something wrong. I have already made a few friends at the StanceNation Texas meet, have followed many extremely awesome builds, and have over the past year gathered ideas for my car. Look forward to building this car, Thanks ahead of time for the help! Edited September 10, 2015 by theretrogarage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theretrogarage Posted September 10, 2015 Author Share Posted September 10, 2015 Plans so far engine wise are convert to EFI (Haltech) run E85, more power and try and keep EGT's down for the VGT's (lots of acronyms ). Goals would be to hit around 7-800whp. At this point I want to also keep the car safe, and strong therefore stripping the interior to do a full cage. Ideas for rear end, additional chassis stiffening... stuff I may be missing. I have about 6 more weeks of time in Texas for work and then will be headed back to work on the car. This time for me serves as planning and ideas. Obviously, I don't have an unlimited budget so this is a somewhat budget minded build, but I want to do it the right way the first time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayverippah Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 I'd grab a junkyard 5.3 for a few hundred bucks and pop the turbos on it. They are built like tanks and plentiful. The stock internals and heads will get you to 600 easy. I had that setup until I switched to an ls3. Another thing to keep in mind is that with your hp/torque goals, you're going to have to upgrade your rear end. The diff may or may not hold up, but your stub axles and half shafts are going to shred to pieces. I had Wolf Creek CV's, Whitehead stubs, and an open r200 and they held up to the 600hp. You'll need to convert the gas tank to EFI. If your caging the car, then you'd probably be more interested throwing in a fuel cell. Good luck with your build!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theretrogarage Posted September 11, 2015 Author Share Posted September 11, 2015 I'd grab a junkyard 5.3 for a few hundred bucks and pop the turbos on it. They are built like tanks and plentiful. The stock internals and heads will get you to 600 easy. I had that setup until I switched to an ls3. Honestly didn't even consider it until you said. But by the time I actually convert this to EFI and able to support boost, I would be way better off going with something that already runs EFI, and is substantially newer. This is why I joined the forum, I knew people on here would have valuable input, and its great to have a different view on a project. Another thing to keep in mind is that with your hp/torque goals, you're going to have to upgrade your rear end. The diff may or may not hold up, but your stub axles and half shafts are going to shred to pieces. I had Wolf Creek CV's, Whitehead stubs, and an open r200 and they held up to the 600hp. As far as rear end goes. I am still debating what I want to do. Probably the first order of business for me is to buy a good TIG and teach myself how to weld. I learned everything other than welding while I was in school, I'm sure I can pick it up especially on this thicker stuff that I'm most likely going to be working on with this car. I'm seeing a lot of good stuff on the forums about the Ford 8.8, beefy, gear options, ect... but I'm still researching. You'll need to convert the gas tank to EFI. If your caging the car, then you'd probably be more interested throwing in a fuel cell. Good luck with your build!! Yes, exactly the plan. And thanks! Really appreciate the 2cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texis30O Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 Hey! you have a pic of my POS ....lol.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theretrogarage Posted September 15, 2015 Author Share Posted September 15, 2015 Hey! you have a pic of my POS ....lol.... Yes sir, Enjoyed seeing your car at the show. Idk if you remember me. I was the guy asking about your chassis stiffening. Appreciate your help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theretrogarage Posted September 22, 2015 Author Share Posted September 22, 2015 Well, still away from home for a while, but I did manage to get one of the motor controllers in and begun planning a control strategy with the Haltech. That's all I got for now, been in talks with another TT LS guy (@the.mean.z) it looks like I am going to need to do a custom core support to be able to fit everything the way I want. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theretrogarage Posted October 20, 2015 Author Share Posted October 20, 2015 (edited) Back from the lovely state of Texas and getting right to work. Car is still here, gotta drain the coolant/water here soon as it is getting kinda cold outside, and I dont think the mix was very good. Set up a clean room-ish area in the basement and started working on the VGT controllers. Video posted below. Video of the VGT in action. https://instagram.com/p/9CxxZWj55O/?taken-by=theretrogarage Currently everything checks out good, have to mess around with the PID loop a bit to dial it in a bit more... this is only at 30% duty cycle acceleration wise, so it will definitely move a lot quicker, i just want to make sure everything check out before I give it the go ahead. While in the airport I found a throwback to my younger years and the box I will probably be using for the VGT controllers. A Super Mario ? block. Figured it fit the bill. Edited October 20, 2015 by theretrogarage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theretrogarage Posted October 22, 2015 Author Share Posted October 22, 2015 Another updated video, didnt have feedback in the video from the other post, this one you can see the feedback following the target. Could still benefit from a bit more PID tuning, but at least I have a solid start. Now it will just be up to the table setup in the ECU to send a PWM to the controller and operate this thing. https://instagram.com/p/9Fhe7yD56y/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theretrogarage Posted November 11, 2015 Author Share Posted November 11, 2015 Big update, Picked up a Motor and Transmission. Motor: 2002 LQ4 out of a Silverado 2500HD Trans: 1998 T56 out of a Camaro Trans came with some sort of power tower short shifter kit and a flywheel/clutch and the engine came with harness, all accessories. This thing was a mess on the outside. Slowly but surely she is cleaning up though. I need to get myself a parts washer here soon. Size reference of the turbo if anyone was wondering. And a couple measurements Going to be placing an order with JCI soon for mounts. So that I can begin fabricating the exhaust manifolds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boben Posted November 14, 2015 Share Posted November 14, 2015 Another updated video, didnt have feedback in the video from the other post, this one you can see the feedback following the target. Could still benefit from a bit more PID tuning, but at least I have a solid start. Now it will just be up to the table setup in the ECU to send a PWM to the controller and operate this thing. https://instagram.com/p/9Fhe7yD56y/ Nice work with the VGT controller! I also had a similar setup in my previous car: The engine was a 4-cyl BMW M42B18 hooked up with an Eaton M45 supercharger in series with a BIG VGT out from a Mercedes diesel. The control strategy was the following: There was an electrically controlled bypass for the M45 made out of a Prius electronic throttle body. When going lightly on the throttle, the bypass remained open and the car behaved like an NA. Once you stepped on the gas a bit more, the bypass was closed progressively and the M45 started making boost. With the added air flow, the seriously over sized VGT was able to start making boost. For boost control I made a separate boost controller out of an Atmel microprocessor. This controller took the boost control output from Megasquirt as the control input and regulated the boost by means of two parallel PID loops controlling the M45 bypass and the VGT wings. Initially I did not have a waste gate, but I soon found out that at high RPM, the bypass and VGT wing control just was not enough and I had to include a VAG three way valve to open the waste gate under over boost conditions at high RPM. The waste gate was also controlled electronically by a PWM output from my DIY controller. Looking forward to your progress on this one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theretrogarage Posted November 17, 2015 Author Share Posted November 17, 2015 Nice work with the VGT controller! I also had a similar setup in my previous car: The engine was a 4-cyl BMW M42B18 hooked up with an Eaton M45 supercharger in series with a BIG VGT out from a Mercedes diesel. The control strategy was the following: There was an electrically controlled bypass for the M45 made out of a Prius electronic throttle body. When going lightly on the throttle, the bypass remained open and the car behaved like an NA. Once you stepped on the gas a bit more, the bypass was closed progressively and the M45 started making boost. With the added air flow, the seriously over sized VGT was able to start making boost. For boost control I made a separate boost controller out of an Atmel microprocessor. This controller took the boost control output from Megasquirt as the control input and regulated the boost by means of two parallel PID loops controlling the M45 bypass and the VGT wings. Initially I did not have a waste gate, but I soon found out that at high RPM, the bypass and VGT wing control just was not enough and I had to include a VAG three way valve to open the waste gate under over boost conditions at high RPM. The waste gate was also controlled electronically by a PWM output from my DIY controller. Looking forward to your progress on this one! Thats Awesome! Sounds like a fun build you had there. I was also thinking to have wastegates, mostly as a failsafe. Thanks for the encouragement! Both of these valve pictures were taken prior to cleaning... That exhaust valve should be a 1.55... probably had some carbon on it. Waiting on my head studs to ship in, and then its the home stretch of getting the motor back together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theretrogarage Posted December 6, 2015 Author Share Posted December 6, 2015 Started trial fitting the turbos and the accessories out side of the car measuring as much as I could off of the original SBC. I had high hopes that everything would fit nicely. I am attempting to use the original truck manifolds and then to an up pipe to the turbos. Id like to mount the turbos up high in the bay. SBC was taken out and sold, as a full drop in SCARAB kit. Couple of my buddies helped me pull the motor. Original L24 was also sold. Engine bay was prepped while I awaited my JCI mounts and other misc parts. Heads assembled and motor assembled with SpeedMasters Head studs. Now we get to the fun part. LQ4 trial fit in the JCI mounts, with a mock up of the turbos. This will be tight. Truck manifolds wont fit without modification. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.