BLOZ UP

So my last updates got nibbled. In short: Took it to my wedding. On the way back it blew up after I tried to show my new wife how cool I was, in a somewhat not-shady part of New Brunswick. Waited with bride for tow truck. Got a few photos of that. Coolant sprayed everywhere on the hood and windshield from a location I haven't been able to pinpoint yet. Misfired on 1+ cylinders. Massive white smoke out the exhaust. Suspect blown headgasket. Coolant spray might be from radiator. Not sure, coolant was covering everything in the engine bay. No obvious blown hoses or anything. Might have squeezed by one of the hose connections since none of the pipes are beaded. Got it towed to my house. Drained rest of coolant. Got some LED bulbs for the sidemarkers and license plate lamps. Plan on replacing more. Need to replace headgasket but have been lazy. Fixed boost gauge Been trying to fix right turn signal since the front isn't flashing, but bulb is ok. Hazards also not working.

I use the actual cig. lighter outet to power a few always-on items (GPS hot-start, etc.). I added some extra wire from the stereo harness to a weatherpak, then to a double cig. outlet behind and under the passenger seat. Then I plugged that inverter in.

Unfortunately, zmaniac killed himself while DUI. I haven't heard about what happened to his shop, but he had the best rates and I was looking forward to seeing a fellow z guy to tune my VG33 S30. I'm pretty familiar with MS, and am willing to help out. I'm in central NJ. I've never used Haltech but am willing to try it out. I've seen it in use and played with the software, but that's about it. Would love to play with it though as I've been kind of casually eyeing to upgrade my MS.

I got one normal for work, and HD for working on the car.

That looks real good. I just went with a dual outlet inverter with USB out as well.

I'm not familiar with the SMD version. I know there are a few differences, but the daughter board is the same, so the inputs are unless something on the SMD is also using them. Also, no proto area.

Oh, and I managed to melt the boost gauge sender wire because I forgot to secure it. Gauge wasn't working, but I should be able to repair it.

Fixed my coolant leak I believe. It looks like it was the thermostat outlet. Went on a short test drive with datalogging and video so I could try out this RaceRender software I bought: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zom-0JNBoBs

Yeah, what he said. You don't need a huge intercooler, especially with the air mass needed for 400hp. The CXRacing or Mishimoto ones are plenty big.

Upgraded my crappy intercooler to a huge one. A bit too large, it took some pie-cuts and lots of finagling. Old one: New one: I'm happy with the fitment. Still needs some real mounts on it to hold it in place, but the piping does not rub on anything anymore, and the fitment relative to the radiator is much better.

The CXRacing intercooler is about as cheap as you can get for a good product from a crappy supplier. It's also at a great price. You should be able to get it and some couplers (try siliconeintakes.com for cheap ones and cheap clamps) for around $400. If that's too expensive then you might be able to scrounge around junkyards for NPR intercoolers or online forums for used intercoolers, but that's more work. It all depends on how handy you are and what tools you have available.

Man, the roads look so pristine over there... I see the Zs are in the same general area they were back when I went to one in 2012ish...

I got some more Vibrant 'boost connect' fittings (AKA: Push-to-Connect/Quick Disconnect). I have a bunch of 1/4" tube/1/8" NPT and a couple 3/8" tube/1/4" NPT. I installed one 90 degree 1/8" NPT 3/8" tube fittings for the BOV and a 1/4" NPT on the manifold . Finally replaced my piecemeal rubber/silicone vacuum line with a nice hard polyethylene one. Not sure what heat rating the 3/8" line is, but my 1/4" is supposedly safe to 250+ degree F. Earlier I replaced the wastegate line with 1/4", but I still need to figure out how to connect my Greddy Type S solenoid box, which just has smooth nipples. I might get some barb fitting to put on my straight adapters and use some short silicone. Ghetto but should work fine. The other problem is where to mount the solenoid box. I think I'm going to be making a coolant reservoir out of aluminum, and I'll have to put a flange on it for the boost controller. Also, finally installed the 1/8" NPT boost/vacuum sensor with a 1/4" NPT adapter into the intake manifold. Also also, am looking into modifying my MS to accept at least 2 extra sensor inputs: Oil Pressure and Fuel Pressure. The SpeedHut gauges use 'Sensata' sensors, as far as I can tell. I do not see the exact part number listed but I see very similar ones. The pressure sensors are 0.5v-4.5v output, so I should be able to tap or tee into that to give my ECU an idea of what's what. It would be real nice to log fuel pressure to ensure consistency.

Thanks. I think it turned out well considering I allotted one day only for it.

Any idea what the weight is of the trailer? I'd like to get an old Ranger/mini-truck bed to make into one but I'll have to stick to a HF trailer if it's too much.

Got my intercooler installed and the piping done. Do have vroom-psh. The intercooler is a tad to wide, so it needed to be modified. Cut off the intercooler ends at about 10 degrees and cut a lot of 15 degree pie cuts out. After deburring and cleaning up the pieces, I attempted to fit it all together, one (or two or three) piece(s) at a time. It turned out I needed one 22.5/15 degree pie cut to get the passenger side inlet the work. An hour or two later: It was fun to weld some aluminium tube again. I haven't welded it in years. Welded the pipes on to the endtanks, which went extremely well due to the quality casting on the endtanks. By 'quality', I mean not oil and carbon soaked for 20+ years. Also gave a quick double coat of black rattle can on the front. I'll take a slight performance hit for not being gaudy looking. Next up is fixing the piping to/from the intercooler on the turbo/engine side. I did keep in mind that the intercooler should be removable, and it is just so. After disconnecting the silicone couplers you have to slant the right side forward and up to clear the core support, then tilt 90 degrees around the axis of the passenger side inlet, then remove it. Simple! Luckily both ends just need simple extensions, one weld on each. The turbo outlet pipe is flipped around (from how it was with the last intercooler) so the 90 bend is closer to the turbo, and it sits lower into the engine bay. Then I just welded on a couple extra inches to make it to the 90 degree silicone reducer. For the other side I cut off a 45 bend from the old piping and put that on the end. Then I spent the next couple hours drilling and grinding and waiting for my air compressor for the hole for the new BOV flange. I only got a couple vroom-psshh's out of it since it was late and I just zip tied stuff up out of the way. Just have the BOV and wastegate hooked up, no boost controller since it needs to be relocated. I did use my new quick-connect boost line to the wastegate though. Nice stuff. 8psi spring, IIRC but I only hit 6 psi and is a bit too lean building boost. I also remembered I have higher compression so I should take it easy, and called it a night. Before this, I had also cleaned up some of the wiring and ran new grounds to the alternator, engine block, and battery disconnect switch. Still don't have a working turn signal. I need to figure out where to mount my stock coolant overflow or get a new one, and fix the rest of the vacuum lines but the bulk of work is done. Ooh, I did find where the coolant leak is from, the thermostat housing. Shouldn't be too hard to replace...

Those crash tests are hilarious.

You got the MPH exactly the same in those two runs?

Well this thread took a turn...

That looks great but is insanely expensive for some high-output LEDs and an IC.

The main guy is familiar, IIRC. 'Brice' I think.

Paul.... the guy from Alamo Performance?. Oh yeah, hey you should take it to Alamo Performance. They do good work. And have a dyno.

The stock wiring is more than sufficient for SpeedHut. The Speedhut gauges use very little current relative to the stock gauges/dash lights. The main difference is the LEDs replacing the filament bulbs. Just be sure for the ignition gauge wires to select any one of the harness wires that supplies IGN current, not accessory as the accessory lines are shut-off during cranking.

Gas Monkey in Dallas. $$$$$ Jerry's Z Car Emporium "All Z Car Specialist" on the Ft. Worth/Arlington line $$ There was also that one guy that bought my old 84AE... Greg... Rob... Can't remember. 300z Parts+ Or something. Think it went under. Although Jerry is more of a wrecker than a shop. He might have also retired & turn it over. What do you need done?

No turbo yet