MrFancypants

The SR20DET shares a lot of parts with the SR20DE, a commonly available motor in the US (91-94 Sentra SE-R, 91-96 G20, 95-98 200SX SE-R, 99 Sentra 2.0, 99-02 G20). The RB motor was never sold in any car in the US. - Greg -

A lot of good advice in this thread, with varying degrees of risk. I quoted the single best advice of all. You absolutely have to maximize your 401K matching or youre effectively lowering your salary. Im not sure what your maximum rate is (typically 3-4% if you invest 6% of your paycheck, for us civilians) but you need to make sure youre using it. It's definitely a good idea to invest beyond the initial 6%, but it's idiocy to invest less - Greg -

If youre going to buy new, I'd go with the MM 175. However, I'd recommend going used and get way more welder for your money. You can always unload it later and sell it for close to what you paid for it. I just bought a used MM 185 on Ebay for the price of a new MM 175. Definitely go with Ebay... even if you buy new. The prices there are going to beat the local store. Then hit your local store for accessories and consumables. Again, if youre in no rush, keep searching Ebay for a few weeks and try to snatch up a good deal on a used Miller. - Greg -

In Seattle all this week (first time) for a conference. Gotta say, this city is really beautiful and clean. I hope you like seafood! Ate at Elliott's down on the waterfront this evening -- absolutely fantastic. Still trying to find something wrong with Seattle, and Ive been here since Sunday afternoon. Granted it hasnt rained yet... - Greg -

The TB warmer is a perfect dedicated parallel circuit in the engine cooling system for use in your custom turbo application Otherwise, unless you plan on driving your baby in cold climates, there's no need for the TB warmer. - Greg -

Definitely run a restrictor, unless you like the smell of burning oil. You can also just weld the end of a steel AN adapter in the feed line and drill a very small hole through the weld. I cant remember the drill bit size I used but it was around 0.06" IIRC. You really dont need (or want) a lot of flow into the turbo. The drain can be as large as you want, but there's no point making it larger than 3/8". It's gravity fed and should not be restricted. - Greg -

Seeing as how Im on here almost daily now I thought it was time to chip in. Damn you and the Z-crack you deal... Cheers! - Greg -

http://www.griotsgarage.com/catalog.jsp?L1=L1_3000&L2=L2_3080&SKU=90011 Granted I havent personally tried it, but Richard's stuff is always top notch. He says they poured brake fluid on it and the paint wouldnt even bubble after a week! Definitely go with an industrial coating over something you can buy at the local hardware store. You get your money's worth. - Greg -

Next time you go to buy bulbs (which will probably be a while), go to Costco. They sell both 4' and 8' bulbs by the case at probably 1/4 the price of Home Depot. I laughed when I moved into my house a few years ago... 2 bay garage with one 40W lightbulb and a garage door opener light, and one outlet with a switch for the light. First modification was fluorescent lighting, a few switches and a bunch of outlets. Dont sweat wiring in new circuits (e.g. the 240V circuit for your compressor), you can wire that in yourself very easily. - Greg -

I'd consider EGR a performance hurting system. I've driven cars with and without (disabled, same motor) and you definitely notice a difference. The difference is in fact in partial throttle situations, typically taking off from a stop. I believe the spec is 2,000-3,000 RPM. The big annoying thing about EGR is that when it malfunctions (e.g. carbon clogging), it causes serious drivability issues, namely low RPM bucking. The flipside is of course a huge decrease in NOx. It also seems to decrease HC, probably because youre burning off some left over fuel from the exhaust stream that gets recirculated. But it's primary purpose is NOx. Do I think the decrease in NOx is worth the small decrease in performance and increase in maintenance? Sure, everyone likes to breathe cleaner air. Would I add EGR if I could pass emissions without it? Probably not. - Greg -

Good god.. that may be one of the most beautiful torque curves Ive ever seen. Hope you have some money saved for tires - Greg -

With the arm disconnected can you move the flapper by hand? It should open and shut easily by rotating the flapper arm 90 degrees. It almost sounds like it's rusted shut. Might have to pull the turbo, remove the outlet pipe and check the condition of the flapper. - Greg -

Did you apply air to the actuator with the arm disconnected from the wastegate flap? The arm should move out at a set pressure and then snap shut when you remove the air line. It sounds like your actuator may not have a good angle to push the flap open. There's no way you could build 20 psi with a 1" hole bypassing the turbine. Sounds like you wired it shut. Try a test drive with the actuator disconnected and no wire -- the pressure on the turbo should push the flap open and you will build little to no boost. - Greg -

Your wastegate actuator is probably hosed, the flap is stuck closed, etc. Your boost controller will only hold the wastegate closed until a higher pressure is reached than your base wastegate actuator pressure. You cant use a boost controller to make the wastegate open sooner than the actuator base pressure. If you blip your air line from your air compressor on the inlet of the wastegate actuator, does it force the flap open? Dont apply 90 psi to it directly or you might blow the seals on the actuator. - Greg -

I have a DPT I can measure for you. The compressor housing is the big part' date=' obviously, but let me know what you want measured. Or you could go here: http://www.atpturbo.com/root/turbopiping/dimensions/gt28rsdim.htm Looks like they claim the 2871 will only flow enough to support 400 whp. If youre set on 425, you may have to go with a 3071 or bigger. Definitely go with a Garrett GT turbo though. They are head and shoulders above the competition in technology and efficiency. Here's a good list: http://www.atpturbo.com/root/turboinfo/gtlineup/gtlineup.htm - Greg -

That's pretty big... Any reason why youve chosen 425 whp? Do you have a specific 1/4 mile goal in mind? If you want big horsepower in a small package, then you need high efficiency. That means Garrett GT, and that means >$1000 I'd stay away from the T3/T04 unless you like lag, and it's not particularly small in size either. The 2871 is a very good, efficient turbo. I'd suggest the GT28RS Disco Potato, but thats a little shy of your horsepower goals, and is still $900+. You could also try finding one used. - Greg -

Well, the ACT HDSS is rated for around 250 ft-lb tops. Mine started slipping after getting real hot (worst on the track). The ACT HD + JWT 1-side metal disc was recommended to me so I gave it a shot. It grabbed much better and never slipped on me even after heavy use. Unfortunately I crashed the car before I could really beat on it long term Sure the power limit is still the one organic side, but it's a higher limit than a disc with organic on both sides. Like I said it's a nice compromise between driveability and grip. - Greg -

Dont have it with Datsun, but I think this is the one with Nissan: - Greg -

One side of the disc is ordinary organic material. That goes on the flywheel side. The other side of the disc is metal (can't remember what exactly, probably copper). That goes on the pressure plate side. So if you picture whats going on during engagement/slip, the metal side grabs hard on the pressure plate, but the organic material allows some slip to the flywheel. This also reduces flywheel wear, but more importantly, it gives you a clutch that is somewhere between a chattery metal disc with high grip and a smooth organic disc with much lower grip. I should have the motor out of the old car by the end of the month -- I'll try to snap some pics for you then. - Greg -

Just a data point on the black body emitting discussion. I had Swaintechs BBE coating done to my intercooler on my turbo G20. It is a very thin coating that is applied in a dip process, coating the entire surface of all cooling fins. It works very well. Unfortunately it isnt particularly cheap. You have to be really careful with using paint. If you apply to much you'll completely defeat the purpose of the color change and insulate the intercooler. Im not sure about anodizing but my guess would be it affects thermal conductivity (negatively) -- otherwise it would be done to all quality intercoolers. As for the super space age intercooler idea... sounds interesting but probably not cost effective. It's already hard enough to drop $500-600 on a quality Spearco aluminum intercooler (plus coatings). The big benefit of a smaller more efficient intercooler that hasnt been mentioned yet is less pressure drop between inlet and outlet. - Greg -

Definitely rinse like crazy to get most of the dirt off before you introduce any kind of friction. on the hot assistants. Keep in mind that if you use dishwashing liquid you will strip every ounce of wax off the car at the same time. You can avoid that problem with a very slippery non-detergent soap (Griot's, Meguiar's, etc.). But it seems your car will need the full treatment anyway (wash, clay, polish, wax), so starting with dishwashing liquid won't be a problem. I didnt notice anyone pointing out the wax issue, though, so keep in mind your paint will be quite vulnerable after the wash. Take a trip over to www.griotsgarage.com. He's got a lot of great products and good explanations of how they work. - Greg -

Only Oct-Mar. Ever notice your gas mileage sucks in the winter? Thats part of the reason. Ethanol blends benefit midwest farmers, not your pocketbook or the environment. It's a giant government subsidy, nothing more. MTBE is great for pollution. But then they figured out that the production of the MTBE additive was horrendously harmful to the environment, even though burning MTBE-blends produced less pollution (and more power) than regular gasoline. - Greg -

Have you measured your fuel mileage yet? Cost per mile is higher on E85 than regular gasoline. Even though it's cheaper per gallon, your mileage will suffer and completely negate the savings. - Greg -