WizardBlack

Nope, no radiator or anything back there.

You know, my guess would be that the strips have to be vertical to get the benefit. I'd expect the roof strips on those cars do two things. 1: they act like an undertray making the air "stay in place" and run across the roof. When the car goes sideways they act like a rudder making the car slightly more prone to straighten out. 2. if the car gets completely sideways, they create quite a bit of drag to decelerate the car from above the center of gravity. Otherwise, the major deceleration force is below the CG (tires) and it is more likely that the CG will keep going past the location of this force (roll over). I've looked at the drip rails and they sure look like they are an added strip of ~2.5" wide sheet metal that is welded on. In other words, you could take 'em right off. I wonder what aero effect it would be to replace them with vertical strips (like the NASCAR stuff) in approximately the same area...

You know, I'm mulling over replacing my rails and pans. I've been reading a lot of these threads and seen a few slightly different takes on how to combine the front rails to the underside rails, etc. The one thing I don't see is any comments on what everyone has learned about measurements, etc. So, what are the critical points to measure? What "tricks" or "revelations" did you stumble upon that would make it easier next time, etc.? How much weight do you think you gained (if any) by going to the .083" wall tubing?

Some A/C systems have a box bolted up to the back side with the knobs poking through the dash (like a head unit). Others have cabling hooked up to the knobs that runs to the air control system. Yet others use vacuum/air to drive the various things on the air control system. You probably will have to do some intricate mechanical or electronic modification to make the two systems interface.

You know, I've been told that the front "muffler" is in fact a resonator more than a muffler. It's place at a precise location with a precise size to kill the acoustic "droning" for a particular motor by damping a specific range of the sound profile of the engine. The big muffler at the back then decreases the decibel level.

What fitting on the HY35? Most BOV's pipe into the intake pipe for the turbo. In that case, the piping has to be made yourself. Just get one (like the GReddy) that has a round outlet and have a pipe made to fit.

I used to run a turbo speed shop. You won't have any issues. Probably get more heat from the radiator than the "hot pipe". Even if you are pushing a turbo almost to the point of accelerating it's wear characteristics (as in, it'll go bad in 10k miles), you'll probably see maybe 75~125 degrees difference between the compressor discharge temp and the intercooled temp. The air flows through it so fast you don't really have time to transfer much heat to it.

Yeah, make sure you know which one you are getting. I have one from an 03 or 04 IIRC. It's an HE351 or something of that nature. Basically an HY35. Generally you need to spin the center section and compressor housing and then find a way to mount a wastegate actuator on it. The ones with the Holsets are set to about 22 psi (or thereabouts). The thing is, Holsets are longer from end to end and a standard T3 wastegate actuator needs a bit of extending. Likewise, you have to find a way to mount the actuator to the compressor now that you've spun it around. I bought a new HKS adjustable actuator (for an SR30 turbo) and lengthened it by welding the attachment piece that came with it onto the end of the attachment piece from the original Holset. This was the tip still spins on the threaded portion to adjust the tension on the wastegate. It cost about $100 on ebay. For the mounting of the wastegate actuator, I cut the original mounting flange off of the compressor housing and welded it in the new location; approximately 180 degrees around from the original placement.

Hard to say, to be honest. Fuel pressure is directly linked to manifold pressure (or vacuum). Timing is very commonly higher when a car first starts and then slowly tapered out; even if the car was already warm when it fired up. You really need to see that the ratio of fuel pressure to manifold pressure stays constant. It's usually 3 bar, but the EFI manual will tell you the exact curbe pressure.

Wow, it looks gorgeous! Grats on finding what you've been admiring for so long. Need more pics when ya get it installed. And, of course, a sound clip.

You're gonna get hit with the Search-Hammer; particularly since many of the mods you are thinking about have actual wind tunnel results free to you to peruse (assuming you take the time to learn how to read it). However, to help you a bit, you'll need to look up some of the threads about blocking a portion of the front off, boxing in the opening to the radiator, installing an undertray, etc. Just about every thread in this section has valuable discussions and new information. Be sure to read up and search up. Nobody is going to take the time to hand it all to you on a silver platter if you won't take the time yourself. AFAIK, flares help reduce drag caused by wider wheels that are poking out a bit.

That is what I was wondering. It'd make more sense from a cockpit ventilation standpoint to vent it out. (shrug)

On the topic of the windshield trim causing drag; why not cut it flush with the glass? Particularly if your car isn't "rain worthy"?

I can't get the factory five owner's forum to come up right now to link some customized stuff, but here's the link to the car: http://www.factoryfive.com/coupehome.html Very similar. You may be able to pick up a few bits of interesting design features from it. Note the quarter panels scoop air in. Likewise, there are two scoops where the ends of our cowl panel would be. This car looks to have a similar windshield bulge and width design. Likewise, go to the customer gallery. Watch the top picture; it rotates from one to the next. Pay attention to the shot of the blue one and it's A-Pillars. You will see the lexan/plexi pieces they installed to affect the airflow. I believe the 3000GT has similar pieces at the rear quarter glass / hatch area to get the air to flow from the sides of the car back over the hatch. The 06/07 STi uses a similar piece at the back end of the roof to get air directed down over the trunk. Here are some direct links (if they work): http://www.factoryfive.com/table/ffrkits/coupe/coupestories/images/1436.jpg Another of the cowl scoops and the bottom mounting of the A-Pillar aero guides: http://www.factoryfive.com/table/ffrkits/coupe/coupestories/images/1445.jpg The specific image I was mentioning first; frontal shot: http://www.factoryfive.com/table/ffrkits/coupe/coupestories/images/1471.jpg I should think this would get the effect you are looking for, no?

LOL, no doubt. I would win any contest for maximum performance per dollar; just leave the car stock! I am sure it's mostly because he wants to use ITB's, of course.

LOL, isn't that the truth.

He said he has a Mexican block. Those're the ones with a bit more beef and more nickel in the metal (IIRC). From his post, I don't think he was gonna risk the Boss with boost, etc.

Thanks for the responses. Just to respond, my car already has a 6-point in it, so the structure side (shouldn't) be a concern. I plan to extend it out to the front strut towers and some other stuff eventually. How about installing aerodynamic "wings" that just run the length of the A-pillars and are made out of adjustable aluminum brackets and lexan or plexiglass? I've seen lots of similar things for big touring motorcycles like the Honda Goldwing, etc. I swear I have seen some of this stuff on the Factory Five Racing Type-65 Coupe (which is a very similar body style; designed by the same guy?).

I don't see any problem with upgrading on piece at a time.

Good lord, don't buy that GReedy kit. You can fit your own together for cheaper. No reason to buy "brand name" from the other side of the planet when there are plenty of competition proven brands in the United States for way cheaper. That GReedy kit is missing the tub of vaseline which should be part of the kit.

I took my HE351 to my buddy's shop and we perused the stacks of new/used AN fittings. It came out to a size he had; pretty sure it was metric. I know you can sometimes get the wrong type (SAE/Metric/British/NPT) to thread in but the threads will "wobble" a bit. The piece I got certainly didn't. It was either Jegs or Earls brand IIRC.

I've perused about every thread in this section (awesome info, BTW) and didn't notice any mentions of the effect of removing the drip rails. They are (IMHO) something that the car looks better without, so I was planning on removing them when I get into a bit of panel repair. Any theories? I'd think that some section of them must cause a bit of drag, but I know some people mentioned a-pillar width not being ideal, etc.

Well, I have a quick question (maybe dumb), but for a track car or a "sorta street legal" car, why not kill two birds with one stone. We have the following: 1. Air void behind the back edge of the hood leading up to the beginning of the windshield that interrupts the primary air flow over the top of the car. 2. High pressure air under the hood that is practically bubbling over like a pressure pot to try to get out. I know my car is a "sorta street legal" type that sees a bit of weekend cruising and maybe track time (once a billion things are brought up to snuff and I feel it's safe at 8/10ths). I have stripped most of the interior, dash, sound, air, wipers, etc. Now, the very top of the firewall in the engine bay just blocks off the compartment where the wiper motor resides. The top of it is covered with the tray panel that fits around the wiper arms and allows air to breathe into the air conditioning system. Why not cut a bunch of vents in the front panel of this compartment that separates it from the engine bay? It would allow air in the engine bay to breathe into the compartment via these slats and up/out of the existing slats on the tray panel. The air needing to get out of the engine bay would have another route to get out and it would provide a flow of air pushing out of that troubling area that is somewhat of a "dead space" as it is now. Maybe that would help the air flowing over the hood stay more laminar as it transitions up over the windshield. You'd need to block off the compartment openings that lead to the air conditioning (which would no longer be there) unless you wanted more hot air to feed into the cockpit. I realize this theory wouldn't be much use on a street car with all the normal accessories.

QFT Just to add, you sound like you have a slightly mismatched turbo sizing issue, but you have locals that aught to be able to tell you on that one. I don't think you will find a 5.0 liter turbo engine (properly set up) quite so laggy unless you really build it for high-rpm power (which the block won't like). I think it all comes down to heads, however. If you have a nice head setup ready to go in with that 302; don't worry about switching. If, however, you don't, then I'd say the LSx would be a reasonable alternative.

Not to mention the fact that the Z33 has a fairly decent powertrain as it is and it's still building aftermarket for that. SR20's are probably popular for power-limited classes where you can squeeze it outta the 2.0 and gain weight savings, but I know I would rather turbo a 3.5 in that (larger/heavier) chassis than spending so much swapping another motor. As as the above poster said, there are lots of 350Z forums. I'd love to have 1/10th of the aftermarket support that a VQ/Z33 setup has.