Calgary280ZT

Bo, thanks for pointing out the mistake....after recently editing my book, I discovered the hard way that I am a lousy proofreader. I do indeed own an S30. Tony, I'm hoping John will post on this thread. Not only do I want to get advice, but I thought it would be fun to hear what different guys would do if they had $5,000 to spend on a suspension. Never hurts to hear different points of view. And when I get down to CA in late Sept I am hoping to drop by and visit John's shop.

Hey guys. Over and over I hear he experts on this forum say that you need to design a suspension with a clear objective in mind and take into account all the components. Makes sense. I've read the stickies, paid attention to relevant threads, etc....but I have to tell ya, this is one area where I quickly get in over my head. I just don't have the technical expertise to understand the issues and the theory. And next year is my suspension build project. I've set a budget of $5,000. I'm open to doing all or most of the work myself (with some expert help from JimCanuck) or if it fits my budget I'd glady turn it over to a competent shop (especially one that is a supporter of Hybridz). So I'd like to get some input on how to build the suspension, what components you would recommend, etc. Or what shop you would recommend. To start, I drive 30,000 to 50,000 miles/year from Calgary to the USA for work (CA, TX, etc.). So I need a car that is reasonably smooth on the highway. But I also like to drive fast...not uncommon to hit 120 mph driving that lonely stretch of I-15 from Great Falls to the border. The car won't ever be raced at the strip, but I might take in the odd autox just for fun. And I will do a fair amount of driving in the mountains, with all those hair pin turns that I like to take at speed. I was thinking of coil overs because I'd like to run bigger tires at some point without a huge offset. I might have two sets of rims for the rear, big ones for the city, smaller ones (where I can run 225s) for the highway. I plan to upgrade to 16" wheels at some point, hopefully with custom steel wheels. I confess every time I visit ArizonaZ Car's web site I lust after that aluminum billet stuff...control arms, mustache bar, etc. If I could fit that into the budget I would be SO happy. I have some relatively new KYB gas struts, but they can go. I have the Toyo brakes up front and stock drums on the back. Wouldn't mind doing the rear disc swap...but I've also seen some of the experts opine that my set up properly done is fine as is. No strong feels either way on this one. I have an R200 from an 82 turbo car we'll be installing next year. Thanks in advance for your comments...have fun spending my imaginary (but real to me in 2009) budget!! Markham

I like the look of these seats. Couple of questions. 1) What is the width at the back of the SRT4 seats? The 240 is 20" wide at the rear of the seatwell. The 280 is 17.5". A lot of people make mistake of assuming that a seat that will fit in a 240 will fit in a 280. 2) Do these seats come from a Neon SRT4? 3) Are the seats comfortable in the lower back region? Adjustable lumbar support? Thanks in advance for the info?

You need to chip out the old stuff. Sucks, but sound deadening material won't work if you install it over the factory material. Mine was so dry and brittle that it came off in big chunks when smacked with the sharp end of a tack hammer. It took the better part of an afternoon and isn't a lot of fun, but....taking it off also lets you see if there's any rust underneath.

I'd third or fourth Vintage Air. It's not cheap, but very good quality. And the darn thing blows lots of cold air. If you choose VA, get the compac not the mini....some guys on this forum run the mini, but the VA guy told me it has to work too hard to cool even a Z cabin. Compac fits nicely, with a little work, and has got all the capacity you'll ever need.

Is the Isky cam a virgin or not???? LOL

Nice job. Is this the car that used to have the Rustoleum paint job? If it is, I have a pile of questions for you....

I was making 250ish rwhp and the Valeo set up held up just fine....had the feel of the OEM clutch, drove it a lot in stop n go LA traffic...nothing but good things to say about it. By Friday I plan on having my Rebello head etc on and should be making closer to 325 rwhp, so we'll see how the Valeo clutch handles that.

Wizard, still haven't got the head on....this weekend for that, then hopefully on the road next week. And there are so many new mods I'm not sure I'll be able to determine the effect of the new cam. But I suspect I'll be looking to upgrade the cam next year...this one was described as a mild turbo cam and I think I'll need something hotter.

Thanks for the suggestions guys. Hugh, already have machine shop on the spacer...TonyD suggested two 1/8" NPT ports for EGT sensor and something else, so those are being drilled and tapped. Should pick them up this afternoon. The shop is going to remove the stud, hopefully they'll have if off this afternoon too. I was going to do it, but spending too much time on the road....unfortunately, not in my d*** Z car!!

Hey guys. Putting on the T3/T4. Machine shop will have the spacer built tomorrow. Now the studs are too short. Any suggestions on best method to remove them and install new ones? I'm geting short on time (and panicking a bit), so paying to get it done is an option.

Saw the pics today. really something. Stories on CBC were all about why the facility was located near a residential neighborhood. Both fed and prov govts are tap dancing on this one.....

Excellent and very timely post guys. Later this week, me and my ten thumbs will be hacking at the Wolf V500 for the first time....info above is very useful. Now, what about turbo engines? Or is that too much of a thread jack?

Bo, I'm not sure how to structure a cost-benefit analysis. You'd have to have a set up with a stock manifold and dyno it, then change out only the manifold and repeat the dyno measure. As you know, I had spork port and polish a stock N42 intake. My rationale was that for $350, if it flowed anywhere close to the 270cfm per runner he thinks it flows, it would be a very good investment. But when we get my head etc. buttoned up later this week, there will have been so many changes to other parts that it will be impossible to isolate the effect of the manifold. If I were you, I'd plunk $350 down for the ported stock manifold...you can always sell it for close to that down the road if you decide to upgrade to a custom unit.

Guys, in fairness to Roy, since I bitched earlier about not having emails returned, he has since contacted me with a PM and hopefully he has what I'm looking for. His follow up is appreciated and says something about their customer service.

I'm guessing....you're not making wheels for my car...cause I emailed you a couple of times and no reply.....

The expert has weighed in above (LOL), so I'll just mention why I went with the 60mm TB. Tony convinced me that the best way to make hp and torque on a turbo motor is make the engine flow as much as possible. After a ported head and intake manifold, made sense to go with the bigger TB. IF you're keeping everything else stock, probably makes sense to stick with the stock TB.

Ok, that makes sense. I'm a complete noob at this...is there any way of measuring lift, duration, overlap, etc.?

Use the search feature, there are several threads that cover this topic in some depth.

Hey guys. Bought a Rebello-prepped head back in the spring. PO told me it had a Nissan turbo "A" cam. I had Rebello finish the port job and Dave told me it was an Iskey cam (didn't have the specs). We're in the process of installing the head (today, Z gods willing) and I was looking the cam over....only identification is "Japan" and "B" which are cast into the cam. Is this a Nissan turbo "B" cam (whatever that means)? Any tips on where to look for other identifying marks? I can post pics (I hope) later this evening when I get back from the shop if that will help. Markham

I have the 440cc injectors and had trouble finding clips...found some small bullet connectors that fit the injectors...that and a little soldering and shrink wrap would work for a while. Luckily, I finally found some clips, just in time.

Intercooler, manual boost controller...total cost around $250. Don't run more than 12 psi (10-11) to be safe. That should net you 225 hp at the low end, maybe 250 at the top if you're really lucky, but it will you get you hp you're looking for. Oh yeah, bigger exhaust if you can afford it (2.5" - 3").

MJ, here's a post by TonyD on zcar.com where he discusses RRFPR and how they are NOT for turbo engines. I was planning on buying one for my car but Tony burst that bubble in a hurry. http://www.zcar.com/forums/read/4/1950802/1951178#msg-1951178

Bought the turbo privately from a guy who bought it new, then stashed it in his garage for 5 years. Checked for mfger's stamp of some kind, didn't see one. Hope I didn't pay big $$ for Chinese junk...nah, the guy was just too nice...LOL I'll try to get pics tomorrow.

The stock actuator is my problem. It doesn't fit on the T4 compressor housing. On the T3 housing it attachs by two bolts. But even if we fabbed up a bracket to make it fit on the T4 housing, the rod is too short. Everyone running a T3/T4 has tackled this problem, I was hoping for some solutions both short and long term. Maybe there's some way to modify the stock actuator until I can pick up a better solution. But thanks for the offer of your stock stuff.