Scottie-GNZ

HUH? WHAT? Damn, someone should have told me this before I started using them and running 26+ psi of boost. I guess I just do not care for such generic statements. Any piston is susceptible to being nuked if you try and run high boost with junk pump gas, have an inadequate fuel system or the engine is not properly tuned.

Oh great, Norm. Now you are going to have every Z owner thinking they can cut 1.80s with their "El Cheapo" tires Folks, Norm has more time slips than some of you have $$$ in the bank. On a serious note, thats awesome.

With the 200R4, do not worry about around town or highway driving. Focus on the max RPMs through the traps in 3rd gear at the MPH you expect the car to run. Trust ME, you do not want to shift to OD on the top-end in the 1/4-mile. A lock-up torque converter is a must. Lets say your MPH target is 125, then the typical tall DR(say 25.8") will have you at about 6,180 with the torque converter locked up. The 3.54 would be about 5900+. If you run a shorter tire, say 24.8", then the 3.70 would be about 6430 and the 3.54 would be about 6155. Just remember that a lower ratio or shorter tire will require more RPMs thru the traps and vice-versa. The reason why I said not to worry about street/highway is because, in normal driving, the 200R4 acts like a 5-speed with 1,2,3,4 and in my case a computer-controlled converter lock up at 45mph. The lockup is like another gear shift so it does not really matter what ratio you are running on the street.

There was a guy using it in SO FL in a 280ZXT and he was running decent with a home-made turbo setup. Might have to do some minor mods to the necks, but yes, it will support a lot of HP.

Kinda corny, but I got a kick out of it. On a Sears hairdryer: Do not use while sleeping. (and that's the only time I have to work on my hair). On a bag of Fritos: .You could be a winner! No purchase necessary. details inside. (the shoplifter special)? On a bar of Dial soap: "Directions: Use like regular soap." (and that would be how???....) On some Swanson frozen dinners: "Serving suggestion: Defrost." (but, it's "just" a suggestion). On Tesco's Tiramisu dessert (printed on bottom): "Do not turn upside down."(well...duh, a bit late, huh)! On Marks & Spencer Bread Pudding:"Product will be hot after heating." (...and you thought????...) On packaging for a Rowenta iron: "Do not iron clothes on body." (but wouldn't this save me more time?) On Boot's Children Cough Medicine:"Do not drive a car or operate machinery after taking this medication." (We could do a lot to reduce the rate of construction accidents if we could just get those 5-year-olds with head-colds off those forklifts.) On Nytol Sleep Aid: "Warning: May cause drowsiness." (and...I'm taking this because???....) On most brands of Christmas lights: "For indoor or outdoor use only." (as opposed to...what?) On a Japanese food processor: "Not to be used for the other use." (now, somebody out there, help me on this. I'm a bit curious.) On Sunsbury's peanuts: "Warning: contains nuts." (talk about a news flash) On an American Airlines packet of nuts: "Instructions: Open packet, eat nuts." (Step 3: maybe, uh...fly Delta?) On a child's superman costume: "Wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly." I don't blame the company. I blame the parents for this one: On a Swedish chainsaw:"Do not attempt to stop chain with your hands or genitals." (...was there a lot of this happening somewhere?)

Maybe you mean TTT, To The Top.

Doug, congrats and nice going. Wait until you see what 18psi with a hybrid turbo feels like

jens, I am sure you know this but I will reemphasize it. A bigger and wider tire does not necessarily translate into better traction, especially in drag racing. After Montgomery, a few folks here will testify to that. I believe MikeKZ is running 295s and he blew them away easily. Closest tire you can get to a DR but still be considered legal is the Toyo Proxes RA1, which comes already shaved down to a 6/32nd tread depth. Most amazing thing I ever saw was a 911TT that was driven from NJ to So FL (1300 miles) and went high 9s with 255/50-16s Toyos pulling the front wheels in 1st, 2nd AND 3rd. Granted it was a rear-engined car but that is insane traction. Bottom line is, focus on the tire that will provide the best traction and that is not necessarily the widest tire.

Bob, you appear to have a space between "[url=" and "Http".

The id of the turbine housing outlet is actually 2 1/8" and you cannot bolt up a 2.5" pipe to the housing because the bolt pattern of the 4 studs does not leave enough room to tighten the nuts. When I was making my DP, the flange that bolted up to the turbine housing had a 2 3/8" id and the 2.5" SS pipe was swaged to fit into that hole and then the other end of the DP was blown out 2.75" id, making a gradual transition for a 3" exhaust. If you are going to have multiple welds, make sure they are good as the heat and vibration will cause cracks. Trying to open up the turbine outlet will have an impact on the wheel if you try going the entire depth of the hole. Not sure if that made sense.

It is difficult to describe the GN headers w/o a pic and I found the one I was looking for. The bottom header is the driver's side with the front of the engine on the left side of the pic. The crossover pipe connects to the collector and routes behind the engine to the passenger side. The top header is the pass side with the front of the engine on the right side of the pic. The crossover pipe is connected to the back of the pass side header and then everything flows forward to the turbo. HTHs

Once again, it depends on the BS of the wheel. I ran 275/50-15 BFG DRs on 15x8 Weld wheels with a 4.5" BS on my Z IRS with the spring perch mod. Granted, I had flares and did not care about the fender lip, but as I stated, that mod will put the bottom of the spring perch ABOVE the inside edge of the tire. With the 4.5" BS, there was still room to move the wheel/tire inward and still not hit the strut. That is why I said a 5" BS would do it. Here is a pic of the modded strut. Note the "ring" below the bottom of the perch. That is the original position of the perch. Also remember that the strut angles in as it goes up, so the higher the perch, the farther it is away from the wheel/tire.

Drew, welcome. As you will find out, everyone has their favorite engine and opinions. FWIW, here is my $.02. The TT swap will be more complex and expensive to execute and maintain. IMO, the VG30ET is very good, reliable engine that is grossly under-rated. You can get a VG30ET drivetrain for a song and then freshen it up with a 3-angle valve job, rings and bearings. Unless you are planning on major HP, that will suffice. No need to worry about aftermarket parts as this is a turbo engine and the typical NA mindset does not apply here. Your focus will be on a turbo upgrade (turbos are somewhat generic), fuel system (injs, pump and FPR), exhaust and I/C. Those are what you will need to make HP and none are specific to the engine itself. Bottom line is, how much $$$ are you willing to spend and how much power are you looking for. If $$$ is a concern look to the L28ET as your 1st option. OTOH, you did mention the TT, unless you are unaware of the cost.

275/50-15 is a very tall tire (26"). Moving the spring perch up as JTR recommends will give clearance to move the tire in and place the bottom of the perch just above the outside edge of the tire. The trick is finding a wheel with the maximum offset to move it in as much as possible. A 5" BS should do it but I stil wonder about fender lip clearance with 275s, especially at 26". If you do the spring perch mod, you have to use the recommended 280ZX 2+2 springs. Cutting and using any "normal" Z or ZX spring will cause binding. Despite the stigma of cutting springs, I used it in Z IRS with very good success and that is what 240Z Turbo is currently using. It can be a relatively inexpensive mod if you can grind off the weld for the perch and reweld it yourself or have it done inexpensively. You should be able to find the springs in a JY for a reasonable price. However, if the price difference is within $50 of a coilover, then I recommend the coilovers for that added ride height/spring rate adjustment.

Z Ya, depends on which formula you use. Many of the ones on the Net do seperate HP calcs for ET and MPH. Since you said "for an 11.99" and did not mention MPH, I assume you did it just for ET. Remember that you can greatly improve your ET w/o adding a single HP by improving the 60' time. However, to greatly improve MPH (unless you have an extremely slow launch) you need to add HP. MPH is the true indicator of HP, so if you are calculating HP, you must factor in MPH. The formula I use factors in ET, MPH and weight w/driver. It might not be the best or most accurate, but it is the only one I use for consistency, especially when comparing HP numbers with other cars.

I installed one back in Dec '00 and no problem at all. If done correctly, as Mike explained, it should not be a worry.

Yup, the ring lands are the weak point. The one I have experience with made about 305RWHP (12.32 @ 114 in a 2600LB 240Z) and was punished with about 150+ passes, hard passes with an improperly setup JWT but a big Spearco helped it live longer. BTW, it had a stock P90 head. The switch to SDS and a stock F54 netted another 50hp (11.74 @ 119, 1.82 60') with a couple more psi of boost.

You did not say what the car weighs (w/driver) but lets assume 2,850lbs w/driver. To go 11.95 @ 116 you will need about 350+RWHP. That assumes you can launch the car pretty good and cut 1.90 60' times AND you have that puppy fine-tuned. If you want to dip into the 11s and cannot cut those 60' times, you better have a ton of HP to try and make up on the top-end. IMO, thats pushing it for a non-turbo engine and (I will probably get slammed for saying this) that Volvo I/C is going to be a major detriment. To make that kind of HP you will need to be pushing around 18psi boost or more and you just cannot try to do it with an I/C designed for half that power output. The more boost you run to make that HP, the more restrictive the I/C gets, the more heat you are putting into that non-turbo engine. Do not take my post personal, but if you want to get into the 11s with a turbo, you cannot skimp on the I/C. I still have doubts about 350+RWHP with a non-turbo engine, but a top-quality I/C will sure help you get there safer. Work your way up the HP ladder slowly and once you start making good power you will also need to run octane to protect that engine as it cannot withstand much turbo detonation.

If you are referring to fastest turbo Z-car, it looks like Stony has the crown. Quickest car I know of belongs to Carlos, the SDS distributor here in Orlando. His RX-3/13B runs a T-70 turbo with alcohol and has a quickest time of 9.54 @ 139.6. I run the stock GM ECU with a 16-position thumbwheel chip to allow for some adjustments and an aftermarket (Buick-specific) datalogger.

Let me start off by saying that if you are dead set on staying NA, then I say go with the Chevy 4.3L which is basically ¾ of a SBC. You could probably use the same mounts for a JTR SBC swap and have lots more speed parts available for it. The recommendation for the V-6 turbos is automatic because turbos perform better when they have a chance to run under load and build boost and not rev up quick like a NA. A 4.3L NA with the right parts will rev and work great with a 5-spd and I think a WC T-5 would be great combo. Dimensionally I would say the Buick and Chevy V-6s are the same. The Buick 4.1L is popular among the turbo crowd looking for a little more displacement over the 3.8L and those willing to do a little work to make it a turbo motor. My engine is a DIS and what you are seeing at the rear of the engine is the coilpack/ign module. If my engine was an NA, I could have shoved it back another 2-3" but needed room for the DP. The entire engine is still behind the front wheels. My wheels are the Shadow, made by MAS Italy, 17x8.5 all around with 225/45-17 and 275/40-17 tires. HTH

Nice going, Shane! I promise not to say another word about the need for expensive internals to make 350hp. Note that all his money went into things that prevent detonation allowing him to run more boost safely.

The TTA used a different head for underhood clearance but those heads actually flow better than the 3.8L heads. No mod to the headers is necessary, just watch for clearance of the crossover pipe on the pass side where it passes close by the end of the T/C rod.

Yea, what they said. TTA had different (better) heads, better I/C, taller gearing (3.27 vs 3.42) and better aerodynamics. GNX has better turbo, ran more boost and had trick, I mean really trick suspension. Once you start modding the engine, there is little difference but the advantage goes to the TTA with a aero and tall gear. The best bang is lowly Turbo Regal. Same drivetrain as a GN but lighter with a non-descript look.

Mike, I will see if I can make it over.

The 240SX has bulky shock towers that greatly reduce the width of the engine compartment. The Buick V-6 is about the same width as a SBC, but you need a little extra clearance by the pass side shock tower because the elbow off the turbine housing faces the tower then makes a right turn towards the back. You need a little room for that turn and for the DP which will run parallel with the valve cover then sweep down by the back of the valve cover. See the pic. Other things to watch for is the steering rod, clearance for the exhaust crossover pipe that goes from the back of the DS header to the back of the pass side header and runs between the oil pan and the tranny flex plate/converter. need to check oil pan and crank pulley clearance. This engine uses a bulky pulley and could interfere with the crossmember and steering rack. I am assuming the tranny tunnel is wide enough. Other than that the rest is a typical swap with no kit. Fabricate everything from scratch. This pic makes my DP look closer than it really is but it best illustrates my points.