TrumpetRhapsody

Sup guys. I've been asking a few questions here and there, and have decided to go ahead and reveal my plans to try to get some final info to plan my budget and start getting together Phase I parts. Phase I In the very near future I plant to drop a L28ET into a 1st gen Z body. The L28ET I'll be getting is "complete" minus injectors and ecu. Therefore, off the bat I will be getting the 450cc supra injectors and megasquirting the engine, using the stock dizzy to trigger spark. So, assuming the engine isn’t missing anything else needed to run other than the injectors, I will need: - Megasquirt-I v3.0 (running MSnS), relay board, relay cable, and wiring bundle - LC-1 Wideband - GM IAT Sensor (IIRC the only extra senor I'll need, I can run stock everything else yes?) - Pallnet 11mm O-ring Fuel Rail - 440cc Supra Injectors I think that should get me a running engine and drivable car, running 10psi boost or lower. With a good tune, IIRC that should get me around the 200-230whp range right? Phase II This summer I will add an intercooler, 60mm TB, 3” electric exhaust cutout after a custom DP for track and stock exhaust on low boost for daily driving, and a T3/T04E hybrid. So, I will need: - 24x12x3 intercooler and piping - Junkyard BOV (for now) - Pallnet 240sx 60mm TB (do I need the TB spacer?) - T3/T04E Hybrid Turbo - New custom downpipe to exhaust cutout - Electronic Boost Controller Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think that should be everything I'll need for the turbo upgrade. Turbo Q's I've been doing a bunch of reading about the T3/T04E hybrids, and there has been lots of argument /discussion regarding the trims and turbines to use. My goal is 350-400whp on stock internals, with the intended use of a daily driver and weekend autocross/track car. I'm not as interested in drag racing, so which (.50, .57, .60) trim and which turbine (Stage III 10 blade?) would be best for me? When the time comes, should I try to grab the appropriate turbo off ebay or the like, or see if a local turbo shop can build me one using my stock hotside? Cost is a concern, and I'm not sure which would be more cost efficient. Now, to belay comments that 400whp is pushing the stock internals capacity, I'll mention the following: In the event of engine failure, the plan is to completely rebuild the engine bored out to 3.0L with forged and balanced internals, and get (or do it mildly myself) the heads ported and polished, possibly even a valve job. So, I won't be pushing the engine closer to the 400whp range until I can afford to rebuild the engine. Once rebuilt, the goal is to just break the 400 mark. The items in bold are the main questions I'd like to get answered so I can further plan my budget and start looking around for parts. Also, anything else you see about my plan that seems out of place feel free to make comments or suggestions. I hope this thread is at least a little better than the people that just flat out ask how to get to a certain horsepower. I've tried to do the searching and research necessary to DIY, but couldn't quite figure out everything myself. Sorry for the long post and questions, and TIA for any help or suggestions!

It'll be installing a cage, and my Z doesn't have an airbag, so...

So here's a related question or two: For a daily driver and weekend track car, 5pt harness or 4pt harness? And in either case, the extra expense of a cam lock, or a normal seatbelt style click-and-go?

That last pic above looks like some nice ones if I could get them for around $500 for two... hmm. How do most racing seats compare to the stock seats in relation to how high you sit off the floor pan? I'm 6'9" so head clearance is an issue.

I PM'd him about it before he even listed it here, but no response yet

That's beautiful - I'll take it... in midnight blue! Is that the zenon air dam?

I hear ya. I'm in the market for a Z myself and know where you're coming from. I think the problem may partially be a result of forum cruisers, to a degree. There are a couple threads on here where people share how much they paid for the cars they have, and what they paid for the stuff they've done to it. That's great in theory, until you get someone trying to figure out how much to expect to pay for one. They might take the cheapest example, like people who get extremely lucky or special (friends and rare cases) cheap prices, and expect to get the same kind of crazy good deal. What they probably don't realize is that the people that get those great prices have usually been in the Z car market for some time, have helped someone out or something and are getting a good deal in return, or have stumbled onto someone really needing to get rid of one. That's my theory.

Uh oh. Well thanks for the heads up, I'll look into it... and try to up my budget

So friend, are you taking bids for finding some parts for the loving members of your favorite forum? lol just kidding. Hope you're having a great time! I hope I get to go to Japan someday, sure would be cool!

PM sent I love forums!

Can you post an update to the list in your first post, and maybe date it for future lookers. You might have some other stuff i'd be interested in. PM sent about air dam btw

Awesome, thanks for the advice. I'll take a look at it and try to fab something. I didn't see the non-license plate version on thezstore.com. I'll have to look around...

1 tuff z: Ok so I searched some of your thread and found pics of your car. If I can make it level to the ground like that, I think it may be the air dam for me. Do you have a writeup or at least picture of this bracket? Where do I get that air dam! http://forums.hybridz.org/showpost.php?p=817973&postcount=5 Also, is that the same air dam on his car, I love that one too! Thanks!

Awesome! I may have to pick up one of those mounts when I get around to doing a COS setup. I think I'll try to custom shorten some wires though, $100 is a little rich for my blood.

Really? I totally thought that was a real car! Lol j/k. I know it's an animation, but I believe a thread from awhile back said it was modeled after a real car (which probably had a similar air dam). Plus, with the growing popularity of the show I thought someone might have tried to made a replica. EDIT: Saw you added some pics. Those definately look pretty sweet. I like them better than any of the ones I posted. They don't look very flat to the ground though, looks kinda bowed in the middle. Maybe I'm just too picky

veritech, you should fab up a WRX style hood scoop to direct air into the top of that TMIC, that would look amazing! I've mocked up a budget for my planned body and engine build, and I'm just shy of 5k. Of course that's before suspension, wheels rims and zg flares, audio, etc

Anybody have pics of the actual process? I'd like to try my hand at it, but haven't ever worked with fiberglass (other than like boat patching, hardly counts)

Ok in my defense, I'm not trying to build the Devil-Z. I just happen to really like its front bumper/valence/air dam... and it's ZG flares for that matter Anyway, I've searched about 6 pages deep using several search permutations, and have come up short to what I'm looking for, which for the record is this: The closest thing I've found is either what people call the 240z air dam (think big-phil's) or the air dams from thezstore.com shown below. The big-phil style air dam might not be too bad if I could modify the bottom part of the radiator opening to be as wide as the side markers. However, if I did that the overall bottom area probably wouldn't be as tall as I'd like, and might make the radiator opening look HUGE. Here are the zstore.com ones: Not bad, but the bottom looks a little too rounded, and the radiator opening isn't as big as I'd like it. The devil-z's looks like it extends about 2" below the side-markers. Not bad, but it doesn't go down low enough to the ground, the brake vents aren't quite right, and same problem with the radiator opening. This one also looks like it wouldn't go low enough to the ground, and the vents aren't that great. In summary, has anybody found a bumper/air dam that looks more like the devil-z's? Disclaimer: Keep in mind that my comments refer to my own preferences, and don't reflect anything about how YOUR car looks with any of these on it. Please don't take offense.

Let me know. I might need one by then... If I ever find a holset...

Haha, yeah that or a scary one! Me and the rain don't get along right now ~ I drive a 3900lb FWD houseboat known as a Buick. Ok that's enough thread-jacking for today.

Yeah the tread pattern gave it away. Glad I could help. A friend of mine had similar tires, plus I've never seen tread that starts from the outside going to the middle. It wouldn't make sense to direct rain to the middle of the tire

Do the "thezstore.com" rebuild kits cover a bottom end rebuild to fix such a problem? They don't exactly specify what comes in the kits unfortunately. EDIT: Erm noticed that those are gasket only kits... how bout these bearing sets? (added links)

Are your rear tires on backward? Looks nice with the recessed black!

Um, ouch? Last time I checked those weren't light-weight

Very very cool. What kind of upgrades are you hiding under the hood? I believe see a giant intercooler for starts!