Tony D

As you see from Markham's post, 'intercooler cost' is no longer an issue. So the question becomes run 20psi and retard the hell out of the timing, or run 10 with full advance and the benefits. Really, there was a time when a good spearco or brand-name intercooler would cost you as much or more than the head porting. And give you what? Density increase? Markham is making 300 HP (thereabouts).... Think about this at 10psi. Do you need to run premium gasoline at that particular boost level? Do you need to run an intercooler? Things that become mandatory at 20psi are not necessary at 8-10 psi. Remember the stock turbo ran no intercooler. If you get a bigger, more efficient turbocharger that has the same discharge temperature (due to efficiency) at 10psi at a 300HP flow rate, and have a head that will FLOW that same number, you end up with intake charge temperatures of a STOCK turbo engine with the FLOW of 300hp. Meaning no intercooler is required. Now, most of you don't have to go through smog...but...think about the 'stealth' advantages. People say you MUST have an intercooler to make horsepower. No, you don't. Not if you have low enough temperatures. There is a point where charge cooling will become necessary, but for the VAST majority of people below 350HP, there is actually no reason to bother with it if you think about it from the beginning. Some of these engine bays are not the most conducive for plumbing a lot of piping (think ZX's!) Running that kind of HP is entirely possible un-intercooled. Sure, you pick up efficiency, but it's not the requirement that everybody says it is. I mean, I know plenty of guys who have 250HP ZX's with these big honking intercoolers up there. WHY? As to the stock manifold porting, take a look at JeffP's Extreme 280ZXT page, he's got some good photos of the before and after porting of his manifolds as I recall. Really, up to 500HP there doesn't seem to be much of a need for 'more than the stocker' there, either. It's just too much reading of theoretical books by people with parts to sell, IMO.

Everything I posted is directly applicable, nothing changed. Read the website (venturi selection choices in particular)and make up your mind. For the semantically challenged, substitute '47' for '48' in my original post and not one whit changes.

Are you sure they are 47's and not 45's? There is a BIG difference in what you will do with a 48/50 versus a 45. Not so much between a 40/45. Generally 48/50's are not considered 'street' carburettors. Simply because the size venturis used to optimized power above 7000 makes down-low transitions iffy. They only make them so small for that size carburettor. A 40 or a 45 would be far more at home on the street, as you can get almost identical main venturis for low speed drivability. Either a 40 or a 45 would work fine on the street. Really without forged slugs, either would work with little sacrifice on top end power, there is only so much you will make a 7500 or below. I'd get straight on what OER you really will be using, as a 48/50 is a whole different animal than a 40/45. I personally have never heard of a '47' so this needs to be clarified first.

Remember the EuroTurbos came with no catalyst, a .82 A/R hotside, and 200bhp. That's stock. Going to a 3" downpipe and exhaust will bump that another 20-25hp. At stock boost levels. This is an example of 'flow on the exhaust side'... So many people figure just 'cram it in there and we will make the power' (and to some extent they are correct) but just skip the fact that the efficiency of what they are doing is mind-boggling. Think of the 'turbocharging is free horsepower' paradigm. Is it, really? You have 7psi of exhaust backpressure at 200HP. Wouldn't a properly ported and polished N/A return 220bhp with ease at relatively the same conditions without that backpressure? It would. The turbo DOES come with a horsepower penalty due to the exhaust restriction. Thing is because of the forced induction tradeoff people don't look at that end of the equation. When you realize the efficiency of an L28 making 380 ft-lbs of torque with the same intake and exhaust pressure (pre-turbine) at 7000+ rpms you start seeing the 'turbo lag paradigm' for what it really is: inappropriate component selection and compromise. They weren't making 1795HP out of 1.5 Liters in the early 80's Honda F1 Engines by corking the exhaust and intake... There's a better way to turbo a car, and you get a totally different driving experience than what the 'old school turbo gurus' will preach to you. I, for one, find this type of build extremely rewarding!

Rather than the Peltor 'hose snorkel sthescope' approach, has anybody outside of me and Dan investigated the conversion of the VW Piezieoelectric knock sensors to headphones for knowkc monitoring when tuning? All the guys at the TurboMopars forum seem to think this is "The Duck's Guts" and it really helps with amplicifation and picking up of the knock signature while on-boost. Sorry I don't have a link, but the thread I read there seemed to me to be the way to go: electronic ears with variable amplification via any conventional circuitry. Apparently the VW sensor will work as a 'microphone' and is very high resolution when listening for knock in these situations. I have used the garden hose earphones, and they work well, but an electronic microphone tuned for this duty seems it's a no-brainer to use in the application!

Oh dude, you just saved me $1000+ on acquisition and reverse-engineering costs! /Peggy Hill Voice/ "I did not know that!"

Wow, that's cheap enough to use them for .22 target practice at the range...

Also, for those recommending on-road testing... Forgetaboutit! The on-boost response has to be tuned in the on-boost, on-load range. In 4th gear than means as mentioned above, dashes from 70 to 120mph. Thats what for our Canadian Friends? 120 to 200 kph? I'm sure the RCMP will TOTALLY understand your need to 'get the tune right' and exceed the speed limits in that range. Add to that, watching for the errant moose or other wildlife doesn't lend itself to a concentration on the gauges (which is where it should be doing this tuning!) You won't do it alone. And who will you find to saddle up and strap in while you blast from 70-120 repeatedly....who is competent with the system to do the tuning? A dyno, for Turbos at this level, is really the only practical alternative. The road ceases to be at around 8-10 psi.

I think it's time for suspension work to handle it and keep it stuck to the ground, personally. I don't recall the cam specs but cast pistons will limit you to 7K and that means boost is your rout to HP unfortunately. Running the compressor within it's map at 8psi and running to 8000rpms will give you a nice bump in horsepower if set up right. And will not be your 'typical boosted car feel'... Breathing helps all around performance, but when you're saddled with cast pistons boost is the only answer. Also remember my other thoughts on the subject: I ran my car for well over 40K miles with NARY A PROBLEM. I ACCEPTED a performance level which retained my 100,000+ mile reliability. I have not gone through a single head gasket since boosting. If you refuse to ACCEPT a REASONABLE performance level for the money put into the engine.... Expect to spend a lot more money in short order. Remember my corollary about a stock bottom end: "WHEN you blow it up learning how to tune your system, your replacement is cheap and you need a core to build the GOOD engine anyway." You are now stepping into the 'core production' realm. Have a second short block ready to put in there. Tune away. Hopefully you will 'get it right' at the higher boost on only one block, leaving you golden to build one for higher RPMS and more power at the same level of boost that you finally settle upon. Me, I was happy with 10/17 on a switch. I still am. Anything more than that and it's getting expensive to build bottom ends for longevity. Remember what was made at 9 and realize you will need 300# of ballast or some WIDE STICKY tires to actually USE the hp that will let you accelerate from 70 to 120 in less than 4 seconds (if you don't light them up and slow down, that is!)

What is have always said is boost is merely a reflection of restriction to flow. The more flow you have, the more power you make. A properly ported head will make 300+ HP at 8psi of boost. A stock head will need 15+ psi to make that kind of number. And guess what? At 15psi you will not be able to run as much advance, due to the detonation issues. Along with a myriad of other issues (smaller plug gap to prevent misfire, blah blah blah...) When people realize a car with a J-Pipe at 8psi is making 300HP while they struggle to make that same power number with 2X the 'boost' and 25 kilos of piping, intercooler, blahblahblah hung out on the furthest polar moment of their vehicle.... Well they get a bit dumbfounded and perplexed. But hey, it's what everybody in the books said to do! I mean, they are all successful businessmen selling all that kind of stuff. They wouldn't sell it if you didn't need it, right? The advance number will make more power. But ultimately it's the cylinder charge that will make the power. If you have the SAME cylinder charge, there will be an advance number that is optimal to get peak cylinder pressure at the proper crank angle before TDC. The rate of burn on the fuel is relatively constant, and the higher you twist it, the further advanced you need to go to get that peak cylinder pressure at the same crank angle---this is basic physics. If you can't run that advance number because of detonation then you are giving up power retarding the spark. But that is overwhelmed by the fact you are cramming so much more fuel and air in there. You have more cylinder charge at 20psi than you do at 12. Now, will you burn ALL the fuel and get the OPTIMAL pressure at full advance at 12psi? Maybe. You know you aren't optimal at 20psi, but you make more power nonetheless. Now, port the head so that the new cylinder filling at 12psi (maybe a more efficient turbo) is the quivalent of 20 at the old setup and you will make more power. Problem is, you'll make even more power at 20psi even giving up optimum spark angle for the reasons above. But making it at 12psi will result in so many different advantageous things (see some above) that yo ustart to question the 'maximum boost' theology. No, you don't HAVE to port a head to make big power with a turbo. But when you make 350hp/380ft-lbs of torque at 9psi.... who really needs that expensive shiny intercooler? Especially if 300HP was your goal all along?

I second John C's comments. It's not the PSI, it's wether or not you are satisfied with the performance you are getting. Do you want MORE power? If so, turn up the boost. If not, leave it alone. My bet is that at 10psi you are now making more than most with a stock turbo and 15psi. I forget which turbo you ended up using, but rest assured you are making far more horsepower than you think you are. Boost is like Horsepower: People get fixated on a number and end up doing stoopid crap. I'd concentrate on really getting tuning proper, and figuring out if everything else you have is up to the power you are making...or think you will be making. My thoughts are that you are dangerously close to overwhelming the power capability of the S30 in race trim. Guys with 450+ hp on an S30 aren't using that power in a corner...and in most cases it's sketchy to use in a straight line. Like I said at the beginning, I had all these delusions when I built my first turbo car. had the adjustable boost controller with infinite adjustments and all that crap. Long and short of it I ended up running it in one of two boost pressures. 10psi for everyday commuting, and 17psi for when I had to run away from something fast. 160mph in a street height Z-Car is moving. 17psi will get you there. Fast. You may want to consider what you really want, or WHY you are looking for more boost. To say you're running it? Do you really feel the need to have it? Is the car underperforming in some aspect?

Don't forget, at the time the Latham Axial-Flow Supercharger was being marketed, it was billed as the only TRULY 'switchable' supercharger. Since it had axial flow design, like a jet engine with rotor and stator pairs, when it wasn't spinning it let air pass through end-to-end with no restriction to the N/A operation of the engine. Unlike most of the 'parasitic roots' without a bypass valve. I knew a guy with one, (a Latham) and I've half a mind to buy it off him just to replicate it. The design was intriguing, and it's modular assembly technique made it suited to may different sized engines. Just pack on more stages for more pressure and flow!

"I'm at the point now where I may just yank the Electromotive out of the racecar with the crank pulley, put it on the 280, and be done with all of it. " YES!

In the usa it's propane, slightly different than LPG, but close. Propane for automotive use is not that cheap. If you illegally fill at a cooking gas or home gas bulk tank it's a bit cheaper but it's still around $2 a gallon, about 66% of the cost of Petrol. If you find a dedicated and official Propane for Motor Vehicles dispenser, it's shockingly expensive, on par with Petrol. While CNG, on the other hand is always at least 20% cheaper and in some cases far cheaper than that! Filling a roadgoing propane burner at a cooking or heating bulk tank is like the illegal production of biodiesel. Nobody is paying taxes on the motor vehicle fuel, and the Feds don't like that one bit. They nailed a guy up in Berkley with a nice biodiesel blog with all his mileages on it... Franchise Tax nailed him for the 0.24 cents per gallon he was obligated to pay to the State (PLUS a $2500 penalty/fine) for all the fuel he produced and consumed (supported by his public blog of mileages and MPG!) and then in a final insult to this guy (love it!) they made the statement publically: "We have been in contact with the appropriate Federal AGencies and they are very interested in talking to Mr. "X" for his evasions as well!" If you do it, get a clue: Don't BLOG IT!

big thing is to know what the coil requires. If it's not a high voltage coil when getting zapped with 275V, it may be the issue. The stock transistor unit will blast nearly that much into a coil to get a spark! I've measured it with my fluke and I can tell you it will fry the input circuit on a MS if you hook it up wrong! Lots of times when people swap coils and ignitions around, some stuff gets misapplied. If you have an internal-ballasted coil running off a BALLASTED supply (which depended on getting zapped with 275V to a NON-BALLASTED coil) then I may indeed be on to something! I long for the days when ballasts were external, sex was safe, everybody wore rubbers in the rain...

Heathrow and DeGaulle are on different systems. You stamp in at DeGaulle, and stamp out at Frankfurt, and anywhere inbetween on the continent within EU there's not even a passport check any more. Like you said, before it was like having to show your passport at each state border for inspection and stamping... Staying in Ireland won't get stamps going to Amsterdam on the weekend. But staying in Liverpool and going there will give you exit, entrance, and back... Ireland is EU, the lands of the British are not. Don't know if there's a flight from Ulster to the continent...meh! When you travel a bit, you realize filling that puny passport in 10 years isn't a problem. The problem arises when they tell you they can't add any more pages and you have to get a new one! I got mine in November 09, and as of now, I have less than 8 pages left before I have to get pages added. And I make it a point to NOT take short trips or 'commute' across borders where I will waste stamp spots. (Actually, my page 25, 26, 27 don't have the 'visa separation' lines like the rest do... maybe I can crowd more than the 'official 4 per page' on those if I need to!) I can see at least 2 or 3 pages of stamps coming in the next three months from jobs I already have scheduled, so this one is basically gone in a year...and then you pay the $$$ to have the pages added. I'm told after you have the third set of pages added, they make you get a new one. I'll necropost in 2013 and let you know!

Aluminum Radiator, Ferrous Block, Oxygenated and Aerated Water in contact with vergin ferrous block without molybdate or other passivating/corrosion prevention compounds present. When a block is virgin, there has to be some corrosion inhibitor (usually a phosphate of some sort in the old days) in the water, or it starts rusting. It's that simple. Flushing with slightly acidic, then basic should take out the corrosion and 'the black stuff' -- then you have to get a proper passivating agent into the water and run the engine to let it deposit in the coolant passages to try and arrest thebare virgin casting from starting to oxidize. It's one of the reasons still, distilled, demineralized water is the best for the block...it's relatively inert. Start adding stuff to the water like salts, organics, and the rate of corrosion goes up quickly. Filling from a frothy garden hose nozzle is not the greatest. Lots of free O2 disolved within the water (along with chlorine) sitting in that clean virgin block... I know someone who ran pure DE Glycol in a 100% solution in his block since day one. Now, hundreds of thousands of miles later not a speck of rust anywhere, and a head that looks like new when the gasket was changed last year. Yeah, it doesn't cool as good as pure water, but his block and head coolant passages look like new! All depends on what you are willing to trade for... A 16psi cap should be available at most parts stores, or radiator shops. A 24psi cap will take some looking, but they are out there. I saw one car where they put a screw-in cap. The relief was via a traditional PRV (pressure relief valve) with a threaded outlet and male threaded inlet. This was screwed into a bung on the radiator top, and had a check valve setup on another line from the recovery tank. Pretty trick, and one of those days that convinced me to 'carry the damned camera everywhere, you never know what you will run across that is cool that you want to do on your own car!'

"Lilith Fair Sawzall" Like a Thai sneeze: "Kathoey!"

Nope, two passports would not go under ONE first class stamp. My passport would not go under ONE first class stamp! Now if they are using the $4.50 flat rate mailer, then they both could go, but that's considerably higher than two business envelopes and two first class stamps. (Though as stated, with three page additions to my old passport, it wouldn't FIT in a standard business envelope, much less weigh less than one ounce!)

How wide is that rotor again... 50 degrees advance on a cap with terminal spacing of 60 degrees seems to me like you are firing back one too far. I had that on my MS till I fixed rotor phasing. Is there vacuum before the throttle plate? Or do you mean ported vacuum (shut off by the plate at idle)? Or do you mean POST throttle plate? What is the condition of your fuel filter? Fuel Pressure? I have had a pingfest after ONE fillup of bad gas in Arizona where a BRAND NEW fuel filter plugged almost SOLID with red clay from dust in the tank. I would almost say firing order of the plug wires, don't know how you got the dizzy out, so don't know what happened with the wires. LAST THOUGHT: You were runnning a CDI to a hot coil meant for a CDI. You now are running 'stock wires' from the chassis (?) to the new coil. Are you running BALLASTED voltage to a coil that is supposed to have a full 12VDC to it? Is your OEM transistor ignition box up to snuff and are you getting nice fat, hot, blue-white spark after this little change?

Hmmmm, 200+ now down to 190 in an anecdotal testimonial of an unscientific test... Good enough for me! At least you have some background on what the car was doing before. What shape was the water pump impeller in? If it wasn't erroded severely then likely it didn't have much to do with the change at all. Was it leaking? I found mine stopped 'puking over' after shutting down. I would puke out about 1 gallon every 3000 miles running on the freeway then stopping. You could hear water in the head after shutdown "pop pop pop" from the steam pockets forming. After I put in the recommended water wetter there was no more "pop pop pop" and I stopped that little pukeover each time the car was run hot and shut down (like for fueling, or generally stopping.) Went from a gallon/1.5 gallons per 3K miles to NOTHING in over 8000 miles!) Noted a similar decrease in temperature as well---except that the ONLY thing I changed was the addition of water-wetter to my coolant. Which is why I asked in a by-the-by way if you were using it... Good to see it seems to have worked. My paypal account for donations is bigheadedgod@.....

Maybe you need a naughty Sawzall JC...

Oh, if it's a nice car, by all means forego the sawzall. Use the plasma-cutter!

Centerlines... I wouldn't have left the yard without that G-Nose. Last one I found I removed with a Leatherman and a 6" Crescent Wrench! Literally cut the FRP fenders on the car with the Crescent Wrench as a shear... Got it home and found it was a 5-piece that had been poorly bondoed into a one-piece lookalike. Luckily for me there was a lot of wax on the parts, and the bondo more or less popped off in large chunks! SCORE (especially when it went out of the yard as a 'Firebird Front Fascia'