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My progress has been delayed, so until I get myself back on track, I'm thinking of the "while I'm at it" syndrome that is already affecting my brain. Does anyone have some pics of clean wiring layouts ie at the megasquirt end of the harness and the inj/sensor ends? I figure I will have 26 wire connections, and I'm looking at how I can minimize wire routing etc. I am thinking of using a master ground wire to attach all the injectors and sensors to, and I'm not to sure how I can neatly tie into a single covered wire in multiple locations along its length. Not sure if the crude drawing will work. --------+--------+---------+ Dash indicates the main wire, and the plus signs are the connection point for grounds to specific devices. I may be able to get a way with 1 main ground wire that branches to a "Y" with smaller branches that go to individual sensors/inj The purpose of the main "Y" is this is going on my VG30ET and I want to run a set of wires down each side of the plenum. The other sensors are all very close to where the injectors are wired, so I should have very few wires visible accross the engine. Any pics or links to pics of harnesses or wiring diagrams would be helpful Thanks! Scott.

It looks pretty good so far! I'm curious as to how/where you will end up running the turbo? Ya got me a bit curious now, I'll have to go home tonight and try and compare your engine position to mine. Front to back in the pics look about the same. BTW don't forget to put some type of heat sheilding for your brake lines, as the crossover pipe gets pretty close with that setback position. As for weight distribution, I'd be happy to check mine out, if anyone has a good idea how I can measure the front/back separately? Mine feels very neutral on the track, (how neutral is purely a matter of seat of the pants feel from several drivers who have driven it on the track. Keep up the good work! Can't wait to see more pics! Scott.

I hope this doesn't sound too dumb, but after reading some more of the mega manual, I did notice, but found no explanation as to the direction of the VE table values. What I have seen is kpa values going from low to high in a top to bottom fashion. I have seen tables on this forum that have the kpa numbers going from high to low in a top to bottom direction? Uhhh does it matter? is it specific to our voltage readings that are inverse? Or should i just forget about it, and keep reading? Scott.

Saw it. It was great. Don't bring your "under 11 yr olds" Its very intense, huge action, and awsome FX!

Want my driveline? hehehe I'll take a v8 driveline for a swap! There is no way I could find a decent v8 around my neck of the woods. They get scooped up wayyyy too fast. BTW I considered a v8 swap initially, but got stopped pretty quick by a lack of 5spd trannies. I called every scrap yard within 50 miles, and I live smack in the middle of a major muscle car area. Not one tranny. found lots of rusted Z31 turbo's though. I got a running one (it was a daily driver, and the guy drove it to my house) for $600.00! I bought another low mileage rusted out z31 turbo for $400.00 (still have it) VG30ET Lightweight midship mounting loads of torque. Don't see many around. Scott.

Going to see it in less than 5 hours.

This is not really meant to be a complaint, but more of a suggestion to improving the effectiveness of the forum search features. I am in the early stages of working on my standalone efi, and I have been doing a lot more reading lately in various forums in my search for misc information. I have started to notice that sometimes people have asked very good questions, and many others have tried very hard to offer useful suggestions, and sometimes troubleshooting goes back and forth for several posts or more. Unfortunately, we don't always get to see the final results, even if it was a "did or didn't work", or "it was actually ______" My suggestion is, if you created a post, if you could go back and close out the loop of information. A brief response of the final results either good or bad. It may really help with searching for information, and seeing some kind of result. Peace. Scott.

I saw that Z at the MSA show back in 2002 or 2003. Wicked car, clean, and actually had wider rear wheels than MINE! Yikes!

Flamers Suck! This reminds me of the big flamer wars at some older Z sites many moons ago. This forum community has grown from those ashes to be THE BEST Z site for "Zed'rs" with creativity and a spirt of adventure. Sorry to see you go. But... Good luck on your new adventure!

The V6 VG30ET and VG30DETT are some of the more expensive swaps for an S30. Lots of custom stuff to make it fit and mount it up and work properly. I added "work properly" to the comment, because I have heard of some guys dropping one in with minimal mods (ie no frame or steering mods) They complained about poor handling and heavy steering. If you are going to go through the hassle of swapping in a different motor, then you might as well take advantage of ALL of the potential benefits of that swap, and solve some of the disadvantages of the stock driveline. Scott.

"A bimetal, heater and rotary shutter are built into the IACV-air regulator. When the bimetal temperature is low, the air bypass port opens. As the engine starts and electric current flows through a heater, the bimetal begins to turn the shutter to close the bypass port. The air passage remains closed until the engine stops and the bimetal temperature drops." Located on the passengerside of the intake manifold. Yes megasquirt can control this unit. It mearly has to give it power. It needs ignition power only. Once a certain amount of time has passed (I don't know how long it takes) The heater inside warms up and closes the air valve. This remains closed until the vehicle is turned off AND cools down. It is simply a valve that allows extra air during cold startup and idle. The idle valve (located on the drivers side of the intake manifold) is another story. I have always had problems with mine since the install and mods. I have unhooked all the wires to it. I then blocked off 98% of the air flow. (98 is a guess) I had to block off most of the air, because with no power to the unit, it sits wide open letting all kinds of air in. It has a couple of spring loaded actuators that bypass air, and move with the pulses in the intake manifold. Those acuators keep the idle stable. I don't fully understand that unit. The car will not idle properly without it. The idle will surge without the actuators (I removed them as a test) I can't really offer much else, other than with my megasquirt, I am going to use it to control my warmup bypass, but i will continue to use my butchered idle control valve. BTW why are you using a pathfinder FSM? are you using a pathfinder vg30? Scott.

Whoa! I'm curious about the iat sensor placement as well. My intake manifold has several now unused threaded ports..hmm is it ok to measure the temp after the throttle body? Not trying to hijack your thread, but I'm only a few hours behind you (install wise) Any thoughts? Scott.

Well it was xmas last night! I carfully opened the box and each individual package and layed them out on my work bench. The bundle of wire that came with the kit has lots of coloured wires each with its label for where it goes printed all along it. WELL worth more than any money that I could have saved by buying wire elsewhere. The wiring does not look too intimidating to me now that I can see it all before my eyes. Now I need to start planning wire routing, placement of the unit, and how to make it all look pretty..ok at least neater than my current wiring that I have spent a good deal of time trying to clean up a stock 300zxt wiring harness into my 280z. I'm thinking of mounting the ecu and relay board under the drivers seat, and mount the whole thing to a nice 1/8 piece of aluminum and use that to secure it to the car, and secure the wiring harness to it, so any tug on the wireharness is not felt by the relayboard/ecu That just sounds like the right thing to do. Not sure whether to mount the aluminum plate to the car with rubber isolators to reduce vibrational damage, and If I do that, if I will need a good ground from the aluminum mounting plate to the car. Found a few items that i did not fully consider. I now have to remove my MAF. I had my air filter mounted directly to it, and a shortpiece of flex pipe mounting to the turbo inlet I'm going to have to redesign that part of the intake piping and will now let me reroute the pipe under my motor mount. I was using the stock "S" shaped stocko intake pipe that came from the 300zxt. It was used to go around and over the motor mount, but now I have room underneath with my custom motor mounts. That could remove a significant amount of restriction, especially the stock pipe was mangled quite a bit when customized to fit the larger turbo! Item two. I now have to install a bung for the IAT into my beautifully powdercoated i/c pipe. I may have to have it pro installed to minimize damage to the powdercoating. I may install it on the underside of the pipe so I can hide the obvious imperfection that will occur. I have some work cut out for me. I suppose this thread will now be my Megasquirt log book. Scott.

Well a package arrived in the mail today! Holy crap! Taxes and Tarrifs suck! Note to Canadians purchasing a kit. Expect a full 14% (federal/provincial) taxes on your order. Well forget about the bad, on with the good! I can't wait to get home and open it all up and have a look at what I'm up against. Scott.

Well my z is not so light (2900lbs) and i run the Yokohama AVS Sports all the way around. I have had no issues driving on the higway is fairly heavy rain/standing water. I think that much of the problem is due to your tires. Even with the steamrollers out back, I have not had any hydroplanning issues in the 4 years of having them on the car. I know my current rear wing does help though. I remember having a "california" wing on the car a long time ago, and when I removed it, I had to really watch my speed in the rain. My tires were smaller, and somewhat worn, and of a lower quality back then. (245/45/16's). Take it easy in the rain. Ok? 400RWHP and "ok" tires are a recipe for carnage! Scott.

I started looking at my vg30et FSM and my wiring/ecu setup, and I gleamed a lot of useful info. At least for the wiring swap. This will be a bit long but here goes. CHTS Calibration. -10degrees celcius 14 degrees F = 7.0 - 11.4 kilo ohms +50 degrees celcius 122 degrees F = .68 - 1.0 kilo ohms +100 degrees celcius 212 degrees F = .18 - .20 kilo ohms (ya know the omega symbol?) can't seem to be able to type it. Wires black = ground yellow/green = pin#23 on ecu Injectors (on vg30et only) wire 1...............................wire 2 #1 green pin # 101 ...............Red #2 green/black #102 ...............Red #3 green/blue #103 ................Red #4 Green/Yellow #105 ................ Red #5 Green/Red #105 ............... Red #6 Green/white #106 ..............Red Red wire goes to fuseable link, then to efi relay (ign power 12volt) Transistor for coil Blue = pin #3 on ecu green/black = pin #5 Black = ground TPS Blue/green = pin #25 Pink/Blue = #18 EGR solenoid Blue/white = pin #4 EGR sensor resistance 2.6 - 3.1 ohms Black/white = ground CAS Black/white =pin #35 (common ground) Green/black =#17 Black = #36 (common ground) Gray = #8 Misc info Resistor for tach is 2.2kilo ohms 180.62 cu/inches of displacement 2960 cc's Firing order 123456 Well it is a start. I'll share wiring info on this setup once I get into it. I may keep some things like the egr (for emissions checks...if I get pulled over) May keep the cold idle up soleniod..depends if I can get the car to idle cold or not. It is a snap to wire up. It just uses 12volts from ignition source... Still lots to prepare before the megasquirt arrives. Scott.

For starters the mount looks pretty good. I think you should consider running a motor mount isolator. ( I am running the stock mount isolators) I see a couple of issues regarding strength. The lower point of the mount (the triagulating brace or gusset) Is at the lower edge of the frame rail. This will likely be transfering most of the load to the frame. I would adapt the mount (or add to it rather) another piece that will box the frame rail in. Ie the underside of the frame rail to keep your motor mount from crushing the lower part of the frame rail outwards, by crumpling the underside of the rail. You should also box in the outboard portion of the frame rail (wheel well side) at least 18 guage sheet metal, and travel out away from the mount a good 8 inches forward and back of the mount. To make it slightly easier, you could take your mount that you have already, and simply box in the stock frame rail with min 18 guage sheet metal on the top, inboard side, underside, and outboard side, bringing up the outboard side higher than the rail to tie it into the wheel well/strut towers. Then simply take your current mount and weld it to your newly boxed in frame rail. PM if you would like to discuss further. good luck Scott.

Well I'm now officially out of the SAFC game. I ordered a megasquirt package, and It will be here in a few days. Here is what I know about the SAFC. If the SAFC does not list your vehicle in its "designed to be used in" list, then it will be not an easy install. The APEXi SAFC is not designed to work with the L28 or VG30. It does list the VG30's from the later Z32 cars. I am running a complete z31 set up. MAF, modded ecu, big injectors, big turbo, big i/c, and big exhaust. The TPS will not work with the SAFC. The SAFC needs to know throttle position, and our TPS is and on/off style. I had a GM MAP sensor setup to act as my throttle position sensor. The SAFC does not apparently like the stock Z31 MAF. I did get the SAFC to work under boost, but could not get more than 7psi of boost without going lean. When I turned the fuel pressure up to compensate, I could not remove enough fuel in the low throttle positions to make the car driveable. So If you want any tips or tricks for setting up an SAFC in a stockish l28 or Vg30 from the Z31's, this is my warning. Don't do it. I've wasted way too much time and $$ and effort. I have wasted more money than going standalone, messed with poor driveabiltiy for 2 summers, and been less than happy with the car. I don't believe you can do this cheap enough on your own to make this a viable option for our Z's. I hope someone will learn from my costly mistake. Scott.

I welded a standard hook to a piece of flat bar steel, and bolted it to the stock mounting bolts for my front bumper. I just aligned the bolt holes in the flat bar (before drilling)so that the hook would clear under the bumper. It works perfect for being loaded onto a flatbed. Trust me I know.

Thanks for the screen shots, though they look different than my megatune screens??? I suppose it is just an older version. When the kit shows up, I'm sure it will have more detailed instructions ie what to do first second third etc. I ordered my ecu pre assembled, so there is nothing but to hook up wires to the car, a "weird" resistor or two, a couple of new sensors. I have the stimulator, wires, connectors, everything I need. I did not want to be ordering back and forth as I realize I need something. I think while I wait for the kit to arrive, I will find what stats i can find for my stock CHTS, AEM wideband, tps, my injectors (Ford Merkur xr4ti 370 cc injectors.) Not sure what else at this point. Man there is a lot of info to be input into the megatune! I was flipping through each of the menus to look at what needs to be input. Its a bit intimidating. Scott.

hoohaa Nice to meet you. I have a 1989 Jspec vg30et. I have 370cc injectors, a t3/t4 hybrid turbo with a 3inch SS exhaust, and a large bar and plate i/c with 2.5 inch piping. I have a Jacobs Electronics ignition system, and I will continue to use the stock distributor. Oh I already have an AEM wideband O2 installed. Anything on the motor that I didn't need is gone, no air, no p/s, no extra electronics. I put down 300 rwhp and 350ft/lbs last year, but my driveability has been a sacrifice. I can't seem to have it both ways. Until now that is. Now to figure out how to get started. I have the Megatune already installed on my laptop. I'm wondering if I should start filling in the values that I can. I have a FSM that will help with lots of info on the stock stuff. I am looking at what I can do to get any values started while I wait for the kit to arrive. I have to "do something!" Cheers, Scott.

Holy crap! I just jumped in head first...well I did dip my toe a bit first. I just orderd a MSII from DIYautotune.com Ok some of you have persuaded me, some with messages, PM's, emails etc I have read of the success you have ALL had. Some growing pains yes, but all of you guys seemed to have come through it for the better. Now I've been doing lots of reading, but I'm sure I'm going to have some Q's since I'm not too sure how similar the install info for the L28ET will be for my VG30ET. This has me most nervous. Anyone finished a VG30ET install? I'll take all the help I can get. I ordered a very complete kit, I'm through bull***tting around here. I just need to sort out some wiring, and hope I don't need any wierd resistors or anything. I have an AEM wideband already installed, so that part is done. I plan on using the stock cyl head temp sensor too. Not sure How much more I will need. I plan on driving the car, and not starting the install until I know every connection I need to make and where. I do not want much down time. Summer will be over before it starts if I screw this up for any length of time. At least it is not a daily driver. Man! I'm pumped! I'm not going to be able to sleep till the kit arrives! Scott.

wigenOut-S30 I'm not too sure what you mean by front end shots? There is not much to see it is so hidden. The only really visible part is the lower sheet of aluminum that goes from the air dam to the top of the lower rad support. The sheet almost touches the rad. It actually passes under the i/c (less than an inch of clearance.) I left it like that so I can remove it with reasonable effort. I am still blending function/form and removability for servicing the car. I takes some thought on how to put it together, and to make sure I can assemble and dissasemble it. Anyhoo here are the requested shots. Let me know if ya need some more info.

Update day 3-4 Took the car for a weekend car event. Lots of car talk, beer and bbq. Took the cars out for a 2 hour cruise which let me have some time to do more tuning. I can run almost 10psi WOT now. I tried to turn the fuel pressure up a bit more, and then compensate using the SAFC to lean out the low throttle settings. It would not work below NE-27. When I got to about NE-30 the idle dropped and the A/F ratio dropped to less than 11:1 at idle?! So I can't just turn up the fuel pressure enough to get enough fuel for 12psi of boost without running stinking rich at idle? the NE values have setting range of -50% to +50% More research at the apexi site says that if your car is not listed in the "works with" list, then do not use this safc. Well that tears it. I'm going to play with it a bit more to get it smoothly running as is, and I think I will order the mega squirt. Even If I can get it working ok, I think It will never get any better than "ok" I'm tired... BTW had an awsome weekend, and the car was great for cruising. 1 used SAFC II for sale coming up.

I am having some trouble wrapping my head around this concept of intercooler efficiency. Regardless of my engine mods here is my senario. I ran a large volvo intercooler on my modded VG30ET. I dynoed with 300RWHP and 350 ft/lbs. I did it with 16psi of boost. I removed the volvo intercooler. I installed a very nice bar and plate aluminum i/c. I can no longer run 12psi of boost without going lean. There has been no other mods. Is this possible? Was that volvo intercooler that bad? Do i need less boost to make the same kind of power? This is getting me confusing. Help. Scott.