Gollum

Is that a list of what you WANT, or what you HAVE? Big difference. I'm becoming more and more of the opinion that unless you either A. want to take forever to finish a build, or B. have lots of money, you really need to take your budget and cut it in at least half, if not a quarter, then see what you can build with that. Too many projects never get finished because of the scope of the idea. It's easy to get carried away with a "simple project". Been there done that. My favorite memories are of DRIVING cars, and generally my head is filled with the "simple projects/swaps" because they GOT DONE and I actually DROVE them. I'm almost of the opinion now that garages are evil places to keep cars, and that if you can't finish a stage of a project in a week then it should be left to those with deep pockets and serious dedication. Starting a "budget" build with a deep scope (suspension, body mods (flares, custom shaving etc), unusual engine swap, welding cage/tube chassis bits and such) is TOO MUCH for most of us to tackle effectively all at once. If you keep your project on the road and demand as such, you're much more likely to get stages DONE and keep it on the road where you'll actually enjoy the work being done. So all that said, I'd say "throw it together" with what you have and go from there. Don't fuss over the details. The details that matter are the ones right in front of you and those will sort themselves out as you need to tackle them. Don't freak out about what tires you're going to run when you're still on jackstands with not suspension. Don't fret about compression for force induction when you're tackling welding mounts of a swap. Don't fret about composite body mods while you're bound to the garage in a non-running state. This is where I'm at in my 75. I took it off the road because I could, due to having a second DD capable vehicle, and it's been garage bound for almost 3 years now, which is a tragedy. If people check my project thread and think I'm crazy for being so "basic" or "cheap" or some might even say "ghetto" I'll just wait and laugh when I'm actually driving it unlike the 75% of us that are on this forum because our car is in a perpetual project state. I don't resent this board or it's members. I, in fact, love this place. But it's too easy to get caught up with ideas with out actions. Let other's projects be inspiration to actually DO, not inspiration to just dream.

So not as much done last two days as I wanted, but tomorrow should be very productive. I removed the left rear bumper support mount, as the rear bumpers was just cut off originally (not me). Serious pita but one down. I was half surprised at how heavy it was. Glad to be ditching at least another 15 pounds between the two I'm sure. More to compensate for the eventual cage. And my relay panel is FINALLY ready to be drilled for mounting relays. It took much longer than I wanted but I'm at least happy with the time invested. Figuring out exactly where I wanted it was difficult and once I figured that out, the exact approach wasn't easy as I was dedicated to not buy anything and wanted it to be as function as possible. It's another cut of stainless from the sheet I have. I took the top of a round die grinder to it to swirl the surface then heat cycled it, though I'm probably going to heat it up again tomorrow. Why? I must admit looks were a factor, but I have a justification. For anyone that's driven with a plain aluminum dash you can appreciate this. Eventually, the sun hits your dash just right and you get blinded, no fun. I'm hoping the swirls with help break up reflections and that the coloring will help dull what reflections make their way to my eye. Why not paint it? Because paint on a surface with things mounted to is bound to chip and such, especially with super budget methods. This seemed like a more "full proof" method to alleviate the issue. It will be mounted all the way right on the upper dash mount bolts. I'm considering doing the same to my dash, but will probably wait until I get all my switches and gauges mounted then pull it all off. Just seems easier that way for that huge chunk of stainless. Detail shot of the swirling. Didn't take long really. Spent most of my time on this thing just figuring out how I wanted to do it. The actual creation was just about an hour.

No offence PPK, but you know normally me and you disagree greatly on stance/style of a car, and that's okay, but I actually agree with you here. Holy grail: http://www.rimsntires.com/specs.jsp The S130 can handle much taller wheels than the S30 and still "feel right" without major modifications. This is largely due to the fact that they came with taller wheels to begin with. I'm currently running 215/60/15 and feel it's just right and in the middle of the sweet spot. My speedo is spot on (was too fast on previous 195/70/14's), and wouldn't really hesitate much about stepping up to 225/60/15. In reality my perfect world choice is to run 255/40/17 but that's tough to fit up front, which leads you to run a 245 wide up front at least, which means you have to settle for the 45 side wall, though that's not the end of the world (just a tad tall imo). All in all, just be glad you don't have to add flares to easily fit a decent width, unlike many other cars out there.

So I get home today from a long weekend away, and find new parts waiting for me! So what's the first thing I do just after some preliminary unpacking??? Get to work of course! First, let me share a photo of my beautiful relays that came in just after my last post. I think these cost me something like $10 shipped. Not bad if you ask me, especially for not leaving the comfort of my home. I was going to order my switches online too, but the cost of shipping just makes that pointless. I'll just pay an extra $1 per switch and run to the local parts store for them. Cheapest I found decent switches online through amazon, ebay, etc was $2.50 + $3+ per switch. I can get the same/similar switch at oreilly for $5.... Got me sold. Onto today's goodness. I'm still going to get more work done, but my hands were clean after cooking and eating dinner so I thought I'd jump on and share progress thus far. Genuine grant horn button. Woot woot. Decent quality part for the price and I'm more than satisfied for the time being. Looking at the rear shows that grant really thought this through and makes it easy to install two or single wire horn arrangements. Yay for foresight. So let the wiring begin. I'm going the extra anal route on my car and soldering every connection after the crimp is made. Just extra insurance. I want these connections to last as long as possible to prevent having to go over everything in the near future. Make sure to get the solder to PENETRATE, not just melt on the surface. I've learn this the hard way through many hobby projects. After each wire is crimped and soldered I finish it up with some heat shrink tubing. I find this to work better for me than buying insulated/covered spade connectors and it's a heck of a lot cleaner than electrical tape. ' I don't think I needed the ground wire, but I went ahead and made one up just in case. We'll find out when it comes time to try it out... And the finished product! Yay. Now I just need to head to the junkyard to get the actual noisemakers! And while working today I snapped some pics of a factory splice. These are how nissan did their factory splices back in the 70's and 80's. So anywhere you find one wire that goes two directions (a LOT more common than you might think) this is what's hiding in there. While I might be mocking them, they rarely seem to be the actual point of failure in Z car wiring, so when wiring books tell you to never use crimp connections and avoid them like the plague (I've read plenty of literature that least to that conclusion) take it with a grain of salt. Usually it'll be the actual connection that leads to issues. Anywhere you have a friction fit and electricity has to jump from material to material you're giving the system a place for corrosion to build up. This is also a good reason to use relays. This way less current is running through your switches making those connections less likely to fail. You can put your heavy wiring and quality connections in a much cleaner path, literally. This makes it easier to fix and diagnose down the road. So, onto the pics. B/w wire conversion from one into two wires. ' What lies beneath the factory electrical tape (don't get me started on that topic), is just a basic crimp joint. Though this might look cheap and poorly though, go ahead and try to pull one apart sometime. They shouldn't be failing from harsh vibrations anytime soon, and I've only seen them corrode when you've got massive electrical issues such has bad grounds. Okay, now back to work. Maybe I'll get some relays mounted.

HA! It was 103 here today and I was only home from a wedding 3 hours away for about 30 minutes before fiddling with the Z in my HOT HOT HOT garage! No fun, but it least I'm making progress. Hope to see both of ya on the 8th! Keep up the stellar work Leon.

Not a crazy update, but an update nonetheless. Got my dash remounted last night. ALL gauge wiring is now properly labeled and ready to be hooked up once I get there. I still need to cut two holes for the oil/temp gauge and volt/fuel gauge. Not sure if I'll remove the dash to do that, we'll see what's easiest. The dash was a bit far away before, and I happened to have some nice 8" long bolts lying around, so in they went. That extra distance made a world of difference. I'll now be able to reach my switches, even if I'm in a harness. I'd have liked to make a nice fancy dash from aluminum, but that is currently going against my KISS and Get'r'done philosophy. So I'm running what I had because it's the easiest route and worked fine before as far as functionality goes. I've also ditched the fuel "reservoir" tank as I can't find any good reason to keep it and it frankly just lends to the clutter that I'm trying to eliminate from this car. I want a chassis with an engine and basic necessities. I didn't see how this thing helped that. I've coupled the smaller breather tubes, but I'd rather have removed them entirely but that looked like more energy that I can't afford right now, as it would mean possibly dropping the tank, and then running to the store to find something to cap the tank with. All good ideas, and I might do that down the road, but honestly I plan to run a fuel cell when talking long term, so the KISS system prevailed. You can also see the wire I ran for the fuel pump. I was going to run it through the rubber grommet that the original pump wiring goes through, but again, dropping the tank would be required as the wiring makes a sharp 90 degree turn through the hole and runs along the tank for a good 8+ inches before coming out. I tired to reach it from bellow, but no luck. So in the more accessible hole it goes. Hey, beats what I had, which was a wire designed for wiring subwoofers going through a rust hole in the spare tire area..... (thank you PO....) My new relays came in today from amazon, woohoo! Unfortunately I have to clean up soon for today and then I'm leaving town tomorrow for the weekend. So no updates at least till Monday, sorry guys.

Not much more wiring done at this point, but getting there. What I DID do, that was WORLDS of fun was modify a spare shifter I had lying around. It's from a datsun pickup. I wanted a longer shifter to bring it closer to arms reach from the steering wheel so the extra length was certainly welcome. Only big issue is that this shifter was straight up and down regarding side to side shape. It had a nice rake backwards but something needed to be done to get it further left towards the driver. So I took the liberty to create a solution: (Heat + Steel) x (Armpower + Mallet) / Iron = Epic Winningness. Shown now is a picture of the achieved angle in just 3 heat ups and hammerings. Notice how the ears on the transmission are straight up. Lovely. So here's what 1st gear looks like. And 2nd Gear. Of course side to side gate is unchanged, and this thing is LONG, so 5th is a little bit of a stretch in this picture but I'll be at least 1 if not 2 seat clicks forward when driving. You can also take a little peak at my fuse panel there. And of course in any battle there are casualties. This was a spare caliper that I had which served as an anvil. The shifter survived, but has it's own scars as well. Hammering above, iron caliper casting texture bellow. Well that's all for now, but more to come.

I'd imagine there shouldn't be any reason for it to leak under boost. The good news is that autozone has them for $2.99 which sounds like a fairly cheap experiment to me. If there isn't an autozone nearby, oreilly has them for under $5 as well. I'd just go pick up a new one to try out for that kind of outlay.

I'm partial to the opinion that V mount setups are a bit over-hyped. They have to be done very well to work better than a conventional stacked setup, which few are. What I'd like to see more people do is just do a stacked setup with a support that's moved as far back as possible. Done right the extra "core support" could act as a wonderful front end rigidity enhancement, making a wimpy strut bar pointless. If you look at those swaps above you can see that if done right you could start the support back at the strut centerline and come forward at a 45 degree angle for about 6 inches on each side and land perfectly just in front of the engine. At least that's the way I'd do it myself if I was dropping 2-3k+ on a well done SR swap.

Plenty of people bypass the PCV system, though I must add the obligatory legality warning. Just because your car is "testing exempt" does NOT make it "smog law exempt". You're still "required" to take an engine swapped vehicle to the smog ref to get a BAR label, and you're required to keep all the smog equipment from the donor vehicle. Now, what you want to try to get away with is up to you, and I think you have a clue as to what other people get away with. But I won't openly condone blatant ignorance to law information that's widely available to those who look. So now you're at least informed on the most basic of levels. With that out of the way, feel free to plug the whole system up, and add a breather to the valve cover so that the engine can still breathe. If you totally seal up the PCV system top to bottom then you'll end up blowing seals. There's a good reason old Ford Model A's, T's and more leaked good amounts of oil. They simply HAD to leak by design because if the seals kept oil out they'd end up putting undo stress on other parts. Companies at the time realized that there was increased pressure in the crankcase when running and their simple solution was to run seals that didn't quite "completely" seal. I guess they thought that since air was a gas and not a fluid they could get by with enough air flow with minimal fluid leakage. Later engineers designed crankcases to breath internally much better and then added openings with filters to catch oil and then tightened up seal tolerances to keep more oil inside the engine. But let it be noted, that when PCV systems were added in the 60's the research at the time showed that roughly HALF of the HC emissions coming from an engine was right out of the engine breathers. I haven't seen modern research that refutes those claims, and considering how much cleaner a modern engine burns I'd imagine the potential HC output from the crankcase could be a much higher percentage today. Also pay attention to the OTHER benefits of a PCV valve that make it not exactly "just a smog device". With PCV valves introduced oil lifespan quality improved dramatically helping engines to last longer. The overall internal condition of the engine just stays much cleaner, which might be worth diagnosing your issue with the PCV system. To people that choose not to run PCV valves I recommend you change your oil RELIGIOUSLY and if you're going to be racing on the motor, I'd even change it VERY often (which should be a given anyways honestly).

Hazard and turn signal flasher are the same unit I believe, at least I've seen it that way in several Z cars. If you place it anywhere in the power supply side of the circuit then any time anything in the circuit gets triggered the flasher starts pulsating the supply. Otherwise if you wanted it post-switch then you'd need a flasher for either side of the car in addition to the hazard. I believe they all go off the same flasher. And granted I've only owned and worked on 280z's for the most part when it comes to S30's, the brake light wiring is normally black w/yellow. I agree it's probably for the flasher relay.

Well, almost a year later now. Almost forgot about updating this thread. I've been busting my butt the last two weeks to finally get this thing on the road. I was in a holding pattern of excuses that generally revolved around affording MS. Well that still hasn't happened but I'm coming to terms with the reality that I could have been driving this car for the last 3+ years if I'd just put in a good $100 and lots of hard work. Well I'm putting that hard work in now. I still am not quite sure what was up with the OEM EMS but the more wiring I took off the more craziness that was revealed. It was all so bad that I decided the factory wiring wasn't truly worth saving, so out it went. ALL of it. The only stock wiring I kept was the wires running from the passenger's seat area back towards the tail lights through the fender, simply because I didn't feel like messing around with fishing wires through there again and just want to get this done. The connectors that sit next to the passenger's right butt cheek were cut down from something like 20 wires to 7 which are: Running Lights Brake Lights Reverse Lights Left Turn Signal Right Turn Signal Fuel Tank Sending Unit Fuel Pump 12v+ Those wires survived the reckoning and I cut and soldered them back together to do away with those no pointless connectors. Here's some basics of what will no longer be used so people understand what all those other wires went to. Door sensors Seat Belt Sensor Seat Sensor (yes, actually senses if there's someone in the driver's seat) Parking Brake Switch Map/Interior Light Defrost Wiring Power Antenna Wiring Speaker Wiring (I think) And even more junk I can't remember. But I can say this: ALWAYS do this kind of work with an FSM handy, even if it's on a computer. Because I checked and double checked everything before cutting I knew exactly what I was removing and thus, when I later forgot what all was cut out I wasn't freaking out about having messed something up. It also helps you plan out your next step in how YOU would rather do it. So now the tail area wiring is running up towards a new (to this car at least) fuse panel that's from a '83 I cut up quite a long time ago. What's wonderful is that it's a blade style panel instead of buss fuses. AND due to my minimalist wiring scheme I have enough fuses to easily run one fuse per device allowing lower rated fuses and much simpler diagnostics down the road when I blow one. I'm also going to have a relay on EVERY circuit save the starter (doesn't need it honestly) and the alternator (which again, doesn't need one). The REAL beauty to doing it this way is that I'll run one 12+ wire to each relay, and then run ONE wire to each switch, and run ONE wire to the device. You just bridge your 12+ at the relay to both + sides, then you run ground at each device and at each switch. This makes star grounding almost impossible for the device side, but extremely easy at the switch side. The big benefit is that you don't have a million wires going in AND out from your switch panel so that you have a cleaner install that's easier to trace when needed. I hate chasing wires not knowing if I'm looking "upstream" or "downstream" because in OEM wiring if electricity goes somewhere else before grounding it's not black, even though it's an "acting ground" for one device. Extremely frustrating in my book, but I understand why it was done the way they did it. Honestly though, I'll gladly give up star grounding for simplicity for MY APPLICATION. Don't take this paragraph on my stance in wiring altogether. By contrast in ALL of my guitar amps I strive for the cleanest star grounding path I can manage, even at my amateur technician level. And of course, this update is worthless without pictures, but I haven't snapped a single one yet. I'll get some pictures in the next couple of days to redeem this post and bring some extra life to this otherwise boring thread. On another note (pun intended here) in the next few days I'm going to go horn shopping in the junkyard. My S30 has never had any so away we go. I'm going to try to come up with a clever mounting solution in the fender area for a couple reasons. 1. It makes wiring shorter and easier imo, keeping more wires out of the engine bay. 2. Having them hanging out up front when you have an open/grill-less S30 just looks tacky imo. 3. Hopefully they'll project in a more 360 degree pattern since you're not always worried about the person in front of you. I'm going to see if I can get 4 roughly from 2 different vehicles so I end up with 2 low tones and 2 high tones. I'm hoping this gives me some good volume and decent character. I've also relocated the water overflow tank back to the engine bay for the time being. Not trilled with my 10 minute solution I came up with, but it works for now. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention. I made a fairly crummy wiring diagram from scratch in MS Paint. It's got a few flaws I corrected by hand later, but I could go back and fix them if anyone was interested in my straight forward diagram that's basically just a S30 adaptation of a basic hotrod diagram. Despite it's lack of detail in some ways, it's gotten me this far and I'm sure it'll get me through the project. It's nice to have a map if you will, to keep you oriented in the right direction so you don't lose where you're at, or forget to buy enough switches, etc. More to come soon! I'd say I promise but I don't think that means much anymore at this point....

I usually feel that anything with at least 1hp per 10lbs with a total curb weight under 3,000 lbs with me in it is a FUN ride... That's a whole different level of fun street car. And personally I think 600hp on pump should be totally doable on pump gas with that setup, even if timing it's optimal.

I'd agree as well that you're "in the ballpark". Remember that ET and Trap calculators will be giving you ACTUALLY WORKING HP, meaning AT THE WHEELS. The drivetrain soaks up power that simply can't be exactly predicted no matter WHAT anyone says. The only way to know exactly what's at the flywheel is to put the engine on an engine dyno which for most people is pointless. Your location doesn't show what state you're in, so I'm not sure what could be deemed "legal" as far as modifications go, but if you really want to be serious about getting any extra power you're going to need a better ECU, prefferably one that's programmable to some extent. The really sad part though, is that I could pull off a turbo conversion for what it would cost me to do a fancy megasquirt with COP and such, meaning that no matter what significant gains will be spendy. If you want cheap HP look to a different powerplant, or turbocharging the one you have (and doing it correctly with programmable fuel and spark at the minimum). Sounds though like your best dollor to HP mods will be getting that thing running in tip top shape. You should be able to pull low 17s with basic weight reduction like you've done, paired with a strong running stock motor. If you don't go to the track all the time and that's not really what matters to you, and you care more about having a fun street car that you enjoy, I'd say one of the best investments you can make is on a GOOD lightweight flywheel and clutch. This will help the engine feel more lively and responsive and give the impression of having a much more agressive engine than you do. I know it sounds silly, but it's true. An engine that rev's fast and readily can be substantially more fun on the street. Also, if you do decide to go turbo or swap a turbo motor down the road, you have a flywheel and clutch to go with it.

Yea, that's like 70% of S130's out there. I had a Gold one that everyone called brown, and now I have one that's defintely like a merlot purple and people call it brown too.... I don't blame them though because it took me a week to decide to call it merlot. Dude! Give that a couple more years and you'll be able to pull that left tail light without tools! And I'm always thankful the S130 doesn't have as many rust issues as the S30..... Dang.

Again, I agree, the stock system is a bit complicated and a general pita to work on. I just firmly believe that there's nothing "wrong" with using an OEM FPR even if it's "ugly". For the most part I'm a Function>Form kind guy and couldn't give a hoot if a part is ugly if it's worth it. And in THIS particular case, I'd personally trust an OEM FPR over any ebay special FPR for under $50, even if it doesn't look as great. Those OEM FPR's have put over 300k on some L motors with no drama. I doubt the same could be said for those chinese specials you see at the bargain bin.

There's plenty of chemicals on the market that will break down rust in the coolant system that are worth a try. I'd go that route before taking 40 hours of my life to clean just what I could physically get to. Just expect to do frequent coolant changes while you're getting it all cleaned out.

You know, it's funny that I agree with you, but what most people are failing to grasp here as that for most people (even those sharing in this very thread) this is a COSMETIC modification. I love that a rail makes it easier to pull the injectors in the future, and that it can provide more stable flow if you're running HUGE injectors, but that simply isn't an issue for this guy. You're doin' it on the cheap. Mount the FPR UNDER the car next to the tranny if you're concerned about the looks, otherwise just find a way to bolt the OEM FPR in a convenient location. Just make sure to get the flow direction correct. The only reason I WOULDN'T go this route is that the OEM FPR's are known for not being reliable after 20+ years and I've replaced my fair share. I'd rather have something NEW and then verify it with a GAUGE than just take a shot in the dark with an unknown OEM. But if you engine was running fine and you're saving every dime, there's nothing mechanically saying you can't reuse the FPR you have.

Any adjustable pressure regulator will do the trick. You could even reuse the stock regulator if you wanted to, providing it's in good condition. I would just stray away from super cheap ones that come with gauges as those don't have a great track record of being accurate. Spend a few bucks more on something made with quality.

Z1 M Roadster, oh gawd I need a moment....

I don't think ANY of us "want" a 4 cylinder Z, nor do any of us think the V6 is a reason the 370Z is a blubbery pig of a car. An engine is just a SMALL portion of the weight of a vehicle. We should all know and understand this. What most of us have an issue with is a Z car that's well over 3,000 pounds and costs well beyond the "budget sports car" range. Nissan might have stayed true to the roots of what the Z was on paper, 2 doors, 2 seats, engine in the front, axles at the back... But that's about it. Oh, the kept 6 cylinders but I could care less about that since they ditched the inline 6. The BRZ is great. But I think we can do EVEN BETTER. Where's the Z that weighs in sub 2500 pounds? Nissan should be able to take the BRZ on at it's own game and smother it. There's absolutely no reason the VQ needs to be "expensive" for nissan. They've been making it for decades now and they should be cheap to make. Quite piling on new features and just leave it for a change. Focus money elsewhere. Even a maxima spec VQ from the early 00's would be monstrous in a 2500 pound car. So DO IT! I don't care if that means it doesn't come with Sat Nav, or a killer stereo, or even power steering!!! The 370Z base model is equipped better than my 280ZX with power everything, and the top of the line 370Z is equipped like a trimmed out infinity sedan. It's all overkill and NEEDS TO GO. That's my issue with the current Z car.

Boy would THAT solve some of this 49 versus 1 state CARB crap! Am I the only one that gets infuriated when they find out something about a car is amiss till you find out it's a CA VIN car with a special CA abnormality? It's happened to me more than once...

Michael ~ Don't underestimate the 16-25 yea olds out there. Look at the huge surge of interest in classic Japanese cars. Look at how many S2000's Honda has sold and the staggering amount of sub 30 buyers that managed to afford it. The young male demographic in America is still definitely car crazy. More and more I see classic old American cars being driven by young kids, and you can tell it's not "daddy's". I'm seeing and meeting young people all over the place that only have mild interest in NEW cars and are more interested in something with character. That's the thing, is that the BRZ/FRS has a chance to be the "supra" of the 20-teens, the Japanese car that kids drool over, yet it's completely different in that it's actually affordable. There's just nothing on the market like it, and the sad thing is that in history it's always been Nissan leading the way in the sports car market in Japan. bjhines ~ Please let is know what you think when you drive one. I've seen a couple up close but haven't had the pleasure yet. Gawd to the just look perfect though. And comparing to a Lotus I'd much rather climb into the BRZ everyday, if that's it's intended use.

Changing to internally oiled isn't that much work, but letitsnow is right, there's not enough "magic" in the A cam to lose sleep over it. The irony is that people have found the A cam to be a better turbo cam than what some of the cam companies sell as a "turbo upgrade cam" for the L28ET. As for making 250-300hp on flat tops. People have done it, over and over again people have done it. Ray just posted results that show he definitely did it. Dump the crappy T3 and step up to something decent and it will come down to if you have the fuel and spark control to handle it. Hell, even back when everyone was going with MS-I people didn't have a hard time absolutely murdering the ECCS EFI in just about every aspect (power, driveability, reliability, economy). And remember BSFC is pretty low, so make sure to give yourself PLENTY of injector. For example, for my dream E85 build I expect to go with AT LEAST 1,000cc injectors that's just to give me padding up to 600 crank hp. I could probably squeeze more out of injectors that size, but I don't plan on it. If I want thank kind of power I'll just step up to 1200+ One last note: I've said this before and I still stand by my statement: The flat top + P79/P90 combo has the same turbo HP limits as the dish piston + P90 combo. I say this because I don't believe either to be truly limited by detonation. With both blow up due to detonation? Yes. But remember that the destructive nature of detonation will be similar HP for HP between the two setups, meaning that they should experience the same level of damage from similar levels of detonation at the same power output. Do the flat tops mean you'll have to run less timing? Yes, of course. But don't forget that much of that is a BENEFIT, not a PROBLEM. The flat tops lead to MUCH more quench which will improve mixture and speed up your flame front dramatically. This leads to less time being needed for a complete burn, so comparing time tables of dish versus flat is almost irrelevant. Keep heat under control through the RIGHT size turbo for your HP goals, and run a quality tune and there's no reason the flat tops couldn't make it to 400+hp like the dish pistons.

I've seen S130 temp gauges read all over the map when really things were just fine. The boiling after shut off would be my most concerning symptom, but you seem to have solved that. Overall it looks good! Personally I'd say add some headlight covers, some 17x9 Rota RB's and call 'er done! I'd have tried to find a clean turbo for that price, but you scored plenty of parts that makes it not a bad deal at all.