Guest z1 performance Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 A few people remember me from some of the older ZX boards, and now that my car is basically done and driving, I figured I'd put some pics up of the engine bay. Its been a long buildup, but so far, everything is running nicely, and we've tuned it to 1 bar, with a nice fat AFR and plenty of head room (all on pump gas). Its been a long time since I regularly drove a car so fast, and I must admit it is taking some getting used to. The cage int eh car really stiffened things up alot over what it used to be (and trust me, it was stiff before!). The motor has been built and in the car for a year or so now, and with about 350 miles on it now, its almost all broken in. I know many will ak me for specs on the motor/turbo, and I'll share as much as I know; problem is, we started redoing the car's setup about 3.5 years ago (I've owned it since '93, when I bought it as a 100% bone stock car), so I cannot locate all the info! But here is what I do know: Turbo is an T66, internal wastegate, with a modifed exhaust housing allowing it to bolt to the stock manifold - no idea what the trim ratings are on either side, nor do I know what A/R the hot/cold side are. For right now, I am still on a stock downpipe; I know many hve commented how inefficient it is, but honestly, being around turbo cars virtually all my tuning/racing life, I don't think I have maxed it out yet, though it is getting close. Car has absoltely zero creep, and I am able to run down to the wastegate spring setting of 6 psi, telling me its all working just fine. Engine: custom Ross pistons, .030 over, stock crank, stock rods (raceprepped), ARP hardware throughout, and all the usual bottom end tricks a good motor buildup has....motor is balanced to 10,000 rpm (rev limiter is set at 8500 right now), with an HKS headgasket. Head has a huge amount of work to it..oversized valves, titanium retainers, lots of porting, billet 610 lift cam (I am working on trying to dig up the duration from my engine builder), TWM throttle body, XS Engineering IC core (the one they use on GTR's), 2.75 inch aluminum IC piping Piping and cage were done by Kooks), HKS SSQBOV. I run a TECII for the ecu side for riht now, though Ill probably be upgrading to a TECIII at some point this year to take advantage of its added funtions. Current fuel setup is a Bosch Motorsports pump (trying to find the specs on thsi one as well..hope to have it today), 480cc injectors. We have used the stock rail, and stock FPR with great results so far...neither is overtaxed at its current level. Thought it does look a bit funky, the stock rail system happens to be quite good IMHO, and at least on my setup, fuel pressure is exactly the same on either side of the motor at both idle and at full boost, WOT, telling me its working just fine. I do have 6 x 720 cc injectors to go into the car soon, and we will be making our own fuel rail to accomodate these,and at that point, we'll upgrade the fuel filter and fpr to Aeromotive units. Tranny is a stock T5, ACT clutch (6 puck, sprung hub), that is amazingly easy to drive. Stock tranny has served me well int he past, so I am sticking to it till it lets go. Rear is an R200 LSD, and IIRC, my current final drive is 3.73's. Thats about it for right now on the motor side. I its last incarnation (smaller turbo, smaller IC, smaller IC piping, and a bone stock Turbo motor with a custom done t3/t4), that car had run a best ET of 11.82 @ 124 mph (on slicks), and had previously put down 404 hp and 497 lb feet of torque. Not sure what the current motor is putting out, but once its all broken in, we'll take it to the track and get the car on the dyno. So far, the only "performance" figures we have are from our datalogs last week. We clocked a 0-135 spring from a dead stop in 12.67 seconds, with the first 2 seconds dedicated to a huge bog off the line. A different log got us from 20 mph in second gear (rolling) to 130 in 10.55 seconds.....right now, its fast enough for me, though i'll be spending my summer only working on this one of my cars. Car has a full interior. a minor stereo (JL Audio amp, Kenwood Excelon head unit, and MB Qaurt components front, std MB coax's in back with a single JL 10 inch sub), and car has A/C. Upgrades planned for later this summer are upgraded brakes (going for a 13.5 inch 4 piston AP setup), coilovers (still figuring out which route I want to go), getting the upgraded injectors/lines done, and an upgrade to an HKS T51R, HKS xternal wastegate, custom downpipe, and manifold to suit. Later this year we'll get the TECIII installed, and then this winter, it goes under the body shop knife for the last time with a full going over (goign down to the metal, have a brand new in the box Nissan hood, headlight buckets, fenders, hatch and rear quarters going on), and of course I am leaving it the same color. Hope you enjoy it, and its good to be back! I cannot wait to take her to the track soon for some performance figures. Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody 82 ZXT Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 Nice ZX. Sounds like you've put some time and money into it. If you can some more pics would be good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slownrusty Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 Wow - sounds like a wicked buildup and car - as Cody mentioned any more pics to share with us? Regards - Yasin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lockjaw Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 Yes more pics would really be nice. Not to many ZX people with fast cars. It would be nice to know some of the spec's on the turbo, and cam. Very nice Hp and torque numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparky Posted June 11, 2003 Share Posted June 11, 2003 and had previously put down 404 hp and 497 lb feet of torque. ZOINKS! thats so nice....and on the old motor as well. im looking forward to hearing what your new numbers are. kick ass job!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest z1 performance Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 Thanks guys...what kind of pics do you want (assuming its nice here tomorrow,I can take some more)...interior, exterior, all of the above? I do have some updated (read cleaner) engine shots to post..those were taken last week while we were still getting the tuning side nailed (note the 2 MAP sensors ) But, now that it seems the big part of the tuning is wrapped up, I took some time to really neaten it all up. Next on the list is the fuel rail and 720's..we know how we want to do it, its just a matter of making it look pretty and functional at the same time. From there, we'll more than likely be stepping up the turbo to an HKS unit later this summer (T51R looks like the hot ticket), with a manifold and downpipe to suit, but i want to first see what we can get out of the current setup. Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SleeperZ Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 First of, very nice setup. That's cool that you can still use some of the stock parts most of us have long ago thrown away. How the heck do you balance a motor to 10,000 rpm?? I suppose you could balance the crank, and then match the piston/rod sets by weight to each crank throw, but to what end? No way can you spin the motor that fast - - the pistons would fly off the rods. And they say here, and in other L28 circles, it's extremely risky to take the motor over 8000 rpm, not because of balance issues, but crank torsional stresses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lockjaw Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 Pics of the intercooler would be nice, and I would like to know your spec's on the cam and turbo. maybe who ground the cam. I will be interested to see what you run this time, your previous numbers are very impressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest z1 performance Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 Well, the group that built my motor is who does all our engines...and he has been building Nissan motors for eons now. As far as the cam, we know the lift is at 610, but I am unsure about duration....I am hoping my engine guy has the info (just left him a message to try and find it). Here are some exterior shots including the intercooler...I think we may polish the IC and piping this winter, though I am not totally committed to it yet..I like the "purposeful" look it has unpolished. Next on the mod list is a 10,000 rpm tach and 300 km/h speedo from Central 20 in Japan...I hope to have this stuff in the car by the end of the month if it all goes well. From there, brakes are a definate next step; my car always stopped very well (we use KVR rotors, stock calipers, and these neat dual compund pads I found like 5 years ago, but which are discontinued now (I bought the last 10 sets or so that were available I am told), but we're asking them to do more than they are capable of now, and with some upcoming track days planned, I doubt they would last very long. Don't make fun of the rear lower "spat" the rear 3/4 shot...its gotten pretty chewed up from rocks, etc with the last set of slicks we ran, but I plan on painting it this weekend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SleeperZ Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 0.610" lift?!?!?! That's more than most V8s with 1.8"-2.0" valves! I wonder what ratio rockers you have to use with that. And if the valves are stock size or a little bigger, there is probably no benefit to that much lift - the flow restriction is completely in the valve diameter at that point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lockjaw Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 That is a sweet looking car for sure. I like the wheels and color. I need to redo mine or really find a nicer body to work with, preferably without T-tops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest z1 performance Posted June 12, 2003 Share Posted June 12, 2003 Valves are oversized, head has loads of port work done to it. According to the info he dug up today, duration is around the 300 mark, which makes sense given the cars power band (which all over 4000 rpm, but pulls like a banshee to redline). he also said its a similar spec cam to one that Electramotive ran on their long track motors. According to our engine builder, I am flowing a bit more air in the head than the IMSA motors did (when they ran the 6 cylinder turbos), so I'll try to get as much info as possible on what exactly is done to it. We traded voicemails today so I'll try and find out as much as I can. I know that displacement is a bit over 2.8 liters (pistons are .030 over). Thats all I could fine out today.....I realy wish I could find my notes and the invoice from when I paid for all this stuff then again, maybe its best I didn't know.... I am all about using the sock stuff as long as possible until it does not do its job anymore. Often times, an aftermaket or custom part may do the job better from a conceptual standpoint, but in execution, the differences are often minimal. This has been a car I have had for nearly 10 years now, and having gone through more than a few setups, I have never had a budget with it, just a desire to make it run as efficiently as possible. So, we'll have to see what it does once its broken in fully (hopefully by this weekend). What kind of dynos does everyone here tend to use? The numbers on my old setup were on a Dynojet 248C, which does tend to read aggressively compared to others. The same setup a week or so earlier ran about 40 hp less on an inground Mustang dyno. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David K Posted June 13, 2003 Share Posted June 13, 2003 Adam, i just want to say that you have yourself a first class machine! 8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ON3GO Posted June 13, 2003 Share Posted June 13, 2003 Awesome car. just goes to show ya these high HP numbers arent out of reach. also i heard ggreat things from your shop as my friend bought some stuff from you shop for his wrx when he lived in NY before he moved here. again awesome car and awesome job. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fl327 Posted June 13, 2003 Share Posted June 13, 2003 i like how stock your engine bay looks with the fuel rail and fpr i personally like the stock fuel rail, if its not a restriction, i say run it car looks pretty mean, performance sounds outrageous guage panel is pretty nice too plus deep dish rims, say word nice car man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cody 82 ZXT Posted June 13, 2003 Share Posted June 13, 2003 without T-tops. I've had two before without T-tops and they are much stiffer as the miles roll by. I gotta get a set of those rims. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest z1 performance Posted June 13, 2003 Share Posted June 13, 2003 Thanks guys..appreciate it. Its good to see enthusiasm for these cars still....I love mine now more than i did when I first got it. ON3GO - who is your buddy? he got Z stuff from us or for another car? As for the rail, admitedly it is a funky design and not aestheitcally pleasing, but given the pump I am running, it is definately not overtaxed. Fuel pressure at idle is 36 psi, and it ramps up with boost and never tapers down...if it ain't broke don't fix it! However the new injectors I have had for some time (720's) are not hose style, so will require a new rail to be made. I have seen what some of the vendors have to offer, and while nice, they are not really what I want. We are going to do our own out of the comming rail stock (like HKS and many others use for the various cars), but we will be incorporating a balance tube (which IMHO is one reason why the stock rail design is working well for us). As for the meter panel, that pic has alot of glare, so it did not come out well. All the interior pieces match, and 90% were redone in vinyl (samller stuff was painted). The panel houses the headunit, GReddy EGT, boost, fuel pressure and oil temperature gauges, as well as the EVC IV. Next up is the brakes and seats. Seats are already here from Japan (Recaro SRIII), but I have to have them recovered to suit the interior (they are black right now)...going with Navy to tame the inside down a bit (oh how I wish I had redone the interior in black!). As for brakes, we were going to go with a vendors offering, but decided to do our own, since we have the Bridgeport, and the only part that really needs fabbing is the bracket for the caliper. Spoke to the engine guy again today, and he told me on my head, basically everything was custom and/or heavily reqorked to suit the cam (valve guides, spring bosses, guide base, etc.) HGe also thinks he knows where the flow chart os for it, so maybe I'll have that next week Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slownrusty Posted June 14, 2003 Share Posted June 14, 2003 Absolutely an insipring and beautiful ZXT Keep us posted with more pics! Regards - Yasin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Zcarsmakemyheadhurt Posted June 14, 2003 Share Posted June 14, 2003 Car looks good, makes me want to work on my ZX....nice. Who builds your turbos? Nice, nice street car man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest z1 performance Posted June 14, 2003 Share Posted June 14, 2003 Well, noone does our turbos now..the guys who used to do them are no longer around. But net on the turbo list is defiantely the HKS T51R..after being in a few Skylines in Japan and some customer Supra's down here, it has schooled me that its a killer unit for an I6 Adam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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