TR's 260z L28 Build Thread

[Gollum]

Tough to say if that's a tune issue or a right foot issue though. Most modern auto boxes are programed to get the car into it's final gear as soon as possible. Vette's have even had the funtion to go from 1st to 4th iirc in their design history.

 

Lower rpm is almost always better for MPG, but accelerating is a different story. You definitely want to stay away from accelerating down around 1500rpm, and also make sure you're not digging into the throttle too much when you do.

 

I'd work on your map a bit more though. There's guys pushing a lot more HP than you getting considerably better MPG on combined tanks (garrett comes to mind).

 

THAT being said..... my stock EFI setup pushing around a measly 200hp or so is only getting me around 17mpg combined on a tank (estimated, my speedo has never worked). I KNOW my EFI is running rich, which I'm fine with. I also haven't checked my milage since I fixed my e-brake drag issue, and I really need some new tires. I had severe camber wear issues which couldn't have been helping my rolling resistance.

 

Part of my problem is also my right foot. It's a toy car mostly, and gets driven accordingly. When I was daily driving it, I found that if I kept my speed under 65mph, kept behind truckers, and kept my air pressure as negative as I could for a given situation (like accelerating before a hill came so I didn't have to dig in so much at the top of the hill), I could squeeze out a wopping 21mpg on almost all highway driving.

 

I expect to have that improved by next summer though, running the same EFI setup still.

[TrumpetRhapsody]

Crappy video I threw together... I need to do it right with a decent DV cam, i'm just lazy. You can't even hear the turbo, which definitely isn't TTL lol.

 

[Zeerari]

Terrorizing Reid Hall... I like it

[TrumpetRhapsody]

Haha! I love that hill

[TrumpetRhapsody]

Just finished installing the Fidanza 10lb flywheel and Centerforce Dual Friction clutch and took it for a test drive.

 

The lightweight flywheel surprisingly seems to have made the car easier to drive, I love it. I got this clutch lightly used so I'm going to take it easy for a bit, not knowing fully the condition it's in.

 

 

I had a bit of a scare along the way though. With all the stuff I bought from this guy, he sent me a new throwout bearing collar that was longer than the one I was (and am) using. Of course in my infinite stupidity I forgot about it until I had the trans mated to the motor and almost done.

 

I tried rotating the driveshaft with it in gear with the clutch fully depressed, and I could hear and feel the clutch dragging on the flywheel. I debated shimming the slave rod, but ended up adjusting the length of the master rod, and it seems to work fine. Engagement is about halfway through pedal travel.

[TrumpetRhapsody]

Yikes, 3 months without an update, sorry guys. The whole site change thing kinda threw me off balance, and school's been keeping me busy.

 

So with Branson Z fest coming up I should probably make my list of things I'll never get done in time, and give some small updates.

 

For the past couple months my car has been making this horrible honking/train whistle noise. Now I had heard a dying turbo when my stock T3 oil line got clogged and shelled, but for some reason I still thought this noise was the Holset telling me that it needs a rebuild. Big thanks to flatblack280 for kicking me in the ass to look at it... all it ended up being was a boost leak. I tightened all my IC piping clamps, and the noise is gone! It's been nice to drive the car without worrying about the horrible noises it's making and thinking the turbo is going to shell every time I get into boost. Well... the diff is still making horrible noises, but whatever lol.

 

 

So now for the things I'd like to see get done before branson:

 

- Swap to the better hood I'm getting from tnkrstoyco

- Pull the fenders and try to align them better on the body

- Install my fender mirrors (been sitting in the boxes for over a year now)

- Possibly weld up my mirror and side marker holes

- Do a little rust maintenance and re-flatwhite the car

- Polish the lip and repaint my current wheels

- Get my EAE tuned a bit better

- IF I have time, install my boost control mod for Megasquirt (unlikely)

- Possibly swap to the 240z tail lights I have (also unlikely)

 

 

With it being the end of the semester and the fact that I'm moving to a new house May 1st, this is a pretty tall order to fill. We'll see if I can deliver.

Edited April 28, 2010 by TrumpetRhapsody

[FlatBlack]

hehe

 

I figured with how you drive, your diesel terbeaux shouldn't be going the way of your late T3.

 

I forgot to call you yesterday >_< I'll try to make it over today so I can hear that diff.

[Gollum]

Thanks for the update.

 

With how good you'd been about having consistent updates I thought you might have died or something.

[TrumpetRhapsody]

Haha yeah, I felt like I did >.<

I missed Hybridz... but with the new software and the fact I've been getting like no email notification for threads before the switchover, I just wouldn't frequent the site like I used to. I'm slowly catching up to the learning curve, but it's still just not quite the same. *shrug*

 

 

 

Knocked two off the list last night.

 

Unless I just have a ton of cash to blow someday, I've given up on the front end. I spent most of last night trying to get my front end to line up better, with marginal results. I just finally threw in the towel and installed my fender mirrors. Looks so good!

 

When I get my HID's I may try to install the other set of headlight buckets I have, since these are kinda out of round and pretty badly aligned, but for now I don't really care anymore.

Edited April 30, 2010 by TrumpetRhapsody

[TrumpetRhapsody]

Wow... again with large update gap. Lets see I guess the main thing I've done since last post was change over to a 280z hood (stock black color, rocking the panda), install my Hella E-Code yellow star headlights and relay harness upgrade, and just today finally installed the megasquirt boost controller mod.

 

I have it set around 10psi currently (up from the stock 7) and the difference is pretty amazing already. It is spiking up to 13ish under part throttle, so I'll have to try and get that under control before I turn it up much more. I'll probably settle for now somewhere around 15-18psi, just need to get it all dialed in!

 

I see that MS2/Extra has a new 3.1.0 code that supposedly improves closed loop boost control, so maybe I'll play with that once I get my tune dialed in a bit better with the higher boost.

 

 

Looking above I still have the following left off that to-do list:

- Weld up my mirror and side marker holes

- Do a little rust maintenance and re-flatwhite the car

- Polish the lip and repaint my current wheels

- Get my EAE tuned a bit better

- Swap to the 240z tail lights I have

 

Maybe I'll get it all done by this year's Branson meet

 

Next big thing in my bulls-eye is getting my coilovers and RB-R's bought and installed. That is probably going to still be several months away though.

 

 

I've included a few of the more recent pics of my car, from Branson Z Fest last year. My best was a 13.2@106, which is pretty surprising considering my crappy tires.

Edited February 23, 2011 by TrumpetRhapsody

[TrumpetRhapsody]

Been getting the new boost level tuned in slowly but surely. I find it's tough to hit that kind of boost frequently enough for logging without risking getting arrested lol. I've given up on EAE and gone back to normal TPS based accel enrichment, and so far it's working pretty well. Still getting everything dialed in, but it's feeling nice!

 

Also pulled the trigger on a cheapo ebay B&M short shifter clone... completely changes the feel of the car, I love it! Funny how sometimes the little things make all the difference.

[dsommer]

Go baby go.

 

You've made great progress with that ole bucket of bolts! If you're ever up around Rogers give me a shout.

[zeause]

Ive got a lot to do too. I just bought a 240z and one way or another its making it to z fest this year! Hopefully we can all drive together again. I think we're going to go up friday after work this time around.

[TrumpetRhapsody]

Haha thanks Dave, will do. Still need to get this POS looking good, will have to hand it over to a bodyshop for a few months like you did lol.

 

Nice man, glad to hear you've joined the good side of Nissans

Sounds like a plan, can't wait!

Edited March 2, 2011 by TrumpetRhapsody

[TrumpetRhapsody]

My tach lives! After two years I finally got my tach working, with much blood sweat and tears of course.

 

I think back when I was last trying to get my tach working, I was messing around with reversing the Zener diode, well I soldered it back in backwards. Fixing that, plus digging the tach out the back of the dash and bypassing an internal resistor, got it working.

 

No more redline guesswork!

[TrumpetRhapsody]

Alright, so a bit of an update. Last week I had my exhaust completely re-done. Took my downpipe flange to a local welder to have the outlet enlarged from 2.5 to 3", and have a section of 3" welded to it properly so my exhaust guy could make me a full 3" out to my original 3" bullet muffler. It's still crush bent, but oh well it'll do for now.

 

Immediately I could tell the difference. Based on my logs, I was spooling around 1k rpm faster, and my boost creep was down to only 1psi or so vs the 3psi it was before.

 

Unfortunately, I still had an exhaust leak. The exhaust guy noticed that he could wiggle my turbo. Once I took a closer look it became obvious that I was leaking around the T3 flange to the exhaust manifold, BADLY. I tore it apart tonight and found this:

 

 

Click image for larger version Name: IMG_1240.jpg Views: 0 Size: 94.3 KB ID: 1045Click image for larger version Name: IMG_1241.jpg Views: 0 Size: 97.3 KB ID: 1046

 

Apparently at some point, I think on the way back from Branson Z Fest last year, I blew out one of the gaskets. On top of that, some of the nuts were a bit loose.

 

 

So while I'm at it, I'm going to replace that gank spacer I hurriedly made just to get it running. I've ordered a 3/8" mild steel spacer and will use copper rtv instead of gaskets. Fingers crossed my new exhaust still fits right once I get it all back together.

[TrumpetRhapsody]

Alright, got her all buttoned up, and runs better than it EVER has.

 

I got my 3/8" turbo spacer in the mail, but two of the studs were too short. So, while I had the exhaust manifold in the machine shop having the bolts extracted, I went ahead and had them true up the mating surface on the mani and downpipe flanges. Both surfaces were warped and leaking. Shamrock had the new studs I needed, for the both the t3 flange and hot-side outlet. I did go ahead and use proper gaskets, instead of RTV like I had planned. Hopefully they don't blow out again.

 

I also went ahead and shaved the rest of the old wastegate bracket off the holset, and with my new-found clearance clocked it to a MUCH more ideal position. The angle coming out of the cold-side is soooo much better now. I wasn't able to find a gasket for the hot-side outlet, so I'm running copper RTV. Hopefully it will hold.

 

 

It's like a different car now. It's never been this quiet or smooth. I can hear the turbo spool and blow-off at partial throttle/load now, which is something usually I'd only get under WOT. It spools sooner and quicker, and feels MUCH more powerful in general. I'll let everything settle in, get stuff re-torqued, then start upping the boost little by little. My tires are the limiting factor now though, safety may be an issue in the short term.

Edited April 3, 2011 by TrumpetRhapsody

[TrumpetRhapsody]

Here's some updated pics of the engine bay. My roommate was nice enough to polish the lettering on my valve cover, looks good

Still need to tidy things up a bit, but it's making progress.

 

Tuning is coming along nicely, hit 18psi somehow on one of the runs, but probably just a creep fluke, it's usually around 13-14. At these higher boost levels my unbaffled gas tank is rearing it's ugly teeth. Anything below half tank is not a good idea. It would also be nice to get a aeromotive FPR, new fuel filter, and have my injectors cleaned, but one step at a time

Edited April 18, 2011 by TrumpetRhapsody

[TrumpetRhapsody]

Some updates:

 

I rebuilt my back brakes a few weeks ago, SUCH a difference. Actually brakes like a proper car now.

 

 

After 3 years I finally got my coilovers. Total install took about 20 hours.

 

It should be a pretty significant improvement, both in performance and safety. My left strut retainer was hand tight, and the right one was backed out enough I could move the strut up and down about 1/4" by hand. Guess I found my clunk! That and the left side was completely blown. The front should prove to be equally terrible, I won't be surprised if they're both blown. I did have to slot the hood to clear the strut tops, and though I haven't tried I don't think the adjusters will fit regardless. Minor detail. This also gave me a chance to install my AZC TC rods I've been sitting on for over a year now. Glad to be rid of the stock deathtraps.

 

The difference driving the car is amazing! No more clunks over bumps, feels super tight, lack of body roll is amazing. It's stiff, but I don't think too stiff. It's a level I think I can live with on the street. It's really not all that much worse than my shitty cut springs I was running, just more precise. It feels a bit bouncy, but I've heard that'll subside once everything breaks in for a bit.

 

I've been running it without the rear bar for now, and I think I'll need to upgrade my front. Can't wait to start playing with getting it dialed in. Just need an alignment now.

[TrumpetRhapsody]

Well well, been quite awhile since my last update. Had some other stuff going on my my life, so the Z took a backseat. Now though, it's go time!

 

I've really only been driving it and playing with the tune since my last update. MSextra has been adding in some interesting MS3 backports, and a 3rd party has been making firmware mods that help with the accel-enrichment. All of this coming together has really been increasing the driveability, it's finally getting somewhere I can be happy with!

 

The biggest breakthrough was this past weekend. I FINALLY dropped the diff and re-did my LSD washers. The stack had indeed collapsed, and I pretty much had no pre-load. Once everything was back together it felt super tight. When I re-assembled everything I chose to leave off the stock bottom diff mount I was running (which most do when they add the RT mount), and I also (foolishly) decided to rebuilt my half-shafts with new Ujoints. Long story short, I had to have one of them machined b/c of yokes that were bent during dissasembly, and I've been fighting with autozone and some joints I got from Flatblack trying to get the proper clips to assemble everything. So, one of them has new joints but a few clips that aren't perfectly snug (hopefully the joints don't move around), and the other I just put back in untouched for now.

 

It's amazing. No more clunk on shifts and accel/decel, no more diff whine, everything is super smooth, it's a blast to drive now! I still have a little clink on accel, but that's probably just the un-rebuilt half-shaft. I'll take care of it... later lol.

 

 

My fender flares are in, so maybe this weekend or next i'll try to get those installed so I can run my new wheels. Just need to find the time and someone with a Mig to tack the rear unibody back together.

Edited March 29, 2012 by TrumpetRhapsody