My Custom 280z-JCR Supercharger Project

[azcarbum]

After some discussion with others here, who had no idea I was working on this project, I've decided to start a thread for my project.

 

This Z project, as with alot of others here, has been a long ongoing process to say the least. I started about 3 years ago when I had the opportunity to purchase a JCR Supercharger kit from 1TuffZ. The kit was purchased by him new, and he had alway's taken care of it, as he does with his new baby.

 

For those of you who may not know about the old JCR Supercharger setup, it consisted of a manifold made to fit the L6, and a Roots style 7" Camden Supercharger driven off of the crank pulley. Fuel was delivered simply by a Holley Pro-jection TBI Kit ( which was great for its time ). The SC is oil lubricated, and has 3 different pulley's that can be used to obtain 5,7, and 9 psi settings.

 

 

In speaking with 1TuffZ about the limits of the setup as it was, the 9 psi pulley was pushing the limits of what the holley kit could handle. The heat was way up, and so was the possibility of detination.

 

 

 

So in my quest ( if you will ) for my custom setup, I had to ask myself what it was I was wanting to do with this kit. The first and most obvious was to improve its performance. To do this would not be a hard task, as things have changed int the 10+ yrs since its release. Today's performance components should be able to bring up its potential with ease. So I sat down and started brain storming to see what it was I could come up with.

 

In posts to come, I will outline the things I've done to change this kit, and were its taken me over the past 3 years as my mind has wandered.

[Ivan280zt]

I am looking forward to this build!!! High compression stroker on E-85 with 9psi would be crazy fun car. Please post alot of pictures!

[yetterben]

That blower looks strangely familiar. Run studs in that mani man those holes strip easy. Pending how much you take the blower on and of i guess. Still looking for the blow up of that charger but meh atkins is being douches lately.

[zredbaron]

the song "tempted by the fruit of another...." played in my head as i read this post.

 

fantastic manifold and supercharger presentation.

 

also, i *really admire* your camber plate cutouts in the shock tower. meticulously cut shape, truly beautiful work. my cutouts are crude in comparison, hidden by my plates being on top, which of course is structurally inferior to your installation as well. tremendous!

 

the 9 psi pulley was pushing the limits of what the holley kit could handle.

 

i'm curious...is that holley specifically designed for use with a supercharger? is it special in any way? not knowing anything about carburetors under boosted conditions, i would think that a NA engineered holley carb is a major kink in terms of uninhibited flow...

[azcarbum]

The white car above is 1TUFFZ.. This was when he had it installed. It now has a very nice V8 conversion. You can look up his work here on the site.

 

As for the Holley, it wasn't a Carb as per say, but a TBI. The limitation was more in the control of Fuel delivery. At the 9psi, the injectors were not able to delivery a precise fuel ratio to keep it controlled. It was more specific to the entire control system ( which was analog ) when compared to today's more advanced computer ECU's.

 

Back to the SC'r..... The original install above, shows the manifold installed w/ the Pro-Jection TBI Kit.

 

Now picking up where I left off:

 

 

MANIFOLD:

 

So I knew I wanted to take this setup to the next level. So in my planning, it was pretty simple to come to a few conclusions.I want to make a system that is more up-to today's standards in performance and control.

 

So...........

 

1. It will need to be F.I.

2. Being F.I. it will require a EMS.

3. Better IGN setup

4. Cam??

 

 

So it just happened, that at that time RTz was testing the waters with the WOLF3D EMS system from Australia. The company is established (www.wolfems.com), and has been selling thier systems for racing and performance application for 10+ years t/o Australia and Europe. The highlights of this system in comparison to others, is the fine tailoring that the system will allow. The WOLF is designed to be used with almost any sensors, Injectors, and Ignition configurations, allowing very fine fuel and Ignition controls. So for my first purchase I started with the brains of the system ( good place to start ).

 

 

So to start my customization of the manifold, I purchased some really nice CNC machined Injector holders. I don't remember the name of the company I purchased them from ( I'll get back to you on that ). They were very reasonable in price, and they should fit nicely on the manifold. These parts are made of aluminum, and the machining is excellent. The neat thing about these is that they not only act as the holder for the injector, but they also incase it. This means no fuel rail will be required. This was perfect for me, as I wanted to run individual braided lines to each injector.

 

I started by marking the locations on the manifold I would be welding the Injector housings. I tried to think ahead with this, and place the injectors in positions so they would not interfere with each other, or other things that may come later in the build. After a little mach-up, I proceeded to drill the initial holes for lacating the injector nose.

 

Once the holes and angles were good for what I wanted, I drill the holes out to match the port of the injector bung. Once I had this to my satisfation, I took the pieces to my welder ( my brother-inlaw... lucky me! ) and had them welded into place.

 

 

As you can see, it looks to have turned out pretty darn good. So now I can say the manifold is setup for Port Injection. This should allow me to use the injector sizes appropriate to control fuel demands.

 

MORE TO COME>....

Edited March 19, 2010 by azcarbum

[azcarbum]

INJECTORS:

 

For injectors, the bungs handle the standard 14mm GM style. This give a huge array of sizes to choose from. They also are fairly cheap in price.

 

In order to choose my injectors correctly, i first asked myself, "being realistic, what kind of HP am i going to reach?"

I know that my largest pulley will allow me to run a maximum of 9-10psi. If I have a cam ground, which at that time was in discussion phase, than being realistic I would say I'd make somewhere around 250hp... Maybe 300hp ( fingers crossed ) .

 

So with a bit of RTz's help, we figured that the best bet would be 375cc to 400cc Injectors. I opted to go with the 400cc Injectors. They will support well above the 300-400hp mark, and with the EMS control, we should have no problem tuning them down if need be.

 

 

Edited March 19, 2010 by azcarbum

[zredbaron]

now we're talking! i'm very much a fan of where you're going with this!

 

and now the anxious waiting game begins, cheers on such a beautiful job.

 

what ignition are you going with? i'm a fan of electromotive, myself.

Edited March 19, 2010 by zredbaron

[azcarbum]

OK... I was going to wait for my next post, but since you jumped on the subject of Ignition, I'll give a little bit of info.

 

 

IGNITION:[/b]

Once again, another friend of mine had also purchased a WOLF system from RTz. On his project, Ron came up with a sweet setup that not only was very effective, but very customized as well.......... Just perfect for my project indeed!!

 

 

So, I went down to the local junk yard, and pulled a set of suburban coilpacks from a LS1-V8. These incorperate thier own ignitors in each coilpack, and are relatively easy to wire.

 

Using the custom bracket Ron had come up with, It allows you to line them up under each cylinder, mounting the bracket to the side of the block. It's a snug fit for wiring, but do-able.

 

 

 

You can see RTz's info on this setup Here: http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php?/topic/59961-ignition-wolf3d/

You can see all RTz's WOLF info Here: http://forums.hybridz.org/index.php?/forum/64-wolf3d/

 

MORE TO COME..

[yetterben]

How are you going to keep the teflon on the lobes from melting? They need fuel for lube and to keep them cool. When my camden ran dry with no fuel the teflon melted and the lobes warped bad enough to crack the rear casing. that debacle cost me a blower and a few apex seals when it went dry at 9 grand in my 7

Edited March 20, 2010 by yetterben

[RTz]

How are you going to keep the teflon on the lobes from melting? They need fuel for lube and to keep them cool. When my camden ran dry with no fuel the teflon melted and the lobes warped bad enough to crack the rear casing. that debacle cost me a blower and a few apex seals when it went dry at 9 grand in my 7

 

Top secret

[yetterben]

Well.....seeing as how the only place you can get parts for that blower anymore is Atkins Rotary it is of concern Seeing as how Atkins guys are huge ****** bags and dont like Z's i would be concerned. Meth is not recommended either unless its under the blades so something has to be shot on top of that blower. It is a wet design. I await updates to see how this will be tackled. I am sure Brian has something.

 

I can attest that that thing is a huge furnace at 7 psi let alone anything higher. Taking the back half off and checking the lobes and seals is a good idea but i think i mentioned that before to him.

 

Studs in the lower intake where the charger bolts on is also a good.

Edited March 20, 2010 by yetterben

[azcarbum]

Ya... Atkins are not the best guy's to deal with ( to say the least!! )......... **** bags pretty much covers em'

 

Well, I was lucky enough to get ahold of one of the mechanics there at Atkins Rotory. Playing a bit under the radar, as not to give him to much info, I told him only enough info that to get the job done. I told him I had a 7" Camden SC, and that I needed some replacement parts. I also told him I needed an exploded diagram if possible. After a few discussions, I made enough headway that he sent me a real basic parts list w/ pricing. He never would get me a diagram.

 

I purchased some seals and some bearings ( which you can probubly have matched at any bearing shop ). But the reason I did it wasn't for the seals or bearings, but I also was able to get about 6ft of the teflon material for the tips of the blades. This should be enought to replace the tips twice!!

 

 

From what I heard last, Atkins is done with the Camden stuff. They're looking to sell off the rest of thier stock, and call it quits... Not surprising with the customer service they have!! LOL

 

 

OK..... Down to business.

 

THROTTLE BODY:

 

As it was brought up by YetterBen, the camden SC was made to be a "wet" system. This meaning that the fuel needs to be run through the SC to cool, and somewhat lubricate the blades. This was a puzzling piece to my system.

 

Another consideration I needed to look at, was the space under the hood. As you can see from the photo at the beginning post, there was a custom intake hat made to keep a very low profile, while re-directing the inlet to draw air from the front of the car. So I need something low profile, and really all I need is Throttle body unit that has my TPS, and possibly a cold start valve.

 

I started with a flat stock of 1/2" aluminum. The whole purpose of this part was to mount to the SC as a base. As you can see, I marked a center section that I would cut out ( as I had already found my TB setup.. WINK! ), and I drilled the pattern for both securing the plate to the SC, and holes for the T.B.

 

 

 

Here is the answer to my needs, courtesy of a mid 90's Ford Mustang, I took the TB and elbow unit. The unit was perfect for my needs. It has a 70mm T.B., and It incorporates the T.P.S. and a Cold start valve if I decide to use it. It also has a very low profile, and has a flat mounting base.

 

 

 

 

 

Now, to address the "wet" system requirements, I simply made sure I purchased 7 Injector housings!!

On the back of the T.B. was a port, and it was gonna have to go anyway. I cut the back port off, and drilled the hole out to allow for the angle of the Injector housing to be welded on, making sure the injector tip would have a straight shot center to the SC.

 

 

 

 

 

The seventh injector will run off of its own relay on the WOLF EMS. This will allow me to tailor the injector seperately from the main port injectors. The seventh injector should be able to cool, and lubricate the blades to keep the tempratures down to a managed level. ( fingers crossed!! )

 

Edited March 21, 2010 by azcarbum

[yetterben]

Good call on the 7th injector hopefully it will keep that furnace under control. Like we discussed before camden is dead has been for 30 years. They only sold about 3 units a year. The low end torque was needed on a rotary, between 5-9,500 rpms it was a Inferno of heat. Of course at that rate the charger was prob spinning in excess of 20,000 rpms. Hopefully that wont be a issue on the Zed. I am still looking for a diagram man i had one and i will get one again.

[azcarbum]

Thanks Ben.. Yes, if you find that diagram, please send it my way!!

[copperdatsun76]

isnt there a way to do an aftercooler to keep temps down?

[azcarbum]

Actually, I was just talking with YETTERBEN the other day. He has experience with the CamdenSC. His was with the RX7 setup, but he has been able to give me alot of info on certain limitations, and what others have done.

 

He actually brought up a conversation regarding that exact subject. He said he had seen a watercooled intercooler that someone had built for the SC. As he could recall, it fit between the SC and the manifold. I'm guessing it was a custom built unit. It sounds like a very simple and direct way to really reduce the intake temps, my only concerns would be with the interference with intake flow (??), and the increase in height to the T.B.

 

I'm guessing to make one that would allow good flow, and cool well, would need to be about 2" thick.

 

 

Ben said he was going to look into it, and see if he could find any info on it...... HEY B, any luck??

[azcarbum]

Now as another thought... I could alway's put the SC on a custom mount, locate it on the otherside of the motor, and build a custom intercooler kit to the intake, mounting a custom Intake "hat" to the manifold...LOL

 

Hey RTz, you up for that.. he ehe hehe hee

[yetterben]

Still looking on the old forums for the topic. If you're gonna go that route might as well strap a paxton on the motor.

[azcarbum]

Na... Continueing on with current plans. Just really curious to see that, more than anything.

[RTz]

Hey RTz, you up for that.. he ehe hehe hee

 

 

If you have enough hood clearance for a 2 1/2" (or so) spacer between the SC and intake, you could build a diagonally divided plenum. Two ports, one for each chamber, plumbed to an air-air intercooler. Kind of like so...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ports could be oriented like shown or from the side, etc. Maybe not the most efficient idea, but it would 'work'.