The life and times of RED. things get a bit interesting.

Discussion in 'Member's Garage' started by attila.Z, Apr 22, 2012.

  1. attila.Z

    attila.Z Awesome member

    So I've been inactive for a while, working on my thesis. But now I'm back, and ready to finish off the build... For now.

    Many of you know I've been a good example of a DIY purist. After a few run-ins I decided I'm not going to a mechanic again, the money I save can go to parts.

    I've had the zed for 5 years now. It's gone to some dark places, but its on the way back to being an exciting car.

    Ill tell a bit about my experiences, put up some pics, and document the final bits of the build. And finally document some Gopro footage on the dyno, track, skidpan and drags.

    I've learnt a ridiculous amount about zeds along my DIY path. Gone down the wrong path somany times. But its finally approaching where i want it to be.
     
  2. attila.Z

    attila.Z Awesome member

    The story of RED.

    He started out 5 years ago as my first car. An immaculate looking Aus-spec NA manual 2+2. I'll put up a pic tonight. As soon as I got it, I learnt it was maintained terribly mechanically. Everything started to die. After a while I couldn't afford the repairs and started playing with it myself, using tech guides from this forum. Got some experienced help for my first plenum pull.

    After close to a year, he died. Crankshaft pulley started wobbling, turned out the keyway wasn't there and slot for it was destroyed :S I bought a lemon. Or a dodgy mechanic.

    Every oil seal on the engine was leaking. Quote for crankshaft replacement + seal replacements was 4k. So I bought a tt engine and things got crazy ;)

    Over 6 months I did a tt swap, purely from a forum write-up and a million threads. Had no idea what I was doing. And the best bit- I don't have a garage or a driveway. I did the swap on the street outside my house. The ground is not flat, and the street is not nquiet. No idea what I was thinking. But it worked :) this is where it is now.

    A mild Aus-spec TT manual 2+2. Everything DIY. Everything prettymuch been replaced or modified.
     
  3. attila.Z

    attila.Z Awesome member

    The goal, and the build.

    It's my daily driver. But Im also building to take out to the track someday. Never been. Many know my ultimate goal was a 300rwkw beast on stock turbos and engine (purely because I'm not taking an engine out on the street again :p). A high target but I want to get close.

    It's at the point where I veer away from the generic bolt-on path and do a few not so common things. That's why I made this thread. A teaser- some water methanol injection, no intercoolers, crazy tuning.


    The car now (pics to follow)-

    Stock tt motor. NA rear end (my favourite setup. So quick and fun).
    I've been trying to minimise turbo lag by lightening everything. This combined with the NA diff is a little bit snappy. Makes the heavy ass zed feel like a little rocket.


    Mods:
    GFB light underdrive pulley. Few other light pulleys. The waterpump pulley is underdriven, making it pump coolant round faster.

    All emission deletes and bypasses. Tried to minimise clutter in the bay and remove everything not necessary like cruise control.

    Greddy profec b boost controller set at 14 psi.

    Drivetrain:
    Lightweight F1 racing flywheel, stage 2 heavy duty clutch, light aluminium 1-piece driveshaft, nismo tranny mount, short shifter, NA diff.


    front mount intercooler. Pod behind it.

    GFB hybrid bovs.

    Suspension and brakes:
    AMS coilovers (they can go ridiculously low)
    Front and rear camber arms unknown brand
    Dogbone brake adapters
    R32 GTR 320mm slotted front discs
    Modified R33 GTST calipers

    Exhaust:
    Npower dumps. 100cpi ballistic racing cats. Sureflo Full flow merge pipe.
    Dual 2.5 mandrel bent SS pipework. Resonators either side. Magnaflow mufflers.

    Apexi tuned auto ECU. Ecutalk display in dash. Greddy turbo timer.

    Interior:
    After many fails got a black leather red stitching setup looking good :)
     
  4. attila.Z

    attila.Z Awesome member

    So ive got some time on my hands soon to work on the car again. And a lot of parts sitting on my floor waiting to go in.

    Next step:
    I have 600cc jecs injectors, a dual elbow intake with dummy MAF, a nistune ECU. 3A racing pods to go with it.

    I have decided tó go with a water/methanol injection setup pre-throttle. I will be removing the intercoolers and pipework completely. Aftermarket oil cooler will take its place. This will also allow me to buy and fit without hacking up- a final konnexion front bar. Which is my favoirite. It's what I tried to replicate when making my hideous front bar :p

    Also going to look into braided lines with AN fittings. A friend said they are easy to make yourself.
    After this lot ill be getting a tune. Hopefully it will then have ridiculous response and zero turbo lag. Then comes the fun bit - first run at the drags and down at the track. Combined with my Gopro cameras to show how it goes :)


    I guess what will make this thread interesting is seeing how far a tt can go on stock tűrbos with a realistic budget; an approach of increasing response + spool time rather than increasing power; and the water/methanol injection setup which I will likely make myself on the cheap. With the money I save I plan to buy a monitor that senses when the system is failing, since intercooler won't be there, and it could be dangerous.
     
  5. attila.Z

    attila.Z Awesome member

    The carsales adwhen i bought it. Exterior was mint. Interior was stock and super tidy. Engine was... looked... clean. Then things started falling apart.
    [​IMG]


    damaged keyway. dont know how but the crank pulley stayed stabke for a whiule after. then after 6 months or so came off and this was why.

    [​IMG]

    new tt 1994 engine.
    [​IMG]

    i didnt get an engineering certificate after the swap. and the intercoolers were a dead giveaway that something wasnt standard. so i got an old bomex bumper that was broken everywhere, and had a go at some fiberglassing, covering up holes and trying to replicate a final konnexion front bumper
    [​IMG]


    after 6 months or so i finished the swap. and the engine bay was a bit tidier looking :)

    [​IMG]


    the bumper concept looked pretty good, but my fiberglass attempt was super shotty.

    [​IMG]


    got some magnaflows

    [​IMG]



    some nice low coilovers ;)

    [​IMG]

    fixed up the paint

    [​IMG]




    and bobs your uncle. suddenly the zed looked quite mean :)
    note i only painted this boot yesterday. it hasnt been sanded or buffed or anything yet. itll hopefully come out nice and shiny :)
    [​IMG]



    also after a few failed interior attempts, including a white leather one which looked like an 8 year old did, i did it properly, black leather red stitching. an interesting bit to note is my interior panels. Theyre not covered in any material, just tweed removed, cleaned up, sanded, painted gloss black. Bit of a cheap and easy approach, but it looks pretty good. Gives the interior a bit of shine :)

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]




    This is where it stands at the moment. Its still a bit messy, but tis all coming together nicely. When I finish my thesis at the end of May, ill have plenty of time to give it some TLC and finish the project off.... for now (still have V8 dreams).
     
  6. Anti

    Anti 14.7 x 14.7 = 44.1

    Massive amounts of respect for this. I've seen Attilla's street - it is not set up for this sort of work. Not that any street is!
     
  7. Subzer0

    Subzer0 Test Your Might!

    This makes me want to rip apart my NA and do a TT swap now... And I only just got that idea out of my head :eek:

    Love your work man :zlove: :zlove:
     
  8. black baz

    black baz black 'n blue Bazemy

    a great story of application and achievement ... but to the real interesting stuff :-

    what are you studying and what is your thesis .. ??? that to me is ACHIEVEMENT ....
     
  9. attila.Z

    attila.Z Awesome member

    Studying mechanical engineering.

    I'm designing a data collection vehicle (trailer style) that will be used to measure tyre/pavement noise. Ultimately the company will probably work with the Rta to develop quieter/better pavements. Think of it as my way of giving back to the zed community in the future :p


     
  10. black baz

    black baz black 'n blue Bazemy

    good stuff ...thanks.
     
  11. attila.Z

    attila.Z Awesome member

    So ive done some more thinking about the setup for the water/meth injection.

    Ill be collecting the parts over the next month or so, and getting it sorted once ive figured out how it all hooks up.


    Ive decided to strike a compromise between price and reliability/results.
    Im going to do it as cheaply as possible, without having a dodgy setup.

    Ill be sourcing the parts all on my own, pump nozzles etc, doing the wiring myself, and making my own intake pipe replacements.

    Aim is similar to Karls setup as seen here:
    [​IMG]

    But without the fabrication of intake pipes as I have no welding skills. Ill be using cheaper sourced bolt together parts to do it.

    The intake pipe setup will look like this hopefully:

    [​IMG]

    Blue is silicon, grey is stainelss steel. Ive found the silicon T-piece for $20. The short stainless steel section i found for $8. Silicon 180 bend is $50. Thats $75 a side. Slightly cheaper than buying a SS pipe and welding bits into it. The only fabrication ill need to do is fit the nozzle into the stainless steel section. Its 3 inches long, so ill only have an inch or so to play with after silicon on both sides.


    And the rest of the water injection kit something like below (it was a picture from a website on how to do it, changed slightly in mspaint for a 300zx application.

    [​IMG]

    I will also be buying a safe injection module so I can safely remove the intercoolers. Thats around the $200 mark.


    So its looking like total cost for the project will be $200 for the module, $150 for new intake setup, somewhere around the $150 mark for the rest of the gear. Only real cost will be a high enough pressure pump.

    Total estimated cost = $500

    Plus selling the front mount intercooler, silicon intake hoses, silicon intercooler hoses, intake pipes. Lets call it $350 :)





    Also something I found interesting. AN approach a forum member took in 2006. Screwed the nozzle straight into the rubber intake piping. Hmm something like that could cut the cost even more. Just get the silicon 180 and put the nozzle into that. But then theres the BOV to worry about. Either way, just an interesting approach I thought id mention.

    [​IMG]
     
  12. Anti

    Anti 14.7 x 14.7 = 44.1

    Good idea in theory, but you'll never find the correct off-the-shelf coupler to make that perfect 180 fit. You'll be better off driving down to Liverpool exhaust and buying a few off-the-shelf 180* 2" mandrel bent pipes, test fitting in the car park, and having them modify in-house 'til you've got what you need.

    What's wrong with your FMIC set up?
     
  13. attila.Z

    attila.Z Awesome member

    Oops youre right. But I did a search and found some new parts :)

    These 3 bits. Even simpler than I planned! :)

    http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Polished-Alloy-T-Piece-2-5-63mm-1-25mm-T-BOV-/350495840009?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item519b2e1709#ht_2506wt_1396

    Plus the 180 bend, and a short 2.5 to 2inch coupler.


    Nothing wrong with my FMIC setup. But I guess the reasons for doing this are:

    -no fmic needed. better flow to radiator, oil coolers.
    -if i get a new bar it can stay deep wont need to be cut back for fmic.
    -less attention from the po-po. remember mines still officially an NA ;) with this in place it will pretty much be an NA to anyone whos not a zed guru.
    -faster response
    -better cooling than my FMIC. especially considering im working stock turbos hard. getting into inefficiency hot air range id say.
    -clean my old engines insides a little bit :)
    -more room to fit the dual intake setup properly. too tight with fmic and 3A giant filters.
    -cheap project thats a bit different. cant afford a cool spoiler like Mikey :p
    -If I get around to a turbo swap someday, this will suffice whereas my current FMIC wont.
    -Nistune isnt far off. Advanced timing, higher boost. Both safely. Yes pls!

    They are my reasons :)

    also procrastination is a good one :p

     
  14. attila.Z

    attila.Z Awesome member

    i see what you mean now. the 180 bend itself being hte wrong shape. as in top hole to bottom hole distance not being right :( ill investigate before I buy anything. If no good then yeah some metal 180 pipe it is.
     
  15. attila.Z

    attila.Z Awesome member

    After doing abit more research and talking to a few peeps who have done similar, I think I've worked out what I'm going to do.

    Im going to change to a dual feed fuel line setup with braided lines and an fittings. This'll ensure cylinder 6 gets fed.

    As for the WMI I'm thinking quad nozzles. Two small ones into the accordion pipes pre-turbo, and two larger ones just before the throttle bodies. This should let me turn the boost up a few points safely as well as play with timing effectively :)
     
  16. Anti

    Anti 14.7 x 14.7 = 44.1

    inb4kaboom.
     
  17. Zedi KnightZ

    Zedi KnightZ Member

    Hi mate.
    I remember when you first got her and the plenum pull in the street.

    You have done an amazing job when you think about what you have done and achieved.

    Might have to swing by and say hello.

    Cheers Bruce
     
  18. Tektrader

    Tektrader Z32 Hoe, service me baby

    You are going to find it hard to get insurance with any kind of water or water/meth injection.

    They all laughed at me when I asked.
     
  19. Chilledpain

    Chilledpain Z Reaper

    Yup wat Tekky said. Water Meth + insurance = No chance...
     
  20. attila.Z

    attila.Z Awesome member

    I cant afford to rego the car anyway. 3rd party personal injury is all i ever get.



    haha yeah look what youve created Bruce.

     

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