Hi folks, I thought I'd start a thread detailing work currently being done on my Z. She started blowing smoke from the engine bay as I was driving home from work (after giving it a bit of throttle) and I immediately had her towed to Unique Auto Sports. Compression test results were initially good, but the team uncovered the dreaded knock-knock-knock-of-death that these forums have laid witness to in the past - as it turns out, the engine had suffered big end bearing damage. John at Unique gave me a call not long after this discovery, and though I did wince when I heard the news, I quickly found that this was a blessing in disguise. I had delayed too many plans to get her in good shape for the odd track day, that I'd forgotten how much she meant to me. In any event, what follows is a continuing pictorial log of work being done on this once-tamed beast. The aim was for a streetable car with enough finesse for the tracks. At the heart of the project was a UAS-built VG30DETT: ACL forged pistons, ACL race bearings, UAS valve springs, Full head service - machined and balanced, New oil pump, New water pump, New head and main bolts; accompanied by Nismo 555cc injectors, a GT28RS turbo kit and dump pipes, ported/extrusion-honed exhaust manifolds, 25-row oil cooler (at SMIC location), Turbosmart plumb-back BOVs. Further modifications will be added to this thread as they occur. Firstly, some shots of the new engine: Whilst running: (Oil Cooler relocated)
Don't discount the ticker-box-factor, though At this rate, I will be delving into the used-car classifieds soon enough for a daily driver. I've spent too many Saturdays than I care for ogling your build.
Ha coming home for good this Sat so enjoy it while you can! I'll do you a good deal on a bunky camry if you want a daily
The car on the dyno before any major tuning: (please excuse the paranoia ) I'm pretty happy with the results so far. :zlove:
Haha yeah, I was considering going this route too while the car was in the workshop. I did a bit of research on this forum, and found a few kits (eg w/ the Selin dual MAF translator) but I have to factor in the limited space (nil) behind the FMIC even with oil cooler relocated. I need to work out the best mounting (pipes and such) option before I get started.. but it's definitely a tick-box in the near future. I'll go through the other re-build threads here to see what others have come up with for their FMIC setups.
i was looking into the same thing and i have the same fmic problem no room for the Selin dual MAF translator kit let us know if ya resolve it. i had dual before with map sensors on a micro tech but had to go back to nis tune so im back to one again due to afm. very noticeable down low feels more responsive and more induction noise with two pods nice zed good power to.
Looking at your piccies, it appears that you just have a huge oil cooler attached to the stock filter tree bypass lines. Put the stock oil cooler back in and run the AFM's and pods in the SMIC spots and you'll be fine
Your best option is to sell your radiator and oil cooler, then buy a new radiator with oil cooler built in. Frees up heaps of room and no more expensive than the cost of buying it all separately.
Yeah, it's a new oil cooler, so I'm going to have to give it a bit of extra thought...the issue isn't so much the cost as it is the practicalness on my setup as it is - also the re-arrangement of other items. I'll have to talk to Ben more about this. BTW, I had Ben re-fit the viscous fan and custom-fit the shroud on to the PWR rad I have atm (took off the existing thermofan - probably more electrics + timing related than anything) following overheating issues I had in the past with that setup, and following tip-off from the BB Rob recently - which Dave reckons was a top job as it now pulls in much more needed air, so I'm happy with the current rad's performance. I'll have to stress my cooling system a lot more at the track to then make a better decision. If in the future I find that I do need a thicker core, I might just go down your route, and get the same hybrid system to give me more mounting options. Also, I noticed your car was gone.. I must've missed you on Saturday when I dropped by to take some more snaps of the suspension tweaks I had done. When JP's too busy for banter while taking calls or doing his Superman thing on the roof-top, I usually take that opportunity to admire the slot car, your car, and BB's whenever he's around. Now it's pretty much only the slot car, and the I-can't-decide-on-a-paint-scheme-so-I'll-try-all-colours beast that's always there hahah Awesome car, just ungodly colours. I guess the earth would still continue turning, though.. I did spot a charcoal Z in oncoming traffic on my way down to Unique from Chatswood.. don't know if that was you or not.. too busy being restless in my daily, and channel-surfing. I hope you post up some pics (better yet - vids) of that car in action tbh. I'm not suggesting that you hoon it about the Northern 'Burbs, thought it would be kind of refreshing to see haha.
Was the plenum painted black or powder coated? loving the black plenum look these days, I may do the same.
