Decided to stick with Toshi for my tune as he told me he will be doing a dyno AND road tune - He made up a safer map for me to keep me going for now so I can at least enjoy driving her around. Pics of Toshi at work: Toshi had me do another 2nd gear full throttle pull on the new safer base map he put together for me to see if there was still detonation & checked the AFR's at the same time. Everything is fine & safe now. Whilst doing this 2nd gear pull on the high boost setting which is only hitting 13psi for some reason now, the rear started slipping around a fair bit when I hit 5,500rpm+ & Toshi said that he was concerned that if it was doing this now on a safe & base map/ tune @13psi that it would be dangerous when tuning for power & tuning at 21psi, so we might have to do the majority of the tuning on the dyno. He said we'll see if the rear tyres light up & slide when doing pulls in 3rd gear & go from there. I agreed & stated that safety is first - we're not willing to risk our safety & others' just for a tune. We'll see how we go - will update soon, stay tuned........
Just wondering what you thought of the Wiseco pistons and eagle rod combo. There's a few rumours going around about the Wisecos being noisy, and also that the Eagles weren't the best quality. I like the look of them myself, and the price for both parts is pretty good, comparied to the bigger brand name stuff. I also think, from a straight material spec point of view, the alloy in the pistons is the same spec as the other big brand stuff, and the 4340 steel in the rods is the same as many others are using, so they should be equivalent. What are your thoughts since using them?
They are noisy, but only when you start the car to warm it up first thing in the mornings. From the moment I crank it over, it sounds sort of like a woodpecker in action for about 90 sec to 2 min (I time it), then it slowly dissipates My engine builder said he likes to build his forged engines with abit more piston to bore clearance than usual to protect the pistons when things get really hot & reach high rpm's - something about keeping the piston cooler & increasing life/ reliability when driven at the limit.
Got the car booked in at Sureflo for tomorrow morning. I've decided I'll be going new 2.5" mild steel exhaust exiting the cats, then going into the merge pipe & all the way through. So it'll be 3" from the dumps to the cats, then 2.5". Will still have to get new rear mufflers though - I will be getting these installed for free by a mate who's a welder / ex hot rodder. So the 2.5" piping will be finishing off with the stuffed 3" inlet cannons - I will gut as much crap out of them from behind as possible whilst they are cut open & re joined to the new exhaust. Will post pics & first driving impressions wit the new set up tomorrow.
Just got back from getting the Sureflo merge pipe done - Gotta say, not too impressed. Pics below of my stuffed old centre resonator & new merge pipe installed. Kept it all 3" instead of tapering down to 2.5" from the cats as I had initially planned & saved my self some money. Still gotta get new rear mufflers. First driving impressions: a fair bit louder & MORE resonance. Am hoping the large 6x10x18" X-Force rear mufflers will greatly reduce the noise issue - if not, I will throw on additional hotdogs. Performance / response/ spool wise - f**k all difference imho! tbh I think I should've just gone an xpipe like a UAS or Magnaflow after tapering down from 3" to 2.5 exiting from the cats & finishing off with 2.5" rest of the way - would've been quieter with abit more response but much more expensive to make a new mandrel bend setup. Guess I could sell the centre piece with the merge pipe pictured if I wanted to go that route Hmmm... dunno, dunno!
dude wait till you get new mufflers. the merge pipe will do nothing for noise reduction, it is not a silencer of any kind. your system will rely on the rear mufflers for noise reduction
Installed my vented carbon fibre bonnet - am unsure if I like it or not - needs a bit of panel gap bridging & paint obviously. What do you guys think: Might put it up for sale maybe...
Sorry, not the biggest fan. Saw your car at Eric's workshop through the rebuild. Looked very nice there. Ghastly high gap on the drivers side. Can the stop be lowered behind the headlight to get it to sit lower? What are your options for the hinge height? Heard that some of the vented bonnets were a bit all over the place. Are they a CF top skin over a Glass bottom? Have that construction on my TT, except its an OEM style. Perfect fit..... got defected for it however
Yeah I put that picture showing the gap above the headlight for reference. It lines up when you ghive it a light press - think I might get the binnet latches in the group but to correct it. IF i keep it. Gonna put the stock one back on for now.
Sorry mate, make that 2. Was never a fan of any custom bonnets for the Zed. The stock hood still looks the best to me. MoulaZX
The bonnet vent didn't flow well with the vented nose panel as the bonnet slopes down. Put the original bonnet back on, grab a pair of foglight ducts (and get them painted) and a pair of aus-spec dummy indicators (we'll get them modified to suit)... and she'll be sweeter! AAA :zlove:
I did say that I'm going to get it painted guys - I was only really wanting to put it on for the functional / engine bay cooling properties anyways. Keep an eye out for it in the FOR SALE section soon maybe.
Nice bonnet...I'm guessing this is the one Ross had? Was thinking of getting it myself at one stage...I like the look of the actual bonnet...the colours and lines are a little contrasting with whats on your car though IMO stands out a little against the front bar...would probably suit a veilside or bomex styled kit....Definently look into sorting out the gaps though they're huge! :O Probably had a bit of warping from sitting in the backyard for awhile...
Fark how does one get "owned" re tongue in cheek comment? If I didn't like charcoal/carbon combo I'd paint mine...
UPDATE: Exhuast is finally completely sorted. New mufflers installed, replacing the stuffed cannons: Tucked in nice & neat - very professional installation: Taper down from 3" to 2.5": Work was carried out by PERFORMANCE EXHAUST CENTRE NORTHMEAD, owners name is Hakan - very honest & knowledgeable guy - Sureflo wanted to charge me $450! to get this same job done - he charged $300. He is now my exhaust guy - I highly recommend him to anyone from the forum. Inside pics of the stuffed cannons, cut open from the back: http://i1127.photobucket.com/albums/l638/CUSTOMTT/2011-08-03201024.jpg
