Project Slicktop

[Honad]

I was told the other day that I really needed to post this over here on the the NICO forums for all the Z people over here. Also that I need to make more of an effort to post over here more, since well, Nico rules. I'll make sure to keep the updates coming in the future.

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In the 1992 Brochure that came with the purchase of my vehicle, it lists the weight of the slicktop at 3186lbs. 1 gallon of fuel weighs about 6.25lbs. So, 1 full tank of gas should weigh 118.75 lbs bringing the total Nissan claimed weight to 3304.75lbs completely wet (Full Radiator, Full Oil, Full Differential, Full transmission and a Full tank of gas), which is how I will perform all of these weighing sessions from here on out. I will also be performing them at the same weigh station, taking a picture each time I go. My friendly weigh station people at KDOT tell me that the scales are regularly calibrated and are within 20lbs of accuracy. We're going to go with 3280lbs as my start weight. Differences in the car over stock:Optional Splash guardsAftermarket 6 disk CD Changer + additional cartridgeOwners manual in glove boxOptional Car Cover in the trunk I'm going to start removing misc things from the car soon. I will be weighing each piece that I take out and make a detailed list of each item and how much it weighs for future reference. Hopefully this is of some help to those of you that are also on a diet. Stay tuned for updates.

[Honad]

So, I just picked up a neat new toy to aid in the documentation process of "Project Slicktop".I'm going to start tearing into the car a bit over the weekend. You may keep an eye out as I most likely will be selling most if not all of the parts that I remove from the vehicle. If everything goes as planned, I should have the following removed for weigh in on Sunday. 1. Front and Rear Mudflaps2. 6-Disc CD Changer3. Rear Carpet4. Various Hatch Plastics5. All rear insulation6. Rear hatch weight7. Rear wiper8. Rear fluid sprayer and associated lines9. Cargo Cover10. Antenna Assembly11. Spare Tire, Jack, Wheel Chock's, etc.12. Headlight Aimers

[Honad]

Well, I went to dyno the slicktop yesterday. I guess you could say that I'm fairly pleased with the outcome, though of course if it were more, I would've been very happy. Seeing as the car has 96k on it and pretty much original everything I was expecting about 165hp to the tire. we pulled a little more then that out, though we couldn't hear it, it appears that the car was detonating at the low end and again at the top if you look at how the car pulls timing there... weird. It's been a while since I've seen a NA dyno, but I'm pretty sure that's not normal.173.09 hp and 161.14 lb ft to the tire.Next Up, some weight reduction, some maintenance, and of course a little modification.

[Honad]

So, nothing really got done weight reduction wise this weekend, however, I'll go ahead and post up what we have done. I'd like to start by thanking my wonderful hand model and amazing girlfriend, Megan, for almost getting excited (at least enough to help) about this project. Starting in the rear, I removed the following items from the car. Cargo Cover - 5 pound 4 ounces Tire Inflator (man this thing was in horrible shape) - 1 pound 5 ouncesBefore you ask, yes, the weight of the bag was taken out of the mix. You weigh with the bag already on there, zero out the scale and weigh again. Waferboard Spare Tire Cover - 2 pounds 15 ounces Spare Tire - 32 pounds 8 ounces (I totally didn't expect it to weigh this much) T-Top Straps and Spare Tire Strap - 6 ounces (Why the hell they put T-Top straps in a slicktop, I'm not sure) Wheel Chocks - 11 ounces Jack - 3 pounds 8 ounces Total weight savings to date - 46 lbs 6 ouncesBringing the weight of the vehicle with full fluids and a full tank of gas to approximately 3233 pounds.

[Honad]

Center Tray Carpet, associated insulation, screws, bolts, padding, etc. - 4 lbs 0 ounces Hatch center plastics and associated bolts, etc. - 1 lb 15 ounces Headlight aiming tools and fuel pump covers - 1 lb 14 ounces Driver Side speaker cover - 3 lbs 10 ounces Passenger Side speaker cover - 3 lbs 8 ounces Driver side brake light cover - 2 lbs 9 ounces Passenger side brake light cover - 2 lbs 11 ounces Wasps nest - aka Headlight aiming tools - 1 lb 7 ounces Center panel reverse lights plastics - 1 lb 12 ounces Hatch strut covers both - 1 lb 12 ounces Rear Windshild wiper and motor - 2 lbs 14 ounces Antenna Assembly - 2 lbs 3 ounces Mud flaps - 1 lbs 8 ounces 6 disk CD changer, FM transmission and associated wiring - 10lbs 5 ounces Hatch cover carpet - 5lbs 2 ounces Misc bs, carpet parts, insulation, etc. - 1 lb 9 ounces Total weight loss today 48.6 lbs bringing our test weight to 3184.4 lbsOur test weight is now 2lbs lighter then a 300zx Slicktop with 0 fluids in it. No gas, no oil, no diff, no transmission, no windshield washer fluid, etc.We were a little low on gas for this shot, but nevertheless, here she is on the scales. I'll do another one full tank of gas very soon.There will be no weight reduction done next week, as I'll be spending the weekend driving the slicktop at an event at Mid-America Motorplex and then coming back to Kansas City to take her to her first Autocross.

[Honad]

Taking my father around the track. Little bit of lean Aiming for a cone. Ouch. Just get it in... Strapped in. Notice the nice oil spot behind the trailer Matt, Chad and I cry about it. Mikey is glad it wasn't him, I am glad he missed the slick I left behind me.

[Honad]

Drivers side Passenger side The oil pan (what we saw after getting off the track) What we didn't see. The top side Banged up Number 6 Connecting rod (the culprit)

[Honad]

The update on the project is as follows. It's been several months since I've done anything, it's winter, isn't it? The engine is actually out of the car now and sitting on a stand as is a long block that suffered from a timing belt failure. As you can see from the above pictures the bottom end of the factory engine is shot. The top end of the long block is shot from a timing belt blow. The idea was to Frankenstein the two together to make one engine.

However, I recently arranged for pickup of a good condition NA engine in Omaha, NE from my most helpful friends in Zone. I'll hopefully be heading up there the week after Christmas or the first week of the New Year to pick it up. The plan is to have the car on the road and running by the first of Feb.

Stay Tuned.

[Honad]

My personalized tags finally came in. She's never getting converted now, I have officially commited to NA.

[Honad]

Ok, after months and months of sitting, I'm finally starting to make some progress. I love this time, ordering parts time... it's like Christmas in March. Todays delivery:

[Honad]

These beauties arrived today. Specialty Z's work never ceases to amaze me, these are absolutely perfect. 2.5", unresonated... I have a feeling they are going to be pretty loud, which of course, I'm fine with. : Bolts and gaskets Fantastic craftsmanship Please ignore the filthy floor near my cube. The other way I've been told that my engine should be arriving late today or early tomorrow, stay tuned.

[clickdoc]

i love your preoject & committment to staying NA -- it is funny -- the TT guys are Horsepower Nazis & addicts -- i live in chicago -- and i don't know what i would do with the mildly upgraded 400hp TT much less the 500-600 some of the guys are getting -- i love the challenge of getting the most out of my NA motor -- i have all the boltons HP gainer, & savers on my '90 except electric fan -- and lightened flywheel -- i also am exploring exhaust cutouts which would keep my completely legal unless i want to PLAY -- i had the straight pipes you have on your car on my last Z which go crushed by a ford F150 -- make sure to go with a lightened flywheel on yhour new build -- makes a HUGE difference !! keep up the good work on your Z.

[gpelite]

niiice, I might strip down my ride more than I planned lol

Seein the actual numbers makes a big difference

[nsrZ32]

Nice post!

You're as much of a weight nazi as I am. I weigh everything, including all the engine components, parts, etc.

Looks like a fun project...shame you didn't go TT though

[evildky]

great project, what hapened to the motor? oil starvation? thats a rare site in a VG! I'm a weight nazi as well but I'm also a HP whore do I'd vote for the turbo as well

and you need to get rid of those heavy seats and that heavy dash, as well as the climate control, and nice Z31 btw

[Honad]

great project, what hapened to the motor? oil starvation? thats a rare site in a VG! I'm a weight nazi as well but I'm also a HP whore do I'd vote for the turbo as well

and you need to get rid of those heavy seats and that heavy dash, as well as the climate control, and nice Z31 btw

All in the plans, of course. More weight reduction. I'm just trying to concentrate on getting a working car atm. The engine most likely went because it was oil starved in a high G corner causing the internals to heat up, it looks like the connecting rod basically came apart at some point, but there was little to no warning. Perhaps it was just old. 96k on the clock... I'll suppose I'll never know exactly what happened. I felt a small resistance in the engine, let out of it, shortly after the *curchunk* of internals and the aformentioned smokescreen. It all happened at very low RPM in happened in a straight line, oil pressure was fine when it actually "blew". Fwiw, I set my fastest lap time ever at MAM that lap... heh.

Nice post!

You're as much of a weight nazi as I am. I weigh everything, including all the engine components, parts, etc.

Looks like a fun project...shame you didn't go TT though

I have a 402whp TT as well. I figure one high horsepower car is enough, might as well see what we can do NA, ya know? The slicktop is for track/autox use mostly. I'll probably drive it to work occasionally on nice days, but it's staying NA for many reasons.

Unfortunately, no engine delivery today, most likely it'll be tomorrow. Hopefully not Friday, I would rather get at least a little bit of work done this weekend.

However, I did take some pictures this evening. It's been a while since I've even unlocked the car... it still smells like burnt oil inside.

My friend made the very observant comment that this is what my Twin Turbo looks like when it's launching... heh.





Damn area thieves took my engine!





Yes, I've ordered a new hood security sensor...

[Honad]

Ok, so we did a little bit of weighing last night so that I can get the difference between the stock pieces and the aftermarket once everything gets swapped out. Driver Side Header - 5 lbs 14 ounces Passenger Side Header - 5 lbs 14 ounces (My dog in the lower right with a wtf look.) Header Gaskets - 14 ounces Driver Side Test Pipe - 9lbs 6 ounces Passenger Side Test Pipe - 9lbs 11 ounces Test Pipe Gaskets - 9 ounces Total weight was 32lbs 4 ounces for Headers and Test Pipes with appropriate gaskets and nuts and bolts. I'm pretty damn sure that the stock exhaust manifolds will weigh as much as that by themselves. Any bets on the weight of the stock stuff?

[nsrZ32]

I have a 402whp TT as well. I figure one high horsepower car is enough, might as well see what we can do NA, ya know? The slicktop is for track/autox use mostly. I'll probably drive it to work occasionally on nice days, but it's staying NA for many reasons.

NA....blah

As for 402whp....you need more! That's not near enough. Also, that drag time in your sig is for your NA right?

[Honad]

NA....blah

As for 402whp....you need more! That's not near enough. Also, that drag time in your sig is for your NA right?

Actually it's a long standing joke. I raced a friend of mine in her Integra at KCIR and the stipulation was that I couldn't use 1st or 4th gear. I rolled off the line in second without launching, shifted to third and never went to 4th. I blew by her about the 1000ft mark and then just sort of stayed in third. 15.028 @ 111mph to her 15.5 @ 83 or whatever.

When people ask me, "What's that car run in the quarta, yo?" that's generally what I tell them. I really give two sh*ts about 1/4 mile racing, in fact I sort of despise how everyone uses 1/4 mile pen15 size as a measurement of what a car is made of. I go every once in a while for fun or for meets, etc.

[nsrZ32]

When people ask me, "What's that car run in the quarta, yo?" that's generally what I tell them. I really give two sh*ts about 1/4 mile racing, in fact I sort of despise how everyone uses 1/4 mile pen15 size as a measurement of what a car is made of. I go every once in a while for fun or for meets, etc.

I agree 100% Sadly that's always one of the first things people ask me when they see the car. Since you listed the time in your sig I figured you were a drag racing fan and didn't want to offend Anyway, something else to do when people ask "what's it run?" is tell them your most recent lap time on a road course or auto-x time. For the longest time I'd tell people 51.3 seconds (old old old auto-x time from a local event) and they'd look confused and walk away dumbfounded

[evildky]

the drag time just like the dyno is a comparative tool, I like knowing where my car was so see the rear result of whatever I do next, and it's nice to see the results someone else had as a benchmark to shoot for, in my case, I know the L28ET has hit 400 whp with my basic setup, I am not there yet but with 2 ailing cylinders it's not gonna happen till I freshen up the bottom end, and I'd like to see what my current ET is weight hp calculators show a mid 11 second pass, I like knowing my car weighs 2105lbs and makes 299.3 whp some people perfer to just add up the numbers printed on the parts box's

NSR, you even dyno'd that thing or just add up what is says on the parts box's?

[Honad]

I totally get you there man. When I'm adding crap, it seems like I'm at the dyno every day. With every major or minor upgrade, I always hit the dyno and generally hit the 1/4 mile strip as well, it's a good benchmark, but the one that matters to me is how fast I lap MAM and HPT. Granted, some of that is going to be driver mod, but I'd like to think that I'm already driving at about 90% or so.

[Honad]

Freshly unwrapped on the pallet. Delivered late afternoon yesterday. The compression check that was included looks good, the graphs for each cylinder are fairly even. However, it's in bar. If I'm doing my conversion right, it looks like everything is between 181 and 188 psi. Either way, it'll get checked again to make sure. It's a fairly clean engine. The only real concern is the sealent on the valve covers. It appears that someone has been in there before and that makes me a little nervous. Time to get this thing on a stand!

[Zinister]

Nice project man! I wish I had the time to do that to my N/A or TT.

[Honad]

Coz order part 1 of 2 came in on Saturday. The other stuff should be right behind it, I'm hoping Monday. There are no excuses now. Things should start happening at a good pace.

I took a few shots, most importantly the "spread" shot, which I'm very fond of.

UR Crank Pully



UR Crank Pully Reverse side



New Oil pan (A must with any engine on a pallet)



Nismo transmission Mount (I replaced the one in my TT with an OEM... I wish I wouldn't have. This is _much_ stiffer)



The notorious "Spread" shot.



Man, I am a huge Z nerd.

[evildky]

ouch I can feel your wallet getting lighter

[Honad]

ouch I can feel your wallet getting lighter

Thankfully, I keep all my money in coin format, so it's a huge weight reduction.

Yeah, it's hurt a bit so far, but I'm hoping the first drive after startup will be worth it.

[clickdoc]

absolutely great license tag -- very creative !

[Honad]

absolutely great license tag -- very creative !

Thank you, I really thought so with the whole dual meaning. It's for those Z oriented and those who are not.

Ok, on to business:

The last bits came from Coz about an hour ago. Now, seriously, no excuses.

Injector Harness

Coil Pack Connectors

EGR Delete

[Honad]

Some progress! All the timing bits, oil pan, pickup, water pump, exhaust manifolds, flywheel, etc, etc removed from the JDM engine. Ready for the new stuff to go in! Blah, found these ugly buggers, I need to get some new ones. EGR Removed