My experiences *UPDATE*
I've put about 500 or so miles on the car so far since I finished the swap, so I just want to kind've ramble on my experiences with the car - what's worked, what hasn't, issues, complaints, etc.. pardon any grammatical errors, or flow issues. Like I said, I'm just rambling.
Feel free to give any feedback, add the discussion!
Cooling
I'll start with cooling. I like my supercharged engines to run around 185-195 TOPS, I also have an oil cooler, so I'd imagine everything runs a smidge cooler than
*normal* (some will say an engine needs to be a set temp, factory/engineers set it a certain way for a reason blah blah: my engine is not stock, far from it, and cooler temps add to a cooler supercharger), but I run a catch can and change my oil very often (every other month, maybe every 1000-2000 miles of dusty PHX driving / racing) since I am very hard on my engines with WOT since I street race a lot, and will soon start HPDE. So I don't see and issue with that. BUT, due to the 4.10 gearing, cruising along the highway at 2500-3000RPMS puts the coolant temps at 205ish at 65*F ambient temps, so my concern was 115-120*F day in PHX summer would definitely tax the cooling system. So what I did is looked at my SPALs - they originally were pullers, both flowing 844 CFM each, BUT I reversed the polarity on them to work as pushers but realize that due to the S blade shape of the fans, they were probably flowing half of that (I could not flip the blades due to the design of the SPAL)! So I yanked them and ordered a 13" SPAL pusher that flow 1,682 CFM which should be more than enough, and not block the airflow at speed. I'll also add that I use 7 quarts of 5w50 Schaeffers racing oil, great additive package, and held up to PHX summer, even racing in 110* heat for short sprints down the midnight hwy. I found that the 0w40 M1 I used would loose a considerable amount of viscosity as pressure would drop at hot idle, especially after WOT, and with 15w50 M1 (mobil 1 recommends this in LS engines during track events), it also thinned a small amount, but 5w50 had a much higher High Temperature/High Shear Viscosity of 5.08, and I never noticed any change in pressure! This is why Schaffers 5w50 9001 racing oil is all I use.
Driving
Driving. I'll break this down from driving/cruising/WOT/experiences. This is a 200,000+ mile vehicle, so it is far from perfect, but was stock its entire life so I didn't have to worry about damage from accidents, or janky installs, or it being ripped apart going back to stock, BUT from shocks to diff to trans etc it all looked to be original (and drove like it, with a constant squeal from brake wear indication, which shows the vehicle didn't get much love). First thing I bought was Tein Flex Z coilovers, 6 piston brembos front (CTSV), 4 piston brembos rear (SRT8), pretty much everything else was stock. All of my swaps have been lowered considerably, with barely room for a finger between fender/tire, but this one I kept about 1-1/2 fingers, or about an inch, from tire to fender (no adjustment from Teins' stock configuration) and it is butter smooth, even hopping the 'lip' coming up my driveway. No scrapes, no bumps, no jostling inside the car, AND it still looks lowered!
I do get an ABS light every blue moon, so maybe that is why the brakes feel mushy and I need to bleed the module (initial push is mushy, but braking still progressive as I push down, with 75-100% being the fly through the windshield territory) compared to my other cars, but if I mash the brakes it will put you out the windshield! The car stops on a dime, zero fade, and looks amazing with the BBK peeking back at you through the wheel spokes! I need to check the wheel speed sensors, and possibly try bleeding the ABS itself to try and get rid of the annoying light. I never ran the master dry, and I bleed each brake a ton to completely replace the old DOT3 with fresh DOT4.
From about 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock, the steering was a 'deadzone' where little to no steering input would turn the wheels, and I thought maybe the rack was shot or something (did this on test drive home, and with deleted PS) since it is open, no fluid, nothing (did this on all my swaps without issue). I realized the OEM bushings were covered in dirty/oil/PS/ and hanging loose, or non-existent on the driverside! So I ordered the poly bushings and that will be here later this week - the rack was moving left/right as the old bushings did not hold it in place.
Driving around my city, or to others, I ALWAYS catch at least two people recording, and even more breaking their necks from the exhaust note, or seeing the supercharger out of the hood. Some notice the front brembos, others the 'LSA' badging on the rear, or maybe (like myself before buying) never seen this car before.... or maybe my car is clapped and ugly LMAO. I always get nods, daps, or even people coming over to talk to me about it at gas stations, red lights, etc., and that
really is when all the blood, sweat, frustrations, dollars, etc., all pay off. The pride in building this car myself and people admiring it is something I could get high on!
Hearing the car in person was a deafening experience! And no matter how far away from the car I stood, if I was in line with the angle of the exhaust exits, a strong steady stream of exhaust gas was enough to make me grimace and look away as I had to sit still to record! The sound was D E A F E N I N G, so much so that I feel bad for anyone I raced, or will race, or did a flyby for (for the folks recording me on the highway). I am considering putting the 3" magna flow mufflers on to quiet it down, since cold starts are brutal, but once the idle RPMs setting to the normal 650 range, it quiets down. If you've never been in/around a modified V8, then I'll try and explain... you feel the car in your chest, and if in a garage, the house shakes, and if houses are tightly packed down the street, the sound bounces around and echos throughout - all on cold start.
Racing or spirited driving (clutch had about 400 miles before I started this - I tried not to go too crazy to give my clutch the BEST break-in possible), my 255s on the rear weren't much by way of traction, but when I could get it to
hook (higher gear at lower speed, like 3rd), it was a freight train and pulled like mad. Easily the fastest car I've had, despite making more power in my Genesis and GTO (both were heavier, especially the 3,800+lbs GTO), and of course the 4.10s help, but I want to switch to the TT diff since highway cruise will be much better, and I have PLENTY of low end torque to make up for it. I shoot out like a bullet with the few 5.0s, Civic Type R etc., i've ran (I know, but they tried me first LMAO). I cannot wait to have some fun. I want to note that I did not experience any wheel hope whatsoever, but I will come back once I have real tires on and can hook a lot better.
The clutch I am using is the 350z FX400 from Clutch Masters, as well as the 18lb aluminum flywheel from LOJ. This combination is CONSIDERABLY lighter than the 28lbs flywheel and stage 3 clutch from Monster in my GTO... the clutch FX400 clutch was MUCH lighter than the monster stage 3, with both the LW FW and FX400 being considerable smaller in size as well. I have ZERO chatter, clutch pedal is LIGHT, and driving it in rush hour or highway it feels GREAT. I can nitpick and say that coming out of first it is real grabby, but with time I'll master it, it is not a big deal at all.
Lastly, this is the first car I've had with T-Tops, and BOY... the experience is amazing. The cockpit feel is amazing. Visibility out of the car is great, little drone considering RPMS are high while cruising.. By far my favorite platform.
Issues
-Like I said before, the ABS light likes to play hide and seek, but I suspect it may be an easy fix.
-The driverside window goes up if my knee touches the door LMAO and I've peeked inside and there is a spark everytime it happens. One of these days I will pull it apart and check/fix/repair the exposed wire.
-Seats are flat, driverside has a tear - replacing the seats is a priority.
-Driverside longtubes touch the frame slightly, I suspect I need to adjust the engine mounts - never noticed til I fixed the oil line issue
-Z1 short shifter is great, but it took the BUTTER smooth shifting that I fell in love with on the drive home after purchase, and made it *notchy*, not T56 notchy, but notchy enough to notice.
-reverse lights don't work, I'm sure it is a wiring issue with the trans. I'll look at it eventually.
-I still need to center my HX, it bothers the hell out of me!
-front bumper/flares needs a repaint, doesn't bother me much, but every other photo I take it is noticeable