First Z, aiming for DD

[droid017]

Whats up Z lovers, I bought my first Z a few days ago, and after pouring over these forums for several weeks I thought I'd get your opinions on some things. I've been salivating over the z32 since I was 16 and now I finally have one of my own, and I intend to show it some love. First things first, its a '96 slicktop TT swap, 120k on the body 47 on the motor. If I ask anything that has been answered somewhere else, I sincerely apologize, I promise I used the search bar a lot and read pretty much every article I could get my hands on. To get an idea of what I'm looking for, I want a reliable DD with some get-up-and-go for those days I want to drive it hard. Looking to put out 350-400 when done, enough to DD without killing myself, and murder all my friends with 240's heh heh.

The interior needs some loving, but thats all minor to me. My plans for her so far are to restore the interior to new, paint her, and beef up the engine enough. I'll leave my cosmetic plans out for the most part. Otherwise I'm planning on some adj. tension rods, turbo timer, bigger radiator, maybe a different intercooler, cold air intake, and a good but not outrageous sound system (I'll be driving her a lot). What else would you guys suggest for a good, quick DD? I'm pretty good with engines, so I can do most things myself or with the help of the internet.

Also what would you guys suggest for dressing up the engine bay? I've already got stainless hard pipes, planning to polish the plenum and add some other chrome parts. I just want her to look sexy.

And some technical questions.
1. How can I tell the year of the engine? I know the plenums are different for different generations among several other small things.
2. The speedometer clocks about 15 over actual speed, what should I be looking for, bad gauge, speed sensor?
3. The instrument panel is still the NA panel, should I get a TT cluster?
4. The car is currently running a tuned ECU from Z1, and I think it's tuned for boost jets because the previous owner had them sitting in the glove compartment. I would prefer to use a boost controller, how is that going to work with the currently tuned ECU vs putting the boost jets in?
5. Is there an optimal location for BOVs? The current owner has them welded to the charge pipes to the intercooler, but I've seen them on the hard pipes.
6. Current setup is a front mount, is there any advantage to the side mounts'? The 96 NA front bumper lets the front mount get a good amount of airflow, and it doesnt have the TT vents for the side mounts, should I just stick to the front mount? I want to put a 99 front on her anyways.
7. The Cruise control also doesn't work, is this because the car has been swapped to a 5 speed or just because something is wrong with the cruise control? Again, not a big deal but its nice to have.

[vulcanrush]

5. Is there an optimal location for BOVs? The current owner has them welded to the charge pipes to the intercooler, but I've seen them on the hard pipes.
6. Current setup is a front mount, is there any advantage to the side mounts'? The 96 NA front bumper lets the front mount get a good amount of airflow, and it doesnt have the TT vents for the side mounts, should I just stick to the front mount? I want to put a 99 front on her anyways.

5. stick to stock recirculation valves, bovs don't offer any performance improvement, and might actually hinder your car from what i understand.
6. most fmic's aren't that great, the one that works is the tdm fmic, and it's like 1,400 dollars+, stick to smic's.

[StockTurbosFTW]

How much money are you looking to spend? Those HP numbers will require big time money and most likely upgraded turbos (at least around the 400 range.) 350 is a more reasonable goal.

[NolimitZ32]

400 on stock turbos will require pretty much every bolt on available, mainly breather mods: 2.5" IC piping, larger TBs, bigger injectors, upped boost, 3" TBE. As for FMICs, I haven't had any overheating issues and I have been driving my car (hard) in Houston for the last few weeks (just finally got everything running right) and even with 100+ temps the koyo handles the heat just fine (btw I'm running a e-fan off a 94 volvo 740).

I'm curious as to whether you have a 96 NA>TT swap with all 96 hardware and ECU or if it was swapped for a OBDI engine/ECU setup.

[vulcanrush]

As for FMICs, I haven't had any overheating issues and I have been driving my car (hard) in Houston for the last few weeks (just finally got everything running right) and even with 100+ temps the koyo handles the heat just fine (btw I'm running a e-fan off a 94 volvo 740).

it's not just that, from a performance perspective, smic's are better than most fmic's.

[NolimitZ32]

As with anything else it depends on the quality of the product but yes I agree on a 300zx if you don't really need a FMIC (read: if you're not making STOOOPID POWA) your car will perform better on SMICs. One thing to remember Flow, Flow, Flow. The easier you make it for the engine to breathe (both intake and exhaust) the more power potential it has.

[droid017]

300-350 is still plenty of power for me to drive on the regular. its running on 5lbs boost right now and still wants to slide out from under me when I step on it.

Also, if SMICs are better and come stock, why would anyone switch to a FMIC?

I'll have to look and see if the owner left the stock recirc valves on when he added the BOVs.

[dantesdoom]

Personal experience.....and i may be getting flamed for this, so im going to get my fire extinguisher, but the Z as a DD can be a bad idea. They are so finicky, they will act up and make you late more often that some other means. Plus they can be sketchy in bad weather. BUT,it you build it solid it and drive safely you should be ok. Personally, I have a small nissan pickup for my DD and keep my Z for any day that is nice and clear and i have a little extra time if it starts acting up. I work on it whenever possible so it runs good the days i take it out and if its acts a fool, i still have my truck.

I support the HP gains though.

[StockTurbosFTW]

300-350 is still plenty of power for me to drive on the regular. its running on 5lbs boost right now and still wants to slide out from under me when I step on it.

Also, if SMICs are better and come stock, why would anyone switch to a FMIC?

I'll have to look and see if the owner left the stock recirc valves on when he added the BOVs.

5 lbs of boost? The Z makes 9 lbs stock. Either your boost gauge is off or you have a problem...

You are right that 300-350 is plenty of power...It is more than enough to deal with most cars out there.

They are saying upgraded SMIC are better than FMIC. The FMIC is an upgrade from stock but upgraded SMICs are better than a FMIC.

It is easy to tell if you have if you have blow offs or the recircs. If the car goes pussssshhh when you shift, you have the blow offs. The recircs hardly make any noise.

For the upgrades I would do this...

The Selin dual intake system
3" SZ Test Pipes
3" SZ Catback (unless you have a 2.5" catback already it's probably not worth it)
3" SZ Down Pipes (These will cost a bit for labor because you have to pull the transmission but it is well worth it. You should do these with a clutch/flywheel upgrade, which you will probably need anyways for hp getting over 300. SZ also has nice clutches and flywheels.)
Underdrive Pulley (with the water pump high pulley)
1 piece Aluminum Driveshaft (Z1motorspots.com has a nice one)

Those upgrades will get you the numbers you are looking for. You can find them at specialtyz.com. Email them if you have any questions. They are great with helping people and respond very quickly.

[droid017]

I know there are BOVs but I don't know if the previous owner left the recirc valves on or plugged them up.

[NolimitZ32]

I went to FMIC because I bought an engine and not the entire front clip, plus I like the look of the FMIC (yes yes I know ricer ) as for 5 psi, I dont believe that, the stock WG actuator is mechanically set for 9psi as was said. And yes the rear will get out from under you even with stock power.

[vulcanrush]

I went to FMIC because I bought an engine and not the entire front clip, plus I like the look of the FMIC (yes yes I know ricer ) as for 5 psi, I dont believe that, the stock WG actuator is mechanically set for 9psi as was said. And yes the rear will get out from under you even with stock power.

fmic isn't ricer, to each his or her own, if you like it, you like it.
and fwiw, you can make pretty good power on smic's, like with the aspec massives.
if i got a fmic, i'd try to get the tdm fmic.

[NolimitZ32]

I'm looking at making my own downdraft FMIC and set of piping, just waiting for my buddy to get enough practice welding aluminum.

[droid017]

9 lbs, I stand corrected haha

[StockTurbosFTW]

I went to FMIC because I bought an engine and not the entire front clip, plus I like the look of the FMIC (yes yes I know ricer ) as for 5 psi, I dont believe that, the stock WG actuator is mechanically set for 9psi as was said. And yes the rear will get out from under you even with stock power.

I have never heard of a stock Z making less than 9psi. Unless you can provide a source saying to doesn't make 9-9.5 I am going to go with general knowledge...

[Ace2cool]

Two words: Safety Boost.