In the home stretch......

[crzycav86]

So my Spring break has officially started.. It has been my goal since September to have my ka-t finished by the end of this vacation, and so far things are looking up.

Major things left to do:Finish intake/exhaust fabricationFinish manifold fabricationPossibly relocate batteryTune via adjustable maf and wideband

I've already welded the jgs manifold. I need to cut and weld the flange for the z31 turbo; cut and weld the IC piping, downpipe, and exhaust; and tune it via my hacked s13 maf with a wideband. Fuel and lubrication have been pretty much taken care of. I'll also have to relocate the battery which sounds like a good thing to do while I'm waiting on parts that I'll forget to order...

So expect a bunch of daily questions and updates in this thread! I'm excited! I've been waiting impatiently for this over the past two weeks.

I'll leave you all with some pictures:

This is the unwelded intake and hot pipe.

Here's the starion fmic. I have to admit that I was very surprised at how easy it was to mount it. I didn't even have to take off the bumper.

Here's a pic of the z31 turbo. Note its good steering rack clearance:

Here's another pic of the wastegate housing clearing the steering rack:

More updates to come... on monday most likely.

[nonchalant rage]

i know im an idiot but, what turbo do the z31's use? and also what is that thing that covers the dist? or is it some special cap?

[crzycav86]

Z31 T3 specs:comp wheel: T3, 60 trimcomp housing: T3, 0.60 A/Rturbine wheel: T3, stg 1turbine housing: T3, 0.63 A/R

Supposedly good to 10-12 psi.

There's no special cap on the distributor... whatever you see is supposed to be there.

[BadMojo]

i know im an idiot but, what turbo do the z31's use? and also what is that thing that covers the dist? or is it some special cap?

It's just a plastic cover that snaps on the distributor. Keeps it clean and safe from moisture. It also says "Nissan" on it.

I think that T3 will be a blast to drive. If I ever get the $$$ to put together a turbo kit, I really think I'll go with a straight T3 over a T3/TO4E. BTW, is the Z31 turbo water cooled?

[crzycav86]

Yep... it's water cooled.

I'm probably gonna have some overheating issues because I'm using the stock radiator and mechanical fan, but I'll change them if I have to. I'll just play it by ear.

I should probably go into more detail as to how well the turbo is positioned... If anyone is planning on using the wastegate exhaust housing with their z31 turbo, there's only 1 way to mount the flange to the manifold, which is pictured above...

The intake gets pretty close to the power steering pump. Also, there are some power steering lines that get in the way. Those lines can easily be rotated to get enough space, which is what you can see in the first picture. The oil return line goes straight between the motor mount, and the exhaust gets pretty close to the firewall, but it fits pretty well.

[nissanfanatic]

Zip tie madness.hahahaha

Looks really good. I hope to hear its running soon. Keep us updated. Good luck.

[Jookmasta]

i honestly can say for a fact that that is the first time i have ever seen a z31 turbo mounted on the KA. I am suprised as to how it clears the A/C line so nicely since its sorta bottom mounted. My T3 is sidemounted and i tell you that the power steering hoses to the reservoir and the A/C line really are in the way. Congrats to you for not having to deal with those things

Also arent u still gonna have to take off the front bumper to run the piping? Thats great to hear that you mounted the intercooler without taking off the bumper.................I envy ya

[crzycav86]

I zip-tied one of the big lines coming off of the reservour to one of the hardlines so that it frees up just a little bit more room in there. But no, I don't seem to be having any major clearance issues so far.

..and no, I don't anticipate having to remove the bumper to run the intercooler lines. I opened up some of the plastic that runs under the bumper, and there's plenty of space for me to work with there.

Also, I need to relocate my battery for the coldpipe... but I've seen intercooler piping that keeps the battery in the stock location, namely with the greddy kit. Does anyone know how it's routed so that it's able to keep the battery in the stock location?

[Jookmasta]

i have mine routed so that the battery stays where it is. remove the bottom intake resonator thats on the passenger side of the radiator. It will permit ya to run a cold pipe right along the A/C condenser. I personally have 2.5" all around for my I/C piping so i know for sure that 2.5" will fit. any larger and i think u will be the guinea pig. A muffler shop did my I/C piping so they mandrel bent the pipes.............

also which line off of the reservoir did you zip tie and to which hardline? a pic would greatly help me out since my power steering is kinda dangling at the moment due to it not being able to bolt up to where it was before................

[crzycav86]

That's exactly what I was planning on doing with my coldpipe(I have 2.5 too). But I was wondering whether that condensor would get in the way too. I guess now I know. I got rid of that resonator. The damn thing was full of water.

I'll get a picture of that P.S line. What exactly doesn't fit with yours? I don't know if my zip-tie method will help because it only pulled the line like 1/2". I don't know if that'll give you clearance. What exactly isn't clearing on yours?

[crzycav86]

Alright.. update time...

I learned today that the good thing about this project is that when I'm frustrated with one part of the turbo setup, I can stop what I'm doing and relieve my stress by working on a different part.

This morning we fabricated a maf adapter for my ebay air filter. The one they gave us was a pos, so we gave some of our leet tools some exercise:

MAF adapter flange on the lathe

Here's the finished product, with the filter

We also got started on the final phase of one of the most critical parts... the jgs log manifold

I'm hoping to have the manifold finished tommorow. Then I can finally hook up the oil lines to the turbo.. and see if it'll start.

Edit: During one of my fits of frustration, I got some work done on the coldpipe.

[PalmerWMD]

Keeping my fingerws crossed :Good luck!

Fred..

[eddiec]

just curious as to how you chose the location of the turbo flange on the mani? was it fitment or something else. it looks centered over #3. does it matter where on the mani you put it?

[crzycav86]

Yup. It was put over cylinder number three for fitment issues.

I probably could have done a top-mount and centered the flange, but since I'm using that exhaust extension, there's pretty much only one way for everything to fit. And it's a very tight fit.

[hannibal]

Looks good, man!

What are you plans for fuel and management??

[WDRacing]

I LOVE DIY setups...Welding up your own stuff and fabricating parts from scratch just gives you a sense of pride.

Looks great so far man, best of luck with the first start.

[crzycav86]

Alright.. so today we tried welding up the manifold.

We tacked the collector/flange to the manifold, and test fitted it. Then we would see what was and wasn't clearing, then we'd break the welds and tack it again. Wash... rinse.. repeat.... about 4 times.

I'm feeling good about tommorow though. We almost have everything positioned nearly perfect.

[crzycav86]

Looks good, man!

What are you plans for fuel and management??

For fuel, I have a z31 turbo fuel pump, and 370 injectors. The injectors are controlled by my hacked/adjustable maf.. on an s13. The maf will be tuned with my lm-1 wideband. If the adjustable maf ends up not working, I'll get an safc.

My main considerations in this project were "Is it cheap" and "Will it NOT blow up". ...Hence all of the cheap parts and fabrication, but also the safety from the wideband.

I LOVE DIY setups...Welding up your own stuff and fabricating parts from scratch just gives you a sense of pride.

Looks great so far man, best of luck with the first start.

I agree. Not only is fabrication fun(albeit sometimes TOO time consuming), it's also very cost-effective for quality parts, especially if you have the right machines. I'm estimating that this whole turbo project was done for less than $1500.

[WDRacing]

Are you going to the track meet in Austin in two weeks? I am, not racing but I'll be there just to hang out.

[crzycav86]

No. Is there a website for it?

I doubt I could go. I haven't track raced, but I'd like to try it someday. My main excuse is that I have school obligations, and this pretty short notice.

[WDRacing]

Its a big SER meet up. But a bunch of the guys are NICO members.

[crzycav86]

Today was not spent working on the manifold. We got wise and decided to tack the manifold collector while it was on the car, so that we no longer have to do the guess and check method. To do this, we needed to bring the welder closer to the car, which required an extension cable with the right outlet.... which we didn't have... So I'll get one tommorow.

What I did do is cut and tape the cold pipe. ..and then I found some metal that would make for decent intercooler mounts. My day was cut short, however, when my younger sister called and asked me to unlock the front door.(she forgot her key)....

Here are a few pictures:

Cold pipe. It needs to be welded, and I need to cut a piece from that long straight.

And here's the coldpipe seen from the perspective of the crank pulley. You can see how it's routed without having to relocate the battery.

I apologize for the poor quality of the pictures. All of these were taken with my camera phone(obviously). I'm too lazy to transfer the pictures from the digital camera to the computer. The camera phone deal is much much easier.

[WDRacing]

I routed mine the same way.

[crzycav86]

Unfortunately, I made zero progress today.

..instead, I helped a friend install some bolt-ons to his v6 mustang.

I've been promising for weeks to give him a hand, since he has very little trust in his own skills.

I'll probably get to work more on Saturday. Happy Holy Thursday/Friday everyone

[eddiec]

are you using steel exhaust pipe for your ic piping?

[crzycav86]

Yeah... I would have used aluminum, but I don't have a tig welder.

Mild steel is cheaper too.

[eddiec]

any notions to have it ceramic coated or anything like that? the ic piping that is.

[crzycav86]

Not really. I know it's not a very good choice as far as heat dissipation goes, but due to my limited funds, and the limits of my tools, I got the steel piping.

I'll definitely put some high-temp paint on it so that it doesn't rust too quickly.

But yeah.. my next project will be built block, better parts, and aem ems

[crzycav86]

It's been a few days since I last updated, so here we go..

Saturday I finished enlarging the intercooler inlets/outlets. When I got the intercooler, the inlets/outlets were 2 inches.... which is rediculously small. I ended up fixing up what the previous owner did, and jb-welded a 2.25 inlet, and 2.50 outlet.

Monday was my last day of spring break.. needless to say, I didn't finish the ka-t, but I did make a lot of progress. On monday, we finished welding the manifold(finally...). It seems to clear everything decently well. If it ends up not clearing, I think I am just going to pop.. but I'm optimistic.

Tommorow we'll put the manifold flange on the mill and resurface it....

After that, I have to:Mount manifold/turboDo final mock-up of IC piping/weld IC pipingCut and weld inlets for BOV, Idle line, and crankcase vent lineFabricate exhaustTest and "tune" with hacked maf and wideband

So that's the plan. I'm still in the home stretch, it's just a bit longer than I thought it'd be.

[crzycav86]

..And I have one question about the Idle air line...

Is it better to hook up the idle line to the intake(after maf, before compressor), or is it better to hook it up to the cold pipe? I've seen both, but I don't know which is better. Any ideas?