Project Road Terror Z

[Chrispy300]

I'm so pissed I can't see straight. Last person that screwed me like this ended up fleeing to mexico (and jump his bail and bench warrant) as I used some channels to get him criminally prosecuted for theft. I hope it doesn't get to that because Craig seemed like a nice, trustworthy guy.

We'll have to see and I hope I'm completely wrong on all of this.

Who would skip the country over $1k? I'm sure he's not that hard up he needs to con you into buying him an adaptor and then pinches your sump...

I'd be more concerned for his health than where he is...

[T45]

I'd be more concerned for his health than where he is...

I agree. Besides, I've seen more people "wenzeled" over the years and I would NOT want to screw someone over the internet. Almost worse than screwing them in person!!!

[npez]

I agree. Besides, I've seen more people "wenzeled" over the years and I would NOT want to screw someone over the internet. Almost worse than screwing them in person!!!

I agree with both of you that's why I said that I hope he's ok. Chrispy BTW the guy I mentioned that fled the country took a $4K deposit for materials on the garage work (which I ended up doing myself in the end out of disgust) so it wasn't chump change.

Like I said, it is very uncharacteristic of him to do something like this, but these are the only 2 viable scenarios. We'll see. You all have a happy and safe 4th of July weekend!

Thanks,Nick.
Modified by npez at 8:01 PM 7/9/2008

[Bart]

Thanks, I do check it almost daily. I used it because I read good reports about it from other rear mount turbo users and the budget was pretty tight for the original install. If I ever need to replace it I will most likely go with something like the Mocal model. There are a few on the market that have a heat sink on the motor, I'd like that. It does get pretty hot.

EDIT: I just remembered something about how STS does their scavenge pumps. I can't confirm this but it looks like they use a Hobbs pressure switch to activate a warning light or something if the pump fails. The Hobbs switch is just before the oil pump in all their installs. If the pump stops the pressure in the line between the pump and turbo should go up rapidly. I think I will add one of these



Here's a pump that would work too from Summit Racing, it's a transmission/diff oil cooler pump.http://store.summitracing.com/...w=sku

Modified by qsiguy at 10:15 AM 6/6/2008

The RB Racing Electric Spur Gear Oil Feed and Scavenge Pumps seems to be the way to go, i think i will be buying this in a couple of weeks, import it from the US to Australia approx $50 postage.The STS are good pumps but the RB website explains they wernt designed for hot pump oil. So they say, the RB pumps are bronze gear type pumps, to me it sounds it can take more punishment. http://www.rbracing-rsr.com/oilsystems.htm

[npez]

I agree with both of you that's why I said that I hope he's ok. It is very uncharacteristic of him to do something like this, but these are the only 2 viable scenarios. We'll see. You all have a happy and safe 4th of July weekend!

Thanks,Nick.

Update: I got a call from Craig today - he's ok - he ended up visiting some more of his family during/after the holiday and forgot his cell in El Paso - hence the no call-back. He's sending me the oil pan today so I should have it for the weekend.

The bummer is on Saturday I dropped off another pan to have it modded and TIGd up so now I'll end up with 2 modded oil pans. I'll look at both and use the best one I suppose.

Now I'll be pulling the motor back out this weekend to finish installing the pan, and other tasks to put the car together enough, and will flatebed over to my guy locally to get the manifolds, etc. fabbed up next week. I hope to have the car back in 1-2 weeks, making it late July/1st week of August when it's up and running with the VH. I'll post pictures as soon as the fabbed parts start rolling in.

Nick.

[SuperHatch]

Update: I got a call from Craig today - he's ok - he ended up visiting some more of his family during/after the holiday and forgot his cell in El Paso - hence the no call-back. He's sending me the oil pan today so I should have it for the weekend.

The bummer is on Saturday I dropped off another pan to have it modded and TIGd up so now I'll end up with 2 modded oil pans. I'll look at both and use the best one I suppose.

Now I'll be pulling the motor back out this weekend to finish installing the pan, and other tasks to put the car together enough, and will flatebed over to my guy locally to get the manifolds, etc. fabbed up next week. I hope to have the car back in 1-2 weeks, making it late July/1st week of August when it's up and running with the VH. I'll post pictures as soon as the fabbed parts start rolling in.

Nick.

Well I'm glad to see the problem got resolved. Let me know how things end up working out, and we're all here to help you out with any other hurdles you might come upon.

[npez]

Well I'm glad to see the problem got resolved. Let me know how things end up working out, and we're all here to help you out with any other hurdles you might come upon.

Thanks Steve.

Nick.

[tmorgan4]

Glad to hear things got resolved as well.

Do you happen to know what grade stainless the stock manifolds are made from?

[npez]

Do you happen to know what grade stainless the stock manifolds are made from?

They look like 14 gauge; that's what I'm going to use for the rest of my manifolds as well when they get fabbed.

Thanks,Nick.

[tmorgan4]

I was meaning more of the grade of stainless since there are quite a few. When these are TIG'ed there are a lot of different filler metals used for a lot of different grades of stainless. I'm planning on modifying my manifolds in the future so I was hoping someone knew if they were "standard" 304 or something better.

[npez]

I was meaning more of the grade of stainless since there are quite a few. When these are TIG'ed there are a lot of different filler metals used for a lot of different grades of stainless. I'm planning on modifying my manifolds in the future so I was hoping someone knew if they were "standard" 304 or something better.

Sorry - misunderstood what you were asking. I'll ask my fabricator here on Monday when he gets back from vacation. As he'll be TIGing everything up for me - I'm sure he'll know. I know when I bought all my flanges, etc. everything is "standard" 304 vs 409 or anything else.

Thanks,Nick.

[T45]

Hey Nick, let me know if you want to get rid of the 2nd pan. I either need to have a new one made or make another one myself. I just moved to Florida and my car is back in storage in VA so it will be a few months before I can get it down here to rebuild the engine....again...and a new pan would make me less worrysome about the new rebuild. Lemme know, thanks.

[npez]

Hey Nick, let me know if you want to get rid of the 2nd pan. I either need to have a new one made or make another one myself. I just moved to Florida and my car is back in storage in VA so it will be a few months before I can get it down here to rebuild the engine....again...and a new pan would make me less worrysome about the new rebuild. Lemme know, thanks.

Ben,

I'll let you know. I'm waiting on the one from Craig and then the other from the local fabricator. Whichever one fits the best on mine, I'll use. You're welcome to the other one. Remember though that both of these are front sump, so if you're running a rear sump, you'll also need a modded pickup.

Out of curiosity (though I think the front sump will work without issue) is anyone aware of what the GPM scavenging flowrate is on a belt driven pump in a dry sump system? I know they're "stacked" but I was just curious on the scavenging side. I was pondering the idea of a hybrid system, with the factory pump providing oil pressure and an electric pump serving the scavenging role. It would simplify the "packaging" of things if I needed to go that route and wouldn't have to go the traditional dry-sump route which would require I lose an accessory. Just curious.

Thanks,Nick.

[craigztoyz]

I was wondering why you and Craig had both been very quiet lately...

I just got back from a long unexpected trip to deal with a family issue. Being a single dad, they all wanted us to stay and bond n bs. So glad to be home. I sent Nick a second pan today to be sure he has at least one.

I started my car shortly after getting back. Dealing with designing a PS system (cooler,belts, lines, mounts, pump) and just got that done, making my exhaust fit, and trying to make it ready for daily use tomoro. New radiator will not be here for 2 weeks, so can't really play. Had it running for a few seconds on a hollley pump, out of a spare tank. I just got online for first time in a month, gotta find how to bypass FPCU.

Hope all the builds are good. Now that I am back, going to get some TLC done and get some vids up.

[npez]

I just got back from a long unexpected trip to deal with a family issue. Being a single dad, they all wanted us to stay and bond n bs. So glad to be home. I sent Nick a second pan today to be sure he has at least one.

I started my car shortly after getting back. Dealing with designing a PS system (cooler,belts, lines, mounts, pump) and just got that done, making my exhaust fit, and trying to make it ready for daily use tomoro. New radiator will not be here for 2 weeks, so can't really play. Had it running for a few seconds on a hollley pump, out of a spare tank. I just got online for first time in a month, gotta find how to bypass FPCU.

Hope all the builds are good. Now that I am back, going to get some TLC done and get some vids up.

Craig,

I know we spoke on the phone, but glad to see you online again..... I look forward to seeing the pan to see how everything is going to look as far as clearances. I'm going to pull the trans this evening to be one step closer to at least pulling the old mazworx adapter to return to Mark (he's been very patient).

While I'm in there I'll open up the crank opening a bit (carefully) to make room for the pilot bearing. I think I'm going to install my flywheel and clutch as well, so I can get those items off the shelf - the shelves are full of parts, as you saw when you came down, and I received a whole bunch more since you were here. I think I'll pull the motor tomorrow as I need to do that with the garage door open when working alone.

Thanks,Nick.

[tmorgan4]

Craig....Nothing needs to be done to bypass the FPCU. I have my pump running off 12V all the time and the two varying voltage pins completely removed from my engine harness.

[craigztoyz]

How and what did you do? All I did so far is the pink/black wire is connected to the black/pink wire from harness to harness. So the computer should trip the relay. Is that it? My car is n/a. Been up all night fabbing, and fine tuning a few things. Hoping that after I pass out here shortly, I will take it for a spin, coolant temp permitting. so far no fan, so that means no drive.

I thought i had to unhook a wire and jump it to the orange. Looking right now at wires on pump, to see what they are, but too tired to mess with any of it.

Thanx, craig Oh yeah, this thing gets a lot of attention with the engine polished and everything off that I could. I moved all the wiring to the back, and low, to hide it, and have all the lines hidden as much as I could.

[craigztoyz]

Steve,

Yeah I've been trying to get a hold of him for the past 3 weeks - not answering his phone, no answer to e-mail, nothing. I hope firstly that he's ok, but if he is I hope he didn't screw me out of a modded oil pan. I paid for his mazworx adapter in return for the fabrication work. I've gotten everything but my modded oil pan back. However, without it I'm completely stuck. A new one is $455 + cost to mod it which I supposedly already paid for. I suppose I can track down a used one, but that still leaves me with the modification work that needs to be done.

I'm so pissed I can't see straight. Last person that screwed me like this ended up fleeing to mexico (and jump his bail and bench warrant) as I used some channels to get him criminally prosecuted for theft. I hope it doesn't get to that because Craig seemed like a nice, trustworthy guy.

We'll have to see and I hope I'm completely wrong on all of this.

Nick.

Nick, as we spoke about on phone, I had to deal with a death, and then the house bs. when I got back we spoke. I didnt want to have to talk about it here, but with this post, thought I had to defend myself a bit. I sent you one pan, I have not got it back, but I did send you a 2nd pan, by backup pan. Fine with me, all good.

Oh yeah, This thing is sick to drive

[craigztoyz]

Wow, sorry to hear that... Let me know if there's anything I can do. I have a spare pan and I won't charge you anywhere near $455 for it if you need it...

The price did include a pick up tube, fabricating engine mounts, $140 for gas and food to drive to Houston, and $150 for a rental car. All in all he got a awsome deal. Over 30 hours of work, I made less then $100 off it.

Not a problem, but I read a reply like this and wonder how much info this kid has of the subject, and must defend myself.

[craigztoyz]

I almost forgot to add that clearance needs to be made along the hood/throttle area. When under power my engine moved, the throttle arm went up into the hood and when I let off the throttle...it didn't let off. lol I had to do an emergency clearance with a pair of side cut pliers. Something to keep in mind when you get to that point.

Before buldging my hood, I had a lil over 1/8" clearance, but it closed. My pan sits 1" below the crossmember at lowest points, and clears the hood, and so does the intake plumbing.

After beating hood, have over an inch clearance.

things done- front sump, low as possible, had to put in recessed c channel in the sides of the crossmember to get the headers down that low(a 1/2" below unibody low,) shaved upper intake down to height of oval, no rubber gaskets between intakes, and it fits. Oh solid mounts to keep it there. Hood liner is gone of course, its inner frame too. Looks sick, sounds better. Nick you get that pan today?

[npez]

The price did include a pick up tube, fabricating engine mounts, $140 for gas and food to drive to Houston, and $150 for a rental car. All in all he got a awsome deal. Over 30 hours of work, I made less then $100 off it.

Not a problem, but I read a reply like this and wonder how much info this kid has of the subject, and must defend myself.

Craig,

I think you misuderstood Steve's statement. The $455 was for a new pan from infiniti parts. I ended up getting another pan from my bud at the junkyard that was able to hook me up. Steve was offering one of his spare pans, not the labor to mod it.

Thanks,Nick.

[npez]

Nick you get that pan today?

Craig,

No I haven't because the mailman hasn't come by yet. I'll let you know when it arrives.....

Thanks,Nick.

[SuperHatch]

Craig,

I think you misuderstood Steve's statement. The $455 was for a new pan from infiniti parts. I ended up getting another pan from my bud at the junkyard that was able to hook me up. Steve was offering one of his spare pans, not the labor to mod it.

Thanks,Nick.

Exactly

Not a problem, but I read a reply like this and wonder how much info this kid has of the subject, and must defend myself.

"kid" ....Excuse me?

[npez]

How and what did you do? All I did so far is the pink/black wire is connected to the black/pink wire from harness to harness. So the computer should trip the relay. Is that it? My car is n/a. Been up all night fabbing, and fine tuning a few things. Hoping that after I pass out here shortly, I will take it for a spin, coolant temp permitting. so far no fan, so that means no drive.

I thought i had to unhook a wire and jump it to the orange. Looking right now at wires on pump, to see what they are, but too tired to mess with any of it.

Thanx, craig Oh yeah, this thing gets a lot of attention with the engine polished and everything off that I could. I moved all the wiring to the back, and low, to hide it, and have all the lines hidden as much as I could.

Craig,

You need to make sure Pink/Black is going to your fuel pump relay. This is the ground side of the coil which when grounded by the ECU closes the relay and then provides power to your fuel pump which is connected to this relay. The Pink/Light Blue and Green/Orange wires are for the FPCU which you said you don't want to use. If you have power/ground to the FP relay from the factory Z harness all you will need is the Pink/Black and everything should work. Let me know how it works out and I can help in troubleshooting if you need any help.

I also added you to the contributor list on the wiring cross reference, I must've had a brain fart. I guess that's what happens when you put these things together in the middle of the night.....

Nick.

[npez]

I got the pan (thanks Craig) and also received the pan that I had made locally. Due to some filler in Craig's pan (I'm coating it with HPC S02 so it can't have anything but metal), I will be going with the locally made one.

Oilpan UpdateThere was minimal warpage due to the pan being TIGd. Also you can see on the left hand side the enlarged kickout I had "grafted" in. All the internal infiniti factory baffling has been retained and the factory oil pickup clears properly. I also had a bong added for the turbo return lines.

EDIT: You will need to clearance the cross-member for this to work as I had to push the pan to vertical as far back as possible to clear the pickup. Nothing major just the flat "lip" on the front bottom of the cross-member - then reweld the seam (see pics)

Now it's still a front sump, but the completely vertical rise at the rear of the sump, the larger kickout and the positioning of pickup (nestled in the rear by the vertical rise), and the baffling inside the pan, should keep the pickup in oil even under spirited driving.

Power Steering UpdateI looked at doing the mod to fit the stock Q pump. After looking at it some more and spending a couple of hours at my friend's junk-yard, I found something cool. The 1990 Nissan Maxima pump has a similar body but much smaller, a smaller pulley and the 2 back bolts for the rear VH45 bracket are a direct bolt on. The top front bracket doesn't work (it doesn't need to be cut out for clearance though), but the lower one will. No engine clearancing is required as there is a ton of space. The orientation of the lines are a little better too. So if you don't want to mod the brackets too much and want to create a lot of clearance, this option may be a good one for you. I've got some pics of the mounted pump so you can see the clearance created.

Flywheel/Mazworx UpdateThe replacement mazworx adapter that Mark sent out worked perfectly. Now I know there has been a lot of discussion on whether to use the flywheel spacer or not. Both sides of the arguement are correct and here's why. The N/A flywheel is smaller than the TT so if you're using an N/A flywheel then you're ok *without* the spacer. If you're using a TT flywheel, its a larger diameter flywheel and it will bind to the inside radius of the mazworx adapter. Using the spacer positions the flywheel perfectly in that case. I have given the flywheel dimensions to Mark and he may be updating the CNC configuration to increase the inside radius of the adapter so no spacer may be needed in the future.

Something SpecialI can't let the cat out of the bag, but I had an idea that I'm working with Mazworx on that will make our lives a little easier with these swaps. They will prototype this part for me and then possibly commercialize it so it's available to others. Once I receive the part and make sure it does what I think it will, I will talk with Mark and post pictures.

Here are the picsTT Flywheel Clearance with spacer





Power Steering Pump & Oil Pan





Clearancing of Cross-member

Sump in the bay

Sump to cross-member clearance (Seam will be welded next week when I take the car in)

I'm hoping to have the car buttoned up this weekend and in for the manifolds early next week.....

Thanks,Nick.
Modified by npez at 3:50 PM 7/19/2008

[craigztoyz]

Glad to hear the good news!

Yeah, Like I had said, you can get the stock pickup to work, but only by cutting the front lip off the crossmember.

It is bung not Bong. Both are very useful and flow, but for different purposes. Very different.

I'm gonna guess, you are tring to make mounts on the VH to fit into the Z32, pretty easy to do.Like the pics. You still haven't painted the mounts? Oxidation with your humidity.Did you need to space the mounts, or did the other pan fit with the tolerences? Hood closes, and shuts?

Nice to see the update, gotta get the 3 of these locals up and out to play together.

[npez]

Glad to hear the good news!

Yeah, Like I had said, you can get the stock pickup to work, but only by cutting the front lip off the crossmember.

It is bung not Bong. Both are very useful and flow, but for different purposes. Very different.

I'm gonna guess, you are tring to make mounts on the VH to fit into the Z32, pretty easy to do.Like the pics. You still haven't painted the mounts? Oxidation with your humidity.Did you need to space the mounts, or did the other pan fit with the tolerences? Hood closes, and shuts?

Nice to see the update, gotta get the 3 of these locals up and out to play together.

Oops on the bong/bung - I like your analogy though

I'm going to wait to paint everything all at once when I get the seam welded on the x-member next week. Good guess on the mounts, but that's not it - that is something that mostly everyone can do as you said. I will need to space the mounts maybe a 1/4 inch as we had talked about. I then will cut the gooseneck off the radiator pipe on the engine. Then we'll see if the hood closes properly.

I've been looking at Bart's setup and now I'm concerned about the strength of the insulator on the mount. The bottom bolt is somewhat skinny compared to the top, and I'm second guessing whether it will hold - I know the steel pads will, but the insulator will be another story. Not sure how the torque when the engine is running at 8-9psi will affect it. I know at 400RWHP with my Z motor and one of the Z engine mounts was broken and their bolts were pretty stout by comparison. I'll wait and see and go from there I suppose.

Anyway, I'm glad your build is going well, let me know how she runs when running on the new pump. Its' good to hear that making the common ground helped with the problem you were having.

Once we get the cars running we should all hook up and go for a cruise....

Thanks,Nick.

[craigztoyz]

What about drilling out the second bolt hole through the mount I made. I'd be a P.I.T.A., but doable, could you get to the nut, would be the problem.

Neighbor with a C6, just drove by, 20 ft behind, a friend in a new viper, guess they are going to play. O I cant wait to get this one's bugs worked out. Ordered a Griffen, 28 x 19, with fans, be here in a week. That should take car of the cooling.Glad to hear its almost up and driving. Going n/a at all, or just boost now.

[tmorgan4]

Glad to see some progress. I'm in the process of modifying my oil pan at the moment since I'm switching it to a rear sump. Always something to change or work on to make things better.

Craig...good choice on the radiator size. Do you have room for a puller fan or are you going with pusher fans? I'm running a 28x17 Fluidyne radiator with a single 16" pusher fan (no shroud either) and it does a pretty damn good job of cooling the engine. Going a couple inches bigger with a more efficient fan setup would be even better.

[npez]

What about drilling out the second bolt hole through the mount I made. I'd be a P.I.T.A., but doable, could you get to the nut, would be the problem.

Neighbor with a C6, just drove by, 20 ft behind, a friend in a new viper, guess they are going to play. O I cant wait to get this one's bugs worked out. Ordered a Griffen, 28 x 19, with fans, be here in a week. That should take car of the cooling.Glad to hear its almost up and driving. Going n/a at all, or just boost now.

I don't think I would be able to get to the nut without some heavy cutting. That's the reason I was looking at something like Bart's setup with the horizontal bolt.

I'm planning on starting it up N/A and driving it to make sure everything is working as it should. Before that happens though, I still need to design a custom front swaybar and mounting of it so it's coming in from the back to the front. I've posted a question on the 300ZX forum to find out what the factory sway bar rate is so I can match it. That's the last thing I will do, but I still need to get the manifolds/plumbing for the turbos fabbed, then send everything out to High Performance Coatings and get it and the turbo housings coated in HiperCoat Extreme. After all that's done (I think it'll all take about a month) I will then do the Ostrich2 install with Nistune and make sure everything is running properly with the modified ECM/Factory Tune. Only when all that is done will I start Phase 2A.

Phase 2A will include the install of all the parts I've already bought, are currently buying, or already have; the 555cc injectors, oil cooler and greddy sandwich adapter, scavenging pump, factory intercoolers/new plumbing, water injection, turbos, wastegates, BOV, etc. to get into boost for as much as the engine will tolerate (I hope 8-9 psig maybe 10) and of course tuning.

Depending on how the car "feels" after Phase 2A, will dictate how long I stay in 2A. If the car gets squirley and uncontrollable at that level of power, then 2B will need to address this before spending big $s on custom CP pistons, custom Pauter rods, etc. and turning the boost up to approximately 18psig.

We'll see, but I'm hoping in August to have all the parts back so I can run the car N/A. If all goes well, I should be under boost sometime by the end of September if I boogie.....

Thanks,Nick.