Project Road Terror Z

[craigztoyz]

Sounds sweet, On the sway bar, I am going with a rear mount, and matching up, what will fit, and what has the right diameter/torsion.

Sounds good, let me know whats up. If you arent going to use the pan/ let me know, Thanx, Craig

[npez]

Sounds sweet, On the sway bar, I am going with a rear mount, and matching up, what will fit, and what has the right diameter/torsion.

Sounds good, let me know whats up. If you arent going to use the pan/ let me know, Thanx, Craig

I'm going with a NASCAR style hollow bar (49 spline)/arms and SPL endlinks to correct geometry issues. The problem you will run into (if you haven't already) is that knowing the diameter is not enough. You need to understand the sway bar rate (a part of it being torsion as you mentioned) which is a function of a lot of different things (arm length, wall thickness of the bar, preload, etc.) At this juncture I know it's 27mm (on the TT), but things such as wall thickness and effective sway bar rate on the stock bar are unknowns and not really published anywhere that I've seen so far.

On the pan, I'm not going to use it at the moment (it'll go in my parts bin) but will keep it in reserve in case I need to go rear-sump.

Let me know if you find anything out on the swaybar and I'll do the same.

Thanks,Nick.

[craigztoyz]

On the sway bar, I have 3 that fit the space, and size, and am going to see how they 'feel' later this week.

[npez]

On the sway bar, I have 3 that fit the space, and size, and am going to see how they 'feel' later this week.

Cool! looking forward to your findings....

Thanks,Nick.

[npez]

Based on my calculations and assuming a wall thickness of .095 inches, the sway bar rate on the factory sway bar is ~245 lb/in. If anyone has the actual wall thickness and can provide it that would be great as I made a spreadsheet that will recalculate the sway bar rate.

Craig, if you're planning on shortenting the arms from ~14 inches currently to something that'll work (e.g. 9-10 inches), as there are clearance issues to contend with, there is no hollow bar of this diameter that will work. To give you an example the stock bar with 10 inch arms gives you a 519 lb/in rate (this will most likely bend your end-links or worse).

What will work is a 3/4 solid bar which will give you ~240 lb/in rate under the same scenario indicated above.

Just thought I'd pass this on.

Thanks,Nick.

[Chrispy300]

Just use a thinner solid bar. My Whiteline (massive manufacturer of suspension gear downunder) swaybars are solid, so are Stillens... Just go a bit thinner and drill a few holes in the end to give some adjustment.

[npez]

Just use a thinner solid bar. My Whiteline (massive manufacturer of suspension gear downunder) swaybars are solid, so are Stillens... Just go a bit thinner and drill a few holes in the end to give some adjustment.

Chrispy, that's what I'm planning on doing, I just wanted to let Craig know as he had some hollow bars of the same diameter that he was saying would probably fit, so I wanted to make him aware of the severe swaybar rate change so nothing gets damaged on his car.

Thanks,Nick.

[craigztoyz]

Thank you.

Later this week after a few 'break in miles' (breaking the tires loose is more like it) I plan to get it up, and start off with the SHO bars, solid's I have a 23mm, 24mm, 26mm, 28mm, all fit the space under back of eng, and are mountable to the frame, and endlinks, If none of them are useable, then I have 4 others from numerous cars to try. But I think that one of the SHO(Tauras SHO's FWD 90-95) ones will work well. Of course I am starting with the 23, although it should be too weak, not enough roll control. Building a street driver, not a racecar, so My 'Frankenstein' methods are ok by me.

[npez]

Thank you.

Later this week after a few 'break in miles' (breaking the tires loose is more like it) I plan to get it up, and start off with the SHO bars, solid's I have a 23mm, 24mm, 26mm, 28mm, all fit the space under back of eng, and are mountable to the frame, and endlinks, If none of them are useable, then I have 4 others from numerous cars to try. But I think that one of the SHO(Tauras SHO's FWD 90-95) ones will work well. Of course I am starting with the 23, although it should be too weak, not enough roll control. Building a street driver, not a racecar, so My 'Frankenstein' methods are ok by me.

Craig,

That's cool. I did some more math as I took the factory pressed flat section where the endlinks bolt onto and measured the thickness of it and divided it by 2. This should give the wall thickness of the bar which according to that is .16 instead of my assumption of .095 and a rate of ~292 lb/in. So with that in mind the hollow bar will work at 1 inch diameter, same length as the stocker, and 10 inch arms. At 9 inch arms it'll be about 30% stiffer - similar to what the stillen stock replacement is.

Just some more info for you.

Thanks,Nick.

[craigztoyz]

Thanx Nick, I checked, yeah these are hollow, a few I have a solid, but when the time comes, I will build that part. they are paving my street this week, so having ot move my cars around, and planning to pull engine out again, so change to another pan, larger volume. Thanx again, craig

[npez]

I got a call today that my first 3 batches of parts were done! So I went down and picked them up and have posted some pics below. I can finally start putting my engine together again. I am expecting another batch of parts from High Performance Coatings so I'll post those pics when I get them in. All the parts getting coated or plated are finally all submitted to the respective parties and should be done within 2 weeks.

I can honestly say that if you're looking at plating Atlas Plating here in Houston has done an outstanding job thus far with my stuff (the pictures don't really provide the full effect). Each piece was first fully polished then chromed, then polished again for a mirror shine. They did the same with each individual fastener - you can actually see it in the washers/lock washers that are a single assembly with the bolt - each piece is like a mirror.

So here are some pics; I hope you enjoy them....

Thanks,Nick.

Fuel Rails / Pressure Regulator/Damper / Injector Caps/Bolts and Hardware

Coolant Pipes / T-stat housing / Fittings / Bolts and Hardware

Closeup of T-stat housing

Lower Intake Runners / Bolts & Hardware

[kbflip02]

everything looks so shiny and purdy

[Carl H]

aaaaaahhhh! its too bring bring!mah eaaaayes.

[npez]

everything looks so shiny and purdy

I'm thinking the engine is good for another 20-30HP with all that shine who needs turbos

[Mettler]

Hahaha, you guys are obsessed with shiny chrome :p

Lookin good tho! I couldn't afford to throw money at the looks, will prob just get covers and manifold powder coated and leave it at that lol...

Very nice though man, you going for the show quality look?

[npez]

Lookin good tho! I couldn't afford to throw money at the looks, will prob just get covers and manifold powder coated and leave it at that lol...

Very nice though man, you going for the show quality look?

You know originally I wasn't planning on "blingin" it, but I decided to sell my M3 and do a little more on this project. Before I was sprinkling money across both cars, now I can focus my efforts and money on just one. I also don't think, judging by Craig's videos, that phase 2B (~650RWHP) will be happening before I address many other issues (i.e. Looking at purchasing a Racelogic Traction Control system now versus later, LSD will need replacement as my understanding is that the car goes squirly past 500RWHP on the stock one, etc.) I think I'll be happy with 8-10psig and about 500RWHP to the wheels for now, and tacking on the traction control will make it much more driveable.

As far as a show quality look, yes I want it to be clean and shiny with low maintenance. I may take it to some of the local shows but I'm not really going for trophys. Most of this stuff is for a show of one (me).

Thanks,Nick.

[qsiguy]

Wow, this project is going to be top notch. I actually got a little emotional looking at those pics. I love the way parts look after getting fab'd cleaned up and painted, powder coated, chromed, etc. It's very satisfying.

All I sprang for when I had my motor apart was a few cans of brake cleaner to spray off the crap. Can't hardy see the motor with it back together anyway.

[npez]

Thanks Shane. I went through several cans of carb/brake cleaner myself . This last round of parts was a doozie 22 batches. It's a total of ~225 pieces including 200+ fasteners and ~25 brackets, and other pieces. and that's just the chrome & polishing. Then another 14 or so parts getting powdercoated. The crank pulley, VTC solenoids, and some other sensitive pieces, I'm having painted to match the powdercoat color as based on everyone's feedback I decided it be a bad idea to "cook" them. I sure hope it all looks as good as I think it will after I put it back together again.

I'm starting to get anxious now for all the parts to get done and/or arrive (I bought all new goods from infiniti to piece the top end together anything questionable was replaced (so I got new gaskets/seals/grommets/o-rings, knock sensors, ECT sensors for ECM & gauges, PCV valve, exhaust manifold gaskets, etc.) In the meantime I'm going to go and read up on Racelogics' traction control system as I think one of those is in my near future

I'll probably be contacting you (if it's ok with you) to chat when it's time to do the engine management stuff as I have the goods (Ostrich2 getting ready to buy Nistune), I just lack the complete knowledge to tune this thing

Thanks,Nick.

[SuperHatch]

Wow Nick, those parts look fantastic! I can't wait to see this thing come together...

[craigztoyz]

Nick,

Lookin good!

Shocked you are throwing the bling on, But can understand why. I cant afford those ammenities, I just did the old fashioned elbow grease method, then on new motor, decided to go stock look, no shine. Let me know when you have it together, we can go play.

Craig

[npez]

It was like Christmas time today. I received my oil filter sandwitch, new bearings for my idler pulleys (had to press them out to get the pulleys coated), heim joints to mount the turbos, and more importantly my batch from High Performance Coatings. I took some pictures of the coated parts again. Craig you can see on the pan the 45 degree angle I was talking to you about on the phone to clear a factory oil pickup & support bracket. Not sure on the valve covers coating - they came out a little more mat than the satin that I expected. I'll see them on the engine and either go with them or they'll go out for powdercoat.

Thanks,Nick.

Oilpan with HPC S02 oil-shedding dry film coating

Valve Cover HiperCoat 1300 degree Coating (I only took a picture of 1 as they're packed pretty well)

A couple of pictures of the turbo housings (hot side) - HiperCoat Extreme 2000 degree stable coating

[tmorgan4]

Nice stuff!!

[craigztoyz]

It was like Christmas time today. I received my oil filter sandwitch, new bearings for my idler pulleys (had to press them out to get the pulleys coated), heim joints to mount the turbos, and more importantly my batch from High Performance Coatings. I took some pictures of the coated parts again. Craig you can see on the pan the 45 degree angle I was talking to you about on the phone to clear a factory oil pickup & support bracket. Not sure on the valve covers coating - they came out a little more mat than the satin that I expected. I'll see them on the engine and either go with them or they'll go out for powdercoat.

Thanks,Nick.

Oilpan with HPC S02 oil-shedding dry film coating

Valve Cover HiperCoat 1300 degree Coating (I only took a picture of 1 as they're packed pretty well)

A couple of pictures of the turbo housings (hot side) - HiperCoat Extreme 2000 degree stable coating

Nick, rather then the 45, I just made a entire step that rests atop the crossmember, allowing mor oil capacity. both ways help it flow down. I like tha oil shedding. I guess its like teflon?

nice stuff, hope it keeps the temps down.

craig

[npez]

Nick, rather then the 45, I just made a entire step that rests atop the crossmember, allowing mor oil capacity. both ways help it flow down. I like tha oil shedding. I guess its like teflon?

nice stuff, hope it keeps the temps down.

craig

Craig,

That's cool - I guess both ways accomplish the end result for us front-sumpers. Yes the oil shedding coat is like teflon but does not retain heat inside the pan like teflon does - S02 allows it to radiate out while still having all the oil shedding benefits.

Ditto on the temps, I hope the coatings on the turbos will do as advertised and reduce the skin temp by 50% (900*F versus 1700-1800*F is always preferred). If it's good enough for Nascar, IRL and aerospace, I suppose it should be good enough for what I'm trying to do

Time will tell and I'll report back after I get some time with everything installed and running.

Thanks,Nick.

[craigztoyz]

On the front sump, It works GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just have to have enough oil, and a good way to get it down to the front.

With the slick on it, it should fly down very well. I cant wait to see it boosted. Your gonna love it N/A, but now that I have raped mine up a few times, I wonder what it'd be like, ........... Hummmm

[qsiguy]

Whenever you are ready, I'll help you out with the ECU. The only hard part is swapping out the OEM chip with the socket. Desoldering the OEM chip is a pain. Don't rush it and just keep sucking out the old solder. Actually, first thing to do is get off the lacquer coating. My preferred method is brake cleaner. Just hold the ECU with the top/bottom off it and hold it so that when you spray it the fluid will run off the ECU easily. Spray both sides around the chip generously and the lacquer will come right off. As soon as i'm done I blow it out good with my air compressor.

If you aren't really good with a soldering iron and would rather let someone else do it I'd be happy to assist. Send it over and I'll get it modded for you like I did mine. No problemo.

Can't help you with Nistune as all I've seen are screenshots but I can show you the maps I've come up with so far.

[npez]

Whenever you are ready, I'll help you out with the ECU. The only hard part is swapping out the OEM chip with the socket. Desoldering the OEM chip is a pain. Don't rush it and just keep sucking out the old solder. Actually, first thing to do is get off the lacquer coating. My preferred method is brake cleaner. Just hold the ECU with the top/bottom off it and hold it so that when you spray it the fluid will run off the ECU easily. Spray both sides around the chip generously and the lacquer will come right off. As soon as i'm done I blow it out good with my air compressor.

If you aren't really good with a soldering iron and would rather let someone else do it I'd be happy to assist. Send it over and I'll get it modded for you like I did mine. No problemo.

Can't help you with Nistune as all I've seen are screenshots but I can show you the maps I've come up with so far.

Shane,

Fantastic - thanks a bunch in advance for the assist and the advice. I can't weld but I'm pretty mean with a soldering iron I know what you mean with soldered chip sockets they're sometimes a bear to get out - I've got a tool that sucks the solder out that I'm planning to use to clean them up pretty good.

I'm looking forward to working with you to better understand the engine management side of this. I agree with you that regardless of tuning tool used the fundamentals will be the same or very similar.

My new oil pickup tube didn't arrive yesterday (it'll be here Monday) so as I cannot put the pan on without it, I sat down last night and read maximum boost by Corky Bell cover to cover; it was a good read highly recommended. A good portion of the stuff I already knew, some stuff I skipped over (like blow-through carburation setups, etc.) but he had many nuggets in there that were of great value. After reading it I saw the way I had my turbos positioned originally will not be optimal, so I was up until 4:30AM looking at different scenarios to see what will work the best. At that time I gave up and decided that I would look at it again today with a clear mind.

Anyway, I'll let you know as soon as I'm at the engine management stage. My plan is to get the car started on the factory unmodified ECU, then socket/romulate, put a factory tune on it and make sure it still starts/runs. I will then pull the upper plenum, drop-in the nismo 555cc (615cc) injectors and use Nistune to indicate the injector change (it automatically changes the values in the tune to correspond to the new injectors) and start/run again with the new injectors. At that juncture we'll be able to do a tune for the normally aspirated setup so I can enjoy the car as I work out the turbo installation.

Let me know if this sounds like a reasonable approach to you.

Thanks,Nick.

[npez]

After many mockups today I believe I've found the most optimal way for the turbos to be oriented in the front to accomodate for all the plumbing, wastegates, etc. Unfortunately the stock SMICs will need to go and be replaced with a 2-inlet/1 outlet custom front-mount intercooler. I've seen some ICs that use the low-side of the A/C system so I'll be looking into those as well in the spirit of efficiency and heat-soak prevention. But for now I'm looking at an air/air unit. I will be contacting bell intercoolers to see what we can work up, if anyone has any other suggestions for intercooler places I'd love to hear them.

The plumbing from the motor to the turbos and from the turbos to the factory exhaust will run underneath the crossmember using oval pipe that is solid mounted with the addition of an insulator in the mounts. There will be stainless steel flex-pipes from the manifold to the pipes feeding the turbos, as well as the connection from the solid mount returns to the catalytic converters. The flex-pipes should allow engine movement without affecting the solid mounted pipes and turbos.

I am also going to have some aluminum heatshields fabbed that will go around the turbine housing of the turbos - additional insurance on top of the coatings. Let me know if you see anything that you don't believe will work (the only thing that concerns me is heat and the probability of the solid mounts shearing bolts with the thermal expansion of stainless steel) as when you're this close to something for a couple of days one tends to lose the forest from the trees.

Thanks,Nick.

LH Turbo (the horn will be relocated )

RH Turbo

Turbo as seen from the front opening

[tmorgan4]

All the work looks great so far. The only part I read that I may throw a little of my input into is your plan to run on a stock ECU with stock injectors and then switch to the Nismo 555s and Nistune one it's up and running.

If you've got the time and will to do it this way it can be done, but it seems like an almost unnecessary step to "make sure it starts" with the stock 370s and stock ECU. As long as everything is assembled the way it's supposed to be there isn't any reason I'd ever even put the 370s back in. Make sure your timing is set up correctly when you install the chains and there's shouldn't be any reason it won't start (other than electrical or wiring issues).

If it were my car, I'd go ahead and put the 555s in and save yourself some work. Be VERY careful with the O-rings on these sidefeed injectors as they are notorious for getting damaged. I've got a leaking O-ring on mine as we speak. A friend of mine just had an O-ring on his injectors in an STi go out randomly and it was never even pulled from the fuel rail.

[npez]

All the work looks great so far. The only part I read that I may throw a little of my input into is your plan to run on a stock ECU with stock injectors and then switch to the Nismo 555s and Nistune one it's up and running.

If you've got the time and will to do it this way it can be done, but it seems like an almost unnecessary step to "make sure it starts" with the stock 370s and stock ECU. As long as everything is assembled the way it's supposed to be there isn't any reason I'd ever even put the 370s back in. Make sure your timing is set up correctly when you install the chains and there's shouldn't be any reason it won't start (other than electrical or wiring issues).

If it were my car, I'd go ahead and put the 555s in and save yourself some work. Be VERY careful with the O-rings on these sidefeed injectors as they are notorious for getting damaged. I've got a leaking O-ring on mine as we speak. A friend of mine just had an O-ring on his injectors in an STi go out randomly and it was never even pulled from the fuel rail.

Tyler,

Thanks for your feedback. The reason I was looking at the 2-step was because I thought the car would run rich if the ECU believed we still had the 370s in there when in reality we had 555s (615cc). I suppose I can do the ECU tweak and change the K value, injector latency, etc. and do all this in one step as you recommend; it would definetely save some time. Let me look into it and I'll work with Shane to get a good bin (adapted for 555s) that I can load on the Ostriched ECU when I get to that step of the build.

Thanks again,Nick.