Archives for : Builds

Trust Your Lust

When Dean M. brought us his baby for tuning and some clutch job, he thought he was “done” modding his Z.  Anytime we @ SZ see any room for improvement we’ll let you know.  Dean is rocking some Sport 500s, purple top 555 Nismos, SZ 2.5″ DPs & TPs, HKS “old skool” dual tip catback, stock exhaust manifolds, JWT Dual POP, and Greddy Profec-B EBC.  We let Dean know that there were significant improvements in the Z32 mod world and that before he planned upgrading turbos he can easily perform other supporting mods to give him better response and possibly the same or more power than a turbo upgrade would provide.

This story does not end here as we tuned Dean’s Z as is w\o adding any new funky fresh mods.  After discussing his long term goals we agreed that in the next few months we would add our SZ 3″ DPs and 3″ to 2.5″ TPs.  I’m working on the catback change.  Hopefully Dean will agree!  If so we’d go full SZ 3″ TPs and SZ Catback.  Next in line would be Z1 TBs, Ash I\C & Inlet Piping, along with some Ash Massive I\Cs, topping it all off with some Nismo 740cc injectors and 300Degree Rails.  We performed the following dyno sometime last year with his current and old skool mods.

While we had Dean’s Z for servicing, we added the Aruba Dave brace.  Nice piece with clean welds.

Here’s Dean’s Dyno graph for his “old skool” mods.  Both on 91 & 100 Octane.  Another one of those where more boost doesn’t make more power.  He’s got a potato in the tail pipe! 😉  Stay tuned for Dean’s new skool mod results in the upcoming months.

Dean’s Z is @ the shop at this very moment for some suspension work.  Turns out those Teins really do ride like shit.  Well, its relative but Dean’s ready to ditch his Tein EDFC setup in favor of some new Nissan shocks and Eibach springs.

Till next time!  Keep the rubber side down.

Some 96 Fix

Owning a 1996 300ZX means having to live with OBD-II.  Although OBD-II today is a great tuning tool for newer car models, the 96′ Z was left in the dust.  1996 was the first year OBD-II was implemented in North America and it was also the last year the 300ZX was produced in North America.  This left the 96 a red headed step-child when it came to easy breezy modifications like its younger kind.  The 1996 year had 20 less HP, less aggressive camshafts on both the intake and exhaust for both the MT and AT alike (totally different than any of the other years).  The 90-95 MT cam spec for duration is 248 on the intake and 248 on the exhaust.  The AT 90-95 has a 240 intake and 248 exhaust.  Drum roll for the 96…………  they use a 232 intake and 240 exhaust!  They also have less lift then the earlier Zs.  No VTC system (Nissan’s Variable Cam Timing) also hurts power all around.  The 96s also use their own special OBD-II ECUs which are tougher to tune and throw codes for non emissions friendly mods.  So some have resorted to retro fit their 96s to 95 specs as far as the wiring, ECU, and cam setup goes.  This maybe an easy option for some but in states like California it’s a tough option to go through with.  Talk about some bad odds.

Enter Alex.  He has a 96 Z32 TT and has the mod bug.  Alex has been our customer for almost 10 years now and he’s slowly turned the wick up throughout the years.  This past December he wanted to “bump” it up some with the way of our 3″ 4-Bolt Downpipes (Stock Turbos), 3″to 2.5″ Test Pipes, Ash 2.5″ I\C Piping (w\ SZ Outlet Pipes) & Massives, Selin Dual POP, Nismo 740cc Injectors, Z1 Throttle Bodies, J-Spec Bumper, and some cooling mods for the track (auto-x & road course) duty.

Freshly painted J-Spec & addition of Powertrix C.F. Ducts.

Ash product installed.

Here are his results on 91 octane.  We had to rely on an AFC for fuel tuning……because its a 96.

Here’s where it gets interesting.  Exposing the shortcomings of modifying a 96 TT.  Increasing boost and fuel octane (100) did nothing for it.  Easily seen here are the boost differences between the 91 octane tune on 14.7 psi and 100 octane on almost 19 psi.  Gains are seen early on between the two only until about 5800 RPMs.  After 5800 RPMs the engine cannot efficiently make use of the added boost.  Running the engine at this level will only add stress to it.  The cursor on the graph shows the differences at 6000 RPMs.  Boost is 12.78 psi on 91 octane and 16.74 on 100 octane.  One would expect more power but that is not the case.  On 12 psi the engine is more efficient making power and torque.  It makes 20 more HP & torque on less boost (12 psi).  To make use of the quirky 96 and 100 octane would be to limit boost past 5800 RPMs.

Up next for this 96 will be the addition of pre-96 cams while adding Nissan’s VTC system without modifying the ECU & Harness via SZ funky, fresh mods.  Keeping it California legal.

Backin’ it up! (Stock Turbo Mayhem)

Mr. Evan from NorCal followed in our old boy Adam’s footsteps for another silent stock turbo equipped killer Z32 on the road.  It’s been a few months since Evan’s Z rocked out with its $#@$ out, I apologize for not updating as much as possible.  If I did all our work we’d have a system overload!  Anyways onto Evan’s build and results!

Evan came to us back in November and while he stopped by we added on Ash’s I\C Piping, Massives, and Z1 T.B.s.  I say we (during that time I was battling health issues and having radiation therapy every day), Brooke, Evan and his friend worked on his Z to get it ready to make power.  Greg also installed a set of our inlet accordion replacement pipes to get rid of some of the restrictive inlet (suck side) system.

Minus Adam’s intake piping, Evan had the same overall mods.  After the mods performed at our shop were done, we were all excited to see the results.  Evan had surprisingly enough a Genie 2.5″ Catback too!

91 octane, 15 psi for 417 whp

100 Octane for 447 whp!

Q16 for 479 whp!!

All that with stock turbos!  Congrats to Evan and his lovely lady for being patient with him and his Z! 😉

Mike’s Red Dragon

See the red dragon in the picture?

You know when you get bit by an automotive bug you want more of it.  For Mike it came in the form of this 1995 300ZX TT.  It wasn’t long before he took it out to his local drag strip and craved more power.  He brought us his Z with “stage 3″ modifications.  Roughly making around 315 whp.  Over the course of a year we made improvements upon his platform.  We began by adding our SZ 3″ 4-Bolt Downpipes, and SZ 3″ to 2.5″ Test Pipes to mate up to his existing Stillen Catback.  For his drag racing rituals we installed our lightweight flywheel and High 5 clutch.  Moving on to the inlet tract we installed the Selin Dual POP kit, Ash Massives, 2.5” I\C piping, Z1 throttle bodies, and at the same time the plenum was off we upgraded his injectors with Nismo 740s.  A set of new old stock Leader Gears was also installed for added off the line giddy up.  The only thing holding him back now are the restrictive stock exhaust manifolds.  Upgrading his catback would also benefit him as well.  Knowing Mike though, if we do manifolds it will be time for bigger badder turbos.

Ash Massives mounted and ready for boost.

100 Octane Tune for which he runs at the drag strip.

Z32- GT2860RS Mild Street Build

Another mild street build we did earlier this year.

  • Factory Nissan Longblock
  • JWT Sport 700 Turbos (GT2860RS)
  • MS Manifolds
  • SZ 3″ 5-Bolt Down Pipes
  • SZ 3″ to 2.5″ Hi-Flow Cats
  • B&B 2.5″ Catback
  • Nismo 740cc Injectors
  • Selin Dual POP Kit
  • CZP 2.5″ I\C Piping
  • ASH Massive SMICs
  • SZ Flywheel & SZ Max Street Clutch
  • Blitz i-Color Spec-R Boost Controller

456 whp & 418 torque on 91 Octane.  No data gathered on higher octane fuels since the owner has no plans for running higher octane fuel.

370Z TT…..the way it should be

Back in June I picked up a Z34 with intentions that if I bought one it would HAVE to be twin turbo’ed shortly thereafter.  When the new gen Z first came out I wasn’t completely sold on its looks.  I hoped at the least the engine and interior were further improved upon than the Z33.  As time progressed I began to liken the fish hook head lights, although the fangs on the bumper were still undesirable.  In any case, I had the burning desire to feel, drive, and interact with the new generation of Z car.  Having played with some at the shop I was pleasantly surprised as to how much better quality was up over the 350Z.  Handling is superb while retaining a very comfortable ride that doesn’t bring discomfort to  my body.  Having owned various high power Zs the added power of the new Z34 was a benefit, but I was spoiled.  This is why it just had to be turbo’ed.

Older brother Z32 gets to share his bedroom and share stories.  Looking at the rear of the Z34, the only thing I didn’t like was the rear fog light.  Painting the lower portion of the bumper black helped detract attention from it.

It’s almost a shame the front bumper has to hide such a beautiful kit produced by GTM.

The kit selected to power the Z is a high quality GTM Stage 2.  The turbos used are Garrett GT2860RS’ utilizing the .86 turbine housing and Tial external wastegates.  A GTM competition oil cooler was added to combat the already (factory) problematic oil temps.

Engine cover painted to match.

Since the car was to see some drag strip use we selected our flywheel and High 5 Clutch.

6 psi of boost (Boost Controller Off), good for over 400 whp.

9 psi for 488whp.

12 psi (100 octane) for 557 whp.  This is efficiency!  Less boost than a comparable Z32 and making more power for the given boost level.  The one thing lacking versus its older brother Z32 is the torque output.  The VG30DETT is good for matching HP & Torque values.

The blue run was the car BONE Stock compared to the red run force fed by 12 psi of boost from the GT2860RS’.

Power comes on very smoothly unlike a Z32 which can be violent.  Due to in part by the flat torque output.  It feels like the car could have come equipped force fed from the factory, its that good.  The VQ37VHR engine acts as if nothing were different with this amount of power running through its veins.  Something the old VQ35DE could not accomplish on a factory engine.  The bone stock VQ35DE could really only safely muster under 400whp.  Anymore and you risk certain catastrophe on the VQDE engine.

[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MFxWUu6U3U]

On its first maiden voyage down the 1320 the Z and I (CAR #7293) were able to break into the 11s.  Prior to this it had been over 5 years since I last banged the gears down the track.  I can say this car is limited mainly by my driving and with some practice it should see low to mid 11 E.T.s.

Antonio’s Project “Fresh Z32”

Antonio’s been a customer of ours for almost 10 years.  He purchased his Z from our parts manager at Nissan a long time ago.  Through the years he did some small upgrades and as its mileage climbed and the fact it was an early 1990 model (valve issues) developed low compression.  To add insult to injury, his wife wrecked it slamming into and up a curb.  The accident took place sometime around 2003 and he saved the cash to fix it all.  His baby was in a real bad place.  Antonio was determined to fix the chassis first.  The accident took place sometime around 2003 and he saved the cash to fix it all.  The frame shop ended up replacing the sub-frame along with a plethora of other things.  Once the body was “fixed”, it sat for a few more years before Antonio could save up more cash to dedicate to the engine.  Late 2009 came by and it was time to fix his ailing Z.  Antonio wanted something that was very reliable and make good power.  Nothing too extreme.  We sourced a brand new Nissan long-block as the heart and soul.  These are now non existent as far as I’m aware.  Sport 700s, MSP Manifolds, larger I\C piping, Ash Massives, Z1 T.B.s, full SZ 3″ exhaust, 740cc injectors & 300Degree Rails, Selin Dual POP Kit, SZ Oil Pan, and RPS Twin Billet Carbon Clutch round up the majority of the  mods.

To the untrained eye it all looks stock.

After getting the car all back to together and restored we found there were still gremlins plaguing the chassis and driveline.  There was still much ado with the suspension.  Since the car was hit in the front and rear it ruined the front wheel bearings and also the rear.  The RR axle was also damaged and needed replacing.  Those have since been replaced.    It wasn’t until corner weighted it that we found just how bad everything was.  We found that the LR corner was seriously underweight while a majority of the weight was on the LF.  Ride height was seriously off.  For this we looked to Powertrix and installed a set of their Sport Street Coilovers.

While playing with the front suspension more we also found that the front Stillen anti-swaybar was under extreme pressure.  This is not good for handling, ride height and the bar needs to not have any preload on it.  Having this off was throwing off the weight and ride height.  Not correcting this issue would have us going round in circles.  To accomplish this we used high quality SPL End-Links featuring the use of heavy duty 1\2″ bearings.

While one end of the anti-swaybar is tightened down you need to drop the car down on its own weight and attach the other side with no preload.  The other side that is already tightened may need adjusting for the “loose” side to attach.  Finally with these parts installed we were able to properly corner weight the car to have an almost 50\50 weight distribution (51\49).  One more wheel bearing seems to plague this Z so we should have it riding smooth and noise free down the road.  With a little more time & money a resto on the exterior will be done.

Tuning results after a 1000 mile break in on 91 Octane:

460 whp & 421 torque.

SZ Oil Pan & SZ 3″ Exhaust

Scotts94Z32

A well executed Z32 done by our good friend Scott Smith.  Scott has one gorgeous Z with a lot of giddy up and go.  Once his dedicated track slut, this Z32 serves as a weekend cruiser and dragster.  Although we did his build some time ago we retuned with our 16x ECU Switcher.  His Z33 has officially taken over road race track duty.

  • SZ Race Long-block
  • JWT 500 Cams
  • SZ 3″ Exhaust Turbo-Back
  • Nismo 740cc Injectors
  • MSP Manifolds
  • MSP Turbo Inlet Pipes
  • JWT Sport 700 Turbos (.64 A\R)
  • JWT Dual POP
  • SZ Flywheel
  • SZ High 5 Clutch
  • NA Rear End & Sub-frame
  • Stillen Intercoolers

We added our SZ ECU Switcher and went to work with 3 different fuel tunes.

91 pisstane for 493 whp & 429 torque.

100 Octane for 599 whp & 533 torque.

Q16 for 658 whp & 586 torque.

Scotty!  You better get into the 10s!  Good luck and go get ’em!

Demolishing the Stock Z32 Turbo Record

The results in the following post are unbelievable and truly shows the potential of the Z32-TT with stock turbos.  This also goes to show that factory intercooler piping is restrictive at the stock turbo level and that high quality MS Manifolds help them push harder.  There hasn’t been anyone to date to do this on stock MT turbos so here goes!

Adam did not skimp out on anything when it came to building this Z.  You buy high quality parts you get high quality results.

The following is the list of mods done to this wonder:

*Completely stock/un-modified Bottom End
*Completely stock/un-modified 40P Heads
*Completely stock/un-modified 5 speed cams
*Completely stock/un-modified 5 speed turbos
*Specialty Z Custom Dyno Tune 91, 100 & 116
*Specialty-Z SS 4-Bolt 3″ Expansion Down Pipes w/ wastegate Separators
*Specialty-Z SS 3″ Test Pipes
*Specialty-Z: SS 3″ Single Oval Cat-Back Exhaust
*Specialty-Z 6QT Oil Pan
*Specialty-Z Multi Map 16 Program Switcher
*Specialty-Z 1 Piece Clutch Line w/ New Slave Cylinder
*MSP Manifolds
*Selin Translator
*Custom “Intercooler” Piping 2.5″
*Custom “Suction Pipes” w/ Jim Wolf Dual 350Z Filters 2.5″
*Custom “Accordion” Pipes 2.5″
*Stock “Turbo Inlet” Pipes
*AshSpec Massive SMIC
*Z1 58mm Throttle Bodies
*Mild Port & Polish Upper Intake Plenum
*Specialty-Z “High Five” Puck Clutch (The lightest clutch made for the Z32)
*RPS Segmented Flywheel
*Z1 Platinum Aluminum 1 piece drive shaft (Might get replaced with a CF DS in the future)
*Blitz SBC ID Boost Controller
*300 Degree Fuel Rails w/Nismo 740cc Injectors
*CZP Fuel Rail Lines (OEM route)
*BDE Engine Mounts
*BDE Intake Cam Gears (un-adjusted)
*Tomei Exhaust Cam Gears (adjusted)
*Unorthodox Racing Crank Pulley
*YB HI Over Drive Water Pump Pulley
*Nissan R34 Skyline Wheels, 18″x9″ +30 Offset (19#ea)
*265/35/18 Falken Azenis RT-615 Tires

91 octane, 14 psi for 419 whp!

100 octane, 20 psi for 463 whp.

Q16, 21 psi peak for 499 whp!!!!!!!!  For those of you with larger turbos using stock I\C piping, manifolds, small exhaust, etc.. your choking your VG30!

This is the comparison to the previous record.  What a difference!!  Smooth power throughout the powerband.

Congratulations to Adam!  Remember to keep your turbos boosted people!

A Good Dose of Caffeine (Boost)

We took this daily driven Z32 owned by Jason & Nikki and injected it with some good ole fashioned mods.  Believe it or not this car started out life as a 5-speed and was converted to accept an SZ Stage 1 Automagic Trans.  This Z32 posses’ a “fresh” JDM engine with the auto A\R turbos (smaller than 5-speed turbos).  When the engine was dropped in we dynoed the car to see how it performed with factory boost levels, full SZ 2.5″ exhaust, and single POP.  We then added our SZ 3″ Downpipes, SZ 3″ to 2.5″ Test Pipes, JWT Dual Pop w\ Selin Translator, Blitz SBC iD-Spec-R Boost Controller, and SZ custom tune.  It still has factory intercoolers too.

Turbos are truly an amazing thing.  Boost and Zs rule!  Like my bud Rob Fuller would say.  You can see the “before” and “after” results below.

Say “ahhhhhh” (At the doctor’s office)

That’s right folks, almost 100 RWTQ gained by 4000 RPM.  Time to shred some tires and laugh at Prius owners!  For those who have trouble reading a dyno graph, the red lines are the “before” runs and the blue lines are the “after” runs.  The fainter of the lines are Torque and the darker are HP.