Carbon fibre plenum + spacer project

[scottsoulby]

Hi guys, I'm Scott from England, new to this site and heard it can be lethal... So please go steady on me

basically I'm here for advice to put my fellow englishmen at ease regarding my new full carbon plenum and inbuilt spacer,

basically it's been designed using the oem plenum but made with a spacer inbuilt, you may wonder what the point is, but basically I will be hopefully selling these for near enough the same price as a spacer here in the uk, and they weigh only 1.6kg compared to the oem 4.1kg and I think they look good,

people are basically holding back purchasing them because it's not properly tested, but unfortunetly I havnt got the facilities to do so, so I was wondering if you guys knew any other ways of testing it whilst on my car?

They are worried about it braking but the plenum is nearly 8-9mm thick and has extra ribs and stabilizers to keep it sturdy, and this thing is rock hard, I've driven it already at speed and it's been fine, but they still worry which is understandable as it's a working part of the engine.

Anyway enough of that I'll put up a couple of pictures and let me know what you think

thanks

Pic fitted:


Pic of the new underneath, stabilisers and extra layers, also covered in resin to stop splintering:

[Cux350z]

how much to get one to me in the USA? looks fantastic!

[06z33]

this is a newb question, but wouldnt that trap more heat?

[04zee]

has it been dyno tested? it looks great though

[scottsoulby]

At the moment I'll hopefully being selling them at 250gbp +delivery to America

the carbon isn't a heat conductor so it should reduce heat, the plenum is still pretty cold even after a long run

[scottsoulby]

Thanks, it hasn't been dyno tested as yet but I'm offering it to another uk member on 350z-uk who does track days and is willing to do a before and after dyno

[JmNismo]

that looks amazing .. as stated before what would it cost to get one of those here in the States ?

Edit: posted too late lol but i'll def be excited to see the dyno numbers of it though !

[mw9]

I like, keep us updated

[Spork]

Very neat

[RudeG_v2.0]

Nice.

A big question you are going to run into here with the US market is whether it can withstand boost for FI applications (and if so, how much PSI?) or whether this is mainly intended for NA guys.

[s31t8n8]

Looks awesome

what size spacer did you use?

[DavesZ#3]

First - This reminds me of the Kinetix plenum. They were not stiff enough and after a while, cracks developed in them. Of course, that caused air leaks which caused the engine to run and idle rough.

Second - The rough inside surface looks like it would be a detriment to smooth air flow. You might want to make the inside look finished just like the outside. This is NOT a cosmetic mod.

Third - Before you start offering them up for sale, you'll have to become a vendor/sponsor here. Click on the "Advertise on MY350Z.COM" link at the bottom of any webpage.

[INTIMAZY]

Originally Posted by scottsoulby

Hi guys, I'm Scott from England, new to this site and heard it can be lethal... So please go steady on me

Since you bring carbon fiber goodies, most will be very welcoming.

[Z1 Performance]

Originally Posted by DavesZ#3

First - This reminds me of the Kinetix plenum. They were not stiff enough and after a while, cracks developed in them. Of course, that caused air leaks which caused the engine to run and idle rough.

Second - The rough inside surface looks like it would be a detriment to smooth air flow. You might want to make the inside look finished just like the outside. This is NOT a cosmetic mod.

Third - Before you start offering them up for sale, you'll have to become a vendor/sponsor here. Click on the "Advertise on MY350Z.COM" link at the bottom of any webpage.

Actually it needs to be testured to some degree. At the same time, how well this behaves vs the stock cast unit would be interesting to see. You would need a pressure test to see at what psi it breaks, a flow bench, and a manometer at a minimum

[350Z400rwhp]

Looks cool. How well does it seal to the lower manifold? Is the spacer a separate part?

[scottsoulby]

Thanks for your thoughts guys, and off course if I do start sellig on here I'll get permission and pay the fees needed, I am in Florida in a few weeks, I had planned to talk to Adam at z1 auto and B2 autodesigns to see if they might stock them so it should be cheaper for you guys instead of paying for shipping seperately all the time.

I've kind of taken some ideas from the kinetix, I don't have te 6 bolts through the middle, the 2 hoses underneath the back of the plenum are now just joined together so are unused, but the strength of it is crazy, 8-9mm thick is like concrete, you could drive over if and it would be fine, so Im not expecting any to crack unless it had a manufacturers problem which should be very rare.

As for the underside, that was just after putting the last couple of coats on so this was all sanded down so it was smoother.

I had thought about FI, the problem over here is that no many people have done it so unless finding a willing person, testing would he hard so it should really be for NA at the moment,

thanks so far

[scottsoulby]

Originally Posted by Z1 Performance

Actually it needs to be testured to some degree. At the same time, how well this behaves vs the stock cast unit would be interesting to see. You would need a pressure test to see at what psi it breaks, a flow bench, and a manometer at a minimum

That's interesting, they are still roughish on the inside, they are just sanded down to get rid of excess fibres, as for testing I know your in America but have you for any contacts over here that could help?

[scottsoulby]

Thanks, the spacer is inbuilt to the plenum so it's one full unit, it currently uses vacuum tape but I'm trying to sort some kind of cork gasket like the kinetix uses

[TreeFiddyZee]

Whether the thing ever flys or not, I have to give you kudos for an extremely hawt looking piece. Very nice.

[WillyP28]

looks cool, nice work