Going to walk before I run right now, I want to get this car up and running with AC and full gauges. I will then consider buying an iron truck block and building it to handle boost or a big NO2 shot.

I don't think I will be completely satisfied till I at least have the power I had on my VQ setup.

 

Why an iron block though? You can easily make 900whp with the aluminum block on boost and most likely 700whp with spray and an NA build. 550whp N/A with a 150hp shot is the way to go IMO. Perfect hp for the street and perfect hp when you need it racing.

 

i got some 1 1/2 inch aluminum piping, and some autozone radiator hoses as couplers. i also had my lower port on my z koyo swapped to the passenger side. less coolant hosing required

 

Today's theme...

Started trying to finsih up today and noticed right off that the headers on the drivers side were much closer to the side wall that on the pass side. Called SIKKY and was told they should be even. After 30 mins of staring at things I went back and looked at the SIKKY build thread and saw in one pic that the drivers side mount had the SIKKY logo facing front. I looked at mine and they were reversed. Closer inspection revealed that the last letter on the back of the mounts is either D or P in letters about as large as this type .

Had to pull the motor and trans all the way out and remove the drivers side header to get access to the top right bolt on the mount on that side. Swapped the mounts side to side and put everything back in...FAIL!!! Now it is perfectly centered like a champ.

After wasting the entire morning fixing my F-up, we got the suspension back together and the front support, radiator and condenser back on. The stock fans are a fail on a Z as well, so off to shop for some slimlines.

If anyone has info on what slim fans they are running, that would be great. Also, post up some pics of where and how you mounted your oil filter relocator please.

I have a few pics I will post up later. Oh, almost forgot, 90%+ humidity and temp of 99* = heat index of 104*F... its freakin hot out

 

im using 2 spal 12" fans. also have my filter inbetween the water pump and rad with the filter facing upwards. yea ill spill oil when i drain it, but i dont care. ill get pics when i get home

 

Thanks, how did you mount the fans and what do you have set up for the intake? Not much room before I get to the radiator.

 

i used those radiator zip ties you can find at auto stores. had experience with them in my evo and they worked awesome.

also for the rad, i used a 90 4" to 3" coupler. im mafless so if you run a maf, go 4" to 4". im on an 85mm tb, i believe stock is 78mm so 3.5" might be for you. check out siliconeintakes.com super cheap and fast shipping.

heres a pic of my coupler (had to cut off 1.5")



ps i go my mounts on backwards too doing the drill mod while the motors out lol

 

Got a model # on the spal fans? They have several to choose from.

That pic is what I needed. I will have to see if I am using the MAF sensor or not, not thinking I am though. I was considering going 4" out to the pass side since the PS resevoir and radiator neck cause that 3" bottleneck on the drivers side

I think my stock TB is 85mm (its roughly 4"), I will have to get a solid measurement today.

I considered doing the drill mod when we pulled the motor yesterday, but I figured I had wasted enough time and will do it if I upgrade the clutch or trans in the future. I am focused on getting the setup running before any more mods.

FWIW, I told the guys @ SIKKY how crappy the mounts are labeled and that a sticker or marker would save people a ton of heartache. Glad I'm not the only idiot that got it wrong and this is the info that others need to know so they don't get stuck making the same mistakes.

SIKKY told me they put pdf instructions for the swap install on their website... turns out they are just some of the pictures from their install thread and nothing more... FAIL

 

bbs, thats pretty sweet. Thats what I was thinking on doing for the intake. 4" 90* > 4" maf housing ( chrome 23$ ) > silicone > piping > filter

 

Looking good Chris! Can't wait to hear it.

 

bbs... that looks RIDICULOUS.

sososososososososick.

 

thanks guys, just trying to get this **** running for the time being. its actually pretty sweet because i got into contact with a local tuner, and hes coming to my house and getting the tune sorted out before we hit the road and dyno.

another thing, im getting all the wiring info for the plugs, and eliminating the ones i dont need. the ls harness seems pretty "standalone" so if i can eliminate all the egr and bs sensors itd be super simple.

 

^^ straight up killing it bbs,, nice and can't wait for the wiring info..

Oh man I am going to go check my mount now.. case the passenger side coils sit kind of close to the fire wall.. Thanks for that info..

SIDE NOTE: build should start tomorrow or Monday**

 

Here are a couple of pics from progress this past week. Things are much more square now and there is lots of room on both sides





Now that the engine and trans are in things are slowing to a crawl. I spent several hours sorting out mounting locations and methods for the oil filter. I finally settled on the underside of the pass side frame rail just behind the radiator. Went to start plumbing the fittings and this happened.



I sent pics and an email to SIKKY. They want me to send the piece to them with the fittings installed to determine if I dieseled it. I was tightening it down with a 24mm wrench and holding the filter mount with my hand . They said they will replace it if it seems to be a manufacturers defect. At least they got right back to me the same day.

When I started thinking through the setup a bit more I realized that there are no spots for oil temp and pressure sensors, so I have a local speed shop sourcing a filter mount with dual 1/8" ports for the sensors. I had a real nice billet one for my VQ and hope I can find the same thing for the LS.

I spent the entire morning cleaning the garage out and looking for the driveshaft nuts and bolts. Turns out after 3+ hours that I put them with the VQ stuff in my shed. At least I found them, they were $22.00 to replace and it would have taken a week.

Waiting on the new steering knuckle to come in this week and then the car should be able to be a roller at least. One more thing, I tried to mount my ARC shifter **** on the SIKKY unit and it doesn't fit. I thought I read in their build thread that the size and threads were indentical. Anyone else run into this issue?

 

Nice progress Chris

 

Thanks Keith

Thinking of this for the fans:

http://www.spalusa.com/pdf/30100467_SPEC.PDF#view=FitH

Does anyone have any input on wether curved or straight blades are better for cooling?

Also considering this to relocate the PS reservoir:

http://www.jegs.com/p/KRC/KRC-Power-...13367/10002/-1

I'm considering battery relocation as well since the pass side and hatch plastics are already off to remove the meth kit. A few questions there, what to do with all the things connected to the secondary post in the battery compartment? I almost want to have a terminal in the stock place and run the positive cable back to the hatch to the battery from there. Is that possible? Also, can I just ground the battery in the hatch?

 

ever figure out that bolt situation for the rear oil pan bolts?? would like to go pick those suckers up. kinda retarded that sikky doesnt supply them

cass- you can leave the stock terminal with a post and wire running to the hatch. also can ground it in the hatch as well. if you look at most relocation kits they supply a pretty short ground strap. id double strap it for safety

ps the fan number for my spals are va10-ap9/c25s 12v

pss your engine bay is sexy. i need to paint my core support lmao

 

Thanks... Which bolts for the rears, the ones for the dust covers on the trans or the ones for the front of the pan that I had to use allen heads for? I noticed in the SIKKY build thread that they have allen heads in there pics for the build too, so they know they don't fit.

 

Think I figured out which ones you mean now, the ones on the bottom that are longer right? I just took one of the stock bolts into Lowes and sized it on their display (10m x 1.5 I think) and just got the same size, but longer.

For the positive battery post, do I need to insulate it somehow? That is where I am getting confused. It can't touch the metal body right?

 

yea the rear ones that are 2 miles long lol. and fr the post, id insulate it with rubber just to be safe. or you could buy a battery box kit from summit or something. and take it easy on those parts hercules. next thing youll be snapping driveshafts because you over tightened the bolts by hand

ps what are you doing as far as connecting the alternator and starter to the battery? i have a bunch of heavy gauge audio wiring that i may use, but is there a factory harness for that i can buy?