Great feedback Formula! Happy to hear it's working out!

What oil are you running for the track events? I'm still on my 1st fill of Pennzoil Ultra Platinum 0W-40 (about 2k mi put on it so far), fully warmed up at idle I'm seeing ~30psi and when cruising around 3 - 3.5k RPM it's around 60-70psi, it will climb towards 90psi as I get higher in the power band.
Cheers!
-Icer

 

Amsoil Dominator 10w40. Its not a street car and will never be again. Its life is a dedicated track car. I love the stuff in our old lemons enduro car. Never burns off, always good results from blackstone. Shoot our old lemons 1.6 short nose Miata did a full 24 hour race. Finished 2nd overall and never used a drop of oil. Shoot that Miata never had an oil cooler and was running close to 300 degree oil temps....we did not know this at the time. But that car had 10k race miles on the rebuild and always came back clean on the reports so I guess it was fine.

I am pretty sure I need to do the valley gaskets on this engine. Hot oil pressure off the track is 11-12psi at 650rpm. Its enough to not hurt itself but I think its on the to do list. I mean at 1200rpm its 25psi or so. JDM engine from a m35 or whatever its called in Japan as all its mounts were the big sedan. You let it sit for a few mins and idle its back up to 15psi or so. On track once it got hot it was running 65- 75psi at the top end. But you can see here that I was beating on it pretty good, link below of my track session on camera. An oil cooler is around. I have a new cooler but need to build new lines as they are full of trash from the old engine. Should help cooling plus I need to duct the radiator more. I was running a solid 218-220 Coolant temp all weekend. I have the pathfinder mod laying around as well. I guess I might just pull this engine out so I can do a service on it. Plan on putting the PPE headers back on, Pathfinder mod, port me one intake manifold as I have three laying around and put a spacer on it.


Video link from Barber. Air temps were near 95+ and it was HUMID

 

Nice run, got a few pucker factor moments, but clean overall. Since you have a DE, I wouldn't worry about the gallery gaskets, those are only an issue on the HRs (AFAIK). Oil cooler YES. Pathfinder cooling mod, good idea, but can be a pain. I would recommend modifying the stock 350Z hard-pipe that interconnects the cylinder heads vs. going with the OEM pathfinder pipe. Additional mods are required when using the pathfinder pipe. Your call. AnthonyJ350 did a video on it and I like his approach/philosophy. Just need to find a shop that can do some aluminum welding.
Cheers!
-Icer

 

Yeah both my other two DE engines needed Galley Gaskets. Both were blown out. So seeing the same problems with this engine when it's hot I just need to do it. It's not hard just time consuming. It's got a leak at one of the corners on the upper oil pan. So if I'm already pulling the engine what's a bit more time.

I saw that. I have the Pathfinder mod sitting in a box already. Pulled it from the junkyard 3 years ago since it's discontinued. I might snag another if another Pathfinder shows up. When it's a thermostat housing it's less than $20.

 

Update...
Well, spring and summer has come and gone. I was able to rack up 3600mi (3594 mi actual) behind the wheel of the Z and executed the 1st oil change since installing the high capacity Z1 pan and switching to PUP 0W-40. I grabbed a sample for Blackstone Labs and mailed it off today. The pre-paid labels from Blackstone use USPS snail mail, so I don't expect results for another 3 weeks or so.

Controls:
No oil top-ups were done during the 3600mi service interval (3600mi chosen to match last UOA sample).
No additives were used either.
Engine was warmed up prior to draining, logic being mixing the oil for a more accurate sample.

Observations:
Oil looked healthy during drain procedure, brown but not black, as expected from only 3600mi.
Very slight amount of ferrous metal particulates on the magnetic drain bolt, glad it's doing something, nothing that would indicate abnormal wear.
Drained amount measured 4.8qt (this includes the 0.1qt caught in the catch can). I suspect 0.1 - 0.2 qt was left trapped in the pan/engine since I did not have the vehicle perfectly level (jacked up only the front). In hindsight, I kind of regret not jacking up the rear to level it off. I estimate the engine is burning 0.75 to 1qt of oil between changes, which is within the historical range I have observed since purchasing the vehicle. I was hoping to see less consumption after switching to the 0W-40, but I'm not surprised either. The Z received a good amount of "spirited driving" over the spring and summer.

Other Thoughts:
The high-capacity pan is proving to be convenient. If my Z is burning 3/4 to 1qt of oil between changes, then I see no real reason to top-up the engine between changes if this trend continues. The extra capacity essentially becomes the sacrificial pawn to the Revup Oil gods. I still regularly check the oil level and if it's registering on the stick, then it's good to go.

I'm very interested in seeing the UOA results for comparison. Note: The results will be skewed a bit from residual PUP 5W-30 and BG MOA additive. This most recent sample is essentially the flush or rinse cycle. The 3rd oil change will give the most accurate results.
Cheers!
-Icer

 

That looks like a really nice pan

 

Update...

Well it's been 3 weeks and I got the UOA report back from Blackstone Labs. The results look good! I highlighted the areas of interest for comparison between the PUP 5W-30 sample and PUP 0W-40 sample.
To summarize:
IRON PPM was cut in half, this indicates reduced wear on the piston rings.
COPPER PPM dropped down to average levels, I'm not sure why it was elevated before, perhaps related to the BG MOA additive package I had before, not sure.
MOLY PPM significantly increased, this was expected. Pennzoil uses a very different additive package in their Ultra Platinum 0W-40 oil. I like molybdenum, it's good stuff, you won't see cheaper oils using much moly due to costs.
CALCIUM PPM significantly decreased, this was also expected. Calcium is part of the detergent package, high concentrations can cause Low-Speed Pre-Ignition (LSPI) which can be a problem in high compression engines, specifically FI GDIs.
ZINC PPM decreased, I believe this is due to the increased levels of Moly and also since I did not use additional additives such as BG MOA. A very high amount of ZINC can be harmful in modern engines/vehicles.
VISCOSITY levels increased as expected. What's interesting is that the 5W-30 had a score lower than the target average. The PUP 0W-40 just barely makes it in the range, which goes to show that even 40 grade oil flow characteristics are not drastically different when at operating temperatures. This translates to better protection without any noticeable impact on performance or fuel economy.

So far I'm happy with the results! But this was only the "flush" or "rinse" cycle, which could be impacted by residual PUP 5W-30 and BG MOA from before. In another 3600 miles, I'll be sending off the 3rd sample which should give the most accurate results I can expect going forward. This oil does appear (on paper) to do a better job protecting the internals. But I'll hold off on conclusions until after the 3rd UOA results are in, so far I'm liking this stuff! I just wish the "consumption rate" was reduced, but there's been no noticeable impact there. I'm even curious/considering trying a 5W-50 in the future.

Cheers!
-Icer


UOA results PUP 0W-40 vs. 5W-30

 

Could you pls advice on the torque figure of the drain plug, mine is leaking oil through the plug and I'm scare to overtight it.

Regards,

 

The factory oil drain bolt torque spec is 34.3Nm or 25ft/lb.
-Icer

 

And on the Z1 pan?

 

Probably the best place to get an answer about a Z1 product would be to ask Z1. https://www.z1motorsports.com/contact_us.php

 

25ft/lb is not very aggressive, even for an aluminum oil pan. You should be safe to follow the same torque spec with the Z1 pan.
Cheers!
-Icer