i agree with you completely about it not being tuner-friendly, and i don't know any details about the upgrade, but getting rid of the aux injectors is one of the rumors i've heard. ninja-z is in the process of doing that on his own, and tuan at grd has done it along with lots of other mods to the basic kit, like new ic, headers, vpro, etc.
i'll check out that diy article. thanx.

 

Don't forget about the half azz, half baked thing they call an intercooler. People think the Vortech one is small! HA!

 

They have an office in Detroit. I will give a call on Monday and see what is sourceable through them. You will need (besides the unti itself) a bracket, a traction oil cooler, a BOV/bypass valve, FMIC, custom piping and lots of it...
I can PM you with the results of my querry...
BTW, look at this page
http://www.w2wpowertrain.com
They carry a lot of rotrex products and it will give a decent idea of the prices on parts.
This is what I have found so far:

The blower unit itself will set you back about 2 grand. It looks like it includes the oil system with it.
The heat exchanger for the oil itself is about a 100, the pulley is about the same.
The abovementioned company makes custom intercoolers for it.
I will call it on Monday to find out about pricing.
Now for that bracket.... I seriously doubt that the HKS will sell the bracket by itself... FOUND!!!!
http://www.superchargersonline.com/p...er=V4NZ110-033
This can be modded to accept the rotrex unit.
What else am I missing here?

 

That's another minus for the HKS kit...

 

hit me with that info too please lou.

 

PAGE 5 POST# 88

Hopefully we are all talking about the same noises.

 

damn, you're good. if i had the knowhow, i could have built my own, like you apparently are preparing to do. i'm currently running the stock kit. it meets my needs for now and is uber-reliable, which i need first and foremost.

 

A little bit on what I plan on doing.

 

That Vortech bracket would have to be modified to fit the Rotrex head unit , and you wouldnt even know if it would work . I like the small design of it , but dont know if it would produce the flow for higher HP . That dual head unit set up on the GM V8 sure looked cool

 

The larger C38 will flow just fine.

http://www.w2wpowertrain.com/images_...ger_range1.pdf

I'm looking into seeing what it takes to modify the existing HKS bracket or have one made up to fit the larger C38 unit.

Either going to do a custom Rotrex kit with either the C30-94 or one of the C38 units. With headers, cams, V Pro or UTEC and larger primary injectors. If I go with the C30-94 also a 85 or 90mm pulley. You can't (shoudn't) go much smaller than a 85mm pulley with our stock crank pulley size. You would over rev the C30. But there is slight room for improvement with the C30-94. 400whp should be easy. Go C38, and it will flow enough for 500whp.

Just FYI: A few guys on the BMW forums have gotten over 400whp (450whp?) and aiming for 500whp with the larger C38 head.

 

Oleg,

Here is my opinion on the SC kit..
If you plan on getting an HKS and eliminating the engine management and upgrading the intercooler,ect..This is foolish, very foolish and very costly..theHKS is marketed as a complete turn key solution and would be cost prohibitive to do what your planning to do.The price would bring you way past that of the "elite" as you put it, TT kits..
The Vortec kit is a good platform, However I have my own reserves about drilling and tapping the upper oil pan. This method must have been developed while the engineers were smoking weed, lots of it..To tell anyone that their "MAGICAL" drill bit will not allow metal shavings into your bottom end is absurd..The only CORRECT way to install a Vortech would be to remove the upper oil pan from the motor to drill and tap it, then clean it free of metal shavings.This of course would require removing the motor, which would once again put you in the "elite" TT catagory...
The ATI procharger is a decent platform also , however the fitment leaves a bit to be desired in the wheel well and intercooler piping.Not to mention it uses its own oil supply of 2.5oz that stay in the blower for 7000 miles between changes..I do not like this either..
The Stillen SC kit is a bit better, however utilizes the extra injector method same as the HKS, which works, but is old school technology IMO and is more for Carb approval if anything..
So there you have my opinion of the "CONS" of the SC kits on the market..Ant once again, not to sell you or steer you in a direction you do not want to go, but to simply assist you in making an educated decision on what you will ultimately have to drive daily..I prefer to be up front with my customers and explain ALL the pros as well as CONS of every system..They all have their own issues, however which one can you live with is up to you..

 

You have to be kidding me.. ^^

Just because it's costly, it's foolish? LOL Or because it's not the route you would take? (i'm joking, julian)

Nobody said you had to buy the HKS kit at retail or at all. The Rotrex Heads are $1900 MSRP. Build your own bracket, buy your own engine management, etc. That way, it's not so foolish.

 

OK, OK, enough sarcasm about the "elite" part. I got so inflamed b/c a lot of turbo people, like the APS crowd especially, tend to act all superior to the blower set. I got deffensive and already apologized.

About the drilling of the upper oil pan with the Vortech setup... I am not a mechanic, but we use a similar procedure in our blood bank when we sterilize the analyzer tubing with ethanol:
get a bunch of cheapest motor oil you can get. Do several flushes of the oil system under pressure. Put the used oil through a filter and examine it for shavings. As soon as filter is shavings free, do a couple of flushes with a decent synthetic oil (to get rid of the crappy oil) and the fill up the oil system with the one intended to use. After the initial break-in preiod, like 200-300 miles do another oil change (in our case we use ethanol, saline and phosphate buffered saline).
The main reason why the modifiying the HKS kit is idiotic at best b/c the HKS just did what it is best known for: spec'd a bunch of headunits from Rotrex along with everything blower related accessories, added a half-@$$ed fuel system and a half-@$$ed i/c and sold it at a monstrous markup. This is what I have in mind for the custom setup:
-Rotrex headunit (comes with a lubrication system independent from that of the car) for about 2G
-Oil heat exchanger and SC pulley, both from Rotrex (less then 200)
-Vortech bypass valve with filter (about 250)
-mounting bracket (the Vortech one may be bought for roughly 500, but I don't know if it could be modified to accept the Rotrex)
-Air intake, like a pop-charger or one of those cones that comes with the SFR kit (should not be more then 100-150)
-Custom piping (my biggest concern pricewise)
-the fuel and EM as we have discussed previously.

All in all, I like the drivability of a centrifugal blower better then that of a TT, I realised that I have no high ambitions for a zillion hp car and would like to find the best and safest route with the centrifugal...
What do you think, you seem to like to think out of the ordinary, would you be any intrested to do one of these?...

 

Surely Chris, you jest...Your telling me to have a custom bracket CNC machined to work with the HKS is cost effective, then you drank too much egg-nog.. Im just emphasizing that the route he wanted to go may not meet his expectations for cost,reliability and power output...
After all the HKS units have not seen much road time on the 350Z and to the best of my knowledge are fairly rare..Im just curious why your so set on HKS yourself? Is it the brand name or the completeness of the kit?Cause if it is the completeness and you plan on changing everything it basically brings you back to square one...
Lets say you can get the HKS head unit and then have a custom bracket designed and CNC'd.Now I STRESS "designed" cause the tolerances on that bracket will have to be within hundreths of inches, trust me on this one,my ATI procharger bracket was tweaked ever so slightly which caused tons of issues until they replaced it..Which is why you will need an engineer design a bracket and then have it precision machined,this is IMO rediculous for s treet car and a waste of money..
And yes, just cause something cost an arm and a leg, does not make it good..

 

Im just curious, what swayed you towards HKS?You seem to be quite aware that they are way overpriced...
Oleg...
Seriously, there are cons in every set up,including the TT's..However for what your planning on doing you are going WAAAAAY overboard..
A vortec or ATI kit will get you to your HP and drivability goals and meet your expectations just fine.I am simply trying to point out that there are in fact drawbackt to every kit, its just a matter of what you can live with.
Honestly an ATI or Vortec tuner kit would do just fine..
However the Rotrex unit with a custom bracket that needs to be precision designed and machined would simply be cost prohibitive in the quest to reach your goals..It just money you could put elswhere..
Honestly I have no interest on being the first to attempt a custom bracket for a Rotrex unit on a customers car...way too much liability and headaches for me..

 

I do jest. I even said so in parathesis. I'm not buying the kit (if I do get the "kit") for it's name. I am getting it for what it is. A Rotrex SC. Which is unlike a normal cent. sc in construction. The kit has the benefit of already including the bracket and C30-94 supercharger, oil cooler, harness and sensors for Fcon (whatever your flavor).

I don't care how much something really cost. The Rotrex looks like a damn good unit. My friend who I've taught and raced with on the track has one in his BMW. He loves it. Lots of BMW guys have had good luck, as well as others. Just not many Z. No big deal. If you look around you can find the "kit" for $5500 or less. However.. I don't want the "kit" because half the stuff I want isn't in the kit. There is always more than one way. Doesn't always cost a lot because it's "different".

 

I never said just because it cost money it's good. What I was bantering was that "if it cost money it's foolish"..

But for those with a little ambition, you can do your own "kit" cheaper. Or at least get what you want in your "kit". Which, as you know, is the most important spec of all. END USER = happy.

You can get a Rotrex head for $1500. Google. As long as you can get a bracket or have one made, which several people are already interested in doing, than all you need is an intercooler and piping and you're done. Pick your path from there on out. It's not that difficult.

The Rotrex has been around for a few years now. It's not new. Just new to the 350Z. There are plenty with good results. It's not your ordinary cent. sc. Google.

 

Or you could buy a $99 oil pan spacer and tap that.

 

But the Vortec instructions tell you to tap the upper oil pan..Not sure if it makes a difference or not.But tapping a spacer would be something I am more comfortable with..

 

Although the blower sits higher than the oil level in the pan . I wouldnt want to find out if it drains back in fast enough , as not to back up into the blower . I dont think any one has reported of having problems from metal shavings . If done the right way