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Old 05-24-2006, 05:04 PM
  #181  
blkness
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Dude it sounds like you are in one big mess. Are you sure you did your research?

Hawk HP+ is not a street pad and are very bad for your rotors. Your belts slipping can be fixed by getting cog pulley's and belts no point in adding extra pullies for more tention. Something is really wrong with your ignition system. I have yet to hear ampage problems for running a basic vortech setup.

Maybe you should try another shop. I dont know how easy it is to find a good shop in AZ but might be worth a try.
Old 05-24-2006, 05:08 PM
  #182  
booger
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Sorry...buy who the hell are you ? Do you have a Z or a G with a Vortech kit with a cog pulley set up ??????? NOOOOOOO !!!!!
Old 05-24-2006, 05:33 PM
  #183  
JoeDirtPharmD
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The only problem I see here is that Sentry is closing in on my best Dyno reading from Dyno comp (currently 400.1 rwhp); this may be the start of an ugly Dyno-queen war.

Bring it!

If nothing else, we need to get some video of the cars together.
Old 05-24-2006, 06:21 PM
  #184  
sentry65
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blkness, I'm hardly running a basic vortech system. I'm also running about 40-50% race gas which is harder to ignite along with all the crap I already mentioned.

HP+ works perfectly fine on the street. In fact it bites really well. I've read about lots of people using them on the street. It does squeel more than normal (my stock brembos squeeked by the time I got done doing 4 20 min sessions on the track and did for a very long time after that, so this isn't new to me) As far as them wearing out the rotors, well it's a good thing my stoptech aerorotors only cost $165 (P/N 30-646-1111-99) directly from stoptech. I doubt seriously that I'll have an issue with them wearing out the rotor on the street. I can see them grinding away the rotor if you went to the track with those pads possibly though - then again any race pad would grind your rotor away. Still, they bite HARD even when cold.

as far as the belts go, I didn't come up with the idea, the tech who works on my car did and we all thought it might be worth a try. I could just tighten the belt up as booger suggested, but for the sake of experimentation, we thought it'd be worth a try. If it doesn't work, I'll just tighten the belt up

Not sure what's with the attitude I'm just reporting my progress so others might learn from my mistakes. God knows I've made a lot already


JoeDirt, hehe well we'll see where I end up, but you're of course going to carry a lot more power under the curve than I will. In a lot of ways I wish I went turbo. Certainly if I went with an APS turbo, I'd have a lot less of these "custom" sorta headaches where me and dynocomp figure things out as we go. I'd love to get a ride in your car sometime, maybe we could meet up or something sometime when I get finished up

Last edited by sentry65; 05-24-2006 at 06:54 PM.
Old 05-24-2006, 07:00 PM
  #185  
o snap its eric
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so if you were to do it all over a again you would have went with a turbo setup? Im still debating if i want SC or turbo. Vortech on one hand is carb legal in CA while non of the turbo kits out there are. That is the biggest decision factor in this whole ordeal. All i really want is 400-450hp and a health amount of TQ to match that with.

i wish they made a turbo kit that is carb legeal. I would hate to have a turbo kit installed and have to take it off if i ever get pulled over by the cop and have my engine inspected.
Old 05-24-2006, 07:54 PM
  #186  
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sentry I am also having an issue with start up but it only happens about twice a month. It always starts by the 3rd try though. I will be posting my new numbers up soon with the added mods.
I am also working on adding the extra pulley on the plate but still waiting on a few additional items to arrive.
Good luck on your progress.
Old 05-24-2006, 08:26 PM
  #187  
sentry65
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o snap its eric, I don't know, hard to say if I wish I went turbo or not since my car isn't done yet. I wish my install process was a little easier which it probably would have been since one of the things dynocomp specializes in APS turbo installs on the Z.

But then again if I went turbo, I'd end up ditching my headers and exhaust, never would have been able to thermowrap everything as much as it is now since I just had the engine pulled. I probably wouldn't have gone with solid motor mounts since I would have left the engine in the car, I'd have to lose the 3.9 final drive etc I could go on - it's kinda specific to my own case. Some of it is just preference - I like the SC sound with full out headers etc, and I like how the vortech sounds.

I probably would have been inclined to go TT over the ST because of the broader power range and boost starting earlier with the smaller turbos. In the end with the money I've spent, it probably comes out to the same cost. BigBri's car sounds incredible though. Had I know you COULD rev to 8000 and get a custom cam that probably limits low/mid power in order to make power at 8000 rpms - which would help traction, I just might have decided to wait and save up money for a setup like that - and then briefly crash and kill myself

At the time I bought my vortech, I didn't know it would be so easy to run 315 tires - heard of a few people with custom wheels making it work but certainly never would have thought the nismo wheels would be able to pull it off. At the time, 295 seemed to be reliably doable with all sorts of wheels. Otherwise running drag radials was the only alternative - and they only last 2000 or so miles driven conservatively on the street and won't handle as well. Something I value and like about the Z is how well it handles. I never thought of the Z as a strictly drag car. It's my only sports car (err that runs) and I want to be able to do autox, roadcourses, and drag racing etc. I didn't want to polorize the Z towards one thing at the expense of sucking at another

Last night when I was driving it and even just 6 psi at redline with the 3.9 and everything, I was thinking it was plenty of power to keep me happy. I can only imagine what it'd be like with more. So if I got my missing 3 psi back and added another 1-2 psi across the entire rpm range with the 2.87 pulley I think I'll be more than happy.

I remember reading a post by someone once who had ridden in a fairly strong vortech and said something akin to "if a higher end vortech doesn't make enough power for you guys (turbo people), I must be in a room full of Michael Schshumakers" and I dunno - maybe my standards are low, but I kinda agree. Even at 410 dynojet whp, my car with how it's set up feels a little scary when you get on it.

As far as around town though, I think a turbo probably would be possibly more fun, but it won't leap as hard under 2500 rpms as a 3.9 final drive vortech with a 2.87 pulley will, but as soon as you get around 3000-3300 rpms, you're going to start having a lot of fun. I really do think for daily driving traffic at below 2500 rpms with a 3.9 final drive, the vortech will leap out harder than a turbo Z. Obviously we all know a turbo would kill the vortech when we're talking about hard drag strip launches though (if you don't snap an axel)

Something interesting is I got home today, popped the hood (BTW my vented hood has finally made it into the states) and the engine isn't running all that hot - nice and cool (relatively). I was taking it easy during the last 10 min before parking the car. In fact I could actually place my hand flat on the SC for about 2-3 sec before I wanted to pull it away. It really wasn't all that hot. I'm not sure you'd be able to touch a turbo after cruising the streets just doing normal driving - even if it's the TN one away from the exhaust manifolds, or if it's watercooled like the APS ones, but you CAN touch a SC. However when I came back 5 min later after the car had sat off, it was hotter - guessing it was from the oil no longer circulating thru it.

Last edited by sentry65; 05-24-2006 at 08:42 PM.
Old 05-29-2006, 05:15 PM
  #188  
freezeg35
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You may not need the 2.87, i have hit 10 psi on the 3.12 pulley.
Old 05-30-2006, 10:20 AM
  #189  
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Does anyone know if it is hard to scale back 650cc injectors with the Unichip?
I don't want to give my shop a hard time trying to this thing tuned.
Old 05-30-2006, 11:07 AM
  #190  
Gman2004
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Originally Posted by acg
Does anyone know if it is hard to scale back 650cc injectors with the Unichip?
I don't want to give my shop a hard time trying to this thing tuned.
I believe you will have to do like what the EU requires and flash your ECU for larger injectors maybe 550's so you can scale down the 650's.
Old 05-30-2006, 02:50 PM
  #191  
sentry65
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Originally Posted by freezeg35
You may not need the 2.87, i have hit 10 psi on the 3.12 pulley.


it's not so much about reaching peak psi that I want the 2.87 pulley, I want the pulley mainly for 20-30 more whp/tq between 2000-5000 rpms. I'm going to have a lot of timing pulled up high to help keep the engine from running so hard and water injection and a CAI for the vortech to make sure air temps don't get too high and help with protecting against detonation.

So Even though I might be able to brag about running 12 psi, it really won't be a "true" 12 psi as far as my peak whp is concerned


My first molding hood is showing up at my door tomorrow - I'll get it and my Gia cuzzo wing put on and painted up ASAP when my car is done with this last (hopefully - ha!) round of install/tuning/fixing over at Dynocomp. I'm also adding a coolant temp gauge just so I can monitor the coolant more accurate than the almost worthless stock coolant gauge. I'm going to mount it using an bracket to put it on top of the dash by the A-arm in the corner

I've had a few fleeting thoughts of ditching the emanage ultimate for the Unichip since Dynocomp knows it so well it and it probably would work fine with the HKS ignition amplifier and can stop worrying about burning up my coils. You can pick used ones up cheap. Still not so sure though....probably not going to do it

I'd consider the UTEC except it seems like a headache waiting to happen since it's pretty complicated and Dynocomp hasn't installed one on a Z yet. That and Rich isn't a big fan of UTEC's other EMS's for other cars. If I was close to AAM or another shop that tunes with in regularly, I might consider it. Still it's expensive as hell and if I wait 6 months there will be 20 people selling theirs like every other EMS that has come out.

in other news thanks to booger (in another thread - thanks!), I now can start up my car easier than before. If you give the throttle just a tiny bit of gas while you start up - it starts up MEAN sounding and does so with ease. Of course you do it in neutral with the parking brake on while the left foot is on the brake pedal and right foot on the gas. Probably easier on the clutch when starting up than pushing it in while the car is still in gear. So I consider that issue solved as far as I care.

The other thing recommended is to drill a tiny hole thru the throttle plate - and I just might try that someday when I grow some more ***** cause I already paid for a ported throttlebody. From what others who have done it and reset the throttle learning it seems to be the thing to do if you have cams, but for now I'll just give the gas pedal some slight gas

Last edited by sentry65; 05-30-2006 at 03:18 PM.
Old 05-30-2006, 04:21 PM
  #192  
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it's not so much about reaching peak psi that I want the 2.87 pulley, I want the pulley mainly for 20-30 more whp/tq between 2000-5000 rpms. I'm going to have a lot of timing pulled up high to help keep the engine from running so hard and water injection and a CAI for the vortech to make sure air temps don't get too high and help with protecting against detonation.


I understand. I definitely noticed more low and mid range power when i changed the 3.33. Im pulling 7 degrees of timing out right now, and faricated my own cai.
Old 05-31-2006, 10:03 PM
  #193  
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here's a preview of what's to come, rear spoiler and hood

nothing is painted yet, and yeah it's at night so the lighting sucks. The hood (like all of them pretty much) could fit slightly better, but I'll have the bodyshop guy look into tweaking it
Attached Thumbnails my vortech tuner kit install process thread-dscf6489.jpg   my vortech tuner kit install process thread-dscf6491.jpg   my vortech tuner kit install process thread-dscf6495.jpg   my vortech tuner kit install process thread-dscf6498.jpg  

Last edited by sentry65; 05-31-2006 at 10:33 PM.
Old 05-31-2006, 10:12 PM
  #194  
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never seen that hood before. looking good.

did you guys sort everything with the fuel system yet? i cant sleep well knowing that a fellow 350z owner is having fuel system concerns
Old 05-31-2006, 10:12 PM
  #195  
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never seen that hood before. looking good.

did you guys sort everything with the fuel system yet? i cant sleep well knowing that a fellow 350z owner is having fuel system concerns
Old 05-31-2006, 10:31 PM
  #196  
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thanks, yeah the car goes into the shop tomorrow and since we know the issue is still present they're going to look into fixing it.

First thing I'm going to have Jon do is try replacing the fuel pump with a known good one and take a look at the O-ring. Then get on the dyno and see what the fuel pressure does. I think he did take video last time we were on the dyno of the fuel pressure gauge. Still though, that's my #1 priority is to make sure the fuel pressure is good before we go slapping more boost and water injection on. I'll have them call you if they get stumped. Thanks for the support

In other news I ordered a pair of Pirelli Corsa tires for the rear to help with traction. My fronts are PS2's with a LOT of life left so I'll see how it drives with them - I'm not going to be doing anything crazy with handling stuff for awhile until I get a little more used to how the car drives, but I do want rear traction and something that'll corner better than drag radials - and last longer. I might order some fronts if it drives too weird. The Corsa's are discontinued BTW. My rears are rubbing my shocks really bad now and a groove is forming enough that I'm worried about them blowing. I'll have some 5mm spacers put on back there and possibly less negative camber

Last edited by sentry65; 05-31-2006 at 10:37 PM.
Old 06-01-2006, 09:41 AM
  #197  
Triji
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Ok, So your car is at DynoComp today?

I might drop by there to look at it... I am really considering ST or Vortech and have read all of your threads... (Took awhile) and am still in a delima trying to decide
Old 06-01-2006, 05:34 PM
  #198  
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Hey Sentry,

It was good meeting you today at Dyno-Comp... I was the one lookn at the APS TT while you were there... Lol, I bet you are living there lately. I am torn between getting the Vortech for 5800 installed or the APS which would be around 10K... Heck if I spend 10K I could get VRT or JWT do a whole set up for that much.

You said today that you have a fluidampr pulley... Are you considering selling that? If so I would be interested in it... Let me know please!

Thanks!
Old 06-01-2006, 11:16 PM
  #199  
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hey Triji, sent you a PM nice meeting you today too! I usually don't hang out there really long, but couldn't get a ride until the afternoon

it's a tough choice - it was tough for me too. I actually think in my situation that no matter what route I went, I would have 2nd guessed it to wonder if I had instead gotten the other one instead.

my car still isn't "done" yet, but right now with the 3.12 pulley, the times when I think I might wish I had gone ST or TT is when I'm feeling lazy with my shifting.

Accellerating hard from a stop, the vortech's boost might come on in a slower linear way which on a dynograph doesn't look very impressive, but there's nothing slow about 1st gear no matter what kit is on the car

Even when NA, 1st gear lasts just a couple seconds and even faster with shorter gearing. Having MORE power at mid rpms only helps in 1st gear when you can actually hook to make use of it

By the time you reach 2nd gear right after shifting, you're already in the boost and the "lag" of the vortech isn't so much an issue.

However on the street in normal traffic, sometimes I'm lazy and just don't feel like downshifting or know that I'll just upshift again soon and so figure why bother? In that case a turbo would probably give the car more kick and response as long as you're driving at 2500-5500 rpms because they have full boost in that range


BTW, I read in the latest issue of Car and Driver about an article comparing a C6 vette to a cobra mustang GT500 and one of the stats was a 50-70mph in top gear.

The C6 did it in 9.1 sec and the cobra did it in 8.8 sec. Just for kicks, this morning on the highway I used the stopwatch in the Z and got around 6-6.1 sec with my car in it's current state with the 3.12 pulley. I'm kinda curious what turbo guys with stock and 3.36 gearing or automatics would do. I know it means nothing really, but when feeling lazy with shifting on the highway, it seems like my car even in 6th gear is very strong with it's accelleration

Last edited by sentry65; 06-01-2006 at 11:42 PM.
Old 06-06-2006, 10:09 AM
  #200  
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well dynocomp has just about finished my car. It's going to get tuned this afternoon. I'll report with dyno numbers and a picture of my dynochart

the pulley fix I'm told went extremely well. Jon was saying the car starts up much better than it used to - that squeel is totally gone.

So yes the belt was too loose, however it appears to be too tight. Jon pointed out to me last time I was there how you can actually see the pulley ribs thru the belt at certain angles on the pulleys in the top/middle, along with the edge of the belt slightly chipped. Yet there was slack between the supercharger pulley and the rest of the pulleys.

Anyway, the 2 additional idler pulleys are on now to tension up that slack and then he adjusted the belt tension. Also he ended up using a 1mm spacer to push the 2.87 pulley further away from the supercharger to align that pulley with the other pulleys better. If you look, it's normally not quite perfectly aligned because the supercharger pulley is a little off centered from the rest of the pulleys.

The car will go on the dyno today and we'll find out the moment of truth if it works with keeping the belt from slipping or not. But even though my belt was loose, he was really sure tightening it wasn't the thing you'd want to do cause it'd hurt the bearings a lot over time.

He and Rich were also mentioning that the vortech intercooler is a decently nice size and should support 12 lbs of boost with not much problem. Their reasoning was that if you ever look at the WRX or STI's intercooler and how small it is (like 3/4 the vortech size), yet people run a lot of boost with them too. They were saying the air would probably run a little warmer than it was before, but shouldn't be a problem especailly with a cold air intake which I'm told turned out really well on my car.

But since the vortech's boost delivery is linear, what'll happen is the intercooler will only start warming the air up when the boost reaches a certain level - which means the density will start tapering off and reducing the peak power - which is kinda what I'm wanting. He's going to pull 2-3 degrees timing up top to keep the 12 psi in check and act as if it was 10 psi

I ran into a snag with the water injection. I'm going to return it and go with a different kit than what I bought. So in the meantime I'll just run 50/50 race gas in the car until I get a WI kit installed and then run 25/75 race gas.

I'll take pics of the pulley setup when I get home today


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