As most of you know, I'm in the process of upgrading my forged motor to a Darton sleeved 3.87L block, 100mm pistons, turbo upgrade, StageII fuel system, meth kit, cooling system upgrades, and a few other surprises.

I've got my orginal forged motor torn down, and I am currently waiting on my new heads to arrive from the machine shop. While disassembling the bottom end, I was anxious to see the condition of the con rod bearings, as this is usually a good way to determine if detonation, or oil starvation was an issue with my original motor.

After 20K miles of torture in the 550whp-620whp range, roughly 200 dyno pases, 25 1/4 miles drag strip passes, countless freeway street races to 140mph+, I am happy to report the condition of my rod bearings. One word: PERFECT No other signs of detonation, or oil starvation that I could see. The entire bottom end looks mint.

Hoefullly these motors will last a lot longer than people think, when properly tuned, and maintained.

 

congrats, looks good. cant wait to see what the suprises will be.

 

Very cool...can't wait to see what's in store...

 

[QUOTE=Sharif@Forged] After 20K miles of torture in the 550whp-620whp range, roughly 200 dyno pases, 25 1/4 miles drag strip passes, countless freeway street races to 140mph+, I am happy to report the condition of my rod bearings. One word: PERFECT No other signs of detonation, or oil starvation that I could see. The entire bottom end looks mint.

What brand oil and viscosity do you use?
Thanks

 

[QUOTE=zman2]Mobile 1 (red label), I believe the viscosity is 15w-50
I used Mobil 1 about 70% of the time, and Royal Purple the other 30% of the time.

 

Shariff do you believe in Lucas Oil. I have heard mixed reviews on oil additives, but it seems to me alot of race teams use Lucas. I guess I'm kinda answering my own questions here, but just wanted to get your idea.

 

any reason you are using 15W-50 ? i use mobile 1 extended performance 5w-30, temps down here are usually in the high 90's in the summer and coldest it gets in the winter is 30's, rare though. sorry to turn this into an oil thread

 

Thats a thicker oil, so I would assume it coats better.

 

so when people say how superchargers are much harder on bearings, are the connecting rod bearings some of the bearings people mean or are they thinking of other parts of the engine?

 

Oil additives are hard to assess, becuase all of the data is supplied by the manufacturer, and we have to believe their data as unbiased. I certainly dont think they would hurt, but not 100% certain they will help. If certain teams use them, they are often sponsored by Lucas or other companies to promote and support their products. I havent used them in any of my past motors.

The higher viscosity blends are theoretically designed for turbocharger, high temp, and high horsepower applications. Either way, I dont think my oil selection had anything to do with the bearing conditions. If you prefer a different viscosity, I see no reason not to continue using it.

I think its the other way around. People say turbos are harding on bearings, cranks, con rods, etc...becuase they generate more peak trq, and more trq down low in the powerband. Higher trq at the trq peak means higher cylinder pressure, and a higher likelyhood of detonation. This translates into more stress on the con rod bearings. If a forged rod breaks or bends, it is almost always a result of a spun bearing (extended periods of detonation), and the big end overheats, bends, and eventually snaps.

 

Thats great to hear! 20K miles in that power range already? You must have been driving pretty fast to make that many miles that fast

I got a question about the meth kit that you'll be using... Are you buying one of the kits thats out in the market now, or are you making your own? If you're making you're own, are you gonna be mass producing and selling it?

 

I daily drive my Z, and take quite a few road trips each year...the miles rack up fast!

In regards to the meth kit, I am helping an currently unnamed company develop a 350Z specific kit. I cant really talk about the details yet, but my initial impressions, are that this meth kit is amazing. The best one I have seen so far.

 

Are you using the meth kit to tune higher, or just added saftey?

 

Namely added safety. There will be a practical and hard limit to power with 93 octane fuel, so for the really nasty numbers, I'll be running 100octane at least.

 

Great news!

 

Sharif, I understand that you do not want to give any "private" info away, but if you can, will you be using the UTEC to control this meth kit?
Thank you.

 

man... its good to hear about good stuff all the time but then it just makes me feel like **** and all my crap luck... great news tho

 

Sharif...I dont think Ive ever read any thing on what times you ran at the track with that power level . Can you share ????

 

I posted them a while back. with roughly 2.0sec 60ft times, the best I could muster was an 11.5@127mph. I know it had the power to kiss the 10's, but I need more practice at the wheel.

 

Your track must not have a 12 sec rule.....any thing under 12 sec...you need a roll cage