Okay, Second Z. First one I tore the engine out to rebuild up right and got lazy, had cash, and found a deal on the forum for a 35th anniversary (which I wanted) that was already done. Problem is the SGP AT's clutch pack must have gone. SGP is fixing under warranty so props to them!

The car currently has:

SGP Stage IV Engine
SGP Transmission
TEIN Flex w/ controller
Greddy TT
Plenty O Guages (DEFI and others) and more to come
Nismo 18x9.5 Wheels
upgraded plenum
Rotora 6F / 4R Brakes
Custom 3" straight piped exhaust with HKS Carbon mufflers
Open dumps
Stage II RFS from CJ Motorsports
1000cc HKS Injectors
KOYO (fat) Radiator
Greddy catch can
Greddy breather tank
Stillen Oil Cooler Kit, Upgraded power steering cooler, and Transmission Cooler
some more junk i blew money on

I think I'm going with Haltech or if not HKS EMS and a tune when I finish. I do have a few questions and request for thoughts to the forum while I've got the car ripped apart:

1. Why is there a ***** ton of carbon deposit on the firewall? You can see this in the first pic
2. Any updates on the Greddy 18Gs while I've got the kit off. I've seen good and bad comments but not a lot of evidence as to the success of this upgrade yet. Also, TT kit has about 7K miles on it, would you rebuild?
3. What bumper will give me the best airflow to the IC and oil coolers and have the room to cram them up front and possibly to the sides to not block the IC. I was thinking Nismo V2 but I haven't found pics with IC and oil coolers
4. Anybody can think of anything I should do while it's all apart that they wish they did, didn't do?

Thanks!!!

 

Thos pics make my neck hurt.

That black spot is a very large exhaust leak. It looks like it's large enough to be a potential fire risk.

I would do a set of cams/valves/springs.
Check the turbo's for shaft play.
Get bigger wheels for the rear so you can out on some wide rubber for traction.
NISMO V2 has a nice and wide opening for cooling.

 

ha.

 

The SGP Engine is a complete build with cmas/valves/springs. They are JWT cams I believe. Do you have the V2? I can't for the life of me find a pic of a V2 or even V1 with IC AND oil cooler stuffed up front...

Also, exhaust leak? Didn't think of that. I hope to hell my manifold isn't cracked or turbo housings aren't fkd!

Thanks for the comment

 

Here is a pic of the Greddy intercooler under the V2 bumper. There is a ton of room in there for oil coolers etc.

 

I would recommend putting a temp gauge on the trans fluid before it enters the cooler. I have a feeling your rebuilt clutch packs may go again if the root cause was overheating (it's either that or low fluid - not much else to go wrong). The other thing I would consider with the tranny out is a TC built to your specs. If you're going to road race it, the high stall converters generate too much heat. They're fast off the line though. Your choice. I had Andre at Edge racing build me a 2nd TC designed for high efficiency, low heat. He said 1/4 mile performance would suffer, but it would be a nice compromise. Haven't tested it yet.

+1 on the exhaust leak - jeez. You should be able to spot the leak on the piping somewhere - look for the soot spray.

 

I'm not sure what the root cause was but that is a good idea to keep an eye on temps. I'm also relocating the trans oil cooler from behind the IC to in front of/side of the IC. It was plugged into the AC Condenser and while I'm sure flow was getting to it I think more is better. Other thing I'm doing is wrapping every tube/pipe that carries oil in heat shield, jet-hot coating the manifolds, and installing turbo blankets. It gets to triple digit heat where I live so the more cooling mods the merrier.

I can't find an exhaust leak to save my life but I did smell something when driving so I'm guessing it's a leak between connections. Gonna do new gaskets and RTV when reassembling.

 

Another quick question on the stall. Do our ATs have a trans-brake or do we rely on a flash stall when a high stall setting is setup? My understanding is that a flash stall is just a higher RPM of engagement from a standstill with no brakes applied while a true stall is achieved while holding the brakes down and revving to launch. I don't drag race and would never hold the brake, rev, and let go to launch? Or should I? New to this AT thing here.

 

You are describing brake stall. No trans brake that I know of in our 5ATs. If you don't drag race, I would seriously look into a low heat, high efficiency converter designed for high torque (strengthened).

The exhaust leak may be right at the manifold and I remember people reporting hairline manifold cracks for the Greddy kit. Look closely. Without the heavy turbos attached, perhaps it is hard to see. Try flexing the manifold.