Eno

iTrader: (1)

I do have an Apexi AVC-R boost controller- though it has not yet been installed. It's ordered, just waiting for that last trip to Seattle before that gets put in.

On a side note- MNR will be doing the install of that Uprev GT... and we'll see where it goes from there!

ace32x

iTrader: (10)

Wouldn't think of doing any fi at all with out a boost controller that had that

Eno

iTrader: (1)

Also found out from mnr, they went over the logs and it looks like I'm getting into trouble when the maf starts reading 5.1volts. Predictably- this confirms our suspicions.

Eno

iTrader: (1)

Just a quick update on what's up with the finer points of the build. MNR corner balanced the ride and to make a point it was "really messed up." It has been fixed, and a few finer points adjusted.

In addition, the new Uprev GT MAF was installed and will be on the dyno soonest. Will post updates.

Finally, though it's not exactly FI related in a sense it is. Being a 5AT, I am also open dif as most of you already know. I have a choice to make.


Weigh in gentlemen: Nismo VLSD or Quaife?

Cost is about the same- Quaife is hard to get right now unless opportunity knocks and someone puts one up used...

I'm not going to be a hard knocker on this car... I won't be drifting or doing any of that stuff. But, I want to do this right... and they cost about the same? Anyone got anything heavy that counts one of those options out?

Thanks guys...


Oh and a quick pic from after getting my coils adjusted and corners balanced...

Zume

Just read this entire thread.

I'm also in the A/T club.

Great info here.

My forlorn car has been on jack stands in my garage for 2+ years.

Been slowly gearing up to tackle it DIY.

Eno

iTrader: (1)

Eh Zume... thanks for taking a look. Like I said there's a much more in depth look at the whole build linked in my signature... but it's almost 30 pages right now. Get comfortable.

You brought up a good question about oil coolers. I'm going to float it over in driver as well but anyone here want to chime in on what has worked for them?

CTZ860

iTrader: (2)

Ha! Open diffs! Only laughing at you cuz im in the same boat. I wouldnt go with either or those diffs....vlsd's loose their ability after a while and the quaife is a mechanical type diff. You want a clutch type lsd...prolly 1.5 way for the daily driver would suffice. Check out crbonetics or kaaz....im sure theres a few other good ones out there.

Eno

iTrader: (1)

I've heard different things about the clutch versus the gear style diffs... and honestly CTZ from everything I've read on the Quaife it was a very convincing solution. I have subsequently purchased one and it should be inbound hopefully in the next few days / week.

One of the things I wanted to stay away from is the very prominent clicking and so on- which from what I've read from guys who have them is absolutely minimal with the Quaife. Its maintenance schedule is also more inline- if not inline with the stock... I'll make sure I post my feedback on it when the time comes and maybe I'll have enough info that you'll look at it differently? That, or I'll regret it... I guess we'll see!

Thanks for the note though!

ace32x

iTrader: (10)

ya the clutch types are very loud, i have a kazz 2 way and it sounds like my axles are breaking if i might a tight tight turn below 10 mph lol (i dont mind personally) its just funny people always stare when it does it haha

Eno

iTrader: (1)

Quick update... car was on the dyno on Tuesday apparently but they got up to wastegate pressure (10-12psi I think) and had something to the tune of 370 / 380 hp/tq (dyno reads notoriously low) but when they went to up the boost (Apexi AVC-R controller is installed) apparently they experienced a boost leak and had to terminate the pull as the fuel got very rich and power was lost. Sounds like Jurie got it fixed up and ready to go again for another shot this afternoon. Hoping it goes well. Wish them luck!

herrschaft

sub'd

djamps

iTrader: (1)

^^ 370whp seems a little low for 10-12psi with JWT700's even for a low reading dyno.. but maybe the boost leak was part of the issue. Good luck on the tune.

Eno

iTrader: (1)

^^ Not going to lie... I was hoping he might have hit the 3 by accident and meant 4... but I was prepared for low numbers. I don't think I'll see over 450 on this one and neither do they- so the objective is to get an efficient, safe 450 on there that I can jam on all day long.

Not wanting to misquote Intec but they seem pretty confident that the build / AT is ready for 500 on the DJ... and, once it was complete I started hearing some more confident numbers than that. But not to sound juvenile... I think the build and the car are ready for big numbers but my daily driving will stay in the low-mid 4s. When the time comes to go seal hunting I guess that's what the boost controller and power map is for.

I've also put my oil cooler requirement out there and it sounds like most recommend building an oil cooler with independent parts and staying away from the overpriced kits. I've seen the parts involved and still have my crash bar so it should be pretty straightforward. From some of the crew over here- I heard there is some benefit to AN10 vs AN8 lines for the oil cooler... is that pretty common form for you guys running custom coolers / setups or is that like buying a 1TB hard drive to store a 3 page word document and a low resolution before / after photo of Kirstie Alley?

DaveJackson

iTrader: (5)

^ Before/After photo of Kirstie Alley is going to be a pretty fat file... Just saying!

Eno

iTrader: (1)

Hehee... yeah, no kidding! She was so hot in "Look who's talking." Damn.

Well numbers were a bit on the low side but she's complete at least until Intec gets on it- which may be mid-late october if my current schedule is any indication.

Numbers standing were 383HP / 401TQ at 18psi. Again, like I was saying that's a LOT of boost for low numbers but the shop pointed out that most G35 ATs tuned with a few bolt ons only put up 180HP / 200TQ on that dyno. It is not the friend of those looking for numbers- and I knew that going in.

When I consider that most similar G35 ATs pull about 240 or so on many dynos when similarly equipped... I start doing the math and suddenly we're in the ballpark for the 450 or so that I was expecting. I guess the *** can be the judge...

I am a bit confused about why the wastegate pressure pulls generated almost the same HP as the 18psi but I'll have to wait to get those answers. I pick up the car tomorrow and will make sure I post about the details. They have photos and video / dyno sheets as well that I look forward to sharing.

Eno

iTrader: (1)

Okay boys... well I picked up the car- it's like a greased weasel. I talked to the guys about the relatively low numbers and a couple of things became apparent to me: The DE non revup sucks. Actually- it doesn't suck. It blows. Actually... it doesn't blow.

Some of you might be thinking "okay... cams." Well, that was what I was getting at.

Yeah, cams... Great...

I seem to recall just saying I'm glad I didn't go that route because that seems to be where things tilt into problematic. Well, having put in as much money as I have and STILL reeling in pretty weaksauce numbers is proving to be problematic.

Anyway- I have the dyno sheets but they're down the hill in the car on a CD the shop put together with some photos and some other data... if you saw the driveway I'm talking about you might understand why I'm not racing down there to grab them to post. I'll grab them tomorrow when I'm down there anyway.

Suffice to say as things start to move into 5000rpm things start to trend downwards. I'm only running a 5/16ths spacer but otherwise it's stock- So to go with something like a Cosworth V1 / 2 is probably in my near future... I'm not sure if porting / polishing is going to come as easily... I don't know what it costs but what I do know is I'm going to be hunting down the long side of the block in the marketplace. I'm willing to wager that even grabbing one off a rev up engine would be a huge upgrade... But this is coming from someone who doesn't know a port from a polish- so please slap me back into reality if that's what is due here. One thing I don't want to hear is that the engines are virtually the same. They're not- Let's move on.

The stance looks good but I was warned it looks high on the driver side. Put my 210lbs in the driver seat and it levels out perfectly. It sits a tiny bit higher overall now- but it looks level and great.

The boost controller is mounted exquisitely in the little space where the nav would normally be- and hides away nicely. VERY well done.

I paid the bill- and that included my Quaife which should be in next week. Talked to them about the oil cooler too- sounds like that'll be a go as things start to wrap up with the quaife. I'm not driving it hard and my temps are of absolutely no concern to anyone right now- I asked if they had any issue at the moment with any temps and they were totally fine with it all. I figured that upgrade could wait a little bit. Again, I'm not working the girl as hard as some might expect.

Anyway- that's the update for now. I'll update more tomorrow with the dyno sheets and some photos.

ace32x

iTrader: (10)

If you do do cams do a port and polish while your at it. A port is when they grind out all the unnessicary metal and increase the flow area of the exhaust and intake parts of the head. A polish is when they just smooth those same areas out so everything flows really smooth. While your at it port and polish your lower plenum aswell

Eno

iTrader: (1)

I think Cosworth is first... what you just said might be an off season second. Perhaps not coincidentally... the off season is upon us. Off season being when I can't drive the car- I suspect that'll be around Nov-March

Eno

iTrader: (1)

Alright boys... I think things are winding to a close with the thread. The quaife will be in next week... I'm still dealing with some shifting issues... I'll probably have an oil cooler in my near future but none of these are FI (thought loosely related I guess). I don't want to keep spamming in the wrong section- though I have to say this has been a hell of a ride for me. For those of you who have followed through the whole saga- here we are!

The car is tuned, things are staying cool, the open dif is being rectified... I found a local shop that rules and have a fantastic shop in the US to visit when the time comes that I would have absolutely NO qualms about recommending to those in the Pacific Northwest...

Anyone who has followed this from beginning to end knows what the story entails. Went to a shop that didn't know the kit... didn't listen to the guys who knew better when they said I should be nervous about leaving the car with Progressive... Blindly trusted in good faith that all was good... Had too much confidence in the DE non revup and the aptitude of Progressive... Learned that they are a gutless shop that wouldn't step up and I am extremely disappointed in the way they dealt with this issue.

A lot of learning about Uprev vs Haltech... but I'm interested to see what comes about with this shifting thing. Apparently Uprev is on the verge of or has recently cracked the part of the ECU that manages the transmission- There could be some massive benefits there.

But as far as the build is concerned with FI- I think we're wrapped up! Anyone with any questions can feel free to drop me a PM if you think I can help.

I'll finish with some closing photos and the dyno sheet from MNR.

Eno

iTrader: (1)

I'm bringing this post back to update you guys about the final tune. Many were suprised at the relatively low numbers I was posting up here in Canada- me included- and I'm glad to report the car redeemed itself on the dyno at Intec Racing. I think they're going to send me dyno sheets on Monday or so...

(The following is copied from my primary build thread in G35Driver with a couple add ons)

The dyno runs went really well. The pro tuner from Intec went over the tune from MNR and said it was a bit rough but overall not bad. He gave me a chance to sit with him for awhile and walked me through the Osiris software platform. I learned a lot about what was going on and the process. I'd seen many of the screens but never knew how any of it really applied. Once I could see the load / throttle "marker" moving through those fuel maps it made more sense. He had a 3D image of the map where he showed me how he tried to smooth it out and things started to piece together a bit. He compared what he was working on versus the former tune... Like he said: It wasn't bad- but needed work.


He added that the load tables (assumed to be a problem with my lagging 1-2 shift) "weren't bad" but he touched them up enough to really tighten it up. He was delighted with how the car responded on the dyno and remarked afterwards "I think this became one of my new favourite cars." Final numbers on my high boost setting (~18 psi) were 518/474 and my lower setting (don't recall boost) was a smoother ~480 / ~465 or so. I don't have the dyno sheets for the two runs yet but I'm sure they'll email them over when they have a moment. I've heard the TC dampens torque a bit- I was thinking I'd hit higher with the built tranny... but like he said 474 is great.

Going over the border last weekend didn't go so smoothly, however. I'm still just shaking my head at how the whole thing went down- but basically the GF loves petchouli (an essential oil that is quite aromatic) and I guess when she stashed our passports in her purse a bunch of the stuff got on them. When we handed them over to the customs official at the border she started huffing my passport and inquired as to what the smell was. At the time, I thought she was talking about my exhaust. I told her it was the exhaust and that because I'd had my exhaust modified that it made the exhaust smell a bit more noticeably. She then started asking about what I'd had done down in the states and I told her about the tune. I had nothing to hide and was quite content about that fact. Thinking back- I should have just said we were visiting friends.

She asked how much the tune was and I told her- apparently you have to declare "services" as well as actual parts (NAFTA what?!). When I told her how much, she asked for a receipt... which I had (that actually showed less than I said) but wasn't sure where I had it tucked away. Instead of holding things up she told me to pull over in the assigned lane and go inside to get further clarification.

Uh oh. (the following is the short version)

Anyway, they take a bunch of stuff out of our wallets and both the GF and I had pieces of ID and bank cards (neither of which, I might add, left our wallets the whole time we were down there) that tested positive for coke. Now, let me say this: Neither of us are involved in that kind of activity at all... ever. Imagine our surprise when it turns out the reason they're turning my car inside out is because they're looking for stashes of cocaine. AYFS?

2.5 hours later the guy calls me up for the 4th time and says "How much work have you had done down in the states?" I waffle a bit (a lot) and tried to steer the questions a different direction. This dude didn't buy any of it and kept pressing. Meanwhile he's typing down all the stuff I'm saying. He basically finished by saying "Anything about this story you're telling me that you want to change before I hit enter?"

Stupidly, wanting this whole thing to go away and thinking this was his last stab at me following an almost 3 hour witch hunt for coke involving a multi layered mind-4uck, I didn't reverse my story and just cough it up.

He hands over the receipt from Intec for 22k+ that he found in some godforesaken place in my car and says he's 99% sure that I haven't paid duty on any of that. At that point it was all over- he went through the process of seizing the car... and I got slapped with a fine / duty / taxes of $9300.. which of course I had no choice but to pay.


This isn't a poor me story: I rolled the dice, tried to do something I shouldn't have and got caught. Lesson learned. What's worse is against my better judgment I was lying my face off right up until the point where I didn't have any choice but to submit.

Moral of the story is: When they give you that last chance... fess up.

I was pretty happy back in August when I "got away with it" but stupidly forgot about the invoice I had tucked away in some cubby in the car... and it came back and bit me in the ***.

The guy was very thorough and professional about doing his job... he told me after that "if you would have come clean when I gave you the chance, this would have stung a lot less." I replied somewhat acerbically that if he'd laid off the BS about the coke we could have come about this end a lot faster. He said "I was LOOKING for coke, and just now found this." I relented at that point and basically just dropped the bar of soap and let the shower sort out the rest.

So... we come in here every now and then to learn a thing or two from other's painful experience... and let me say that with around 14000 views on this thread I've given people ample opportunity to learn valuable lessons at the expense of my vast stupidity. All very human things... but each time I tried to cut a corner or save a few bucks it's come back and hit me a lot harder than if I'd just done it right the first time.

The car has been a bit of a nightmare- the whole experience has really soured my enthusiasm for even driving it. I don't have any more extensive plans for modding it- I'd considered doing the heads but frankly I can't even handle the power I have now and it sounds like a HUGE pain in the *** to do locally. Even Intec wasn't too excited about what it takes (without pulling the engine) to just do cams and springs / shims.

Anyway guys- thanks to everyone for all the help offered to me before, during and after this lengthy process. If I could do it all over again, I'd have kept the car in Alberta, lent it to Boosted Performance for a few weeks and let him fab up his single kit for the AT... and called it a day.

To those of you other new guys humming and hawing about "single or twin..." Well... Ask yourself what the liftoff on the dig is worth- because going through the motions so far has cost me over 30k.

Sure! You could do it cheaper... as I had as well- Originally I was sitting around 13 and then blew a rod. And then what?

Regardless- the car is awesome... really amazing... but 30k amazing?

I suppose it's only money- I just need to go and make some more