Thanks for the quick reply. I had a feeling it wasn't going to be as easy as sending an email and having a set shipped out- but sometimes we get lucky!

I'll talk to MNR as well and see what they can do. At least I can leave the car with them a week at a time and I think they have the ability to fab up treats like that as well.

 

Definitely go with bigger downpipes. 3" will be perfect/plenty. Having someone fab them up should cost quite a bit less than what most online retailers ask for on a downpipe kit. If you add in some flex pipes in the downpipes you should get that extra bit of clearance to make your life a little easier.
How's your tranny holding up?
I decided to get a cd009 and twin disk so I got an extra auto transmission (and an un-used race clutch pack set) if you need it !

 

I have the APS 3.5" down pipes they were made by Forged Performance it looks like the mated the APS down pipes to the flanges on the JWT down pipes. Then mine goes to a 3" then I had to reduce it 2.5" to mate with the Stillen exhaust. I have planned to get a 3" exhaust still waiting for the right price one one to come along so I have yet to address my exhaust issue.

Larger exhaust is typically better on turbo cars but at 500whp I would be hesitant to say your exhaust is a restriction.

Your car has internal waste gates so Tial waste gates and open dumps are not needed on your set up, I have seen external gates retro fitted to internal gated turbos but is a lot of messing around that I doubt you need to deal with for your goals.

 

I hope to god I don't EVER have to take you up on that. I promised myself next year would be for feel good, gucci mods only.

2012 = FORM > FUNCTION.

The IPT trans still shifts like stock for normal driving and I suspect it would be downright violent in a firefight... if only I had some rubbers that could hold the fort and not run away screaming their heads off when things got nasty. Sadly as I've mentioned before the ol' S Drives no likey torque.

To coin a phrase: "To track without S Drives would be like going deer hunting without your accordion." (Thank you Schwartzkopf)

New rear tires MAY be the exception to my rule for 2012 and my ear is to the ground for a decent deal on RE-11s and a better mantel to put them on.


I'm still curious about the low TQ numbers- despite the auto... What I've been reading about is the narrowing ratio of pressure before and after the compressor and wondering if the smaller TPs and similar sized exhaust may be bogging down the compressor back side... I think a 3" downpipe and the new exhaust will remove any doubt of that.

This is what I've been reading up on... good info for guys who are new to it! http://www.airpowersystems.com/350z/...urbo_boost.htm

 

My turbos were internally gated and we swapped to external waste gate and open dump. Just have to weld the flapper shut and take the block off plate off the exhaust manifold. With the gtm turbos and external gates anyways. I don't know if his is the same or not with his jwt manifolds and turbos etc.

 

He would have to un-install the turbos and manifolds to weld the internal gate shut and the JWT manis do not have provisions for external gates so he have to change to GTM manis and buy the external gates and have piping fabbed then reinstal everything.....for something that is not an issue or restriction with his goals seems like a waste of time and money.

I have also seen down pipes built with a block off plate and the actuator removed with a solid arm put in to keep the internal gate shut that way might be easier way to do it with the turbos in the car.

 

we welded mine with the turbos and mani's mounted. we also put a solid arm on as an extra precaution aswell. but seeing as the jwt doesnt have a provision for that i wouldnt bother, enjoy what you have and save some $

im done spending on mine saving for a down payment for a 2013 viper now

 

I just talked to mnr and the forecast is to go 3" right off the turbo. The elbow, though it looks bigger than 2.5 when I see the photos compared to the tps inside can be restricted even moreso. Plan?

Knock out the elbows and go 3" all the way through to the exhaust. We also talked about brushing up the tune because the boost will come On sooner. Numbers from the mustang Dyno will not really reflect the gain accurately. Thinking I might get them to do a few pulls first and then the upgrade.

Here we go.

 

$500+ for quicker spool, more power (at the same boost) and more boost potential, sure. Especially when your nearing the limit of your turbos' efficiency and can't just add 1-2psi more. Why spend all that money to boost a VQ and skimp on ~$500 downpipes that can make it much more efficient?

 

A few developments on the build with a couple pics- sadly not with the ARC oil cooler yet but that's coming.

Not an FI related update- but an FI build continuation update.

Recently upgraded from my crappy Strafe FG K2 bumper to a decent poly KZ and Impul sides. Exhaust is going on now with the 3" mod we were talking about. The oil cooler will make its way on shortly as well.

They did do a baseline on the car pre-mod and it was pretty unremarkable. This dyno makes haters out of a lot of people but it is what it is. MNR remarked that the torque on the original build came on pretty slow because they figured we were looking for bigger numbers... which is true. We wanted to get to the end of the line with the build and see what it could do- and my current listed stats put us in reasonable territory for the 700 kit with my mods.

MNR suggested I consider tuning to bring the torque on sooner with the help of these new mods and bring the peak hp down. This would shift the power band towards the bottom and middle where guys like me tend to drive more often. I originally had the "Power" map and "economy" maps tuned in my Osiris but I requested they leave the Power map as is (slightly adjusted to accommodate the mods) and replace the "economy" map with this new (to me) concept. Figured that might be a good move. Any other suggestions?

Anyway, here are some before / after shots of the new lines...


BEFORE:



AFTER:

 

how are they going to bring the trq in sooner? did your previous tuner purposely go soft on the midrange timing (both cam and ign)

 

a tad im sure, he tunes a little conservative unless you request otherwise. he tuned my z aswell

 

Okay- now that my Strafe rants are over with (until the next one) I do have some build related updates to post regarding the upgrade to the exhaust.

1) The Greddy Turbo Ti-C exhaust fits nicely but did conflict with the evap cannister on the passenger side. I've read about this before but had forgotten about it. It basically hits right around where that side muffler is. It was quite easily moved over closer to the middle (where the Stillen muffler used to sit) and that disaster was averted. Also- for some reason there is a restriction at the front of the Greddy exhaust- I think Ace mentioned something like that a couple posts ago... Anyway, that's being modified to go straight from 3" down to 2.75- instead of going from 3 to 2.5 up to 2.75 again.

2) While they were working on that they ended up noticing that a bracket necessary for the MD sways I had installed (like 2 years ago) has been missing. I have no idea what bracket they're talking about but they're saying one is definitely missing. So they have that ordered.

3) The new 3" pipes are more or less finished and they are being prepared for install. I've included some photos to show the difference between the original / stock JWT elbow to 2.5" megan racing resonated test pipe. I was shocked at exactly how restricted that elbow is- not only is it MAYBE 2.25" on the inside in total- that limited space is further restricted by a separation between the main exhaust flow and a channel for the waste gate flow. The new pipes dispense with that entirely. One of the guys from MNR could get almost his entire hand inside the new pipes while barely 2 fingers fit inside the larger of the two passages in the old pipe. Yes, you can imagine the subsequent commentary- not appropriate for expansion here.




4) The "bad" news (which, if you think of it, is also good news at this point) was that the wastegates are loose. It's difficult to determine exactly when this was an issue- if it was an oversight from the days with Intec or if it has happened during the break-in and couple thousand klicks since then. Because they are now exposed, the boys from MNR had a chance to double check them and they are rattling away quite noticeably. This will get fixed, of course- but the passenger side one is a little harder to get to- I think because of the starter. Good news because they found it now- instead of at a later time while trying to problem solve something down the road.



So that was my update from yesterday. The oil cooler is still off and they do have all the necessary parts to deal with that.

 

Wow old pipes look so restrictive! I bet there are some notable gains. I'm not a fan of J bungs but looks good anyhow.

 

How much did those set you back?
I'm looking to do the same with my APS downpipes. They taper down from 3" to 2.5".

What did you end up doing for cooling the 5AT?

 

I'm not sure what it cost yet as its still in progress- but I'll let you know once I get the bill.

As for the AT cooling- there's a b+m cooler that's about 9x11x1.5 or so on there. AT is always nice and cool. I'll post a pic of it later on... Not sure where I have it.

 

cool. I've been tryin to find out what ballpark I'll be in.

That's a good choice, I went a similar route with a B&M HI-TEK 13/9 and a PML pan.
I used to see 180-240F temps, now I'm at 120-150F
Here is a pic after 30 min of driving in traffic - 60F outside

 

Djamps- sorry for the possibly ridiculous question but what's the issue with J bungs? What are the alternatives?

Weslutes... I had done some research on the coolers with fans on them and ended up deciding against. Mostly because while driving it might actually inhibit flow- but I guess the fan gains ground when you're in the stop and go stuff during normal driving around town? My climate up here is more hospitable 90% of the time so that probably has an impact as well-

Here is the one I'm using- very simple and to the point:





Tell me more about the PML pan?

 

120-150 is WAYYY too cold. All you are doing is causing undo wear on your oil pump and not evaporating any water in the oil.

colder is not better. You oil should be 160-180 when fully warmed, even with a cooler.

 

I think they are talking about ATF. Is that what you mean, or did you think they were talking about engine oil?