Hi guys, this is my first post on the forum and I am new to the 350Z community. I am looking at getting a used Z. But would prefer one already boosted. I found one with twins for sale within driving distance from my house. However I do not know the specifics on the engines. Check out this article of the engine specs and let me know if this would be a good purchase. The article was in 2006 after the build, but the car still only has 40k miles on it. Thanks for any help / advice on this.

http://www.turbomagazine.com/feature...e/viewall.html


The article is kinda long so here is the jist of it...
[I]
The SGP longblock has been carefully prepared for life under boost. The bare block was bored .020 over, line honed with a torque plate and all water and oil passages were deburred. The block was filled with SGP-spec custom pistons with an 8.5:1 ratio, Pauter rods and balanced and polished crankshaft. The engine is topped with a off-the-shelf SGP race head package that features 1mm-over Inconel SGP valves, Ferrea double-spring valve springs, Ferrea retainers and Ferrea keepers. A set of Tomei 286 camshafts orchestrate valvetrain events.

Boost is provided by the TD-05H-18G turbos that are standard issue in the GReddy kit. A GReddy PRofec B-Spec II boost controller dials in the boost to 16 psi on the street and 23 psi for special occasions. An HKS F-CON V Pro provides tuning control and SGP has wired an HKS A/F Knock Amp on the passenger side bank and an Innovate LM-1 on the driver's side bank of cylinders to generate up-to-date correction data for a seamless sequential tuning scheme. The success of this approach is vividly illustrated on SGP's Dynapak dyno-625 whp and 600 lb-ft of torque.

 

My only doubts about that setup:

HERE

The whole thread is pretty spicy but I know after reading just about the whole thing awhile back that any time I see SGP anything my red flags go up. I started re-reading around 100-105 (last page function doesn't work) and there is some good "orientation" reading to what SGP was to quite a few folks around here.

 

1/2 the parts advertised likely are not in the engine judging by SGP's track record.

 

If you want it go for it. Your money and personally I wouldn't do it. Most of this forum won't do it.

 

i wouldnt from sgp. And in general unless you have an extra 6k or so ready to be put towards it or the DIY skills to rebuild the engine yourself if something is wrong with it i wouldnt get it.

 

^ +2 million. If you want something already boosted get something that is factory boosted.

As with any build you need to be prepared for the worst by having some extra cash around especially buying second hand. Be warned and be sure you absolutely want this. There are a lot of broken hearted 350z/G35 owners out there so do some research.

Good luck.

 

wow. Ok, this really makes me second guess what looked to be a quality build.

 

I read through a lot of the stuff in that SGP thread. It seems like all of the complaints were of people not getting services or parts. But what about the people that actually did get their stuff worked on? Was the work good quality?

I think I may go look at this car to see if I can get a better opinion of it. It is a couple hours away from my house. What if anything should I specifically look for?

I was really excited about this car. But now, after reading how everyone hates these guys idk what to think.

 

if you are serious about it look at getting a through inspection done to check for leaks and make sure everything is there that is supposed to be there. If possible a leakdown and compression test would be good. Where are you in SC?

 

If it looks like a turd, sounds like a turd, walks like a turd, smells like a turd, flies like a turd and is a turd it's probably SGP. There are too many other boosted cars out there to roll the dice on something like this.

 

Upstate. The car is near Charleston though

 

Others had issues with SGP saying they put the parts in then when it went to another shop and got tore down the parts were not in the car...that would scare me the owner may not even know all of the parts he payed for are not in the car maybe you will get lucky and it will be a bad azz car

 

realistically, if the car has the pistons and rods, there wont be an issue outside general neglect.

Thats all that is really needed to make good power and keep the block together. It wasnt sleeved.

The FCON would be a big drawback though as only certified HKS tuners can do anything with it. No real way to check the tune without finding a tuner.

compression and leakdown would be a must, and would hopefully show if you had limp d!ck rods.

 

OP I would highly recommend listening to what these guys are saying. I bought a supercharged Z almost 2 years ago. The supercharger let go last April so I built the short block, turbo'ed the car, swapped the turbo because the APS single maxed out way to soon like everyone here said it would and have dropped about $15k on the car after I bought it. Boosting these cars can be a lot of fun but can get very expensive.

 

How do you know it wasnt sleeved. I know I am about to sound completely ignorant. But whats the FCON? I am guessing Fuel Delivery Computer? Sorry, my tuning on boosted vehicles is limited to my powerstroke.

 

First off anything I see from SGP is an instant turn off for me. Second, I would be very hesitant if the parts are actually in the car or not. Personally, I would look around on forums and on your local classifieds. My friend is on her second boosted Z with no issues which she found in the tri-state area on Craigslist. If you want 600+whp, be prepared to spend some bone, especially if coming from a shop with a not so perfect track record, there may be more problems to come down the road.

 

most shops stayed away from doing sleeved blocks for 600hp and below. if they did it was usually known. im not sure if there is a way to check without taking the engine apart. the fcon is the engine management system

 

Stick with Powerstroke or an N/A Z. You have no idea what you're getting into.

 

Suprasam, thanks for the info.

Djamps, I apreciate the advice, but when I bought the powerstroke I knew nothing about diesels either. Now the engine has been torn down 4 times for modifications. Not trying to be a smarta$$, but Pretty sure no one is born knowing all the ins and outs of boosted rides. We all learn sometime.

 

I'm sure he didn't mean it that way. But Boosted VQs take A LOT. Just look at all of the stories some of the members have shared.