So as the title says, I'm trying to plan out a relatively modest and reliable N/A build for my 08 base 350z. The car is my daily driver so reliability is by far the most important factor here, but I do track, drift, and autoX.

As for mods, I already have a Quiafe lsd in, I am about to purchase an HD slave and master cylinder along with lightweight aluminum flywheel and organic clutch as well as SS clutch and brake lines, I will be going with Koni TrueChoice phase 2 coilovers, some brand HFC, either custom or Stillen dual exhaust with x-pipe, and possibly shorty headers ceramic coated.

Now this is where I'm a bit unsure, I've been going through a lot of posts looking for more information on cams, injectors, and tuning. I think based on what I've read, when getting toward the 300 whp mark it is likely that you will have to upgrade your injectors, and I'm planning on doing so. But I don't know much about cams and tuning them. I had read a post from Z1 who mentioned he would go with the Tomei 264's for a moderate build. So due to my lack of knowledge on the subject I have a few questions about cams and tuning.

Will upgrading cams to say 264's compromise reliability? Assuming the car is tuned and all of the above mods have been completed.

Does an UpRev tune allow for tuning intake and exhaust, or will I have to go with some stand alone, and if so can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks

 

How many miles does your car have? What about new bearings? rings/pistons? Are you going there?

 

68k, not really planning on opening the engine up much. From what I hear the HR is a pretty stout motor and shouldn't require such mods when staying well below around 500hp.

Edit: The car is manual btw.

 

My opinion,
I wouldn't bother with cams, injectors, headers. They cost alot of money & complicate things. Osires uprev tune after mods, + gears 3:90 or 4:08's is all you need. Exhaust is fine. I just have test pipes with STOCK exhaust, resonator delete. Best of luck to you. HR=great engine.

DON'T touch intakes. K/N filters is all that you need.

 

^^^

+1

Also isn't a "build", more like a long bolt on list!

Good luck and keep us posted!

 

Is there really a definition of the word "build" in this context that limits it's use in this case?

Also, I was thinking about doing the final drive, but setting the backlash on the diff alone was quite a pain due to the new bearings, I can't imagine doing the same to the pinion. Just thinking about it gives me a headache.

And as far as intake goes, I've heard different things. I've determined that k&n is not for me because they tend to let in quite a bit of debris for an extremely negligible amount of power so I just went with a Wix filter. But after doing the exhaust and getting ready for a tune I can't tell if something like a CAI would make a difference once tuned.

 

I don't mind you using the term, just the scene and super enthusiast will inform you other wise. The whole intake thing is just to save pennies seeing the gain is minimal, I went with a long tube intake. No real road testing at speed has been done so many debunk the whole CAI thing an claim stock to be better!

I would say to start would be quality test pipes and a tune! This would be the biggest gain over stock!

Then Nismo S-tune exhaust because of its bigger piping over stock.

Then gears

Then After that it gets hairy...

 

Ok, well while I do appreciate your input I would still like to know about the questions I had in my original post regarding cams, injectors, and tuning.

 

LOL. Don't listen to this guy - clueless. K/N filters that make zero power are better than longtube intakes? Testpipes make more power than full longtube headers? I wish people like you would stop posting, I'm starting to remember why I stopped coming here.

 

JWT will probably give you the best support on cams (and have the best grinds) I would call and inquire with them first. Depending on how serious you are, don't cut corners, just do it right the first time.

 

wouldnt really say that the major engine builders as of late have been suggesting kelfords, and from what i have seen they have a faster acceleration looking at the durations at .050 inch although its a little harder to get that vs the advertised duration(they get to max lift longer and hold it longer, better for making power under the curve) also can purchase them seperately similar to how tomei sells theres allowing the person to fine tune there setup.

op any time you increase power your compromising reliability, how much is variable and your not going to break anything with your plans unless its a poor tune or the engines already hurt however just should point that out. cams will be the biggest hit because they move the rpms up increasing stresses and also rightshift where the biggest bang is made giving it a little bit of a double whammy. that said its not going to give you a big hit to reliability however it does degrade it some.

if your drifting though thats pretty hard on the engine itself and you should probably buy a beater for daily driving. lsx swap prob give you the best bet for what your looking for to be honest but its not cheap, but then again neither is cams and headers.

 

 

Well I'll certainly talk to JWT then for their recommendation, how about tuning. Will I be able to reap all the benefits from the cams with an UpRev tune or will I require some additional or other engine management?

 

If you have the money man do whatever! Hopefully you have a trusted shop to crack the engine up for the simplest job of cams? Injectors, we've had a few guys claim the duty cycle being reached on thier cars once reaching 300whp. I brought R35 injectors, in hopes my **** bucket gets there as well...

Tuning is the biggest let down with the equation. Some tuners don't know anything and claim you get a good tune. Others just reset the ECU for your mods and up it a little!

 

no reason you cant use uprev plenty of people use it for much higher power goals then that. one thing to note though is the higher velocity from kelford cams would cause more wear on the valvetrain but i cant see it being that big of a deal. and likely not something that is going to affect it in the engines lifetime. if your gona do it though now would be the time for a build engine since to do cams you have the engine halfway or more apart anyway

 

Cams will usually require a motor drop and significant disassembly. That's a lot of labor for a few hp...

 

I understand the concern about cams, but I am not asking if it is an expensive nor an easy job. I do the majority of the work/ mods on my car myself or have a friend who is an extremely experienced mechanic. He just got done fixing a hack job some shop did to an R35 that makes a measly 650whp.

So Kelford cams are certainly something to look into, how about supporting mods for the cams like springs and retainers or something else?

 

"springs and retainers or something else" Just spend the money on cams, do all that work, & leave the old tired springs & everything else alone. This is my comment on your thread.

 

I say just go, i/e/hfcs/tune/light wheels/some nice brake pads and a tune, ull have a nice package ~300whp Z

 

Bored at work so ill type an essay lol
Never understood why people on here seem to think cams give only a few hp.
Cams arent made to just work by themselves with stock intakes and exhaust.
Pair them with springs and retainers a well made intake and a serious exhaust set up with a good tune and they will really begin to shine plus you can rev to the moon lol
The VQ engines are nowhere near maxed out with just a few bolt ons.

cptwiggles youre on the right course with a few of your mods you have listed like the Quaife diff HD slave and Master cyl I have all of those and love them.
As for shorty headers and HFC I would skip that all together and just get long tube headers. If sound becomes and issue or you still want some sort of catalytic converter for emissions purposes then add the Motordyne XYZ Y-pipe to them with choice of straight pipe,resonator or cat attachment which you can change out any time.

So my opinion on your mod list would be, (key words MY OPINION)

INTAKE- Im still not really sold on the long tube cold air intakes but hopefully someone can show solid proof of gains, I personally run stock air boxes with K&N drop ins. One thing to change for better could be to replace the rubber tube from the box to the Throttle body with a smooth flowing one. Im sure there are better flowing intakes to be had, no way the stock ones are as good as it gets, ever see the tiny 2 inch diameter hole behind the filter?

EXHAUST- Long Tube Headers + XYZ pipe W/ and whatever exhaust you choose after that is up to your sound preference.

FUEL- I think higher flowing Injectors should be enough on the fuel delivery
like King mentioned in an earlier post

HEAD WORK- Cams, springs and retainers to allow for higher revving while still getting power up there.

REAR END- In conjunction with your Quaife diff I would go with the 4.08 gear.
(combo im running and absolutely loving it esp with a raised redline to make up for the MPH per gear loss)

TUNING- Uprev lol as simple as that