Back on topic and day two update.
It was a bit of a slow day, and considering I spent a lot of time in the shop, unfortunately not much progress was made. There was a lot of time spent here (on my “thinking chair”):
I am trying to figure out the best possible way to get the 2.5” aluminum piping from the turbo compressor to the intercooler, and it is a bit of a PITA. The reason for that is that I am trying to leave everything on the car as is, no moving of sensor wires (clips) no trimming plastic, as non invasive as possible.
I did however manage to find the final resting spot for the PS cooler and the oil cooler. As with the rest, there is no need to open the lines and drain anything, just a simple flip of the bracket on the right hand side of the cooler:
Oil cooler is rather simple and straight forward. No magic here:
I did manage to pull the aftermarket headers off the car, and install the OEM’s. This was mainly due to this eventually becoming a production kit. With OEM headers I know that they are perfect, and will be in the same spot on every car. I have noticed that aftermarket headers can differ, and the three bolt flange can either be more forward, or back of where the OEM would be. Same goes for the angle of the flange…you just never know. When they are built, the welding (heat) makes them shrink and move around.
While on the topic of headers, since I have a 350z, I wanted you guys to see how different these manifold really are. It is obvious that there is a huge difference, and that Nissan realized that the 370z should get some decent manifolds
This is where you will see a huge difference in performance, as you can see the 350z header has an outlet of only 1.65” and when throwing boost in to the mix, that is very small:
Now the 370z exhaust manifold at 2.2”:
That is a 50% increase in cross sectional area, and a significant increase of flow.
Side by side:
IMO the OEM exhaust manifold are well built, large enough, and there is no need to ever upgrade to aftermarket. I really don't think there is much to gain (if anythig at all).
I did get a bit of work done on the charge piping:
I am not sure if this will be the way this kit ends up. I also made a section that was oval and the clearance to the tire was a lot better (when steering wheel cranked to the right).
Clearance before going oval:
So tomorrow is another day and I will be right back at this. I also spent some time looking at turbo placement, and realy like the way things are looking on the passenger side. The 370z has a lot more room in that area than the 350z (the pics in the first post). This is good news, and should make the exhaust side of things go rather smooth.
The owner of the car also came, and there was a sense of excitement…much like a 12 year old school girl. He admitted to it too.