Quote:
Originally Posted by wstar
Taking a factory NA car and turning it into a tuned FI machine is not a trivial task. I'm not saying it's not possible to do it reliably, but honestly when people are selling $10K kits and making it sound like it's a simple install + tune job, they're full of ****. You need a reliable shop that can do all the work from start to finish and own the project, and which has some track record of success in similar projects. The meta-problem here is the waffling between three different guys, none of whom seem to be capable of doing the job. I highly doubt that K&N filter oil on the MAFs is at the heart of this problem. That's really a relatively minor issue, and easily addressed.
In the big picture, you see so many more failures than successes in these endeavors that I wonder why anyone goes down the FI-upgrade path at times. It's always going to cost significantly more than you think it will, and it's always going to have reliability problems (well, unless you use a really badass shop that can own the process and do it right, but then it's going to cost even more). If you need a 600hp car, maybe buy one that's meant for it by the factory. Or just drop a tuned LS7 in the thing; figuring out altering mount points and making a custom driveshaft is way easier than this.
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Thanks for the input ...
Some good insight for sure ... and I'm learning as I go.
The actual cause for the motor failure hasn't been determined, but there hasn't been any lack of speculation though.
I agree that these cars weren't made to be pushed beyond a certain practical limit without inviting problems.
Wish't I would'a know'd that before I got this far in to it.
It wasn't my choice to waffle between the 3 tuners...well, really only 2 Tuners...the third one wasn't actively involved but the fact that he closed his shop to deal with his family loss did put pressure on to come up with another plan.
In defense of Tuner A (my guy) ... he's really a great guy and knowledgeable in what he does - which is mostly Lambo's, Mercedes, Ferrari's, Audi, and the like.
He's built a monster Ultima GTR kit car for a client.
He's done some 350z's as well, and the original build with the stock Stillen went off without a hitch - no complaints.
He also did a bit of racing when he had the time...building own and turning a 9.6 with his Eagle Talon.
I don't think either one of us could have anticipated some of the problems we faced going forward with the build from there on though.
It wasn't an easy thing trying to organize the plan once goal was set, research the options, weigh the pro's and con's, and then work with the different vendors.
He is a small but personable shop and does work with other shop owners when he needs to outsource something.
That lack of full in house capability came back to bite us.
I didn't realize that things could/would get too complicated and we would exceed the shops capabilities.
The merry-go-round with the Tuners started when he wasn't able to unlock the canned Stillen tune...and then it got a little out of control trying to find a solution.
(I never did get to meet Tuner B and Tuner C did have some credentials regarding racing and tuning the Z cars).
In hindsight, it's been a bit stressful with so many variables with mechanics, parts, vendors, and schedules.
But even the reputable full service shops mentioned on this Forum have their problems with these cars.
I guess it's the price to pay for Speed.