370 mods
 

Thought I'd post a shopping list of mods I wanna do on my z and see what you guys think. Im gonna stay NA and I'm aiming for at least 400 horse.

Cold-air
Intake manifold
longtube headers
exhaust (obviously)
pulleys
4.5 stroker
bored (if i can)
ported/polish heads (if necessary)
cams
tune

Dunno if all that is worth the money. If you want at least 400hp just go FI.

Oh and gears

FI?

Forced Induction.

Because of the complexity of the variable valve timing very little is being done with the heads so I'm not sure porting and polishing is much of an option. Boring and stroking is going to be big bucks. Gears will mess up Syncro Rev Match in the manual and Rev Matched Downshifts in the automatic transmission, just something to be aware of. The pulleys, intake, exhaust and tuning will get you to maybe 390 HP at the flywheel (about 330 HP at the wheels). I'm NA myself but if I was after a big power bump I'd go with the Stillen supercharger kit, it's an excellent choice if you actually want to drive the car as opposed to constantly working on it. The Stillen kit doesn't have the power of the turbo kits but it has good torque and decent top end. Their stuff always seems to be very well thought out with good attention to detail. It is the only one that I'm aware of that is CARB approved (a very difficult thing to do and it says a LOT about the quality of the system) and it looks very OEM when you pop the hood.

I think that would be a beast of a car. Expensive but cool. Stroked high compression build with long tubes n such would really rip

Issue is you have to not do the caned tune and go get an actual tune which is really recommended anyways, your car might not work if you do use the canned tune. otherwise it is a decent kit it all depends on what your looking for.

I've figured this would run about $4-$5000, doing some of the work myself. I'm not too interested in porting/polishing but I thought Id throw it in to see what anyone would say. I've heard gears are a wonder on the 370 and I used to have a gear mustang and it was the best mod I had really. I really don't want any power adders, just personal. I'd also be going with a twin plate clutch, lighter flywheel and driveshaft. Thanks for the all that info! I appreciate it man

Thank ya. I think it would be ;) I'm going for a more unique setup. I have always tried to be a little different

A 4.5L stroker kit will run you around $6k
Exhaust+LTH - $2200ish
Cold air & intake manifold - $1000

Doing the work yourself is going to help a lot on labor since the costs above are just for the parts. If you get this going it will be a great build since no one has done a NA build yet like this.

Why?
 

Why not drop in a crate engine?

I see a lot of posts dealing with squeezing power out of that poor little six. How about going the Shelby/AC-Bristol route?

What's that "canned tune" refer too. I'm looking to do some work eventually and always appreciated the fact that stillen had such quality items from reading around. Its sometimes worth less power for hassle free. But i must admit this is a very useful thread at least to me I'm newer to the tune scene and this helps me weigh the options.

Again like some of the others have said, Yes it cool becasue it is Unique, Yours, But for the $$$ Go FI I was looking for 400 WHP or so, I thougt about staying NA and doing a stroker also, But for the $$$ and the not the IF" you want more a FI kit is always easier, With a SC you can change pulleys and up the boost( Stillen kit- I have),
If your all NA get to 350 WHP (With Tune) or so and want more , Where to you go? Grab another 6-7k and buy a SC or Turbo kit, Now you've spent twice the money, 15-18k

You go Fi now want more later, Pulley change, Injectors, MAF's Spark plugs Retune all under 1500k. Want more than that add only $1200 for pistons and rods and then go nuts,,

Canned tune it the poop tune Stillen will send you with their kit, Car will not run right mine did not, Return to be safe and gto get the car to run correctly.

do you understand that you will spend twice if not triple the amount of $$ to stay N/A versu FI ?

my big advice is this way , unless you are racing with rules that dont permit you to have an FI engine but as to stay NA.
GO for it ! you might be seing 350-370whp (stroked) with all those mods

but seriously if its not for the racing purpose , just go with a SC or TT !!
your wallet will be much more happier !!


I started at 256whp and ended to 324 on the same dyno with about the same weather . I spend about 6000$

Definitely forgot about that $6k for the stroker ;) Thanks for the reminder.

Cuz its probably been done before and I want to put it together myself

I really appreciate all the input guys! Really. I hear what you're saying about bang for buck, but its really a firm goal to stay natural and build it. I know turbo or sc would be faster and better for the $ but its too easy for me. Like I said I love being a little different ya know? I only want 400-450wheel and then I'd move on to another project so I'm not intending to go past that so im not too worried about spending double or triple what it'd cost for FI.

Again thanks for the input! keep it comin

You're not different, and this road is a painful one. Please search and read up on it. You'll have the masses swaying you each way when you create a thread like this.

You're a dreamer like the rest of the NA crowd, I myself being one of them. I spent 3k and got 20hp....just forked over another 1,600 for LTH just to gain like maybe 9hp? Even then I may not even break 300 like the VHR crowd.

Search

/thread

Is it really that hard to get even close to 400 NA?? I've searched and found 300+ isnt too hard at all so I figure 400 is within reason. Its different around here I guess, cuz all I see is TT.

Should have bought an M3 for the dough your gonna spend.

To see 400WHP on a NA is not going to happen, Like said early 350 WHP IMO, Guys have not done cams, but with the VVEL what is there to gain if anything, Guys went LTH's and go nothing for the $$, I was at 300 WHP with IE, Headers and HFC's and a retune would have maybe? got me to 340WHP but would have cost like 2k? Add 6k to that for built 4.5 maybe another 20-25WHP? For 9k I went from 300 WHP to 412WHP ( Yes same dyno), I know the guy above me said this but if you wanted to be NA and at 400 WHP, The VQ was the wrong choice. Maybe the new 5.0 or a M3 would have been better, :/

FI is the only way to go, Read everything you can on this many guys have tried and not got there,

If a VQ35DE engine can but out 350 to the wheels Na with all those mods Why can't our motor be at least 400? Z1 performance got 320 to the wheels on a 350z. We don't know what this engine can do until someone tries. But yea that someone is gonna Have to have a lot of money. 20k to work with. GTM has a NA 500 HP motor for the 370z

no need to replace the driveshaft, it's a carbon composite anyways. If your trying to stay NA, the cams and high compression stroker kit is definitely a necessity. I would look into the optimum compression ratio is with E85 on this motor. With cams I think it's doable, but no one on this side of the ocean has installed them. It will definitely cost more than forced induction, and unique. Problem is, every time someone talks about something like this, the build disappears off the map or they just go FI.

If you're really serious hit me up, I know a guy.. 4.3L Brian Crower stroker kit for christmas? :D

LSx motor swap. cheaper and easier than building our motor. Tons more n/a power potential. /thread.

IBTL...


you better be rolling in dough kid

Please do a search, there has been tons of these threads.

lol good xmas gift! ill keep that in mind
Oh it is? Well alright then, thanks for tellin me. I havnt started this project yet so ya it probably will drop off the map at least till I start on it. But I just wanted some input. I definitely got more than i was expecting.
Thats what im sayin, ive seen some **** with the 350's so why is it so hard to make 400 na?.. I may not even need the stroker, according to what ive seen here and elsewhere. I guess we'll see.