Turtle64b's Stillen Build Thread

[turtle64b]

I honestly never imagined I'd find myself making one of these haha, but here goes.

My current car is a 2012 370Z Touring Sport with Z1 two piece front brakes, K&N Typhoon Intakes, Z1 upper intake plenum, Z1 lower intake runners, Z1 test pipes and a Borla exhaust, all tested and tuned at Z1 Motorsports.

At the end of this chronicle, I will hope to have a running car with the Stillen SC'er, converted to Air-to-Air (utilizing Topgunz's kit and expert guidance), TBatt's pulley mod (raising the wrap on the SC pulley), CJM S1-SE fuel system, ID1050X injectors, Aeromotive Stealth 340 fuel pump, along with the existing exhaust mods, unless I can find some replacement for my test pipes and/or my stock exhaust manifolds. I will either get the car re-tuned at SOHO (the going recommendation) or back at Z1 (they did pretty good work on my current tune).

I feel solid on the DIY install when it comes to the mechanics of it and I've reviewed the Stillen book for the basic kit install, as well as the "Supplemental" instructions (Link: 370Z Stillen supercharger DIY instructions) from one of the forum members detailing pitfalls and ways to make the install more efficient.

I plan to start work May 2nd-ish (hopefully Topgunz has a kit on the way around then, no rush though ) and have it hopefully wrapped up by May 18th.

Initial props to vgl08 for the excellent care and great effort he took in meticulously packaging, labeling and shipping the base Stillen kit!! Thank you!

All that said, I will do my very best to keep this thread up to date as I do work and I cannot tell you guys how much I will appreciate the input and I will do my best to pay it forward! Thank you all in advance!!

I will post pictures here (https://goo.gl/photos/6wexurgWYzweWzYw7).

-Brett

P.S. If you're in the Charleston area and wanna stop by for a beer and entertainment in that timeframe, shoot me a message haha

[ChaseZ]

Nice. Almost exactly my setup.

While you're at it look at coolant-line deletes for the throttle bodies. No use heat soaking them after all the effort to avoid hot air going in. Which also leads to catch cans and ditching the OEM PCV lines to rid entry of unmetered air (3/8 uni-breathers on the front fittings and a 5/8 line with a tee to a catch can with 5/8 filter on it for the rear bypass fittings). A Specialty Z MAP sensor will keep things in check with accurate readings.

Not that I'm trying to add to your list or anything

[turtle64b]

Small update to list of parts going in.

AMS Lightweight crank pulley (OEM size). (Had the NST lightweight underdrive crank/overdrive alternator pulley and belt set but never put them on due to time/support)
CJM billet fuel pump tophat (reliability)
Aermotive 30A fuel pump wiring upgrade (reliability)

Received the fuel pump, injectors, plugs, and crank pulley today. Seeing all of these parts in one place ready to go only makes me more excited haha.

Still waiting on the fuel system (4/24 delivery) and billet tophat from CJM, the A2A kit, and the wiring kit. Very excited!

Also, spun the volute on the SC as per Topgunz directions as well as removed the A2W exchanger from the Stillen manifold.

[Jayhovah]

Impressive build going for someone with <100 posts!!!! Looking forward to seeing it!

[turtle64b]

Originally Posted by Jayhovah

Impressive build going for someone with <100 posts!!!! Looking forward to seeing it!

Yeah, I've never really had the means to do something like this until recently. I had a '02 Trans Am about 6 years ago that I was looking into modifying heavily, but some poor life choices prevented that haha. Now that I've recovered, have a semi-supportive wife, with regard to car upgrades haha, and I'm done with deployments for awhile, I want to pursue this endeavor. I do a lot of reading here and contribute when I can and hopefully I can give more back once I'm done here! Thanks for the compliment and hopefully the next few weeks and the Z will be nice to me!

[Jayhovah]

Originally Posted by turtle64b

Yeah, I've never really had the means to do something like this until recently. I had a '02 Trans Am about 6 years ago that I was looking into modifying heavily, but some poor life choices prevented that haha. Now that I've recovered, have a semi-supportive wife, with regard to car upgrades haha, and I'm done with deployments for awhile, I want to pursue this endeavor. I do a lot of reading here and contribute when I can and hopefully I can give more back once I'm done here! Thanks for the compliment and hopefully the next few weeks and the Z will be nice to me!

Best of luck! I can certainly relate.. building my Z has been the fulfillment of a 20 year dream every since I modded my RX-7 Turbo in High School... it never ran right and I had to get a stock/reliable honda when I went to college. Always wanted a fast modified car.... Excited to see how yours goes!

ChaseZ will certainly be an invaluable resource of information for your build!

[370Z JT]

any 7AT supporting mods?

[turtle64b]

Originally Posted by 370Z JT

any 7AT supporting mods?

Not yet. Looking at all of the FI threads and such, the 7AT can handle about 600hp/500tq stock. With that said, I will be conservative in my approach to power by staying at least 50 below those numbers. I have no intention as of now to upgrade the pulleys or impellers to produce more power than the stock kit will make, up to 50 below the aforementioned numbers. If I find I can do so relatively safely, I will do so cautiously and tune conservatively.

[Elmo370z]

Originally Posted by turtle64b

Not yet. Looking at all of the FI threads and such, the 7AT can handle about 600hp/500tq stock. With that said, I will be conservative in my approach to power by staying at least 50 below those numbers. I have no intention as of now to upgrade the pulleys or impellers to produce more power than the stock kit will make, up to 50 below the aforementioned numbers. If I find I can do so relatively safely, I will do so cautiously and tune conservatively.

Good luck with the build. Someone out there has the A2A kit with E85 and makes 586whp on 12 psi, so the power is there. You should ditch the lightweight pulley idea and purchase an Ati racing damper in terms of reliability. Also, if you plan on making over 500 foot pounds of torque I believe , don't quote me on this but the stock auto doesn't like to see those numbers.

[turtle64b]

I won't eclipse the 500tq mark on the stock tranny... I'll stay far from it. What have you guys done as far as gauges and mounting?

[Jayhovah]

Originally Posted by Elmo370z

Also, if you plan on making over 500 foot pounds of torque I believe , don't quote me on this but the stock auto doesn't like to see those numbers.

Originally Posted by turtle64b

I won't eclipse the 500tq mark on the stock tranny... I'll stay far from it. What have you guys done as far as gauges and mounting?

I think Elmo might be right here... I think the consensus on here is that the stock 7AT is only good up to 400wtq and even that is just a guideline and not concrete. I think the bigger power 7AT builds have all had built transmissions from Fast Intentions or Level 10 or some other kind of upgrade.

[370Zsteve]

Sub'd for updates, GLWB!

[turtle64b]

Originally Posted by Jayhovah

I think Elmo might be right here... I think the consensus on here is that the stock 7AT is only good up to 400wtq and even that is just a guideline and not concrete. I think the bigger power 7AT builds have all had built transmissions from Fast Intentions or Level 10 or some other kind of upgrade.

That is probably true, but I'm not looking to be a "bigger power" guy just yet. I will stay conservative for the stock transmission for now and when I'm ready, I'll probably go with the Level 10 transmission built for beating haha. At the moment (until some of the extra parts sell) I'm a little over budget on the build, so if I have to stay conservative for the moment, I'll be ok with that. And, if the tranny fails me, the wifey will give me some "I told you so's" and I'll tell her that I've gotta get a new tranny. Can't really argue at that point, right? lol. From what I've seen, 1-4 hold fine, it's getting on it in gears 5-7.

Thanks for looking out, I really do appreciate it! I will make sure that the first real drive doesn't result in her last real drive for awhile!

I would say that the next round of upgrades will see a Brian Crower stroker out to the 4.3ish range, the impeller upgrade, and the new tranny. I've gotta get through this project successfully first though! haha

[TopgunZ]

Luckily, centri chargers are not torque monsters. Plus they bring it in about as gentle as could be.

[Jayhovah]

Sounds good! Looks like the future is bright for this build!

If you are trying to save in the short term, you can probably leave out the return fuel system since you are going to start out conservative, but stick with the 1000cc injectors and upgraded pump. The return system can be added later when you go for more power.

You might also consider going with the Walbro 450/485 vs Aeromotive 340.. you'll want the extra headroom when you go fully built. I also feel like I hear more about Aeromotive pumps failing, but that may just be my imagination.

These changes will work for you now while still giving you an upgrade path for more power in the future without upgrade existing parts. All of this is just my opinion =)