Full of cold air!

ChaseZ

The 13+ (among others) OEM grille covers up nearly half the Treadstone intercooler that comes with TG's kit. Now it runs reasonably cool as it, but this still tells me there is room for more.

So armed with a Dremel I decided to put the theory to the test. The fangs are part of the grille not the bumper cover in these ones so they had to go to. In fact the entirety of the grille portion did.

There was nothing to it really, just a steady hand, the right bits and some patience. The edges left were nice and clean.



I had planned out where I was going to cut based on aesthetics but also with the knowledge that I need semi linear surfaces to bend and mount a new grille afterwards. I'd already used some round hole mesh on the vents in my hood and rear diffuser so I'm going to pick up some similar sheet stainless but with larger openings. (You didn't think I was going to finish it all in one post did you? )

BUT I had to actually test it. So with a small Father's Day cruise already planned, ok it was excuse for a drive but what isn't, I set out with a wide open front end and hot coffee in the cup holder.

I had my temp readings set to Celsius so bear that in mind. Before I was getting around 15c above ambient, more on harder pulls like 1/2 mile events. Now, at 50mph I'm getting ambient. Yes, ambient. It was 22c outside and that's exactly what my AIT were reading.

My oil temps at speed were also 15c lower than they were before. About 5c lower sitting in stop and go traffic. My 25 row Setrab oil cooler sits largeler behind the intercooler on the drivers side, so it was getting more love now too.

Before I didn't see too much difference in AIT between my customized Frozenboost Stillen Speed Density setup and the TG but now it's a whole different story.

Hopefully I don't lose too much of that after I put the new mesh on but either way I won't be covering up half of the intercooler with solid material like what spans the top half of the OEM grille. It will restrict air some compared to wide open but leaving it as is is s bit too 'tuner' for me and don't want to be picking rocks or whatever else out of the fins on a regular basis.

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Next: bending up a new grille

Jayhovah

Love it. Subbed.

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cooltoy

Looks more like the avatar now. Baring teeth.

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Nixin

Now that looks mean.

ChaseZ

Oh man you should hear it now!



Just kidding

TopgunZ

Looks like the stillen bumper I had when I made my video of it climbing about 10f over ambient. If your at ambient then it's breathing even better. Glad to hear it. Not many forces induction kits on the market bring temps in at ambient. Lookin good!

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ChaseZ

Here's a better idea how much air is being blocked by the OEM grille insert. If you put a tape on there it'd be darn close to half..

Elmo370z

Do a v mount

phunk

Make sure that it wont collapse. There is going to be a lot of load on that lower lip into the triple digits speed. You wouldnt want your front end to tear off while going that fast!

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ChaseZ

Won't be any more susceptible than the OEM would be. All that was cutout was the plastic grille piece, which will be replaced by metal. Plus it's bolted to a Z-Speed undertray, so I'm sure it's stronger than stock. Front lip being added too so a bit more rigidity there as well. In short, I'm not concerned about that one bit.

phunk

There was a respected member of the 350z forum a ways back that cut out the same thing. He reported almost wrecking the car when part of the front end tore off from the center of the front lip no longer having the support from the plastic grille. Im not sure exactly why it was so dramatic when it happened, it was a long time ago. I just remember that happening is all. If you are conscious of it and give it enough support im sure it will be fine.

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ChaseZ

Appreciate the heads up. Can't imagine how that happened but I'm not familiar enough with the 350 to know what the construction of it is like. In this case I see it pretty much the same as a Fujimura/Stillen/whatever bumper covers, that have the mesh grille insert in it. As long as it is tied together I don't see how it could be an issue. I'll be using autobody panel adhesive to bond the mesh in from behind and will make doubly sure it's in there well after your advice.

Perhaps I could look at sprayfoaming the inside of the lower lip for some extra rigidity as well, and it would never be seen anyways so couldn't hurt. Nothing wrong with a little overkill. I'll just have to remember to do that AFTER the aftermarket lip is on otherwise I'll be doing some cursing and swearing no doubt.

I did just go play with it a bit before posting this reply, and while I'm not about to try, I could darn near stand on it as is. Best to heed the advice and exercise caution by design though, and thanks for the heads up.

phunk

I didn't realize you were going to put mesh in there too. With that in there well, I'd agree that it should provide support just as well as the plastic grille did

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ChaseZ

This one is just asking for trouble!

eliboy

Subd


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