[Build Thread] -- Journey to 700+ WHP [Supercharger]

[cupcakez]

Yes. Im 99.99% sure it was the same person who worked on my Red Z back when I did the initial engine swap (IPP going in for first time). That shop since then has known to be shady for quite a few things. Im sure the person who worked on it would never admit his wrong doings or mistakes on my IPP block he worked on (pulley being one of them). I dont wana start any drama so I didn't fully confront him about it but he knows what he did or didn't di. Hes lucky the engine is still running healthy though or I really would have went after him.

He denies it was him and that it was someone else who touched the engine after but fact remains is that nobody touched the pulley system after him cause there was no need to. It was just a straight swap from red to yellow lol.
Only thing taken off was the engine harness really and the belt.

Also. Update on timeline!

4th tire is coming in today instead of freaking Thursday, thank goodness.

So this pushes things a bit ahead of schedule.

Tomorrow I will do all the tire work at a local firestone in Eugenes city, and also pick up and deliver the two missing parts for the diff to be completed.

This should be the last things, and hopefully he will find time to test drive it and tune it a bit while making sure all feels safe in his standards!

More updates coming soon!

["Z"en]

Originally Posted by cupcakez

Yes. Im 99.99% sure it was the same person who worked on my Red Z back when I did the initial engine swap (IPP going in for first time). That shop since then has known to be shady for quite a few things. Im sure the person who worked on it would never admit his wrong doings or mistakes on my IPP block he worked on (pulley being one of them). I dont wana start any drama so I didn't fully confront him about it but he knows what he did or didn't di. Hes lucky the engine is still running healthy though or I really would have went after him.

He denies it was him and that it was someone else who touched the engine after but fact remains is that nobody touched the pulley system after him cause there was no need to. It was just a straight swap from red to yellow lol.
Only thing taken off was the engine harness really and the belt.

Also. Update on timeline!

4th tire is coming in today instead of freaking Thursday, thank goodness.

So this pushes things a bit ahead of schedule.

Tomorrow I will do all the tire work at a local firestone in Eugenes city, and also pick up and deliver the two missing parts for the diff to be completed.

This should be the last things, and hopefully he will find time to test drive it and tune it a bit while making sure all feels safe in his standards!

More updates coming soon!

Fingers crossed!

[cupcakez]

02/27/2019 Update -- So I ran quite a few car-progress related errands yesterday!

- Picked up the correct non-threaded axles for my vehicle to fit the Quaife LSD that came from the Red 2015 base coupe model, dropped it off at Eugene's house

- Took all 8 tires (4 old ones w/ rims + 4 brand new Michelin PS4S) to a local Firestone at Eugene's city to dismount old rims and put onto new tires, disposed the old ones at Firestone. Also bought new TPMS hardware for the tires as well which was also put on, and of course, all new tires were balanced. Once the tires are back onto the car -- we will find out of the check engine light is on. If so, we will reset the system so that it goes away! (This is in case it shows up though of course, due to new tires and the new TPMS hardware)

- Eugene had to order a serpentine belt because the previous one that was being used -- when it fell off the drive belt for when the pulley slid out, it twisted and altered the integrity of it and is no longer good.

- Eugene went out of his way to go to a machine shop and had them make custom oil adapters for the oil cooler sandwich plate to make sure it seats perfectly with no gap, as well as make the custom bolt to fit into the hole of the pulley that slid out. He picked those pieces up on Tuesday and put them into the car -- that's when he found out the drive belt was not long enough for some reason, so he ordered a belt 1 inch longer than that one he was trying to put on for so long (45minutes+).

- We removed the 20mm and 15mm spacers that the previous owner of my Z had put onto the car

- Eugene had trouble removing the old rear axles on the car because whoever had it before me, had messed with the axles and apparently on the nuts, cut slits into the difficult-to-remove nut. At first he tried a long extension breaker bar, but it would not budge. Then added a long metal pipe to make it about 4 feet or longer long, and still would not budge. So he grabbed his electric heat gun and we heated it up to 260+ degrees, then he used an impact gun and that is what made the nut come off the car, thankfully! Otherwise I would have had useless axles since we wouldn't have been able to remove it if it weren't for the heat!

- The new belt that was ordered is coming in tomorrow -- we are hoping it will fit. If not, we will return it and get 1 inch LONGER than the one coming in tomorrow.

- The only things left is the finish putting together the diff / axles area of the vehicle, find a correct belt that fits on the serpentine side, and top off car with necessary fluids. I will be using 5w-40 instead of 5w-30 oil now, since that is what he recommends (or 0w-40 I believe he said also works).

- If all goes well, it will be able to be test driven for leaks and he will also finish tuning the car, then returned to me.


Things he suggests I do when I get it back:

(1) Alter the Y Pipe of the A2A kit, by using the original stillen SC charge pipe and cutting it to re-create possibly a better fitting, user-friendly and more service-able pipe (will require me to go to a machine or welding shop to create a custom pipe that makes things fit easier on my car)

(2) Raise my car a little bit, maybe even back to stock height because right now, with the AAM oil spacer, that is now the lowest point of the car and it is actually pretty dangerously low...so I may need to raise the car a bit to be safe when daily driving.

(3) Swap out the Stillen Exhaust system I have on the car which came with the purchase...back to a stock exhaust system since the stock exhaust system has a flex on it, while the stillen exhaust system does not have the flex part for the exhaust. It may not get as good air flow but at least there will be flex.

(4) Eventually get new pulleys and replace the ones that have metal showing on the grooves because otherwise it will wear out my belts quicker if I keep it the way it is now.

-- More Updates Soon! --

[redondoaveb]

Originally Posted by cupcakez

02/27/2019 Update -- So I ran quite a few car-progress related errands yesterday!

- Picked up the correct non-threaded axles for my vehicle to fit the Quaife LSD that came from the Red 2015 base coupe model, dropped it off at Eugene's house

- Took all 8 tires (4 old ones w/ rims + 4 brand new Michelin PS4S) to a local Firestone at Eugene's city to dismount old rims and put onto new tires, disposed the old ones at Firestone. Also bought new TPMS hardware for the tires as well which was also put on, and of course, all new tires were balanced. Once the tires are back onto the car -- we will find out of the check engine light is on. If so, we will reset the system so that it goes away! (This is in case it shows up though of course, due to new tires and the new TPMS hardware)

- Eugene had to order a serpentine belt because the previous one that was being used -- when it fell off the drive belt for when the pulley slid out, it twisted and altered the integrity of it and is no longer good.

- Eugene went out of his way to go to a machine shop and had them make custom oil adapters for the oil cooler sandwich plate to make sure it seats perfectly with no gap, as well as make the custom bolt to fit into the hole of the pulley that slid out. He picked those pieces up on Tuesday and put them into the car -- that's when he found out the drive belt was not long enough for some reason, so he ordered a belt 1 inch longer than that one he was trying to put on for so long (45minutes+).

- We removed the 20mm and 15mm spacers that the previous owner of my Z had put onto the car

- Eugene had trouble removing the old rear axles on the car because whoever had it before me, had messed with the axles and apparently on the nuts, cut slits into the difficult-to-remove nut. At first he tried a long extension breaker bar, but it would not budge. Then added a long metal pipe to make it about 4 feet or longer long, and still would not budge. So he grabbed his electric heat gun and we heated it up to 260+ degrees, then he used an impact gun and that is what made the nut come off the car, thankfully! Otherwise I would have had useless axles since we wouldn't have been able to remove it if it weren't for the heat!

- The new belt that was ordered is coming in tomorrow -- we are hoping it will fit. If not, we will return it and get 1 inch LONGER than the one coming in tomorrow.

- The only things left is the finish putting together the diff / axles area of the vehicle, find a correct belt that fits on the serpentine side, and top off car with necessary fluids. I will be using 5w-40 instead of 5w-30 oil now, since that is what he recommends (or 0w-40 I believe he said also works).

- If all goes well, it will be able to be test driven for leaks and he will also finish tuning the car, then returned to me.


Things he suggests I do when I get it back:

(1) Alter the Y Pipe of the A2A kit, by using the original stillen SC charge pipe and cutting it to re-create possibly a better fitting, user-friendly and more service-able pipe (will require me to go to a machine or welding shop to create a custom pipe that makes things fit easier on my car)

(2) Raise my car a little bit, maybe even back to stock height because right now, with the AAM oil spacer, that is now the lowest point of the car and it is actually pretty dangerously low...so I may need to raise the car a bit to be safe when daily driving.

(3) Swap out the Stillen Exhaust system I have on the car which came with the purchase...back to a stock exhaust system since the stock exhaust system has a flex on it, while the stillen exhaust system does not have the flex part for the exhaust. It may not get as good air flow but at least there will be flex.

(4) Eventually get new pulleys and replace the ones that have metal showing on the grooves because otherwise it will wear out my belts quicker if I keep it the way it is now.

-- More Updates Soon! --

Isn't the stock exhaust going to extremely restrictive, especially for your power goals? Also, I hope you're not going to use the stock cats, especially in the stock location.

[Chuck33079]

Originally Posted by redondoaveb

Isn't the stock exhaust going to extremely restrictive, especially for your power goals? Also, I hope you're not going to use the stock cats, especially in the stock location.

I'd sooner have a shop weld in a flex section than go back to stock if you're trying for power.

[cupcakez]

Originally Posted by Chuck33079

I'd sooner have a shop weld in a flex section than go back to stock if you're trying for power.

Good idea, I might visit my local muffler shop sometime this year to have that done! Thanks for the idea!

[cupcakez]

Originally Posted by redondoaveb

Isn't the stock exhaust going to extremely restrictive, especially for your power goals? Also, I hope you're not going to use the stock cats, especially in the stock location.

I have successfully have it set up to where I do not need to worry about smog checks in CA anymore, so I am now free to mod the car however I want. I have stock cats on there right now, but I may remove them in the future

[redondoaveb]

Originally Posted by cupcakez

I have successfully have it set up to where I do not need to worry about smog checks in CA anymore, so I am now free to mod the car however I want. I have stock cats on there right now, but I may remove them in the future

You might as well remove them right now, they're going to get destroyed from excess heat. Get a set of test pipes.

[Chuck33079]

Originally Posted by redondoaveb

You might as well remove them right now, they're going to get destroyed from excess heat, then the cat material will get sucked back up into the motor and wreck your built motor. Get a set of test pipes.

Fixed.

[TopgunZ]

You need a serviceable pipe? I know you like creating a lot of work for yourself but how many times do you plan on servicing your pipe? (No pun intended)

[cupcakez]

Originally Posted by TopgunZ

You need a serviceable pipe? I know you like creating a lot of work for yourself but how many times do you plan on servicing your pipe? (No pun intended)

Haha, Idk that's just what was suggested I do. I personally don't have a problem with the way the pipe is now, but if I am going to have someone work on my car in the future for any reason, I'd like to accommodate that person if possible.

I guess it's because the pipe was really hard to put in, and if we took it out, it would be as much of a pain to put it back in -- not sure if we installed it wrong or are doing it wrong, but that's just that lol.

I think he just wanted it more user-friendly to remove and put back in without hassle - i could be wrong though

[TopgunZ]

That sounds rediculous to me... almost as rediculous as putting the stock exhaust on because it has a flex joint.

1000s of free flowing exhausts out there and never heard of a problem without a flex...not once.

With stock cats and stock exhaust you will make like 18psi though if that's your thing. Except you will lose 50+whp easily.

["Z"en]

Originally Posted by cupcakez

Haha, Idk that's just what was suggested I do. I personally don't have a problem with the way the pipe is now, but if I am going to have someone work on my car in the future for any reason, I'd like to accommodate that person if possible.

I guess it's because the pipe was really hard to put in, and if we took it out, it would be as much of a pain to put it back in -- not sure if we installed it wrong or are doing it wrong, but that's just that lol.

I think he just wanted it more user-friendly to remove and put back in without hassle - i could be wrong though

2.75" vs 3" pipe on supercharged vehicles.

[cupcakez]

Well it is what it is. Part of what is posted on here is so that I can look back, the other part is so that I don't forget what others suggest / say to me in case I need to look back at it.

For now, I just want a working reliable car, lol. I don't really care about power levels at the moment since right now it is a big fat zero! :O
And Eugene is graciously providing that for me even when he doesn't have to help me out and could have refused to. Although we don't always see eye to eye on everything, I can understand where he is coming from. I trust him fully with my vehicle and that he is taking care of everything, so I definitely take his suggestions into strong consideration since he is the one working on my car.

I do take your guys' constructive feedback as well very strongly because I respect a ton of you on here too!
But for now, I will focus on having a reliable car that I can drive to work every day and such as a DD, then pay everything off, then worry about upgrades if I still want it after all is paid off!

[cupcakez]

03/01/2019 Update

THE CAR TURNED ON!!!! I HEARD IT FOR THE FIRST TIME!!! (via phone) lol!!

(1) Belt he bought works and fits -- some pulleys were rearranged to make the longer belt fit.

(2) High pressure cooler reservoir was rubbed on by the previous belt we had on which means it was not installed correctly, so he replaced it with the OEM older version non-pressurized coolant reservoir despite the car having the correct plumbing for the newer pressurized one. He replaced it because the coolant was leaking due to the belt rubbing on it.

(3) Transmission fluid is being adjusted now as the car is on.

(4) Eugene will take it to the gas station to fill it up with gas and then drive it around right now

(5) So far, no leaks or anything was found as the car was idling in his shop

(6) I'M SO EXCITED!!!! LETS HOPE NO MORE PROBLEMS ARISE FROM THE TIME HE DRIVES IT, TUNES IT, AND TESTS IT!

I owe sooooo much to Eugene for helping me out when he could have refused to.
He is such a genuine and honest person, I don't know what I would have done without him fixing the issues my car had. (So many I could write an encyclopedia on it).
I am so glad he reached out to me in the beginning when I had my red Z, and I am even more happy that I joined these forums. I have learned so much through everyone here and their support, can't thank you all enough!

I really hope that I can finally daily drive the vehicle normally with a little spirit once in a while without having to fret about something popping off or breaking!

One of the lessons I learned was:
- Do not let multiple people touch your modded car, only let one person and one person only touch it otherwise ... it can be a snowball of issues! (My car is a living testimony of that).

*** More Updates Coming ***