Lessons learned on the TT install

Originally Posted by Girald

Well to be fair, in my case anyways...

My parts list came out good for my project goals. The only thing i upgraded on the fly was the OS Giken GT dual plate clutch that is magic (feels like oem) compared to the 6 puck that i originally considered... Thanks to Z1 for accepting that return.

The worst part is prob the ECB-1 gauge... very high maintenance gauge and the ethanol is 5% off the mark.

Minus the serious need for a scavenge pump, the AAM kit isnt all that bad... After sorting out what paid mechanics failed to do, its working and she is good all around. The Borg Warner EFRs are fire...!

The big disappointments where in the install, local tuning attempt and also with AAM as a business. After seeing what they sent me at first, I was scared shitless at how the kit would come. But it was ok. I would never recommend their product because of their poor customer service and record keeping though.

Fixing other people's mistakes turned in to a win for me since i never fathomed pulling the motor, and I got to also make cooling upgrades i didn't think about the first time around.

I did pull some good advice from the370.com when making choices on the parts list. Some considerations were pretty straight forward while others were not ( i.e. try posting "what oil should i use - get 1001 responses, all different)

No worries now, thank goodness.

Originally Posted by Girald

Its what i like about this forum , and funny enough, how old this car is... There is just so much information on this car, its limits mods and DIYs helpful people ( definitely not like the mustang forums ) Without the obscene amount support, (and from specZ 350s ) it would be tough get to where I am at.

Originally Posted by Girald

Well to be fair, in my case anyways...

My parts list came out good for my project goals. The only thing i upgraded on the fly was the OS Giken GT dual plate clutch that is magic (feels like oem) compared to the 6 puck that i originally considered... Thanks to Z1 for accepting that return.

The worst part is prob the ECB-1 gauge... very high maintenance gauge and the ethanol is 5% off the mark.

Minus the serious need for a scavenge pump, the AAM kit isnt all that bad... After sorting out what paid mechanics failed to do, its working and she is good all around. The Borg Warner EFRs are fire...!

The big disappointments where in the install, local tuning attempt and also with AAM as a business. After seeing what they sent me at first, I was scared shitless at how the kit would come. But it was ok. I would never recommend their product because of their poor customer service and record keeping though.

Fixing other people's mistakes turned in to a win for me since i never fathomed pulling the motor, and I got to also make cooling upgrades i didn't think about the first time around.

I did pull some good advice from the370.com when making choices on the parts list. Some considerations were pretty straight forward while others were not ( i.e. try posting "what oil should i use - get 1001 responses, all different)

No worries now, thank goodness.

Originally Posted by Dentt42

I've seen your story many times, and even had to be the one working at a problematic shop (not as a mechanic, but basically as a service writer) fighting to get an elaborate build put together, stuck between the customer and coworkers/management. Lesson learned: the more you control on your own project, the better.

I've had to clean up after mechanics multiple times over the years, because I do as much of my own work as possible, but life in general has dictated getting it to a shop from time to time. Multiple times I've found myself under the hood, or under the car, looking at missing bolts or a leak that wasn't there before while muttering, "I paid them to do this?".

Originally Posted by redondoaveb

You've got a twin turbo sound system, I think you met your audio goals.

Originally Posted by Girald

So i bought my 2015 370z Sport Tech new from the Stealership... The goal was to run NA until the warranty was toast.

Fast forward to about 35k.
So begins the process.

The end goal was a flex fueled setup that was scale-able to a forged motor build and a platform that could handle a track situation.

Step1:
It was either AAM or Fast Intentions at the time so i flipped a coin. AAM it was.
I contacted them and started layaway. on the kit. I figured - its going to take a while to build, so why not layaway. I bought the "tuner kit" since I was flex fueling the car. The 3" AAM pipes seemed to do the trick, so in the layaway sock they went too

Step 2:
get the peripherals that i needed to support my goal and no buying stuff twice... So i started on the gauges. 60mm Defi BF gauges (Oil Pressure, Oil Temp and Water Temp) It was a scary at first but fun DIY that came out good to replace the OEMs that were there.

The Fuel return was next. I went with the CJM fuel return. The DIY was good and I only screwed up on the vernturi ( didnt know i had to bore it out) where i was pegged at 70psi until i fixed it. Running a stand alone relay with a bulk head adapter after the fact made the PITA of getting my fuel pump out twice a memorable experience.

In the end, I had bought a pump speed controller and a canbus rpm adapter to "relax the 450 walbro i bought) for the lower RPMs and a switch in the center console to toggle full blast all the time for track days. A HOBBS controller was prob a better idea, but i didnt know what that was at the time.

I found that i needed plugs that are a "step" colder than the OEMs. (I think its step 9) well, i found some HKS plugs that did the trick... That and some injector dynamics 1050idx injectors to handle the ethanol load.

The 4bar MAP was next. Since I could run hybrid speed density using the upgraded MAP and standard MAFs , this was a no-brainer. I found an inexpensive omni 4bar MAP... but, it was branded for the GTR R35s.. a bit of research,, these fit perfect, do the job, and were 1/2 the cost at the retailer.

I had already bought the fast intentions 32 row oil cooler kit so, i was good there.

Step 3:
AAM Woes
Kit paid off, where is my kit?
After 4 moths i paid it off.. Midway through the process , i dont know what was going on,, they claimed system changes, but either 1/2 the staff was fired or quit etc.. I was talking to new people. some of my payments were missing and I had to dig up bank statements to prove that I was paying for this kit... WTF? Once it was paid, off, I found that they hadnt even started building the kit. The customer service was not great. I was asking about turbo speed sensors, and they could not explain the deal. Nevermind, just send my kit and ill deal with it when it gets here.

I originally bought the AAM intake and fuel return --- and sent it back.

The return kit took foreeeever and a day to arrive. After talking to a hydraulics shop, they told me that the items required to make the kit can be sourced in a week, shouldnt take months.. well. I had waitred long enough.... CJM came through much quicker and that was that.

The AAM Plenum showed up slightly sooner (took 2 months to receive something they had in stock WTF) but it had a ton of imperfections and was far from smooth looking inside the plenum. returned

Im starting to think, this process is starting to suck... i must be unlucky or something.

Setp 4:
The Turbo Kit arrives.
First thing's first: pull apart the turbo backs, get the exhaust manifold, and full exhaust - take it to be ceramic heat coated, and the intercooler to be sprayed with thermal dispersant - black. The powdercoater did a great job, except i forgot that i needed to clean out the grease in the turbo housing
since the sand blasting would get a bit of sand in there and mix with the grease... So after it came back, i had to clean it out... no big deal.

I did not unpackage ANYTHING... this would be left to whoever would be installing the kit....

Step 5:
the local installer
I went shopping for a shop that would install my kit and not charge me above and beyond what is fair.... I did a ton of research on this. I lookled up tuning software etc etc.

I found a local shop. Initially, i was happy, since they had drift 350zs outside and worked on anything from R34s to Supras.

From the conversations w the manager though, it seemed that their knowledge of my car wasnt what i was hoping for. On top of that some parts were somehow missing etc etc and I had to overnight parts and simply pay more money... They were trying to steer me in the wrtong direction in terms of tuning software. I wanted ecutek, and the were trying to push anything from HP Tuners to Haltech and Civex. which was either untested on my car or overkill completely. I had them discount the tuning from my price and said i would go elsewhere to get the tuning done.

What would be 1 month of install (if that) turned into a botched up install over 3 months. ON top of that, they failed to follow some important steps that ill discuss later. I had to harass and just about threaten with lawsuit on buying missing parts that they lost for my car.. What a disaster

Step6:
The local Tuner..
I towed my car from them to a local tuner. The promissed Ecutek flex fueling etc etc... after a crappy base tune and a month watching my car sit in the elements, and a broken glove box trying to get to my ECU to hijack the wrtong wires for my setup, i cut my losses and brought it home.

Step 7:
If at first they dont succeed, DIY it yourself.
With the car sitting im my garage with a garbage base tune. I contacted SpecialtyZ to bail me out. Seb sent me a base tune that actually worked...

After some extensive research, I decided to put my soldering skills to work. I learned that wiring in my wastegate controller to the evap purge valve wires behind the plenum and wiring in my evap vent control to the ethanol gauge output would solve those problems, I went to work. I reconnected the MAF wire that was cut (from the local tune shop)...

Step 8:
The install comes back to haunt me further:
Starting the tuning with my car started to flag Seb as i was getting wierd data. I soon started getting what sounded like wastegate rattle.

It specificaly states in the install instructions, that space needs to be banged out so that the wastegate or any part of the engine and kit for that matter, dont touch the chasis and cause problems.

Well, this wasnt done, and every time the engine torqued it was banging my turbo kit into the chasis.. the wastegate was resting on the side firewall and it was causing the wastegate mount plate to bend, and misc nuts and bolts to back off and become loose. Only one option remained.

Step 9:
Pull the engine and epic DIY
So i wasnt taking the car back to the shop that botched the job and I had threatened to sue...

It was time to get my DIY on.

So I pulled the motor. It wasn't easy but it wasnt terribly hard. The hardest part wasn't delivering that baby, it was sticking it back in. A super a mount of patience. This was my first time pulling a motor...

What I found was that the side firewall panel was getting gouged... so i banged that out... Initially with a dead blow, but ended up using a sledge hammer with duct tape layered on the business side.

I figured that the OEM mounts were no good for this application so I went solid mounts. Since the baby was out, i decided that titanium wrapping the exhaust manifold all the way to the mid pipes would solve further heating issues, so did that and done.

The Wastegate: i loosened the wastegate actuator and banged the mount plate back to a good angle. Its crucial to have the wastegate actuator and rod to not be at an angle get torqued when actuated, or else you can break the WG actuator itself or wear it out fast and it may not work right anyhow.

More research. So i learned about preload on the WG actuator and that 3mm is a good safe spot to have it at so i set it and done.

The solid mounts would introduce some vibration, so i threadlocked the WG mount nuts among other things and that was that.

Step 10:
Engine in, lets see if it falls apart
After putting her back together and sorting 1 leak that I knew would happen ( i kinked a hose) it was time to take a spin.

Immediately the rattle was gone... the WG was making swish noises that sounbded like a normal boosted setup. The car was where i needed it to be , no looking back

Step 11:
Ethanol
After the 91 tune was complete, it was now time to clear out the tank and get some ethanol. Denver has a lot of e85 pump stations, but Hill Petroleum seemed to be hovering at 83% to 88% on the regular according to an e85 facebook group.

I was pretty confident in my gauge so i ran 3 tanks of e85 though and was hooning in th e mountains 3 days straight to completely get the premium out of my tank.

76.9% WTF? So i bought an e85 test vial and tested the pump and what was in my tank. Sure enough it was at 83% So, my gauge was under-reporting
So i told my tuner of the actual % and the indication just to be clear. ...

Step 12
Tires.
Once i was into ethanol tuning, i realized that even my federal 595 rs-rr's werent keeping max grip. My short remedy was do burnouts prior to getting a log pull. that seemed to do the trick, but I know that ill need to upgrade to better tires... but which ones?

Tires suck.. when you want a specific combination of tire ratios for the Z, it always a matter of "the rears available but no fronts" etc.. so, Mickey tompsons or piloit super sports, NT05s you just cant a get a proper staggered set without making compromises. As of today, it looks like 265/35s and 305/30s will work out for r888rs, or 255/40 and 295 35s can do for the PS4s Needless to say, tire selection for a 500+hp car starts to push you towards the R compounds to get them to hook. Not as if every green light is an audition for the NHRA, or the engine wont last long... but to have grip when you want it is key. ( i like drift, but not when i want to grip)

Step 13
Today

I am getting super close to finished on the Ecutek racerom flex remote tune with Seb over at Specialty Z The party is almost over and im very satisfied.

The car is an f'ing rocket ship and i cannot complain. It sucks that after a lot of prep in the beginning, my shortfall was with the businesses that I relyed on to get it right.



Summary:
If you are going to twin turbo your car, and you dont doi t yourself, make absolute sure that they are competent with your car. If you have to trailer it out of town to the shop - do it.

Be sure to consider solid or poly mounts since your engine bay just got super tight with a turbo kit... Tell your installer how important it is to beat out the sections to make room and test fit the engine to mark out those potential contact areas.

Use squares of sheet metal and clamps to protect ANY spots of intercooler piping that may rub... I identified this in time and did just that. 100% you will have a boost leak and potential contamination if you dont address it and you get a hole rubbed out of that thin aluminum.

Cooling needs to be a priority: get the installer to titanium wrap the exhaust manifold, DP and mid pipes ( or do it yourself) foil or titanium wrap your fuel lines in the hotspots to avoid overheating and vapor lock of the fuel. These engine bays run HOT.. your wiring and sensors can cook if you dont address it.

SpecailtyZ was a great tuning experience thus far.. period.

To remote tune ecutek, you will want the bluetooth dongle (you dont need he wired dongle, as the bluetooth has a detatchable wire for tuning, but has apps via bluetooth later on that you will want to use.

you also need a laptop.The ecutek software is tricky at first, but once you get the hang of it, its quick and painless for remote logging.

I think i covered my experience failrly well.. Im sure if i left out some things.
thx

Originally Posted by Spooler

You have to choose the right shop to begin with. MA-Motorsports has been great. They are great communicators too. I always knew what is/was going on. We had some challenges but they were great in the way they handled it. Big build will have some issues, just part of it.

Originally Posted by Martijn_b

Nice write up. I also run the AAM kit and recognize the attention points you named. Also check the water hose running over the drivers side turbo manifold - mine needed a better angle preventing it from melting.



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Originally Posted by markesc

Wow...

Yeah I've concluded you just need about $25,000 in cash, and ship the car to fast intentions and plan on not seeing it again for 6 months, and plan on random phone calls: "...you might want to add this...."

Or, just take the $25,000 and get a used GTR and finance the rest, but then the challenge is finding one that doesn't have transmission issues and/or has not been destroyed.

In the end, I've decided just to keep the car as a daily, leave it where it's at, and fingers crossed Nissan gives us a factory turbo updated 370z where you can just do bolt ons/ecu tunes. Otherwise, there are other platforms to consider.

Best part: with this whole "virus" thing, there's going to be some great used car deals to be had, so I'm keeping my eyes open.