STH Multi-Step Build Plan/Thread

[Hotrodz]

Originally Posted by SeeThruHead

Lol I'm not 16 guys. I'm 34 years old. Sure I'm a complete noob at this car thing, but I don't think I'm an idiot. (I'm prepared to be proven wrong tho, good life lesson!)

LMAO, I was 52 when I got my Z and a total nob! Age has nothing to do with it. How welling you are to listen and heed the advice of those in the know hear will save you tons of headaches. We have all been shown the way of others before us and then continued to learn and progress as many of the OGs are gone but a few are still here including those of us that learned from them.

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[JLarson]

Originally Posted by Spooler

Just go slow if you are hell bent to do it. Keep your power goals low. Since you don't want to work on the car much or have the space too the only TT kit I would recommend is a Fast Intentions TT kit. The maintenance on that kit is very minimal. Boosted Performance is a maintenance nightmare. Once you get up and running then you can make a decision if you want to go further at that time.

"maintenance nightmare" is a bit strong; it's more like a "maintenance uncomfortable dream", think being in class in your underwear.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by Hotrodz

At some point I will do a thread on my build. I am just not a journal kind of person. I finally completed my build list that is just over two pages and it shocked the chit out of me. The thing is most want instant gratification and they don't have the means to do as many of us have done and I am 8.5 five years in too modding my Z and as far as I can tell it will never stop unless I sell it or wad it up at the track! So for those that want to know how much it costs to build a Z Time Attack or race car they can price out all the parts and then triple it and they be pretty close to the actual cost of labor, parts and do overs. Oh and let's not talk about consumables, tools, trailers and lifts for those that think they want to go all in.

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You and Spooler's rabbit holes turned into black holes.

[SeeThruHead]

Originally Posted by Spooler

Just go slow if you are hell bent to do it. Keep your power goals low. Since you don't want to work on the car much or have the space too the only TT kit I would recommend is a Fast Intentions TT kit. The maintenance on that kit is very minimal. Boosted Performance is a maintenance nightmare. Once you get up and running then you can make a decision if you want to go further at that time.

I want to learn to work on the car over time. I'm going to take some mechanics classes as well. And do some online courses. I have plenty of time to complete this project. I want to do everything "right" even if that means taking 5x as long as spending 3x the money. That's why I said in my first post don't expect any fast moving progress. I'm only really considering the FI turbo kit. And I won't be going that direction without a built engine. That's why I want to try a SOHO supercharger kit first, probably around 7-9 PSI of boost only. I may stop there, i dunno yet, might be too much or enough power for me. I doubt I will stay there forever tho, I need to have a project going constantly.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by Hotrodz

LMAO, I was 52 when I got my Z and a total nob! Age has nothing to do with it. How welling you are to listen and heed the advice of those in the know hear will save you tons of headaches. We have all been shown the way of others before us and then continued to learn and progress as many of the OGs are gone but a few are still here including those of us that learned from them.

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I've been building cars and bike since I was teen. Thought I out grew it in my 30's. Here I am looking at 65 in March and back into it.

[Hotrodz]

Originally Posted by Rusty

You and Spooler's rabbit holes turned into black holes.

It is a free fall full of love and hate! LMAO

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[Spooler]

Originally Posted by Rusty

I've been building cars and bike since I was teen. Thought I out grew it in my 30's. Here I am looking at 65 in March and back into it.

Same here. Once it is in your blood it just is part of who you are. My wife's car is the only stock car we have. LOL

[Spooler]

Originally Posted by JLarson

"maintenance nightmare" is a bit strong; it's more like a "maintenance uncomfortable dream", think being in class in your underwear.

Talk to Solidus. That is where I am getting my opinion from. I haven't had to touch my car once except for oil changes and Air filter cleaning and that is normal maintenance. The headgasket letting go has nothing to do with the FI TT kit. I just didn't build enough motor. If I have to touch the TT kit once, I will be bitching. That is why I bought what I did.

[Chuck33079]

I’ve never heard of anyone having an issue with the bp kit that wasn’t 100% user error.


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[Rusty]

Originally Posted by Chuck33079

I’ve never heard of anyone having an issue with the bp kit that wasn’t 100% user error.


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JL had a few issues doing the install that wasn't his fault. It was BP's. I was there and can verify.

[SeeThruHead]

If i wasn't a glutton for punishment. And didn't enjoy doing all this research and building things. I would have just got a c8 corvette instead. But yeah, no thanks to that this process is what's most fun imo.

[JARblue]

Originally Posted by SeeThruHead

I want to learn to work on the car over time. I'm going to take some mechanics classes as well. And do some online courses. I have plenty of time to complete this project. I want to do everything "right" even if that means taking 5x as long as spending 3x the money.

Originally Posted by SeeThruHead

I may not stay NA for years, maybe 1.5 year or so. I'm not sure yet.

Your timeline is totally unrealistic for your experience. Listen to these guys. Spend the first 4-5 years learning to drive the car, buying tools and increasing your mechanic skills, and building up the reliability of the car with various appropriate mods. That should keep you plenty busy before you consider boost.

I was where you are when I purchased my Z. I've spent the last 10 years buying parts and (sometimes) installing them on my Z and I'm still a ways off from getting even close to my end goals. Now it was a DD for 6 years, so that slowed things down; also I am a stellar procrastinator. But in that time I learned to drive the car and even had a few track and autoX opportunities. I had a garage and I purchased a ton of tools with still a lot more still on the wish list. I do all my own maintenance and have learned how to navigate the factory service manual (FSM). The last few years I have gotten more serious about purchasing track parts. I still have some more fuel system and suspension and rear drivetrain parts to install before I start doing some local on-track driving instruction courses. I'm well north of $10K in parts at this point with almost no increase in hp. But if I wanted to go boost at any point in the future, the only parts on the car that are incompatible are the intakes and exhaust, and pretty much every single supporting mod is already installed.

I know you don't want to just buy a fast car. But you might find it easier to just buy one of those and learn to work on it and do all the maintenance yourself and whatnot without all of the hassles that boosting the Z poses. Also, those stock cars are designed to handle the power. The Z in stock form is already too easy for young or inexperienced drivers to get into trouble. When you add boost to it, even experienced drivers find it to be an incredibly difficult vehicle to put down that much power. At higher hp numbers 1st and 2nd gears become essentially useless and just spin the tires without more advanced forms of traction control (some guys are putting in motec ecus and whatnot to address these problems). Not trying to dissuade you. Just something else to consider.

It seem like you have the potential to heed advice and be patient enough to be successful in your endeavour unlike some of the other clowns mentioned. It'll be interesting to see how it goes for you. Good luck

[SeeThruHead]

Originally Posted by JARblue

It'll be interesting to see how it goes for you. Good luck

Thanks! I will do my best to accelerate my learning. First thing I did after I bought the car is take advanced driver training at a track. I will be doing hundreds more hours of that kind of thing. I have no interest in buying any other car but I plan to do driver training in other cars, there are a few services I'm looking into.

[JLarson]

You've gotten some solid advice from people here, so I'll be brief. I think part of the issue with your lists is that although they're logical from a "my build should have this" perspective, there is a pretty large difference in difficulty between say the install of a Wavetrac diff and RJM Pedal, both of which are in the same 'stage'.

Some of the items you've got are easy tasks, both in terms of the tools they require and the time commitment, and some... well you won't want to do it in an apartment parking lot. Car knowledge is cumulative. Get a couple different kinds of sockets, do your intakes, your RJM pedal, change your oil, put in your bushing collars. Each one of those small things gets you closer to making a major change. My 2 cents.

[SeeThruHead]

I live 30 seconds from my mechanic shop. There’s an automotive strip on the street I live with with about 8 mechanics or all types. A body shop and some other stuff. I don’t know how to properly set backlash in a diff and I have no illusions that I could install it in my street parking spot. But I trust the mechanic shop next door to do it.

And that’s 30 seconds walking. I could push my car there if it comes to that.

I'm also blessed to live in the same area as https://whiteheadperformance.com/ who specialize in Z cars (remains to be seen how good they are tho)

And https://www.onpointdyno.com/ Who you may recognize from all the articles about "the worlds most powerful all motor VQ" in their Kels race car