ChrisB

Well I worked out comparing circumferences, and the fact that belt / pulley contact is about 1/2 a pulley, that the difference from stock is around 0.25-0.33 inches in length, so not a lot. There is plenty of travel in the bottom tensioner idler adjuster - so the standard belt will probably be fine or at worst only a bit loose (potentially squeaky - not inoperative). 1/4" deflection is a good metric to know. I tensioned mine to about 5-6mm as this felt about right for a long belt. I think the reason for the previous interest in belts in the group buy thread is more to do with making a perfect choice if purchasing upgraded strength belts. Personally, I am happy with Gates for the time being. The old accessory Gates belt I took off was a year old and about 15k miles on it and it looked brand new still. Still, it's good to keep all the info from any sources flowing Jeff, your email powers are strong Responses from Vortech and Mike M

Yup, I like carbuilder, although you can see exactly what Morgan/Westfields are made of For my sub-project I have been using efi-parts and hobbytronics - both good for electronics. Oh yeah, my sub-project, I forgot to mention that

For todays installationment I have had a lot of wrestling with neoprene encrusted pipes. But first, deburring.. I noticed this (both sides) on the plastic idler pulley (and some areas of roughness) So I pulled it off and set to it with 1500 grit. Nice and smooth now (nothing to see) So, next onto tidying up the power steering pipes. I tie wrapped the rubber bushing leftover from the discarded brackets back on. Much neater. (Tie wrap tail trimmed after) Then, onto oddments such as making sure the oil drain doesn't whip into the belts.. I don't think there will be significant conduction of heat from the lower hose to affect anything, but this was the easiest spot at the time.. And put the main belt on - loads of room with a Mishi rad fan shroud Then start fitting more neoprene.. This is a tight so and so as it touches the structure inbetween the A/C pipes. Note how close the pipe gets to the A/C compressor pully (there is a gap, honest) I seemed to have a mystery spare M6 hexdrive roundhead screw in the kit - I can't find a reference to it anywhere in the printout, so I did this as the cam plate bolts are REALLY close to the belt at this point. The bottom one is swapped as the belt is wobbliest/longest at that point. I will acquire a similar screw for the top one too. So, thats the front then.. It looks like this down the front. The positioning is a bit of a mare - twist a bit one way and it hits the stock oil cooler hard water pipe, twist the other, and well it doesn't fit right.. wiggle wiggle The IC doesn't hit my oil cooler either This caused much relief because for a moment there, it looked like the IC wanted to be more forward.. phew. Word to the wise here: use the long couplers at this end and the pipe that connects to the tight up pipe. You are not shown which to use particularly well in the instructions.. I deduced by suck it and see.. All fixed up. Every clamp has a good and bad orientation for ease of access. It is part of the fun puzzle And so, I have a NA car with a supercharger attached Next up is to start cutting up all the bits of plastic to complete fitting. It will require uncoupling and recoupling some of the neoprenes, but I have got to know which are the more friendly ones. Remaining then: . Go back to work (boo). I will be running around with the gilmer belt off for a while (NA mode) to road test and check for leaks and wobbles to see if there are any weak spots. . Fit the FRS Some of you will know that I have lost a little bit of love for it.. . Sort out the vacuum lines to various spots . Upgrade the PCV (at minimum a check valve) then attempt to find a spot for my big can. I am leaving the breather side as Vortech designed with the big pipe to the intake. . Probably put a check valve in the EVAP line - that is an ECU controlled vacuum tap . Book a day for tuning . Race to fit the remains - injectors, plugs, Wasso plenum spacer, put gilmer belt back on. All of these upset tuning, and some of them prevent the car driving safely on stock map, so a little bit of planning / holiday is required. Looks good though

I did think spot might have possibilities, but the Aeromotive regulator and pipes is going to fit in that spot - so I thought I'd leave it till after FRS install before commiting it to PCV catch can. Maybe I could try further along though, but I've got to remember servicing and access, so a CC drain pipe would likely need to be added (not a hugey)

I thought I had found the perfect spot down by the alternator under the coolant tank. Could be easy to service, nice and discrete.. However, it didn't work out that way today. Hope is not lost on it yet though

GMB - yes, i bought the 3.12, but I currently like the idea of bedding in after its alterations with a 3.33, then in a years time, treat it to a 3.12 (just incase 350-370 HP gets old ) Anyway, on to today - berrliimeey... ups and downs today... I took one of the dogs for a walk, and on the way back noticed drips of coolant under the car. Since there was next to no coolant in it (just residual in the block) - it was a bit of a mystery until.... oooppss... gasket-tastic! Never rush something at the end of the day.... Fiddly git, I'll have you this time. So, having disaster averted, I slowly filled her up with coolant using my magic funnel, put the intake back on and did the normal coolant air purge procedures, and fortunately it all seems fine. Nice and cool, fan 2 comes on in response to A/C, fan 1 is strangely quiet though. I checked terminal resistance, all seems correct, so maybe fan 1 only activate in hot conditions now - which I hadn't really pushed idling on axle stands. Cooling seems good though, heater seems to work, so I assume it's efficient. So, the day has drawn on a bit. Couldn't find my spare spark plugs, the tool fairies had rearranged and hidden a lot of my tools, and the garage was full of junk. Time for reset - clear garage and get rid of junk - check. So, what next? Lets a look at PCV. Isn't she lovely! However, as suspected, its a bit of a pig trying to find a suitable place to install the expensive wonder of catch can - so binned that for today. Dispondent. So, what next? Well the car is in bits, I can't find the plugs, might as well tinker with the charger a bit more. Firstly I made the power steering fitment a bit better (no pics - sorry)... then started reading the Vortech instructions and dived in dismantling. I have many not very interesting memory pics of the brackets which came off - but all those brackets are in the junk pile. Bouyed, I then started on the neoprene couplings. Holy moly, these things put up a fight. Two worst are MAF but that pales into insignificance with (Peter Griffin biblical voice) The Throttle Body... Very nasty, bad angles. I developed a bike tyre lever technique and finally got it on. Sweaty - no pics. As for the intake pipery... blimey. Don't try to be subtle here, just get in there and start snipping cable ties and brackets as much as possible - every fecker is in the way So, pare it back to this, bending fragile A/C pipes what feels like too much... (that brown stuff is not rust by the way - it's Dynax S50 that I squirted under the popcharger heat shield) And then, as it seemed to fit, try getting on with the plate. On-off a lot of times. A lot of times. Curse that PCV breather, curse that coolant pipe.... Then play hunt the spacer - waste about 20 minutes on this game - then realise that the Vortech instruction diagram is misleading (arrows point to the wrong spot)..... However, it all came together eventually. Very close to moving parts some of those looms, so more cutting of clips and add a few cable ties with long tails to remind me of their presence, and we get.........

Standard rad, open cooler thermostat. I'd be amazed if the standard rad was overpowered in my application (especially with the oil mods added). Reliability consumables alterations are a priority I think. Go on.. you know you want it..

Soldering iron was deployed, yes - but no drama. Changed? I prefer altered.. However, swapping at a later date could be a PITA with all the extra junk in the way? Lots of chatter on here about fan fail - so I'm going with fit first rather than spend thousands altering for it to then go bang in a traffic jam

GMB: Yep, the Mishi shroud. Better get it sooner as it eases space / fitting (they are only £180 too) Jeff: Tight as a string on a cowboys banjo. Or something. Sorry beer

Part deux today - I'm on a roll, so might as well keep rollin, rollin, rolling (raw hide!). The heat, it's getting to me So, she now appears to swallow a mighty 7.5l of oil without barfing. None is going missing, so I assume that is the new norm. Next up is the thermostat... went mad and did this... gloves are so handy.. Just to put in this (fiddly little so and so actually) - Mishimoto thermostat (68 degs C) - the old stat looked in good condition, so this mod was possibly a bit meh. Then, plonked in the fans... loads more room! And a shot of the handiwork from underneath - following the 350Z-uk/Keyser wiring guide. There is no coolant in it at the moment - stuff it, it's beer o'clock - so I will find out if I've sprung a leak, given her indigestion with an airlock, or inserted a short (fuse poppingtastic) tomorrow..

No stopping me now... Time for some sandwiches (complete with tasty temp sender) Bolted on with big adapter And a nicely fitting hat Jeremy Clarkson would love this tool (sump separator) - it involves hammers Made a mess... Tidy up the bottom of the upper pan with a gasket scraper Ooeeer misses, an extension Red disgusting Permatex goo (gets everywhere) And a shiny new set of oil bits installed. Pre-fill with 6.5l then warmed up and tested to hot oil - the cooler works really well, and not a single drop of leakage I'm waiting for cool down before top up (should reach 7l ish ). Now that I know the oil circuit is good and protective, I can drain the coolant and fit the new rad fans and thermostat - lest there be bubbles....

I have a bit of time off, so on with the fiddling. The plan is/was to dismantle, the front and fit some oil cooling components today. After some measuring and drilling (once for each hole, each side - except for the middle piece of the crash bar, which was drill many times ) ...tada... The bumper didn't fit back on So many nibbles of plastic with hand tools (felt like hours) later Nibbling looks a bit messy, but its fine on the outside I got slightly carried away pulling horns and power steering to bits to get a better idea of how the IC goes on. A quick cut of the horn mounts and twist it all around a bit And all of a sudden, the IC went on Vortech recommend that the power steering cooler is just twisted into the void in the radiator housing and tacked into place with tie wraps and sticky pads. One of the PS lines is pretty blinking tight at the IC bracket though, even with all the line mounts loosened first. I might try some gentle bending if I can find the appropriate pipe bender tomorrow. Need to start playing with air pipes to see how the oil lines route best and which bits of plastic to cut. Then the sandwich plate can go on and I'll start chipping away at the sump.

Well done, nice pics - everything looks great ...Swoon..

Oh yea-ha! I love it when a plan comes together...

It remains to be seen if they put a hole in the new part - but at least the threads will be compatible now. I remember it all happening at the time - I was working at the skydive centre that weekend, and we had a radio on.. It was so shocking .."Senna's dead"..

No worries mate - its the AC vent

Blimey - an email from me and gentle prodding by Tarmac, and AAM have investigated and are sending us some replacement -04AN elbows.. The love returns Oh and Senna is on ITV right now...

I miss Clown. I always thought he was photographically gifted..

Dude.. lets face it, you had problems If you can come up smiling there is truely hope

Lol, can't beat a bit of faffing. It didn't rain that much today either It will all be good looking back from the finished side What could possibly go wrong?

Gulp...

Just done a reccy.. 4 hours of offering up this and thinking about modding that etc. . S/C pipes fitment and AC :gulp: . Intercooler - big barsteward that.. . Power steering cooler movement - easy . Oil cooler - does not fit in place mishi recommends. Will have to do the threaded bar trick on the bumper bar - which stopped play for today as I will have to put the car back together again to go to the shops. Glad I didn't go ahead and drain all the oil out first! . Bumper skin will need a bit but not much trimming. Might have to borrow dremel from work.. . Mishi oil hoses are really long . Thermo sandwich plate install looks easy and should fit fine. Fortunately I have correct sized socket too. . Stillen sump will hopefully go on ok with the magic tools . Rad fans definately don't come out with out taking the top rad hose off (was hoping to do a cheeky swap, but will save that for thermostat fitment day - and order more coolant as only half a jar left) Gratuitous shot of how the pulleys still look Fails: Only broke 3 bumper shell captives - stupid ones at the bottom corners twisted right off. Forgot to put the bumper foam back in after putting it all back together No matter how many times I do it, I still hate having to jack up to get the big jack under to then get the stands under. Coming back down between jacks always causes trauma So, I'm not entirely disheartened, but it will require some digging in by the looks of it, although nothing in terms of actual fitting was achieved on this occasion

Lol, mine is my daily - it will take me months..

I'm sure it will be fine. Apart from the slightly dodgy fitting couple of bits in the AAM kit (formerly Altered Atmosphere Motorsports ) I'm REALLY pleased with all of mine. You may or may not have different parts to me, but the Vortech, Mishimoto, Stillen, and Injector Dynamics stuff in mine is TOP quality What could possibly go wrong? And like you say, a big thanks to Chris for sourcing it all with minimum fuss

Go on Grundy, join our cult.. join our cult..