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Precious got a supercharger


ChrisB

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Boys, I don't want to be a kiljoy, and it's interesting and all, but possibly a tad confusing having results from other cars in my individual build thread, no?

Boo. :thumbdown::lol:

 

No I'm joking of course Chris and you are right. :thumbs: Maybe Jeff will edit his post and move it to the dyno results thread. ;)

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Sorry Chris I put it on for you to have a look I consider my self admonished and will remove.

 

Lol - no hard feelings :) If you have some animal pics to post up, feel free, just (I'd prefer) not data :lol:

 

None taken Chris, should have thought really, there you go quite useful in putting my foot in the mouth. Any way the figures will never beat my wife who can achieve 0 to 60 in the fastest time ever getting out of the car park at Tescos, frightens the s++t out of the school kids.

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We took a visit to our new friends at Japex today.

 

I was allowed to watch and even interfere a bit (much appreciated). In a very interesting (and reasonably priced) 4 hours, Ross had fitted the Competition Clutch kit (including alignment tool, CRB and spigot bush), lightweight flywheel, chromoly pivot pin, slave cylinder, braided line, Fast Intentions HFCs, Stillen Y, changed diff and gear box oils, added molyslip and bled the clutch!! :yahoo:

 

I could be converted to the easy life of letting a pro do the work ;) Certainly attempting to change a clutch on my sloping drive on axle stands would have been a huge no-no now that I have seen first hand what is involved!

 

Anyway, they set to work

 

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Attention to detail - always a plus

 

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How it was, still working, but getting on a bit

 

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We reached the holy grail... heavenly music "aaaaahhhhhh"

 

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To be temporarily stuck with a very good condition old spigot to get out (apparently old knackard ones just fall out - mine was tight as a very tight thing). I elected that we proceed with putting the new one in anyway, because I'm awkward like that, which meant a hunt for the right tool :lol: However, when the spigot was replaced, a shiny new flywheel was popped on

 

E1CD55D5-DCD7-436B-966C-04BF55A53970.jpg

 

The chromoly pivot was screwed in place - 52mm as it is a JDM (correctly advised by Ewan at Clarkmotorsport :thumbs: )

 

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And before I knew it, back in one piece, with pipes so shiny, they come out black in the camera flash burst :wacko:

 

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A new clutch slave and braided line were added, and vacuum pumped to get the air out (all installed and bled in about 10mins)

 

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Followed by a pumping device to fill the gearbox and diff oils. The old stuff which came out was clean as a whistle at 57k miles, but a refresh (and molyslip) can't hurt with new demands on the horizon..

 

So, a lightweight fly and grippy clutch combo is a bit of an eyeopener to drive. Stall-tastic, with a side dish of kangaroo juice for the first set of traffic light :doh: Lightening and upgrading certainly changes the nature of the car from slow (and smooth) to quick (and currently snappy) gear changing. Definitely more care is required in rev matching in both up and downshifts and moving out of junctions to avoid embarrassment :lol: Mine's only the conservative stage 2 with ST fly - I'd hate to think what one of those 'race' type stage 4 and ultralight setups must be like to drive :scare:

 

It's also surprisingly noisy with any kind of load at under 2k RPM too, although no different sitting at idle, so I am very glad that I have decided to sequence the upgrades to allow a bedding in and familiarisation period before tuning in the near future. The new exhaust has a nice warm hum to it though. Jobs a good-un :thumbs:

 

Oh and a friendly flash and wave to/from the black zed I passed on the way back home too :lol:

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Lol - knock yourself out as they say on CSI.. Fitting can be done on stands - flat surface is better, but I wouldn't* :lol:;)

 

There are 41 and 52mm pivots. You definitely have one or your clutch wouldn't work :lol: Ewan might be able to tell you with a suitable chassis/engine/gearbox/inside leg measurement code number. The little spring clips are re-usable. It's not possible to determine length whilst the bell housing is on the car for obvious reasons. Chromoly is definitely the way forward though :thumbs:

 

 

 

* stories of extreme woe are common ;)

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Blimey. Drama, and intrigue.. We learnt the importance of clutch pedal adjustment over the possible red herrings* of air or actuator problems.... I better report for the benefit of others, now there is a happy outcome as I hate it when people start threads with problems then go quiet and never report findings :thumbs:

 

Zeditis results in sleepless nights when the baby is unwell. After the recent fitting, we gave the system a bit of grace to mechanically settle on Wednesday (grabby, judder, instant-clutch as its a new stage 2), albeit, lighter feel with a very close to the floor action (on the previous slave, the setting was always a bit close to the carpet, and heavy). However, by Thursday I could barely drive her - I could not select a gear to get out of works car park without lots of pumping, and a bit of overriding the synchro :scare: and at one roundabout no gears except fourth on an upward incline getaway were available (requisite BMW up my bottom too). This as well as randomly stuck half-way pedal, made for :drive1:scare: commute - thankfully there were no proper traffic jams. Gash-tastic.

 

So we toddled back off to Ross and Family again this morning (colder air - seemed a bit better - I could at least find a few gears), and I was fully expecting that the vacuum method bleed (which it turns out is fine) had gone wrong as normally the two/three man manual method is recommended. Ross examined, and phoned a friend. After about 1/2 an hour (or was it longer - I was holding my breath and might have passed out at some point) of tinkering with the pedal adjuster, a new higher (I term higher as further off the carpet) biting point and positive, smooth action was achieved. Gone was the sticking, and welcome back to the gears.. Clevis pin is fine BTW ;)

 

Who would of thought that *that much* difference would be dependant on the clutch pedal screw. Normally you think fluid, slave, braided line, bleed, pedal travels some way, works ok, end of. Apparently master cylinders never (or hardly ever) fail on 350s, so that possibility only got as far as a dismissed consideration phase.

 

I don't mind it at all if things don't go quite as planned provided they go right in the end :thumbs: I was afterall watching/waiting around rather than the normal leave it with them service, so may have affected completion (generously, all the fitting in the clutch post above (not just the clutch) was in one 4h slot). Repeat fettling was all free of charge too. Good, honest people at Japex - highly recommended :)

 

I think I will now clock up at least 500-1000 miles before any further progress - except maybe the Z-speed undertray and longer intercooler couplings. ..and breathe..

 

 

* not for one moment suggesting that it wouldn't be a nightmare if either cylinders were faulty or air were in the system of course...

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  • 4 weeks later...

My turn for a weenie update..

 

I have a firm date at the Holy Dyno Sanctum at the Church of Abbey on the 12th November... :yahoo::scare: ..no really :yahoo:

 

After lack of progress over the last month or so, I will be back on the case soon to get it finished. Today was a bit of dismantling, a minor fettle of the PCV pipery, adding some line stays and a test of the vacuum/boost reference lines. Vacuum/boost source is via uncapping the plenum nipple. I am using eBay spring clips from China - 100 of various sizes for only £7.49 delivered ! How is this possible?

 

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I have a MAP sensor the other side of the brake/clutch divider, so drilled a convenient hole into the rubber spacer - funny stuff to drill btw - used to locate the brake booster hose.

 

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I re-tensioned the serpentine and connected up the gilmer belt to the charger for giggles and after seeing fuel pressure move with vacuum nicely, idle remaining rock steady ...went for a *short* low revs / low load test ride to see what would happen with all the air circuits active.. Even though I have not fitted injectors or plugs etc yet, I could feel and hear the system and bypass valve operating beautifully with throttle :cloud9:

 

So ..the jobs for the coming week (weather and commitments permitting - but the 12th will be met) which will take the car off the road

 

. Change engine oil (a bit tragic as there aren't that many miles on the current oil - I use Fuchs Titan Pro S 5W/30, so not cheap)

. Disconnect battery, disconnect intake, pull off the plenum upper and lower,

. Have a quick fettle of the FPR mount - it's not 100% level

. Pull off fuel rails

. Fit 350Z ID725 injectors. I have plug and play leads for the least invasive route, but I also have pins and clips for backup

. Fit an AAM fuel pressure port bought from Chris (Keyser)

. Change the plugs to 3 step cooler HKS plugs. Abbey recommend this as the best practice over 1 step

. Depending on plug tubes, order cam covers - but who knows - they may be fine as I have not looked in ages

. Clean plenum and throttle body of any carbon or oil deposits

. Half an idea to scrub the upper plenum and paint it with a suitable colour. I'm trying not to be drawn to Hammerite silver, but a trip to Halfords should sort out colour

. On its way back together, fit my red Wasso plenum spacer and new lower plenum gasket

. Possibly fit the new coloured dress bolts. Just to be different, Blue in the air bits (plenum etc), red elsewhere (I've scored 2 sets discounted via Tarmac).. unless mixing it looks pants..

. Fit the new GT MAF into the intake tube, and reconnect it

. Maybe fit a new Vortech air-filter bought from Gareth (GMBallistic) - but the old one's fine, and replacement is a faff (as is re-checking the s/c micro-dipstick :rant::lol: )

. Top up and burp the coolant (as the extracting plenum breaks the coolant circuit)

 

Externally will be

 

. Have a pair of new MPSS 245/40/18 97 ZR(Y) fitted onto the front wheels to replace the excellent Avon ZZ3's which are coming to the end of their lives. I currently have 275/40 MPS2's on the back. Event tyres are booked for Thursday

. Pull front bumper off again

. Fit pipe clamps to the oil cooler lines, strategically placed to prevent anything rubbing

. Fit a longer Mishimoto silicone coupling to the intercooler to help sort out the slight kink in the U-bend/BPV to downpipe line

. Put it back together with a new Z-Speed under tray

 

Mark is going to send me an UpRev cable and licence to allow me to install an Abbey safe base map for the drive to Surrey next week.

 

Still pending are my sensors project and wiring all the new sensor leads. I have chosen Zeitronics ZT3 wideband controllers to handle the AFR signal generation. Using an Arduino Due, I have written some mapping code to convert the non-linear temperature and model the linear pressure sensors and analogue linear wideband to ultimately provide a small TFT, low profile, coloured info-screen rather than going down the cockpit display route with loads of distracting gauges (OK I admit the Defi gauges in GMB's zed do look great, but I'm chasing boring practicality with 7 sensors). My system gives integrated monitoring and runs in parallel to normal car systems as I don't really fancy risking noise injection or current loading onto ECM signal lines - and as my car is JOBD the OBDII route isn't as straight forward as it could be. More of all that at a later date though.

 

Blinking marvellous - I can't wait - another VQ35DESC is nearly there :thumbs:

Edited by ChrisB
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Great stuff Chris and cannot wait to see how it all goes for you at Abbey. Getting there now. :yahoo:

 

 

Re: The gauges ~ In my defence I had planned on being a little more stealthy about that.

Was going to put two in the cubby hole but after I bought the gauges time was short so I decided on a different route especially as I'm hoping to maybe run two AFR gauges one day so those will fit in the cubby hole I hope.

 

Anyway Vlad has the fighter pilot style set up and everyone knows fighter pilots are cool so....

 

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:lol:;)

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I must admit, your gauges are very cool and very pretty :thumbs: I almost sent Keyser a PM for his gauge pod for-sale when

I saw your Defis in - but I procrastinated for more than one day, which was too long :lol:

 

Remember though, keep your eyes on the road ;):lol:

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Don't mean to worry you Chris,

 

 

 

 

...but you'll find out soon enough anyway that as soon as you press hard on the accelerator pedal with the supercharged Zed,

 

 

 

 

 

 

...everything looks like this,

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...so looking at the gauges is the least of your worries as you have to learn how to predict the future in order to make the bends. :surrender::drive1

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Good to see its all going well, so you will be going down the farm lane to Abbey, watch out for the gutter in the main parking area, like wise I had the colder plugs than the ones we bought but it was no big deal. It was very very nice going through Dartford tunnel sounding like a 737 taking off though. :thumbs:

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