Thanks for the info. I'm ready to try just about anything to get this boost problem fixed. Anyone know a good witch doctor or exorcist?

I'm going to be using the TiAL QRJ BOV. It can be configured just like the Bosch so it should drop in pretty quick.

When I looked at the available springs I don't see a 1.5psi on their spring chart for any of their BOV. Where can you get a 1.5 or was that a typo?

http://www.tialsport.com/documents/w3_tial_qqr_sp.pdf

For SC applications they have a -2 or -3 spring.

Try verocious motorsports

Thanks! They had it, it's the pink one.

The TiAL is here and the pink 1.5 psi spring. It will go on the car this weekend and another leak test done.

This evening I'm taking the Z to our monthly car show, tomorrow night is club meeting, Friday night is family night and Saturday is some home projects. Sunday will be the day of the BOV install. I sure hope this fixes the boost issue.

My Z gathered lots of attention once again at our local car show. We got there early and got some prime spots. Jimmy (black Supra) and I were the only import cars on our row, the rest were mostly Mustangs and Cameros with a Viper thrown in. The Viper had twin turbos and claimed 1300hp. Two other MB Zs showed up and that was pretty amazing to have three MB Zs at the same time and place. The only other Z was GM. All of the Z owners are forum members so we got to meet in person which was really nice. The GM Z is getting the FI twin turbo kit installed soon. I volunteered to help out if they need me.

We got there before the field was opened up so we shot the breeze until we were allowed to get on the grass. When I started the car it was not happy! The SES light was on, the Skid light was on and the car barely had any power. I limped it onto the field and started checking things. Fuel pressure was good and nothing was wrong under the hood that I could see. Started the engine and everything was fine except the SES light was staying on. Weird! At the end of the show the car drove home fine but the SES light remained on so a code was set. I'll take a look at it when I get home this evening.

It has been a long while since I have updated my build thread so here goes.....

As some of you may already know, my mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer about a year ago. Well she pasted away right before Christmas (the 19th of December). She went peacefully and I was with her at the time. May she rest in peace.

The last thing I had posted about the Z was a strange running thing that happened. When I got the car home I checked the code which was 1239. That is the code for a throttle problem. I checked all of the connections and everything looked fine and the car was running great, at least at the moment. Well about two weeks later, while driving into work it happened again. This time all of the dash lights came on and the engine would not respond to any throttle input. It was idling fine but that was it! I pulled over to a parking lot and shut the engine off. Restarted it and all was well except I had a check engine light.....

Got home later that day and the 1239 code had been set, again. This time I undid my beautiful wiring tie downs and relaxed the wiring and then put back on more wire ties. It appeared that the problem was fixed.......or so it seemed. Several weeks later it happened again. And then again and then it started happening almost every time I drove the car. Frustrating!!!

I kept trying different things and it would be fine and then it would start acting up again. Intermittent problems can be very hard to fix! I was trying everything I know to do (I'm an electronics engineer so that means I was even doing weird sh^t). Finally one night while taking my wife out for dinner the problem happened THREE TIMES just going to the restaurant. Ch-ease! At least the fun part was when I pulled up to the valet parking and the look on the valet's faces. They LOVED my Z. Then they look at this old guy getting out and did they look puzzled. Hey, some of guys are only old in years, not attitude! Anyway, the car was in valet mode so I knew they couldn't do hardly anything with it. Valet mode is awesome!

When they bring the car around after dinner the valet said that it was not running right,(he,he). I got in and closed the door so he couldn't see and I took it out of valet mode and did a full on burn out right in front of the place. The valets were cheering and waving there hands in the air. The restaurant owner was probably not happy about it but for what a paid for dinner, he can stick it.

Meanwhile, back to the 1239 gremlin. This time I took the extension cable for the front throttlebody that Stillen supplies and wrung it out with a intermittent cable tester and it did not fail the test. So this time I rerouted the wiring so that the throttle cable extension had plenty of slack and tied it back in place like before. So far I have not had anymore issues, at least for now.

Last weekend my brother-in-law was in town and I took him for a ride in the Z. He had ridden in it when it was stock and was impressed then. The look on his face when I did a 1st through 4th gear pull was priceless.

When June rolls around I will be doing some more mods to the car. Until then I'm just enjoying the heck out of it.

Glad you sort of solved your problem. Seems like a lot of people have problems with those Stillen extension cables.

Hi TBatt,
The same thing happened to me and I got my shop to fix it and they told me it was a bad connection on one of the pins on that Stillen throttle extension cable. It has not come back so far.:driving:

My condolences to you and your family buddy.

Glad you got your car worked out! I kinda grinned when you said your brother in law was even more impressed this time around. My brother in law has a WS6 Trans Am with a couple bolt-ons, nothing special, but he thinks it is. Cant wait to take him for a ride in my boosted G this Spring!

I called Stillen yesterday about the 1239 code problem and the tech there told me that they had changed the design of the TB extension cable because so many people were having this very problem. The redesign happened late last year. If you are having weird throttle problems and the 1239 code is getting set call Stillen and let them know. They are sending me a replacement cable under warranty. They were very friendly about the whole thing.

My new cable just arrived from Stillen. I'll get it swapped out this evening. Hopefully this will solve the 1239 code issue.

So far, so good on the cable fix. Hopefully that demon has been eliminated.

Speaking of demons, have you seen the YouTube videos of the Dodge Demon? 840 freekin' horse power and turning the quarter in 9.6 sec at 140mph.

https://youtu.be/N6fc_LZLWfI

It looks like the new cable from Stillen has cured the dreaded 1239 code and limp mode. I'm glad that issue is over with. It is not much fun not knowing when your car will lose all power and you have to coast to the side of the road to shutdown the engine and restart.

Like I said earlier, I'm getting ready for more mods on my Z. Ordered the RJM V3 clutch pedal and CNC master cylinder as part of my clutch upgrades. I have the V1 pedal and it works WAY better than stock.

I'm now researching the clutch kit to buy. Right now I'm leaning towards the Z Speed Southbend Stage III daily kit and the 19lb flywheel. Any opinions on my choice?

I'm perfectly happy with my Z1 Clutch/Flywheel combo... and is cheap! =)

I have an RJM pedal sitting in a box that I impulse bought on black friday.... On the fence if I will install it or sell it though because I am not really unhappy with the feel of the OEM pedal.... either way, it's sitting at the end of a long list of to-do's...

I have the stg 3 south bend endurance clutch n pressure plate fs. All needed would be the flywheel. Pm me.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...8278d5251c.jpg

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...66d3852cfe.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

How is the engagement? I'm looking for a more stock like feel but with more torque holding capability. Pedal effort is not a big concern as the RJM pedal works so well and has tons of adjustment.

For the Z1? To me it feels OEM with a little extra effort, so perhaps exactly what you want. I am using the full face disk as opposed to the 6-puck disk. John@Z1 did recommend the 6 puck disk to me explaining that it would handle a lot more abuse (burnouts, power shifts, etc)... but I don't really drive like that. I have absolutely not complaints!

Got test pipes and leader pipes with Mil-Spec cats ordered today from Fast Intentions. I'm planning on installing these when I do the clutch upgrade.

Still studying the clutch selection. Way too many options.......

I finally made my clutch choice and went with the Southbend stage 3 daily along with ZSpeed CNC CSC upgrade. These along with the RJM V3 clutch pedal and CNC master cylinder will complete the clutch system upgrade. Install is scheduled for August. :excited:

In the mean time I'll be installing my Tial BOV and the 2.75 down pipe upgrade that TopZ has come up with some time around the end of June.:driving:

BTW: NO MORE CODE 1239! :happydance:

You will love that clutch. That is what I had and couldnt think of a reason to not get it again if i had to.

What are you selling the pedal for?

If you wanted it for what I paid on Black Friday I'd sell it ($250 with HD clevis pin... so about $50 off after shipping). I owe you a beer too for the heat shrink.

Southbend clutch is in and the HD CSC too (RJM pedal V3 and CNC MC has been here for a while). Waiting on the exhaust mods from FI.

In the mean time I will be doing a much needed fuel pump upgrade. Charles at CJM told me that some of the Goodyear fuel tubing can go bad after being submerged in gas over time. Well, he was right apparently. Yesterday when I was checking the vital fluids under the hood I noticed that my fuel pressure was at zero after sitting for a couple of days. I turned the ignition on to run the pump and it shot up to 52psi. This morning I checked it again and the pressure was again zero which means that the line between the pump and regulator is leaking. CJM has the parts to fix this permanently by using teflon tubing like what is used by Nissan as OEM. I have all of the parts along with the CNC top hat so they are going on next weekend.

I'll follow up with lots of pictures as I install all of the CJM goodies that no one but me will ever see........except when I post the pictures.

CJM Fuel Pump Mod
 

The CJM fuel pump goodies were installed this weekend. I would like to say that everything worked out good but it is nearly impossible to enjoy working on the Z's fuel pump. It will fight you all the way!

All of the CJM goodies are truly top notch! No, I'm not plugging CJM because of any discounts or any affiliation with Charles, I'm just a very satisfied customer that appreciates quality.

Here are few things that may help you out if you do the top hat upgrade. First and foremost, DO IT! When I removed my fuel pump I saw that one of the metal rod mounts was fatigued. Plastic will turn white when it has flexed and that is what I saw on one of the rods. When I tried to remove the rod by heating the plastic it just broke off. It was a problem waiting to happen.

Tools needed:
Flat blade screwdriver
14mm wrench for seat removal (not required but makes the job easier).
10mm socket for access panel removal
8mm and/or philips head screwdriver for pump removal
Old towels to protect the interior and sop up the fuel that WILL SPILL.

You must not have a full tank of gas before you remove the fuel pump. I had filled the car up the week before and had planned on driving out at least half a tank before getting started but Cindy showed up, Cindy the tropical storm that made it rain buckets all last week. I drove my truck instead and the Z so I had almost a full tank.

I disconnected the fuel line from the pump and placed a rubber hose on the fuel outlet and ran the hose to my gas can. I then hooked up a 12 volt battery directly to the fuel pump connector and pumped out about five gallons. The CJM instructions shows which pins to connect to so it was easy to hook up with some clip leads. I used one of my batteries from one of my RC planes.

Make sure you have lots of ventilation! I had both garage doors open and my shop fan running as well as having both car doors open and the hatch. You can see one of my big monster RC planes. 12ft wingspan and weighs 43 pounds wet.

The instructions that CJM provides are very good with a couple of exceptions which I will get to later. Read the instructions fully. Mark out the sections that you don't need (the instructions cover a bunch of fuel system options). Now go back and read them again. Nothing hard here but you only want to do this one time!

I used the top hat kit and the fuel pump installation kit that comes with a foam insert to keep the pump in place as well as PTFE OEM type hoses. This is way better than what Stillen has you do and just have the fuel pump dangeling inside the housing. With the foam around the fuel pump you get a nice firm fit. I used a little WD40 to lubricate the foam to help it slide in place.

Wiring the fuel pump is pretty straight forward but I would like to see a table that the installer could use to keep the wire colors/function and new connector pin out organized. What I did was to write out to the side of the connector picture the color of the wire and then the terminal on the new connector and then the body wiring color. You don't want to get things crossed up so take pictures and keep good notes.

One other small issue with the wiring. The crimp terminals supplied are for a very heavy gauge wire and are difficult to manage with the stock sensor wires. Usually I double up the wires to increase the diameter but the wires were still too small. I did not have a wire crimper for these terminals so I was using a combination of needle nose pliers and common wire crimper tool. I found that by trimming the ears of the terminal to remove the excess material the metal would fold over with out a lot of excess material. If you have too much metal sticking out the terminal will not seat in the connector. Luckily plenty of extra terminals were supplied in the kit so I could do some experimentation. After removing some of the terminal ears the crimp process was MUCH easier. I did go ahead and solder all of the connections as a backup.

The other thing that I found that could be improved with the instructions is pointing out for dummies like me the proper orientation of the new top hat. I initially installed the top hat backwards and when I went to put the pump back in the tank I saw the problem. The instruction show the correct way it should go on but if you are caught up with getting everything back together you can miss that very important part. The CJM logo will be on the opposite side of the fuel level sensor and facing the front of the car when installed. Look at my pictures and you will see that completed pump on my table is WRONG. Don't do it this way! It was simple to rotate it around and the only thing I had to do was to loosen the outlet fuel tubing clamp on the top hat and then rotate the whole assembly (undoing the rod mounts of course).

Speaking of fuel tubing, like I said already, the kit comes with PTFE (the generic name for teflon) and was easy to install. You must heat the tubing so that it will expand over the fitting barbs. I used a hot air gun that I use for my RC models. It gets hotter than a hair drier so I had to be careful. I heated up the end of the tubing a little and then tried to push it on the barb fitting. It wouldn't go so I added more heat. I kept repeating this until the tubing would slide on the fitting with a moderate amount of force. Don't heat it up too much or you will ruin the PTFE. Just experiment like I did until you get the tubing just right. Your heat application will vary with your heat source so you will have to use some trial and error. Just keep the error portion to a minimum. One other issue you will have is with the fuel clamps getting in the way. They will only open up so far so you can't easily leave them on and still get the tubing over the barbed fitting. Some of the fittings are easier than others so be patient and don't force the tubing as you could break the fuel pump. Keep in mind that fuel pump parts are not sold separately and if you screw up something a new pump assembly is around $500, ouch!

Several of us have seen the top hat fail or starting to have failure issues. Once your Z is packed with extra power and handling capabilities, this will cause more stress on the stock fuel pump top hat. The flimsy plastic is fine for most Z owners but for us boosted freaks, we will overstress this part. The pump is not secured at the bottom so it can and will move inside the tank. This is what causes the plastic top to fail.

Reps welcome and appreciated!

FI exhaust is here
 

My FI test pipes and Mil Spec Cats came in yesterday. Again, FI has amazed me with their build quality. Kind of a shame to hide these under the car.

Along with the FI goodies are my other mods to be installed, Southbend DD clutch, HD CSC, RJM 3.1 pedal.

Hoping to get this done around the first of August. Ah, August in the South, when the humidity matches the temperature......about 90-90.

Nice pipes.

Whew! Almost done
 

Well the demon bolts lived up to their name. Dang, they are hard to break loose but I won!

The CSC was just about to go out. The dust boot had already broken down and torn so it was just a matter of time before the unit failed.

Installed FI test pipes with MilSpec CATs, Southbend Stage 3 Daily clutch, ZSpeed HD CSC, RJM V3 pedal and HD master cylinder. That is a lot for a 63 year old! I'm bruised and tired but still kicking!

I would have finished up last night but the clutch safety switch is giving me some trouble. I hope that it is just a blown fuse (there is one in the circuit). I'll get back on it after work today.

Well so much for making plans to finish up the Z.........My truck died on the way to the shop. I think the timing belt jumped. I replaced it 50K miles ago at the 100K service so it should have been good. I had to have it towed home last night, in the rain. I'll dig into that problem this weekend once I get my tools back home from the shop. Oh crap, I need my truck to haul my tool box back. Guess I can borrow my uncle's truck to do that. It is a fairly large roll around tool box that takes at least two people to lift it.

And, my wife said that the rear brakes on her car are making noise. When it rains, it pours!

Got the Z running last night. The problem was a loose connection on one of the tranny connections. Once the connector was mated properly it fired right up.

The new clutch is awesome. Very nice feel and very positive hook up. I'll do some adjusting on the RJM pedal to see if I can get a more gentle take up on it. Right now it is like the throttle, lightning quick.

Holy smokes on the exhaust sound! The TP and Mil Spec cats give the car a very deep sound at idle and below 2.5K rpm. No drone, just a nice, almost V8 tone. When you step into the throttle the sound is much louder with a Ferrari-ish kind of ripping sound. Makes going through the gears even more fun!:driving:

Next is some plumbing mods to the SC pipes and a Tial BOV. That will happen after I get my truck up and running. I LOVE MY CAR! :happydance:

Some bling for my baby
 

My WC Latheworks burnt titanium shift knob arrived yesterday. Pictures does not do it justice. It looks way better in person. The burnt titanium is hard to photograph all of the subtle hues.

A nice add was this makes the shifter about an inch shorter so it is like having a short throw shifter.

Turn around time was very short as these are hand made by a single guy in his shop. Highly recommended!

Sad news
 

This morning at 2:50am my father passed away. It was kind of expected but came sooner than we thought it would. It appears that he had a stroke early yesterday that finally took him down. He was a real motorhead and will be missed.

My dad is on the far right. He had a front end alignment shop (the BEST in North Alabama) and sponsored a race car for advertisement. He also drove the car in some of the races. As you can see, I get my car interest from my hero.

May he rest in peace.

Really sorry to hear about your father, and I appreciated you posting a picture of him here. A touching tribute to the man who inspired you in many things.

Thanks for sharing and sorry for your loss and thanks for sharing your story...it is a special one.

Sorry about your father. My father passed away 7 years ago but he occasionally visits me in my dreams. I wish it was more often but I appreciate the times when it happens.

I want to thank you for you information on installing the return fuel system. You should consider adding it to the DIY fuel system stick (assuming there is one) in a similar way there is a Supplimental Still Super Charger Install description. Nice to have these tidbits of info in one place because i tend to forget what i read a day later and then can never find the info within the forums vast postings. I hope to get the CJM RFS sometime soon.

Also, I like your shift knob...what is it's weight in comparison to stock knob? How much and where did you purchase it?

Thanks and my condolances
/Z/

I just saw this post. Thanks for sharing all that. Great post. I will save the link to refer to people in the future.

Drone reduced
 

With all of the things I have done to my Z the exhaust system which so sweet at first had become a drone monster. From 2K-3K rpm, the exhaust would drone at highway speeds and get really loud during regular driving. I did some searching on the forum and saw an article about adding Helmholtz resonators to reduce the 130-160Hz noise by pressure wave cancellation. Well, I added them in and they DO REDUCE the drone.

They are quite simple in design but a bear to install. The fab shop I use came up with a solution that was way easier than T-ing off the exhaust tip area. The system clears everything under the car and the drone has been reduced by at least 50%.

The resonators are 28 inches long and 2.25 inches in diameter. All 304 stainless.