Boosted Performance turbo kit self install (review)
 

Self Install Review:

Before taking on this project, the only thing I knew how to do was an oil change. Taking on this project was actually scary to me as I was taking apart a car that is worth thousands. It only made me take things slower and go through the steps as if I was handling a baby.

The instructions that came with the kit was very detailed and filled with pictures to help the reading impaired.

The hardest part out of everything was attacking the demon bolts. They took 6 hours to do as it was my first time ever dealing with it. I ended up using tons of PB blast, torch, 24"+ of extensions, 1/2 inch wrench with a 2.5 foot long bar to help battle the mighty demon bolts. It came loose and it made me feel like a million dollars.

The second hardest part of the install was the turbo alignment. Being that I have no lift and was only using jack stands, the turbo is quite heavy. It took quite a lot of tries just to align it correctly and even then, I don't think it is fully aligned correctly. This is why I brought it to a shop that work on Zs here to take a look and to also do some custom work.

Build Quality:

Everything about the kit itself is top notch and high quality. I don't know what else to say about it as everyone has already seen the pictures.

Customer Service:

Sasha's service is by far one of the best I have ever dealt with in my entire life. He has answered every question I have thrown at him. Even when the questions are dumber than dumb (literally). He has even answered them on a timely manner. Even with his busy life, he tries his best to help me with the install.

Suggestions:

If you are going to do a self install, the biggest advice for you is patience. Then you need another car for when you need extra parts. You will also need to learn how to solder wires.

Other than the kit, I also installed a HKS EVC 6, Oil Pressure gauge and wideband. This is one of the reasons why you will need to learn how to solder wires. You will be cutting wires to extend them because the wires that comes with the gauges are short. Seems like the companies do that purposely to make you buy extensions. Other than that, you will need to solder the wires for the oil pump.

Misc Thoughts:

The kit came with a minor flaw and missing a piece of threaded bolt. The only minor flaw was that the first charge pipe that came with the kit was welded incorrectly. This was quickly fixed with Sasha's 10/10 customer service. Also a piece of threaded bolt that was supposed to be attached to the oil filter relocation bracket was missing. Sasha, again, with his 10/10 customer service quickly solve the issue by sending me the missing piece.

There were quite a few moments where I was just frustrated because it felt like I hit a brick wall and didn't know what to do. Most of those moments were because of the demon bolt and the turbo alignment. With repeated attempts and a little help, I ended up winning the fight.

Current Situation:

The car is currently sitting at a reputable shop getting looked at. It will be getting a upgraded clutch and flywheel from zspeed (thank you joe). The gauges and boost controller will be going into the center console where the cubby hole is. I will be getting some custom work done for it. Not sure how it will look yet. This will take a few weeks to complete.

Mods:
Precision 6266E 750hp Twin Scroll Ball Bearing Turbo, T4 1.15 a/r Turbine Housing
Large vertical flow intercooler (25”x9”x3.5” core)
750cc Bosch EV14 fuel injectors with plug’n play pig tails
340lph fuel pump (support up to 650whp)
Exa 12V turbo scavenge pump
Tial BOV
2x Tial waste gates
UpRev
3” 304 stainless down pipe
Tig welded 6061 aluminum intercooler piping
30 row oil cooler kit
Stainless braid oil cooler lines -8an
Stainless turbo oil return lines -6an
OEM oil filter relocation kit
JWT oil pan spacer
GTR spark plugs
304 stainless steel tig welded exhaust manifold
304 stainless brackets and hardware
CNT Catback
DEFI (Oil Pressure)
INNOVATE (A/F Gauge)
HKS EVC-6
South Bend DXD Clutch Stage 3 Daily Clutch Kit
South Bend DXD Clutch Steel Flywheel
ZSpeed Heavy Duty Concentric Slave CSC Kit with Stainless Fluid Lines
Motul fluids



People I Want To Thank:
Sasha (boosted performance)
Charles (CJ Motorsports)
Project X Customs
All the guys here that helped me with the gauges and boost controller.
If I forgot anyone, sorry.



If you guys have questions about the kit, the install or anything else, don't hesitate to ask. Even if the question is dumb, I will try to answer it. I had a lot of dumb questions myself and probably still do.

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Pics

Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk 2

Sorry for the poor quality pictures. They were taken with my old crappy phone.

Did you get custom exhaust work done? What exhaust are you running?

I have hte CNT exhaust. It is at the shop now getting the exhaust cut and welded. I will hopefully be picking it up on Saturday.

Congrats on the boost! Can't wait to see what this bad boy can do

Sweet your in Chicago. I maybe reaching out to you in the near future for some guidance. Would love to get your input/review on the overall boosted experience once your done.

Yea, I don't mind helping. There are many other guys around Chicago that would help too. Just shoot me a PM when you have questions.

I cant recall... are you going to have it custom tuned or run a canned tan?

I have a question about the oil cooler setup. The plumbing configuration isnt quite clear in the photos. Is that oil cooler only cooling the turbos return oil? Or is it plumbed entirely separate and I am just being confused by the pics?

The oil cooler is plumbed entirely separate from the turbo return line. The oil lines for the oil cooler is a larger oil line than the turbo return line. The oil return line is actually connected to the exa scavenge pump.

I am currently deciding if I want to run the canned tune or go with a custom tune. Chances are I will probably go with a custom tune. I just need to make a phone call to project x and let them know before they strap it on the dyno.

Got it, I was just mixed up looking at the pics.

Thats a tough call about the tune... because it would be nice to check the canned tune before pulling the trigger on custom... if the AF looks good, and the timing figures looking proper, dyno graph looks good... in that case I wouldnt mess with it. But you probably have to decide first so they are setup with an UpRev license or something so that they can tune it on the spot without having to setup another dyno day?

I can give Eli at project X a heads up about it. If the canned tune is running properly then he can just leave it. If it needs touching up then I will tell him to go ahead and do the tune without calling me.

The car's lookin' good. I'm glad everything is working out for you Cell. If I was you tho, I would've had the clutch done before the install, that way the shop that will do your clutch would've removed the demon bolts for you since the exhaust needs to come out anyway ;).

Looking forward to those dyno results.

Not to mention you need to put a few miles on the fresh clutch before the tune/dyno.

The canned tune was based off my car when it was at R/T Tuning. My car was ~460's HP with the original base map (also from Vince). I drove 8+ hours without an issue with that tune, then Vince touched it up when he was tuning my car. The base tune should be good to go without the boost controller. Having said that, you will probably want to have a tuner make adjustments dependant on fuel octane you intend to use, and your boost controller.

Nice work bro!!! I have a question.... its a dumb question loll!!! i always want to know if i install a turbo kit... i have to install forged internals too??? or i can run with oem internals... when i said forged internals i refer to piston & rods.... Let me know if you can... i want to do this on my car in the future :tup:

Thanks!!!

The rule of thumb here seems to be that you're fine on the stock motor at or below 500whp. Up to 550whp if you want to run on the ragged edge. Above that, plan for a motor build. Some people get away with 550whp for a long time, but that's being fairly aggressive with a stock motor. For peace of mind, stick around the 500 mark.

Thanks a lot Chuck.... :tup:

Its not the horse power that breaks the engine apart, its the torque (wheel torque). That being said, a good tune of 600 "WHP" will be much more reliable than bad tune with 350 WHP and will last much longer too.

Well, yeah. The one with the good tune always wins. I was using "a good tune" as a constant.

Nice write up

I knew someone was going to mention it.

The only reason why I did the install first was because I rent my garage and I was getting kicked out. I wanted to take advantage of the time I had left with the garage and learn to do the install myself.

The tune I received is locked. So I will have to go with a fresh tune if I wanted changes. I asked for the password but I don't think Sasha was able to get it.

Cell how has your experience been with project x. They seem to be the only reputable Z shop in the Chicago land area.

This is the second time I have gone to them for work. THe first time was just for the cat back install. The service there has been great so far. I don't have any complaints.

Nice work! I have been enjoying mine now for about 7 months and running strong.

Nice work man!

Thank you guys.

I believe the clutch and flywheel is in now. Car is still at the shop, probably getting the exhaust fabbed and a few other things looked over.

Can't wait till I finish breaking in the clutch so I can get it dynoed and tuned.

A little update...

I just got the car back today from Project X Customs. Car runs great. One problem with the tune is that it is running a little rich. It will have to be retuned.

Southbend's stage 3 clutch and 19lb flywheel sounds like a tractor trailer. I forgot to tell Project X customs to put the Motul oil that came with the Southbend clutch in so I will have to bring it back another day.

A small thing I noticed after getting my car back was that the turbo manifold actually blocks the port to fill the transmission with the motul oil.

Car feels like stock when it is out of boost. WHen it is in boost, it feels great. With the current CNT exhaust, it is actually not that loud and the BOV + Turbo spool sounds louder. Kind of makes me want to go with open dumps.

Now I have to break the clutch in with 500-1000 miles of city driving, then get it retuned and have the gauges mounted to where the center cubby hole is.

EDIT: Forgot to mention that oil now sits around 185-190 while cruising at 70mph in 75 degree weather. That is with a 30r oil cooler.

You have to pull the piping to change the trans fluid. Just do it when you change the air filter since you will be in there anyways. I suggest ordering a couple more air filters from Sasha to keep as they usually come out with rub marks since the space is so tight.

Enjoy the boost, hopefully the snow stays away for you for some time yet.

I was able to change my transfluid without removing anything. You just need to cut down the head of an allen key. They are cheap and will save you lots of time.

Yea, I hope the snow stays away for most of the winter here.

I will consider your suggestion and buy more filters.


And picture of the exhaust that was done to connect it to the CNT exhaust.

That exhaust worked out very well.

For those that don't know...I sent Cell the Y-pipe section without the 2-bolt flanges welded on, and the dual 2.5" side of the Y section longer so it was nice and quick for the exhasut shop to simply cut them down to size (length), and weld the two 2-bolt flanges on. Quick/simple/cheap.

Cell, once you go back for your retune, let me know so I can add you to the finished builds thread. If you want to give me your current numbers just to add you that is fine also.

Just need the following info:
-Year
-Kit used
-Current HP/Torque
-Current PSI
-Miles since kit installed
-Other upgrades (clutch/flywheel/engine/etc.), also include miles when these upgrades were completed with done after original FI install

Man when you can post that thread to subscribe;) thanks!!!

This is the finished builds: http://www.the370z.com/forced-induct...ed-builds.html

BP Twin Scroll is adding many people to this list. :tup:

Thanks a lot Dreamer!!! im planing to get the GTM TT kit in the future for my Z.

Yup, should have 10 more added to the list by the end of this year.

Definitely will when I get the retune. :tup:

It worked out very well. They only had to cut a small portion out and weld the flanges on.



UPDATE on the driving experience:

At IDLE, the engine revs up and down at about a 50-100 rpm range. It is noticeable with the exhaust note and the oil pressure jumping up and down. Not sure why it is doing this but I think it might just be the tune. Hopefully it can be fixed with a retune.

Last night, while driving I noticed something odd. The engine oil was around 175 degrees but the oil pressure dropped to 25 psi which isn't normal. Maybe someone else has an explanation for this? This morning after driving it for 30 minutes, it is back to normal with 185 degree oil temp and 30 psi oil pressure.

With the new clutch and flywheel, I have noticed that it is slightly harder to get into gear now. I either have to increase the RPM and engage it into 1st gear or rev it at a lower RPM and kind of release the clutch a bit quicker. If I don't engage it correctly, it feels like it will stall. This is with a 19lb flywheel.

Another thing is that with the stock trans oil, I noticed that once it gets hot enough, it gets even a bit more harder to drive. I wonder how much more would the motul oil improve the engagement when it is heated up.

One thing the tune did fix compared to stock was the IDLE dropping problem. I recorded the below video when the car had a stock tune.

You and GaleForce are guys who inspire me to tackle an install like this. I'm glad my demon bolt is gone though haha!