Howdy Y'all - Happy New Year.

 

I'm looking to purchase a 94 300ZX TT, in the next 2 months and the plan is to take it from a 280BHP machine to, initially a 450BHP (similar torque figure) at the rear wheels animal. I've read that the VG30DETT engine is more than capable of doing this but does need turbo upgrades as the T25's aren't that good at sustaining boost, new rods, cooling etc....

 

Is there a definitive list anywhere of the mods that can be done to achieve this. From reading the VG30DETT engine can cope comfortably with 600 bhp.

 

Has anyone done this kind of upgrading, and what are the costs going to be so that I can budget accordingly.

 

Also, NOS kits for Zed's, are they a good, bad or just plain stupid idea?

 

Thanks in advance

 

Regards

 

Paul

hi,

 

i'd forget the nos to be honest.

 

as for a budget to get 600bhp,to do it properly your looking at the wrong side of 10k,also although it is said that you can get 600bhp out of the internals i've yet to see it actually been done,most of us with high power have rebuilt forged internals

 

hope this helps

 

Paul.

You may want to take time to consider what you are going to use the car for, if for racing, dragging etc then big high reving power but with dismall low end drivability may be ok.

If as I suspect you want to use the car on the normal roads though, then less power but well sorted will give a more rewarding ride, some have even removed weight to help the power to weight ratio

 

Having driven a "few" high power zeds often the torque curve is painfully high with depressing amounts of lag and low down power, personally I feel a well sorted 400 bhp car will give more fun in normal use than a full on 600bhp beast and when you factor in reliability problems as well of course the cost then keeping it sensible is usually the best path.

 

Daveman

.. picking up on this thread how much psi can normal tubs be taken. I guess it depends its all down to how much the engine is stressed at say 14psi with normal tubs. How about 4 razzes a week at 14psi for a minute at a go. I have a Greddy Profec IIB boost controller and will get my ECU uprated next month.

I think i would be cheaper to import one with big hp mods aready theres quite a few 600 bhp cars floating around in japan talk to an importer .

I think i would be cheaper to import one with big hp mods aready theres quite a few 600 bhp cars floating around in japan talk to an importer .

 

deffo the most sensible thing to do,after spending 9k on my build and still not nearly finished,i sold my bits and bought a 600bhp one from japan for 8k(should arrive feb)

 

Paul.

.. picking up on this thread how much psi can normal tubs be taken. I guess it depends its all down to how much the engine is stressed at say 14psi with normal tubs. How about 4 razzes a week at 14psi for a minute at a go. I have a Greddy Profec IIB boost controller and will get my ECU uprated next month.

 

been running mine for about 4 years @ 16psi on boost jets.

deffo the most sensible thing to do,after spending 9k on my build and still not nearly finished,i sold my bits and bought a 600bhp one from japan for 8k(should arrive feb)

 

Paul.

 

 

looks like there are going to be a few in the 600's this year - about time too i say :D

 

regards,

 

alex

Having driven a "few" high power zeds often the torque curve is painfully high with depressing amounts of lag and low down power, personally I feel a well sorted 400 bhp car will give more fun in normal use than a full on 600bhp beast and when you factor in reliability problems as well of course the cost then keeping it sensible is usually the best path.

 

Daveman

 

which ones have you driven ? I can honestly say i have not driven any zed (mostly mine in different guises) as responsive throughout the rev range as mine is now - in a weird way it almost reminds me of my old 205 1.9 gti

 

regards,

 

alex

dont get me wrong theres something very satisfying about doing it yourself or getting it done over here but ( and just ask MAC) its not easy and its very expensive, think at last count mac was over £30k on his build.

 

me myself have put over £30k into a zed and tbh i am bringing over a zed with a similar spec for £8k :confused:

 

anything over 450 at the wheels is always going to be "interesting" in a zed but once your over 450-500 your then talking gearbox being a weak link and other areas as well.

 

Mike

looks like there are going to be a few in the 600's this year - about time too i say :D

 

regards,

 

alex

 

mine has the same turbo's as yours so it will be interesting to see the figures on it.

 

totally agree,it's about time we had some high profile cars like the supra's and skylines.

 

Paul.

me myself have put over £30k into a zed and tbh i am bringing over a zed with a similar spec for £8k :confused:

Mike

 

i know what you are saying mike -

 

but it just doesnt seem to happen - i dont know of one 600hp JP zed make 600 in the UK.

 

let the uk organiser set up a uk rolling road for sometime in 2007 a " big car shoot out " and we'll see :D

i know what you are saying mike -

 

but it just doesnt seem to happen - i dont know of one 600hp JP zed make 600 in the UK.

 

let the uk organiser set up a uk rolling road for sometime in 2007 a " big car shoot out " and we'll see :D

 

i know what you mean but to be fair i dont know of many high power zeds that have been imported? there was my silver one which made 479 at the wheels which is around 550 ish at the fly? the one i have coming over looks interesting especially in a SWB slicktop ;)

i know what you mean but to be fair i dont know of many high power zeds that have been imported? there was my silver one which made 479 at the wheels which is around 550 ish at the fly? the one i have coming over looks interesting especially in a SWB slicktop ;)

 

i think we need to get mac motivated again - and i think we need to get all 600 hp zeds to step up to the plate and be counted - as i said, 2007 could be an interesting year :D

 

regards,

 

alex

i think we need to get mac motivated again - and i think we need to get all 600 hp zeds to step up to the plate and be counted - as i said, 2007 could be an interesting year :D

 

regards,

 

alex

 

so have you got the bug again alex? i had a feeling you would keep her once she was running right :D

 

Mike

so have you got the bug again alex? i had a feeling you would keep her once she was running right :D

 

Mike

 

:headvswal dammit

 

its really hard not to get carried away but i would still sell her if i had the right offer because i'm sooo very skint :(

 

Regards,

 

alex

Ok, thanks for this, from what I can gather, buying stock and modifying is a less cost effective approach, when compared to buying an already fettled with Import. Ok..next question....anyone got any websites I'd be interested in?

 

Regards

 

Paul

i know what you are saying mike -

 

but it just doesnt seem to happen - i dont know of one 600hp JP zed make 600 in the UK.

 

let the uk organiser set up a uk rolling road for sometime in 2007 a " big car shoot out " and we'll see :D

 

or...we all enter the Z club drag challenge?

 

and see who takes the crown :D

 

Paul.

:( Why not get some decent HOMEBUILT ones over here???? Dragging them over from japan defeats the object I reckon. Plus any car running that power over there will need remapping to get get anywhere close to that figure over here!

 

I don't see why people are so scared of getting the work done over here - there's no special magical powers that the japs posses!

 

Forged pistons, rods, bit of headwork, injectors, manifolds (now coming down massively in price and has always been the major stumbling block), turbos, ICs, uprated ECU with dual intake... Thats nowhere near £30k ffs :rolleyes:

 

NOS IS possible but only running direct port due to the design of the upper intake manifold runners.

 

Come on guys, lets get some decent 'home-grown' projects on the roads :)

when i get my one in a few months i will definetly be modding it from standardish to recenably high power if all goes to plan i get more satisfaction doing it myself rather than someone else taking all the glory for my motor if you get me

Thats easy for yourself to say Andy,you can do the work yourself,others have to put trust in a garage whom i'd say 99% either cant be bothered or have no knowledge with the Z32,

 

maybe its better for you guys down in england but up here we have very little if no choice of garages to use,infact i'd go as far to say there is not a single garage in scotland i'd take a zed too for the most basic work to be done,

 

then theres cost,30k that Kirbz put into his was a bit extreme(imo) but even doing it on a budget your still looking at over 10k in parts plus a car to start with.

 

buying this "ready made" Zed was never my intention but i dont see it any different than say Boomin on here who bought a high powered Zed from ebay? Mac who as far as i know handed his car to a specialist?

 

i have total respect for people like yourself who have the skill to put a car together and can stand back and say "i built that" but 99% of us lack the skills,knowledge to do that,

 

the car Kirbz is bringing over for me just made too much sense to pass on,the brakes,gearbox and turbo kit would cost more than the 8k it cost.

 

Paul.

fair play to you matey it definetly saves 1000's of pounds doing all the work yourself but in my eyes the end result is the same just get it quicker and cheaper but as you say its the i built that factor i love meself

the other thing that will hopefully save me money is il be manafactureing my own engine internals hopefully if things go to plan aswell

Don't get me wrong Paul, I agree entirely with what you're saying - my point was that it seems to be the assumption that no one over here knows what they're doing or have the abilities to tune high powered Zeds... Yes they're few and far between but its just the same anywhere else in the world! The UK mod route seems to always get stuck at the boost controller stage and end there. Yes you do have to invest the pennies to build a decent motor and yes we do pay slightly over the odds for parts over here (although not so much now with the £ being so strong against the $ at the moment). In terms of cost for the work to be carried out, you wouldn't be looking at much more than £1500 for a motor that could give a good reliable 600 horses - engineering costs for block and headwork would be extra but everyone would have to pay that whether doing the work themselves or not :)

 

You've got a good bargain there Paul and it just goes to show that you will never get back the money you put in to modding a car, so from a depreciation point of view, yours is probably the best route :)

 

Cheers,

 

Andy

so andy, just to clarify, if I had say around £4-5K for parts and Labour and a stock Z32TT; I could be looking at getting around 500-600 horses down that are reliable?

Rebuild kit with new water pump and oil pump, wiseco pistons and eagle rods ~£1200

New manifolds ~£600

Turbos ~£1200

ICs ~£600

Injectors ~£600

Engine work ~£200 plus any port work

ECU - depends on options but say ~£500

Labour £1500 MAX

 

So about £7500 all in - still WELL shy of £30k!!!

 

Of course you'll need other mods such as uprated clutch (if manual) or uprated internals in auto box. Also uprated radiator would be highly recommended.

 

That would all see you to a reliable ~500 at the rear wheels which is very roughly 600 at the crank. Thats as far as I'd push it without further major work...

 

Also don't forget that to be able to run those kind of figures you'd be running on race gas - UK pump fuel just aint good enough....