Had to post the latest photo update. Still working on the exhaust, the pipes and you can't see the ARC oil cooler I got off Sylvan in this one- maybe tomorrow.

Anyway... a quick before and after shot (yes, I know... also posted in the Canada section. Sorry- pretty excited.)


Before:




After:

 

Looks good...

 

Looking good Eno. Looks similar some how.

Hope to get to see this something some day.

 

Thanks Red... I think it looks "similar" but I think we maintain a different look. With that being said, if you went with mesh wheels I think I'd be in trouble!

I'd still like to have them side by side!

 

i love your car.

 

looks good. So did the first impul sides from strafe fit poorly? I was thinking of buying authentic kuruma poly through him.

 

Man those sides were so badly warped the body shop couldn't put them on. My experience with strafe was limited to the bumper and sides and some process where I tried to rectify an issue where they used poly pics to advertise the parts I bought. After my issue they snuck in some stipulation in the thread that unless otherwise indicated all parts on sale were fg. I was pretty noobish then and didn't know their reputation. Even then people were cautioning me about them. I had no idea what I would be up against. They basically said it was all on me so I just moved on.

Not long ago someone in a long line of people having issues with strafe had a thread going and I chimed in my empathy. One of the guys from strafe came in and admitted to me "they were stuck with parts from a supplier that had no quality control" at the time. Funny because back then they said it was all my fault because I went about the mounting process the wrong way and fg parts are ALWAYS poor fitting.

That admission and a bunch of posts on either side were promptly "cleaned up" the following morning by a mod- many of whom, for some reason, are like strafes' own secret service. That was the straw that broke my back and I subsequently decided not to renew my premier membership.

Recently over at niclub.ca I see one of our members over there has a hood from strafe- but its not the one they ordered. Not a big deal usually... Except that it seems to happen to strafe with such regularity I can't in good conscience encourage anyone to purchase anything from them.

Admittedly, strafe has indicated they will make arrangements to correct the problem (free shipping on new hood he actually ordered and sending the wrong hood back or some other arrangement with keeping the hood he has...) I'll believe it when it happens- but to be fair MAYBE they'll pull up their socks. (edit: I just learned that they also in fact completely forgot about two additional parts- sway bars and eyelids. Shocker.)

I don't know- they had a reputation when I bought and that was well over a year ago...and they're still in here p1ssing people off on an almost weekly basis. If I were a betting man at the track, I might be inclined to compare rolling the dice on strafe with betting on the horse with a broken leg, and is dead. But hey- to each their own.

 

Okay- now that my Strafe rants are over with (until the next one) I do have some build related updates to post regarding the upgrade to the exhaust.

1) The Greddy Turbo Ti-C exhaust fits nicely but did conflict with the evap cannister on the passenger side. I've read about this before but had forgotten about it. It basically hits right around where that side muffler is. It was quite easily moved over closer to the middle (where the Stillen muffler used to sit) and that disaster was averted.

2) While they were working on that they ended up noticing that a bracket necessary for the MD sways I had installed (like 2 years ago) has been missing. I have no idea what bracket they're talking about but they're saying one is definitely missing. So they have that ordered.

3) The new 3" pipes are more or less finished and they are being prepared for install. I've included some photos to show the difference between the original / stock JWT elbow to 2.5" megan racing resonated test pipe. I was shocked at exactly how restricted that elbow is- not only is it MAYBE 2.25" on the inside in total- that limited space is further restricted by a separation between the main exhaust flow and a channel for the waste gate flow. The new pipes dispense with that entirely. One of the guys from MNR could get almost his entire hand inside the new pipes while barely 2 fingers fit inside the larger of the two passages in the old pipe. Yes, you can imagine the subsequent commentary- not appropriate for expansion here.




4) The "bad" news (which, if you think of it, is also good news at this point) was that the wastegates are loose. It's difficult to determine exactly when this was an issue- if it was an oversight from the days with Intec or if it has happened during the break-in and couple thousand klicks since then. Because they are now exposed, the boys from MNR had a chance to double check them and they are rattling away quite noticeably. This will get fixed, of course- but the passenger side one is a little harder to get to- I think because of the starter. Good news because they found it now- instead of at a later time while trying to problem solve something down the road.



So that was my update from yesterday. The oil cooler is still off and they do have all the necessary parts to deal with that.

 

glad to hear the exhaust is on..good luck with everything man.

 

Picking up the car tomorrow- oil cooler is all installed... I'm told the exhaust sounds absolutely disGusting- just waiting for some dyno time. They got some "before" dyno sheets so I'll post the comparissons. Had some interesting discussions about the J bung and the cross between eliminating CEL codes and "faking" narrowband 02 sensor readings- and the possible result. Thanks to Djamps for that insight.

We're going to stick with the J bungs but if we notice any excessive fuel useage or (edit: Lagging off the line) the boys at MNR said they would modify it.

More build related things- I bought some ES Poly bushings for the front end but ended up kayboshing that idea for the time being. Sounds like there may be better options- I'll know more tomorrow. Sorry for the useless update- just excited is all.

 

I never had any stuttering or anything bad happen with my extenders.. it just dumped fuel from time to time and wasn't very peppy off the line... WOT and dyno graphs was always good.

BTW here's an example of the lower o2's causing overfueling (except in this case, due to using simulators). proves that the secondary sensors actually do influence fuel trims:

http://my350z.com/forum/tuning/54902...ipher-log.html

 

I can't wait to see the oil cooler installed it still makes me sad I sold it . I never even bought anything good with the money either

The down pipes look awesome

 

Many things to report but pics first. Dyno sheets etc will be up in a couple days- didn't get them off the shop today.

Suffice to say I have definitely made the transition from comfort to performance... the thing sounds ridiculous.

 

siiick

 

lookin good man!