Z32 Upgrades
 

I just bought a 1990 300zx tt. It is fully stock and i have about 5-7 grand to put into the car. I want to put it all into performance and a decent sound system because i will soon spend another 3-5 grand on the exteriors of the car. I was wondering what would be a good setup to put into the car with only 5-7 grand.

Welcome to ZDriver! :006:

Setup as in stereo, or setup as in horsepower?

FYI... 140db of bass doesn't make you GO faster, but it will get your car broken into faster. :D Audio equipment is expensive dead weight and perfected by the Honduh ricer groups, so spend your money more wisely on motor upgrades (which the Z32 guys will surely give their advice soon).

specialty Z exhaust, JWT intake, downpipes, and ECU. won't eat up 5-7 grand, but you'll probably have to re-learn how to drive after that anyway.

2nd on mods and statement. 100+ horsepower boost makes the car a completely different animal.

@Nismopick the audio setup is just for my pleasure to listen to music not for speed haha and im not that much into audio i just want a decent system.

@kasbekz @zlover4life how much would all that set me back around because i just got my budget upgraded my grandpa is giving me a early birthday present haha so my budget is 11 grand exactly

JWT POP - $90

Specialty Z 3" cat-back - $915

Specialty Z 3" test pipes (might as well, unless you're in Cali) - $360

Specialty Z 3" downpipes - $650

ZTuner ECU - $225
Specialty Z ECU - $99 + socketing costs
JWT ECU - $695
(no discernible benefit of either over the other)

And you'll need a clutch... do your research and pick one. May as well do an RPS flywheel while you're in there.

You'll also be spending a little more on other things (your detonation sensor harness is probably bad, for example). Also test your injectors and fuel system (search on how to test these) so that you don't blow your sh!t up with just these basic upgrades.

Put the rest into your education. Trust me.

If you put it into your car, you'll wreck it... big horsepower jumps are difficult to adapt to, so it should be done gradually. And all of those mods will still work later on when you upgrade turbos and the like.

@zlover4life Im also thinking of a engine swap for the car since it has alot of kms on it any ideas i was thinkin of just gettin the stock tt engine

I already have a university/college fund my parents made when i was little

There's no reason to just replace a TT engine for the hell of it. Do a compression and leakdown test to verify that the engine is healthy. If it's not, THEN worry about replacement or rebuild.

And they may have a fund for your undergraduate education, but what about a Master's or Doctorate? If the economy doesn't turn around soon, the Bachelor's degree isn't going to get you very far. If you don't want to listen to me about spending it on your education, at least listen to me about not overbuilding the car beyond your own control right away. If you'll take note, you never said anything about your age - I was able to infer that you were still a teen just by your posts... that should tell you something.

^ This. 400hp is nothing to play around with. Your parents purse can buy you a car but adapting responsible racing habits at a young age is nearly impossible. The above stated setup can push your car to the 170mph range at which point death can literally be right around the corner.

Maybe invest in safety items like BRAKES, harnesses, ect.

By all means enjoy your speeding:biggrin: But be careful

(end online parenting lecture):006:

I have JL audio stealth box with 10" woofer

four mids

four tweets

a 5 channel amp

and a drive train putting down about 590 or so at the wheels and even with the stereo the car still runs like a scalded ape! lol!

I would look at getting a big brake kit 1st

get a set of wheels to fit it

do all of the suspension

then when the other money comes along do the motor

Make sure you get the selin dual maf reader it works great.

I just read that you are a youngster. Please be careful!!! No one could tell me anything when I was your age but I had to try!

Where in canada and the economy is fine here im 18 and i make 20$ an hour and i have not graduated yet. and im not a dumb teen in my city we have a race city its open every day of the week and anyone can go there so i dont have to race on the streets.

@zlover4life thanks alot for the information i went to speed tech and they did an overall inspection and told me for a 20 year old car its in amazing shape. and i also bought my sound system and my car is at the shop they gave me an amazing deal on 15'' kickers.

Jesus, there go your ears! (although everyone here is saying it about the speed...) be careful about your ears. You mess up your hearing young and you won't have it when you're old :037:

Make sure you aren't exceeding so many dBs for long periods of times.

I'm pretty sure the "cool factor" of 15" sub's went out in the 1980's. :D There's absolutely no reason to have anything bigger than two 10"s in a hatch.... and the right size box for a set of 15"s wouldn't fit in a Z32 hatch area anyway... but I guess we're not going for "quality" here....

It's not about being able to do it legally... it's about the fact that acceleration with 400bhp is ridiculous and it'll take a while to get used to that. When 400bhp becomes routine for you to handle, then you can worry about further modifications.

I tried two 10s... I prefer the sound of two 12s. 15s are too big for a car (my DJ equipment runs 4 15s and I'm tempted to downsize because it's a bitch to move them around and there is no benefit to the size).

5-7 grand is a lot of money to put into a car that's only worth about $6000. If you are involved in an accident and your car is totaled, you'll be losing a lot of money. I'd just go with a nice sound system.

You're not going to fit in well, here.

Not only can you buy back a totalled-out car and re-use just about every performance modification (they generally don't get damaged in car accidents), but you can take out policies that include the cost of modifications if you choose to do so.

Saying that the 300ZX is not worth modding is absurd... there are Z32s that run 9 second quarter mile times, others that are autocross monsters, a few dyno queens making over 1000 rear-wheel horsepower, etc. This car is an ideal candidate for modifications because it responds so well to them, making them such a faster car. (Of course, I'm referring to Twin Turbos, because that's the subject of this thread... modding an NA is much more difficult to make power with.)

Internals, fuel system, turbos, wiring harness, and some driving classes.

^ Please don't give advice until you have a LOT more experience in building these cars. Sending your car to a shop to modify it does not qualify.

91300zxTT - ignore that last post, he's clearly not well versed in the fact that the stock internals are sufficient over 600rwhp and there's a CONSIDERABLE number of other mods needed before doing turbos.

I have worked on several of these cars so I do understand limits and capabilities of the vg30 series engine. You're right the internals can be used over 600 horse but the minute someone adds too much boost to the stock internals you will send a rod flying. Take it from someone who has been around the block a few times. I might be new to this site but i most certainly am not new to this car, engine, or performance setup.

that's why you left out intercoolers, boost controller, exhaust, intake, new ECU, ext. ext. before adding turbos. also why you recommend replacing the wiring harness as an upgrade when you don't know what condition it's in... this is not good advice.

not to mention, the full rebuild and forged internals + turbos would certainly put him over 5-7 grand. not trying to be a dick and start stuff, just trying to prevent confusion to the OP. these forums are a safe haven for the truth!

aww ****, here we go......

Alright then let's see if I can appease the forum Gods then.:smile:

To start off I would go with a Stand alone Engine management system. This won't really give any adequate power, but what it does do is give you unlimited capabilities with fuel and air maps for the setup that you choose to run. I highly recommend the Halltech platinum pro sport 2000. This retails at 1997.99 $ and is capable of everything an AEM is. On this mod a good tuner will be your best friend.

Second, I understand that you may not need to upgrade the internals, but I would recommend it even for the soul purpose of ensuring the internals are 1: New 2: Everything is to spec and 3: Gives you reassurance and peace of mind that it going to be harder to break this engine. Not to mention new gaskets and seals are always a good thing. There is a wonderful kit on Z1 that sells for around 4500.00$ that comes with forged pistons, Carrillo super h beam rods, new hp bearings, and all the gaskets that you will need for a full lower end rebuild. (Only thing missing are the items to rebuild the heads.)

Third would be the fuel system. My personnal choice would be somewhere in the 555 to 670cc range injectors. This will support enough power to hold you over for a very very long time. There is also a kit on Z1 that comes with brand new 300 Degree fuel rails, AN lines, Fuel injectors, and the equipment needed for the install for around 1200.00$.

Fourth, I would go with exhuast(the 3rd and 4th step can be interchanged probably prefer to do so but this is if you do it all at once.) I would go with a full turbo back system. There are many varieties all over the internet. It's more of your preference on this one as you'll be the one dealing with the sound.

Fourth, Headwork. Ferrea makes excellent kits for the vg30 motor. They have a few options such as titanium valves and 1mm overbore valves which if done right can help the spool of the turbos while the titanium is a lighter wieght material that will allow you to rev up faster and sustain higher rpm if you choose to go that route. As far as cams, that is something I myself am still learning so I would talk to an expert supplier such as Z1 or COZ to find out the grind of the cam they suggest for you.

Fourth, would be the cooling. AMS makes a great radiator that I have never once had a problem out of, even on track days. But its all about preference. The other would be an oil cooler upgrade if you plan on upgrading turbos, or if you have your engine running hard for long periods of time. If by chance you are running an auto tranny then do yourself a favor and beef up your transmission cooler.

Fifth, and my favorite. Turbos. For the sufficient power levels (lest you want 800 horse or more) I would suggest going with the gt600rs sport turbos. If everything is done right to the engine these turbines can spool to full spoolat around 3000-3500 which still gives you plenty of RPM to play with. But, make sure everything else is done prior this would be one of the last steps in my opinion. Along with this step you must upgrade your intercoolers or they will not function at 100% then you are simply losing power due to heat sink.

Sixth, would be miscellaneous things. Underdrive and overdrive pulleys, light weight drive shaft if you choose, if you dared to venture into more electrical accessories then an electronic fan.

Please to all the gurus understand this is simply for the engine. Not suspension or anything else which would help the handling once you upgrade to a whole new monster. Also if I missed anything please add to it.

Lol you are right. I did leave out a lot but he also stated he got an early present and the total he could spend went to 11000. I'm sorry I rushed my post, but we were getting ready to roll outside the wire for a mission. I promise it won't happen again.

I'd get Nistune... that's the next thing I'm getting....

http://www.nistune.com/

I've heard nothing but good about it, and seen it in action.

The rods are not the weak point of the VG30DETT, by the way. In fact, they are the strong point. If a rod snaps, it's usually because of hydrolock. The pistons will melt/crack long before a rod snaps from overboosting.

And as KasbeKZ said, my critique was more with all the stuff that you left out. You need to realize that the type of people who read this forum don't know better, and if you tell them that all they need is upgraded turbos, they're bound to believe you... and then I'd say it's your fault when the lack of supporting mods makes them detonate their engine to hell.

When it comes to explaining things on forums, you need to break it down Barney-style - so non-technically written that even a moron would know what's involved.