New From Japan
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Teching In
Joined: May 2007
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New From Japan Hi all.. I hope to learn heaps about my LS1 here.
Although I do live in Japan, I am not Japanese, sorry for any confusion in the title.
I am a US Service Member... Serving in the US Navy for 15 years. I'm currently forward deployed in the land of the rising sun Japan!
Needless to say my 1999 Z28 turns a few heads here due to how rare it is to see them here. (I do see a few "International" models from time to time but never a true imported version such as mine)
Well, I guess I should take a moment to go over what I have done to my LS1 to date, as well as the changes they made. This way folks can better advise on what my next move should be.
First was the intake.
an SLP cold air intake kit was installed and has been the best performance gain for the buck. The sheet metal box which now reaches down between the radiator and air conditioning condenser along with the removal of the large and unsightly baffle really cleaned up the look under the hood as well as adding some HP.
Next was a MagnaFlow cat back.
I didnt notice as much of a performance gain, but the change in the sound of the car was almost worth it all by itself.
Here is where I thought I was a genius.
Before I work on building more and more HP... I should first set up the suspension. I looked far and wide for a decent deal on all of my suspension needs. I wanted to replace everything... but I wanted to do it for as little money as possible. I found BMR Fabrication. And just as I wanted, Everything was replaced.
K-Member, Upper and Lower "A" Arms, Tower Strut Brace, QA1 coil overs in the front as well as QA1's in the back w/ lowering springs, weld-in sub frame connectors, front sway bar, rear sway bar, Adjustable Pan-hard rod and relocation kit, Tubular control arms as well as polyurethane bushings all around. And whats a spank'n new suspension system without some new shoes? Enter a set of Ruff Racing chrome 280's 19" all around w/ staggered 8.5, 9.5. The unfortunate part is, all this took every waking moment of my weekend to install. What made it all worth while was the way she held the road the first time out of the garage. Its a feeling I've become used to but I'll always remember that first drive.
Then came a set of PaceSetter Long Tube Exhaust headers.
Here is where I learned some valuable lessons. First, the headers came with an Off Road Y pipe. It was here that I realized I did not do enough research. I wanted to keep the cats installed and thought that there would be enough room to just use a standard set CarSound universal cats. Way wrong answer. There was Maybe enough room under the passenger seat to fit one... but after the long tube headers were reaching much farther backand under the car than the stock shorties... there was next to Zero space under the drivers side for a cat to be placed. The answer was a set of Spun-Cats from MagnaFlow (CarSound)... After a bit of measuring, cutting and welding I was able to fit them just behind the headers and also fit the O2 sensors.
I was a bit disappointed in the performance gain after all of the cut knuckles I endured getting this set installed. She seems a bit gutless off the line now... but I do see some top end gains.
Which brings me to current day. And I have heaps of questions.
I'll try to post them in the correct forums, but for now... I off to read what has already been posted. I hope to learn much from this forum, and apply it to my LS1...
Craig
Although I do live in Japan, I am not Japanese, sorry for any confusion in the title.
I am a US Service Member... Serving in the US Navy for 15 years. I'm currently forward deployed in the land of the rising sun Japan!
Needless to say my 1999 Z28 turns a few heads here due to how rare it is to see them here. (I do see a few "International" models from time to time but never a true imported version such as mine)
Well, I guess I should take a moment to go over what I have done to my LS1 to date, as well as the changes they made. This way folks can better advise on what my next move should be.
First was the intake.
an SLP cold air intake kit was installed and has been the best performance gain for the buck. The sheet metal box which now reaches down between the radiator and air conditioning condenser along with the removal of the large and unsightly baffle really cleaned up the look under the hood as well as adding some HP.
Next was a MagnaFlow cat back.
I didnt notice as much of a performance gain, but the change in the sound of the car was almost worth it all by itself.
Here is where I thought I was a genius.
Before I work on building more and more HP... I should first set up the suspension. I looked far and wide for a decent deal on all of my suspension needs. I wanted to replace everything... but I wanted to do it for as little money as possible. I found BMR Fabrication. And just as I wanted, Everything was replaced.
K-Member, Upper and Lower "A" Arms, Tower Strut Brace, QA1 coil overs in the front as well as QA1's in the back w/ lowering springs, weld-in sub frame connectors, front sway bar, rear sway bar, Adjustable Pan-hard rod and relocation kit, Tubular control arms as well as polyurethane bushings all around. And whats a spank'n new suspension system without some new shoes? Enter a set of Ruff Racing chrome 280's 19" all around w/ staggered 8.5, 9.5. The unfortunate part is, all this took every waking moment of my weekend to install. What made it all worth while was the way she held the road the first time out of the garage. Its a feeling I've become used to but I'll always remember that first drive.
Then came a set of PaceSetter Long Tube Exhaust headers.
Here is where I learned some valuable lessons. First, the headers came with an Off Road Y pipe. It was here that I realized I did not do enough research. I wanted to keep the cats installed and thought that there would be enough room to just use a standard set CarSound universal cats. Way wrong answer. There was Maybe enough room under the passenger seat to fit one... but after the long tube headers were reaching much farther backand under the car than the stock shorties... there was next to Zero space under the drivers side for a cat to be placed. The answer was a set of Spun-Cats from MagnaFlow (CarSound)... After a bit of measuring, cutting and welding I was able to fit them just behind the headers and also fit the O2 sensors.
I was a bit disappointed in the performance gain after all of the cut knuckles I endured getting this set installed. She seems a bit gutless off the line now... but I do see some top end gains.
Which brings me to current day. And I have heaps of questions.
I'll try to post them in the correct forums, but for now... I off to read what has already been posted. I hope to learn much from this forum, and apply it to my LS1...
Craig
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 2
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Emissions.. I figure your talking about Japan emissions.
Sure, they have emissions here. But, as with everything here its about 10 years behind where California is today.
They guys at the Land Transportation Office (same as our DMV) never give me any troubles with emissions though. Actually, I've only seen them check it once in 5 years.
Pictures eh? Well, alright, here's a few...
My Camaro
Exhaust Headers Going In #1
Exhaust Headers Going In #1
Craig
Sure, they have emissions here. But, as with everything here its about 10 years behind where California is today.
They guys at the Land Transportation Office (same as our DMV) never give me any troubles with emissions though. Actually, I've only seen them check it once in 5 years.
Pictures eh? Well, alright, here's a few...
My Camaro
Exhaust Headers Going In #1
Exhaust Headers Going In #1
Craig
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Verdad Gallardo Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: May 2007
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I'd love to exchange stories Phrozen, but.... I'll be leaving for a deployment very soon...
I'll be in touch when I return.
As for the Y pipe... there is no need for it anymore.
I guess its safe to say I made a "Custom" Y pipe by cutting and welding spun cats into the offroad Y pipe and then mounting them to the headers. I also found some O2 sensor mounts(havent welded them in yet, they arrived after I put the cats in). Actually, the thickness of the Y pipe was sufficent to tap threads into it... the O2 sensors screwed right in...of course I dont have a warm and fuzzy about them so I'll be welding the mounts on soon. I was driving around for a while without cats and without the rear O2 sensors plugged in. I thought it was running very rich due to the smell, or the cats burn off a lot more than I thought... anyway, the check engine soon light was on with only the forward O2 sensors installed and the rear ones tied off(expected). After 4 or 5 runs around town after the cats where installed and the O2 sensor returned to its proper location behind the cats... the check engine light went out (I'm told that the PCM figures out what happened after driving around a bit and clears the code by itself.) the only problem I have at this point is I held the Y pipe up too close to the bottom of the car when I clamped the front down...so it knocks under the drivers seat when I step on it. Easy fix... I'll get to it when I have time =)
eesh, I just had a look at the price of a TSP catted Y pipe... about 700.00 bucks just for the Ypipe and cats.
The off-road pipe I got as part of the 500.00 package... PaceSetter LTH ceramic coated w/ offroad Ypipe, add in another 200.00 for the cats and about 3 hours of my time... seems I got a free set of LTH!
Craig
I'll be in touch when I return.
As for the Y pipe... there is no need for it anymore.
I guess its safe to say I made a "Custom" Y pipe by cutting and welding spun cats into the offroad Y pipe and then mounting them to the headers. I also found some O2 sensor mounts(havent welded them in yet, they arrived after I put the cats in). Actually, the thickness of the Y pipe was sufficent to tap threads into it... the O2 sensors screwed right in...of course I dont have a warm and fuzzy about them so I'll be welding the mounts on soon. I was driving around for a while without cats and without the rear O2 sensors plugged in. I thought it was running very rich due to the smell, or the cats burn off a lot more than I thought... anyway, the check engine soon light was on with only the forward O2 sensors installed and the rear ones tied off(expected). After 4 or 5 runs around town after the cats where installed and the O2 sensor returned to its proper location behind the cats... the check engine light went out (I'm told that the PCM figures out what happened after driving around a bit and clears the code by itself.) the only problem I have at this point is I held the Y pipe up too close to the bottom of the car when I clamped the front down...so it knocks under the drivers seat when I step on it. Easy fix... I'll get to it when I have time =)
eesh, I just had a look at the price of a TSP catted Y pipe... about 700.00 bucks just for the Ypipe and cats.
The off-road pipe I got as part of the 500.00 package... PaceSetter LTH ceramic coated w/ offroad Ypipe, add in another 200.00 for the cats and about 3 hours of my time... seems I got a free set of LTH!
Craig
Last edited by lrdlion; May 11, 2007 at 09:03 AM.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: May 2007
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Boo5td...
Glad you mentioned cam and heads....
I'd like that to be my next mod. I'm very nervous about it. I've lots of questions.
I'll post them in the proper forum though. Pls have a look and give me your thoughts. Thanks.
Glad you mentioned cam and heads....
I'd like that to be my next mod. I'm very nervous about it. I've lots of questions.
I'll post them in the proper forum though. Pls have a look and give me your thoughts. Thanks.
Yea, I'd just do a really stout heads/cam set-up & show those guys what torque is all about. Then if you really want to get extreme you could buy a forged short block & put your heads/cam selection on that with a 200 shot of nitrous, then watch the turbo imports in your rear view.
With a good short block, heads, cam & nitrous you should be every bit of 650-700 HP at the wheels.
Also don't forget to ditch the 10-bolt rear for a 9" with all that power.
With a good short block, heads, cam & nitrous you should be every bit of 650-700 HP at the wheels.
Also don't forget to ditch the 10-bolt rear for a 9" with all that power.
I'm sure they have tuners & dyno shops over there with all their big turbo cars. Tuning is very basic from what I have heard from other actual tuners. Most people just don't understand what everything in the program means & what you do & don't want to mess with. So its cheaper & easier to go to a tuner & have them mess with it.
Unless you don't care about droppin the coin for a nice laptop & HPtuner kit. And then learning how the product works. Several members on here have HPtuners & tune their own vechicles.
Unless you don't care about droppin the coin for a nice laptop & HPtuner kit. And then learning how the product works. Several members on here have HPtuners & tune their own vechicles.
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: May 2007
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I am at NAF Atsugi. About 30 miles south east of Tokyo.
So I get to roll though Roppongi and Shinjuku...
The great thing about being in Japan is, if I decide to have a few drinks, I can leave my ride in down town Tokyo and not worry about any crime.
decided to go with an LS6 intake last night...
figure if and when I need more than that it would have already paid for itself.
Anyone who can talk transmissions with me, I'd love to hear from ya.
I want to do an A4 > M6 conversion and I have lots of questions.
Craig
So I get to roll though Roppongi and Shinjuku...
The great thing about being in Japan is, if I decide to have a few drinks, I can leave my ride in down town Tokyo and not worry about any crime.
decided to go with an LS6 intake last night...
figure if and when I need more than that it would have already paid for itself.
Anyone who can talk transmissions with me, I'd love to hear from ya.
I want to do an A4 > M6 conversion and I have lots of questions.
Craig
Atsugi huh? I remember seeing your Z28 around while I was stationed there. What squadron are you with?
I just left Atsugi (VAQ-136)about a year ago after spending 11 years stationed in Japan, my last ride there was a kouki R33 GTS25t Skyline.
Emissions testing/shaken is a joke in Atsugi, I took my R33 to Zama and they really didn't even look at it. Stay away from Misawa though for your next orders, up there you actually have to go to the LTO and go through the testing just like a local. I always passed the sniffer but they always failed me for headlight alignment, talk about BS.
Enjoy the high octane fuel over there, I miss it
I just left Atsugi (VAQ-136)about a year ago after spending 11 years stationed in Japan, my last ride there was a kouki R33 GTS25t Skyline.
Emissions testing/shaken is a joke in Atsugi, I took my R33 to Zama and they really didn't even look at it. Stay away from Misawa though for your next orders, up there you actually have to go to the LTO and go through the testing just like a local. I always passed the sniffer but they always failed me for headlight alignment, talk about BS.
Enjoy the high octane fuel over there, I miss it