turbomad

My car is a 95 and it still ran rich once modified (10:1) so I don't think you can necessarily say all 95's run leaner, perhaps the fuel pumps/injectors on 200rwkw stock ECU cars are not quite flowing enough, could be any reason really.

Dennis your idea while good is not legal because of the filter going to atmo, Browny you've got the right idea except all those hoses running under the bonnet will look terrible. This idle problem associated with blocking the PCV valve, could it be fixed by adjusting the idle control unit, perhaps we need to let in more air to compensate for the lost air not coming from the PCV valve anymore?

You can remove the PCV valve(illegal) or block it so it looks operational, but you must have a catch can to filter out the blowby gas/oil otherwise it will get sucked up into the intake/turbo/intercooler/engine. INASNT have you blocked off the PCV valve or not?

Sounds way to dear to me, I fitted my own SAFC, got the wire diagram in English off the American Apexi site, and the tune cost $110. Ocasionally in VIC we have Skyline Dyno days where it can work out even cheaper, see if QLD boys do the same.

Your car sounds pretty much like mine did when I first bought mine, this is what I did: Hybrid Intercooler $705 (I did my own piping) Profec B EBC (used) $450 SAFC fitted & tuned $650 Pineapples $95 TOTAL $1900, 188rwkw@12psi, since then I've added a dump/front pipe ($230) as I only had cat back exhaust but haven't had the SAFC retuned yet.

Back on the PCV valve catch can subject, the PCV valve is only open at vacuum and shut at any boost pressure, so why block it off altogether as I thought the catch can is mainly necessary while under higher boost and not general cruising.

Why is your catch can connected to the plenum, mine is only connected to the two rocker cover fittings.

Steve, maybe for people who want to run 20+psi the higher rate actuators may be necessary, when you run high boost it can create back pressure in the exhaust housing and as you said it can force the wastegate open to escape thus dropping boost a little but this is not wastegate creep. I had a larger comp wheel/housing on my VL turbo and it did that very thing, I tried a larger actuator but it didn't help in my case because the exhaust wheel/housing could not flow enough gas to run more than 12psi. I'm against using higher actuators to raise boost because you can't go below that level, and most Skyline owners wont run more than 13psi anyway, which the stock actuator can easily handle.

You can but why?

No steve I havn't got it back the front, a 14psi actuator will begin to creep open before 14psi(that's what wastegate creep is), that actuator will give you 14psi but you will usually only get it at full throttle, That's why people buy EBC because they hold the wastegate shut for as long as possible without going over the preset level, and they deliver the preset level with very little throttle needed. Even Turbosmart bleed valves are gated (spring loaded ball bearing to keep air pressure from getting to the actuator too early) to eliminate wastegate creep. kjb-r33 the R33's solenoid cannot lower boost to 3psi, it is normally closed and only opens around 5000rpm when the Variable Cam Timing switches back, all it does is open to bleed off a little air from the actuator thus increasing the boost 2psi, by dissconnecting it you will simply have your lower boost setting, 7psi with big exhaust and 5psi with stock one.

The actuators are a sealed item so I doubt it can be modified, you can buy them with a higher psi opening pressure but your always better off with a boost controller to raise the boost rather than a higher actuator, mainly because of wastegate creep. To illustrate, if you had a 12psi actuator at half throttle you would not have 12psi yet as the actuator would have already begun opening the wastegate and slowing the rate of boost increase, so you would need to be damn near full throttle to hold 12psi, now my EBC with the stock 7psi actuator gets me 12psi at 30% throttle which is much more responsive to drive, a cheap bleed valve would still see you at 12psi by about half throttle.

Most people buy the 600x300x75 because most intercoolers are that size off the shelf, if you want a custom size it will cost you more. Regardless whether or not your entire intercooler is actually exposed to direct airflow, remember that it is also a heatsink in that it soaks the heat out of the air, the outside airflow cools the intercooler down. So a heavy intercooler will work better than a lighter intercooler of the same dimensions because it's greater mass can absorb more heat, but to be honest the average street car won't get it's intercooler that hot to begin with unless it's tiny, like the stockie.

I believe the 2 stage boost on the 33's was 5psi to 7psi, however it's hard to find a 33 with a stock exhaust to check, as the exhaust will alter the boost setting eg. my car had 7psi to 9psi with a 3.5" exhaust. So if I removed the solenoid I would have had 7psi throughout the whole rev range. You can also disconnect the solenoid from it's harness and wire up a switch in the cabin to feed the solenoid 12v constantly and then you would have the higher setting all the time (9psi) in my case. Another option is to wire the solenoid to open through a pressure switch or a micro switch on the throttle, just in case the constant 12v might make the solenoid too hot and burn out.

Hey Rev when would you use the NOS in the drag, would it be like FastnFurious and just a quick squirt in high rpm or would you use it for the entire 1/4 in every gear. I know some VL's use it to just launch off the line, then there massive turbo's do the rest.

The GT28 might be a go too, has less lag than the GT30 and will probably let you take the stock injectors and airflow meter to there limits without having to upgrade (220-230rwkw). The SAFC should still be good up to this stage too, the GT30 will make more power than the GT28 but mainly in the higher rpm range, I feel the GT28 would be a better street turbo as it comes on boost similar to the stockie but with more power through all the rpm range, it does require an adapter plate to bolt to the manifold ($190) but I think the GT30 does as well coz of the large .70 comp cover. Also you'll find that a stock turbo @12psi would probably be faster than a GT30 @6psi so if you can't afford the injectors, ECU, AFM etc.. then maybe wait till you can if you really want the GT30.

Checkout www.horsepowerinabox.com they have new Garret GT28 400+hp or GT30 500+hp turbos for $2300. $2400 seems like a lot for a hiflow rebuild when you can get a brand newy for less.

Looks like a waste of time to me, hardly bigger just get a FMIC, I know your against it REV but someone already beat you to a 12sec pass with a stock turbo using a FMIC so they can't be all that bad with the stock turbo.

Your cheapest way out is the SAFC $550 fit it yourself and the tune is $50-100, as far as the fuel cut defender goes I havn't got one (at 12psi though) can't say what would happen at 15psi. Best thing to do is put it on a dyno and check what your A/F ratio is now.

What sort/size is this larger turbo? But in general the larger the turbo the more rpm it needs to spool up so yes it is normal to have lag, what rpm do you begin to get some boost?

Ohh that's different then, yeah go for it, all RB series engines and gearboxes are interchangeable so it should all go fairly smoothly if you've got a front cut.

Hang on a minute REV your saying the stock turbo can make 280rwhp, I remember reading a post where you stated they could only make 300hp at the flywheel, please explain?

Also I might add the fact that many R32 owners brag how there Skylines are soo much lighter than an R33 and that we need the RB25 coz it's such a heavy car and that a mod'd 32 can beat a 33 coz of the weight factor, well a VL Calais is heavier than an R33 and yet you still say the RB20 is ok for it?

Well what I mean is a(RB20) 13.2 with a high flowed turbo running 15psi(was it even a Calais), compared to my Calais(RB30) with stock turbo, ECU, injectors, pump, with a tiny AVO intercooler and only 2.5" exhaust running 11psi pulled 13.5, there's no point spending money on an RB20 when you can simply buy the turbo'd VL in the first place and then spend the $2-3k that you would on the conversion into perf mods on the RB30ET and you'll have a 12 sec car. Remember 9 sec VL's still run single cam, but if you feel that you want a newer hi-tech twin cam motor for your VL then really you must go RB25 or 26 because the RB20 isn't much newer than an RB30 and it doesn't have the torque on or especially off boost to pull around a 1450kg CALAIS.

Any RB series engine will bolt up to the VL easily, don't put an RB20 in though as they seem to be to slow in VL Calais's, a full RB25 would be good or use the RB25 head on the RB30 block, but I doubt the RB20 head will work well with the RB30 block.

Pred, the BALANCE knob is actually to adjust the boost from rising or falling as rpm rises, so starting from the middle point if boost rises with rpm turn the knob towards the SHARP side and if boost falls with rpm then turn towards the MILD side.