Need some setup advice....

[Gostlrs]

I recently bought a blown up 240 with an SR swap. I am doing a full build on the car and looking for some advice on boost level, AF reading & fuel pressure I should set the car at once it is alive...

Here is my build list

Wiesco Pistons Bored .030 over
Eagle Rods
ARP fasteners on the whole bottom end
Race bearings
Shaved crank (just smoothed up some)
No head work, just new seals
Cometic gasket set
Greddy style intake Manifold
Megan exhaust manifold
S15 Turbo
FMIC
OEM crank pulley & the rest are Aluminum pulleys
Aluminum radiator & fan shroud with 2-10in fans
Circuit sports fuel rail and OEM SR injectors
AEM Fuel Pressure regulator
Brake Booster delete & Circuit sports Power steering kit
NGR BOV
COMPETITION CLUTCH PERFORMANCE CLUTCH KIT - SCC Stage 3 Street/Strip Series 2600
Aftermarket 02 housing and full 3in exhaust with no Cat
Digital boost, Wideband 02, Fuel Pressure and water temp gauges.


So what boost should i run at & what 02 & fuel pressure levels should i look for. Also what NGK plugs should i grab as well.

Once I get the interior done next....I plan to get a Power FC and finish up with some head work. I will max out the S15 turbo then move towards a bigger top mount setup

[Livinstrong]

With those supporting mods and stock injectors, highest safe boost I would run would be about 9psi. IIRC, 370cc are good for about 250hp at a safe 80% duty cycle. At full throttle you want to your AFR to be hovering at/slightly below 11.8:1. I think stock base pressure is 43psi

[Gostlrs]

Sweet thanks..I was thinking about 10psi... I might run at 7psi for a while to break in the engine and clutch

[Livinstrong]

Definitely a good idea on lower boost at first. Althought safe boost might be less; I have S15 turbo, fmic, trust cold/hot pipes and 3" dump/straight pipe, no FPR, and stock boost I maxed out my SAFC Neo on stock injectors.

To be completely honest, investing in a quality engine management system is worth the money for extra power and IMO, more importantly, safe for your engine.

[Gostlrs]

Trust me... The Power FC is the next thing I buy once I get the interior to my liking....I have about 10k invested right now in the engine bay...It adds up fast! LOL I want it to last a long ass time..HAHA

Hoping to have the car up and running by the end of the year. The shop is just about done with the engine...

[Livinstrong]

Haha definitely. I'm trying to pick up an APFC also so I can turn up the boost with my new 480cc injectors. By the way, I double checked the stock base pressure and it's actually 36psi, sorry!

[Mikester]

I recently bought a blown up 240 with an SR swap. I am doing a full build on the car and looking for some advice on boost level, AF reading & fuel pressure I should set the car at once it is alive...

Here is my build list

Wiesco Pistons Bored .030 over
Eagle Rods- Get the Wiseco/Eagle 86.5mm combo
ARP fasteners on the whole bottom end- Wiseco/Eagle combo comes with all ARP hardware
S14 Oil Pickup
New oil pump sprocket (may come with rebuild kit)
New front oil pump cover
Race bearings- OEM Nissan bearings are the way to go
Shaved crank (just smoothed up some)
No head work, just new seals- Rebuild kit comes with new seals, see below
Cometic gasket set- OEM Nissan rebuild kit, ARP main/head studs is the best possible seal you will get- use OEM head gasket
Greddy style intake Manifold- Good choice. Adds a small amount of turbo lag & not remotely necessary till 400+, but flows nicely makes the intake side of the motor much cleaner & easier to work on
Megan exhaust manifold- Spend the extra $150 and send it to Jet-Hot... It will last much longer and dissipate heat better
S15 Turbo- Good choice, so long as you tune for it
T28 turbine oil drain tube
T28 turbo lines
FMIC
OEM crank pulley & the rest are Aluminum pulleys- Good choice
Aluminum radiator & fan shroud with 2-10in fans- Stock Clutch fan is hands down the best option; but each to their own... GKtech clutch fan is even better
S14 water neck (has ports for turbine coolant return & temp gauge)
Circuit sports fuel rail and OEM SR injectors- CS rail is pretty and will look great on your GReddy-style intake, but not necessary
AEM Fuel Pressure regulator- FPR not needed unless building for 400+hp. Aside from that, just adds another thing to adjust- If you want your setup to last, keep it as simple as possible
Brake Booster delete & Circuit sports Power steering kit
NGR BOV
COMPETITION CLUTCH PERFORMANCE CLUTCH KIT - SCC Stage 3 Street/Strip Series 2600
Aftermarket 02 housing and full 3in exhaust with no Cat-
Digital boost, Wideband 02, Oil Pressure and water temp gauges.
Tomei, Circuit Sports, GReddy or Moroso oil pan
Electronic Boost Controller
440 or 550cc injectors
JWT or Enthalpy tune


So what boost should i run at & what 02 & fuel pressure levels should i look for. Also what NGK plugs should i grab as well.

Once I get the interior done next....I plan to get a Power FC and finish up with some head work. I will max out the S15 turbo then move towards a bigger top mount setup

If you're going to do head work, do it once while everything is apart.

I have a Power FC and love it, but it's getting harder & harder to find tuners for them. You'd prolly be better off with an AEM or Haltech... or any other 21st century standalone since you're starting from scratch.

For fuel pressure, OEM pressure and OEM regulator is the way to go. If you're dead-set on an adjustable FPR, 43-45psi with no vacuum, 33-35psi with vacuum (idle @15-17*BTDC).

As far as your boost level, you can boost whatever you want so long as the car is tuned for it. They key is to load/seat the rings as soon as possible after the rebuild.

[JBB]

I have to agree about the injectors. If you really want to put that turbo to use I would suggest getting some that are larger. The s15 480cc's would be sufficient but I hear a lot of people run the 550's. Depending on what your future turbo plans are, you would probably be safe stepping up to 740cc so that you would only have to purchase once. Just keep in mind that s15 injectors are only about $100 for the set and would allow you to run the s15 turbo to it's full potential.

In the interim, once assembled you could get an enthalpy or JWT tune. Im sure that if you gave either of them your specs they would be able to recommend answers to the questions above and provide you with a very reliable mail order rom tune. I would save the stand alone engine management for when you are looking to go above 400whp; these companies have rock solid tunes for the 300hp range that have been used and tested on thousands of cars

[Mikester]

^^Good points... I opted for 850's early on... knowing that I'd be looking for 400+ down the line. If this dude wants to go top mount, 740's or 850's are prolly a better choice~

[inopsey]

If you're going to do head work, do it once while everything is apart.

I have a Power FC and love it, but it's getting harder & harder to find tuners for them. You'd prolly be better off with an AEM or Haltech... or any other 21st century standalone since you're starting from scratch.

For fuel pressure, OEM pressure and OEM regulator is the way to go. If you're dead-set on an adjustable FPR, 43-45psi with no vacuum, 33-35psi with vacuum (idle @15-17*BTDC).

As far as your boost level, you can boost whatever you want so long as the car is tuned for it. They key is to load/seat the rings as soon as possible after the rebuild.

its not the tuning/finding a tuner thats the problem with the pfc. if someone knows how to tune the platform is irrelevant. it may take longer to tune a system you are not familiar with but that is a software not a hardware issue. way too many 'tuners' believe you need to tune in a gear that is 1:1 ratio but actually ANY gear will work if using a proper dyno. i would argue that tuning is an engine specific thing(sr20 expert 2jz expert etc) relative to the tuner used than which ecu being tuned relative to the tuner.

i totally agree with getting a haltech or other ecu with 10x the processing speed, extra features etc vs a pfc though after tuning both.

[racepar1]

If you're going to do head work, do it once while everything is apart.

That's what I was thinking. That's a LOT of money to throw at an engine to leave out porting the heads...

[fatduece]

Sorry for the thread jack, but can anyone enlighten me why my motor is still alive? Here is my setup.

s14 notch top
SafcII
s14 t-28
370cc Injectors
255 walbro
3" straight pipe
and a ghetto circuit sport intercooler.
t28 was tuned for 14psi, but creeps anywhere from 15-19psi. Avcr boost controller has stopped working properly after only a year! (brand new) This is all with 370cc injectors. I do a little bit of track (drifting) and street. I've put 6k miles on the car, after the swap and tune.

[ultimateirving]

Hey man i really think if your going thru all that trouble you should get a tune before you run it. im pretty sure the s15s come with bigger injectors from nissan, so you don't wanna push those little 370s and hurt your fresh build. You do have a wideband so i would rely heavily on that and do a few recorded pulls with a go pro or something so you can watch the wideband throughout the rpm range.. Call it poor man dyno but it worked for me. Start boost low and adjust from there....

[Gostlrs]

Mikester, I have almost all those things you mentioned as well.

Head work can wait until I want to get to that next power level. I want to put the car in shows. Everything in the bay is basically new & Polished. I want to have some fun as well when I do drive it to some meets. I am fine running at stock levels for a while. Gives me time to finish the interior & collect the rest of the go fast goodies I want.

Ultiamateirving - I plan on getting someone local to give it a tune once I break it in. Chris at Rev Em Hard is doing the work on the car....

[Mikester]

its not the tuning/finding a tuner thats the problem with the pfc. if someone knows how to tune the platform is irrelevant. it may take longer to tune a system you are not familiar with but that is a software not a hardware issue. way too many 'tuners' believe you need to tune in a gear that is 1:1 ratio but actually ANY gear will work if using a proper dyno. i would argue that tuning is an engine specific thing(sr20 expert 2jz expert etc) relative to the tuner used than which ecu being tuned relative to the tuner.

i totally agree with getting a haltech or other ecu with 10x the processing speed, extra features etc vs a pfc though after tuning both.

Biggest problem I've had is finding someone with the datalogit needed for interfacing the PFC with a laptop. Here in the midwest, AMS went with all high-end cars, Touge Factory's datalogit took a shit; so I only have one other option within a 300mi radius. No big deal, but will prolly end up road-tripping to Atlants next spring. If I had an AEM or Haltech, I wouldn't have this issue. But since I already had a PFC, I didn't see spending a bunch of extra cash on a standalone. However, in the future, the PFC will go bye bye and a 21st century device will take its place :)

Sorry for the thread jack, but can anyone enlighten me why my motor is still alive? Here is my setup.

s14 notch top
SafcII
s14 t-28
370cc Injectors
255 walbro
3" straight pipe
and a ghetto circuit sport intercooler.
t28 was tuned for 14psi, but creeps anywhere from 15-19psi. Avcr boost controller has stopped working properly after only a year! (brand new) This is all with 370cc injectors. I do a little bit of track (drifting) and street. I've put 6k miles on the car, after the swap and tune.

Yes I can...

You can't 'tune' with an SAFC-II... best place for it is the garbage- And if you ever put your car on a dyno, you'll see real quick why your setup won't last as long as it should. At 14,15psi; let alone 18-19, your turbine won't last as long as it should either... But T28's are a dime a dozen and cheap to replace.

Even with a T25 & injectors running at 100% duty, the SR20 leans out rapidly past stock boost levels. Not going to kill an engine with 6,000mi on the rebuild per se... but definitely only a matter of time.

Mikester, I have almost all those things you mentioned as well.

Head work can wait until I want to get to that next power level. I want to put the car in shows. Everything in the bay is basically new & Polished. I want to have some fun as well when I do drive it to some meets. I am fine running at stock levels for a while. Gives me time to finish the interior & collect the rest of the go fast goodies I want.

Ultiamateirving - I plan on getting someone local to give it a tune once I break it in. Chris at Rev Em Hard is doing the work on the car....

In orderly to properly seat your rings (notice I didn't say 'break your motor in') with an S15 T28, it would behoove you to get larger injectors and have a safe tune put on the car FIRST. Refer to post above. Even with 370's and stock boost levels, the motor will lean out in the upper rpm ranges with that turbine (S15's run larger injectors due to increased air volume output and prolly other engineering reasons beyond my level of knowledge/experience).

As far as the head work goes, porting an SR is something you REALLY need to make sure is done by someone qualified... The area between the lifter cups & ports is pretty thin as-is; and I've seen lifters get shoved down into the ports due to shoddy head work. For this reason, I elected to not port the head, but run solid lifters & upgraded 'everything else' with OEM valves & stem seals. Not trying to detour you, just hoping you will make absolutely certain that whoever ports your head knows SR20's.

Again, it doesn't matter what you do along the way, your #1 best bet is to do the head work once. If you have it all together, then break the seal... you run the chance of having to have the block mating surface re-machined as well.

I built for very similar reasons (performance & show- my build thread (http://zilvia.net/f/builds-builds-only/487845-mikester-s-fun-mobile-11.html))... and when/if I ever decide to go for top-mount power, all I need to do is pull the valve cover & add longer-duration cams- the rest is ready to rock. After all that hard work, the LAST thing I ever want to worry about is pulling the head back off.

Just food for thought. If you want to avoid tuning & run the car at stock boost to seat the rings- my opinion is that you should shelf the T28 and do it with the stock turbine.

If budget is the problem, then my best advice is to be patient and save. If it's not a matter of budget, my advice is still to be patient- there is no rush; and no reason to create extra work & expenses for yourself down the line.

[Gostlrs]

I have time....Maybe I will grab some S15 injectors for the time being. Next time I am at the shop I will see which ones I have now.

[Mikester]

I have time....Maybe I will grab some S15 injectors for the time being. Next time I am at the shop I will see which ones I have now.

If you do that, you can easily send your stock ECU to JWT/Enthalpy along with your mod list & get a very good tune to play with in return.

[Gostlrs]

Thanks...Just looked up the Enthalpy one....

Looks like I can add the Z32 Maf as well then & send it away....

[Gostlrs]

Gonna pick up some 750cc Injectors. This should work out fine.

What is the turn around on the ECU Tune from Enthalpy?

[JBB]

Did you look on their website? Its pretty quick from what I recall

[Gostlrs]

Yeah but what the site says & what really happens......

[JBB]

I actually live about 15 minutes away from Fever Racing, who owns Enthalpy now. The owner there, Doug, is a really cool guy and I don't think that they are in the business of screwing people over on turnaround time. I am going to have Martin @ Enthalpy tune my car once I get my SR dropped in. Doug told me that if I went with an s15 turbo/injectors/z32 maf that they have a super reliable tune that they use a couple times a week for people with no problems ever. He didn't mention a turnaround time for mailing in an ECU since I was asking about bringing my car in, sorry.

[Gostlrs]

Thanks for feedback.

[ultimateirving]

Thanks for feedback.

Glad to hear Chris is doing the work.
We dont have any local nissan tuners really that can do anything with the factory ecu. Efrain used to do nistune but i dont know of anyone else stepping up since he left. Let me know if you need anything else, im happy to help, especially local guys!