Geis

I sorta hope you don't downshift to stop in general, unless you're trying to show off or something (or I guess having fun).

boosted94gsr

Txdragon

I am using the stethoscope earpieces. Much better for me than the muffs. This is a Sprague rappaport stethoscope that I bought from a medical supply store, so it's not a cheapo model. Lol! I just removed the chestpiece valve and attached the tubing to the det can tube via vac tee so I had both ears tuned in.

Txdragon

Downshifting to assist with braking is driving 101. Lol! But, I don't now due to the silly valve seals.

boosted94gsr

Txdragon

Yeah, I gotcha. The aural tubes into the muffs are a good idea in theory, but that somewhat defeats the purpose of the stethoscope itself. I would honestly try to modify it in a way to use the stethoscope earpieces with the muffs over them as a support device, rather than the main "speaker". If I had a set of ear muffs, I could tinker a bit to develop an example.
I hear the engine perfectly in mine. If somebody with a loud exhaust gets near me, I get those pulses too. Lol. I was surprised that my timing is as high as it is, I heard no pinging. And by high, I mean compared to others at my given engine load level. Every engine is different though and I don't believe that while one setup at 28° should be a comparable basis to one at 32° moreso than a guideline. If my pistons were forged, I'd probably explore my knock limit a bit harder.

Txdragon

Boost controller reinstalled and turned all the way down. It's giving me about 9psi with spikes to 9.9. I've not yet hit my boost cut, which I set to 10, so double safety! Torque damper ordered, should be here Friday. I'm concerned though that my clutch **may** be slipping. Neither good, nor cool. It's only a year old.. XTD was great while it lasted..

Ryanthegreat1

You used the wrong timing mark for a Z6. You want to use the P28 timing mark not the P08.

Txdragon

I have fixed it since then. Good catch though!

Txdragon

Torque damper installed. Maybe a placebo effect but seems more responsive now? Also feel much more of the engine vibration in the cabin. Either way, no more smack on the firewall when I goose the throttle. Lol!

ls joker

Car will squat with heavy engine movement now

Txdragon

Not sure if this is good or bad? Sarcasm runs deep in the recesses of hondatech and I am really tired this morning so my sarcas-meter isn't fully operational.

ls joker

Card was suppose to car lol. I like seeing cars squating when getting into boost. Although, if it squats too much, that means you need stiffer rear springs.

Txdragon

I figured as much on the card thing. Lol! Most times I'm on the phone browser, autocorrect FTL.. ALL the suspension was redone last summer, including full coilovers, none of that sleeve crap. Suspension is fairly stiff so she shouldn't squat too bad.

Txdragon

It's not super clean, it's not very pretty, but she's ready now for the dyno. Got my own street tune about as good as I can so it'll make the 300 mile trip to the tuner. She'll run neck to neck right now with a charger r/t and I have had several other imports give me the thumbs up on the highway. Butt dyno guesses I am in the high 200 whp range. My Eclipse GT is 220 and i smoked the **** out of it this afternoon. Can't wait to see what she really has!

Txdragon

Went the route of an E-tune by phearable.net. All is going very well! Discovered a couple minor issues that I was able to resolve and it is well on its way to becoming a very fun car to drive! Tuning it at 12.5 psi.. Have a couple minor modifications planned out, looking into fabbing an intercooler sprayer since summer is coming up, already have the plans, just need the initiative lol Annnnnd I am seriously in need of a traction bar. Torque steer is becoming an issue.

Txdragon

The budget build as it is now. E-tuned by Phearable.net 330hp/276tq conservatively tuned. Dyno shop says I can easily squeeze out more with some tweaks on the dyno. It'll cost me more though, I will tweak later. I'm happy where it sits now. I certainly hit my initial goal and this is a super fun ride!

Cupajoe

Epic man great work enjoy it!

Txdragon

Next on the list will be complete head work. Port/polish, cam, springs, valves, the works. Not sure which cam just yet; comp or Skunk2 seem to be the finalists. I'm still upset over how I was treated in regard to their rods. Their customer service is a joke. But a lot of my build is Skunk2 and looking around, their cams are a good option. Whichever I am going with, I don't mind a lopey idle. Hell, most of the idle lope can be tuned out anyways. I know this half won't be incredibly cheap either, but I suppose to make it complete, It's what needs to be done.

turbo sol

i ran a zex cam, but here's an article about options. Looks fun.

1995 Honda Civic - Camshaft Shootout - Super Street Magazine

Txdragon

Yeah, I've read that article. Bisi cam dominates the list. I'd like to keep things affordable though lol. I'm leaning toward a comp cam so far; probably stage3.

Txdragon

Good lord, I dislike reading old info surrounding upgrades and education on these things. Rarely is anything complete, and most **** turns into a flame war. sigh.. Anyhow, I've done lots of reading on what should be done in terms of head work here. From the GOOD info I found, I came to a few conclusions that have me pointed in the direction I'd like to go next.

First, all I intend on doing for head prep is fixing the casting defects and that's about it. I don't find any necessity in going all out with a full port and polish as while it may help with some gains, it just isn't enough to justify the money spent for those gains.

I would then be more in the realm of a teggy swap and that is not anywhere near my immediate to-do list. There are PLENTY of dyno sheets floating around with the Z6 producing very respectable numbers with stock ported heads. Not to say where I am now isn't a mentionable grocery-getter, we ALL get to a point when we want to see what we can REALLY dig into! Springs and retainers to go along with the cam. Why buy a camshaft that is going to move or extend my powerband without being able to run inside that band? Yeah, I couldn't figure an answer either.. For these, I will grudgingly keep with Skunk2, despite their foul customer service.

Hey.. I look at it like this. Much like a good restaurant, I don't go there for the service, I go for the product. A good product leaves you no reason to call upon service to begin with.. I don't give a rat's *** how good the service is, if the product is no good, i'll never go back. Most of my build is S2 now and while I have my beef with their service, the products are great. Looking at the cam options I had initially chosen, I'm still a bit up in the air on this one and will probably ask my tuner what they may recommend. I am not spending the exorbitant amount of cash on head work with the porting and such, so that leaves room for a decent cam.

Comp cam is surprisingly more expensive than the Bisi cam. The cam will only be as good as the rest of my setup allows, and given that it IS just a generic CX racing kit with little info about the turbo, all I have to go by is educated guesses based on measurements. That leaves me with some crazy math work, or shooting an email to the fella that tuned my current setup. I will take the path of least resistance first! So the compiled list is: Skunk2 springs and retainers, AEM adjustable cam gear, Bisi 2.4 turbo cam (subject to change), stock valves.

Autoworks

A comp cam is probably the cheapest shelf cam for a Z6 that you can get.
My advice on sub 500whp D builds...the motors do it easily, don't over complicate what is easy and use reliable parts.

Txdragon

Maybe it was the crowers I was looking at with the outrageous price tags. It was one or the other, but I double checked on Amazon and Ebay rather than a general Google search, and both sites had reasonable prices listed for both units; 300-360 range.
I like to keep things as simple as I can get away with!! "Reliable" though, is a term that gets tossed around about as frivolously as "PSI" in reference to a boost setup.. Reliable really depends on several variables up to and including user malfunction. I've seen it go both ways: 200 dollar reliable parts, and 500 dollar pieces of ****. A properly installed knock off turbo can be reliable.. Would an improperly installed turbonetics turbo be reliable? There is NO amount of money that can buy reliability, but it CAN buy a vast selection of products..

Autoworks

Reliable..."consistently good in quality or performance; able to be trusted".
I could go on a tangent here, but I won't.
Knock off turbos...another tangent skipped.
"would an improperly installed Turbonetics..."...1 year warranty, install it wrong, tear it up, send it back, it gets repaired or replaced...reinstall it. If you mess it up again in the same fashion, then maybe you're in the wrong business/hobbie. I'm uncertain if any knock off manufacturers will offer that same service.
If you don't think there is a such thing as purchasing "reliable" parts then well...just buy the cheapest of the cheap and get what you get w/ zero expectation of longevity or reliability. I don't know...best of luck with it I guess.