Venezuelan Z20LET by Holland Sport

[gse_turbo]

I haven't decided if this topic will be better as a general guide to a Z20LET build here in the "Aftermarket and High Performance" section or if it should be moved to the "Member's Cars and specs" section. you tell me and it shall be done.

As mentioned in a couple other posts I have a build in the work for a Lacetti in Venezuela. The machine work is getting close to completion so I'll actually have something to post about soon.

The build isn't for a full on race car but it is some pretty stought stuff. i may as well start with the short-list of whats been going on.

-2002 Nubira engine as the build platform. (I expect to highlight the sudtle difference between Nubira and Forenza) Block has been machined for the pistons and main support
-Wiseco Pistons, Custom, 9.0:1, 87mm, skirt coatings, lighter and stronger wrist pins then previous available, micro polished pins. Pistons have been in for a while. have to get the pins micro polished
-Scat Forged connecting rodsrods have been in for a while.
-Lightened Nubira crank (still waiting on weight reduction numbers), Knife edged, Polished. Polish and knife edge was just finished, it's being balanced now
-Lightened Nubira Flywheel (-10lbs from standard) Lighteded complete and being balanced
-Legaanza Oil Pan, Sump and Pump. (for exaust clearance) Oil pump needs to be sent out for the gears to be coated
-Main support Fitted to the engine ready to go
-X20XEV camshafts Just arrived from the Netherlands
-Supertech Dual valve springs Ready, Waiting for Supertech to send the new product out
-Supertech Titainium Retainers Ready, Waiting for Supertech to send the new product out
-Supertech Mild Steel Springs Seats Waiting for Supertech to complete the new seats/locators
-Supertech Stainless Intake and Exhaust Valves In house and waiting on spring parts
-Cometic MLS head gasket Been in house for some time now
-ARP complete fastener kit (head, main, flywheel) Been in house for some time now
-1500lbplate load pressure plate Been in house for some time now
-4-paddle Kevlar clutch disc Waiting to be ordered
-Up-rated Sachs slave cylinder (IF I CAN GET IT) After a lot of work, it's available now but pricy
-Braided Stainless CLutch hose Waiting to be made
-Low-Mount Tubular Turbo manifold Need to order turbo to complete waste gate mounting
-Mild Garrett T3 Turbo Have to order new turbo
-35mm Tial Wastegate Been in house for some time now
-AEM F/I C on the standard Forenza ECU Been in house for some time now
-Zeitronix ZT-2 Data logger Waiting to be ordered
it's a pretty long build list already and there is still more to come. pictures should fallow soon.

CHEERS!

[benzino]

That's a nice list. How much would it usually cost to build something like that?

[gse_turbo]

it's hard to say at this point. there is still a running tally. in a few weeks pretty much all the invoices should be sent and I'd have a more solid number. I'd say $5000-$7000 range is not out of reason.

this one is just on the limits between "Mild and Wild" if you will. with different cams and solid lifters would really push some limits. I was talking with aussiman today and he is tuned at 525hp at the flywheel on a similare setup. (we're planning radical cams and solid lifters for him now)

[exist3nce]

Nice build list ... Although why the small Garrett T3 turbo ? I would think with all those other nice parts there would be a larger snail going in there.. What are the power goals ?

[gse_turbo]

right now the power goal is about 330-350WHP. the car is a daily drive and though the big power kick form a hybrid would be awesome he's wanting steady boostthrough the RPM band and good boost control.

The header was made to fit a T3/T4 with a "Super 70" compressor so there is always the option in the future with minor changes.

[PrecisionBoost]

Sounds like a solid setup, you didn't mention anything about head work ( porting,polishing, multi-angle valve job, enlarged valves)

Given the setup I would have thought a good port and polish would certainly be an easy upgrade, the stock head has quite a bit of room to play with and it really helps with the flow in the higher RPM levels.

I assume by the lightening of various components your looking to up the redline to gain some power on the top end, do you have a new limit in mind ?

[gse_turbo]

you are right. the head has been ported and the valves are stainless. all the Supertech products to support higher RPM's.

We are trying for a higher readline for sure. I don't know what kind of control if any we will have with the stock ECU and the AEM piggy back.
right now the goal is to be able to get there savely, the piggyback setup may have to be converted to stand-alone before that goal can be reached.
one thing that aussieman is trying to work past is the hydraulic lifters. from his feedback, they don't like to work past 7500RPM. I have Supertech looking into offering solid lifters for him. those may have to be added to any engine looking to get past the factory redline.

[PrecisionBoost]

I would assume that going with solid followers will require a slightly different cam profile, I'm not sure if you can do a re-grind, you may need new cams made from blanks.

[gse_turbo]

I don't have any regrides done. I have "hard-welds" done. the stock cam has material welded to the lodes and then reprofiled. the standard cam can run solid lifters, it just has to be shimmed proper.

[PrecisionBoost]

I really haven't looked at the specs of the stock lobe angles, I simply assume that you would need to re-profile the lobes to a less aggressive angle in order to use them with solid cam followers.

I don't see how shimming will change the fact that stock hydraulic cams are designed with steeper approach and decent angles to combat the cushion/absorption effect you get with the hydraulic followers.

I don't like re-grinds either, but I've heard way too many horror stories about hard welded cam and follower wear to be willing to try it on one of my engines, personally I would always go with a high performance blank to ensure quality, longevity and performance.

The quality of Hard welded cams are really dependent on a decent supplier, even a company like Web Cams has it's share of love/hate customers that have wildly different opinions on their hard welded cams.

Just as I will stay away from hard welded cams (along with hundreds of others ) , I'm sure you could find a hundred guys that think they are the greatest thing since sliced bread

Hopefully you have good luck with a decent supplier, I know it's not exactly easy to find manufacturers in the USA that are willing to invest the time to create cams for these cars.

[gse_turbo]

- Its been a little while since I've posted an update so how about some photos...

- A pretty basic start with the tear down. As posted berfore, this started out as a 2002 Nubira. The block is basically identical to the early 2.0 8v that are common here. The main caps are are the same as all the iron Ecotec engines which is the only difference between the Ecotec and 8v engine.

- The Forenza/Reno and other, later Ecotec blocks are different from the Nubira. the later block has provisions for a factory main support girdle. it wasn't an issue for me when choosing the engine to build since I will be using an early type, aftermarket main support. The Forenza block is more like the European Ecotec block.

[gse_turbo]

- The cranks in all the 2.0 Ecotec engines are the same, cast-iron. They aren't bad, just heavy. This one has had a lot of weight taken from it. I don't recall the starting weight but after machining it came in at 31lbs 90z, after de-casting and polisihing and weighs 29lbs 9oz. the crank and all the rotating assembly is back in the shop being balanced right now. should be back tomorrow with a few more ounces off of it. 29lbs even would be a nice number to be at for the crank.

[gse_turbo]

- The flywheel started out just over 21lbs, right now it is 11lbs

[exist3nce]

Nice pics.. keep the progress coming

[gse_turbo]

some more pics of the crank after de-casting/weight polishing...