Piazza_man project

[Nismo]

Cheers Tomas, more stuff coming soon. Just haven’t finished it yet.

Think it's time for a update here mate, don't you think?

[Piazza_man]

I’m waiting to get my car back from my dyno tuner maybe next week, then I’ll post up some pics.
Meanwhile here’s a small teaser for now of one of things I was working on.

[Nismo]

Wooow look at that engine bay!!
Looking forward to it!

[Piazza_man]

Time for another update, but this time dyno-tuning time.
98RON & 12psi boost:
127.5rwkw @ 5798rpm (about 170kw @ engine)
243.3rwNM @ 4688rpm

I guess I was expecting a little bit more, but in reality the power figure is about right for where I live which is 600meters above sea level, and correlates to Ely’s figure of 136rwkw @ 13psi with his forged engine a few years ago. In his case, and now in my case, the standard intercooler reached it’s peak cooling efficiency, so there was no real point trying to add more boost. In other words, the standard intercooler has to go if I want to make more power. Good news is there’s still plenty of room left in the Supra injectors, which were sitting at about 62% duty cycle, and I have plenty left in boost capability from the GT2860RS turbo.

The power curve (red line) flattened out once the standard intercooler efficiency started peaking out:

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Now I’m on the hunt for a larger intercooler. Bring it on!

[Piazza_man]

I designed a custom bracket for the new IGN -1A smart ignition coil from diyautotune.com that was installed before the dyno run. The coil packs 103mJ per spark and a maximum current of 19A (81,000 volts).

The bracket is laser cut 4mm mild steel, then powder coated.

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[Nismo]

Damn those are nice numbers still! Well there's plenty of room for a bigger intercooler in the engine bay so I guess you won't have any problem finding one! Keep it up!

[Piazza_man]

Another custom touch that I finished several weeks ago. Been slowly chipping away at the engine bay, and this time I designed another laser-cut stainless steel plaque. I faithfully reproduced the original intercooler sticker in size and font to maintain that original factory look at first glance.

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[Piazza_man]

Engine bay is nearly to my acceptable standard. Made my own custom 2 part cold air box from aluminium sheet finished off in gloss black. Laser cut custom brushed SS plaque on the air box to tie in with plaque I had made for the intercooler plaque and matt black vinyl graphics to cap it off. I also polished the factory stainless steel heat shield and had the valve cover painted in candy apple red to give some more bling.

[Nismo]

That engine bay is impeccable!!!

I'm gonna try to refresh my engine bay this season but I'm not gonna be even close to yours! Splendid job!

//T

[Piazza_man]

Thanks mate. Piazza engine bays aren’t the prettiest by a long shot with so much clutter of hoses, wires, and pollution gear etc that it makes it so hard to make them look half decent for shows. There’s still a little more work to do, but the many hours of hard work is starting to pay off. But I f money is not an issue, to do the job properly I’d remove the engine to conceal all the wiring and smooth the engine bay and relocate the battery.

[Nismo]

Listen, is it possible for you to write down your engine bay mods? Since I'm looking at your pics and realize I really have to do something about my own engine bay with cables and wires going everywhere... For example, my "Turbo" logo on the top is covered by an ugly wire right now...

Also more pictures of this beauty would be welcome!

//Tomas

[Piazza_man]

Happy to go through the engine bay mods. But before you begin, the key thing is to ensure your engine bay is clean from grease, dirt etc. with strong degreaser and high water pressure. High pressure water is not essential but handy if your engine has built-up grease and grime. I used normal water pressure to wash down, but either way try and stay away from critical electrical areas and fuse boxes etc. Next logical step would be to wipe down/clean every wire, hose etc with more cleaning solution and lots of rags. Key takeaway is about ensuring everything you clean pops. Repaint items if there is any colour fade or flaking, but add a coat or two of clear gloss to add that ‘pop’. Things like radiator support arms and fan shroud can be repainted in gloss black or buffed up in paint polish. The windscreen washer container can also do with a proper scrub and clean.

There were a number custom mods that went in from there. I hand made the custom 2-piece air filter enclosure out of 2mm aluminium because the car was fitted with a high flow air filter, with the original air box long gone by the previous owner. A lot of man hours went into developing the template and shape to be just right, but I’m not sure if you need to know more if your car still has the standard air box, which makes it pointless.

The standard exhaust heat shield is a visible major part that you can improve on. It is a stainless steel part so you would need a metal/stainless steel cutting compound steel and final stainless steel polish paste and small buffing wheel/s which attaches to your hand drill. You will need to spend an hour or so cutting and polishing, but it will be worth it.

The top valve rocker cover is another area to improve on. In my case I have mine professionally painted in candy apple red to make it pop. But if you prefer to keep it in standard colour and it shows some signs of paint chipping etc then get it professionally repainted.

My intercooler was already stripped of its black paint, but it looked terrible anyway because the natural aluminium finish was dull anyway. I repainted the intercooler and black plastic pipes in gloss black with a coat or 2 of clear. The intercooler placard that sits on top is a custom placard I designed and had laser cut in 1.2mm stainless steel, and pop riveted on. If you would like one of these placards I can get another one done. The placard is a faithful and accurate reproduction of the original sticker in terms of size and font etc.

Another custom mod which I’m not sure you would need to know about is the ignition coil bracket which I designed, laser cut in 3mm steel, and had powder-coated. If you change the ignition coil to something like mine then I can get another one made up if you like.

Even the windscreen cowel can be freshened up as this is also a highly visible feature when you open the bonnet. I had mine professionally painted in gloss black.

The rest of the engine bay is all about polishing and cleaning. I even painted various nuts and bolts in black. There’s no escaping the fact you will need to spend quite a few hours detailing the entire bay. Hope this helps

[Nismo]

Nice one, thank you!
How about relocation of any hoses, cables and wires, have you done that to tidy up the look and function of anything?

I washed my engine just before this years big event JapDays, and it got a lot better for sure, but I could spend an entire weekend just cleaning the engine bay! But as you say, it's all about focusing on every little screw, bolt and hose..

/Tomas

[Piazza_man]

You’ll have to show me some pics of your engine bay and any detail shots of hoses etc you’re annoyed with.

[Nismo]

Nothing specific in mind, just a lot going on everywhere in the engine bay (but I'll guess that's how an 80s turbo engine looked like)

I'm thinking about switching some hoses for black nylon covered hoses with better looking clamps, and think that would lift the look as well.