turbocad's custom fx
- Thread starter turbocad6
- Start date
the problem I have with budgets is that in the end, it will take whatever it takes... I'm not going to try & save money here or there when spending it would make the build that much better when I'm working on my own stuff, budgets are just loose guesstimates for me really & yeah, I'm not micromanaging a budget & micro calculating either, I'm sure there are a whole bunch of misc expenses that are not even calculated too, shit, just trips back & forth to home depot alone add up to a bit.... I don't know about NASA builds where everything is calculated so scientifically & stuff, but in the real world I'm pretty much used to the fact that nothing will ever cost what you originally think it will & it will always take longer than you think it will. many times in general I would say ok, add 50% to what you think going in, the same way with houses & construction, hell, when I built my spraybooth I went in thinking 30-35k & came out at over 100k 
if I stay at under 50% over I'm happy, but again, it takes what it takes & I'll give it whatever it needs to be the way I want it to be I guess too... overall I don't think any other alternative route I could have taken for the same actual $$ spent would have been any better than this to me anyway, so to me it so far is a big sucess as far as I'm concerned
if I stay at under 50% over I'm happy, but again, it takes what it takes & I'll give it whatever it needs to be the way I want it to be I guess too... overall I don't think any other alternative route I could have taken for the same actual $$ spent would have been any better than this to me anyway, so to me it so far is a big sucess as far as I'm concerned 
No doubt - totally agree!
When I first started on this forum I thought I could do FI for around $5,000. The last two years have been a learning experience in what it really takes.
When I first started on this forum I thought I could do FI for around $5,000. The last two years have been a learning experience in what it really takes.
It's crazy how much money can be spent.
John, you're nutzo. I'm semi worried about the transmission choice. :frown:
Man i saw John"s FX and i was like Damn!!! there is nothing and i mean nothing that resemble the FX on the front end.. its gone.. than john showed me the schismatics for the wiring and oh jesus!! even worse.. its a huge(<--if you can find a bigger word use it here) but he is very determined.. as i aways say to any of his projects cant wait to see the finishing product!!! itll be a BADASS Freaking FX.. good luck Bro!
yeah man, the auto tranny has got to be my major limiting factor... I wish I could find a stick tranny that would work with the awd but haven't really found anything, looked into the old skylines but only way I can find them is full drivetrain, no one will part with just a tranny & i don't even really know if that would even be close to working either... I wish I could get my hands on a gtr tranny but no real chance of that for a good long while yet to come too I think... gonna try to go easy on it & keep my fingers crossed
I'm wondering how hard it would be to get a stick tranny & mate it to the AWD transfer case... I'm guessing that might not be too practical, but then again not impossible yet either really... damn, I wish nissan built a nice AWD stick tranny that could handle some good power, I really want to keep the awd... of course I could also wind up just saying screw it & go with a 6mt & forget the awd but that would really suck & I'd like to avoid that... guess it depends how many times I blow up the auto:err:.
I'm wondering how hard it would be to get a stick tranny & mate it to the AWD transfer case... I'm guessing that might not be too practical, but then again not impossible yet either really... damn, I wish nissan built a nice AWD stick tranny that could handle some good power, I really want to keep the awd... of course I could also wind up just saying screw it & go with a 6mt & forget the awd but that would really suck & I'd like to avoid that... guess it depends how many times I blow up the auto:err:.
hahahah, trust me when I say this. I have yet to see a built/reinforced RWD tranny make use of 5-600 for a long time. One part of that is the strength of the trans, the other part is how much more boost it takes to make the same power with the 6MT. We took mine into the 19psi range on the auto just for the dyno pull, diminishing returns set in heavily. Compare to 6MT 18-19psi I'm over 650 to the wheels, and have that set for daily settings for 91 pump.
I think a lot of how long it'll live is dependant on how it's used too. I'm thinking that if I try to launch the car as hard as I will be able too then yeah, I'm pretty sure I'd be able to tear it up in short time, but babying it out of the hole & not bringing on full boost till maybe 3rd gear may help the tranny survive a bit. also have no idea of the limitations of the transfer case itself... the front driveshaft & front axles do look way more wimpy that the rear stuff too... guess theres only one way for me to know for sure I was thinking worse case I would get a fully built auto but from what your saying even that is no guarentee of bulletproof anyway... I guess the more restraint I have the longer it'll survive... I'll baby it a bit in the begining anyway, but I'm also pretty sure I'll eventually wind up breaking something....
i've been digging into the wiring quite a bit this whole weekend & have identified almost all of the wires that were unknown & have mapped out most of the wiring too, still a bit to go but it's now somewhat under control at least... wow, the wiring is very involved & tedious. I winded up spreading both the new & the old harnesses out in my basement at home & used a meter to trace where each & every unknown wire winded up going too. I cut the plugs off from the de harness & replaced the plugs on the HR harness with them one by one, not the ecu plugs but all the other plugs that plug into the fx itself... the wiring is intense.. a few times while deep into it I thought my head was going to explode just had to walk away & take a break for a bit... the FSM's were invaluable for this & a big help, but it still doesn't really give everything... still a bit to go with the wiring...
I was thinking worse case I would get a fully built auto but from what your saying even that is no guarentee of bulletproof anyway... I guess the more restraint I have the longer it'll survive... I'll baby it a bit in the begining anyway, but I'm also pretty sure I'll eventually wind up breaking something....i've been digging into the wiring quite a bit this whole weekend & have identified almost all of the wires that were unknown & have mapped out most of the wiring too, still a bit to go but it's now somewhat under control at least... wow, the wiring is very involved & tedious. I winded up spreading both the new & the old harnesses out in my basement at home & used a meter to trace where each & every unknown wire winded up going too. I cut the plugs off from the de harness & replaced the plugs on the HR harness with them one by one, not the ecu plugs but all the other plugs that plug into the fx itself... the wiring is intense.. a few times while deep into it I thought my head was going to explode
just had to walk away & take a break for a bit... the FSM's were invaluable for this & a big help, but it still doesn't really give everything... still a bit to go with the wiring...
so that's what you were talking about yesterday?
damn. lol good luck
damn. lol good luck
wow, at least its color coded , but if it wasnt, you can use a cable tone tracer
, but if it wasnt, you can use a cable tone tracer 
Looks like neurosurgery to me...
Generic question -- what happens to all the Infiniti electronic systems; intelligent AWD, vehicle dynamic control (VDC), Traction Control System (TCS)?
Can the systems compensate for the extra horsepower and changes to the drive train, etc.. that you are doing? Might be totally unrelated, but figure I ask.
Just seeing if this can remain a tame beast for let's say your wife to drive without fear of chirping the tires in every gear and fish tailing out of corners.
Generic question -- what happens to all the Infiniti electronic systems; intelligent AWD, vehicle dynamic control (VDC), Traction Control System (TCS)?
Can the systems compensate for the extra horsepower and changes to the drive train, etc.. that you are doing? Might be totally unrelated, but figure I ask.
Just seeing if this can remain a tame beast for let's say your wife to drive without fear of chirping the tires in every gear and fish tailing out of corners.
Looks like so much fun - but would definitely need to work on it for a couple hours a day and no more or it'll cause your brain to leak out of your ear.
doc, like I said, until this wiring is sorted 100% my fx is just a useless mass of pretty parts, so yeah, this gets a whole lot of dedication from me I miss my fx & want it back :frown:
ha, color coding only helps so much when there are like 12 yellow wires & 10 reds & 8 greys, 9 greens etc.. nissan uses no clear logic in there color coding too, for example in one circuit the white may be power where in another the white can be a ground... I would maybe wish this wiring task on my worse enemy. one wrong wire can mean anything from just something not working to actually spell disaster & cause damage to the ecu or another module so everything needs to be double checked & confirmed to be sure there are no mistakes anywhere & with this amount of undocumented wiring it is a challenge to say the least...
no one but me drives my fx so that's not an issue, but I do intend on keeping everything intact, & keeping everything working, from the vdc to the abs & intel awd, even the intel cruise... I would be very disapointed if I lost anything & have no intensions of lossing any of the functionality that makes the fx what it is... if I was willing to sacrifice the factory systems then I would have went RWD & TT LSX that I had lined up, but I really want to keep the fx just the way it was, only with a bit more go in the go pedal I expect it to be tame & feel perfectly normal & retain all functionality with the exception of maybe the est fuel economy & miles to empty, stuff like that being skewed, but that will be a result of the systems not being able to calculate the new fuel rates of course... hopefully everything else should be normal...
one snag so far is the HR motor uses a variable volume a/c compressor & it would be controlled by the unified meter & a/c amp of the G, but the fx doesn't have this ability & the fx a/c compressor will not fit on the HR motor... not sure what solution I'll come up with for this yet... also the HR motor uses some sort of variable rate steering pressure setup that the fx doesn't have... little issues like this will be the things that will need to be ironed out in the end too but so far it's looking good or at least as good as it can at this point I guess...
I miss my fx & want it back :frown:ha, color coding only helps so much when there are like 12 yellow wires & 10 reds & 8 greys, 9 greens etc.. nissan uses no clear logic in there color coding too, for example in one circuit the white may be power where in another the white can be a ground... I would maybe wish this wiring task on my worse enemy
. one wrong wire can mean anything from just something not working to actually spell disaster & cause damage to the ecu or another module so everything needs to be double checked & confirmed to be sure there are no mistakes anywhere & with this amount of undocumented wiring it is a challenge to say the least...no one but me drives my fx so that's not an issue, but I do intend on keeping everything intact, & keeping everything working, from the vdc to the abs & intel awd, even the intel cruise... I would be very disapointed if I lost anything & have no intensions of lossing any of the functionality that makes the fx what it is... if I was willing to sacrifice the factory systems then I would have went RWD & TT LSX that I had lined up, but I really want to keep the fx just the way it was, only with a bit more go in the go pedal
I expect it to be tame & feel perfectly normal & retain all functionality with the exception of maybe the est fuel economy & miles to empty, stuff like that being skewed, but that will be a result of the systems not being able to calculate the new fuel rates of course... hopefully everything else should be normal...one snag so far is the HR motor uses a variable volume a/c compressor & it would be controlled by the unified meter & a/c amp of the G, but the fx doesn't have this ability & the fx a/c compressor will not fit on the HR motor... not sure what solution I'll come up with for this yet... also the HR motor uses some sort of variable rate steering pressure setup that the fx doesn't have... little issues like this will be the things that will need to be ironed out in the end too but so far it's looking good or at least as good as it can at this point I guess
...John this is looking really good - Glad to see the engine back in and also that you went with a recirc route. Also big props for adding flex pipes to the wastegate return, most don't and end up braking the welds
The wiring does look like a lot of fun! At least you've got some manuals to reference!
Keep us posted as usual
The wiring does look like a lot of fun! At least you've got some manuals to reference!
Keep us posted as usual