Project - ZX Volcane TD

[softlad]

I recently got a ZX Volcane TD which needs a head gasket, and the intention is to repair and have a play.

Plans are to initially give it a good stage 0 tune and then fit a discreet front mounted intercooler, turn up the boost/fuel, remove the majority of the exhaust and then have some fun at the drags and the track swell as the occasional traffic light grandprix.

Already sourced a fabricated inlet manifold to replace standard inlet so I can fit the FMI.

Turbo diesel power in New Zealand is pretty unheard of as most go down the route of rice racers. So a pretty standard looking 5 door ZX that will be stanced and a aftermarket set of alloys will definitely surprise most out here

Any suggestions for an off the shelf turbo upgrade would be appreciated.

This is just going to be a daily driver to play with for occational track and drag strip fun

[Peter.N.]

I'm way to old for that sort of thing but a turbo diesel has most of the 'improvements' you can make built in apart from intercooling which will definitly benifit it, otherwise you can improve the power output as much as you want by increasing the fueling - if you don't mind a lot of smoke.

Peter

[softlad]

The intention is to increase the fueling and turn up the boost, apparently so I have read changing the top mounted intercooler to front mounted is a massive improvement.
I also read on the US TDi forum that turbo diesels do not require any silencers in the exhaust system as the turbo does the job for them so a short discreet exhaust pipe under the car facing ground will aid exhaust flow and disperse smoke at ground level.
New Zealand diesel is pretty poor quality compared to UK diesel so smoking diesel cars & 4x4's is pretty common place out here

[CitroJim]

Interesting stuff

Be careful upping the fuelling too much as you can over-cook it and cause the engine to massively over-rev if say you are flat out and miss a gearchange.

I remember well Cyprus diesel in the early 80s. Horrible stuff it both smoked like a chimney and stank atrociously... Sounds like the NZ stuff is very similar...

Try running on vegetable oil. It still smokes but it smells a lot nicer in a McDonalds sort of a way

[softlad]

Vegetable oil has crossed my mind as a diesel in NZ is not the most economical form of transport as they charge you higher registration (road tax) and the you have to buy a road user allowance which basically means you pay for every km you drive, so almost free fuel would be a benefit.
With a couple of chippies in close proximity and I'm part of the commercial kitchen industry the main ingredient wouldn't be to hard to come by

[CitroJim]

What are the NZ tax authorities like about you running your car on chippe proceeds?

Our HMRC seem quite laid-back about it offering 2500 litres of the stuff free of duty.

You can only run veg if your Volcane has a Bosch pump. If it has a Lucas/Rotodiesel then forget it. They're delicate little flowers

If you do use ex-chippie oil then it'll need a bit of processing but nothing tremendously tricky. Basically filtering the odd cod and chips out of it and driving off any water in it...

[citronut]

i had my old NA diesel BX head gas flowed/ported whilst i had the head off, as my last workshop landlord does cylinder head work for a living,

it made a huge difference even though she went well before hand, she had far more get up and go, and would drive at 30mph in 4th gear comfortably, so in turn she use even less fuel, not really any more top end though