byoung7

I am thinking about putting a 75hp nitrous kit on my 95 convertible. I do not drive this car much except back and forth to local car shows and an occasional romp to blow the carbon out!!! If I put a nitrous kit on do I need to worry about the "shelf life" of the nitrous? What about the solenoid valves, do I have to worry about them if they are not used often? Ok, one last question - this car has just under 30k, from what I have been reading on here, the 75hp kit should not affect the engine and I should have to do anything to it to install this kit - right???

Thanks
Bob

Mekanic

75 will prove no problem at all, but I would be much more worried about the noids getting stuck if you were to leave it for a while.

byoung7

Is there any kind of maintenance I could do to them to ensure they stay free? How often do they typically need to be used?

ubnpast

100 shot with a wet kit isnt a problem. I mounted my solenoids upside down on my asr bracket, they are hidden. Everyone that has looked in my engine bay dont see anything done, just when they look near the back window and see the 15lb bottle there eyes light up lol.. Even little kids (12-13) see it and know its nitrous lol. One of my friends at our local track started laughing when he saw the plastic tubing on the nitrous lines going to the intake, because he didnt catch it until he saw the nozzle in the intake .
I dont think you would have to use them often, most if not all are rebuildable, they simply twist apart..
a 15 lb bottle and a 100 shot lasted about 6 passes in the 1/4 another 6 highway runs, and about 5 more hits just for fun (bottle also had a small leak which i fixed, but not after it leaked out 100 psi COLD.

EDIT: a nitrous filter wont hurt either.

byoung7

Thanks for ther information. I think this is going to be my winter project, to install the nitrous kit. Right now I am just having fun taking the car to shows. I just have to wait till next summer for a little more power!!!

Has anyone painted the bottle to match the car color - anything I should be cautious of?

dan0617

I just installed a Zex kit on my '89 this weekend. I installed the kit, an RPM window switch, purge kit, bottle heater, and blow down tube. I also made a small plastic L-shaped piece to mount the switches in and screw to the bottom of the dash by my right knee, so I didn't have switches all over the place in the car. I mounted the window switch to the top of the battery with velcro. I have about 10 hours in the installation, could probably be done in 5 but I take alot of Michelob time outs. Gettin the bottle filled today and can't wait to try it out. I've been told if I'm not using the kit much to go out once a month or so and turn the key on without starting the engine, and depress the gas pedal to the floor. The solenoids will click, keeping them from eventually sticking. I did this to try it out after I installed the kit and it worked. (I have to bypass the RPM window switch for it to work, simply by hooking the ground wire of the Zex NMU back up to a ground rather than to the window switch.) I'm now debating on a retard box or just keep the dist. back a little for the timing.

byoung7

I would like to hear how your first run "shot" goes. What HP are you adding? Sorry for sounding dumb but what does the RPM window switch do? Are you thinking about the timing just because you are going to run a higher HP shot? Do you think with a 75 HP shot the timing would need to be changed?

neat

You really shouldn't need to pull timing with a 75 shot. As long as you run the best gas you can find, you should be fine.

The RPM window switch controls what RPM the nitrous turns on and off. For example, spraying nitrous below about 2500 RPM's is kind of dangerous. If you hit the rev limiter in your car while spraying, it's also dangerous. A window switch lets you set an area between 2 RPM's where the N20 will activate. On my car, the nitrous comes in at 2500 and turns off at 5800. That way, if I miss a shift and bang the limiter, I don't do any damage because of the nitrous.

If you want to, you can buy an ignition box that will have the window switch functions built into it. I have a Mallory ignition box in my car, part number MAL-685. It's great for nitrous. It'll act as a window switch, retard timing when I spray, and a couple other things. I really don't think it's necessary for a small dry shot like you are planning, but should you decide to go for more power than 75 or so, pulling timing is a good idea.

My first shot was almost a religious experience, lol. I was immediately hooked. Nitrous is awesome, but do be careful with it, and do your best to understand it. Almost all the sad stories associated with nitrous are from lack of knowledge and/or improper usage/installation.

REDC4CORVETTE

Use a nitrous filter inline to start with .

byoung7

I want to thank everyone for their input. It seems like a 75 shot will be pretty safe, as long as I don't do anything stupid. I will keep learning from information on this site - looks like this winter (fall) I will be putting a kit on.

Thanks

dan0617

I'm hoping to try the 75 shot tonight, and maybe the 100 if the 75 works good. From what I've read, the 75 shot and probably the 100 shot should be good with the factory 6* timing, NGK TR6 spark plugs, and 92 octane gas. It seems that since I can run 10* without detonation normally, that running the factory 6* is really already retarded 4*. That is right on for everyone saying to retard 2* for every 50 HP of juice. If this is incorrect, someone let me know before I melt my pistons tonight. I'll let you know tomorrow how it went, if it doesn't rain tonight. Not trying full throttle and a 75 shot on wet roads!!! neat's description of the window switch is right on.

BTW, mine is an L98 engine, I see you have an LT1. Timing is a little easier to adjust for me, I can just pull 1 plug and set by turning the distributer. For you, I think if you go over a 100 shot you will need a tune to set timing, or a MSD with retard box. Not 100% sure on the LT1 tho.

REDC4CORVETTE

Don't paint the bottle.If your filler dosent mind some color he should be agreeable to enamel paint only !!

byoung7

Keep all the great information coming, the more I learn the more I want this kit. Thanks for the information.

dan0617

Ran it last night, have a few bugs. 75 shot works well, but pushed some oil out the dipstick tube. I was told that might happen, and the fix is to eliminate the pcv system and use breathers with downdraft tubes on both sides. Any other ideas to fix or if this won't work, someone let me know. Nice to feel the car accelerate hard, then hit the switch and feel it pull even harder!!! Went to the 125 shot and worked well once, but my bottle pressure is now down to 650 so I need a refill. (I have a 15lb bottle but the fill shop ran out after giving me 8 lbs.) Pulls real hard when the 125 shot hits. My other problem is my window switch. It supplies ground at the on RPM, which is 2800. So, when I'm idling there is no ground. But the Zex NMU is wired to the throttle position sensor, and when the NMU doesn't have ground it must screw up the voltage output on the wire (the dark blue one) from the TPS to the computer, and makes the computer make the car idle at like 1800 RPM's. I don't know how to fix that. What is it doing?? For last night I bypassed the window switch by grounding the NMU and it all worked fine. Can I make this window switch work? Is there another wire to hook to, or a relay that I can wire in or something?

byoung7

Well you have me itching to feel that extra boost of power - maybe I won't make it until winter to install mine. How hard is it to switch from one HP shot to another? Good luck with your wiring issue.