Xcessive Z32 Adapter Failure - Do Not Buy

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Xcessive Z32 Adapter Failure - Do Not Buy

Post by supakat »

Well, about a year and a half ago, I purchased the kit. After I purchased it, I talked with my friend and he went Mazworx cuz the flywheel bolts on the xcessive kit will break when you make power. Well, I took a chance and was pushing 10psi for the awhile. I then bumped up to 20psi and after one day, the bolts cut clean. Rosado racing was making 600+whp and had the same issues. I thought I was safe making up too 500whp but even with less power, it happened. Oh well. Just a post to say do not buy this kit. We also have had numerous issues with starter's crapping out as well.

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Re: Xcessive Z32 Adapter Failure - Do Not Buy

Post by beercandrifter »

so the question becomes, who will start making custom z32/z33 bellhousings for the ka.

I see custom bell housings (aluminum and steel) for the domestic engines day in and day out, but nothing for the import crowd.

sorry to hear about your adapter causing issues, know how much it sucks to have to pull a trans.


even having a custom bellhousing made isnt that expensive in comparison with the adapter kits on the market, these guys fabricate custom bellhousings for 1300$, wouldnt need a custom starter nor have to deal with all the fitment issues at that point: http://www.browellbellhousing.com/current_pricing.html
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Re: Xcessive Z32 Adapter Failure - Do Not Buy

Post by supakat »

No need to buy another adapter or kit. I am going to drill and tap the plate to use stock starter. I will loose out on one tranny to engine mounting bolt but it won't matter. So basically, no 1/2 inch spacer.
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Re: Xcessive Z32 Adapter Failure - Do Not Buy

Post by wannaboost? »

So I had a long reply for this thread but somehow lost it. I still feel the need to give my opinion as well.

I'll start by saying I have regretted every single purchase I have made with Xcessive. Their customer service, shipping, prices are all pretty damn good. However, the quality of anything I have gotten is just junk. I will try to organize the parts and issues I have had with them below.


Z32 to KA trans adapter kit-
I purchased this kit over the Mazworx because I was under the impression from my research that it was completely bolt on and fully functioning. And the Mazworx requires your bellhousing to be machined.

Starter- The starter that comes with the kit is from a pulsar and is extremely weak and unreliable. I think I've been through 4 now. Not to mention, my car has not started correctly ever. No matter what starter or shims used, it grinds terribly because the starter does not mate with the flywheel teeth correctly. I was told that if you have an aftermarket flywheel that it wouldn't need machining, and that wasn't the case.

Shifter bracket- I purchased the "short" shifter bracket at an additional cost. The small bolt-together selector rod setup that comes with the shifter kit twisted so badly laterally that I had to make a beefier one entirely custom. I don't know how that one even happened because even if I tried to be violent with the shifter left to right, I don't see how you could bend that. The gold bracket that supports the shifter is so flimsy, you can bend it with a few fingers. Separate occasion, I shifted to 2nd and bent the bracket so bad it jammed onto the selector rod and woudn't come out of second gear. I want to be perfectly clear on the fact that I am VERY nice when shifting this thing because it has had terrible feel since day one. I was not being over aggressive IMO. I had to pull the bracket off, bend it back, and then weld 4 support braces to it to resolve this issue.

Thermal intake gasket- I purchased one of these intake manifold gaskets because I used to blow the paper ones out from boost, over time. During a track day session the water temps made it to 200*F by the end of the session (unusual for my setup) so when I came into the pits, I looked over the car. The gasket had melted so bad that the engine lost most of it's water and ultimately blew a head gasket. I called them to ask if they'd seen anything like this and they said they had never seen anything like that and shipped a new one to me for free. Of course that's decent customer service and of course I didn't use it. I have both the melted one and new one on my tool box to humor people.




The only thing I haven't had happen is this catastrophic bolt failure (knock on wood) but I am in the exact process as SUPA. I have purchased a new bellhousing and machined it, I just need to pull the spacer and fit the original starter on the front side of the engine.


Hey SUPA, if you have any pics of the process, post them up. I like the idea of tapping the holes.
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Re: Xcessive Z32 Adapter Failure - Do Not Buy

Post by supakat »

I am updating my thread but will create another one from start to finish on what I did.
viewtopic.php?f=40&t=49585&start=1200#p516992
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Re: Xcessive Z32 Adapter Failure - Do Not Buy

Post by nis720 »

wannaboost? wrote:
Shifter bracket- I purchased the "short" shifter bracket at an additional cost. The small bolt-together selector rod setup that comes with the shifter kit twisted so badly laterally that I had to make a beefier one entirely custom. I don't know how that one even happened because even if I tried to be violent with the shifter left to right, I don't see how you could bend that. The gold bracket that supports the shifter is so flimsy, you can bend it with a few fingers. Separate occasion, I shifted to 2nd and bent the bracket so bad it jammed onto the selector rod and woudn't come out of second gear. I want to be perfectly clear on the fact that I am VERY nice when shifting this thing because it has had terrible feel since day one. I was not being over aggressive IMO. I had to pull the bracket off, bend it back, and then weld 4 support braces to it to resolve this issue.
WOW... thanks for the info. I'm getting ready to drop the Z32 trans in my truck using the Mazworx plate but I purchased the Xcessive short shifter bracket. Do you have any pics of your shifter bracket reinforcement? and the custom link if possible. I want to fix these issues before I even put on the parts.

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Re: Xcessive Z32 Adapter Failure - Do Not Buy

Post by adamky »

I second what nis720 said. I have the Mazworx kit with that Xcessive shifter. I hate to not use it, but unless I can figure out how to reinforce it, there's no way I'm using this thing.

Looking at Nis720's pic, I'm wondering if the stock shifter arm could be modified to work. If you removed the tube between the two brackets, you could just weld the brackets directly to each other, and it looks like it would be about the same length as the piece Xcessive supplies. That's my only thoughts on a solution so far..
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Re: Xcessive Z32 Adapter Failure - Do Not Buy

Post by supakat »

Just an FYI. The bolts supplied were 10.9 class. Stronger than Grade 8. Also, no matter what you do, you will need to machine the bellhousing if you want to use the xcessive plate with no spacer. Now, I really wish I went xcessive. Oh well. You live and you learn.
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Re: Xcessive Z32 Adapter Failure - Do Not Buy

Post by wannaboost? »

Sorry guys, I don't check this as often as I should. I don't have any photos of the modifications done so I drew it up quickly to hopefully explain it better. The red bracket thing is the shifter bracket. The black triangles are just 3/16" plate triangles that I cut and welded into each bend(4). It's not pretty but it sure works better. Also, the arrow is pointing to the selector that I twisted very badly.


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Re: Xcessive Z32 Adapter Failure - Do Not Buy

Post by TryingToTurbo »

I haven't been on the site in a while, but I am very thankful I stopped in. I was just browsing for z32 trans adapter kits, and figured after I checked out the Xcessive kit I would drop in here and see if anyone had issues before I bought it. THANKFULLY this post was on the first page.
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Re: Xcessive Z32 Adapter Failure - Do Not Buy

Post by supakat »

Yea, I opted for the xcessive because no machining and better drive shaft. Now that I had to do all this happen, I would hands down, go Mazworx and tell people to stay away from xcessive. Glad it helped you out. I just got my bellhousing machined today and it cost me $80 and $40 for arp bolts. Not even counting the hours I had to put into mod the adapter plate.
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Re: Xcessive Z32 Adapter Failure - Do Not Buy

Post by supakat »

Here is the spacer damaged.
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Solution!
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Re: Xcessive Z32 Adapter Failure - Do Not Buy

Post by RosadoRacing »

DO NOT USE THE ARP BOLTS!! they are too short they loosened up on me n ended up breaking. I'm using oem BOLTS there strong enoughyou'llnever break them. i Told u that spacer was junk and the starter. I'm glad you got it machined the driveshaft should be long enough n for the cross member I'm only using 1 bolt on each side lol. perhaps I could have bought Mazworx cross member but it's held up fine. just giving you a heads up on stuff u might run into
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Re: Xcessive Z32 Adapter Failure - Do Not Buy

Post by supakat »

I already installed with the arp hardware. They are only 2mm shorter than stock which is about 1-2 threads. I am not taking that bi*ch back out. I also just elongated the mounting holes for the crossmember bracket. It sits where it needs to be. Your making more power than me and I am going to reduce my lc with flat shift runs. I hope I am free from these issues.

You can see the surface of the bottom head from the bolt to the end is slightly smaller. Locktite on threads and bottom of bolt head should keep these in place.

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Re: Xcessive Z32 Adapter Failure - Do Not Buy

Post by RosadoRacing »

eventually you will have to take them out been there done that there too short they still loosen up but good luck
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Re: Xcessive Z32 Adapter Failure - Do Not Buy

Post by supakat »

If I got to take out again, I am going to toss this motor/tranny!
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Re: Xcessive Z32 Adapter Failure - Do Not Buy

Post by RosadoRacing »

xcessive and the flywheel bolts gave me a headache last year I literally took out the trans more times than my spark plugs. now everything is great oem bolts haven't broke. my machine shop guy said the arp were long enough I used loctite n torqued to what the paper said I think 90 and they came loose. funny thing is oem ask for 105-112lbs so in my eyes oem is stronger than arp
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Re: Xcessive Z32 Adapter Failure - Do Not Buy

Post by RosadoRacing »

I wouldn't bash xcessive too much. there kit is actually the better kit to buy. I'll explain... before you order you'll tell rich you don't want the spacer or starter that should reduce the kit to about $1000. find a machinist have it cut 1/2" and put the thing on the car with oem flywheel bolts total of $1080. now if u have the money for mazworx they don't use the short remote shifter and there adapter plate design you have to send the housing in and it'll cost about $240. now do the math maz kit $1200+240=$1440 about $400 more and you have to cut your floor unless you buy xcessive remote shifter.
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Re: Xcessive Z32 Adapter Failure - Do Not Buy

Post by RosadoRacing »

I forgot to mention I spoke to import dps awhile ago and asked what flywheel bolts they were using and they said they used oem up to 900whp once they made more they had arp custom make them the bolts which cost around $800
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Re: Xcessive Z32 Adapter Failure - Do Not Buy

Post by adamky »

RosadoRacing wrote:I wouldn't bash xcessive too much. there kit is actually the better kit to buy. I'll explain... before you order you'll tell rich you don't want the spacer or starter that should reduce the kit to about $1000. find a machinist have it cut 1/2" and put the thing on the car with oem flywheel bolts total of $1080. now if u have the money for mazworx they don't use the short remote shifter and there adapter plate design
Are you serious? We're talking about a kit that you're supposed to be able to just buy and mount it up as-is, and you're telling me that's okay because it's a better kit if you pick and choose your parts?? How in the world does that make it the better kit?

I think this thread gives plenty of reasons to bash the Xcessive kit AND their short shifter setup. You shouldn't have to pick and choose and piece things together when you buy a full kit. And you shouldn't have to modify things like you do with their shifter bracket to get it to function correctly. The shifter bracket that they sell with their short shifter kit is very flimsy and weak for what looks to be a pretty thick piece of metal. Just playing with it on the bench attached to my transmission, I can move it up and down easily. That's compared to the shifter bracket that came with the Mazworx kit, which is very strong and stiff and doesn't flex AT ALL. We already have one user in this thread who has confirmed that not only is the bracket weak and flimsy, but the piece that they include to connect the shifter to the striking rod is weak as well. Did you see the part where his transmission got jammed into second gear and wouldn't come out because of this? I've got that short shifter kit, and I'm going to have to mod the hell out of the thing just to be able to use it with peace of mind.

Bottom line: it's either inferior quality materials, or bad design... or both. They should STOP selling the kit until either those issues are resolved and fixed, or they put a disclaimer that you're going to have constant starter issues and the flywheel may break off if you're running 450+ whp.

RosadoRacing wrote: you have to send the housing in and it'll cost about $240. now do the math maz kit $1200+240=$1440 about $400 more and you have to cut your floor unless you buy xcessive remote shifter.
I don't understand where are you getting $1440 for the Maxworz kit? The price of the kit includes machining the bellhousing. I got the option of the speedo recalibrator and the 3" mild steel driveshaft upgrade for a total of $1230. Other than that, the only thing I paid for was shipping the bellhousing to them, and the cost of shipping everything to me. Where does the extra $240 come in?


And for the record, I'm not an Xcessive hater/basher. On the contrary, I have their intake manifold, oil pan, and distributor cover. I just installed the oil pan last week and I thought it was a well-made piece. No quality issues that I can tell yet.
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Re: Xcessive Z32 Adapter Failure - Do Not Buy

Post by RosadoRacing »

ok I was off $80 since the machining as you stated is already on the bill. my point is if u have a machinist who can cut the housing, xcessive is better and cheaper. my short shifter relocator gave me one issue the striker rod came loose so I had to weld the universal joints. maz is great but shipping that bell housing sucks compared to how me and supa have done it. I really think those guys thought a little 4 banger won't break spacer bolts lol News flash were launching as hard as big blocks
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Re: Xcessive Z32 Adapter Failure - Do Not Buy

Post by adamky »

1440
-1230
= 210

LOL, you're confusing me again. I'm not sure where you're getting that you were only off by $80? You were off by $210.
(EDIT: I'm thinking that you read 1230 as 1320. I'm guessing that's why you said you were only $80 off.)


You act like shipping a bellhousing is this big huge deal, and I don't understand that. Box it up, take it to a UPS store, and send it off. That's it, your part is done. Hell, I didn't even have to waste gas driving to a machine shop to pick mine up. The UPS man delivered it right to my door. :dance:
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Re: Xcessive Z32 Adapter Failure - Do Not Buy

Post by trk240sx »

Just an observation, no crank to adapter dowel pin hole, or adapter to flywheel as well. Could this be an issue causing failure? I have seen bolts sheer off, bet never a dowel pin.
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Re: Xcessive Z32 Adapter Failure - Do Not Buy

Post by supakat »

I have dowel pin on plate to block and plate to tranny.
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Re: Xcessive Z32 Adapter Failure - Do Not Buy

Post by RosadoRacing »

I use two pins on the crack to keep the flywheel from moving
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Re: Xcessive Z32 Adapter Failure - Do Not Buy

Post by supakat »

You drilled the crank to add dowel to fw/crank? I am probably not understanding correctly.
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Re: Xcessive Z32 Adapter Failure - Do Not Buy

Post by RosadoRacing »

Yes I drilled the crank and flywheel and used 2 dowel pins at 12 and 6 o.clock it'll keep the flywheel in place. Many races cars use this method
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Re: Xcessive Z32 Adapter Failure - Do Not Buy

Post by supakat »

Damn...the crap we had to do to make it work. I was going to drill the bolt heads to run wire locks but I don't have time to do it.
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Re: Xcessive Z32 Adapter Failure - Do Not Buy

Post by left shin »

supakat wrote:Just an FYI. The bolts supplied were 10.9 class. Stronger than Grade 8. Also, no matter what you do, you will need to machine the bellhousing if you want to use the xcessive plate with no spacer. Now, I really wish I went xcessive. Oh well. You live and you learn.
I think I should note that metric 10.9 are roughly Grade 8 equivalent. To go stronger than Grade 8 you'd need 12.9 bolts.

Gotta say, this sucks either way.
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Re: Xcessive Z32 Adapter Failure - Do Not Buy

Post by supakat »

Correct. Never researched that.
http://www.k-tbolt.com/bolt_chart.html
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