69 Camaro twin turbo build - Loads of pics
12-13-2012, 10:31 PM
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69 Camaro twin turbo build - Loads of pics Well its about time I start my build thread. Hope to keep this up to date for anyone that might be interested.
Starting point: My 69 Z28. Its a clean california car with a mildly built 350, 700R4 and 3.73 posi
rear. So far I've done the complete bodywork restoration, paint(in my garage), interior,
suspension & wheels. Drove it for 2 summers this way, and now its new engine time. I considered
a big block at first, but finally decided to go big. So its gonna be a twin-turbo, forged LS mill
on E85, 4L80e trans and a 9 inch rear. Lets get started:
Starting with the car as-is.
6.0 litre junkyard LQ4 motor from a 2003 silverado. 135K miles.
Intake off..boy is she dirty.
A little water in the lifter valley.
Pistons black but in good shape.
Lifters, trays, rockers and pushrods out.
Balancer and oil pan removed.
Stock rods look good. No loose bearings.
Oil pump coming off.
Timing chain coming off.
Cam retainer plate coming off.
Cam journals show minimal wear.
Cam bearings just starting to show a little copper.
Crank journals look like new. Not bad for 135k miles.
Prying main caps up with a couple jack handles.
Down to the bare block.
Starting to tear into this truck wiring harness. Labeling all these connectors.
Here's all the un-necessary stuff I cut out of the harness.
Ok, engine back from the shop. Bored .030 with brand new forged Wiseco pistons, and forged Molnar
H-beam rods.
Slinging some hi-temp paint.
Front, rear and valley covers.
New custom ground turbo cam, in the hole.
Retainer plate back on.
Used Fbody oil pan came with the wrong pickup tube.
Doesn't fit.
New Fbody pickup tube fits great.
New lifter trays, drilled for improved oil drainage.
Trays going in with new LS7 lifters.
Head studs measured to the bottom with some tape and a black marker, after each hole cleaned with
a thread chaser.
DIY thread chaser. One of the stock head bolts with threads ground off on 2 sides. Works
perfect.
ARP studs bottomed out.
ARP studs installed.
New LS9 gaskets. Nice.
Pretty.
Heads installed with new Lunati dual springs, and comp pushrods.
The foreman over there checking out the 4L80e I picked up off craigslist.
Starting point: My 69 Z28. Its a clean california car with a mildly built 350, 700R4 and 3.73 posi
rear. So far I've done the complete bodywork restoration, paint(in my garage), interior,
suspension & wheels. Drove it for 2 summers this way, and now its new engine time. I considered
a big block at first, but finally decided to go big. So its gonna be a twin-turbo, forged LS mill
on E85, 4L80e trans and a 9 inch rear. Lets get started:
Starting with the car as-is.
6.0 litre junkyard LQ4 motor from a 2003 silverado. 135K miles.
Intake off..boy is she dirty.
A little water in the lifter valley.
Pistons black but in good shape.
Lifters, trays, rockers and pushrods out.
Balancer and oil pan removed.
Stock rods look good. No loose bearings.
Oil pump coming off.
Timing chain coming off.
Cam retainer plate coming off.
Cam journals show minimal wear.
Cam bearings just starting to show a little copper.
Crank journals look like new. Not bad for 135k miles.
Prying main caps up with a couple jack handles.
Down to the bare block.
Starting to tear into this truck wiring harness. Labeling all these connectors.
Here's all the un-necessary stuff I cut out of the harness.
Ok, engine back from the shop. Bored .030 with brand new forged Wiseco pistons, and forged Molnar
H-beam rods.
Slinging some hi-temp paint.
Front, rear and valley covers.
New custom ground turbo cam, in the hole.
Retainer plate back on.
Used Fbody oil pan came with the wrong pickup tube.
Doesn't fit.
New Fbody pickup tube fits great.
New lifter trays, drilled for improved oil drainage.
Trays going in with new LS7 lifters.
Head studs measured to the bottom with some tape and a black marker, after each hole cleaned with
a thread chaser.
DIY thread chaser. One of the stock head bolts with threads ground off on 2 sides. Works
perfect.
ARP studs bottomed out.
ARP studs installed.
New LS9 gaskets. Nice.
Pretty.
Heads installed with new Lunati dual springs, and comp pushrods.
The foreman over there checking out the 4L80e I picked up off craigslist.
12-13-2012, 10:32 PM
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Rocker trunion upgrade kit.
Drill press works great to press in new bearings.
Rebuilt rockers installed.
Balancer going on.
Lets try and make a balancer install tool. We'll weld the metric bolt onto a big threaded shaft.
Tighten that nut, and the balancer gets pressed on.
I cranked so hard I eventually broke my tool in half. But no worries, balancer is fully seated.
Aluminum bungs welded onto oil pan for turbo drains.
These parts need a makeover. Start with some etching primer.
Gloss black looks good, but we're not finished.
After a couple coats of silver crystal pearl. Thats better!
Body panels coming off. That old motor needs to come out.
Good ole 350. She was good to me.
Parts piling up.
Looks like an old Jeep!
This thing is starting to look like a motor!
Here we go.
350 and 700R4 out.
New engine & tranny bolted up and lowered in. Checking fitment. It will sit pretty far back to
clear all the steering linkages, but should work fine.
That 4l80e fits pretty nice in the trans tunnel. Looks like less cutting and hacking than I was
expecting.
Steering lock to lock with plenty of clearance.
About a half inch from the firewall. I'm gonna cut and smooth it anyway.
Good fit here.
Lets get some nice new gaskets on that intake.
This is an SLP LS6 intake from the 2001 LS6 camaro. I drilled out that big nasty copper EGR plug,
formed a thin piece of metal to cover the hole, and used epoxy putty to seal it. Looks ugly but
should seal just fine.
New bosch injectors are 95lb at 3-bar (43psi). I'll be running 58psi base pressure so they should
flow plenty. Compared to stock injector on the right.
New injectors fit the rail, but must be a little shorter because they won't seat properly in the
intake. New billet rails on the way
Taking a wire wheel and grinder to the frame. Re-welding all the factory seams for added
strength.
Next:
1. Smoothing the firewall
2. Painting frame and engine bay.
3. Engine & tranny install
4. Fuel system assembly
5. Wiring harness and relays
6. Fire it up!
7. Start building the twin-turbo setup
Also to come:
8. 9 inch rear and custom 4-link
9. Wilwood brakes
10.etc
Drill press works great to press in new bearings.
Rebuilt rockers installed.
Balancer going on.
Lets try and make a balancer install tool. We'll weld the metric bolt onto a big threaded shaft.
Tighten that nut, and the balancer gets pressed on.
I cranked so hard I eventually broke my tool in half. But no worries, balancer is fully seated.
Aluminum bungs welded onto oil pan for turbo drains.
These parts need a makeover. Start with some etching primer.
Gloss black looks good, but we're not finished.
After a couple coats of silver crystal pearl. Thats better!
Body panels coming off. That old motor needs to come out.
Good ole 350. She was good to me.
Parts piling up.
Looks like an old Jeep!
This thing is starting to look like a motor!
Here we go.
350 and 700R4 out.
New engine & tranny bolted up and lowered in. Checking fitment. It will sit pretty far back to
clear all the steering linkages, but should work fine.
That 4l80e fits pretty nice in the trans tunnel. Looks like less cutting and hacking than I was
expecting.
Steering lock to lock with plenty of clearance.
About a half inch from the firewall. I'm gonna cut and smooth it anyway.
Good fit here.
Lets get some nice new gaskets on that intake.
This is an SLP LS6 intake from the 2001 LS6 camaro. I drilled out that big nasty copper EGR plug,
formed a thin piece of metal to cover the hole, and used epoxy putty to seal it. Looks ugly but
should seal just fine.
New bosch injectors are 95lb at 3-bar (43psi). I'll be running 58psi base pressure so they should
flow plenty. Compared to stock injector on the right.
New injectors fit the rail, but must be a little shorter because they won't seat properly in the
intake. New billet rails on the way
Taking a wire wheel and grinder to the frame. Re-welding all the factory seams for added
strength.
Next:
1. Smoothing the firewall
2. Painting frame and engine bay.
3. Engine & tranny install
4. Fuel system assembly
5. Wiring harness and relays
6. Fire it up!
7. Start building the twin-turbo setup
Also to come:
8. 9 inch rear and custom 4-link
9. Wilwood brakes
10.etc
Last edited by Calypso; 12-13-2012 at 10:42 PM.
12-14-2012, 07:35 AM
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Looks good. I would keep the 12 bolt in it though. I used my original 12 bolt, welded up the axle tubes, moser 33 spline axles, full spool, and PRo Street 3.42 gears. This is my 3870lb 1969 Chevelle. It has held up for almost 3 years now with lots of street driving and drag passes. As you can see in my signature it put it on the back bumper pretty good and never broke. I also use factory suspension. I just have moroso springs in both front and back. Some decent shocks up front and my only expense is I purchased afco double adjustable for the rears but now don't think I needed them. A good single would have been fine on a turbo car.
Looks like a very well done build.
Looks like a very well done build.
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12-14-2012, 07:45 AM
#8
I like you're choice of parts so far.
Subcribed
BTW, make sure you dont have a bearing binding up after the rocker trunion upgrade. I ran into this the last time I converted a set and had one hanging up. Comp sent me an entire kit for one rocker which all I needed is one bearing. As you know this can be bad news bears.
Awesome car too
Subcribed
BTW, make sure you dont have a bearing binding up after the rocker trunion upgrade. I ran into this the last time I converted a set and had one hanging up. Comp sent me an entire kit for one rocker which all I needed is one bearing. As you know this can be bad news bears.
Awesome car too
12-14-2012, 08:59 AM
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The plan so far is Comp billet 6067s. 60mm billet compressor, 67mm turbine.
Patience... They're coming. I'll have lots of pics during the build, don't worry.
Thanks man. How do you like a spool on the street though? Mine is street-only, so I'm going limited-slip. Also I always wanted to do a triangulated 4-link, so figured now is the time as long as I'm building everything.
Thanks man..you know I did notice one of them didn't spin as freely as the others. I wouldn't call it "bind" though. How did you determine which one of yours was binding up?
They're coming. I'll have lots of pics during the build, don't worry.Looks good. I would keep the 12 bolt in it though. I used my original 12 bolt, welded up the axle tubes, moser 33 spline axles, full spool, and PRo Street 3.42 gears. This is my 3870lb 1969 Chevelle. It has held up for almost 3 years now with lots of street driving and drag passes. As you can see in my signature it put it on the back bumper pretty good and never broke. I also use factory suspension. I just have moroso springs in both front and back. Some decent shocks up front and my only expense is I purchased afco double adjustable for the rears but now don't think I needed them. A good single would have been fine on a turbo car.
Looks like a very well done build.
Looks like a very well done build.
I like you're choice of parts so far.
Subcribed
BTW, make sure you dont have a bearing binding up after the rocker trunion upgrade. I ran into this the last time I converted a set and had one hanging up. Comp sent me an entire kit for one rocker which all I needed is one bearing. As you know this can be bad news bears.
Awesome car too
Subcribed
BTW, make sure you dont have a bearing binding up after the rocker trunion upgrade. I ran into this the last time I converted a set and had one hanging up. Comp sent me an entire kit for one rocker which all I needed is one bearing. As you know this can be bad news bears.
Awesome car too
12-14-2012, 09:59 AM
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hell yes man i cant wait to see this done. my goal is to do close to the same thing with my 67. love your car man its beautiful what wheels and tires do you have on it?
12-14-2012, 10:33 AM
#13
You can put the trunion in and spin it and if it catches you know its not right. Mine wasnt really "binding" but it wouldnt spin as free as the others for sure. I only had one tho. And you dont need a press to install the bearings in the rockers although recommended for novice.
12-14-2012, 10:36 AM
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Haha..thanks man! Those are just TorqThrust II from American Racing. They're custom made though with chrome centers, polished outers and custom backspace. 17X9.5 front and 17X11 rears. Since I'm redoing everything though, I think I'm gonna go 18X12 rears and 18X10 fronts this time, with some nice forged wheel..maybe black centers.
12-14-2012, 10:38 AM
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You can put the trunion in and spin it and if it catches you know its not right. Mine wasnt really "binding" but it wouldnt spin as free as the others for sure. I only had one tho. And you dont need a press to install the bearings in the rockers although recommended for novice.
12-14-2012, 10:53 AM
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Haha..thanks man! Those are just TorqThrust II from American Racing. They're custom made though with chrome centers, polished outers and custom backspace. 17X9.5 front and 17X11 rears. Since I'm redoing everything though, I think I'm gonna go 18X12 rears and 18X10 fronts this time, with some nice forged wheel..maybe black centers.
12-14-2012, 11:25 AM
#19
Not trying to tell you how to build your motor, and im also not telling you Comps trunion kit is inferior. But just something to double check. Like you said, better safe than sorry