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Well I haven't had a chance to get any dyno or track time yet as the money has totally ran out lol. I have had the chance to putt around the neighborhood and uncover a few gremlins. The first being the passenger side hot side pipe. It was a little close to the engine mount stand on the K-Member and I took the wife for a ride and her little *** was enough to make the car hook and torque the engine over, push the pipe up against the stand and pop the manifold-pipe gasket. Whoops. So I'll take the pipe out soon and notch it for the K-Member. The other issue which may not even be an issue is oil temps. It was 90+ degrees here a couple weeks ago and if I'm out beating on it the oil pressure definitely suffers so I'm going to add an eBay oil cooler to help keep my oil alive a little longer lol. I'll probably have to wait till next summer to get it on the dyno and the track. I'll post pics of the cooler install and pipe mod for those in the same boat.
Gremlins happen.. Three things got me- melted a power steering line, melted the alternator wire to the compressor side of the turbo, and an intermittent issue with getting the e-fans to cooperate properly.
You'll work out the kinks, and will have a billy badazz car in the end. Chin up!
Good news guys, so I pulled the hot side pipe out and where it was hitting the K-Member. I was able to enlist some help from a friend who came up with a simple but effective way to make some room lol. After removing the pipe we heated it up with a MAP gas torch till it was cherry red and then laid a piece of 2" pipe over the area to be clearanced and hit it with a hammer. Worked perfectly and gave me an additional 1/2" of room. I'm sorry I forgot to get pictures but I wanted to get this bitch back together lol. I put it back together with a used manifold gasket and she sealed up perfect. I finally was able to actually go for a long drive which went perfect and without issue. I hit the highway and back roads to simulate traffic and all while being 80' outside. Got into boost frequently and never hit 210' on the gauge. After some boosted pulls after driving a while my oil pressure at idle was about 25 psi and 55 psi at full throttle running VR1 10W-30 oil and a stock pump. I'm going to put the oil cooler in this winter and maybe a high volume pump unless my oil pressure is okay, maybe someone will chime in on that. All in all a great day, if I'm lucky I'll hit the dyno before the month is over and my insurance runs out lol.
Also I'm currently running a 4:10 rear gear but am wondering if a higher ratio would be more beneficial, any suggestions or input?
Good news guys, so I pulled the hot side pipe out and where it was hitting the K-Member. I was able to enlist some help from a friend who came up with a simple but effective way to make some room lol. After removing the pipe we heated it up with a MAP gas torch till it was cherry red and then laid a piece of 2" pipe over the area to be clearanced and hit it with a hammer. Worked perfectly and gave me an additional 1/2" of room. I'm sorry I forgot to get pictures but I wanted to get this bitch back together lol. I put it back together with a used manifold gasket and she sealed up perfect. I finally was able to actually go for a long drive which went perfect and without issue. I hit the highway and back roads to simulate traffic and all while being 80' outside. Got into boost frequently and never hit 210' on the gauge. After some boosted pulls after driving a while my oil pressure at idle was about 25 psi and 55 psi at full throttle running VR1 10W-30 oil and a stock pump. I'm going to put the oil cooler in this winter and maybe a high volume pump unless my oil pressure is okay, maybe someone will chime in on that. All in all a great day, if I'm lucky I'll hit the dyno before the month is over and my insurance runs out lol.
Also I'm currently running a 4:10 rear gear but am wondering if a higher ratio would be more beneficial, any suggestions or input?
Congrats on getting the pipe issue fixed up. As far as the 4.10s, I am running a 4.8 turbo setup and I also have 4.10s. If I end up keeping the car until next year I will definitely be swapping to a 3.50 gear (S60 Rearend). The 4.10s will run out of gear long before I get to the 1/4 in 4th gear at this power level. I want to be able to wind it out a little bit once it builds boost
Your first gear would be useless with the 4.10's I'm sure, and maybe even second gear. The rate my first gear goes with the stock rear gear I've actually out ran the tach when turned up to 9#'s. Definitely drop the gearing down, will help load up the turbo a bit better anyway.
As far as the oil pressure sounds like you could have something going on. Hot triple digit days I will sit under a steady 40 psi and just a touch above on a perfect day. Moving down the road it holds a steady ~55 and pegs it when WOT. No oil cooler of any sort.
Do you think the fitment problem would have been the same with the non a/c kit?
Not at all. The passenger side uses a LS3 Corvette manifold that drops down and goes around the K-Member Engine mount stand and around the side of the AC Compressor. I'm using a BMR Turbo K-Member and the kit is designed around a PA K-Member so it's my own fault lol. I'd imagine your non-AC kit uses truck manifolds and will dump out where the AC Compressor once resided so I wouldn't worry about it.
Your first gear would be useless with the 4.10's I'm sure, and maybe even second gear. The rate my first gear goes with the stock rear gear I've actually out ran the tach when turned up to 9#'s. Definitely drop the gearing down, will help load up the turbo a bit better anyway.
As far as the oil pressure sounds like you could have something going on. Hot triple digit days I will sit under a steady 40 psi and just a touch above on a perfect day. Moving down the road it holds a steady ~55 and pegs it when WOT. No oil cooler of any sort.
Yeah first is worthless and second requires pedal modulation lol. I guess I'll just have to figure out which gear to go with. Any recommendations for a street car? I see 3.50 from 97EK but I don't know what that'll do for cruising.
That's a little disturbing about the oil pressure though, what weight and brand oil are you running? Stock Pump? this Betty is stock with 80K on the clock and the oil pressure has always taken a hit when I beat the hell out of it lol. I'm also going off the stock dummy gauge too.
Yeah first is worthless and second requires pedal modulation lol. I guess I'll just have to figure out which gear to go with. Any recommendations for a street car? I see 3.50 from 97EK but I don't know what that'll do for cruising.
That's a little disturbing about the oil pressure though, what weight and brand oil are you running? Stock Pump? this Betty is stock with 80K on the clock and the oil pressure has always taken a hit when I beat the hell out of it lol. I'm also going off the stock dummy gauge too.
The stock 10 bolt in an SS or WS6 runs 3.42 gears, so the 3.50s will put it back close to stock (yours is a six speed right?). Should cruise just fine. I would think anywhere between a a 3.42 and 3.73 would be a good gear. I know some people go even higher than that, but I don't have enough cubes to get too long of gears. I need a little help down low with the 4.8
I'm going off the stock gauge also, too lazy to get down and plumb in a gauge somewhere and only real available spot for a gauge I would have is taken up by the Eboost2. I'm nearing 180k miles on my stock bottom end, almost 15k on the boosted setup. Pan has only been off to drill my return line and collect some lifters I dropped when I did to small of dowels.
I ran M1 10-w30 for an oil change and discovered I was eating it pretty good with the turbo and I'm sure my piston rings are pissed. Switched to the Rotella 5-w40 or whatever most recommend on here. Bit more spendy but not having to dump a quart in between oil changes now. My oil pressure never has really changed depending on the weight I have thrown in, pretty consistent really.
As for the rear gear I plan to stick around stock range (3.42 or whatever it is) unless things get really crazy, maybe go a little longer. With the turbo you get a good enough load in the low gears it has no problem pulling up hills in high gear. Adds to the mileage kudos also for when someone pops off with "I bet you get single digit mileage" can come back and tell them mid 20's really. Been getting 17 - 18 mpg in town if I stay out of it. If I'm hot rodding it a good bit then I drop down to 15 or so. I'm more concerned about driving mine around and it being a fun cruiser over how fast it will run down the track. I'll either make the G8 with it's fresh LSA the 1/4 machine or pick up another fbody and make sure it's auto for the track.
I think I've figured out whats going on with my oil pressure. I cruised around for a couple hours today and didn't get into boost real heavy and my oil pressure at the end was at 35 psi at idle and a touch over 60 psi when I revved it sitting still. I think the oil is getting aerated from making boosted pulls and a buddy of mine suggested a race baffle so I think this winter I'll do the baffle and oil cooler.
I also think I've reached the limits of the TC7868 turbo as it seems to choke up around 5,500 RPM. Can anybody suggest a replacement that won't involve me relocating the radiator? I was thinking a PT7475 although I don;t know how that would work with my heads and cam...
On my car I started with the on3 76mm which is slightly smaller than the TC78. I made the switch to a Turbonetics 7875 1.15 a/r when they came out and picked up quite a bit of power and had no space issues since they are damn near identical in size. I went 9.9 @ 140 with that combo on my SBE LQ4. A local guy is running my old kit on his SBE LS1 and through an 80E he made 650+ and went 6.5X in the 1/8th. Through a T56 that turbo will make a ton of power.
I have always ran Rotella 15w-40 in mine and with a Melling high volume pump I have 60 psi at hot idle and 80+ at WOT. The SBE LQ4 has been in the car for 3 years on 3 different setups and has been making 600+ rwhp the whole time. I have the stock pan with no baffle and it gets hot in here Iowa during the summer too. If anything, I would try some thicker oil and replace the oil pump.
Interesting, I've had a couple guys tell me to stick to the factory weight of 5W-30 and that a heavier oil isn't a good idea with the tight factory tolerances. Clearly your not having any issues but is your short block stock? I'd be fine with just the Rotella 15W-40 as I don't think I need oil pressure quite that high.
My bottom end was opened up and new bearings were installed for piece of mind. Other than new bearings and rod bolts, everything is the same. When I put the car together I was skeptical about running a junkyard motor without taking a look at the bottom end. However, the guy I referenced in my previous post is running a completely stock LS1 bottom end with Rotella 15w-40. It won't hurt anything at all.
The oil pressure in mine is probably a combination of the bearing tolerances and the oil pump. I ran the same Melling pump in my cam only 2000 SS and there was a noticeable increase in pressure as well, but not this drastic.
Hey now! So I just a quick update, after getting the exhaust hooked back up and running all the way out the back the car was much quieter which is great for long drives and what not but sucks monkey ***** otherwise. So I contemplated going bumper exit and installing a cutout. I had my mind set on a bumper exit but a few friends said that the fumes are pretty bad and it can be quite loud. I was concerned since my little boy loves riding in the car and I'd hate for him to lose that. So my wife and my in-laws pitched in together and got me a QTP 3" cutout kit for Christmas. A good friend hooked me up installing it and it was the right decision. It's right under the driver seat and the cutout points to the outside of the car and its loud as **** lol but in a good way. The car comes up on boost stupid fast and now third gear has to be modulated or the tries come off just epic. Then when I want to cruise and listen to the radio I close it and I'm back in semi-stealth mode. I'll get it wired in this weekend and post some video but it's definitely worth the investment and listening to that turbine whistle is just the best. Hopefully I'll get some dyno number this summer too. Happy New Year to all! Cheers!
Hola guys! Good news, I went to drag strip this last weekend and made a few passes with the car. I'm not going to lie, the ET was a little disappointing but the redeeming factor to me was the awesome MPH lol. The time slips are in the order ran, the first was literally my first pass ever in a manual car, I missed 3rd and shifted at 5,400ish rpm. The second pass was better with no missed gears and shifting at 6,200. The third the track started getting greasy and I blew the tires off in 1st, 2nd and part of 3rd. I really feel like if I can get a good 60' under it and do it before the track gets slick I can eek an 11.99 out of it on street tires. So figure a factory curb weight of 3,306 all the frame ties and turbo stuff plus my less than narrow *** in the car its probably right around 3,800 lbs I think. So the MPH/HP calculator calls out 505 RWHP, does that sound about right?
09-02-2015, 08:08 PM
Been getting 17 - 18 mpg in town if I stay out of it. If I'm hot rodding it a good bit then I drop down to 15 or so. I'm more concerned about driving mine around and it being a fun cruiser over how fast it will run down the track. I'll either make the G8 with it's fresh LSA the 1/4 machine or pick up another fbody and make sure it's auto for the track. 
