66Chevellelq4

Literally all your questions have been answered 1000 times. Use the search function on here and read around, dont be lazy and have others tell you what to do, its your build. Read ALL of this https://sites.google.com/site/sloppywiki/

jay_rich

iTrader: (8)

Fbody Oil pan
Fbody Accessories
Notch Kmember for AC and possibly for oil pan clearance.
Stock LS1 Intake and throttle body is fine
Stock bottom end and heads
BTR springs or even Pac single springs
60lb injectors

IMO at that power level I would just go with a ON3 76mm turbo. Even the 64.5mm turbine (older model) will cut it. If you keep the RPM down you shouldn’t run into any backpressure issues. My buddy ran a similar Masterpower 76mm/65mm turbine and the car still ran high 10s in a stock 5.3L with a Vic jr intake and 6.0L truck cam. The turbo is small enough that packaging it to fit with AC will be simple Single 3” downpipe will do the job as well.

Rpaschall

You're awesome Jay
As far as keeping my rpm down, do you have a ballpark of redline or will my tuner tell me? What would you suggest for wastegate and bov? On the manifold fab, can I use 2in or 2.5in to run from the manifold to the turbo?

Rpaschall

Can I add you on Facebook or something man? I see you've done a few third gen turbo builds

DavidBoren

Bigger wastegates tend to be more stable. Get something in the 50mm to 60mm size if you are running one wastegate at the merge. Two 38mm to 44mm wastegates will work well, too, but why complicate things?

Blow off valves are blow off valves. Just make sure it's positioned in a good spot.

Ebay parts are fine, used name brand items can be found for decent prices, too.

Your tuner will adjust your redline according to what you have done and how the engine behaves. On a relatively stock engine with a relatively generic cam and a modest turbo... I would wager between 6500-7000rpms will be about as far as you need to go.

If you get a turbo on the bigger side, say 78mm to 80mm, you can push higher into the rpms than a 65mm to 70mm turbine.

Rpaschall

What do you mean by merge? I'm still a rookie at this lol. I think I'm going to order that on3 76mm since Jay recommends it and I know he's familiar with third gen camaros. Can you tell me a little bit about choosing my wastegate location? I've heard of people mounting them on the hot side and one the cold side. I was going to keep the stock cam in the 5.3 do you suggest a different one?

DavidBoren

Stock cam will work just fine. Still need a afm/dod delete kit, though. Simple kit with a valley cover and some lifters. You need heavy duty valve springs for boost, and those aforementioned heavy duty valve springs don't play well with the pathetic afm/dod lifters.

Anyways, on to wastegates and blow off valves.

If you are running a single turbo on a V8 motor, you need to combine the two sides of the exhaust before the turbo. Where the two sides meet, or merge, is the best spot for a large single wastegate. This is on the hotside.

If you don't put one large wastegate at or directly after the merge, then you would need to use two smaller wastegates, one on each side, before the two sides combine.

The blow off valve is what comes after the turbo, on the coldside. It is usually welded into the intake pipe, relatively close to the throttle body.

To clarify a couple things, the wastegate is a valve that is used to control the amount of exhaust gas that enters the turbo. Thus controlling turbo speed/boost.

The blow off valve is exactly what it sounds like. It opens at a set pressure to bleed off excess boost.

You can set the springs in both your wastegate and blow off valve to dial in the proper amount of boost you want. The wastegate controls the turbo, the blow off valve is more of a safety to keep too much boost from making it to your engine.

Rpaschall

Awesome. Good info. The afm/dod delete kit? Is there a specific brand of spec I should look for? What kind of value springs should I get? The kit will include the valley cover and lifters? I've seen people mention having to space the valley cover, will I have to with this setup?

DavidBoren

The afm/dod delete kit is usually just a bunch of oem parts from non-afm/dod motors. Some have ls7 lifters, some use ls6 lifters, it really doesn't matter as long as it's not the afm/dod lifters.

I haven't heard of spacing the valley cover. I don't know what that does or why you would have to do it.

There are steam vent lines that often have to be addressed, replaced, or modified when switching intakes. Pretty sure you can get oem replacement parts for that, too.

As far as valve springs go, pac and comp seem to be the go-to source for those. Pac1218 or comp918 should be fine... *anyone with experience please correct me if I'm wrong here*

Keep asking questions. The more information you have before you start this, the better off you'll be.

Rpaschall

What size piping should I use before the merge? I'm guessing truck manifolds will do the trick? eBay 4" intercooler? What about transmission? 4l80e? Will it hold up to 500hp without issues? Will I need a stall converter or anything?

JustAFooL

iTrader: (45)

Dude. I've got a feeling this thread is about to come to a dead halt. You've asked the same questions that everyone else has asked and it's been answered so many times. Your talking about ordering parts now and you don't know anything about this it sounds like. Before you burn a hole in your wallet, don't you think you should know a little about what your doing?? Search 5.3 turbo. Look for threads in this section that are build threads and read for at least a month. I promise that afte you read the **** I'm telling you to, there will still be 3x more that you'll learn in the process.

More less, quit riding coat tails and start reading.

Rpaschall

I've been doing both... I have read a lot of threads but none of them seem to be as concerned with simplicity as I am and they're all trying to achieve much more power than I am in different vehicle setups than I am. Most of them aren't concerned with a/c as I am (I live in south GA) and the vehicles they're working on offer much more space. Plus most of them are doing cam swaps, forged internals, head swaps etc. Much more than I'm looking to get into. Simplicity is the main concern here. I'll learn plenty more as I go. Jay here is very experienced with turbo builds with third gen camaros and has been more helpful than the last ten threads I've read combined. David seems very knowledgeable as well and encourages the questions. So I don't see the problem?

Rpaschall

The more research I do the more questions I have. Then I come here and get answers. Plus this way when I get started I can look back at this ONE thread for answers instead of doing countless searches while in the shop. I would like to get my main components ordered. I'll have plenty of time for more research while I'm waiting on shipping

DavidBoren

To answer your question, 2" pipe will work fine for your goals. Plus the smaller diameter pipe will keep exhaust gas velocity high, which is good for turbos. And 2" pipe will be cheaper.

If you want to leave some room to grow, use 2.5" pipe.

You can save money by using mild steel, rather than stainless. But I would immediately put any money saved into having it all ceramic coated, inside and out.

blueracer15

iTrader: (2)

just keep reading and writing down notes eventually you will be able to pick a motor you want and u will already have the noted for power upgrades u should be buying

Rpaschall

Awesome. That'll save me space too. What about the oil return line? I know it needs to be tapped into the pan but is there any specifics on how it needs to be done? Also I've been looking for transmissions, 4l60e. I've found a ton of them for 4 wheel drives. Will that work? Do I just change out the tailshaft?

Rpaschall

You guys are awesome

DavidBoren

Nothing fancy for the return line. Just drop the pan, drill and tap a hole, screw in your fitting of choice with some thread sealant. As long as it's lower than the turbo, you should be fine.

You can also tap the return line into the front cover, if that works better for your application.

I haven't ever heard a single good thing about the 4L60/65 when it comes to boost. It's only saving grace is that it fits where a 4L80 will not.

Not to complicate your quest, but I would personally explore different transmission options, if I were you.

jay_rich

iTrader: (8)

I would suggest 2.25" mild steel. Will still flow plenty well and help with spoolup. I ran 2.5" before and found it to be larger than needed. The I found the 2.25" easy to find and fit in the bay. I suggest mild only if you plan on mig welding. Stainless required you to back purge the pipes, added cost etc. Also Stainless is prone to cracking. So unless you are a really good welder or are paying a fabricator I would stick to the mild steel. I personally prefer the DEI titanium wrap as well. Keeps its look, isnt messy and goes on easy and relatively itch free.

If I were starting from scratch with your goals....

4.8L or 5.3L (gen3 or gen4) for your power level a gen3 is fine (gen4 has upgraded rods)
PAC springs
Stock cam
hardened pushrods (7.400 for stock heads)
upgraded oil pump (ls6 or melling, most say this is overkill for a junkyard motor but to me its added insurance)
ls2 timing set
Fbody oil pan (tap the pan as high as you can, I went into the front cover and its tight)
LS1 intake (truck throttle body bolts on)
60# injectors
Walbro 450 intank pump
Adjustable pressure reg
-8an feed/-6an return (will flow WAY more than you need)
Holley EFI Rails (cheap and work great)

Flip the manifolds, make a custom merge (basically a Y pipe into the turbo) Run at least a 50mm wastegate. Or like I did and twin 38mm wastegates (one off each bank) I found it easier to place 2 small wastegates vs 1 large one.
ON3 76 or 78mm. If the newer 75mm turbine hotside is in the budget go that route. If not the older 64.5mm will do the trick and be fine at your power level. Get the 0.96 a/r exhaust housing on the turbo. Either of these will spool awesome on a 4.8L or 5.3L.


For the most part Im sure that will answer most questions. Sign up or look over on the builds boards on theturboforums.com. You will learn TONS. When I jumped into turboing my first 383LT1 I basically had your knowledge with turbo's. I just read so many builds and soaked in as much as I could.

Good luck!

Jay

Rpaschall

Awesome!! I guess really the only questions I have left is what would be the best automatic transmission for this setup? 4l80e?? Will it fit the camaro? What about electronics? I know I'll need the engine harness and ECM and a boost controller. Anything else? Any specific boost controller you recommend?