CALL911 gets a turbo. 1,000 RWHP out of an old LT1!
06-25-2016, 09:21 AM
#1
CALL911 gets a turbo. 1,000 RWHP out of an old LT1! So, a couple years back, I sucked up an oil galley plug into my engine.
At the time I had made 700 RWHP through my 383 LT1 via a D1SC. It was potent, but very loud, and never had a 100% solid tune on it. What I didn't like was that it was exceptionally LOUD. My car has always been and will always be a street car, and setting car alarms off by idling by, and having to wear ear plugs when I took the T-Tops out kind of made me want something different.
The engine was taken out to be further inspected.
I ended up needing new bearings, and rings, and a polish to my Lunati Sledgehammer crank. The engine was disassembled, and put back together with the new parts installed, and put back into the car.
Last edited by CALL911; 06-30-2016 at 07:02 AM.
06-25-2016, 09:31 AM
#2
I still had fully forged internals, and a low 8.8:1 CR, so the car was still ready to handle a lot.
I decided on going with a turbo to quiet things down and hopefully gain more power.
I was initially looking at a Precision PT88 but with some friends having very good luck with Borg Warner, I ended up getting a Borg Warner S484 from Lil John Motorsports.
Lil John was a GREAT guy to deal with and I would highly recommend him to others.
I decided on going with a turbo to quiet things down and hopefully gain more power.
I was initially looking at a Precision PT88 but with some friends having very good luck with Borg Warner, I ended up getting a Borg Warner S484 from Lil John Motorsports.
Lil John was a GREAT guy to deal with and I would highly recommend him to others.
06-25-2016, 09:41 AM
#3
I outsourced to Nick Eggers to build the custom hotside for the turbo kit.
Nick overall did a great job. Like any custom turbo kit there was fitment problems. I ended up having to relocate my ABS and grind some of my LS1 steering shaft to make everything fit.
Nick overall did a great job. Like any custom turbo kit there was fitment problems. I ended up having to relocate my ABS and grind some of my LS1 steering shaft to make everything fit.
06-25-2016, 10:01 AM
#4
After time, some more fabrication, and a lot of patience, I got the kit installed.
Next project for the build was pushing the radiator forward to fit a larger Griffen Radiator and aftermarket fans to keep everything cool.
I referenced a great thread in this forum and started to fabricate.
Literally learning to weld for the first time, I was pretty content with the outcome. Unfortunately, later I found that it all was too tight and I ended up having to have a friend re-do most of my work to make things all fit with the fans.
The turbo was so big, that it really limited me on space.
Next project for the build was pushing the radiator forward to fit a larger Griffen Radiator and aftermarket fans to keep everything cool.
I referenced a great thread in this forum and started to fabricate.
Literally learning to weld for the first time, I was pretty content with the outcome. Unfortunately, later I found that it all was too tight and I ended up having to have a friend re-do most of my work to make things all fit with the fans.
The turbo was so big, that it really limited me on space.
06-25-2016, 10:12 AM
#7
With some help from a friend, more fabrication work was done to fit the fans properly.
I knew this setup would put out a TON of heat, so I wrapped everything with lava rock wrap from Thermal Zero and installed a large turbo blanked from Thermal Zero.
I knew this setup would put out a TON of heat, so I wrapped everything with lava rock wrap from Thermal Zero and installed a large turbo blanked from Thermal Zero.
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06-25-2016, 10:16 AM
#8
With more of the fabrication work out of the way, it was finally starting to look closer to being completed. Almost a year and a half had passed at this point, and it was KILLING me having the car apart for this long. Builds like this take time, and a lot of patience. I am skipping a lot of the minor details, but there were countless issues that came up along the way prolonging the project further.
06-25-2016, 10:25 AM
#9
More problems came up during the initial start and tune. The car wouldn't start, and the tranny was stuck in gear. More bugs to work out.
After more and more bugs, and more and more attempts at getting it started and running, eventually I got it together and running. I put the break in miles on the new setup, and got a good solid tune.
Later after we were confident that tune was good and more bugs were worked out of the system, we went back and turned things up.
The exhaust was custom made to come off at the 4" downpipe. The whole setup goes from a 4" and reduces to a 3" before it goes into my Borla Muffler.
All tuning was done on 93 octane (pump gas) and meth injection.
With 20#'s of boost, we were able to achieve 870 RWHP through the single 3" exhaust! I was pretty stoked about that. We popped the exhaust off and we easily saw over 900 RWHP. After adding some race gas for extra protection, and upping the boost to 24#'s we put down 1,008 RWHP and 987 RWTQ.
Not bad for a 21 year old LT1 car...
After more and more bugs, and more and more attempts at getting it started and running, eventually I got it together and running. I put the break in miles on the new setup, and got a good solid tune.
Later after we were confident that tune was good and more bugs were worked out of the system, we went back and turned things up.
The exhaust was custom made to come off at the 4" downpipe. The whole setup goes from a 4" and reduces to a 3" before it goes into my Borla Muffler.
All tuning was done on 93 octane (pump gas) and meth injection.
With 20#'s of boost, we were able to achieve 870 RWHP through the single 3" exhaust! I was pretty stoked about that. We popped the exhaust off and we easily saw over 900 RWHP. After adding some race gas for extra protection, and upping the boost to 24#'s we put down 1,008 RWHP and 987 RWTQ.
Not bad for a 21 year old LT1 car...
06-25-2016, 11:47 AM
#15
A little dirty under the hood, but this was taken yesterday after the dyno. Had to wrap a bunch of items (even the cold side of the turbo) to keep the heat down. My alternator starts at 14.1 Volts, but with the heat you can literally see it start dropping. Normal driving this really isn't too bad now that I covered everything I could, but in town in traffic without air moving, it can drop to 12.5 Volts or less, and thats no bueno.
I miss the thump and bump of the larger cam I used to have with my blower. Had to get rid of that for the turbo as turbo's don't like big cams. I had Lloyd Elliot spec me my turbo cam: 226/231 .565/.581 114 LSA. It sounds pretty tame, and the car is a LOT more quiet, which is what I wanted, but it almost sounds too quiet. The less aggressive sound and the heat are the two things I don't like about the turbo over the blower. But everything else is MUCH better. It drives almost as nice as it did when it was completely stock. I am really really happy with it.
06-25-2016, 12:56 PM
#18
The cover just was putting out far too much heat. A blanket was 100% necessary, but yeah, it did look much better without it.
I ran cutouts for a while with the blower. Kept breaking the plates, and I am moving WAY more air now. Didn't want to deal with it. The exhaust comes off, and I have a little turndown I made on the few occasions I want to turn it back up. 870 RWHP was what it made through the 3" exhaust and muffler. That's plenty for most of what I would need on the street and track. When I want to go nuts, I can just drop the exhaust and turn it up. It does sound louder with my turndown installed!
I ran cutouts for a while with the blower. Kept breaking the plates, and I am moving WAY more air now. Didn't want to deal with it. The exhaust comes off, and I have a little turndown I made on the few occasions I want to turn it back up. 870 RWHP was what it made through the 3" exhaust and muffler. That's plenty for most of what I would need on the street and track. When I want to go nuts, I can just drop the exhaust and turn it up. It does sound louder with my turndown installed!
