LSChevelle

Hey all,

I have been surfing this forum for quite a while now. I figured it was finally time to make my own build thread. Thank you for all of the help this forum has been so far, it is a valuable resource! Also, thank you to my dad for the use of his tools and garage! None of this would be possible without him.Hopefully someone can learn something from this! (even if it's what not to do)

Here is the budget plan. I wish I had more money to spend on this but I don't! I rely on doing all the work myself to keep the price down.

6.0L LQ4, new rings, bearings
HP Tuners pro
Tick cam
1 x Comp Cams Hi-Tech Pushrods: 5/16", 7.400" (.105 Wall)
Brian Tooley Racing .660" Lift Platinum Spring Kit
LS9 gaskets
Autokraft pan
Melling Performance Oil Pump
Fluidampr balancer (order for the 2010+ camaro, it fits the truck accessories)
Flywheel and adapter for TH400
Cloyes Hex-a-just timing set
Denmah Turbo Kit from VS Racing (GT45, wastegate, intercooler, 2 vbands, cold side piping)
AEM Tru-boost
AEM Wideband
Tanks Inc FI tank with walbro 400
8AN hosing, fuel lab filter
probably other stuff I'm forgetting..

First: A little back story on me. I grew up in a car-family. Always wrenching on chevys with my dad. 1970 Chevelles have always been my dream car. However, when I turned 16 I was intrigued by the newer-computer controlled cars. So I bought an eagle talon. It was a great little car for what it was. I did some mods and managed a best of 13.2 at 105.

Fast forward a few years I had the opportunity to purchase my dream car (which my dad found in a garage while buying a set of american rims from the owner.) Let the fun begin:





The first year I owned the car was mainly putting it back together since it had been taken apart and left to sit for nearly 30 years (last registration I could find was from '83)



I opted to throw a 350/th400 combo in it to get it running since it was complete and the right price (thanks again dad)




I drove it the first summer like this, slowly working out the kinks.



The next winter I focused on working tonnes of OT to pay for the paint job (I would love to do it myself but I am not a very good artist) I also spent some time on the interior.

The previous owner had installed a crush velvet interior



It was a lot of work but I am happy how it turned out!

I got the car back from paint just in time to throw it back together and drive it for the summer.




I have never been into the whole showcar thing and the paint reflects that. With the amount of time I spend on this thing I want to be able to enjoy it!






This was how she sat for most of the summer. I ran into LS1_Chevelle at the Three Hills car show. I had seen his thread on this forum before. But, I have to say, seeing his car in person really sold me.

I was bit by the LS bug! I was working a lot of overtime so I was mostly just researching and cruising kijiji at this time.




Around November I found what I was waiting for! A decent deal on an LQ4, it was a couple of hours away so my dad and I loaded up and went out to grab it one night after work

The guy had pulled it out of his '03 H2 in favour of a duramax (cool idea, another project to add to the list.) I picked up the engine, harness, and pretty much everything else for 800 bucks.





My father is a machinist by trade so we tore it down to give the bottom end a freshening up.






Around this time I went on a part run. I had ordered everything that I thought I would need from the states and had them delivered to the Montana Shipping Outlet. This allowed me to save on shipping and duty. We get gouged pretty bad in Canada when ordering from the states and I had enough on order to justify it. Despite having 15+ packages to pickup, it went smoothly!




We cleaned everything up and installed the new bearings. Painted the block Chevy orange and started reassembly!



pistons/rod in and test fit the Autokraft oil pan! I am super happy with it.



Timing chain in, windage tray bolted down.



Bolted the heads up. I went with the budget-minded (okay.. cheap) head studs from KMJ. Got them torqued down with no issues! *fingers crossed*




Slapped the tick Cam in. Thanks a lot to Martin! I had queried a few of the cam guys and Martin was the only one to take the time to explain exactly why he recommended a specific spec.



Front/Rear cover painted up and bolted on! Also put my Fluidampr balancer on. I had one of these on my 4g63t and was happy with it.



This was around Christmas time so I spent some time in doors working on the wiring. I was on lt1swap.com a lot, it was SUPER helpful for this.




Here's the victim how she sat right before engine removal!




Engine out!

LSChevelle

Time to bolt 6.0L to the TH400. I was a little hesitant about cutting up the floor of the car to fit the 4l80e and quickly running out of funds so i went with an already built and stalled transmission that I know works. We will see how I like it, may change it up next winter.




Touchdown!



I went with the Dirty Dingo solid mounts. I am happy with them! No issues with the welds (in fact there weren't any welds, the ears were bent out to bolt to the frame mounts.) Intake on and I started mapping out my wiring harness





I cleaned up one of the truck manifolds in the glass-beader. Looks good!



"test fitting" the turbo.. I cant wait.



Here's where it started to get interesting! I mounted the ECM in the factory location for an H2 (front drivers fender) - in hopes of limiting the amount of wire lengthening/shortening I had to do.



Every once in a while I have to step back and see what I'm working on to stay motivated.




Welded the 2.5" V-bands on. It was surprisingly easy to weld. NOTE: This was my first time welding with a MIG (or at all really) It ain't pretty, but I think it will hold! Feel free to leave any tips on this.




My dad and I built a mount for the turbo using 1/2' steel plates, 3 bolts to the passenger head. It was much easier having the turbo "mounted" for running the pipes to it.





Put the rad back in to check clearances, looks close.



Welded up the 2.25" crossover. I was trying to keep this as easy as possible because I used cheap material and my welding skills were weak. I think it will work! I may change it in the future when I upgrade to a BW turbo.








First start!!!

Please excuse the smoke alarm going off.. I wanted to get it fired for peace of mind and motivation. It worked!


Test fitting the intercooler. I don't think I am going to be able to run it with this rad. Even with cutting the support it is too close to the turbo inlet.





Pretty cool shot of the piping through the grill.




Started working on the downpipe! I went with a 4" since I think I can fit it.





I plan to have a 4" cutout under the passengers seat. One side will dump and the other will convert into a factory style exhaust. I dont have either of these yet though, open down pipe it is! For now.

Another motivational shot.




Turbo hot side done! .. except for the wastegate.




I was feeling lazy yesterday so I worked on getting my wideband and boost gauge installed. I am happy with the end result!




Tonight we worked on getting the wastegate plumbed. It is going to be interesting with my limited welding skills!



This is how she sits! We finally got some nice weather here in Alberta so I hope to get her out within the next week for a little bit of base tuning and to seat the rings. (probably a lofty goal)


My goal is to have it driveable by the Spring Thaw show and shine which is on April 27. The remaining items off the top of my head:

Route the "cold side" - I'm planning to keep the boost below 8psi for now and will put my meth kit on. Think its safe?
Wire in my wideband
Finish the wastegate
Wrap the exhaust
Put front end back together
Finish wiring up AEM Truboost
Figure out vacuum situation for power brakes.
Get Baseline tune
swap in 80lbs Siemens and begin tuning boost
Other odds and ends not ls related.

If you have any questions, comments, suggestions or picture requests let me know! I appreciate any feedback.

Tannerc91gt

iTrader: (1)

Looking good. I opted for a mustang I'd have loved to do the same build in a chevelle .

operatorfailure

iTrader: (3)

I love it! You should be fine with 8 psi and meth, can you get 93 octane out of the pump up there?

cruisin'73

iTrader: (8)

Awesome project dude! Keep the updates coming and get her out on the road!

Project GatTagO

iTrader: (7)

Nice project. You may want to reconsider the wideband in the crossover pipe. There is tremendous pressure in the exhaust pre-turbo and the sensor may not live very long.

Andrew

LSChevelle

Thank you! I saw your thread last night but I was too tired after writing mine to read it haha. I will take a look today!

LSChevelle

That's good to hear! I just want to get a few of the kinks worked out, then I will put in a narrower rad and the intercooler. We can actually get gas marketed as 94, not sure how good it is though.

LSChevelle

I appreciate the encouragement! Trust me, I am working my *** off to see her on the road!

LSChevelle

Thanks, the O2 you see in the crossover is actually just the stock narrowband. I have one in each bank. I plan to put the wideband in the downpipe, how far from the turbo would you recommend?

Project GatTagO

iTrader: (7)

I don't think the narrow bands will survive pre-turbine either. The sidebands are heated, so you can place them anywhere after the turbo.

Andrew

H20cooled

iTrader: (1)

Awesome job, love the Chevelle. My first car was a pea green 71 Chevelle with the green vinyl seats, lots of good memories with that car. Keep up the good work.

oldgoat69

Looks good, you will love boost!

BudRacing

iTrader: (3)

Killer start! That's an awesome platform to start with and you're lucky to have a machinist for a dad!

LSChevelle

Thanks for the info Andrew! I wasn't sure how long they would survive there. They wont work properly in the downpipe will they? I was hoping to have them for closed loop cruising but I may just tune the car for strictly open loop.

Yes, I was very lucky to find a rust free shell, especially here. Thanks for all the kind words! I can't wait to try out boost!

LSChevelle

Alright! Today was the first beautiful day of the year. Made it up to 20C!

I managed to get some work done on the car. I finished up my wastegate.

I added the wastegate flange to the only place it would be in the flow from both banks. I didn't take enough good pics of this all welded up. It's hard to tell but basically I left a tab and then bent it under the pipe and welded that straight to the tubing. Made a make-shift collector without any tricky welding.


Here it is all welded up! This thing took a lot more work than I expected. Running out of MIG wire halfway through didn't help.


Fits great though!



I also removed the oil feed line because I need to get a 90 degree fitting for it. I noticed that the turbo was full of oil. Is this normal? I thought it was supposed to drain out, but on second thought maybe it needs pressure to go by the journal bearing? Does anyone know?

Winchtime

Did you pre-heat the manifolds when welding the v-bands?

What kind of wire did you use?

I think the preferred application is a high-nickle filler with some pre-heat.

LSChevelle

I used a .030 solid wire, I think it is a high-nickle type wire. We also had some flux stuff but it didn't work nearly as well. No point in using the flux wire when I have shielding gas.

I read all the same stuff about making sure to preheat the manifolds but I also read a few posts with guys saying they just zapped them together and they have held fine. I didn't preheat them at all and they seem to have worked out well. Good penetration on the welds. I found it worked better if I focused the weld more onto the v-band than the manifold.

I was sure to let them cool slowly though, I think that may have helped reduce the chance of cracking.

fengstang

iTrader: (2)

man i wish i had skills like yours! great build

ls1_chevelle

iTrader: (9)

Stock GM issued exhaust manfiolds are cast STEEL not cast IRON. Many guys including myself have just mig welded or tig welded them with a ER-70s2 filler wire.

Looks good dude,

Also. I have my factory o2 sensors pre turbo, original sensors, been boosted for 6-7 years now. Still fine. Don't sweat moving them.