Agent_Orange_Shuvel

iTrader: (8)

Awesome project! looks eerily similar to mine haha, except my 6.0 wasn't usable so I went 5.3 but similar turbo placement and pipe routing. Sounds like you are getting everything sorted out but if you have any questions let me know, I would be glad to help if I can. LS1_chevelle' car was a big inspiration for my build too, just wish I had all the suspension goodies he has now too!

LSChevelle

Haha, it should look familiar. I looked at your pictures multiple times during the turbo placement planning stage. It seemed like the simplest for pipe routing. Thanks for that! I love your car by the way! Have you put lots of miles on it??

I have everything swap wise sorted out at this point. Just waiting for it to stop snowing.. The tuning stage will be interesting!

Agent_Orange_Shuvel

iTrader: (8)

I'm glad my project has helped you out, thanks for the compliment. I have no idea how many miles I've put on it since going EFI or Turbo EFI, I never spent the money on a speedo conversion. Been thinking I will do an aftermarket dash at some point and will put in an Autometer speedo to work with my VSS.

I have been driving it as much as possible weather permitting, I did get most of the VE table adjusted though. Now I'm working on my y pipe to connect the downpipe to the dual exhaust. It's a little too loud and created a lot of rattles with an open 4" downpipe ending at the bottom of the firewall. lol

93camaro_zzz

iTrader: (13)

Car looks awesome man! You have done alot of things RIGHT. And of course I love a build where someone does everything themselves. Keep up the good work!

LSChevelle

That's awesome! Haha, I am in the same boat. I have my 4" dumping right after the firewall, it gets pretty obnoxious on the highway. I was thinking of puting a 4" cutoff in there and then adapt it to fit a stockish dual 2.25" exhaust.

Thanks a lot! The work is far from over it seems..

LSChevelle

Hey everyone,

Sorry I haven't been updating this as often. I mostly finished up the car. It is driveable now! I worked on the VE table a whole bunch and was able to get the cruising/idle worked out. Unfortunately, I am having a problem with this turbo burning oil. At first I thought it was possibly a feed/drain problem. Maybe it still is. What do you guys think?

Feed: 4AN coming from directly above the oil filter. Has a .060 restrictor in the line.

Drain: 1/2" falling directly down (maybe 2') to the timing cover. I originally had a 90 degree fitting in there which I have heard can cause problems. However, I removed it and it still does it.

The car does have high oil pressure ~55psi at idle. Goes to 80 at higher RPMs.

Driving the car around without getting into boost there are no problems. As soon as I step on the gas a little (not even getting into boost, but so you can hear the turbo start to spool) it blows a small amount of blue smoke. If I really get on it, it smokes. Then if I let off it blows a huge cloud. I haven't tested to see if it could be valve seals or something. I am fairly certain it is the turbo because I have oil all in the intake and exhaust.

Did I get a bad turbo? Or could I possibly still be getting too much oil to the turbo/not enough away?

Any help is appreciated! On a lighter note, with the tune done SUPER conservatively and a possibly broken turbo the car laid 2 nice strips of rubber all the way through first and second!!

Project GatTagO

iTrader: (7)

You're using one of those Chinese turbos right? I wouldn't exactly expect much...LOL

Andrew

LSChevelle

Heh, yes I am.

I have determined that it is definitely leaking on the compressor side. Doesn't seem to have anything to do with the drain/feed.

I guess if I can't figure this out I will have to accelerate my winter plans of buying a borg turbo. Does anyone know how an S475 with the T4 housing would behave on a junkyard 6.0L such as mine? I know the T6 is cheaper but I would rather not have to redo my piping.

Agent_Orange_Shuvel

iTrader: (8)

check out stock48's turbo nova, I know it is a billet wheel version but it is still the T4 flange, he has put up some pretty impressive track #'s with his setup, still running the stock truck intake too iirc.

https://ls1tech.com/forums/forced-in...63-75-mph.html

LSChevelle

Damn! That is impressive. I am excited now. Although I don't plan to push mine as hard haha. I would have liked to get one year out of this ebay turbo, but it seems I gambled and lost!

LSChevelle

A few updates!

I called Forced Inductions this morning and ordered up the Airwerks Borg Warner S475 with a 1.25AR T4 housing. They said it is roughly the same size as my GT45, hopefully I won't have to modify the hotside piping too much.

I designed my hotside piping around the GT45 thinking at the time that the physical dimensions of it would be the largest turbo I would have in there, guess I was wrong there too.. Next time I will leave myself room to grow.

My initial plan was to keep the GT45 until next winter to hopefully get everything dialed in before going with a good turbo. But, it is what it is! I can't wait to get the new turbo on there and finish some tuning. While I wait for it I have a couple little things I am going to work on.

For some reason my knock sensors throw the check engine light every once in a while, need to figure that out. I will order a Mightymouse catch can and hook that up. I also have a meth injection kit that I may as well put on!

Agent_Orange_Shuvel

iTrader: (8)

Nice I'm jealous lol, I'm sure you will love the new turbo, which size turbine wheel did you go with? And what codes are the knock sensors throwing?

Stang2Goat

Don't know how much this means coming from a stranger across the Interwebs, but I am proud of you for taking the time to do this right; for doing it yourself (perhaps with help from Dad and friends); and for building it the way you wanted. A 350 drop-in would have been boring as a ball-sack in the men's locker room. You went LS, but that would still be cliche so you went boosted LS.

You turned a neglected, abandoned piece of sheet metal into an American icon with the power to keep up with today's hp insanity. And no amount of power trumps cleanliness and detail, in which you clearly invested yourself.

I would love to have a car that turns as many heads as this one probably does, and be able to claim credit on the restoration.

Anyway, I posted your build on Stalkbook for all my car pals to see and be inspired by. Thank you for sharing, and best wishes as you continue the build!

Cheers bud,

-Michael

LSChevelle

I hope so! I probably won't be loving it if I have to completely re-do my hotside piping lol.

I went with the 83mm S400SX-75 ETT with the 1.25AR T4 housing.

I will check all the codes today and post back!

Stang2Goat, I really appreciate the kind words! I am very happy with the car and enjoy working on it!

LSChevelle

Small update:

I spoke with the guys from VS Racing. They have been very helpful. They are going to let me send back the turbo and they will send me another one. All it is costing me is the shipping so I went ahead and shipped the old turbo off today. Still have the S475 on order (I think anyways.. I haven't heard anything from Forced Inductions, maybe I'll send them another email.)

Depending on which turbo comes first and what kind of modification I will need to fit the S475. I'm leaning towards throwing the GT45 on there and giving it another try.

Other than that, I spent a couple of hours fixing little squeaks and such. I am looking to order a 4" inch cutout and adapt that to work with the dual 2.25" exhaust kit I have for the car.

I am also going to order a narrower rad in hopes of being able to fit the intercooler piping.

Just my luck, the weather is supposed to be great for the next week. Oh well.

LSChevelle

I am still waiting on the turbo(s) to arrive. I am hoping the new GT45 will be here by the end of this week. Not sure about the S475, I guess the guys at Forced Inductions had no power last week thanks to the tornadoes, hopefully I'll find out when they're shipping it this week.

Luckily, the weather has taken a turn for the worst! This snow fell in about 4 hours.


I went out and purchased a Becool rad, the overall dimensions are 19x26x3. This will give me lots of extra room for the intercooler. It will probably still be tight though! I am in the mocking up stage still, I did cutout the rad support to allow more air into the engine compartment and leave room for the intercooler piping.




Other than that, I ordered a VSS and 4" cutout, waiting for that to arrive. I spoke with MightyMouse about his catch can, just waiting for him to receive his next shipment then I will be buying one. Only need to find an electric fan that will move enough air.

My goal is to have it back on the road for next weekend, that will rely mostly on when the turbo arrives though.

LSChevelle

Alright!

Today has been full of good news. The old GT-45 arrived back at VS Racing today. They promptly sent me out a new one, I already have the tracking info. I really cant say enough good things about the customer service I have received from them.

I still haven't heard anything from Forced Inductions.. I have been cutting them some slack because of the weather situation there last week. But, today I see that they charged my CC so I guess it is on the way? Their communication is definitely not the greatest.. I sent them another email, hopefully they respond.

I worked on getting the new rad placed and secured. Then I turned my attention to mounting the intercooler.



It fit in there pretty good!

I was about 1/8th of an inch from keeping the stock hood latch. I could fit it in there, the latch didn't have room to fully extend though.



Hood pins it is! I think I'm going to rig up some sort of locking cable as a safety as well. I don't like the idea of just using the hood pins.

I'm still undecided on painting the intercooler black. I am not too worried about people seeing it, and I wouldn't want to restrict any airflow. I may change my mind later though.

With flash:


Without flash:


Just need to fab up some bottom mounts and she's ready for the turbo.

Agent_Orange_Shuvel

iTrader: (8)

Looking good man, I know what you mean about relying on the hood pins alone. I am still looking for an alternative latch of some sort just haven't found what I want. I'm curious to see what you come up with for a locking cable.

LSChevelle

I'll be sure to post lots of pictures! Right now I'm thinking some sort of cable that goes from the hood down to the bumper somewhere, I'll probably just put a small padlock on it. We will see which parts arrive before the weekend though, if nothing gets here I will have all weekend to work on the lock lol.

Good news is, both turbos (gt45 replacement and S475) are on their way. We shall see. I'm guessing early next week.

Cyrperformance

iTrader: (1)

Hey LS this is one of the best build writes I have read. We have just started messing with HP Tuners and turbo LS setups because of guys like yourself. Really appreciate enthusiasts like yourself taking the time to post as much as you have.