LS1TECH - Camaro and Firebird Forum Discussion - 2001 SOM Camaro SS M6 Huron Speed V3 AC Retaining Turbo Build (long read & pics)

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Gotta cut that bumper, Yikes

Lower Bumper cover and fan harness wires

93-97 LT1 Radiator Support

Many posts ago I mentioned that I'm going towards an enhanced OEM look for my build. Trying to do so can be a challenge with the additional accessories and wiring that comes with a project this size. In my quest to have a clean OEM look, I bought a nice used 93-97 LT1 radiator support ($25.00) to finish the build. To be honest, I wasn't sure if I was going to like it till I put it on the car. While the pics below look good, it's even better in person. I've had a few people comment on how nice it looks and looks like a "stock" engine bay.

I'm pretty pumped about how the overall look of the engine bay turned out. I might either powder coat the valve covers black or go chrome, not sure yet. What do you guys think?

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Its more stock than most turbo builds. To me it looks like a nicely modified bay in an LT1 car that's been LS swapped (the right angle 'cold air' into the TB). That is, at a glance til you really look around in it.

Very clean and nicely done!

Thank you very much Photochop It's amazing the amount of time it can take to do a build like this all by yourself while having a family, home and work duties.

My next task is to install the boost and Alky controllers. I've been working on a way to sorta hide them along with easy access, I think I came up with something that my work.

If I can get some motivation, I'll get it done and post some pics, just can't wait till spring arrives. I'm sick of the snow and cloudy days with no sun, ugh....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Billiumss (Post 20048082)

... It's amazing the amount of time it can take to do a build like this all by yourself while having a family, home and work duties....

I'm right there with you on this one! I've got an 8 and soon to be 4 year old and family stuff tends to take up all my time. Can't get motivated to go out and work in a 40* garage. Not setup to heat up the air as much as I need it to. On top of that, we're going to be moving soon and I'm starting to wonder if this is all worth it. I could part out this build, put mine back to stock, and buy a nice C5 ZO6...can't say I haven't given that some serious thought! But I know I'd get bored with that and it would feel slow to me in no time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Photochop (Post 20048543)

Keep it, don't sell or trade it off. These cars still hold their own and defiantly have the unique factor when they have FI in them. While I did have a few issues with my install, I'm still glad I added a turbo to my car. When I talk to other car guys and they ask whats done to mine, they are like oh, awesome. (kinda like holy shit!) lol

Boost & Meth Controller Mount

Hey guys, it's been awhile since an update. Been very busy with family, work, training, travel and the such.... Time to get back to working on the final items of this project!

With my quest to have an OEM look to my build, I had to get creative on the placement of the Turbosmart eBoost2 & Alky Methanol controllers. The eboost 2 has larger diameter than a standard gauge and wouldn't fit in a pillar gauge pod, I tried, impossible. I wanted them hidden but also easy to get to, so my son and I were looking at many areas in my car and decided on mounting them in the glove box.

I only keep my line lock cord in the glove box so I had plenty of room. After some thought on a design, we made a prototype cardboard mount and placed it in it's place. If fit perfect!

With the help of my son and nephew, we designed and 3D printed a mount for the controllers. It turned out pretty damn good for our first try. A huge thanks goes out to Zach and Andy!

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...b62773e9ab.jpg

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Quote:

Originally Posted by dlandsvZ28 (Post 20025414)

I agree. Racetronix builds some great harness'. That said, they don't have the correct size eyelet on some of the wire ends. I've had to drill out the hole size or replace a couple of times to fit. I plan to get a similar Racetronix kit for my dual ac condenser fans. Thanks for a good writeup.

If you are not getting much air flow from the back side of the radiator, I think you will find that you will have to have both fans come on early, before everything heat soaks.

For example, my Spal Extreme 16 (3000 cfm) mounted on a Mighty Mouse shroud pulls so much hot air thru the radiator, I am not able to put my foot near the front of the passenger side wheel without burning my foot. That's how much heat it extracts/transfers out of the coolant. The small 9 inch on the driver side is the same - only problem is that it shoots all of the hot air directly into the engine bay with no where to go heat soaking everything in it's way (Procharge D1 driver side is in the way to exit from bottom of car).

Do you have pictures of the Mighty Mouse fan shroud?

Its a pusher shroud, right?

No dyno numbers yet. I'm guessing right now it should be close to 600 RWHP with only 7.5lbs of boost with my combo. I can't go any higher since my Racetronix fuel pump won't support anymore than that. Next winter I plan on upgrading my fuel system to support 1000+ RWHP / 20+ lbs of boost.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Billiumss (Post 20093020)

You think the Turbonetics Billet 7575 can make 1,000 RWHP?

I have the same Huron Speed kit that you do, they tell me I need to choose a larger turbo that requires a little grinding to make it fit as well as new cold side piping.....

I would use the S484 w/race cover........ Gotta stand up the radiator for sure and move the condenser behind the FMIC in the bumper to make it work. I'm told by the turbo gurus it should make 1,200-1,300 RWHP.

Not with as many cubes as he's running.

If I could get one dyno pull at 1000 RWHP, that would be awesome (a little race gas, meth, more timing)... I know wishful thinking.

More realistically, 850 - 900 RWHP is where it will probably end up.

Good lord this post definitely swayed my decision! I had been HEAVILY thinking about the v3 kit and I cant believe all the patience you had with it! I really wanted to have a turbo setup and retain all the features like you have but damn lol that's a lot of downtime and headaches

Too long of a built for me I'm sure it will go on 2 years.... in a year-and-a-half I've gone through two turbo setups

A little update....

I put about 500+ miles on the car over the summer and what a blast it is to drive with only 7-8 lbs of boost. I haven't done anything to the car at all but I will be tweaking my setup this coming winter to refine the kit that much more.

A few things I've noticed when the outside temps are in the mid-upper 70's to mid 80's....

- Car doesn't like to cool down that much after a few hard pulls. Once the engine temp gets up to 210+, it likes to stay there and takes a long time to come down while driving, even after a few miles on the highway doing 65-70 at 1,800 rpms. (I have electric an water pump) Just not getting enough airflow to the radiator.

- IAT temps stay pretty low over all, even after a few pulls. Surprisingly, the IAT recover a little quicker than I would have thought since most of my bumper cover blocks most of the air going to it.

- To help cool the car down a little faster when driving, I turn the heater on high and while I'm scanning, you can watch the temps drop like a normal car would.

A few things I'm going to do this winter:

- Upgrade my radiator to the 1995 LT1 Z28 radiator. From my research, it's a drop in unit, just have to block off the bottom port that is used for the LT1 cars. It's about 1/4" thicker than the LS1 radiator. I can't go any bigger / thicker since the turbo is darn close as it is.

- Raise my intercooler up by 1.5". When Huron Speed designed the intercooler bracket for the F-Body cars, they must have made it to fit the Trans Am. By moving the intercooler up 1.5", the bottom part of the bumper cover will go up 1.5" and will be closer to the original position before I went turbo. As your driving, air will have a little more of a direct shot at going up the the radiator. Temps should drop faster while driving.

- Add ducting from bumper cover to radiator. Since I'm still using my OEM bumper cover and I won't cut it up, I am going to try to design some kind of ducting so any air the comes through each side of my SS grill will be directed to the radiator.

- Might add a fan or 2 to the intercooler. I am thinking of adding some 9" Spal fans to the back side of my intercooler to aid in the IAT cooling plus provide more air to hit the radiator. Kinda on the fence about this. Anyone have thoughts on this?

- Finish my exhaust. Right now, I'm still dumping my exhaust under the drivers seat. while it has the best flow, the droning sound it makes inside the cabin just sucks for a street car. I was going to have a local shop do it but found out they don't have a true mandrel exhaust bender. I found some online sites that sell mandrel pipes to what ever angle you need for a very reasonable price. With the help of some friends, we are going to custom finish my exhaust and hopefully add a cutout.

If I get all that done, and can find the money, I want to upgrade my fuel lines, fuel pump and add a external regulator so I can turn up the boost to 20 lbs!

Very well written thread and nice build! You can tell you took your time with this. How are you liking the turbo so far with the 6 speed? I am thinking of either going procharger or the huron speed turbo route as well. Would you say all the hassle of this build was worth it? Definitely seems like a lot of down time, work, and still some custom fabrication.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Austinma62 (Post 20213092)

Sorry for the late reply, haven't really been too active on here, better late than never!

Overall the car is fun to drive. I feel there is slight turbo lag down low but I don't have anything to compare it to in my town. It just pulls hard once the boost hits all the way up to redline. Would I do this again? That's a great question. More than likely I would. Yes, there are a few things I had to refab but wasn't a deal breaker. Trying to keep a somewhat OEM look was tough. Sure, anyone can just install the kit, but it's the attention to detail that makes it tough when your a one man show.

Keeping the AC is what makes it more of a challenge. If I had to do it all over again, I probably would have bought and installed the NON AC turbo kit as it would have fit better and have less cooling issues. Pushing air through the AC condenser then through the radiator is so inefficient compared to stock fans pulling air through both.

I have some good ideas to address my cooling issue: upgrade my radiator to a 1995-96 Z28 LT1 style which is 1/4" thicker, raise the intercooler up 1 1/2" to allow better airflow so the fans have more of a straighter shot of air hitting them while driving and adding some simple duct work on the sides of the intercooler.

I just finished the exhaust this year (will post below), when I have time, I will start working on the above this year.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Billiumss (Post 20162480)

I'd skip the LT1 radiator and go straight to an aftermarket BeCool style radiator.
I had the same issue with my Huron speed kit when warm outside, after moving to a used BeCool radiator my temps rarely get over 190 degrees unless I'm just relentlessly hammering on it, even then it doesn't get hot.
Fans on the IC are a waste, cooling the charge at idle is moot and they'll become a restriction at speed.
I could realistically see you getting 800whp but that's probably where you'll max out the turbine, I'm making 700whp with a similar combo and an old cast wheel Turbonetics T7875 on pump only.
Also keep in mind that 700whp is where the majority of the stock system will reach its limits, beyond that you'll really want an upgraded system to efficiently and more importantly accurately fuel your engine.
An oil cooler may not be a bad idea either, mine really seems to help with stabilizing oil pressure but its debatable whether is aids in reducing engine coolant temps.