1973 Camaro Single Turbo LS Build
 

Hi everyone,

I restored my '73 about two years ago and now I'm ready to boost it! I decided to document my build in a video format because it's a lot more fun for me and I hope you all enjoy it. I'm all about building everything myself and because of this I will be fabbing all of the hot/cold side from scratch, including manifolds. My goal for this car is 550-600whp which I think is doable; the current LQ4/L92 setup does 430whp. If any of you guys want the CAD files, measurements or have any questions let me know. There are a few other videos of my car on my youtube channel including how I did the LS swap and also how to Microsquirt your LS.

Here is my intro video which shows/details how I built the manifolds. The manifolds use standard schedule 40 1.5in steel pipe fittings. The log is 2in sch40. There is tons of debate of which size to use, based on my research I used 1.5in/2in in hopes of spooling fast. You can get these at most plumbing suppliers. I chose mild steel because stainless fittings were absurdly expensive and a lot harder to work with. I also don't trust myself with $500 worth of materials for manifolds at this point in my life. I will get these manifolds ceramic coated after which makes them a bit cheaper than if I used stainless but also pleasant to the eye. I got the pipe cope templates off blocklayer.com. The 7875 I have is what I assume to be very close to a VS racing model, I just bought it from a nearby Canadian supplier as our dollar isn't great right now.


I am now starting on the 304 stainless hot side. I'm using 2.25in hot side piping which, in stainless, is actually really affordable and saves on ceramic coating costs. Plus it will be very visible and I love the look of heated stainless; lets hope my tig skills are up to snuff.


Thanks for checking this out, more to come! It will be back on the road Spring 2019!

Very cool. I'm doing a twin build on my 73, but it's been slow haha. Hopefully I can use this as more inspiration. Your car is already even orange as mine will be...one day. Looking forward to the updates!

thanks! Ive started on the hot side and just made my own merge pipe, tricky thing that was!

Nice work! Are you local to the valley here in BC? Definitely look forward to watching your future turbo fab vids!

Thank you! Yes i live in the valley. Your build looks great too.

Cheers! Look forward to seeing this one sometime next spring/summer!

I've managed to get a bit more hotside work, namely a merge collector. I've also mocked up my hot side piping. I'm pretty surprised that in this location my hot side pipes are within an inch in length of eachother (though of course due to the bends they wont flow entirely evenly). I'm now thinking with my turbo location I will need some kind of support bracket, what do you guys think about this? I know the downpipe should support it some but I doubt it'd be enough. I've also decided on running two 44mm wastegates now, one on each pipe. Is it time to drive it yet?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3cU...ature=youtu.be

Cool vids, def like that year Camaro-in for more progress.

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...e363e29766.jpg
The hot side is nearly done!

Alright, finally an update! I did a lot more fab work since the last update.

The hotside is fully welded. I'm going to pressure test it all before I rip the engine apart. If pressure testing goes good I'm going to send the manifolds out for ceramic coating!

I got the coldside mostly done, all I've got to do is a bit of bead rolling and position/weld the BOV.

Next on the list is pulling the engine. I wasn't planning on it but for how cheap I got the gen 4 internals I figured why not. It's pretty sad though because I compression tested my engine in the 185-190 range so it's probably in great shape! I do really want to do a new oil pump and chain though.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...73f2375cfe.jpg
Ready to pull the motor

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...1205a45ff7.jpg
Annnnd ready for the machine shop

I cant wait to start putting this back together!

I had a chance to remove the engine from the car and do a full teardown. This video is just aimed at giving you all a better idea of how all of the parts fit together. I'm still learning on the best way to vlog, it's hard to know how much detail to show and how much to skip. I've got such a short attention span so I usually try and keep the videos to a few minutes long.

The plan is to send the engine into the machine shop next week. I'm getting the cylinders honed, new cam bearings and the rotating assembly balanced. I'm also going to get them to fit my rings because I don't want to waste hours filing them when they can do it super quick with their grinding machine. Total budget for the rebuild should finish in around $1500 canadian for parts and machine work. Even though the bottom end didn't really need it I wanted the confidence of the upgraded internals and new bearings. I really hope I made the right choice doing this and am wishing for a reliable 600whp. It is pretty tempting to just spend the extra $1000 on forged pistons and rods but I've opted against it.

How do the bearings and clutch look in this video to you? The one nick in the main concerns me a tad, the scratch in the crank is very faint however.

Thanks to everyone that's subscribed to my youtube channel and all the positive comments! Enjoy.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...12f596ba5d.jpg
Got the engine bay cleaned up a bit!

Heres a little build slideshow for you to see how it all started:

Nice setup!

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...ddc1320179.jpg
Took some scotchbrite to the crossover!

I'm loving this. Currently have my own 6.0L apart and doing something similar for my '61 Chevy Apache.

Also from BC, by the way!

Awesome! I'm sure I'll see you out and about

sure did. I was a little paranoid about boost creep but also love the look

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...55b63ab4e5.jpg
Qa1 vs stock sears junk

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...4ad3472267.jpg
Installed next to my rusty rotors!

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...bfde4c93c0.jpg
Off to the machine shop :)

Well I swear I'll have an update soon. But in the spirit of being a complete madman I sold my entire ls3 top end and cam. I picked up some 317s and a pile of cash. Plan now is ls9 cam, summit dual springs and bank the rest. I figured for my goals the l92s weren't really necessary. If I make 30hp less and have a grand in the bank for a spare engine what do I care?

How does my new setup sound. Gen 4 internals, 317s, ls9 cam, summit dual springs, 7875. Hopefully will get me in the 550-600 range on 94 octane. I'm thinking about water meth now though. What do you guys think?

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...9bc169dba6.jpg
Teaser shot for ya!

Beautiful car, great work and great imagination! On the power goals and meth, I think you could easily get 600wheel without meth, but I'm not sure of your static compression. Whom is going to tune it? If you said earlier and I missed it, sorry. I think I would try tuning first with just the best octane pump gas and seeing what, if any, knock activity you incur first. If the A/F ratio is the best you can get w/o knock but you still haven't reached your HP goals, then consider Meth or E85. That's just me though.

Engines all done!

Awesome build! Glad to see you kept the inner fenders.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...88f407f776.jpg
Headers coated and my new intake! Deka 80s are hiding under those rails

Well, she's running! Here's a quick little video overview of what I've been up to. The LS swap video I did was really popular and a lot of people liked it so I'm going to make the exact same type of video for how to turbo an LS and explain in a lot more detail why/what I did. I've just been getting killed with time lately. I know this isn't the best video but enjoy!

Looking good, always great once you get them up and running.

Heres a summer update and some action shots! Big changes to come

Well done!

Well I've got some great news and am excited to introduce my new sponsor, Holley! I'm going with a dominator system which is extremely complete. It will run my engine, trans, boost control and water meth, as well as all of my canbus gauges! I will be posting lots about how the system all works together. It's the most complete package on the market and I'm excited to get started. As many of you also know Hurst Shifters is owned by Holley so I'm going to be running this beautiful quarter stick! Here are a few pics:
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...c5a4ffbed0.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...c64594e1fa.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...2e918e7a5e.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...7272f068f2.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...eca929f081.jpg

Well I've got some great news and am excited to introduce my new sponsor, Holley! I'm going with a dominator system which is extremely complete. It will run my engine, trans, boost control and water meth, as well as all of my canbus gauges! I will be posting lots about how the system all works together. It's the most complete package on the market and I'm excited to get started. As many of you also know Hurst Shifters is owned by Holley so I'm going to be running this beautiful quarter stick! Here are a few pics:
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...c5a4ffbed0.jpg
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...c64594e1fa.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...2e918e7a5e.jpg
https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...7272f068f2.jpg
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/ls1tech...eca929f081.jpg

Those gauges are slick

So here's my first video outlining everything you need to know about the Dominator and showing you what components are required. I'm so excited to be able to integrate EVERYTHING into one computer. The features are endless. Enjoy!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m1w...ature=youtu.be