Pulled the trigger on a Holley Terminator X system. But it's on backorder. I'm behind 25 or so guys in front of me. Good thing the cars in storage for the winter anyway. Today was/is the last day for the special pricing.

Also, Been spending the last week trying to get this behemoth S480 into a position were I can still hook up the radiators hoses, reach the headers, pass a downpipe, have room for the air filter. Very limited space even with the standup radiator. I might punt and go back to the twins, albeit with my new log style manifolds.

 

You'll like it for sure, easy to wire up.

 

Thanks. I've been watching various videos on the installation and use and it does seem like it will be easy.

On the engine bay room vs S480, I sent a message to my first 5.3 engine builder lamenting the frustration of trying to position the heavy unit (I always work alone, no help) in the limited area between the engine and radiator. In a single sentence , he provided the classic "You can't see the forest for the trees...", when he said, "Just move the radiator forward". <lightbulb comes on>.

As I'd mentioned, I'd already altered the radiator to the standup config years ago, I don't know why I thought I had to be constricted/confined to use the radiator positioning as-is. So, armed with that, I went back to the shop, pulled the radiator/fans, put the S480 on a stand and put it where I wanted it. Perfect! So now I have my measurements, I can cut the current top radiator support out, mock the new radiator position, mark the new top support, bolt it in place, make sure it works, then weld it in place.

 

I picked one up to back in Nov right before the sale bc once the sale hits they are on back order, then think about COVID and how that slows order fills. I’m still waiting on a dorman LS6 for 4 months and all I need is the hardware bc mine came with none.

I hope you got a alternator charging harness bc you won’t have that control on the term x. Holley sells a simple setup that’s $18.

if u don’t mind me asking what did you pay? Holley said more then likely no discounts bc its already priced so low but I got $25 off plus 5% using my summit speed card which puts me around $900 and I got mine in 3 days.

check the harness at every point as they are pretty bad, mine was ok but i have to say my fitech harness is much nicer and pays better on and around the engine. The holleys lengths are all weird and I don’t like that the whole system (injectors, fuel pump, ignition, pcm etc) is all run off 1 standard relay.

 

Why not just put the turbo where the battery is?

 

Just didnt look like it would easily go there. Do you have any pictures where that's been done? Most pic's I see are far enough away that I cant see how they supported it and routed the piping, air filter, etc. If I google "S480 4th Gen Fbody" I get 3'rd gens mostly displayed instead. I did see one S480 4th Gen but his radiator was pushed forward at least as far as is mine AND he didn't have room for an airfilter. Just running it open.

I tried holding it in a lot of different positions but nothing seemed like "Aha! Thats where I'll put it.". This 'central' location seems to have the room between the water pump pulley and the radiator, leaving generous room to feed the turbo, route the down pipe past/thru the passenger sides BMR "turbo" tubular K-mbr, room to route the discharge to either my intercooler or direct to the TB (on E85) and still have room for a nice sized air filter. I got everything welded up on my brace and will trial /final fit tomorrow. We'll see if it's all going to work.

 

There were at least a couple of turbo kit manufacturers on here in the past that had kits there. As far as turbo support, it was actually rather easy. When the battery is removed you can put a flexible brace straight to the body underneath the turbo to handle the weight.

 

Thanks for the heads up. I've read some posts by other folks that were less than impressed with some aspects of the harness.
On the alternator wire, I've been reading those responses as well. and I'm somewhat embarrassed to say, I never knew where the stock single alternator wire went or what it did. I just assumed the ;'black box'. It's in the harness, everything works so we're good to go. I've read that the harness has the built in resistor to keep the voltage at an acceptable level (14v or so?). But , really,... Where does the other end of that alternator wire go? Is it just to the dash gauge to show it's charging?

 

Had to lookup what I paid. $958 including PayPal fees.

 

Just feed the alternator switched 12v hot, maybe even get fancy and fuse it, but don't over think it. (assuming you have the holley harness for it)

[side note, make sure you have GOOD grounds on the holley install]

 

I used one of these. You can choose to add flex this way as well which I did. It uses the powertap in your harness so easy install. Current Performance makes one too.;

 

Just a word of caution, dont weld on the car with the cables plugged into the ECU, you could wipe out the tune, speaking from experience, lol-I know, some do and no problem.

 

Also be mindful of how you build your tune. I see way too many tunes that devote entirely too many rows, for the load axis in the VE table, for the boosted portion and not nearly enough for the NA portion.

Andrew

 

Thanks, I'll keep looking for examples. I'll also try putting the turbo back on my movable brace and roll it around in different orientations to see if anything looks more promising as far as the compromise.

I ordered a T6 turbo blanket and it arrived today. I went over the shop to fit it on the turbo and see the resulting clearance or lack thereof between the 3 adversaries of the water pump, turbo and the radiator. Ugh... a bit too tight now with the blanket in place in that central location. W/O the blanket, it's survivable.

I want to thank you all for your input. As always, it has been valuable and appreciated.