Please review my list!! :-)

I am DDing my car and doing the turbo in steps. This next big step will take the car offline for a LONG time so want to make sure I have everything ready to go to reduce its down time.

Platform: 99 t/a A4 stock except mentioned below. Shooting for maybe around 7PSI for starters, whatever the installed wastegate spring allows.

So far all of the below are CURRENTLY INSTALLED and tuned and working/idling great for last 2 months/thousands of miles:
Junkyard L33 with hardened pushrods/brass trunions/LS6 springs (stock L33 cam). Boltons carried over from the LQ4 (LS6 intake/headers/etc)
Deka 80 injectors installed (tuned with wideband, good idle and good AFR on my own HPTuners SD tune)
BMR A/C Turbo K-Member installed
Fuelpump Hotwire Kit and Pump rated to 600HP here: https://www.texas-speed.com/p-2358-r...02-f-body.aspx
Pre-drilled/tapped oil pan for return line, capped off. I think it was10AN. Done before dropped in L33.

The Below is are items I already bought and have, will be installing soon, this is the list I need looked over:
Huron Speed V3 T4 A/C Turbo kit (with Intercooler and all the goodies included in bare kit)
2-bar MAP sensor
Two Derale fans and corresponding (racetronix I think) wiring harness with relays to trigger from stock fusebox relay holes.
Wastegate with 7PSI spring installed (verified to fit Huron Speed kit)
Ebay turbo, description: "billet wheel Turbo charger T78 7875C T4 .96 A/R hot .75 A/R Trim cold Polishing"
No boost controller, running and tuning at whatever spring pressure the wastegate provides (for now).
Bolt-on adapter for engine near oil filter that'll allow engine to feed oil to turbo.
Heat wrap for piping.
NGK TR6's already gapped at .030
Planning on using breather instead of PCV at first. Will consider catch can later as I go.

I'm not concerned with any omissions that I can readily get at Autozone like clamps or vacuum hoses, I am mainly concerned with any big hard-to-get omissions that will risk a long delay, which may result in me reversing back and starting over. I don't want to do this last big step twice LOL.

I am purposely omitting the Blowoff valve and exhaust selection at least for now. I understand some say omitting blowoff valve may reduce the life of the turbo but my initial PSI will not exceed 7psi and I do know some turbo setups don't use them so for now I am omitting to reduce complications and install time and taking that risk. I am also waiting to hear how loud my turned down exhaust will sound, hoping my stock-cammed low idling L33 won't be that bad. I also think I could get a 3" custom extension back to my existing exhaust reasonably fast via a friend if not.

What am I forgetting?

 

Sounds like a solid plan to me. No cam upgrade? What about a converter? Those are items that can make or break a combination. I’m sure you’ve heard the comments before about staying at 7 psi……
Bigger exhaust the better after the turbo. Even if it means running oval pipe through tight spaces. I’ve logged post turbine along with pre turbine backpressure. Every psi of post turbine pressure showed roughly 2-3 psi of pre turbine pressure and that was through 4” exhaust. Good luck with the project, keep us posted. (I’d run a BOV BTW)

 

Are you doing return fuel system? I assume you should be using boost referenced pressure regulator.

 

That fuel pump looks to be of the 340 lph variety and I don't see specs on the link , I suspect that the 600 whp rating is for na - not FI and the corresponding higher BSFC and pressure. Depending on your base pressure that could be a limiting factor when you start turning it up a bit . I too started with a 320 pump and quickly switched to 450 lph ( both with large wiring off the alternator) if you haven't bought that yet I would go with something bigger. Hope this helps

 

Thank you all for replying, I appreciate having others to bounce things off of.

Stock cam was selected because of cost, reliability, and others show reasonable results with it. Also, I like telling people it's just a stock $500 junkyard Silverado engine and I only opened the valve covers to upgrade the valvetrain. Not sure why, it's just fun to say that to the rich kid in the brand new stock Mustang GT I just beat with my 1990's beat up unwashed bone-stock appearing trans am LOL. My eventual somewhat short term goal is only maybe 500rwhp for my DD, just hoping for mid/deep 11's next summer. My N/A Ls1 and LQ4 reached into low 12's with this car so I expect that's a realistic initial expectation. I'm unlike others here who get the boost bug, I almost certainly won't be shooting for the moon with my reliable DD.

That's good advice about exhaust, I was unaware of that backpressure.. thanks for that info.

I didn't mention the converter because I didn't see that as a show stopper for this step, but currently I have a Yank PT4000 which could be a problem pushing through. We'll see. Right now the goal is to get the turbo parts on the car and get it back to a somewhat safe DD mode, other details I can work out in subsequent steps on weekends. I do have another Summit Racing converter I could throw in there if I do start pushing through just to try out one weekend if I really start pushing through the Yank. I "assume" my shift extensions are still "pretty good" with the low PSI, as I will resemble the strong bolt on engine it was designed for. But since I don't understand the science behind the stalls my assumption could be completely wrong LOL

I hope not, because I spent a lot of time getting those Deka 80's dialed in with this static 58psi fuel system on my previous step LOL. I have stock regulator and stock rail and everything else except the Hotwire kit and the larger pump, stock 58psi fuel pressure not boost referenced, at least not for starters. I am adding this to my list of things to search up now that you brought it up because I should understand that better, thanks for the heads up. I don't think this is a show stopper though based on other single-digit-psi builds I read about. But yea will put that on my radar.

Thanks for the heads up on this also, I will check this out. Good info. To prevent this possibility of being a show stopper for this big step, I'll make sure I have a way to pull boost waaaay down if I start seeing issues related to this. "If you can't raise the bridge, lower the water" as they say LOL. That will be my plan to keep all the turbo parts on the car and still DDing it. But that's good info, I appreciate that.

This is the type of stuff I like hearing to add to my checklist. THANK YOU all for the input.

 

Don't sweat the return system. my 5.7 turbo gto had a single aeromotive 340 (no hotwire nonsense) deka 60's and the factory fuel system worked fine to 11-12 psi. I'll warn you from my personal experience. Keep it under 10psi on pump gas. You can push it a few psi higher if you keep the timing real low

 

That's a good point that I should mention. I am going to try to initially tune this on 87 octane and see where it lands, I know I'll be leaving a lot on the table. Once this Covid stuff settles down I'll likely be back to huge miles being put on the car so attempting to keep the cost down.

Yea my timing and AFR are going to be pulled way back from where they could be, but I should still be able to make a reasonable amount of power I expect. If I have to run 91 or 93 so be it but will be trying cheapie 87 first.

 

Well on 7 psi, I imagine you could get away with using 87 but you have to make sure its not pinging. Run a log and look at the timing being pulled. I would start by making very short pulls in second gear. Make sure your afr is about 11.5:1 and its not pinging. A quick burst for 3-4 seconds should give you some data. That looks good, then pull it a little higher. once you feel good about second gear, repeat in third. Third will be a couple more psi of boost than second, so be careful. I do not use the boost maps or power enrichment for fueling because they are not consistent or reliable. Sloppy mechanics wiki page has the settings you'll need for your map sensor.
the valve cover breather will end up spitting oil, so watch for that. i have a rather unorthodox way of controlling my crankcase pressures. I have the breather in my valve cover but I made an aluminum flap or baffle inside my valve cover that prevents the oil from being thrown up to the breather. I welded it in place. Then I have a catch can that the intake side of the turbo draws on and the other side is hooked to both valve covers and my valley cover.
you should consider a simple yet effective spray of washer fluid pre turbo (dont believe the bullshit of eroding blades...mine been on there for a couple years...no issues). You can order some nozzles off ebay and simply use your washer pump to spray. A 3 gal per hour nozzle should be good. For now I have no wiper spray for my windshield but earlier this week I finally ordered a $35 3 way solenoid valve that will redirect fluid back to my windshield when needed. I've been driving the car alot more lately so I need the squirters to work. This simple washer fluid injection has allowed me to push it up to 24psi (I have forged pistons, so don't try this with stock pistons!)

 

Keep the Yank converter and see what happens. If anything, send it back for an adjustment if it’s needed.

 

Is this your only mode of transportation? I see you say its a daily driver....is it your only vehicle?

 

It's one of two, the other is shared, and the huge miles I drive will murder the other one's value, on top of the inconvenience of bogarting the shared vehicle. So I won't lose my job or anything if that's what you are asking.

 

Yep, good plan. I know it took like 6 weeks I think (maybe more) before the Yank arrived back when I ordered it so I expect an adjustment would take that long as well, so I still have a stalled Summit converter I could put in for a while. I've had this tranny in and out so many times it's not a big deal to change converters any more. We'll see what the Yank does and will act accordingly but that's a good plan.

 

modding your daily driver like that is a common mistake I see people do. I guess you’ll figure it out on your own. I highly unrecommend modding your daily driver that’s currently reliable. It won’t be afterwards.

 

Appreciate the advice but I am willing to risk it for this combination. I've had 6 fbody now, 5 of them DD's, have modded them all to some degree, so I'm getting a handle on this I think. You'll see that I'm a 16-year member here, and lurked quite a while before that. This current car has about 300,000 on the body. Right now I have a very-near-stock L33 that the bottom end was all built by GM techs (100k junkyard motor) and will only be putting 7PSI on it occasionally. I only upgraded valve train. Rotating assembly, heads, cam all GM assembled.

Granted, I am not a builder or racer so I'm not a pro, so you could very well be right, but I know from experience that 200k from any of these LS bottom ends is typical and common.

Yea the turbo is an Ebay one, but even it at 7 PSI should have a reasonable lifespan. Since the turbo is a new world for me I do plan on having backup plans to somehow drive the car sans Turbo if it itself has problems. Might even keep a spare turbo handy I can run home and get if needed.

I have cheap street tires when I DD, which helps keep some of the stress off the drive line.

Now you probably COULD make that argument with my last engine, it was a junkyard LQ4 with 228R I installed with 799 heads and upgraded valvetrain, and it started leaving grit/material in the oil pan after I think 50 or 60k miles. The high lift and all associated pieces with it is one thing that raises risk with reliability for sure. I finally gave up on that engine after I found more than grit in the oil. Have not opened it yet but I think it was eating a cam lobe.

Anyone else have an opinion on this?

The reality is that it doesn't matter to be honest. Life's too short to daily drive a boring car, I spend a lot of time in that car and I like fbodies so I want my DD to be a somewhat fast FBODY, so I am going to have one as my DD regardless. At this point I don't think I'll ever NOT have a 4th gen fbody.

And I credit this forum for just about all of it by the way. I am alone in my LS hobby, I don't have any friends who are into cars very much, I do all the work alone, single handed, (with advice almost solely from this LS1tech community). No mechanic has touched any of my cars in many years. Pretty proud of that.

 

well at least you have some wrenching experience. If you have like 3.08 or 2.73 gears in that 7.5 rear, it’ll live much longer than a 3.42 and up rear. The axles are weak tho. So is the stock driveshaft. The cooling system may not be adequate in the summer depending on your location.
if you have a stock trans, that will be an issue too.
7-8psi on a 5.7 in my heavier gto put me at 11.40’s at 126mph. So just realize your adding a good amount of power and it will break stuff. I broke my output shaft then my input shaft at just 10psi.

so I’m just saying you definitely need another reliable ride unless you are ok sharing a vehicle while your car may be down for a while when something breaks. Having a spare beater is always a good idea when hot rodding.