Have you given your WG placement anymore thought Andrew? I've really been thinking about this since it became conversation in this thread and haven't really gotten any closer to where I'm going to go. I scanned through bochnak's thread yesterday and saw he went on the turbo housing, which would obviously work very well. I like how he tied in back into the downpipe as well, clean install.

 

Andrew

I've been thinking about this since it's become a conversation in your thread, have you come any closer to making a decision on where you're going to place your WG?

I'm still struggling with where I'll want to place mine. I was reading through bochnak's thread yesterday and saw he went right off the turbo housing. That'll work really well and I like how he tied into his downpipe, looks good.

 

My WGs are down by the manifolds, a straight shot basically, plumbed into my cross over.

I see WGs plumbed in a lot of different locations and some folks are adamant about where, the angle, etc., and some folks just bang 'em in whereever it's convenient.

 

I have seen people do that before and I think it is a legitimately good option. I just don't know if I can bring myself to put a hole in my Tial exhaust housing. I can't really determine my WG placement until I finalize turbo placement, which is at least a couple of months away.

Andrew

 

Here are some links that might be helpful. They are 3rd gen F-bodies, but using the Holley log:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/powe...-manifold.html

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/powe...-manifold.html

I was looking at this as the first piece that comes out of the Holley log:
https://www.stainlessbros.com/3-ss30...5--no-leg.html

Andrew

 

Theory would be the same regardless of platform, I'll have a look at those when I have time, thanks.

That wasn't the first time I saw it placed on the housing and even though I only have a VS racing turbo, I can't bring myself to place it there either.

Realistslly, I'm also in no rush to make a decision but I get down rabbit hole thoughts sometimes and that's what this was haha.

 

Here is another:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversio...rbo-5-3-a.html

Andrew

 

As mentioned a while back, I am using the Holley Hooker cast turbo manifold kit. The main reason is for the simplicity of the layout and the durability that the cast iron parts offer. The kit is also relatively inexpensive, but it does have some drawbacks.

The main one is that the "as cast" manifolds are pretty ugly, and I can only imagine what they will look like after a short time of driving. So I made the decision to use Cerakote to coat them at home. Cerakote offers their "C" coating which is an air dry product and many colors are rated to 1800 degrees. While I wait for my starter kit from Cerakote, I decided to begin the prep work on the manifolds.

I watched a bunch of videos on applying Cerakote, and as always, the end result depends highly on the prep work (if anyone has any pointer, please chime in). The general consensus is that parts need to be degreased, baked, blasted, baked again.

So today I got the process rolling because It was 65 degrees here in Kansas City. The manifolds come from Holley well bagged but were covered in oil. I get why this is done, but they were soaked. First thing was to see how they fit in my 6 burner Weber. No issues!



The second step was to get them hosed down with acetone to get as much of the oil off at possible.



They actually looked a lot better after the de-greasing process.



Then I fired up the Weber and put the manifolds inside.



With all 6 burners going the temperature came up fast and eventually hit 600 degrees. I kept them in there for about 45 minutes when I ran out of propane.



I let it all cool down for a couple of hours and this was the result.



They look 100 times better already. I was careful not to touch them with my bare hands to keep hand oils off of them. On Saturday I am visiting a local customer who was gracious enough to let me use his blast cabinet.

Andrew

 

Andrew, I'm glad I came across your thread. Welcome to the Turbo world. You will like it here.

I like your goals for this car. Sounds familiar. With your engine management, you should be able to make it a real street car and your 10 second goals are reasonable.

I like the fact that you're also using the 4L80E. My setup is a 2800 stall converter with lockup and 4.10 gears. Highway RPM is about 2700 at 70. I don't get the lag your video showed and street manners are great. I do however have a steel 6.0 but with stock heads and cam, but i think your 5.3 will do just fine. I'm not a fan of aluminum engines for turbo, but you should be able to achieve those goals if you're careful.

You may want to consider a longer runner intake. It will give you better torque down low where you drive it on the street most of the time and probably spool the turbo faster because of the added torque. You may be giving up top end HP, but you wanted more of a driver and less of a race car.

I am in the process of rethinking my air to air IC to air to water with an A/C chiller.

I don't think I saw what your compression ratio is. I lowered mine from the already low ratio in my LQ4. Sounds like you have an L33 which stock is 10:1, but not sure what your new piston and rod combo is.

Carl

 

Hey Carl,

Thanks for chiming in. My 5.3L started as a LH8, but not has Wiseco pistons and 6.125" Molnar rods. I will have to look at my engine build sheet, but I believe the compression is about 9.7:1.

Andrew

 

Also a long runner intake will give you better low end torque and probably faster spooling. You'll sacrifice some top end, but this is an always street car and sometimes racer.

For injectors, I'd look at no smaller that 1000cc for pump gas and sized 30% more for E85.

 

Some of my considerations are packaging and vanity LOL....Hence the reason for the Holley Low Ram and Tick intercooler. I know the short runners aren't optimal, but it is what it is.

Andrew

 

Andrew, your trans will need some work. Stock 4L80E are good for 475 hp. At your target levels, consider dual feed, forged hub, forged input shaft, wider range pressure regulator, rolarize rear output bearing and some other minor changes. I removed my 3rd gear accumulator and my 2nd gear, but you might want to leave the second one in. I like firm shifts to give the clutches less wear, so i also increased the size of the shift feed holes. You can do all this without any kits. 4L80E is fairly simple as transmissions go and there is info out there. Transbrake may help you at the track but will not be pleasant for driving around town.
When on track, have the shifter in 3, not D and never let it shift into OD. Burnouts are safer if you finish in 3rd.

My drive shaft is 3" chromolly and uses 1350 ends and my rear is a Ford 8.8 with 9" internals, posi, and 9"axles (31 spline)

 

that reminds me of the days I used to soften some of the springs in my transmission. barbecue is a multi purpose tool.

 

My 4L80e was built with all kinds of billet bits. No worries there. I have a 9" on order from Quick Performance with 35 spline axles and a TrueTrack. It will be built with a CV pinion yoke for a dual CV driveshaft from the DriveShaft shop.

Andrew

 

Nice. 35 spline is overkill but it will work

 

I went 40 spine, the axles look like something spec'd for a monster truck lol.

Andrew I'm looking forward to your future reviews of the combo.

 

Seriously nothing like over kill 40 spline are good to like 12,000 lb/ft, each!

 

The main issue with using 40 spline axle is the lack of differential options. A spool is not something that I want to run on the street. The 35 spline axles will more than handle my power goals and every conceivable differential option is available for the 35 spline axles. It is a no brainer upgrade.

Andrew

 

I always wonder why people say that about a spool, I run a spool in multiple cars on the street and hardly notice it other than in tight low speed turns, if anything its more consistent in its reaction.