Hello all...


I've been a lurker for a few years on this site and it has really helped me with all my cars. To give back a little, here is a little about one of my cars. It is a 1979 El Camino with a 4.8 liter Turbo. This is my daily driver and parts getter.


Here are the specs and a few pics:




Engine:

• 2003 4.8 liter LR4
• ARP head studs
• LS9 Cylinder Head Gaskets
• Custom PCM of NC Turbo Cam
• Brian Tooley Valve Springs, Titanium Retainers, and Push Rods
• Comp Cams Rocker Trunion Upgrade
• Late LS1 intake (no EGR)
• 80 lb/hr Deka injectors
• 3.3 bar Duramax MAP sensor
• Single S475 Turbo (T6) 1.32 AR, 76 mm
• LS4 front exhaust manifolds (FWD version)
  • Up and forward on driver's side
  • Down and forward on passenger side
• 2 1/4" hot side
• 2x 1 3/4" feed to waste gate
• 2 1/2" waste gate to downpipe feed
• 4" downpipe
• Splits into 2x 3" pipes with Borla Mufflers (trying to be sneaky)
• Precision Turbo 66 mm Wastegate
• 3" Cold Side
• 26"x12"x3" Intercooler
• Precision Turbo 64 mm Blow Off Valve

Fuel System:

• RobbMc 1/2" Tube Sending Unit
• Holley Dominator 1200 twin fuel pump
• Magnaflow boost referenced Fuel pressure regulator
• -8 AN lines from tank to FPR
• 2x -6 lines feeding the fuel rails

Drivetrain:

• Jakes Stage II 4L80e
• Yank 3600 rpm stall converter
• Ford 9" Rear with 3.55 gears
• Tubular rear control arms with poly bushings
• Need to reinforce the frame and make room for bigger tires next!
• 255/60R15 BFG Radial TA's on the back right now...

Electronics:

• Gen III ECU
• Hptuners with 3 Bar Map
• PCM of NC is doing the tuning (dyno day soon!)

SirHC Labs Cortex EBC Boost Controller (love this!)

• This is a gear/rpm/throttle based boost controller
• Christopher at SirHC added code so I could read the input shaft and output shaft sensors on the 4l80e, he even sent me an oscilloscope to take measurements for him!
• It can detect the gear since the input shaft sensor on the 4l80e is after the torque converter. On a manual transmission car you'd just use the engine rpm.
• I'm currently just using a single boost level per gear with one setting for now, After tuning the PID control, it follows very well.
• Once the ECU tuning is done, I'll switch to advanced mode and then it can do boost by rpm and throttle in each gear.
• 4 port boost solenoid to get more range (it pulses boost to either side of the waste gate instead of just one side)
• Christopher also recently added launch control...I plan to use that as well.
• The EBC is also controlling the second fuel pump, I have it kicking in at 3 psi of boost
• I plan to use the second output to run a water meth system later, it can also do PWM control of a solenoid or pump for variable rates.

Let me know if you have any questions, I'd be glad to help and give back to the community...Thanks for all your help!

 

PCM of NC did a great job tuning it. It made 580 rwhp at 15 psi. Now I'm tuning the boost controller to get it at the traction limit in the first two gears. It looks like it needs around 3 psi in first, and 10 psi in second on these street tires (255/60R15 BFG Radial T/A's).


The boost levels on the attached .pdf are 4, 10, and 15 psi.


I fit a quick 2nd order engine model to it, then backed out what the boost curve should look like vs. RPM to flatten the torque curve. Lots of geeky fun...we'll see if it actually works.