2001 SOM Camaro SS M6 Huron Speed V3 AC Retaining Turbo Build (long read & pics)
03-14-2018, 03:09 PM
#1
2001 SOM Camaro SS M6 Huron Speed V3 AC Retaining Turbo Build (long read & pics) Here it is, my official Single Turbo build thread for my new Huron Speed V3 AC Retaining Single Turbo Kit for my 2001 Camaro SS M6 with only 20,353 miles!
Here’s a little history about my car. I ordered my car back in July of 2000, I received it October 4th 2000 with only 15 miles on the odometer. At the time, I thought I would just do basic upgrades but as you know that’s never the case. I started out with a Lid, Cutout, LT headers, and then added a dry nitrous kit. That wasn’t enough so I went to heads and cam in Spring of 2003. I installed Absolute Speed STG 2 ported 241 heads and a TR 224 cam. A year or so goes by and went to a custom TR cam, a 230 230 114lsa cam for a little more power. After that I was starting to think turbo.
I was getting prepared to purchase the Turbo Technology single turbo kit. I installed a 226 222 116lsa cam a head of time for the kit. Well, shortly after I installed the 3rd cam, my daughter (2nd child) was born and major car mods got put on hold for a while. In 2007 I installed a Moser 9” with 3.89 gears since I broke the spider gears in my stock 10 bolt.
A few years pass and now I was thinking of going to a bigger motor. Back in Fall of 2010, I got a great deal on a 2,400 mile LS3 short block. Spring of 2011, I built a heads and cam LS3 for my car. I bought TEA STG 1 LS3/L92 Heads and got a custom cam ground from Pat G, a 231 238 113lsa. Shortly after I got it built and installed in my car, I moved out of state, back to my hometown for a job.
A few years go by and I was starting to think about going to a 416 LS3. I was giving it some thought and then my good friend Bill Beekman (fellow Fbody owner) said, “Hey why don’t you go Turbo?” He mentioned On3 and Huron Speed as good kits. So in fall on 2016 I really started checking out turbo kits again. At first I was going to go with On3 but after checking out their kit and asking some questions, I didn’t really care for the design and lack of customer support. It didn’t fit my style of what I wanted it to look like and fitment. So I started doing some research on Huron Speed turbo kits, I was blown away from what I saw and read online to say the least.
I was very impressed with the quality, fitment, customer service/support and other people’s reviews of what Huron Speed has to offer for our aging cars. Since I am the original owner of my car, never been in any kind of accident and has VERY low miles, 20,353 to be exact, I didn’t want a kit where I would have to severely modify my car to the point of cutting major metal to make the kit work. Basically I don’t want to hack my car. The way I have modded my car over the years, I kept every stock part off my car. If for some reason in the distant future I wanted to put it back to stock form, it’s actually possible.
In December 2016 I saw that Huron Speed was doing their Annual Group Purchase. I asked Jon (and Casey) a ton of questions on here (LS1tech) and via email. Jon couldn’t have been more professional, courteous, thoughtful and timely in his responses to my questions. In January of 2017 I got in on the group purchase and made my deposit on the AC retaining single turbo kit.
Here’s what I ordered and received from Huron Speed:
- Huron Speed AC Retaining Turbo Kit with Recirculate for Waste gate
- Turbonetics Billet 7575 Ceramic BB 1.15AR Turbo
- Precision PW46 Wastegate
- XS-Power BOV
- BMR Turbo K-Member
- Standard 4” FMIC
I received the last item for my kit in July of 2017. Huron Speed had such a huge group purchase, it took them a while for everyone to get the kits. Good things come to those who wait!
I thought I was going to start installing the kit last fall but family, kids, work, school and just daily life in general took priority. 2 days before Christmas I removed my engine out of my car so I had the motivation during this long, cold, snowy winter (almost 200” of snow here this season!) here in Erie, PA to get my butt in gear. Since the beginning of the year, I have been slowly buying parts for my build. As with most of you, I don’t have a money tree so I have been delayed in my build since I’ve been trying to save some money along the way. I’ve been meaning to start this thread for a while, so here it is.
I have a ton of pics of everything and will post up what seems important. I hope this thread helps others out with their kits as I’ll try to be as detailed as possible.
A big thanks to Jon and Casey from Huron Speed for answering all my questions at all times of the day. (Talk about dedication!) And thanks to all others on here that have helped me along the way. LS1tech is a great place to learn and share.
Now that I have all my parts, here is what’s all going into my build:
- Huron Speed AC Retaining T4 Single Turbo Kit with Turbonetics Billet T-7575 Turbo, Precision PW46 Waste Gate, XS Power 50mm BOV, BMR Turbo K-Member
- Cerakote Titanium Ceramic coating of turbo kit hotside and turbo housing
- DEI Titanium Header Wrap
- Forged LS2 Short Block from Golen Engines, New GM Crank, Wiseco 4.005 -11cc Pistons, Upgraded Wiseco Piston Pins, ARP Main Studs, K1 H-Beam Rods, Callies 24x Billet Reluctor Wheel, King Racing Bearings
- ARP Head Studs
- TEA Ported STG 1 LS3/L92 Heads
- LS9 Head Gaskets
- Cam Motion Custom Cam - 226 232 115 lsa
- LS7 Lifters
- Melling 10295 Oil Pump
- ATI Dampener
- LS3 SOM Painted Intake
- LS3 Fuel Rail
- Fuel Injection Clinic 1000cc LS3 Fuel Injectors
- LS9 3 Bar Map Sensor
- Alky Control 4th Gen F-body Meth Kit (Dual Nozzle)
- Turbosmart E-boost 2 Boost Controller
- Autometer Boost Gauge
- Derale #16925 Pusher Fans
- Tuff Stuff Chrome 175 Amp Alternator
- MSD LS 2-Step
- Ebay Black Vacuum Manifold
Thanks for reading and looking...
Bill
Here’s a little history about my car. I ordered my car back in July of 2000, I received it October 4th 2000 with only 15 miles on the odometer. At the time, I thought I would just do basic upgrades but as you know that’s never the case. I started out with a Lid, Cutout, LT headers, and then added a dry nitrous kit. That wasn’t enough so I went to heads and cam in Spring of 2003. I installed Absolute Speed STG 2 ported 241 heads and a TR 224 cam. A year or so goes by and went to a custom TR cam, a 230 230 114lsa cam for a little more power. After that I was starting to think turbo.
I was getting prepared to purchase the Turbo Technology single turbo kit. I installed a 226 222 116lsa cam a head of time for the kit. Well, shortly after I installed the 3rd cam, my daughter (2nd child) was born and major car mods got put on hold for a while. In 2007 I installed a Moser 9” with 3.89 gears since I broke the spider gears in my stock 10 bolt.
A few years pass and now I was thinking of going to a bigger motor. Back in Fall of 2010, I got a great deal on a 2,400 mile LS3 short block. Spring of 2011, I built a heads and cam LS3 for my car. I bought TEA STG 1 LS3/L92 Heads and got a custom cam ground from Pat G, a 231 238 113lsa. Shortly after I got it built and installed in my car, I moved out of state, back to my hometown for a job.
A few years go by and I was starting to think about going to a 416 LS3. I was giving it some thought and then my good friend Bill Beekman (fellow Fbody owner) said, “Hey why don’t you go Turbo?” He mentioned On3 and Huron Speed as good kits. So in fall on 2016 I really started checking out turbo kits again. At first I was going to go with On3 but after checking out their kit and asking some questions, I didn’t really care for the design and lack of customer support. It didn’t fit my style of what I wanted it to look like and fitment. So I started doing some research on Huron Speed turbo kits, I was blown away from what I saw and read online to say the least.
I was very impressed with the quality, fitment, customer service/support and other people’s reviews of what Huron Speed has to offer for our aging cars. Since I am the original owner of my car, never been in any kind of accident and has VERY low miles, 20,353 to be exact, I didn’t want a kit where I would have to severely modify my car to the point of cutting major metal to make the kit work. Basically I don’t want to hack my car. The way I have modded my car over the years, I kept every stock part off my car. If for some reason in the distant future I wanted to put it back to stock form, it’s actually possible.
In December 2016 I saw that Huron Speed was doing their Annual Group Purchase. I asked Jon (and Casey) a ton of questions on here (LS1tech) and via email. Jon couldn’t have been more professional, courteous, thoughtful and timely in his responses to my questions. In January of 2017 I got in on the group purchase and made my deposit on the AC retaining single turbo kit.
Here’s what I ordered and received from Huron Speed:
- Huron Speed AC Retaining Turbo Kit with Recirculate for Waste gate
- Turbonetics Billet 7575 Ceramic BB 1.15AR Turbo
- Precision PW46 Wastegate
- XS-Power BOV
- BMR Turbo K-Member
- Standard 4” FMIC
I received the last item for my kit in July of 2017. Huron Speed had such a huge group purchase, it took them a while for everyone to get the kits. Good things come to those who wait!
I thought I was going to start installing the kit last fall but family, kids, work, school and just daily life in general took priority. 2 days before Christmas I removed my engine out of my car so I had the motivation during this long, cold, snowy winter (almost 200” of snow here this season!) here in Erie, PA to get my butt in gear. Since the beginning of the year, I have been slowly buying parts for my build. As with most of you, I don’t have a money tree so I have been delayed in my build since I’ve been trying to save some money along the way. I’ve been meaning to start this thread for a while, so here it is.
I have a ton of pics of everything and will post up what seems important. I hope this thread helps others out with their kits as I’ll try to be as detailed as possible.
A big thanks to Jon and Casey from Huron Speed for answering all my questions at all times of the day. (Talk about dedication!) And thanks to all others on here that have helped me along the way. LS1tech is a great place to learn and share.
Now that I have all my parts, here is what’s all going into my build:
- Huron Speed AC Retaining T4 Single Turbo Kit with Turbonetics Billet T-7575 Turbo, Precision PW46 Waste Gate, XS Power 50mm BOV, BMR Turbo K-Member
- Cerakote Titanium Ceramic coating of turbo kit hotside and turbo housing
- DEI Titanium Header Wrap
- Forged LS2 Short Block from Golen Engines, New GM Crank, Wiseco 4.005 -11cc Pistons, Upgraded Wiseco Piston Pins, ARP Main Studs, K1 H-Beam Rods, Callies 24x Billet Reluctor Wheel, King Racing Bearings
- ARP Head Studs
- TEA Ported STG 1 LS3/L92 Heads
- LS9 Head Gaskets
- Cam Motion Custom Cam - 226 232 115 lsa
- LS7 Lifters
- Melling 10295 Oil Pump
- ATI Dampener
- LS3 SOM Painted Intake
- LS3 Fuel Rail
- Fuel Injection Clinic 1000cc LS3 Fuel Injectors
- LS9 3 Bar Map Sensor
- Alky Control 4th Gen F-body Meth Kit (Dual Nozzle)
- Turbosmart E-boost 2 Boost Controller
- Autometer Boost Gauge
- Derale #16925 Pusher Fans
- Tuff Stuff Chrome 175 Amp Alternator
- MSD LS 2-Step
- Ebay Black Vacuum Manifold
Thanks for reading and looking...
Bill
Last edited by Billiumss; 03-28-2018 at 01:41 PM.
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03-21-2018, 08:05 AM
#8
Thx fellas...
Here are a few pics of tearing the old motor down and pulling it off the K-Member. I bought my 2 Ton cherry picker from Harbor Freight when it was on sale and used a 25 % off coupon. I filled and bled the system per the instructions and so far it has performance flawlessly.
My little 5 gallon shop vac that you see in the pics works great for sucking out the coolant from the engine. I bought it on a Black Friday sale for $10.00 and it's dedicated for only sucking coolant out of an engine when doing head & cam swaps or big jobs like this. Almost no coolant drips/leaks out when tearing the engine down completely. As most of you know, this is a big headache, the mess from coolant.
In case you noticed the piece of wood "holding up" the front of the engine on the engine stand, I'm just being a little extra cautious when I'm not working on it. I know the engine stand can hold way more than a LS engine, you can never be too safe and cautious.
Here are a few pics of tearing the old motor down and pulling it off the K-Member. I bought my 2 Ton cherry picker from Harbor Freight when it was on sale and used a 25 % off coupon. I filled and bled the system per the instructions and so far it has performance flawlessly.
My little 5 gallon shop vac that you see in the pics works great for sucking out the coolant from the engine. I bought it on a Black Friday sale for $10.00 and it's dedicated for only sucking coolant out of an engine when doing head & cam swaps or big jobs like this. Almost no coolant drips/leaks out when tearing the engine down completely. As most of you know, this is a big headache, the mess from coolant.
In case you noticed the piece of wood "holding up" the front of the engine on the engine stand, I'm just being a little extra cautious when I'm not working on it. I know the engine stand can hold way more than a LS engine, you can never be too safe and cautious.
03-28-2018, 01:50 PM
#12
Thx guys... Thought about swapping out the struts but with only 20,353 miles on them, good enough for now.... I'm way over budget, no big surprise there. 
Build is going good. I edited my first post to add what's all going into the build now that I have all my parts. Now I can kick into high gear!
I'll add more pics tomorrow. I tore down the old engine and swapped out the K-members. I have been taking a lot of pics. This project is taking longer than I would have thought but the end result will be worth it. Good thing this is only my toy and not my daily driver... lol
Build is going good. I edited my first post to add what's all going into the build now that I have all my parts. Now I can kick into high gear! I'll add more pics tomorrow. I tore down the old engine and swapped out the K-members. I have been taking a lot of pics. This project is taking longer than I would have thought but the end result will be worth it. Good thing this is only my toy and not my daily driver... lol
04-04-2018, 09:49 AM
#13
Still working on the car. A little late posting these, just got side tracked. Here are some pics of tearing down the LS3 that I had in there. As expected, all the parts looks great. I always used Mobile 1 5W30 oil and a M1-206 oil filter. Tearing down is always fun, I even had my son in there to help at times. I sold my LS3 short block to my buddy Bill which I'll be installing into his car before summer hits.
04-05-2018, 08:02 AM
#14
Since I have all my parts and the car is all torn down, the real fun begins, actually building the car!
The first task of this long build is swapping out the stock K-member to the BMR Turbo K-member. I decided to build a brace to assist in holding the struts/A-arms and stock K-member with my shop crane so I don’t hurt myself since most of the work I’ll be doing by myself. As with any project, you have to expect the unexpected, unfortunately I had a problem with my brand new BMR K-Member.
I started swapping the stock K-member out with the new one and I ran into a few problems. The first issue I had was no matter what I did, even with the help of others, I couldn’t get the passenger A-arm to fit right. I got it in there but couldn’t get the rear most bolt in.
After wrestling with it for a while, I decided to pull everything off of the BMR K-member and test fit it in the car. Well, let’s just say it didn’t fit in the car all too well. The middle contact point on the passenger side did not want to sit flush on the frame, there was at least a 1/4-3/8 gap when the bolts were all snug. The next fitment problem was the passenger side rear mounting hole was way out of alignment; I couldn’t even get the bolt started into the frame. Trying to do this with the engine still in the car would have been even more challenging. I knew the problem wasn’t my car since I’m the original owner of the car, it has 20,353 miles on it and never been in any type of accident.
I called BMR, talked to Eric and explained to him the problems I was having. He requested some pics and after talking about it on the phone, we determined it was defective. Either it was built wrong or it got tweaked somehow before powder coating. The whole passenger side just had issues. Eric ended up swapping it out for a new one. He was very easy to work and I’m glad I was able to talk with him on the phone to sort things out. BMR (Eric) was very concerned about making it right. Thank you BMR for stepping up and taking care of your customers! Great customer support!
The first task of this long build is swapping out the stock K-member to the BMR Turbo K-member. I decided to build a brace to assist in holding the struts/A-arms and stock K-member with my shop crane so I don’t hurt myself since most of the work I’ll be doing by myself. As with any project, you have to expect the unexpected, unfortunately I had a problem with my brand new BMR K-Member.
I started swapping the stock K-member out with the new one and I ran into a few problems. The first issue I had was no matter what I did, even with the help of others, I couldn’t get the passenger A-arm to fit right. I got it in there but couldn’t get the rear most bolt in.
After wrestling with it for a while, I decided to pull everything off of the BMR K-member and test fit it in the car. Well, let’s just say it didn’t fit in the car all too well. The middle contact point on the passenger side did not want to sit flush on the frame, there was at least a 1/4-3/8 gap when the bolts were all snug. The next fitment problem was the passenger side rear mounting hole was way out of alignment; I couldn’t even get the bolt started into the frame. Trying to do this with the engine still in the car would have been even more challenging. I knew the problem wasn’t my car since I’m the original owner of the car, it has 20,353 miles on it and never been in any type of accident.
I called BMR, talked to Eric and explained to him the problems I was having. He requested some pics and after talking about it on the phone, we determined it was defective. Either it was built wrong or it got tweaked somehow before powder coating. The whole passenger side just had issues. Eric ended up swapping it out for a new one. He was very easy to work and I’m glad I was able to talk with him on the phone to sort things out. BMR (Eric) was very concerned about making it right. Thank you BMR for stepping up and taking care of your customers! Great customer support!
Last edited by Billiumss; 04-05-2018 at 08:13 AM.
04-05-2018, 08:13 AM
#15
It took about a week to get a new one, I test fitted it in the car and all was good. I drilled holes for the tabbed rear bolts, installed the A-arms, they both went in with no problem.
Now onto the steering rack. Once I put the rack in place, the holes didn’t quite want to line up to get the bolts in. I had to open up the holes some and grind down on the tab on the driver’s side of the rack. After that, all was good, I was finally done swapping out the K-member. As for the brake lines, there is no real secure way to mount them to the new BMR Turbo K-Member so I’ll figure that out once it’s back in the car.
Next up, building the engine….
Now onto the steering rack. Once I put the rack in place, the holes didn’t quite want to line up to get the bolts in. I had to open up the holes some and grind down on the tab on the driver’s side of the rack. After that, all was good, I was finally done swapping out the K-member. As for the brake lines, there is no real secure way to mount them to the new BMR Turbo K-Member so I’ll figure that out once it’s back in the car.
Next up, building the engine….
04-18-2018, 07:57 AM
#19
Since I'm going boost, I wanted to try and make the build as bulletproof as possible so I had a forged short block built.
After a lot of phone calls and emails to about 12 different engine builders I decided to go with Golen Engines to build a forged LS2 Short Block for my build. Chad Golen is a great, down to earth, easy to talk to, honest guy that is willing to take the time to talk with you on the phone and/or via email to make sure your comfortable with what you want. He didn't try to upsell me on items that I didn't need. Chad answered all of my questions without hesitation, no matter how small and simple they were. Out of all the engine builders I contacted, he was the most prompt and even called me back a few times before I even decided to go with him. Great customer service and care.
The main reasons why I went with Golen Engines was that they were the right balance between price, reputation, and delivery. It was a tough choice on who to go with but Golen matched all my needs on all levels. I will say they were not the cheapest by any means, actually about middle of the road overall. I received quotes from about $4,200 to $17,000 for just the short block.
Now on to the specs...
- New GM LS2 Block
- New GM LS Crank
- Callies Billet Reluctor Wheel
- Wiseco -11cc Dished Pistons
- Wiseco upgraded Piston Pins
- K1 H-Beam Rods
- ARP 2000 Rod Bolts
- ARP Main Studs
- King Racing Coated Main and Rod Bearings
- GM Cam Bearings
- Plugged DOD Towers
- Honed to 4.005"
- Ring gap set to .022 Top Ring, .024 Second Ring
- 6 Quarts of Break in Oil
Below are pics they took of my short block being built which was also a nice personal touch.
If you are in need of a new LS style short block, check them out. Thank you Chad!
After a lot of phone calls and emails to about 12 different engine builders I decided to go with Golen Engines to build a forged LS2 Short Block for my build. Chad Golen is a great, down to earth, easy to talk to, honest guy that is willing to take the time to talk with you on the phone and/or via email to make sure your comfortable with what you want. He didn't try to upsell me on items that I didn't need. Chad answered all of my questions without hesitation, no matter how small and simple they were. Out of all the engine builders I contacted, he was the most prompt and even called me back a few times before I even decided to go with him. Great customer service and care.
The main reasons why I went with Golen Engines was that they were the right balance between price, reputation, and delivery. It was a tough choice on who to go with but Golen matched all my needs on all levels. I will say they were not the cheapest by any means, actually about middle of the road overall. I received quotes from about $4,200 to $17,000 for just the short block.
Now on to the specs...
- New GM LS2 Block
- New GM LS Crank
- Callies Billet Reluctor Wheel
- Wiseco -11cc Dished Pistons
- Wiseco upgraded Piston Pins
- K1 H-Beam Rods
- ARP 2000 Rod Bolts
- ARP Main Studs
- King Racing Coated Main and Rod Bearings
- GM Cam Bearings
- Plugged DOD Towers
- Honed to 4.005"
- Ring gap set to .022 Top Ring, .024 Second Ring
- 6 Quarts of Break in Oil
Below are pics they took of my short block being built which was also a nice personal touch.
If you are in need of a new LS style short block, check them out. Thank you Chad!
04-18-2018, 08:27 AM
#20
It took just over 3 weeks to get my short block from Golen Engines. When I received my short block, it was packaged well, no damage at all. We used RL Carriers for delivery.
Once I got it off the crate, it was time to get to work. First thing I did was to apply some assembly lube to the cam bearings before I installed the cam. As you can see in the one pic, I used a dowel rod and taped a piece of old t-shirt onto the end to pre-lube the cam bearings, worked like a charm.
I even used a little lube on the back on the rear cover where the cam can/may contact for added precaution. Once I got it on the engine stand, for a few moments I was in awe, it was a work of art, so purty... lol
With all the headaches I've had as well as other people with Comp Cams with the infamous cam whine issues, I went with Cam Motion for my custom turbo cam. Kip is a stand up guy, easy to talk to. We ended up going with a 226 232 115lsa cam. Should work rather well for my Forged 364ci LS2 and Turbonetics Billet 7575 BB.
Once I got it off the crate, it was time to get to work. First thing I did was to apply some assembly lube to the cam bearings before I installed the cam. As you can see in the one pic, I used a dowel rod and taped a piece of old t-shirt onto the end to pre-lube the cam bearings, worked like a charm.
I even used a little lube on the back on the rear cover where the cam can/may contact for added precaution. Once I got it on the engine stand, for a few moments I was in awe, it was a work of art, so purty... lol
With all the headaches I've had as well as other people with Comp Cams with the infamous cam whine issues, I went with Cam Motion for my custom turbo cam. Kip is a stand up guy, easy to talk to. We ended up going with a 226 232 115lsa cam. Should work rather well for my Forged 364ci LS2 and Turbonetics Billet 7575 BB.