JAYDUBB

Has anyone test fit the Gen 2 7875 on this CX Racing kit yet? I currently have a Gen 1...

customblackbird

iTrader: (15)

Dont think it will fit, the gen 2 I believe is deeper in depth compared to the gen 1, it also has a 4" Vband exhaust outlet vs the 3" on the Gen 1. Which means and adapter will be needed but on our cars the DP is at a bend and you cant push it out any further with an adapter so you would have to cut the DP vband off and some amount of tubing to provide enough room to weld on an adapter to convert the 3" DP to 4" vband to bolt to the turbo. I would weld a new 3" vband to T4 adapter and push the turbo into the battery tray more and then either dump the 4" out the fender if you don't care about noise etc. That would also provide more room to fit a bolt on adapter to the CX DP. Of course necking down the 4" outlet on the Gen 2 would be restricting it by necking it down to 3" anyways and pointless. I would leave the gen 1 and run the billet which I do which should net out 800whp as is on the 3" DP. If your wanting to make more than that I would just look at a different turbo system and just build from scratch.

JAYDUBB

OK. Cool. Im only trying to make 600-700 so my cast 7875 should be enough. Thanks sir!

JAYDUBB

Has anyone completed an install of this kit and dyno'd it? I've seen a couple of video on YouTube. Maybe 2 cars. No real info on them. Not sure if the owners are in here or not
​​​​​​...

battmann

iTrader: (9)

I’m still working on putting my car together. Was hoping to fire the engine before winter but looks like that’s not going to happen. Hopefully next spring.

Halffast05

I am in the process of getting mine put together, can anyone tell me how to hook up the wastegate & bov, if I run intake vacuum to bov it stays open.

customblackbird

iTrader: (15)

Wrong Port, gotta hook it up to the bottom/side ports... just one of them. The vacuum will help keep it close and boost will help it open.

PS: Depending on your boost I hope you don't blow up that sheet metal intake...

JAYDUBB

The BOV should be open under vacuum. And on the wastegate, the reference line should be connected to the bottom port. The top port will be used by an electric boosy controller, should you decide to use one. Hooked up the way you have it now, boost will go out of control and hurt the engine.

Halffast05

The vacuum block is coming from the bottom of the intake. Even when I had it hooked directly to the intake it did the same thing. I hope it don’t blow it 😂 I have no plans of it going over 20psi

JAYDUBB

Take the line off of the top of the wastegate and hook it to the OTHER port on the wastegate. Everything else looks fine.

Halffast05

I must be missing something, I don’t recall seeing another port on it anywhere.

JAYDUBB

Hmmmm, I dont see one in that pic either. Can you take a closer pic?

customblackbird

iTrader: (15)

not true, on a turbo application the BOV should be closed at idle and part throttle, only on closing at WOT where vacuum is higher than idle does it open.

sorry on BOV it’s only a top port, spring pressure should be 1-2” higher than idle vacuum. On a supercharged application the BOV is suppose to be open at idle due to the amount of air a supercharger produces at idle.

on the WG it’s the bottom port to intake vacuum, top port is for a boost controller.

customblackbird

iTrader: (15)

WG will have small 1/8” npt plugs on the sides below the vband clamp that holds the top hat on the WG. Remove the plug and install a nipple and hook that to the intake vacuum.

BOV only had top hat port, if it’s open at idle you need more spring pressure to close it. You don’t want it open at idle bc turbos don’t produce air pressure at idle and it would be an open vacuum sucking in anything that it can. On a supercharger so much air is being generated at idle air is being pushed out of the BOV at idle so nothing has the chance to get sucked in. Also with superchargers you don’t want to build boost till your heavy ont he throttle which makes it easier on the impeller and less drivetrain loss through the supercharger. My supercharger as making a lot of air pressure at idle and I didn’t realize it until I removed spring pressure from the BOV for it to be open at idle.

a good idea is to unbolt the WG dump and spin the WG around so u can see the valve. Put a compressor with a pressure gauge and adjust the regulator till it starts to open and then fully open. Record those numbers as that’s the bench pressure so you know what springs are in it without removing the hat which is a PITA. Your actual boost numbers will be lower than the bench readings bc you will have boost and exhaust pressure forcing the valve open earlier.

same goes to the BOV, use a vacuum gun like a mittyvac and see at what vacuum it starts to open, then add spring or washers to increase rate till it’s 1-2” opening higher than vacuum idle. You could theoretically set the boost WG and BOV without even running the combo lol. My WG had a 12psi spring and netted 12psi on bench test, real world was 6psi through full 3” mandrel exhaust, 8 psi through 7ft of 3” to a electric cutout under the pass seat. So it lost 4-6psi vs bench test due to back pressure and boost forcing the valve open. I now recirculate my WG and run a EBC and make 13psi on the same 6psi spring with 30% on the EBC. I also run the same 3” cutout and 4” catback.

JAYDUBB

​​​​​​
We can agree to disagree...
I have seen plenty of turbo setups where the BOV is slightly open at idle. Let not talk about the Procharger BOVs. If this was a MAF car and the BOV was between the MAF and the throttle body then it would be a bad thing.

customblackbird

iTrader: (15)

Works for me, no reason to have it venting at idle so I don't. Agreed on the MAF, but mine wasn't a procharger (it was a torquestorm) and they tend to build boost much sooner like a PD as I would see boost around 1700rpms which is pretty crazy so at 700rpms you could imagine the air it was pushing at idle. BOVs opened at idle and light throttle is very annoying driving the car... the street sweeper noise gets old quick. Never heard an open BOV at idle on a turbo car tho as mine are always closed but I'm sure it has some audible noise to it either air or vacuum sounding...

JAYDUBB

Ive seen some of them adjusted "tighter" because they wanted more BOV sound. Why, I dont know. MOST dont have them open except for the Procharger/Centrifugal ones, which are very annoying (We agree on that one).

battmann

iTrader: (9)

I’m planning to start my engine for the first time in the next few weeks. Got a couple questions.

1. Did you guys prime your engine first? If so how did you do it? My engine is in the car so it might be difficult to access the port on the front DS of the block to force oil in.
2. What oil are you running with this turbo kit. Seen lots of different recommendations for turbo builds over on LS1tech.

customblackbird

iTrader: (15)

1.) If you can then yes, how long has it been sitting? Was it a full rebuild? If yes and you used real engine assembly lube its not fully necessary. I would at min make sure the filter was filled prior to starting. I use a forced pressure Sealed Power oil primer when I do mine and it works pretty good for like $80 when I got mine from advance auto with a coupon a few years ago. You can also prime through the oil pressure port at the back of the block I believe but I try to go through the front by the timing cover so it goes into the oil pump for sure. This is just the intial after its been apart to fill the oil pump. When my car sits all winter say 6 months I just crank her and go.

2.) 5w30 is standard, but I've played around with 15w40, 10w30 but now I run 0w40 and the engine and turbo seem to like it. Reason is when I start the car and drive it... it takes like 20-25min of constant driving to see a decent oil temp of maybe 140*F and the max I see is 180*F (measuring in the pan) so I would rather have an oil that has a lower viscosity on a cold start bc of the turbo. Once I get engine temps to 140*F and I'm in closed loop on the Term X I start driving which is maybe 5-8min of idling and usually within 5 min after that I'm already into heavy boost and the oil hasn't even had a chance to start its warm up. The 0w40 with a GMPP HV oil pump (believe its stock with larger exit) and stock untouched 160k 5.3 miles nets me 35psi hot idle which shoots to 50psi once I give it some throttle by maybe 2k and climbs as RPMs increase.

customblackbird

iTrader: (15)

I also thought about updating this as I've changed my turbo selection. I ditched the billet gen 1 78/75 from VS (nothing wrong with it and worked good) but I was after quicker spool and more tq/hp below 5500 as I drive on the street 100% of the time. I went online and almost pulled the trigger on a borg 366 but found it wouldnt fit due to CX racings setup (366 too deep) so I looked for small frame turbos in a smaller 60-70mm size. VS racing came out with a new gen tech 70/70 which is a billet wheel small frame T4 (good for 1100hp on a smaller motor) but on a 5.3 would be good for 750hp and spool at least 500rpms sooner than the 78/75. I jumped on it $699 ish and creakoted the hot side and installed. Dropped right in with some tweaks to boost reference ports for the BOV. THis turbo is the sweet spot between a larger 76/78 compressor and a 65/75 turbine. I hooked up a 100psi transducer and welded a bung in the t4 merge adapter and did some logs to see how back pressure correlates with boost pressure. Boost comes in quick and hard and is way more responsive on the street for sure compared to the billet 78/75. I've spun as high as 6k and doesn't seem to choke it - VS said 6500 would prob be the max RPM with this turbo. According to my logs and fuel trims power is up everywhere in comparison to the 78/75 and likely making more HP/TQ. For me this is the perfect street turbo on a 5.3 and would work great with a 4.8. I would still stick with a 78/75 on a 5.7 or 6.0 of if you wanted to rev a 4.8/5.3 out to 7k+.

With this new 70/70 turbo I'm seeing pre-turbo back pressure in the 2-2.3:1 range up to about 17psi which is the highest I have taken it. I've also since gotten rid of the mushroom filter and added a hard 90 coupler a short piece of 4" and a stubby K&N cone filter.

Also anyone who has a atmospheric dump should recirculate it now lol... soooo much better being recirculated! Car is dead quiet when the WG opens and you can't tell its regulating just WEEEEEEE from the turbo. I hated hearing the horrid noise of the gate opening! Also with a 4" sinister exhaust with a 4" Vibrant Street SS muffler its pretty quiet on the road and even in boost and I see no power loss through the full exhaust.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

well i'm a little late to the party, but i finally got my car drivable this past weekend! unfortunately that was one day before winter arrived here in WNY so all i got to do was drive it back into the trailer to bring it home. spring can't come soon enough! i gotta put miles on this thing to dial everything in.

customblackbird

iTrader: (15)

Very nice! Congrats!!! Spring is gona be fun for you

battmann

iTrader: (9)

Thanks! I couldn’t have done it without all your help & input.
I really appreciate it

battmann

iTrader: (9)

got to drive my car a little bit this past weekend. only drove 8 miles so far but didn't have any major issues. i've never driven a turbo car before so i still have to learn what everything is supposed to feel and sound like. i just need to get seat time in this thing to make sure there aren't any bugs. couple things i'll have to look into:

• car seemed to have low idle when coming to a stop - like it may stall out but it never did. just feels like it needs to be adjusted higher
• had some light smoke near where the oil feed line connects to the turbo. there doesn't appear to be a noticeable leak anywhere near the turbo but something is causing the smoking
• i haven't finished installing my boost controller yet. i'm nervous about screwing up a setting so still trying to read online how this thing works to do it right
• also still need to install my catch can. waiting for my friend to powdercoat the bracket i fabricated to install it

customblackbird

iTrader: (15)

Best way to describe a turbo car for me is it feels like NA until you start to get on it and once the car transitions to the 95-100kpa mark it’s like a bungie under tension and it feels like you get slingshotted or pulled forward. Once you get used to the setup you can feel when it’s going to transition unless you stab it which it just kinda feels like unlimited power pulling you as your pulling through RPMs and getting into boost so quickly.

did you verify smoke isn’t the creakote coating or any wrap/blankets breaking in? If you have a turbo
blanket any oil on that will soak in and take a while to burn off/stop smoking.

did you verify the IAC steps at hot idle? What is your idle rpm set to? Cam duration and recommended idle rpm? The custom cam I had made said 19” of vacuum and 550rpm idle and I make 14” and 750idle lol.

make sure your catch can has a check valve as you want it to block boost from entering the crankcase during boost.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

did you verify smoke isn’t the creakote coating or any wrap/blankets breaking in? If you have a turbo blanket any oil on that will soak in and take a while to burn off/stop smoking.
I can't really tell. The smoke is coming from the top area where the oil supply fitting is. The gasket here was a little wet with oil so I tightened up all the fittings / bolts. It's definitely not an obvious leak so having trouble figuring out what's going on. I just don't want an engine fire!

did you verify the IAC steps at hot idle? What is your idle rpm set to? Cam duration and recommended idle rpm? The custom cam I had made said 19” of vacuum and 550rpm idle and I make 14” and 750idle lol.
IAC steps at hot idle are about 5 which is in the range of 3-10 suggested by FITech. Idle RPM is set to 800. Below is a picture of my cam card. I'm not seeing a recommended idle rpm. I'm also not seeing anything on here for vacuum but the FITech controller looks to be in the same range as yours - between 13 and 14 at 800 idle.



make sure your catch can has a check valve as you want it to block boost from entering the crankcase during boost.
Missed this - I drove the car yesterday for the first time since installing the can and half the breather blew off. I emailed the manufacturer for assistance in either getting the right fitting or I might just buy a new can since this is one of the few used parts I bought for this car.

customblackbird

iTrader: (15)

Responses in blue.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

I’ll have to take the feed line off and see if the hole is threaded for NPT. I’ll switch to a fitting like you said if it is. That should solve the issue - I hope.
Just checked my previous post on my phone and work computer & pictures are working for me. I’ll check again when I get home from work & try to fix.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

Made some minor adjustments with my setup. I investigated the smoke at the turbo feed. Looks like the paper gasket was seeping a little. There’s a tiny bit of oil on the blanket but not enough for me to worry about replacing it. The feed hole on this CX turbo is threaded but I’m gonna try a better gasket first. Matched up the paper gasket to Felpro 73112 at the parts store. This one is made for heat and has like a metal coating on it.



Swapped out the melting plastic wire separators with some aluminum ones I found on Amazon. They actually look nicer than the old ones which is cool.





Ordered a new Mighty Mouse Gen 5+ catch can setup. This will work with the hoses I already ran and the mounting bracket I made. Should be here next week.

customblackbird

iTrader: (15)

sounds good. Your turbo cartridge won’t see temps high enough to require a metal gasket but if it works then run it.

mightymax can is a good one and will work well.

looking at your pics… can you flip the coils upside down? Would keep your plug wires away from the headers and clean things up a bit.

I also knoticed that your vband on the driver header collector isn’t centered and looks like it’s way off. This could be causing a leak and small leaks preturbo make a big difference in performance. Attached is a pic I circled.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

Good idea about flipping the coils. I’ll have to check that out to see if that’s possible.
My DS header to crossover was a b!t$h to line up & it is slightly off. The best solution may be to fabricate a new crossover pipe that’s a little smaller diameter like you did.
I also forgot to mention that I bought a belt 1” shorter than the factory length 4th gen LS1 belt and now I have a lot more room between my tensioner and crossover pipe.

customblackbird

iTrader: (15)

Yea the crossover flex joint is Tight AS F! Maybe try putting one end attached or in a vice and yank on the other end to try and stretch it out a bit.It will be near impossible due to the flex SS outer braid but it might give you enough. If I remember mine was tight (short) and I had to pull it out as I tried to install. I welded in 3" OD pipe less than 1/2" wide into the crossover to help with sealing and aligning the Vbands. Just a few Tac welds on the inside to keep it locked and and then the friction of the inner sleeve will align it and reduce leaks. If your getting any leaks (you won't see till you take the Vband clamp off) black carbon you could try a remflex Vband gasket which are great for sealing up warped flanges as well. They are thick and can make assembly a PITA till you can crush them enough to allow the clamp to start squeezing and self center.

Nice fix on the LS1 belt. I run a dirty dingo small PS pump pulley so my belt is quite a bit shorter than any LS style belt.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

yesterday I took my car to a local tuner who has a dyno. car made 382HP at the rear wheels with 5lbs of boost. he said the torque was exceeding what his dynojet could read. I thought that was odd. does that sound right?? I was a little disappointed with my result.

my setup is as follows:
370 cu. in. LQ4 with Scat forged rods, Mahle powerpak inverted dome pistons and stock crank
Comp Cams (pic of cam card below)
317 alum heads with stock valves, roller rockers and trunnion upgrade
NGK TR6 plugs with MSD 8.5 wires
FiTech Ultimate LS 750HP (55lb injectors & 102mm throttle body)
CX Racing T76 / .81 exhaust AR
4L80e tranny with 3300 stall converter
Denny's 3" nitrous driveshaft
Moser Ford 9" with Auburn limited slip & 4:10 gears
3" Magnaflow catback

the guy charged me by the hour so I only did two hours. we spent way too much time messing with the FiTech settings. last week I got FiTech to send me the latest handheld software with the power adder tables unlocked. only problem is the procal software on the laptop doesn't display the same parameters as the handheld. for example, it looks like there are way more VE inputs showing up on the handheld vs the laptop. we had to use the handheld to change settings - which takes forever. you have to edit each line separately, then send to ECU and wait for it to load. would be way faster if you could make all of these adjustments on a laptop.
we also couldn't figure out how to data log a run. we tried following a FiTech video but when we tried to read a data log it was just blank - no data. the tuner made all of the VE adjustments trial and error by feel / sound of the car. ultimately it was running pretty good and I didn't have any hesitations, leaks, fire, broken parts, etc...
I haven't turned on the boost controller yet and the tuner thinks I could go 8lbs or more easy based on my combination of parts. probably get some more miles on the car, figure out the data logging and go back next year. could always put in a higher spring and / or upgrade the fuel injectors.

customblackbird

iTrader: (15)

The images aren't working for me so I can't see the cam card.

So on 5 lbs your at about 475 crank hp given a 20% loss through the drivetrain (it is likely higher with a 4L80 and 9" as both are terribly inefficient. I would expect you to be at or around 400HP so 5lbs should be about 50-75hp higher than what you got. THis could be a few things but without the cam data its hard to say. Your motor is large for that turbo though and your limiting the exhaust side pretty bad so there is a good bit of power to be picked up there. Do you have a cutout? I would have opened that up as well as I picked up quite a bit of power with the cutout on a 3" catback and I was running a larger 75mm exhaust and .96AR. Something does seem off as even if I guessed a 220 ish cam which is mild for a 370 that you should be in the 400-425hp range NA. I believe its a tune or turbo exhaust size issue and lots of BP preturbo. Did your tuner verify fuel changes with the Fitech O2? Or he could have put one in the tailpipe or something and made VE changes based on the 02 readings which would be fine. I bet if you put a pressure sensor/gauge before the turbo that thing was easily 3.5:1. On a 78/75 .96AR I was seeing 2.5:1 which is high and that was on a smaller 5.3 or 325. When I upgraded to a 70/70 .96AR the BP stayed the same but this is due to higher efficiency exhaust wheel design. For you I would be looking at a 78/75 .96 MIN (depending on your RPM range) and you would benefit with a larger exhaust wheel like a 80-83mm and a .96-1.25AR. Did you verify when boost was coming in? With the .81AR on a 65mm wheel it should have been almost off idle but your 3300 stall would have pushed that out a bit.

The laptop should be used and should unlock more perimeters than the handheld for sure. Once you use the laptop you can't trust the handheld anymore. During a run hit the datalog start but pushing the toggle in, then push it in to turn it off. If you don't have a datalog folder on the SD card you need to create one for it to download too. Maybe you can reflash the SD card with the basic default fitech settings and see if the datalog file comes up also. On the laptop you don't have to "send to ECU" after every change (as long as you don't change tables)... you can make a bunch of changes to the VE table and then send to ECU before closing out. Then click read ECU to verify the changes took place. I haven't played/used the fitech in 2 years (as I moved to Holley TermX on all my cars) but I NEVER updated it and kept it with the original software and never really hand any issues. Once I started with the laptop I only used the handheld as a info display and for datalogging. But I do remember making lots of changes to the VE table and then sending to ECU and reading ECU all looked fine. I will tell you that the Holley is much better/easier to use. Transferring learn fuel data to the VE table is literally 1 button click and save.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

weird you can't see the pics. they show up for me on my phone and desktop. here's all the cam card info:
CompCams
Eng: Camshaft, LS1 Chevy LS1/Gen III '97-up Part #: 54-000-11 Ser #: I 1118-15
Grind #: LS1 13017R / 13474R HR 112.0
Intake Exhaust
Valve Adjustment Hyd Hyd
Gross valve lift .613 .630
Duration @
.006 Tappet lift 277 285
Valve timing Open Close
@ .050 Int: 3 BTDC 43 ABDS
Exh: 49 BBDC 1 ATDC
These specs are for cam installed @ 110.0 intake center line
Intake Exhaust
Duration @ .050 227 231
Lobe lift .3610 .3710
Lobe separation 112.0

i do have a cutout, but the switch to work it isn't hooked up yet so it was closed. i don't have a pressure gauge before the turbo. did you install one on your setup? what would i need to do that - weld a bung in the pipe after the crossover merges with the PS header?
the tuner was trying to watch the dashboard gauges on the laptop software to confirm AFR at kpa but was having a hard time watching / remembering all the numbers during the run. we would have loved to just use the laptop for tuning, but since the laptop and handheld weren't displaying the same settings / parameters we weren't sure how to edit and defaulted to using the handheld because it was showing more information.
a data log would have helped tremendously. we tried doing a log on the laptop, but kept getting an error. it seemed to work taking a log on the handheld, but couldn't find the file afterwards. i think i may have figured out this issue yesterday though. i believe the logs were being saved in a different folder on the handheld than what was being shown in the online FiTech help videos.
if i switched to the Holley system i would have to rewire everything right? that doesn't sound fun, but might be worth the switch over this winter to avoid the issues and lack of tech support i'm running into. UGH!

customblackbird

iTrader: (15)

Yea, thats a mild cam for a 370 cuin but it should still make over 400hp NA. What intake do you have on it?

I think its your exhaust housing and a tuning issue possibly. Like I said I wouldnt trust the handheld once you start using the laptop and then only use the laptop. THe handheld just becomes a gauge or a way to datalog.Glad to hear you found the logs, I would have looked through every folder on that thing lol. What do the logs show?

Yes, for pre turbo pressure you can use a mechanical gauge or an electric and just need a place to tap into the pre turbo exhaust. I didn't have any 02 bungs pre turbo or tapped holes so I drilled and tapped my 304SS 90* turbo elbow for 1/8NPT and installed a 100psi pressure transducer there. I then installed another sensor in a spare O2 sensor right after the turbo that I wasn't using. The holley makes this easy as you can add inputs/outputs and configure but since this is temporary I used the Oil and fuel pressure sensor plus on the harness and that way when I datalogged I could see in real time pre and post turbo pressure with RPM etc. I did mine just for testing as I wanted to pick the best turbo for my application and wanted to measure pressure ratios with different combos. On the fitech if you have a pressure sensor (can't remember if they have a Oil pressure or something) you can use that and install the sensor and log that way. If you have a gauge that does boost you can use that too, just use a copper pressure gauge tubing kit and coil it up and attach to the gauge. Most digital gauges have a peak recall so you can look back and see what the MAX back pressure is and what your max boost is in the log and at least know that info.

Holley is new wiring but since it basically uses the same hookups as the fitech your just swapping out. Holley would need battery/ground main hookup, then keyed 12v and basically runs the harness out to the engine and ECU. I think I swapped mine out in a day and was up and running but mine was accessible so the swap wasn't crazy. The holley only uses one 02 tho so it actually works out better for single turbo setups if your running a dual now. If you decide to go this route get the kit with the handheld as you get the handheld for very little extra $$ (on its own its like $500 or something crazy) then get the holley canbus to USB cable for laptop tuning which is $60. I run a canbus splitter on my 78 vette so I can leave the handheld plugged in and keep the laptop cable hooked up if I need it. I strictly tune with the laptop on the firebird so no handheld and I mostly use the laptop on the vette as well. THis was my first startup with the holley on the firebird

battmann

iTrader: (9)

Sooooooo… I already have a project I’m hoping to complete this winter.



Bought this Terminator X Max system since it was about $200 off as part of Holley’s Fall Harvest sale. It’s going to replace my current FITech Ultimate LS system. I found the FITech setup not exactly user friendly based on lack of customer / community support. Everything I read online raves about the Terminator system’s options and expandability along with Holley’s customer and community support. Figured I better make the switch now before I get any further with my build and it becomes more difficult to rework all the wiring.
Can’t believe I’m taking steps backwards on my project again. I HATE WIRING!!

thatsupnow

You'll love the Holley system better than the Fitech unit. Holley definitely has the user friendly market cornered. And you can get pretty creative as you how you run cooling fans, transmission cooler fans etc etc. I considered going with the Terminator x max but instead went with the Dominator ECU. I found out right quick that the 4 I/O wasn't gonna be enough for my build. Plus I was originally running 120# low z injectors which the termi can't run

customblackbird

iTrader: (15)

You made a wise choice, love the termX so far. Your basically reusing most of your connection points from the Fitech so you might just need to extend some wiring to make connections but its just running the new harness which you could follow the fitech's current path. when I did mine I pulled the fitech and had the holley up and running in less than 1 day or a few hours. Make sure you get the holley alternator charging harness its like $15 or so and just hook it up to a switched/ignition 12v source so your alt charges correctly.

Carnage87

So how is the holley ecu install going so far?
I came across this thread as I finished my LS swap last fall and was looking into the CX racing kit. Getting this thing into Canada is Expensive! I already have the holley termX and the motor was built for boost, the NA setup just won't cut it...
still debating on the CX racing or not..

thatsupnow

Grab the hooker turbo setup. Much better than the CX racing stuff and much cheaper. I got it in my car the thing fits great.

On another note why does it seem everybody gets into the entry level Holley termiX systems instead of an HP or superior Dominator ECU?? Is it cause they are cheap or what??

anesthes

iTrader: (12)

I mocked the hooker up on my car, and I just couldn't see how to make both the crossover and the downpipe work.

This was before I did the vintage air heater box though. But still. And the fabrication around the water pump would put the turbo kind in a spot I didn't like.

But if my setup proves itself to not work well, I'll likely give the hooker a try again.

3rdGenLSX85

Figured I would add to this with my experience with the kit, just got half way installed this last weekend. Running the updated version from cx, and I'm running into clearance issues on the driver's side header, runs right into the brake booster. Has anyone else had this issue? Other than that, everything seems to bolt on pretty nicely.

​​​​​​My setup is a 4.8 ls with texas speed valvetrain, 4l80, and a fabricated 9in rear end.

thatsupnow

Man oh man that cx racing kit just screams insane under hood heat

customblackbird

iTrader: (15)

Holley is much better than the fitech. I now have two vehicles running it. I have the fitech in the box when I need to set an engine up on the engine test stand. I wouldnt get the gen 2 CX kit as I don't like how they have it all plumbed and messy under the hood. I like the Gen 1 kit and still run it. The holley manifold would be nice if it came in stainless, the summit manifold is stainless but puts the turbo up too high on these cars.

customblackbird

iTrader: (15)

The TermX when I got them was under $1k for the ECU and harness. Does everything I need it to plus more. 99% of ppl on the street don't need a Dominator ECU which are over $2k just for the ECU. TermX can do boost by gear or RPM, configurable input and outputs, datalog, and they are expandable.

battmann

iTrader: (9)

The FITech kit is decent if you just want a basic system to run an LS you swapped into something. If you have power adders and are wanting adjustability in your tune or expandability down the road, a Holley system is much better suited for that. At least that's my take after running the FITech system for a year. I originally purchased the FITech kit to try and save some money since it came with the ECU, harnesses, intake manifold, throttle body, fuel rails and injectors. The Holley system is just the ECU and harnesses.
Seems like every time I try to save money - it never works. I'm switching to the Terminator X Max system right now. From now on I'm just going to buy the parts I want initially. Worse than spending more money is the time and effort required to redo stuff that was already finished.

customblackbird

iTrader: (15)

How's the car running Battmann?

battmann

iTrader: (9)

still working on making the switch. first i had to remove the top end of the engine and drop the dash to remove the FITech system and install the Term X harnesses. the Term X harnesses had more wiring connections and relays.





while i was working in the engine bay, i upgraded my fuel injectors to 80lbs Deka ones and added a fuel pressure sensor for the Term X. i also worked on cleaning up some wiring, installed more sleeving and adding some circuit breakers for protection. i've been using Techflex F6 for the sleeving. i'm pretty sure it's the same product that the Term X harnesses use. i was able to route the new wiring so the Term X ECU mounts in the factory location. some of the relays were able to be mounted next to the factory defrost relay on the dash for easier future access.





i have a few more connections to make and then have to figure out how to set a base tune. i don't have any experience with Holley's EFI software so i'll have to do some internet research. if all goes well, i should be able to try and start the car again in the next week or two. *fingers crossed*

customblackbird

iTrader: (15)

Looks good! Wow that’s a lot of work lol. I could access the stock PCM location from the pass footwell. I would get a 100psi transducer for the oil pressure so you can log that as well. I’ve used low dollar and Amazon cheapo with great success. I also use them to log
Pre and post turbo backpressure for a while and they worked great. I know your turbo is a bit on the small side so maybe you shouldn’t lol otherwise the numbers might scare you. Your coil wires are pretty close to the turbo headers no?