I guess that's something you gotta figure our for yourself. For me it is because I am scrounging for this project since I changed jobs. I either have to fix it cheap or it sits. Having the machine shop hone one then putting in eagle forged pistons and rods would be ideal for sure but out of my price range. I wouldn't mind doing a 6.0 though. People making crazy power with those just stock cam and boost. I'm hoping this one stays together for a while this time. I want to get at least 200 passes with it and some street miles. Hopefully I can keep turning the boost up on this one. Would like to get into the high teens. I'm in the market for a cheap but good blow off valve too.

 

Got it tuned up today. The 5.3 runs great and much easier to tune. The injectors don't load up the intake like they did on the 4.8. Also it uses more fuel idling so I got the pulsewidths more in the linear area of the injectors. Anyways it's nice. The stock cam makes it drive almost like stock too.





Here's a little video I made on the first drive. Just checking everything over good and testing to see where the tune was.

 

well, more power, here you come.......

 

mac 85z28, are you kidding me, he is doing this for the experience, no need to knock what he is trying, so what if he blows several engines in the process, he is trying not having it done.

I give him all the respect for trying it himself, that's how most the professionals got there start.

I say get over yourself, He has done a fine job for wait a BUDGET build! Sometimes budget builds take bad turns, So he has had one, so what, we all have and if you say you haven't, keep lying to yourself!

Kyle86, not a big fan of Turbo's took me along time to like blowers, now I have a 360 with a 6-71 with dual 750 mech on top.

Keep at it you will make all the power you want.

 

great job, keep us posted on the new numbers when you go trackside

 

90camaro355rs, Thank you for the support LOL. That 6-71 you have must be an awesome driver. I really wanted to do a blower like that however I've got a personal rule that on THIS car, it's gotta keep the stock hood, stock wheels, and overall stock appearance. It's just BEAUTIFUL like it is and IMO cannot be improved on looks wise. That's just my taste though. Also everyone hypes it up as a sleeper but IMO the exhaust gives it away. Anyways I would like to try one of the eaton magnisun blowers eventually as they are low profile and I believe Hawks has fit one under a stock 3rd gen firebird hood.

Also I will blow up and as many engines as need be to reach my goals LOL. This is only my 2nd ls engine actually, Past attempts were merely trying to cheaply put it back together. It was unreliable under high boost though. I've been thinking possibly the Mahle (perfect circle) rings I was using could have been the weak link as everything ran perfect until I started turning up the boost controller. I got the cheapest molly rings I could find (mahle), and from what I've read stock ones hold up the best. Problem is they were really expensive but if I rebuild one again with used parts, they will be getting rings from the GM dealership.

 

Ha I sure hope so, thanks

Thank you! Unfortunately the local track (ghetto one in the vids) closed down due to some tax evasion problems (whoda thunk it?) so the nearest track is about an hour away. When I get there, I will post up results. Hopefully that pesky and elusive 10 I've been after. Would be cool to just turn it up and run a 10 at like 135 with a crappy 60' lol!

 

Meanwhile somewhere in mexico.....


and inside the car..

 

 

Sounds pretty good Kyle

 

Thanks sean! This isn't my best burnout but it's really hard to figure out what the turbo is going to do. The 383 was just so simple like that. Don't even get me started on staging while trying to build boost on the line AND trying to beat the light. The car is definitely a handful but nothing some seat time can't fix I guess.

I won't be getting back to the track for a while. Wife okayed using savings provided I put the money back before it hits the track.

 

I really need to get back over there someday soon. And the is cool she is being understanding

 

nice job!

 

must. finish. car.

 

Awesome cant wait to see some more track numbers.

Jay

 

Haha thanks yall for the kind words!!

So my wife and I agreed on a track day provided I keep it "low" boost for a while since another blown motor would suck for us right now. Even on 6 psi the car is pretty fun.

What a trip! Drove 30 miles to the track on my Toyo TQ drag radials. Made 1 pass down the track with my wife in the passenger seat with me. Blew the radiator hose apart just before the finish line and still ran an 11.8 gettin on the brakes!! Tech did not like us both in the car especially with no helmets but honestly I didn't expect to go that fast on just 6psi. Rigged up the radiator hose and then it starts raining. So I drove home 30 miles in pouring rain with a steamy coolant leak, no defroster and no wipers. However the rain-x worked great and we wiped the windows on the inside and that worked okay. What surprised me is how well the toyos hooked on the track then their good traction in the rain. They drive like normal. Very impressed just wish they were more consistent on poor prep but that's probably my suspension's fault.

Oh yea weighed in at 3780 raceweight with the wife in it too. Still stock cam and stock valvesprings. Shift rpm was only 5300!!!!!!! Absolutely amazing to me still what these motors can do in stock form with such little boost.




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Oh yeah I used the 2-step to launch but only left on 1 lb of boost. The stock cam doesn't spool the turbo as well on the line as the trickflow but still happy with my 60. Fastest to date by 0.001 LOL I checked timeslips previous best was with the 383 on feb 25 2012. LOL

 

good work I have a 91 gta that im swapping a 4.8 in and I was thinking about going turbo with it as well.good work

 

So jealous of that turbo!!!! Keep the vids coming!!!

 

Kad thank you good luck with your build!! Hope mine has given you some ideas.

z28fast1 Thanks haha You're car is beast itself I watched your vid, 7.3 @ 98 is haulin me and you would make a good race!

 

Awesome! Cant complain with 11.80s on 6psi! That's what my 383LT1 ran N/A. Was a great street car. I finally started tearing into my 4.8L and I am trying to decide what I wanna do. So far cam bearings are needed (110k miles). Thinking im gonna be opening a can of worms lol

Jay

 

im not trying to hijack the topic here but.kyle do you think that you would have made close to the same amount of power if you would have went with a holset hx 35 or hx 40 turbo.

 

Why are the cam bearings necessary? Are you seeing copper? That's normal. You'll do more harm than good replacing them in most cases. They need to be line honed.

 

Jay_rich, that 383 must have been pretty wicked. Inspect the cam bearings really good because just copper showing isn't necessarily a sign of wear. Evidently the cam bearings are honed from the factory after installation in these engines resulting in the grey being wiped even on motors with barely any mileage. I know mine were like that and I researched extensively and came to this conclusion based on ls1tech threads. It is know that some people who have replaced the cam bearings because of this have spun one shortly after so some folks there are advising agains't replacing them due to just copper showing. Also mine had started chipping the #2 cam bearing but I ran it anyway with no apparent problems.

Kad5118, I have no idea if the holset would have ran as well. I think what makes the gt45 such a great match is the 1.05 ar exhaust housing and the 77mm exducer wheel. I am not really in tune with the turbo selection voodoo so I just coppied what everyone else seems to be having success with on the net. China gt45 turbo 1.05ar and ls truck engine. I don't feel like I have found anywhere near the limit of this $250 turbo. Sorry I can't be of more help.

 

It ran pretty good just a low compression 383 making 411whp.

Well the top is worn and the bottoms look fine. No copper showing from what I can see so maybe I will inspect them some more. I just quickly looked. Im sure my old vette ones looked the same and I slammed a cam in that around 95k miles.

Jay

 

Another little update. Made it back to the track yesterday and got the opportunity to race a 2014 stingray corvette on a pro tree. Was a lot of fun but really hot (95 degrees!). Fastest run was 12.05 @ 116 on 5.8 psi still stock cam and springs.

 

Pretty damn respectable numbers on super low boost! Love it! I also just picked up a 5.3L and sold off the 4.8L.


Jay

 

What kind of highway MPG did you get with the 4.8 and the 5.3?

 

Thanks Jay! It's pretty amazing back to back to see how much better the 5.3 is but cool to know that a 4.8 can still get it done.

Thilp, my speedometer cable broke so I have no idea. I was using a gps to track miles but couldn't keep my foot out of it. Would be interesting to switch to gas for a few tanks and see how the 5.3 responds. The big injectors are tricky to tune all the little stuff. Been running open loop for the most part would love to get the closed loop working right eventually. I'll let you know. 3 speed and loose stall working against me I think.

 

Got a new job wednesday. Will be turning the boost up again shortly Also the first dyno run coming soon just for kicks. I'm thinking it will just blow through this converter and give lower numbers but I'm making arrangements. Can't wait to do some more testing

 

Cruisin with the Shadow Dash running on the tablet. GPS speedometer working good Driving it to work tomorrow.

 

Any new updates?

 

Got a new job so money back in the bank (now I can afford to break it again.) I pulled the 4.8 apart and snatched my pac valves springs off so just need to swap those over then turn the boost back up and hopefully break 10.99.

Been really really hot outside though and my IATs have been getting pretty hot at the 2nd end of the track and making me nervous some, I've been hearing what sounds like spark knock but it might just be me being paranoid.

Also the car is really hard to launch consistently having to fiddle with the 2 step switch so thinking about making a relay circuit using the break light switch to make it easier. Other than all that just gettin grocerys and what not.

 

Hell yea i love this build. these people don't like mega squirt but i have had heard great success with the way these engines can run on mega squirt... Got turbos? can i tempt you to program it to do Wasted spark? how bout one of those factory ECUs can they do this? no more turbo lag, no more Competition hello people.. hahahah

 

Great attitude dude "THANKS FOR SHARING" . I assume your talking about the hot side and cold side piping Without an exhaust tube bender this how it's done even by the pros you have to cut and paste, if you want it to all fit. Under a stock hood mind you.
Seriously what part of budget do you not understand. Personally I would be proud if mine turned out have as nice. I say good on ya bud go man go fun times are coming.

 

Thanks for the kind words firehawkplus!!!! The fun times are here! I drove the car over 200 miles to a arm drop race yesterday and won a little cash for the first time. I had to drive back 100 miles in the rain but made it home in one piece thank goodness!

The cash was cool but best of all I got to knock a 2013 GT500 out of the race!!! The 660 hp and $70,000 one!! Not bad for a hack job third gen! Even though I did catch him sleeping on the line he still couldn't catch up and we were both on drag radials too! It was a blast.


Here's another view

 

nothing like doing a little pony stomping, and ruining an ego at the same time!

 

Nice kill! Glad the car is working good for ya!

Jay

 

Thanks yall! The car was actually acting up at the track after the long drive in 90 degree heat. I think the fuel pump ran too hot but felt like it was missing or vapor locking. Next upgrade for me is a 2nd fuel pump on a hobbs switch to ease the load on this little walbro that could lol I have a few ideas on how I will run it but of course it will be low buck and slightly sketchy. Thinking about just cutting a hole in the trunk pan and drilling a hole in the pickup bulkhead and running a 3/8 fuel line down next to the stocker. Then just Ying it into the stock line next to my filter and running a separate relay circuit for it.

 

was that at albany?

i'm not a fan of access holes, but understand their purpose. your car is nice man, if you do this, make a nice flip up panel with 1/4 turn dzuses to close it up tight.

 

Hey matt!! Yea us19 dragway in Albany. Thanks and you're right about the access panel. I will for sure seal it up with some foam tape and self tappers at least. I don't like the idea either but I'm not dropping the rear and tank on this car if I can avoid it. Been there done that and it isn't fun!

Btw still 6 psi and stock cam/springs. Can't wait to turn it up on some decent tires!

 

I really like your build and great write up btw. I have one very similar, 5.3 Gt-45 only I'm using MS1 and MSD-6010. Question for you, are you still utilizing the factory fuse panel in the car for your headlights and things like that? If so, how did you power that fuse panel? I'm running my fuel pump off of the factory fuse panel and obviously all the other stuff like headlights and wipers. I have other fuse panels similar to yours for my MS1 and MSD and I'd like to be able to key-on and have everything work. Also, how did you wire in your alternator?

 

I'm sharing this video!!! Total sleeper

 

I'm doing 4.8 swap too. What turbo are you using?

 

serious? did you stop reading at 86 IROC - LS 4.8/5.3?

Jay

 

Mine was a CC Quadrajet car so the wiring is different than yours. I am using the stock fuse panel to control most of the stuff like lights, etc. My megasquirt is a standalone harness.

Hey another little update. Been enjoying the car. Did another arm drop race and made it to semi-finals again. Toyo tires just can't get the job done when the other fast guys are running M/Ts. Had a ton of fun none the less!

 

Anyone know a decent cheap blow off valve to use?

 

I went with an Ebay 50mm from DNA since I was getting my turbo and blanket from them. Most seem to use them. Also Race Parts Solution has one that looks the same (tial Knockoff) But they back them and they are like $100 or so. Lots on LS1tech love them

Jay

 

BTW how is the GT45 holding up? I just got mine in and mounted, waiting to weld in my twin wastegates and start working on the 4" DP.

Decided to go stock PCM for now since my buddy is lending me his PCM and EFIlive bc his car is still a year out from being done.

Jay

 

Scratch that, sold the ebay one and picked up an Race Parts Solutions one. They had a killer Black Friday sale so I picked that up, some 80lbers and some Tial Gates! Ill post some pictures of it when I pick it up. Waiting for my speedhut gauges to be made so it may take a couple weeks before I get it.

Jay