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Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
Your are correct my friend on all the above, why are we having this huge debate over cooling fans and radiators. And now when a T-stat opens. It appears to me that both of us have a combo that is working great without any overheating issues. Now wasn't that the OP issues? But like I said you are correct too.
You must be mistaking, I'm not dumb, stupid, or slow on the up keep. Crazy maybe! I do know that T-stats do not open right at their advertised * and that any given car will not run exactly 160*.
No worries, just a miscommunication. Raunchtastic sorry, I don't want to mislead you in any way. Good luck, I hope you get it figured out.
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
The 4.8 that I had was running a constant 195-200. The only thing I changed was a much cleaner 5.3 block, cleaner heads, and went to the car accessory drive. I did put the hood on though... Maybe I just need to put a cowl hood on, or pull the hood all together.
I haven't had the air dam on the car since I bought it 5+ years ago. First with the L03, then an LT1, now the 4.8/5.3 engines. First time it's been a problem. I'll fan one up out of sheet metal and see if it helps. I drove today and couldn't keep temps below 220. I'm also throwing every serpentine belt I put on the car (one of the pulleys is misaligned). I'll have to get it all figured out. I did hit 15psi on this build and it all seems to hold together very well!
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
Anyone having issues with the WG leaking? Mine started leaking exhaust of the dump pipe at idle. So the WG valve isn't sealing fully ugh... I pulled it and tried to get it to seal with no luck. Either the flage is warped or the WG valve isn't fully centered. But it does make sense to the weird noise I get getting into boost but it also means my AFR is not accurate and I could be losing some spool time. I'm still able to make peak boost but I can hear the leak at idle and when my cutout is closed getting into boost.
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
I have not had any issues with it leaking. Keep in mind, I had to cut the old flange off and weld a new one on because of discrepancies in what was sent to me. I have had the wastegate in an off a few times due to motors failing/blowing up, and it still seems to seal well. My exhaust is much quieter now that it goes all the way out the back of the car (using the summit 3" kit) so I would be able to her the engine much better. I had plans to take the wastegate off and check the springs in it, as it is supposed to be a 6psi spring and I am regularly seeing 15+, which is not ideal.
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
Originally Posted by Raunchtastic
I have not had any issues with it leaking. Keep in mind, I had to cut the old flange off and weld a new one on because of discrepancies in what was sent to me. I have had the wastegate in an off a few times due to motors failing/blowing up, and it still seems to seal well. My exhaust is much quieter now that it goes all the way out the back of the car (using the summit 3" kit) so I would be able to her the engine much better. I had plans to take the wastegate off and check the springs in it, as it is supposed to be a 6psi spring and I am regularly seeing 15+, which is not ideal.
yea I had a hell of a time sealing mine up. I lapped it for like 2 days and found out that if I assemble the WG on the car vs the bench by centering the valve in the flange, then bolt the vband to hold the gate to the hotside, install springs etc that I got it to seal at idle.
Verify the cracking pressure with a compressor. Mine was cracking at 12psi which nets me 6-6.5psi through the full exhaust and 8-8.5psi via the cutout. Mine only has one single large spring out of the 3 it was sent with. I picked up another eBay 60mm for parts and that came with 2 springs installed but had 4 total and one was much larger DIA but softer compared to the one that’s giving me 6-8psi.
If your going to run a catback then get ready for slower spool, no turbo noises and a decrease in psi due to backpressure after the turbo. A cutout will give you the best of both worlds.
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
jealous you guys are up and running. i sent my crossover and headers back to CXRacing twice and nothing they sent me back fit right. i ended up cutting the crossover and making it fit better. only problem with that is then the upper radiator hard pipe needed to be modified. the top radiator hard pipe in the CX kit has a hump in it. I cut that off and welded a straight piece to the 90 in front of the water pump. now it fits good. i want to get all the hot side parts ceramic coated, but still need to figure out where i want the O2 sensors before getting that done. been reading conflicting information on LS1tech about whether to put the sensors before or after the turbo.
next issue is i really want to keep heat in my car - mainly for the window defroster. the nipples on the water pump are right next to the downpipe. i'm going to try and pull the nipples, pipe thread the holes and use 90 degree adapters. might not work, but what do i have to lose.
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
I had the same issue with the heater hoses going right into the exhaust. I thought about drilling and tapping the front of the water pump and plugging the side, but I still wouldn't have a great way to get the hoses routed around the turbo and exhaust without going right over the engine. I plan on just keeping a microfiber and some spray in the car to clean up the windshield if I ever need to.
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
Looks good. U got more room than me between the DP and waterpump nipples, I tapped and plugged. If u want to keep them you can drill directly below each and tap for 90* nipples.
Also look into the Holley waterpump/accessory setup, there waterpump mounts all the accessories to it but it has heater ports like I just described.
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
how are you guys tuning this kit? i talked to a local shop that i plan to take the car to when it's done and he said to keep the MAF and that the two upstream O2 sensors should be at the header collectors.
i've been reading a lot at LS1tech and there doesn't seem to be a consensus on where O2s should go. Some say if you go before turbo then sensors burn up and some day O2s in the downpipe will screw up your tune because both banks are together. also seen a lot of threads on LS1tech saying to go speed density and then you don't need MAF or O2s. what's your guys thoughts?
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
I have Microsquirt as a standalone and am utilizing the auto tune feature. I started with the Sloppy Mechanics base tune for AFR target tar timing tables, then let the Tuner Studio do it's thing chasing AFRs to set the VE table.
as far as the O2 sensor placement, I have mine in the downpipe about 16" behind the turbo and it seems to work fine. I don't know if it's "correct," but it works.
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
Originally Posted by battmann
how are you guys tuning this kit? i talked to a local shop that i plan to take the car to when it's done and he said to keep the MAF and that the two upstream O2 sensors should be at the header collectors.
i've been reading a lot at LS1tech and there doesn't seem to be a consensus on where O2s should go. Some say if you go before turbo then sensors burn up and some day O2s in the downpipe will screw up your tune because both banks are together. also seen a lot of threads on LS1tech saying to go speed density and then you don't need MAF or O2s. what's your guys thoughts?
personally i went speed density open loop no o2’s. Twin turbo you can do downpipes. Single exhaust i wouldnt do any. If you did pre turbo it be ok during cruise but wot will wreck them eventually as they get hot and under pressure there. Not sure how long it would take tho. As long as they dont do anything to your wot fueling you can leave them if you want. Just keep a wide band in car af all times to verify cruise fueling and if it starts going crazy perhaps your narrow bands went bad
but speed density 2-3 bar map is more than fine on stock ls1 pcm
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
Originally Posted by Orr89RocZ
Gonna be assisting a friend with a 86 iroc 346” ls deal with this kit. Vs 7875 turbo. See how it goes. Hope to have better luck with the kit
You will be fine. I’m using mine with the Vs 78/75, it’s slightly bigger but everything fit on mine. No difference in spool time that I can tell. Boost starts at 3k with my 3k stall.
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
Originally Posted by battmann
how are you guys tuning this kit? i talked to a local shop that i plan to take the car to when it's done and he said to keep the MAF and that the two upstream O2 sensors should be at the header collectors.
i've been reading a lot at LS1tech and there doesn't seem to be a consensus on where O2s should go. Some say if you go before turbo then sensors burn up and some day O2s in the downpipe will screw up your tune because both banks are together. also seen a lot of threads on LS1tech saying to go speed density and then you don't need MAF or O2s. what's your guys thoughts?
SD 3 bar, single 02 18” after the turbo in the DP. Then my WB02 at the back of the motor in the same pipe for the gauge. I run the FItech ultimate LS 70050 so no tranny control, 70051 does 4l60e/4l80e. FItech does 3 bar, self learning and uses a bosch WB02 to tune to AFRs. Mines been working great and I went into boost the first time I drove it. $800 for the non tranny control which is the same price as HPtuners and u still need to learn how to tune (stock pcm works great but has a steep learning curve).
Dont bother with the MAF, just complicates the install and then you have to worry about leaks, or BOV placement in relation to the MAF. SD all the way!
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
Originally Posted by customblackbird
You will be fine. I’m using mine with the Vs 78/75, it’s slightly bigger but everything fit on mine. No difference in spool time that I can tell. Boost starts at 3k with my 3k stall.
no problem cutting welding and reworking as necessary but dont want to do much if we dont have to. Lol goal is try to get near 800 whp thru the stick shift but 700 would be fine
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
Originally Posted by Orr89RocZ
no problem cutting welding and reworking as necessary but dont want to do much if we dont have to. Lol goal is try to get near 800 whp thru the stick shift but 700 would be fine
If you dont run truck accessories it should clear the Fbody or corvette accessorys no problem. The biggest restriction will be the 3" DP... no way to run anything larger where they put it. Unless you flip the turbo/position it differently and run a fender exit and not run anything but the headers/crossover.
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
I wanted to throw an update for my car and ask for some assistance. I have been fighting two (possibly related) issues with the car. The first, is that it overheats when I romp on it. I have tried a few things to stop it from doing so, including installing a Mishimoto 3-core radiator (now while idling it will get to about 200°-205° and stay there) and made a sheet metal air dam a bit longer and wider than factory, and at a bit more agressive of an angle. With both of those items in place, as well as the hood removed, I am still hitting ~230° peak while getting on it. This is down from 250°+ prior. I don't remember what the thermostat temp is, so I have plans to change that out to a 160° or similar if I can find one, but is there anywhere else I should be looking? I have the heater core outlet and inlet plugged with NPT fittings, steam line is run to the top of the water pump, and I have verified that as much/all air is purged from the system as possible.
the second issue is that once it does get warmed up (205°+) it will break up above 4000-4500. I have a new set of the NGK Br7ef plugs gapped to .028. is that still too wide? My AFR shows around 12.2 while it acts up, and it's right around 12psi. Maybe I need to target a richer AFR? If the car is still warming up, like 150°-180°, I can wind it all the way to 6k smoothly. I have PAC 1219 springs on a stock LM7 cam, so nothing wild. I'm sure it is in some related to the heat, so that may solve both issues, but I am curious about what happened everyone is running. I have had people recommend anything from .022 (which I'm thinking I'll try) to .030.
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
That’s pretty hot. I run a 160*F mr gasket but my temps are always In the 180-200*F range. It does heat up when I’m romping on it and in stop and go driving.
I want to say im running low 20s gap on my NGKs and haven’t had any issues going to 6k at any temp.
i do however see a 10-15*F difference from the stock ECT temp port and my aftermarket speedhut ECT gauge (back of pass head) and from what I hear it’s common. But the issue is my temps are misleading due to he difference and what I see via the gauge. The front of the engine driver side reads hotter so the engine is hotter than what my gauge shows.
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
so i bought the FiTech Ultimate LS EFI fuel injection system for my engine build. it came in last week so i started mocking it up this last weekend. you can read more in my build thread here: https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/memb...ml#post6251477
the main thing i didn't like so far is the fuel rails that come with the kit had loose shards of metal in them. when we looked inside, there were burrs where the rail was drilled for the fuel injectors. i tried to get a picture of this, but it was really hard to take a clear picture down a fuel rail with a phone. maybe they can be cleaned out, but i'm planning on using Holley fuel rails anyway. nice thing about the setup is the UMI LS strut tower brace i just got will still fit.
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
Originally Posted by battmann
so i bought the FiTech Ultimate LS EFI fuel injection system for my engine build. it came in last week so i started mocking it up this last weekend. you can read more in my build thread here: https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/memb...ml#post6251477
the main thing i didn't like so far is the fuel rails that come with the kit had loose shards of metal in them. when we looked inside, there were burrs where the rail was drilled for the fuel injectors. i tried to get a picture of this, but it was really hard to take a clear picture down a fuel rail with a phone. maybe they can be cleaned out, but i'm planning on using Holley fuel rails anyway. nice thing about the setup is the UMI LS strut tower brace i just got will still fit.
looks good. My FItech has been working flawlessly all year. It’s amazing how you just can increase boost 5psi or whatever and the system runs flawlessly. The self tuning for fuel is a huge time saver. The system is not user friendly as the instructions are poo but a lot of us have it down pat and the fb page helps a lot of guys out. I would have rather seen a OEM plastic intake instead of the Chinese Billet, a plastic truck or car intake wouldn’t heat soak, make more power under the curve and a boost friendly to something like 20-25lbs.
On the fuel rails ive rocked 2 sets of Billet rails and both had some form of small shard or fragment in/on them. Just use a small file or flathead to knock it off and move on.
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
i have a stock LS6 intake as well. i figure i can always switch to that later if i want - that's a pretty easy swap. i'm sure i'll have some questions when it comes to firing this thing up. that probably won't happen until next spring though.
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
I’m making a new crossover pipe for the CX kit. Decided the 3” crossover was not what I wanted. The 3” fit really close to my fans and I figured is also blocking a good bit of airflow that is hot helping the cooling of the engine. Also a possible increase in spool time is welcomed but doubt it. I also upgraded my fans to the derale shrouded kit with dual 13” SPAL fans in the hopes of some extra control of temp rise when I romp it. The CX crossover was 1/16” away from the fan motor and it’s not worth the $170 for a replacement from heat damage. The new crossover should offer more room and less airflow restriction.
Making my own 2.25” crossover (should support 900whp+ all day) got these nifty 3”vband to 2.25” vband adapters off eBay. Got 2 summit 180* u bends of 18 gauge 304ss and a vibrant bellow. It’s not really fun over by the tensioner and the adapters/reducers are 1.5” thick plus the v band flange. But it’s 90% mocked up and gave me a lot of room behind the fans.
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
Crossover is all done, welded and all. Looking into getting my own blast cabinet so I can blast for coatings. Thinking of trying creakote on it since header wrap is the worst!
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
Hey guys, by total accident I found that my front passenger primary tube on the turbo header cracked/separated 3/4 of the way around the primary at the weld. I had no idea it was leaking or cracked and didn’t see it till I removed all my header wrap. What’s weird is that I couldn’t hear it, it had no carbon trails or marks. After looking from the inside it looks like it was welded without filler rod and that had zero penetration to the inside. I have no idea if this was affecting my spool or anything but I would like to hope it would have and fixing it would help.
Only reason I found it was I pulled everything and removed the wrap so I could blast the hotside and coat it with creakote ceramic coating. But after seeing this I had to fix it and inspect everything else. Not to mention I’m prob not going to use wrap again on it bc this would have been much easier to spot without wrap!
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
I totally understand your surprise when you saw that it was cracked, my 1, 2, primary cracked the same way. The #8 and #2 primary also cracked at the collector. I repaired the crack on the #1 twice, but I added a 1 1/2" piece of stainless over top of the weld creating a strap and then I welded all the edges creating a seal giving both sides of the primary more strength. I called CX Racing about the cracking and they offered to sell me another set for $300. I also noticed all their welds are not back purged. They couldn't even tell me what type of filler rod they used to weld the headers. If you use a 304 or 309 filler rod it should work fine. Also I recommend not wrapping the headers but do wrap the crossover. Those headers are made of very thin 304 Stainless, it will make the welds a little happier. I did not re-wrap my headers and it has helped. CX Racing has a very good design but the material and technique used to weld them together is the issue. I am currently building a new hot side based of their design with a few changes using schedule 10. They still work pretty good though.
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
Originally Posted by zz17iroc
I totally understand your surprise when you saw that it was cracked, my 1, 2, primary cracked the same way. The #8 and #2 primary also cracked at the collector. I repaired the crack on the #1 twice, but I added a 1 1/2" piece of stainless over top of the weld creating a strap and then I welded all the edges creating a seal giving both sides of the primary more strength. I called CX Racing about the cracking and they offered to sell me another set for $300. I also noticed all their welds are not back purged. They couldn't even tell me what type of filler rod they used to weld the headers. If you use a 304 or 309 filler rod it should work fine. Also I recommend not wrapping the headers but do wrap the crossover. Those headers are made of very thin 304 Stainless, it will make the welds a little happier. I did not re-wrap my headers and it has helped. CX Racing has a very good design but the material and technique used to weld them together is the issue. I am currently building a new hot side based of their design with a few changes using schedule 10. They still work pretty good though.
I understand. I realized what I was getting myself into when I bought the kit. I only spent like $1100 for the hotside and turbo. Realizing $300-400 for the turbo means it’s only about $700 in the entire hotside with DP and WG plus dump. Plus it was mostly a bolt in. But I didn’t remember what the welds were like on the primaries and man it’s scary as it looks like they didn’t use any filler and im right for sure. So it’s like it might crack and I will repair it but I beat the **** out of it all summer and only the one crack. Maybe the rest will
hold up and since im not going to wrap them (just going to coat them) maybe that will help. I believe I used 308 filler on that one, no back purge and laid it on thick bc these are cheap lol.
Side note... 304SS doesn’t rust but i def got some spots of what looks like rust. U can prob see it in the pic and this is on other parts of the headers. I don’t drive in the rain so any water is condensation more than likely. I’ve started blasting the parts today so I’m seeing more and more what looks like a rust and pitting/discoloration. It also happened on some LS LT China headers I have and had coated. Prob just a cheap 304SS or some kind of coating. Eh I’ll prob change it up in a few year anyways.
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
Originally Posted by customblackbird
I understand. I realized what I was getting myself into when I bought the kit. I only spent like $1100 for the hotside and turbo. Realizing $300-400 for the turbo means it’s only about $700 in the entire hotside with DP and WG plus dump. Plus it was mostly a bolt in. But I didn’t remember what the welds were like on the primaries and man it’s scary as it looks like they didn’t use any filler and im right for sure. So it’s like it might crack and I will repair it but I beat the **** out of it all summer and only the one crack. Maybe the rest will
hold up and since im not going to wrap them (just going to coat them) maybe that will help. I believe I used 308 filler on that one, no back purge and laid it on thick bc these are cheap lol.
Side note... 304SS doesn’t rust but i def got some spots of what looks like rust. U can prob see it in the pic and this is on other parts of the headers. I don’t drive in the rain so any water is condensation more than likely. I’ve started blasting the parts today so I’m seeing more and more what looks like a rust and pitting/discoloration. It also happened on some LS LT China headers I have and had coated. Prob just a cheap 304SS or some kind of coating. Eh I’ll prob change it up in a few year anyways.
Yeah for what they are they still perform pretty good! I just keep an eye on them. I'm still happy I bought them, I have no regrets.
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
Just wanted to update my progress. Whole system was blasted and coated. And as of tonight fully installed all the way to the tail pipes. Hopefully the creakote ceramic coating does it’s job and stays on. I’m butttoning up some interior upgrades and just need to reconnect the electric cutout and install the battery before i give her a crank and verify no leaks. I decided to redo my fuel system with PTFE Fragola -6an and man that type of line is a PITA. So the new fuel system is 95% PTFE and some small Fragola fuel rates pushlock prob 1.5ft worth and she’s all done. Can’t wait to hear how the Billet 78/75 sounds! I even coated and blasted the exhaust housings on the turbos.
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
It’s just unbolting the exhaust housings from the Carteriage, Blasting and coating and done. On some models the compressior housing uses rtv to seal it which sucks as you need to remove and reapply, some have Oring gasket and some do not have anything like a step seal.
My EMUSA GT45 eBay turbo uses an Oring, never removed the CX 76/65 in the kit. My VS 78/75 cast and Billet wheel versions use the step design.
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
Short update form me. I had my 5.3 running decent, but kept overboosting and would not stay cool enough to comfortable drive it longer drives. even 30-45 minutes was too much without stopping and pouring water on the radiator. I tried to enjoy it anyway, and ended up blowing the engine at 7200rpm in a burnout. oversight on my part, I thought I had my rev limiter set to 6400 **facepalm**. Since we are on the subject of oversights, I also found out why I couldn't control boost. The wastegate was sent to me assembled. However, it was not assembled correctly. Being that this is my first serious foray into building an NA car into a turbo car, I really didn't consider the posibility that it was put together wrong. It was set up to have a vacuum line into the TOP port of the wastegate, rather than the SIDE port on the wastegate. Effectively, boost pressure was fighting to keep the wastegate valve closed, ramping up boost. After blowing up the last engine, I took the time to go through and really look at all of the components and see what I can do to improve the small quirks I had been running into.
First, I started a completely new tune to force myself to really look into what I was doing with the tuning and make sure I wasn't doing anything dumb. I actually started with one of the Sloppy Mechanics base maps for Tuner Studio. I fixed the wastegate hose routing, added a cooling fan, and the car now peaks at 6.5psi smoothly, and gets up to about 210 when continuously romping on it, but will cruise 195-200 all day. I did get a chance to tear into the motor that popped to see if it was salvageable, and it definitely is. one of the rods bent and what I thought was rod knock was actually the piston skirt tapping against the crankshaft once per rotation. This unfortunately cracked the piston, but it was still driveable, and I drop it 20 minutes to my shop to do the swap. As best as I can guess, the engine hydrolocked from excessive fuel at the upper RPMs. My intended safety net was to line the 7200rpm mark with a massive fuel spike to not go lean and detonate. Not realizing I had also set my RPM limit to 7200 meant that the massive fuel spike hitting was a very real possibility which did occur. The engine that let go appears to have been rebuilt at some point, as the pistons were coated and all the main caps and rods were marked. I have had very poor luck finding a replacement piston head, but the rod is an oem GM unit.
For now, Im just going to drive the car at the 6-7psi range to get through the month without blowing another engine up. We have a big 3rd gen show coming up at the end of the month (Third Gen Expo) and I dont want to be without a third gen for the show. After that I may start inching up to 10psi, then 14-15psi and see how it all holds together. If I can get a good, smooth, reliable setup going I may do a small build on the short block I just pulled out and drop it back in to handle bigger numbers. Or I might not. for now I just want to keep putting miles on this thing!
Thanks for posting this... I was wondering if they would upgrade it. Unfortunately I dont see much of an upgrade. They bay looks messy now with pipes everywhere. the angle of the DP looks crazy and plug access still looks difficult... only difference is they might have gained the abilitly of the stock coil wires. The collectors look nice tho. But I still see a very large 3" collectors and crossover, Wastegate position looks perpendicular to flow which is bad. The headers are nice "looking" but long tube headers are not needed for a turbo application, seems like it would hurt flow honestly. I would love for them to come out with a LOG setup with plug clearance.
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
Can you guys please post a pic of your oil feed and drain on the CX Racing turbo.
I was looking at hose routing tonight and it seems like the oil feed is at the bottom of the turbo and the drain is towards the top. Is this right? I would’ve thought it would be the other way around.
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
Originally Posted by battmann
Can you guys please post a pic of your oil feed and drain on the CX Racing turbo.
I was looking at hose routing tonight and it seems like the oil feed is at the bottom of the turbo and the drain is towards the top. Is this right? I would’ve thought it would be the other way around.
You have to loosen the compressor and exhaust housing bolts and rotate the housings till the oil feed is at the top and drain at the bottom.
Oil feed fitting is the little blue glove finger I have covering it.
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
Can one of you guys post a pic of the power wire at the starter? I ran a zero gauge power wire to my battery in the hatch but there’s not a lot of room above the starter. I’m going to get my exhaust pipe ceramic coated but don’t want to have heat problems.
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
Picks show 0 gauge ( in black tech flex loom) above the starter along the block by the bell housing. I too run a trunk battery and ran 0 gauge to the engine bay with a 3/8” terminal stud, then ran 0 gauge to the starter. No issues going on 2 years. In the picks above u can see the base of the head at the top of the pic.
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
Thanks custom! That’s what my routing looks like too. Just wanted to make sure there wouldn’t be issues.
I bought a AEM 30-4350 boost controller and seems like you have the same boost solenoid in one of the pics you posted. It looks like you have a vacuum line on side of the wastegate base and another to the inlet of the turbo. Is that correct? My wastegate has a barb fitting on the top. Was there a reason one location is better than the other? If I use the same location as you I assume I’ll have to remove and plug the top barb location. Did your turbo come with that fitting on the inlet or did you add it?
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
Originally Posted by battmann
Thanks custom! That’s what my routing looks like too. Just wanted to make sure there wouldn’t be issues.
I bought a AEM 30-4350 boost controller and seems like you have the same boost solenoid in one of the pics you posted. It looks like you have a vacuum line on side of the wastegate base and another to the inlet of the turbo. Is that correct? My wastegate has a barb fitting on the top. Was there a reason one location is better than the other? If I use the same location as you I assume I’ll have to remove and plug the top barb location. Did your turbo come with that fitting on the inlet or did you add it?
Hooked up like in the diagram on the left hand side. Allows higher than spring boost. I had to drill and tap my turbo but they have a boss area for it to be done. Some say to reference the intake manifold for more accurate boost signal (no loss from IC etc and compressors tend to read higher). But I have no measurable pressure drop at 10psi so I referenced right off the compressor.
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
yea I agree v2 looks more messy and looks like the tried to make better clearance for the spark plug wires and coils
but all the angles look crazy to me look like they tried to do something like 180* headers yea I was considering this
kit v1 but looks best to fab your own if you want best fit for not but I do applaud them for making a kit tho
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
I wasn’t super happy with my down pipe I made from the engine back and have been wanting to redesign it for more flow for the last year. Finally got around to getting the tubing and stuff and finished it up last week. I went from 2 hard 90s into 2 45 degrees, then moved the cutout a bit closer to the turbo and added a interlocking flexpipe after with a vband into the catback. Then made a new muffler swap (Borla pro XS single 3” in/out) and a new dump. Everything is stainless either 409 or 304 with a mix of both on the tubing, vband and flexpipe are all 304. Everything has been scuffed and ceramic coated and now installed. I went from like 4 band clamps to ZERO which is going to help with leaks etc and I gained clearance so no rubbing or vibrations.
Old down pipe worse than two 90 degrees Lots of clearance. New with less than two 45degree connections at the front. Muffler tail pipe coated with new hanger
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
Wow this kit looks like a nightmare. I fully intended on doing a turbo build when I swap my car but doing a turbo kit in a 3rd gen appears to be difficult. I had two different DIY kits on my 4th gen and both were super easy to make, package, and worked very well. Too bad flipped truck manifolds don't work on these cars.
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
Originally Posted by Longer02
Wow this kit looks like a nightmare. I fully intended on doing a turbo build when I swap my car but doing a turbo kit in a 3rd gen appears to be difficult. I had two different DIY kits on my 4th gen and both were super easy to make, package, and worked very well. Too bad flipped truck manifolds don't work on these cars.
Props to you guys that stuck with it though!
actually not difficult just need to do some fab work
cxracing kit is only off shelf kit available and can make
it work as is or modify it like OP
and you can use truck manifolds and or aftermarket manifolds like hooker
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
Originally Posted by Longer02
Wow this kit looks like a nightmare. I fully intended on doing a turbo build when I swap my car but doing a turbo kit in a 3rd gen appears to be difficult. I had two different DIY kits on my 4th gen and both were super easy to make, package, and worked very well. Too bad flipped truck manifolds don't work on these cars.
Props to you guys that stuck with it though!
It actually bolts right on. If you run truck accessories you need to modify the crossmember as the kit is designed for fbody or corvette accessories. My mods are due to truck accessories and I can't run a stock style exhaust route.
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
Been playing with the turbo kit the last week or two. Got everything put back and decided to recirculate the Wastegate lol. With the cutout open and hitting boost the exhaust was so loud you couldn’t hear the wastegate dump. But close the cutout and have it run through the full exhaust and then get into boost... the WG opens and sounds very loud and makes the car sound $hitty. On 12psi spring opening via bench test I get 6psi through full exhaust and it’s very easy to hit 6psi just going around, like medium throttle between 3-3500rpms. Even with the EBC bumping that to 11psi on the low setting it’s still obnoxious on the street. I thought about putting a muffler on the WG dump but given the area we don’t have any room for much unless I block behind the rad and in front of the crank pulley. But at that point it’s no guarantee that the muffler will reduce the sound enough for my liking. The WG is right on top of the dump pipe which makes it so tempting to recirculate it but the angles are crazy tight and it wasn’t very easy.
I said screw it and jumped right into it. Lots of pie cuts and 15s with a plasma cutter and we’re in. Welded it up and as you can see no room for a flexpipe. Getting it back together was fun but seems to fit pretty well, no real warping from welding. But she’s ready to go, waiting for a warm day in a month or so to fire it up and check for leaks.
I know recirculating robs power given we have small 3” DP but that’s usually at higher HP numbers and I’m not trying to get every ounce of power out of this thing. Honestly 15psi is more than enough and if i lose 30hp from this so be it. Recirculating down further is better and getting the angle right helps but there is like 3” of room here lol so I did what I could. I don’t think I’ll ever push it past 650hp which is about 15psi as I’m getting to the end of my injectors and I’m running a gen 3 motor. Now let’s hope I can get some silent boost fun on the street.
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
Originally Posted by Longer02
Wow this kit looks like a nightmare. I fully intended on doing a turbo build when I swap my car but doing a turbo kit in a 3rd gen appears to be difficult. I had two different DIY kits on my 4th gen and both were super easy to make, package, and worked very well. Too bad flipped truck manifolds don't work on these cars.
Props to you guys that stuck with it though!
Get a hooker system, bolts on with plenty of clearance
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
Originally Posted by thatsupnow
Get a hooker system, bolts on with plenty of clearance
Never seen one in person on our cars but I could imagine the ability to run a downpipe on the pass side will be super tight on the passenger side if you want to run it out a full exhaust vs a fender dump. Also I've been hearing numerous complaints about the crossover bellows blowing out very quickly. I see in your pics you have the slip fit version (no bellow) and a clamp on it so that doesn't apply to you but you have a clamp on the crossover so the crossover has no where to "grow" when it gets hot which could cause leaks at joints or break welds etc. If your going to do a slip join style crossover it needs to be a special slip fit with double overlapping layers to prevent leaks but still allow the system to "slide" back and forth as it grows and shrinks. This is the very reason you see flex joints in crossovers. I like the spark plug wire clearance with the hookers, not very happy with the placement of the Vband on the manifold on the turbo side as its below the water neck which will not be easy to run a straight style water neck. I don't like the crossover on the hookers and the manifolds are cast iron which is cheap plus it grows a lot which is the reason why so many LS motors have broken manifold bolts.
Post pics of your down pipe and if there are any clearance issues.
Re: Installation of CXRacing's LS based third-gen turbo kit
Originally Posted by customblackbird
Never seen one in person on our cars but I could imagine the ability to run a downpipe on the pass side will be super tight on the passenger side if you want to run it out a full exhaust vs a fender dump. Also I've been hearing numerous complaints about the crossover bellows blowing out very quickly. I see in your pics you have the slip fit version (no bellow) and a clamp on it so that doesn't apply to you but you have a clamp on the crossover so the crossover has no where to "grow" when it gets hot which could cause leaks at joints or break welds etc. If your going to do a slip join style crossover it needs to be a special slip fit with double overlapping layers to prevent leaks but still allow the system to "slide" back and forth as it grows and shrinks. This is the very reason you see flex joints in crossovers. I like the spark plug wire clearance with the hookers, not very happy with the placement of the Vband on the manifold on the turbo side as its below the water neck which will not be easy to run a straight style water neck. I don't like the crossover on the hookers and the manifolds are cast iron which is cheap plus it grows a lot which is the reason why so many LS motors have broken manifold bolts.
Post pics of your down pipe and if there are any clearance issues.
I'm most likely gonna do a fender dump. But it looks like there would be enough room to get a down pipe past and to an exhaust out back. Yea no flex joint, I guess hooker got rid of them altogether the first run had the Flex joint but now it's gone. Even on the website it's gone on the pictures. The water neck I'm using rotates 360*. I like the cast iron because it keeps the heat in better than a header ever could. I just got my transmission into the car last week and now I'm back at work so it'll have to wait a bit. But I should be able to finally start it up next month, as long as everything goes well up till then 😆
06-21-2018, 02:22 PM
