🔧 BUILD LAME Turbo V6 Camaro

General Information

Hello! Welcome to the shit show! I am updating this post in 2021 to explain what new readers are about to witness. If I knew that this thread and build were going to explode into what it is today, I would have started it out a lot different.

This car was (and still is) a basket case. The whole inspiration for starting this project was to start learning how to modify engines in a car that I didn't like. That way, if and when I screwed up, I wouldn't be ruining a nice car. It spiraled out of control from the first moment that I felt boost. I loved what I had created, but it took a ton of work to get to where I was. As soon as I got the car running nicely I was always saying "I'm going to fix______, and THEN I'll just enjoy driving it." You know the drill. Drive, break, fix, repeat! Before I knew it, I enjoyed driving and working on this turd more than the nice car I was trying to preserve!

The point is that the focus of this thread shifts A LOT. To complicate matters, I never have just one ongoing project open at a time. I listed some thread contents with links below. I will update this as new milestones or big updates happen. Just know that even if you click on the shortcut, you may have to scroll past other project posts to reveal the outcome. There are also some mini-projects and very helpful advice from other members in between, so read the whole dang thing if you want!

2018-2019
1. A late introduction
2. Discovering how a PCV works (and plugging it)
3. Custom grill for intercooler
4. Fuel pump trap door
5. Learning that I'll never learn anything from my goofy wide band gauge
6. Deleting AC completely, but retaining heat
2020
7. Low profile heater hose fittings
8. Deleting an air bag without setting a light on the dash
9. Starting a second round of floor repairs
10. ABS delete and line lock installation
- A separate thread for the electrons
11. Installing catch cans with nice brackets (Way overkill)
12. Figuring out the "blow by" problem once and for all (F-body intake plug)
13. Second clutch job, first rear cover job, and preliminary transmission swap research
14. Floors are "done", and Interior is installed.
15. I don't know how to tune, but this wide band might help.
16. Poly trans mount. Yeah, it actually deserves a link.
17. I waved the tuning white flag. Dyno Brian sets me straight!
18. T5 Pro5.0 shifter
19. New shifter was too much fun. OG T5 explodes, and my transmission conversion ideas start to get serious.
-TKX conversion
-TKX swap official write-up
20. Reconfiguring my exhaust for a quieter and less leaky future
21. I'm not done enjoying this car for the year, so I install a $100 T5 instead of a bulletproof conversion. SPOILER ALERT: It only lasts two months.
22. Minor repairs/updates that make the car livable (lighting, stereo, speedometer re-zero, and a clutch master cylinder that actually does it's job!)
23. Wheels and addressing rust again since I got time!
2021
24. Custom center caps
25. 1.9 roller rockers and LS6 springs
26. CAI V2.0
27. TKX is delayed so it's time to address the little annoyances.
-OE pan is junk. Dorman pan gets hot rodded
28. TKX is still delayed, so I install just one poly engine mount and beef up my flimsy turbo drain plumbing
29. TKX does NOT ship the following Monday. Flywheel bolts upgraded to ARP M10 x 1.0
30. When you're on a Chinese garbage budget, you better be ready to work harder. (Oil drain fitting hot rodding)
31. Finally repairing the oil sender pig tail, replacing the other engine mount, and test fitting the TKX.
32. Finally addressing rear brake lines while I wait for more transmission parts.
33. Modifying an ICM for a WOT box
34. Dash gets re-instrumented so that diagnostics become possible.
35. N2MB WOT box
36. Porked crank key. PSA: Be careful installing your balancer!
37. Car runs great after plug change, but the rear main seal needs to be changed again.
38. BURNOUT! Also, I kinda bought a cam.
39. Turbo drain finale (better be) and full exhaust commenced
2022
40. Downpipe V3 and BMR strut tower brace
41. Panhard bar and relocation for bro truck exhaust
42. Muffler, driveshaft, torque arm, and giving up smoking.
43. First trip to the GS Nationals (feat. time slip)
44. The very custom AC project is born
45. New dyno results (up 50 hp!)
46. Exhaust hanger repair before Michigan/S.S. Badger/Wisconsin trip
47. Sizing a better turbo
48. Painting but still not installing the IS3 heads and Monster clutch unboxing
49. Firewall brace
50. New ECM
2023
51. Out of storage and SC engine buy failure #3
52. Modified double roller and spitballing crankcase evac ideas
53. Completing the rear suspension. UMI rear control arms.
54. Cracked headers and L32 swap begins
55. My newest L32 was trash. I'm upgrading the L36 instead
56. Side project: The ultimate-ish intake manifold takes shape


Now back to 2018!
1688935182526.png


Now that this car is running and driving, I figured I would start a thread dedicated to all the questions I’m about to pummel this group with. This is the first time I've really built anything to move quicker than stock, so I'm hoping to learn a lot from you guys before I make unnecessary mistakes. I also have a thread in the Turbobuick.com 3800 section, but I'm not getting as much input there due to a lack of audience. Here goes nothing...

The car I have is a 2002 Camaro with only ONE factory option (rear window defogger). The story supposedly goes that my buddy's dad was looking forever for a new Camaro because he never buys anything for a penny more than the best deal. He almost ran out of time as this was the final model year for the F-body, and '03s were already on the market. The dealer from which he found this car bought it for the sole purpose of being able to advertise "Brand new Camaros for under $10k", so this was the one he took home.

Fast forward to 2018. The car was structurally a wreck from living in the rust belt, but has a great interior, okay black paint, a third pedal, a 3800 (which is a plus in my book), and a lot of sentimental value since I remember riding in it when it was brand new. My buddy’s dad handed me the keys in hopes that I would enjoy it and make it a race car. To be honest, I don’t care for F-bodies, but I couldn't resist this one for the reasons above despite knowing that the floors were in desperate need of existing again.

I already had my dream car which is a 1986 Buick Regal Grand National. As much as I love that car, I like it the way it is in fairly stock form and modifying Buicks has gotten terribly expensive anyway. I figured a black 3800 Camaro could easily fulfill my childhood dreams of racing a badass turbo Buick V6 car while being on a budget, so here I am.

The car is now equipped with:
-6765 ebay turbo
-Precision PW40 wastegate
-Custom turbo exhaust utilizing a stock Camaro and FWD manifolds
-Air to air ebay intercooler
-AEM 50-1200 fuel pump
-Siemens Deka 80# fuel injectors
-Open 3” downpipe
-Custom 3” charge pipes
-Intense mail order tune
-Very ugly but functional upright radiator conversion (the core support was all just rust anyway) :dunno:
-Custom space saving AC delete without bypass pulley
-Midwest Chassis bumper support modified to mount my intercooler
-Spec Stage 1 clutch kit

The car is far from refined and has a lot of little issues to sort out, but I will leave the first post as sort of an introduction to that. I hope you enjoy hearing about it. It’s been fun to build!

Cgge0Pb.jpg


uapwiw2.jpg


08tL6Rj.jpg


7zXNhuZ.jpg


PVLQyzg.jpg

sktchy

⚠️🫠
TCG Premium
Jul 27, 2021
7,514
11,710
I guess that makes sense as a measure to see if your can is letting it all off or not. But with as good as your compression numbers are and if it's not smokin out the catch can and the plugs are clean I would think it's in the turbo. If it was actually burning oil or even super rich the e85 isn't gonna wash all of it away and it'd still darken em up pretty good. Turbo is a little harder to see where the turbine wheel and housing are gonna be black anyway and the Temps cooking it as soon as it comes out but with your oil pressure I could easily see it it pushing past the thrusts and going out the exhaust especially when warmed up.
 
  • Like
Reactions: v6buicks

v6buicks

TCG Elite Member
TCG Premium
Oct 22, 2018
6,268
15,469
Franklin, IN
Real Name
Jon
Everything on the turbine side is actually rusty and not black. It makes me wonder if it's not oil smoke and just burning a light amount of coolant, but I should be seeing it in my tiny reservoir.

Yeeeahhhh. Smokey had the smoking problem earlier in the year that turned out to be caused by a combination of several leaks. Back then it was smoking out the hood. After fixing that, everything was great for most of the spring and summer. Now it's smoking out the tail pipe, so I'm positive that this is a new thing.
 
  • Like
Reactions: sktchy

v6buicks

TCG Elite Member
TCG Premium
Oct 22, 2018
6,268
15,469
Franklin, IN
Real Name
Jon
Now this was almost 10 years ago but I’m pretty sure I blocked a passage in the lower intake, double check that one in the rear of the intake on the gasket surface
Thanks. I'll do the leak down test first. If that looks good, I guess pulling the upper intake off won't be terrible at this point. I know for sure I didn't plug anything in the lower intake. I just made the PCV plug and plugged the TB passage.
 

1quick

TCG Elite Member
TCG Premium
Jan 29, 2008
26,554
24,015
coal city
Thanks. I'll do the leak down test first. If that looks good, I guess pulling the upper intake off won't be terrible at this point. I know for sure I didn't plug anything in the lower intake. I just made the PCV plug and plugged the TB passage.
I prefer to run valve cover breathers over a catch can as long as your not blowing a shit ton of oil out, I run breathers on all my coyote cars also
 

sktchy

⚠️🫠
TCG Premium
Jul 27, 2021
7,514
11,710
I don't think I ever blocked anything in the lower, but I plugged the whole damn hole in the upper, like welded the tip shut and then jammed the hole where it sits full of jb weld and rtv clear up to the top to make sure it stopped everythinggggg. Where you just did the hole in the valve itself maybe it's the seal around it? I think I remember having issues with that and that's why I ended up doing what I did.
 

1quick

TCG Elite Member
TCG Premium
Jan 29, 2008
26,554
24,015
coal city
I don't think I ever blocked anything in the lower, but I plugged the whole damn hole in the upper, like welded the tip shut and then jammed the hole where it sits full of jb weld and rtv clear up to the top to make sure it stopped everythinggggg. Where you just did the hole in the valve itself maybe it's the seal around it? I think I remember having issues with that and that's why I ended up doing what I did.
I tapped the holes and put pipe plugs in them
 
  • Like
Reactions: sktchy and v6buicks

v6buicks

TCG Elite Member
TCG Premium
Oct 22, 2018
6,268
15,469
Franklin, IN
Real Name
Jon
I don't think I ever blocked anything in the lower, but I plugged the whole damn hole in the upper, like welded the tip shut and then jammed the hole where it sits full of jb weld and rtv clear up to the top to make sure it stopped everythinggggg. Where you just did the hole in the valve itself maybe it's the seal around it? I think I remember having issues with that and that's why I ended up doing what I did.
Yeah, doing it the way I did was slightly regretful because I always remember that the stupid oring is still there. I didn't consider plugging it in any other way because that mod was done back in my "I don't really give a shit. Just make it faster." era. Perhaps it's time to change all that. Maybe I'll pull the UIM off and find a bunch of oil in the plenum. Wouldn't that be nice!

Well now I have two smarter people suggesting that there's a third hole. Leak down test may be quicker, but I suddenly have the urge to pull the intake off. I'll take any motivation I can get. Manifold comes off tonight!
 

sktchy

⚠️🫠
TCG Premium
Jul 27, 2021
7,514
11,710
So, if you wanna find a leak in your upper maybe boost test it before you decide to peel it off of there, I would think that if it's sucking oil through there it would have to have somewhat of a vacuum leak to go along with it. I know mine did when I was having issues. What is your idle vacuum anyway? If it's less than 20 you might be onto somethin
 

Mr_Roboto

Doing the jobs nobody wants to
TCG Premium
Feb 4, 2012
25,677
30,578
Nashotah, Wisconsin (AKA not Illinois)
The idea that it's using coolant would make me more nervous than the oil idea. Got any stuff to do a pressure test? When you pull the plugs I'd look for evenness. I'd think that you'd find some sign of that happening unless of course you have a crack in an exhaust port or something.

Still stock HGs/bolts?
 
  • Like
Reactions: sktchy

v6buicks

TCG Elite Member
TCG Premium
Oct 22, 2018
6,268
15,469
Franklin, IN
Real Name
Jon
I don't think it's coolant because all the plugs looked the same. Kinda shitty but the same nonetheless. The coolant level in my reservoir also should show it if I'm losing any at all, and I haven't needed to top off since replacing the radiator cap months ago.

Stock head gasket and bolts on one side, fel-pro head gasket and bolts on the other side. According to old folk lore, I'm pushing the fel-pro side to the very limits.

I like the idea of just pressurizing the installed intake with the rockers removed. I can probably cut/drill a piece of wood that bolts in place of the throttle, stick and air qc on it, and listen for excessive air coming out the catch can. If nothing, I guess I can look elsewhere?
 

v6buicks

TCG Elite Member
TCG Premium
Oct 22, 2018
6,268
15,469
Franklin, IN
Real Name
Jon
1quick 1quick I have ZZP studs and the better L67 gaskets on the shelf. I just haven't wanted to bother installing that stuff until recently. I've heard that the factory torque for both L67 and L36 seems to hold up to just about anything, but stock replacement parts get a little hairy. My understanding is that replacement L36 gaskets and bolts are shit. The true L67 replacement gasket is supposedly good, but you'll need to back it up with studs if you want to make a decent amount of power. Do I have this information right?
 

1quick

TCG Elite Member
TCG Premium
Jan 29, 2008
26,554
24,015
coal city
1quick 1quick I have ZZP studs and the better L67 gaskets on the shelf. I just haven't wanted to bother installing that stuff until recently. I've heard that the factory torque for both L67 and L36 seems to hold up to just about anything, but stock replacement parts get a little hairy. My understanding is that replacement L36 gaskets and bolts are shit. The true L67 replacement gasket is supposedly good, but you'll need to back it up with studs. Do I have this information right?
I used to use victor renz gaskets I probably spelled the name wrong, they were the good material that gm used for the original oem l32 gaskets, it’s been a really long time since I e dabbled in 3800’s so my memory is a bit fuzzy on the details
 
  • Like
Reactions: v6buicks

1quick

TCG Elite Member
TCG Premium
Jan 29, 2008
26,554
24,015
coal city
For what it's worth as far as head gaskets 45 65 85 85 ft lbs is holding ebay gaskets and bolts just fine for me. I feel like you've gotta fuck up good to take a head gasket out of one of these.
Running 20-30lbs of boost with more than base timing used to be a recipe for head gaskets failure
 
  • Like
Reactions: sktchy and v6buicks

Thread Info