BUILD LAME Turbo V6 Camaro
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Yep. Pm me when you figure out how much you want for it. I was considering relocating to the FWD position since a have a great excuse and that spot is wide open. I just don't think I'll have fun extending and rerouting that part of the harness.
I've got a couple front wheel drive ones sittin around as well as I've thought about goin that route myself to clean up the wiring and put my pretty but worthless zzp coils on blast so if you want one I can make that happen too. Message me your address again and I'll send it your way. My pile of busted motors is good for somethin once in a while 
I figured it out.
Two exhaust valve stem seals popped off on the same bank. The rest were good. Either these shitty Fel-Pro stem seals just can't hang and happened to show it in a convenient way or my valve guides are going bad. Neither are exactly unbelievable. The seals did not click in nice like a GM part would, and this head came from a known bad engine (weak rings). Since it's only two seals, I'm thinking that I'm just going to remove those springs, push the seals back on and see how long they last. I'm guessing not long, but I'm not ready to replace the heads yet. I want to do some driving while the air is cool!
Two exhaust valve stem seals popped off on the same bank. The rest were good. Either these shitty Fel-Pro stem seals just can't hang and happened to show it in a convenient way or my valve guides are going bad. Neither are exactly unbelievable. The seals did not click in nice like a GM part would, and this head came from a known bad engine (weak rings). Since it's only two seals, I'm thinking that I'm just going to remove those springs, push the seals back on and see how long they last. I'm guessing not long, but I'm not ready to replace the heads yet. I want to do some driving while the air is cool!
That's somewhat common with aftermarket seals. I've never had it happen, but seen it on other cars. Prj sold a set of seals that fit a little tighter and stayed on much better. Wish you could still get them.
You could clean them up real good and try a small dab of rtv under them. Or maybe anerobic sealant would be a bit better.
You could clean them up real good and try a small dab of rtv under them. Or maybe anerobic sealant would be a bit better.
I stuck those two seals back on with anaerobic sealer and pried on the others with a screwdriver. None of the others were a problem yet, but some were starting to move their way up the stem. I'm glad I'll just be installing all new heads soon.
I have yet to sell the ST5 cam. I admittedly don't have it listed for a good deal, but nobody is making offers either.
I have yet to sell the ST5 cam. I admittedly don't have it listed for a good deal, but nobody is making offers either.
Yeah those seals you need to install and then kind of use a pocket screwdriver to push the band all the way down in its Groove and you have to help kind of close it up to compress the valve seal material.
Heavy valve guide Lube also means that it doesn't quite burp and so there's a pocket of compressed air in there when the engine heats up it expands and lifts the seal off of the guide with the heavy assembly Lube.
Heavy valve guide Lube also means that it doesn't quite burp and so there's a pocket of compressed air in there when the engine heats up it expands and lifts the seal off of the guide with the heavy assembly Lube.
Funny how things work. I made that last post, and a guy messaged me not only wanting my ST5 but also had an ST2 to trade me! It's a done deal. It's not really what Mr_Robotto suggested, but it should still be a much better fit in my car than the ST5.
Trading with strangers online is weird. We agreed to treat them as two separate transactions. I sent him $300, and he sent me $300. We'll both ship cams on Tuesday. Probably sounds Polish but we both wanted buyer protection since we didn't know each other.
Trading with strangers online is weird. We agreed to treat them as two separate transactions. I sent him $300, and he sent me $300. We'll both ship cams on Tuesday. Probably sounds Polish but we both wanted buyer protection since we didn't know each other.
That seems weird but makes total sense. I generally try and keep trading stuff to the 3800 guys I "know" or have at least had plenty of conversation with so I guess I've never thought about it like that. I do get kinda nervous when I go to get somethin and the guy wants cash and won't take PayPal, but I guess I kind of understand that too. Fortunately I've had good luck so far other than a couple shit bottom ends I picked up for beans anyway
I'm guessing by the looks you're running stock rockers. I was going to say if you've increased lift check guide/retainer clearance. Hopefully this does the trick though and you get back to smoke free awesomeness.
Yeah, hopefully! There's another work car show on the 13th I'd like to enter the Camaro in. A lot of coworkers haven't checked it out since it had a T5 and no interior. It would be nice to show off one more time and do some cool weather cruising before the knife.
Sometimes I forget that the fall is the part of car season especially when you don't have AC.
Sometimes I forget that the fall is the part of car season especially when you don't have AC.
I put everything back together with new plugs. It still smokes on start up and take off. 
It's too bad because it runs great.
I also don't know if I should trust this thing, but I bought a turbo guard just to try it out. Maybe it'll spool even quicker.
Everything I do lately seems to be a bust. It's piss poor timing too considering my overall lack of interest. 🫤 I really wanted to hold off on pulling the engine, but I'm kinda worried about making the car worse with it's worn out suspension.
I'll figure something out.
It's too bad because it runs great.I also don't know if I should trust this thing, but I bought a turbo guard just to try it out. Maybe it'll spool even quicker.
Everything I do lately seems to be a bust. It's piss poor timing too considering my overall lack of interest. 🫤 I really wanted to hold off on pulling the engine, but I'm kinda worried about making the car worse with it's worn out suspension.
I'll figure something out.
I think I finally have a plan/compromise set for the winter.
I'm going to prolong the radiator and core support. As much as I want that done, there's nothing currently wrong with it. The cap stopped leaking, I don't have overheating issues, I don't ever expect to have any, and I can do this at any time with the engine still in place. Skip.
I'm also going to forget about the rear end for a while. My ratio is less than ideal and it is certainly a weak point. However, it's still kicking. I also don't think it will be a problem on the dyno. Skip.
I DO want to drop the K-member and install all the parts I've had sitting around. I can't live with the smoking issues and having all these parts hanging out is starting to annoy my wife. I'll rebush the control arms and buy coilovers in hopes of controlling this thing a little better. Sway bars and adjustable control arms will be skipped. While I have everything out, I'll remedy the rusty portions behind the core support and paint the engine bay. I'll also go through the harness, solder in the EV1 injector clips, delete the EGR wires, incorporate the MAF scaler so that it's not so ugly, finish the WOT box wiring, and possibly elongate ICM and AC wires.
That's a lot of work for a winter in a two car garage, but I believe it's doable. Now that I have a plan, I'm very motivated. In fact, I got back to a project I've been neglecting for a while. Notice it is not on the list for completion this winter either.
All the rough in's for fiberglass are done! I just need to support this new wall a little more because it's floppy as it stands.
I'm going to prolong the radiator and core support. As much as I want that done, there's nothing currently wrong with it. The cap stopped leaking, I don't have overheating issues, I don't ever expect to have any, and I can do this at any time with the engine still in place. Skip.
I'm also going to forget about the rear end for a while. My ratio is less than ideal and it is certainly a weak point. However, it's still kicking. I also don't think it will be a problem on the dyno. Skip.
I DO want to drop the K-member and install all the parts I've had sitting around. I can't live with the smoking issues and having all these parts hanging out is starting to annoy my wife. I'll rebush the control arms and buy coilovers in hopes of controlling this thing a little better. Sway bars and adjustable control arms will be skipped. While I have everything out, I'll remedy the rusty portions behind the core support and paint the engine bay. I'll also go through the harness, solder in the EV1 injector clips, delete the EGR wires, incorporate the MAF scaler so that it's not so ugly, finish the WOT box wiring, and possibly elongate ICM and AC wires.
That's a lot of work for a winter in a two car garage, but I believe it's doable. Now that I have a plan, I'm very motivated. In fact, I got back to a project I've been neglecting for a while. Notice it is not on the list for completion this winter either.
All the rough in's for fiberglass are done! I just need to support this new wall a little more because it's floppy as it stands.
I think we're on the same page there for sure. I also have the 3.23s and have been considering the 3.42s from the my parts car. Either way I'm going to have to throw a seal in the front of either rear end but the 3.23 in my car likes to tick and grab in reverse like it may or may not be sticking and trying to lock the limited slip and I figure the other one would be the lesser of two evils and gain me just enough that burnouts would be easier and way more fun. Plus that rear end has wayyy less hits on it and I don't trust this one anymore than I do my oil pressure.
A few thoughts on this:
-Pop your axle shafts, put a grease pencil line straight down them. That way you're able to check them if they're suspect. Knew a guy who did that with his 383 S10.
-3.42 gears will probably have less contact area than 3.23s. The higher numerical tends to have less contact patch, but 3.23 is the carrier break so that may go out the window honestly.
-Pop your axle shafts, put a grease pencil line straight down them. That way you're able to check them if they're suspect. Knew a guy who did that with his 383 S10.
-3.42 gears will probably have less contact area than 3.23s. The higher numerical tends to have less contact patch, but 3.23 is the carrier break so that may go out the window honestly.
I'm so glad to finally be getting this sorted and out of my head. I was supposed to give up after selling my DHP, but I couldn't let it go when the topic came back up on 3800pro. On a total whim I finally just said "screw it" and bought two HP credits. My 3100 Buick Century ECM is in the Camaro and working great!
I never noticed that my original says Delphi and the new one says Delco.
The conversion wasn't without a bit of heartbreak though. I was hoping to fire up HP and get cracking right away. Instead...
I tried reinstalling with the old installer tool. No dice. It was insisting that I got the newer version. I broke down and did it. Then I opened the software and it was already bullshit. Hardly anything could be edited like before. Then I found this new "feature".
I was about to lose my mind until I did some digging on the HPT website. The class is free and the quizzes are obvious. However, I still don't like the way things are going. Hot rodding is going to get really tough and/or expensive soon.
Oh well. I'm going to enjoy it while I can. After a very spirited test drive in this newly cooled air, I saw 12.3:1 AFRs at WOT and some serious ass hauling. I'm planning to replace the knock sensors and do anything else I can to ensure that Dyno Brian can turn those back on when I come back for cam tuning. I obviously haven't had an issue with knock (that I know of) since the last tune, but it would still be nice to have the sensors working for good measure. That's going to be especially true when I'm pushing this thing to 600hp.
I never noticed that my original says Delphi and the new one says Delco.
The conversion wasn't without a bit of heartbreak though. I was hoping to fire up HP and get cracking right away. Instead...
I tried reinstalling with the old installer tool. No dice. It was insisting that I got the newer version. I broke down and did it. Then I opened the software and it was already bullshit. Hardly anything could be edited like before. Then I found this new "feature".
I was about to lose my mind until I did some digging on the HPT website. The class is free and the quizzes are obvious. However, I still don't like the way things are going. Hot rodding is going to get really tough and/or expensive soon.
Oh well. I'm going to enjoy it while I can. After a very spirited test drive in this newly cooled air, I saw 12.3:1 AFRs at WOT and some serious ass hauling. I'm planning to replace the knock sensors and do anything else I can to ensure that Dyno Brian can turn those back on when I come back for cam tuning. I obviously haven't had an issue with knock (that I know of) since the last tune, but it would still be nice to have the sensors working for good measure. That's going to be especially true when I'm pushing this thing to 600hp.
I have yet to prove this.
Turbocharged400sbc made a comment a long time ago regarding hardware numbers when I mentioned my insane false knock issues. The NA only 3800 models like F-bodies, LeSabres, Luminas, vans, ect. were sometimes given an ECM that was of a slightly lower quality. The knock circuit is supposedly poorly shielded and susceptible to issues when you add a turbo. My Camaro was one of the unlucky recipients of this hardware.7440 is a hardware number that's known to be solid with better shielding. It's essentially universal among all the V6 cars including L67s. I picked one up for $30, dicked around on DHP in an attempt to clone the Camaro's ECM, and failed. Yesterday, I just said to hell with it, bought the HP credits, and did a write entire. It was expensive, but much easier. More importantly, it's done.
RIght now the car is no different than it was because the tune is the same. My comment about AFR was just me proving that the tune and OS swapped as it was supposed to. It's possible that my knock sensors or wiring have been garbage all along. I just don't see why busted sensors would become MORE sensitive.
The knock sensors are piezoelectric crystals that are basically tuned for certain frequencies that are found when the engine experiences detonation they verify this via Dyno testing cuz a lot of it's dependent on piston and combustion chamber design etc.
Na cars specify a higher torque number for tightening the water jacket drain plugs aka the knock sensors then the supercharged cars which specify a lower torque which makes them less sensitive since they have a piston with a dish reducing compression ratio.
All I know is that more than a few times I've come across Oddball Hardware numbers and vehicles with really weird f****** issues and it makes sense if you look at the bell curve of life that there's going to be some lower quality s*** that gets tossed in your parts bin cars.
You can't let good-ish Parts go to waste.
Near as I can tell they have tons of Oddball numbers for probably very specific calibrations to make these computers work with certain vehicles...
Anyone else remember how every now and then there'd be someone with just an entire knock lobster no matter what they f****** did?
Dave aka
02BlueGT did.
Changed the Oddball computer to a 7440 and all problems disappeared.
Nothing changed even with an entirely different engine until we replaced the PCM
Now it's nearly one of the first things I check on a person's computer
Na cars specify a higher torque number for tightening the water jacket drain plugs aka the knock sensors then the supercharged cars which specify a lower torque which makes them less sensitive since they have a piston with a dish reducing compression ratio.
All I know is that more than a few times I've come across Oddball Hardware numbers and vehicles with really weird f****** issues and it makes sense if you look at the bell curve of life that there's going to be some lower quality s*** that gets tossed in your parts bin cars.
You can't let good-ish Parts go to waste.
Near as I can tell they have tons of Oddball numbers for probably very specific calibrations to make these computers work with certain vehicles...
Anyone else remember how every now and then there'd be someone with just an entire knock lobster no matter what they f****** did?
Dave aka
02BlueGT did.Changed the Oddball computer to a 7440 and all problems disappeared.
Nothing changed even with an entirely different engine until we replaced the PCM
Now it's nearly one of the first things I check on a person's computer