BUILD LAME Turbo V6 Camaro

[v6buicks]

The right angle nipple coming out the top that is connected to the nipple on the piece of evolve goes to your catch can/centrifugal oil separater.... It leaves there devoid of as much oil as your extractor can do and enters into the intake of the engine behind the throttle.

On the M90PCV tower I do this by tapping the side of the tower and putting a port there so that the gas flows around the outside of the rubber Spring nose And goes through the factory pcv hole before the rotors.

You are basically splicing into the factory PCV gas path

That's what I was trying to suggest. lol Thanks.

That is one reason why the l36 plenum has the PCV straw that allows the oil mist to homogenize with the incoming fresh air better. The M90 they just toss it in there and hope the roaders mix it up

Interesting. So how does the F-body intake do in that regard? Is the side of the tower the best place to go or would it be better for to tap in elsewhere for better distribution? Of course the better option would be to just get good separators and not worry about it as much. lol Is there a good tank or separator I should look for? These things range from diy coffee mug and jb weld contraptions to several hundred dollars worth of nice aluminum, so I'm guessing it's more about how it fits and closed vs open.

 

[Pewter-Camaro]

That's what I was trying to suggest. lol Thanks.

Interesting. So how does the F-body intake do in that regard? Is the side of the tower the best place to go or would it be better for to tap in elsewhere for better distribution? Of course the better option would be to just get good separators and not worry about it as much. lol Is there a good tank or separator I should look for? These things range from diy coffee mug and jb weld contraptions to several hundred dollars worth of nice aluminum, so I'm guessing it's more about how it fits and closed vs open.

I have a Moroso catch can that I never used and a couple one way valves that I used to make a PCV catch can system for the Mustang. Shit has been sitting collecting dust. You are probably a bit far from me as I’m in Mchenry but we can work something out.

 

[v6buicks]

I really only needed a turbo gasket for the GN, but I refuse to spend under $100 at Summit and not get free shipping. There was nothing else I needed for the GN so...

I got new rear control arms for the catfish! I thought about getting the dual threaded, but it didn't seem worth an extra $100. It's pretty cool how many different options are available. After doing my research, poly front and heim rear seemed like the best option.

I like driving this car so I didn't want to get anything too harsh (two heims). However, the rear end needs to be able to articulate appropriately. Two solid poly joints are known to bind the the rear suspension which probably isn't a huge deal. I want this thing to handle well though. Then obviously there are rubber options that will wear out and not really help my traction/vibration issues. So there you have it. Poly/heim seemed like the choice for me.

I almost forgot about how old rusty control arms can be a major bitch to remove. I almost started dreading the job, but I soon found out that I'm not the first person to dig in here.

These bushings look and feel pretty new and the bolts were hardly even rusty. I was really hoping that the bushings would be destroyed and I'd feel a night and day difference in performance, I guess there's still a chance though because the stamped stock arms are dicked.

Oh yeah. When UMI says that their control arms are shipped at stock length and do not require adjustment for stock cars, check it anyway.

Mine were both about a half inch too short.

Old paint jobs seems to be holding up decently. A lot of rust is coming back on the axle housing but I fully expected that and really don't care either.

I feel like a broke drift boi putting $200 tubular control arms on a worthless rusty shell.

I anti-seized the bolts, greased the bushings, torqued the bolts at ride height, went for a spin, and didn't come home for almost 2 hours.

These control arms made launching a lot easier and more consistent. Lots of clunks went away which is kinda odd since the old bushings looked fine, but Im not complaining. This car rules and I can't wait to try more stupid shit. The steering is still sketchy, but with all the rear linkages replaced with UMI stuff I have full confidence in the rear end.

I really want to do coil overs and front suspension work, but I really need to slow down with all the fun car spending. Once again, I'm just going to drive this thing and enjoy it this summer.

 

[sktchy3.8]

Told you those control arms are a huge improvement! I have non adjustables with poly on both ends and the only time I ever get rear end bind is when I'm backing up and turning and even then it's just enough to make it noticeable and a little grease in em usually takes care of it. But my car is also lowered a little bit and I've done the panhard bar and torque arm as well so not sure if that helps some.

It would be nice to have some adjustment just in case I'd wanna move the pinion angle but it doesn't seem to be causing an issue so far and I'm not launching hard enough to have to dial it down for traction either.

Those upgrades make the suspension work so much better and it just drops the ass on throttle and goes instead of wanting to hop and roll back and twist on the right rear tire hard.

 

[v6buicks]

I thought the control arm adjustment just centered the wheel in the wheel well after you lower it. The torque arm adjustment determines pinion angle.

 

[sktchy3.8]

I thought the control arm adjustment just centered the wheel in the wheel well after you lower it. The torque arm adjustment determines pinion angle.

Your probably right. None of my stuff is adjustable so it's gonna be where it is but it seems to work well anyway. If you noticed the difference I did after doing it then you had to talk yourself out of the car after 2 hours lol

 

[v6buicks]

I forgot to show you guys a little issue I discovered after my test drive. Despite all the fun I've been having, it appears that I'm leaving some on the table too!

This coupler has always been a bitch to install. It hasn't fit right ever since I cut the pipe down and lowered the turbo a couple inches. The real answer to this problem would be to cut up the aluminum pipe and make it fit correctly with a normal reducer coupler, but that's a lot of work that I really don't want to get into this year. I bought this funky offset reducer knowing that my pipes wouldn't line up perfectly after they got welded. I was right, but the offset was perfect for version 1.0 of the plumbing. Things shifted enough in 2.0 that I can barely get the big side over the pipe. For the time being, I'm going to use the longer version of this same coupler. I'm hoping I can use that as a band-aid without cutting the pipe down much further. It'll still be a huge pain to install. It won't fit right either, but I should at least be able to get the entire clamp around the tube bead and silicone instead of hanging halfway off.

This car has been so good that I'm thinking about entering the test and tune at nats again. I still haven't noticed any smoke this year. Don't know what was up with that. The clutch doesn't feel any worse than usual either. Maybe I should send it and see if any of my small improvements (and driving skills) can yield a better ET. I may have cooler track temps too. It would be nice to clock a 12. I don't like telling people that all this work only got me into the 13s. lol

 

[Mr_Roboto]

Fuckin do eeeeet.

 

[sktchy3.8]

If your gonna cut the pipe down so there's no lip to catch wrap a layer of duck tape around where the coupler sits or hit it with some hairspray or spray adhesive. It'll help with it slipping off of there immensely.

 

[v6buicks]

I installed the new coupler and took the car for a rip. It breaks up on top now which means it's probably time for plugs again. It also only makes 8 psi which leads me to think that the shitty manual boost controller is not working anymore. The wastegate has an 8 psi spring. I might finally try installing that mac valve for the AEM truboost. I'm not sure which car to focus on now.

 

[sktchy3.8]

Unless somethin popped off at the mani and it's not referencing boost correctly? Im not gonna lie I miss that truboost. I definitely need to get another because it really helps spool when you have it set right and will always tell you peak boost pressure.

 

[v6buicks]

Unless somethin popped off at the mani and it's not referencing boost correctly? Im not gonna lie I miss that truboost. I definitely need to get another because it really helps spool when you have it set right and will always tell you peak boost pressure.

Plumbing is good. I just have a really shitty controller. It's a reed valve like you would see on an air compressor. Lol

 

[sktchy3.8]

I'm gonna try manual controller when I get back on some good fuel. I'm not super enthused about it creating a controlled leak in the system but I guess it should work. May end up just changing springs in small increments

 

[v6buicks]

I confirmed that the old MBC is shit. Regardless of how I turned the dial I could blow through it in both directions. Time to get the AEM going. I started by making a nice little aluminum bracket for the valve.

This was just a little something I played wanted to play with while waiting for paint to dry on the GN radiator, so I didn't get it wired. I'll get to that later. Not looking forward to learning how to program this thing. It's kinda odd.

 

[Five-0]

That rust in the wheel wells/strut towers is making me nervous. Throw some patch panels on that B!

 

[v6buicks]

That rust in the wheel wells/strut towers is making me nervous. Throw some patch panels on that B!

I've considered getting an RSM tubular front end but not because of weight savings.

In all seriousness, stuff will happen whenever I get around to pulling the K-member and upgrading the radiator. The whole core support will be rebuilt among other things.

 

[sktchy3.8]

The aem isn't too hard. It mostly works off a duty cycle but once you get the swing of navigation the menu you'll get it figured out. On you low end set it to start opening your gate spring like 2 or 3 psi before spring pressure and it'll help spool a few hundred rpm.

 

[v6buicks]

The aem isn't too hard. It mostly works off a duty cycle but once you get the swing of navigation the menu you'll get it figured out. On you low end set it to start opening your gate spring like 2 or 3 psi before spring pressure and it'll help spool a few hundred rpm.

I didn't know I had that kind of control with this thing. Sick!

 

[v6buicks]

Except it's not all sunshine and roses in here right now. I'm a dumbass and cut my wideband harness to the perfect length to connect to the EBC. Damn it.

I can't be too mad because I always hated how long the wires were anyway. I'll get a connector kit and fix it, but that was definitely not a project for today if I was able to help it.

 

[sktchy3.8]

I didn't know I had that kind of control with this thing. Sick!

Oh dude I will absolutely have another someday. I'm fairly sure it's got a map kinda reference to log boost and you can just tap the right button iirc after a boost and it will tell you what your peak is. Scramble button is another option I always wanted to make happen and never really got to make enough power to be able to make useful.

 

[Mr_Roboto]

Except it's not all sunshine and roses in here right now. I'm a dumbass and cut my wideband harness to the perfect length to connect to the EBC. Damn it.

I can't be too mad because I always hated how long the wires were anyway. I'll get a connector kit and fix it, but that was definitely not a project for today if I was able to help it.

Get the butt splices with the heat shrink built in. Easy enough fix.

 

[v6buicks]

Get the butt splices with the heat shrink built in. Easy enough fix.

I thought about doing that. I've always wanted to try them out, but then I'd have to reloom everything and I cut through the plastic sheath that AEM uses. It would never look right again. The gauge side connector is readily available, so I just bought a new kit.

In hindsight, this is probably a good thing. I was getting way too distracted by this car for being only 4 days away from Nats. I want to to be available as a back up, but the GN is still the top priority.

No more rusty screws. Thanks, media blaster!

 

[v6buicks]

Normally I'm super down in the dumps after the Nats and this was another really good one. I swear they just get better. However, this year the feelings are bit different. I'm relieved. Don't get me wrong, the event was great, the GN was great, and I'm glad I thrashed, but I'm very happy that I no longer have the "Am I going to make it?" stress anymore.

Now I can fix what I learned about the GN over the past week and give the Camaro the love it's been missing all year. The first order of business was repairing the wideband harness I cut. All the crimps turned out great which is good because the kit only provided a couple extra terminals and seals.

That worked just fine. While I was in the car ensuring that the wideband would actually read something, I fiddled with the boost controller. I think I have it all set up including the delay, but I didn't test drive it. I needed to clear a space in the garage to make sure that both the Camaro and GN had shelter. Bird shit is getting to be a huge problem in my dive way. I hope I'll have time to test and fiddle some time this week, but I need to gets some logs on the GN too..... I also promised my wife that I would not be as involved with the garage or spending money on the fun cars anymore. Not only do I need to get the house in shape for a baby, but I need to save up some money for a new truck/daily driver.

 

[sktchy3.8]

Meh, I wouldn't sweat the connections on your wideband. I soldered speaker wire in for o2s the last time I tried em and it did the same thing as it does stock so wiring is not near as particular as the guys that think it needs to be a certain length from the factory would lead you to believe.

 

[v6buicks]

Oh yeah. I forgot to mention that the GN (even running like shit) feels quite a bit quicker than the Camaro. This makes the "racecar" no longer feel like a racecar. I also feel a never-ending cycle/challenge coming on.... Yes, I drive this car on the street, but it's not nice nor will it ever be. I'm very much considering the idea of going full dumbass and getting a mini spool for the 10-bolt. For now this car is only fun in a straight line, and it doesn't launch worth a shit. I need to change that. I may hate it in parking lots, but meh. I realize that it's going to be a long time before I get that 8.8 swap with LSD.