🔧 BUILD LAME Turbo V6 Camaro

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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!
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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!

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v6buicks

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I was spraying water around the coils and plug wires trying to find small arcs, but I didn't see anything. I did notice something a little strange though. One plug boot was sitting there rotating on the plug as the engine vibrated. I thought that was odd, so I thought I would look a little further. Of course the rubber should be a little tighter, but should the metal grip tighter too? I redid this end which made the connection a little better but it's certainly still got some wiggle in it.

https://i.imgur.com/hKWzP91.mp4
 

v6buicks

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That's the most annoying part. Nothing has catches any misfires. There are no codes stored, and Aeroforce just shows 0s on all cylinders. When you have the misfire screen open is it just supposed to give you a live count? I admit that I don't exactly know what I'm looking at there, but all 0s sounds good to me. :dunno:

I haven't tried looking for any misfires on TorquePro though. I'd be interested to try that since it doesn't seem to agree with Aeroforce on certain things anyway. I'll be curious to find out if my O2 sensor problem is intertwined with this issue.
 

SaturdaysGS

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That's the most annoying part. Nothing has catches any misfires. There are no codes stored, and Aeroforce just shows 0s on all cylinders. When you have the misfire screen open is it just supposed to give you a live count? I admit that I don't exactly know what I'm looking at there, but all 0s sounds good to me. :dunno:

I haven't tried looking for any misfires on TorquePro though. I'd be interested to try that since it doesn't seem to agree with Aeroforce on certain things anyway. I'll be curious to find out if my O2 sensor problem is intertwined with this issue.



I’m guessing no code(s) since you have a tune (random misfire -p0300- set to no reporting), however the misfire counters I think should still count. Is it possible you need a CASE learn? I believe if the pcm is unsure of the exact timing of the cylinders it may not have an accurate count (no counter on any cylinder) and only set a p0300, which again, may also be set to no reporting in the tune.

Where’s James lol
 

SaturdaysGS

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I'm glad somebody brought that idea up. John at Intense told me that F-bodies don't need any sort of relearn procedure, but I've been wanting to try anyway. I just don't know the process of getting that done.



https://ls1tech.com/forums/pcm-diagnostics-tuning/1596433-gm-computer-relearn-procedure.html

Don’t know if that’s right, I just did a quick google and skim over.

Actually regardless you’ll need a tech 2 or similar that can access special functions to perform the relearn.
 

v6buicks

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Well tonight was interesting! The car runs a ton better after replacing the 3-6 coil. I finally got to feel what this car does at WOT. One of those things is blowing oil out the dipstick, but oh well. I guess I'll put my breather back on and plan on making a catch can. Slight success.

I still don't know what's going on with the bank 2 O2 sensor, and the log looks a bit odd with the new PIDs I added. I have a lot more motivation to work on this turd now though. THAT was fun!
 

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v6buicks

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Well, if it's not blocked, you need to do that. The turbo is pressurizing the crankcase and blowing out your dipstick.

I had to walk away with my tail between my legs after reading this. Embarrassingly, I completely overlooked the whole system other than initially just putting a breather on the valve cover.

This is after about five minutes of google so bare with me, and let me know how I'm screwing this up.

Since this intake was never intended to be boosted, it seems that the PCV was designed as such. Keep in mind, I have that diamond shaped cover on the plenum with a spring and then an o-ringed valve under it. I think it's a bit different than the FWD stuff. Anyway, vacuum from the intake is supposed to overcome the spring and allow for crankcase pressure to vent into the plenum. However introducing boost is just going to slam the valve shut and allow blow-by to to build up in the crank case. Wouldn't blocking the PCV just make this worse?

I figure that if I have a breather the PCV is not needed, but it's not entirely necessary to block off either. Since the vapors are plumbed downstream of the MAF and throttle body I would also think that blocking the valve off can cause complications with the tune. Granted, this might be a good variable and potential leak to eliminate before getting onto a dyno. Am I out of line here?
 

v6buicks

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I just got around to actually analyzing my log. It looks like those GM specific PIDs aren't working for some reason. Those would be helpful to look at.

It also looks like my log is agreeing with my gauge about the fuel trims which means I probably have a real problem and just a data issue... uh oh.
 

v6buicks

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I wish I could find a less fuzzy diagram from GM. I don't get what you're saying yet, but I'm sure I will once I take the valve out and study it. The idea of crank case vacuum being check valved to the intake which is also under vacuum (stock) just sounds like the crank case would still be under vacuum. lol Wouldn't the valve not do anything or just equalize the vacuum between the two? Is crankcase vacuum a lot stronger than intake vacuum? I wouldn't think so, but I've never measured it. :dunno:

I don't even want to get into the boost part yet. I can't understand what I'm modifying or blocking off if I don't know how the system worked to begin with. I'm sure my repair manual will have a better exploded view of it.
 

Mr_Roboto

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v6buicks

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https://www.amazon.com/Return-Check-Petrol-Diesel-Aluminium/dp/B06XK2C13R?psc=1&SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-ffab-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B06XK2C13R

Probably something like this will do you right. You'll want the flow direction to be "toward" the intake manifold where it will seal off if under boost.

If you have vacuum brakes you should have one for it as well.

Are you suggesting that for a catch can return line? As for the brakes, the booster is already checked from the factory. I could see running an additional booster line with a lightly sprung backwards check valve to the compressor inlet for a bit more braking under boost, but I don't see the point in that unless I planned on doing boosted brake launches.
 

Mattstrike

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PCV system is simple. One side leads to the throttle body between the MAS and the throttle plate (so it is metered but never under vacuum). The other side plumbs through the LIM to the PCV valve which allows vacuum from the UIM to suck air from the throttle body through the crank case, etc. It's a closed, metered system.

To run a simple turbo PCV catch can you need to vent the crank case so that under boost air can flow out to the catch can, the check valve prevents it from sucking unmetered air while under vacuum. This is different than an inline PCV catch can like some of the blower cars do.

On my truck, I added ports to both valve covers.
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The check valve on the stock system is to prevent the PCV system from flowing backwards (backfire, etc), contaminating the throttle body/MAS, and probably some other reasons like restricting flow at idle compared to operating rpm.
 

v6buicks

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I took the Camaro to work for the first time in a couple months. It was super fun to drive, but on my way back from lunch the clutch went down to the floor and didn't come back up.... She's stuck in gear. Even though I think this will be fixed without major surgery, I'm taking this as an excuse to pull the transmission again. The rear main is leaking like there's no seal at all, and I'm pretty sure that the pilot bushing that I wasn't able to track down before Power Tour is very necessary now. I don't know how I'm getting home yet though. Aren't project cars fun? :bigthumb:
 

v6buicks

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[chapter]Blew the Clutch Master Cylinder[/chapter]
Yuck... I'm gonna have to do my floor pans again! lol
M0iMKeY.jpg

I was able to reach down and pull the pedal back up. Oddly, it feels better now than it ever has. Hopefully that will work long enough to get me home from work, then I'll park it until I can replace the master and HTOB.
 

v6buicks

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This car is hilarious.... The clutch actually feels better now than it ever has! Clearly the seals inside the master had rolled over, but still managed to work OKAY all this time. Now that they are seated in their proper homes I'm sure it'll work great... for a little while until all that twisting around in the bore catches up with them. Time for anew master.
 

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