🔧 BUILD LAME Turbo V6 Camaro

[bs009]

I've had to replace valve stem seals on every series 2 3800 I've had so far except for my 2002 Regal (low miles still). That would be my guess for where your oil is coming from if it's not the turbo. It's a real pita to do in the car but if you're putting new heads on anyway then you're all set if that's all it is haha!

 

[sktchy]

I've had to replace valve stem seals on every series 2 3800 I've had so far except for my 2002 Regal (low miles still). That would be my guess for where your oil is coming from if it's not the turbo. It's a real pita to do in the car but if you're putting new heads on anyway then you're all set if that's all it is haha!

This is a good thought but wouldn't that be more of a warm up kinda of thing than an all the time deal? Just going off experience with 5.7 tbi valve seals from around the same era,, I haven't actually had an issue with them in one of these yet

 

[bs009]

This is a good thought but wouldn't that be more of a warm up kinda of thing than an all the time deal? Just going off experience with 5.7 tbi valve seals from around the same era,, I haven't actually had an issue with them in one of these yet

For me it was really noticeable after idling and getting moving again. My first 99 Regal would blow pretty big clouds of smoke after every stop sign and stop light even on long drives until I replaced them.
My last engine in the Grand Prix was a little more random with it but that might've still been the turbo slightly leaking. It would do it usually when the turbo is spooling down after a rev or a hard pull even with a plugged pcv. Otherwise it wasn't really noticeable that I remember

 

[Turbocharged400sbc]

If you chooch a center section a restrictor can keep you from losing a lot of oil pressure...

Two small or restrictive of a filter I would think would also contribute to sucking oil past the shaft seal.

Do you have confirmation that's fresh oil from the last drives AKA you had cleaned out everything of oil previously?

I have a similar spot on the left and right side of my screen on the Cressida from the way the air flows through the curve in front of the screen. I'm guessing that's just the way that your water in your water slide is flowing... is leaving a small dead area down there that doesn't get blown clean by high velocity air

 

[v6buicks]

I thought valve stem seals for a little bit, but quickly remembered that I replaced them when I did springs.

Not sure how old the oil residue is. I've never cleaned my pipes.

 

[v6buicks]

This is good conversation. Thanks guys.

I have a massive K&N from the GNs ATR scoop that I could oil up and try. It just sucks that I'd likely need to put it on a couple 3" elbows.

Maybe I should try running the car down a clean road without a filter and see if it smokes? It really does only seem to happen after fucking around, so the filter idea makes sense to me.

 

[sktchy]

Definitely try pulling it. I was gonna suggest that and yhen spaced it off

 

[v6buicks]

One reason I'm so hopeful for this is because I think this is the biggest turbo I've ever seen with a 3" compressor inlet and turbine outlet. An already small bell could be making my filter a choke point. I'm just surprised, because I didn't think this filter was small at all. Any larger turbo seems to have a 4" inlet and a 3.5" turbine outlet though. Maybe that should be telling me something.

 

[Mr_Roboto]

The other option is to stick a vacuum gauge on it and see if you're pulling vacuum pre turbo and go do a run. You'd have to figure that out it would likely be a small hole somewhere in the rubber that you'd RTV up afterwards. If you were all fancy you could install one of these.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0014BI1KA/?tag=tcg21-20

Also, I'm pretty sure my Turbonetics T66 has a 4" inlet.

 

[v6buicks]

The other option is to stick a vacuum gauge on it and see if you're pulling vacuum pre turbo and go do a run. You'd have to figure that out it would likely be a small hole somewhere in the rubber that you'd RTV up afterwards. If you were all fancy you could install one of these.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0014BI1KA/?tag=tcg21-20

Also, I'm pretty sure my Turbonetics T66 has a 4" inlet.

OO! I was looking at that and didn't think it would help until I clicked on your link and saw the reset button. So I take it it holds the highest reading until you press the reset? I'm totally buying one. Hopefully there's enough room on the plastic end cap to install one. I used to have one from an old truck hanging around, but I almost guarantee that I threw it away by now.

 

[Mr_Roboto]

Yeah, they reset. Also if you get one off a Ford Diesel they have a switch in them for a dash light.

This one makes me chuckle. Got spare space in the gauge pod?

 

[sktchy]

One reason I'm so hopeful for this is because I think this is the biggest turbo I've ever seen with a 3" compressor inlet and turbine outlet. An already small bell could be making my filter a choke point. I'm just surprised, because I didn't think this filter was small at all. Any larger turbo seems to have a 4" inlet and a 3.5" turbine outlet though. Maybe that should be telling me something.

So, the "inlet size" really doesn't determine anything other than what filter you run on it. The opening in it is still going to be determined by the size of the wheel. It's basically just more material smoothed down. I'm sure there's more to it than that and maybe some change in airflow characteristics but my .50 ar 67mm housing with 3" inlet actually has a bigger opening in the center than my 62mm .70 ar housing with a 4"

 

[v6buicks]

Ope

It's definitely collapsed a few times because this wrinkled section is pretty weak. Considering the type of pipe I had prior to the filter being mounted straight on the turbo, I'd say this is a prime suspect. The old pipe would have collapsed and created an unfiltered leak well before the filter would collapse. I really never had cool weather with this setup until I started seeing smoke either. I have high hopes that a bigger or no filter will be the fix.

 

[sktchy]

I went to a spectre 9616 on my car most due to the fact that it fits in the space and being somethin like 6x8 inches it has a whole lot more surface area than the shortly filter I had on before. Its probably still not sufficient but it's a cheap improvement and doesn't have the stupid metal center cap to worry about that sucking into the turbo

 

[v6buicks]

I went to a spectre 9616 on my car most due to the fact that it fits in the space and being somethin like 6x8 inches it has a whole lot more surface area than the shortly filter I had on before. Its probably still not sufficient but it's a cheap improvement and doesn't have the stupid metal center cap to worry about that sucking into the turbo

I'm just gonna use that uge K&N with some elbows to make it fit. That outta be plenty. Lol

 

[v6buicks]

I managed to make the big mofo fit vertically with only one elbow.

Better not hit too big of bumps! ? This thing hangs lowwwww.

I'm gonna put the charge pipe back on tomorrow and go for some drives. If it doesn't smoke then great. The filter maintenance gauge is going to take a week to show up, and I don't feel like waiting for sound results that long. Regardless of the results, I won't be rocking this ugly setup for long. It's too dang ugly! I don't really want to go filterless either considering that I drive this thing all over the place. We'll see. Hopefully I learn something soon.

 

[sktchy]

If anything that should help the iats out a bit

 

[v6buicks]

If anything that should help the iats out a bit

It was a rock/rain catcher on the GN by design. Now it's the same thing in practice on the Camaro! ?

 

[sktchy]

I feel that. I hate that mine sits as low as it does but at the same time havin a pretty straight shot out of the downpipe has to be a somewhat good thing. I'd imagine cartuning put a little more effort into r and d than what the Amazon pipes have. I always did wanna throw a couple v bands in a set of those and hang the turbo on the bottom side of them though

 

[Mr_Roboto]

Do yourself a favor and watch your AFRs on your tune when hammering on it as well. Not sure there will be any changes but a bit of extra awareness may do you well just in case it leans out some.

 

[v6buicks]

Do yourself a favor and watch your AFRs on your tune when hammering on it as well. Not sure there will be any changes but a bit of extra awareness may do you well just in case it leans out some.

Good point. I've always ran this car with a filter about that size even on the dyno. She's used to that restriction. I'll keep an eye on it tonight when I go for a test drive.

Anybody know anything about K&N maintenance? This thing probably needs it according to K&N, but I've never used one.

 

[sktchy]

Pretty sure you just wash em out good and then soak it down with oil and let it drip off of it. If memory serves me right they actually flow better with a lil dirt in em tho

 

[Mr_Roboto]

From what I remember you should be careful on the oiling due to the MAF. Never actually ran one of them long enough to think I got it dirty.

 

[v6buicks]

Tonight was fun, and it started out with a small present from ebay.

For those who don't know F-bodies, they're flimsy piles of shit. Therefore, if you slam on the brakes a lot of your pedal effort goes I to the firewall instead of the master cylinder. Here's what I mean.

So I installed this nice powder coated bracket to stop the movement. How it works is pretty self-explanatory, but the installation is kind of a bitch. As the instructions said, "patience is required." I'm just excited that somebody made one that clears a BMR strut tower brace.

Then I put the charge pipe back on and went for a drive. As soon as I gave it a some throttle and shifted, I could tell it sounded a lot different! When I found some open road, I made some boost, and blew the charge pipe and boost reference hose off. The boost reference never comes off so that was exciting. The charge tube blew off with enough force to dent itself on the street though. ?

I limped home boostless and secured everything a little tighter than before. The goofy offset silicone reducer I use to connect the turbo to the pipe needs to go, and the charge pipe needs to be modified so that it actually fits right. For now, test drive #2.

This son of a bitch pulls even harder now! It spools faster and seems a lot more consistent. Most importantly. It didn't smoke all night. ?

I want to hold off taking it apart now. It would be nice to take it to the work car show in September as well as another test and tune if I can find a cool Wednesday evening that I'm actually available. For the track I'll just remove the filter.

 

[sktchy]

That makes alot of sense after figuring out how bad my previous filter was holding me back. Glad to see things are lookin up!

Sucks about the charge pipe though, hit the connections with a lil clear permatex spray seal leak repair and tighten the hell out of the clamps, i call it the "eff it spray" because I'm pretty sure it's designed to stop leaks from the outside but the stuff is more or less like a hit it and quit it and it's one of my favorites being a fleet mechanic thats job is to "fix it so it doesnt do it again but do it as cheap as possible"

Side note: my cars probably never been more famous as when I blew the intercooler boots tryin to keep up with GTPpower ?