• Category Archives Fabrication/Welding
  • Update on the turbo Camaro

    Getting close to wrapping her up.   All the wiring is being redone by a good friend of mine @ RAR Racing in San Antonio.   ECU being installed.  Removing my aluminum Kerkey seat and getting two much more comfortable seats.   Gauge cluster done.  Lots of work goin on!  The pic of the laptop is my el-cheapo refurb Dell E4200 that I will be using with TunerStudio Ultra to tune my Camaro.  I’ll also use a tablet real-time to monitor my EFI setup while I’m driving.

     

    20161016_11342820161003_120550 20161005_115630 20161005_115635 20161005_115644 20161007_120323 20161007_114153 20161007_120339 20161012_202617 20161013_12285220161013_115153 20161013_123213


  • Almost time for wiring

    Looks like its going to be time to drop off the turbo Camaro at a friends shop for some total rewiring, EFI install, Fuel system install and some small stuff.   I think I’ve done all I can and now leave the wiring to an expert.

     

    My EFI setup is from EFI Source – MS3 Gold Box.   It has everything you need to go EFI, from 80# injectors to the ECU, complete wiring, documentation and a base tune to get your car running.  The fuel system I’m going with is from Magnafuel, its their MP-4303 pump and is going along with their pre/post fuel filters.   The injectors with the kit, I read that they dont support 1000HP, which is fine, since my engine has a stock rotating assembly.   We’ll cap it at 900HP.  LOL.  Juuusssttt about done with this turbo car.

    efi_resized2016-08-11 17.24.08

     

    Last but not least, I finally installed my manual tensioner from ICT BIllet.  Lines up perfectly.

     

    2016-08-20 11.42.48 2016-08-20 11.42.38

     

     


  • More updates…again..

    Well, it was time to mount the fans on the radiator.  With the guidance of Mike @ RAR Racing here in San Antonio, I put this together.    The fit is perfect and it also provides excellent support to the fans along with a “shroud” like effect.   Also at RAR Racing, the waterpump was tapped and plugged since I’m not going to be using a heater.   Installed both the waterpump and the new fan setup and also got started on the final piece from the intercooler to the throttle body.  Also getting started on the gauge cluster.  Going to remove the gauges my car came with and redoing the aluminum piece and adding the SpeedHut gauges I bought.

     

    20160606_170333 20160606_174139 20160606_183735  20160609_203429

     

     

    The water pump lines up perfect.

    20160617_16125120160606_190049

    20160617_161413

     

    Getting started on the last tubing from the IC to the throttle body.  Reused some old tubing I had.  Going from 4″ –> 3.5″ to 3″.

    20160620_16400720160620_164015

     

    Time to setup my gauge cluster…

    20160612_195617 20160610_151236


  • More updates..

    Posted on by Alex

    Finally got around to doing a few things on my setup.  Installed the fabricated intake, SFI flexplate, converter and put it all back in the car.   Did the final weld on the downpipe and made a small bracket to hold it up.   Next up is mounting the dual fan setup to the radiator.  Its a super tight fit.  Then modifying the water pump to block off the heater since I will not be running one.  I also had to modify my old cold side since it was for the blow-thru setup, not the new EFI setup.  Turbo to IC done, still need to modify what I have from IC to intake.  Cooling setup first though.  The shot under the Camaro is with the new F-body oil pan, much better clearance than before!

    20160605_184427   resized-20160423_163501   20160528_123938 20160528_123945 20160604_190754downpipe_done20160528_125449  20160604_201711 20160605_113612 20160605_113644


  • Fabricating a turbo kit for a friend.

    Posted on by Alex

    While I’m waiting on my transmission to get finished, I decided to start fabbing up a turbo setup for my friend John.  Best way to learn how to fabricate and to get better at welding is to keep doing it.  I’ve got another setup to do after this for a friend also, that’ll be a twin turbo 5.3 LS.   More on that later.   John’s setup is a 5.3L LS with a gt45 t4 turbo.   Those LS3 manifolds I picked up at the New Braunfels swap meet, well, here they are.  Grinded off some tabs, casting and then the 2 bolt flange was grounded off.  Tac-welded some 3″ v-band flanges on to it.  Still need to grind it a little better where the 2-bolt flange used to be to make it more rounded.  Its not necessary to do so, but it’ll “look better”.   I also made a bracket to hold the gt45 since its heavy.   I’m not super happy with the bracket but it looks ok.  The manifolds had some sort of provision for a sensor, so I filled that in, looks clean.

     

    resized-20160503_162844 resized-20160503_174748 resized-20160503_180459 resized-20160503_180538 resized-20160503_191001 resized-20160503_191152 resized-20160503_191827 resized-20160504_181202 resized-20160504_181208 resized-20160504_182423 resized-20160504_182436 resized-20160510_164113 resized-20160510_164524 resized-20160510_164548


  • Updates on my rig..

    Posted on by Alex

    Well, the turbo Camaro is patiently waiting for a TH400 transmission.  I ended up taking my trans and all parts I bought to Winners Circle Transmissions for them to build it.  I ended up taking the core apart, putting it back together but didnt feel comfortable building one that will go behind a 900hp turbo Camaro.   Here’s some pics of what I bought, it was all from CK Performance.  Not pictured is the TH400 master rebuild kit with Alto red clutches, steels, etc.  Pictured is the reverse manual valve body with a trans brake, billet input shaft, forged steel rollerized forward clutch hub, 6 clutch direct clutch housing w/34 element sprag, 4 clutch billet intermediate pressure plate, billet sun gear shaft.  This setup will easily hold 1500hp at the minimum.   I had to yank out my engine and mockup th400 transmission while I wait for mine to get built.   While that was done, I had to replace the “muscle car oil pan” since it still sat too low and installed a F-body pan, pickup tube, windage tray and also had a -10AN return tapped into the side.  You’ll also notice I test fit the new fabricated intake with a Nick Williams 102mm throttle body onto the engine.  I’ll need to modify the throttle body since it doesnt open up all the way.  The TB hits the intake so I’ll need to grind the throttle cable guide a little to clear (pic shows the interference).  Also pictured is a flexplate that enables my 6.0 LS to bolt up to a TH400 with the converter without needing to round out the converter holes on said flexplate.  The pic under my Camaro is where you can see the muscle car pan.  It just sits too low.

     

    12898345_981210918599026_130761728624550702_oresized-20160506_155215

    resized-20160506_155226resized-20160506_185745

     

    resized-20160507_195040resized-20160513_190457 resized-20160513_190538 resized-20160513_190549

    resized-20160423_163501 resized-20160423_183637 resized-20160423_183642resized-20160423_151027

    resized-20160426_203811 resized-20160426_204239 resized-20160426_204545resized-20160514_153129

     


  • Finished the 5″ downpipe, new water pump

    Not much in the way of accomplishments, but I did get a new waterpump for my LQ4 engine.  Its for a C6 Vette which will give me more room infront of the engine and lines up with my Dirty Dingo alt bracket.   Had some time to finish the 5″ downpipe from my s475 turbo.   Should look good for a street car 😉

    On the pie cuts, they are pretty clean thanks to my Evolution Rage2 metal blade chop saw.

     

    20160330_185906_small 20160330_185848_small20160409_080651_small 20160408_140133_small20160409_092521_small12976964_985395841513867_8577906391867868690_o20160409_080924_small 20160409_092512_small    12985485_985389948181123_1364199267465983790_n


  • New sheetmetal intake for the Turbo Camaro

    Going slowly down here in Texas.  With Christmas around the corner, I decided to get my turbo car a present.  Picked up a 102mm sheetmetal intake off of ebay.

    Specs:

    Height: 9″
    Material Thickness: 3 millimeters
    Throttle Body Opening: 102 millimeters
    Intake total length: 20 inches

    Came with 3/4″ high flow fuel rails, gaskets, hardware and a braided fuel crossover line.  It has 3 vacuum ports.

    intakeresized3 intakebottom_resized intake_resized

     


  • Updated pics of the Turbo Camaro

    Had a local shop here in San Antonio, Lethal Performance, do some work for me.  They’ve done quite a bit on my other cars.   Being that I’m a newbie fabricator, I learned the hard way about fitment when fabbing up a turbo setup.  Who better to learn from than Lethal.   It started with me just wanting small stuff, for example, just modify what I have and “make it fit”.  It was easier/cleaner/quicker for the to just redo my hot side.  Being that I want to start the New Year off with much less work to do on my car, I just dropped them a to-do list.  I’ll take better pics a little bit later.

    Hood “pins”, TurboSmart 60mm Wastegate, hot side redone, radiator and intercooler mounted, core support redone.  Not much left at the shop.  Once its back, I’ll start on the TH400 and converter install, then on to other things like gauges, fuel system and the best part, FiTech fuel injection.  1000HP OR BUST!

     

     

    20151208_151143 20151208_150317 20151208_151118 20151208_150052 20151208_150040


  • New turbo setup coated and installed

    Its been a long journey..from learning how to weld to fabbing up my own turbo setup.   It took so long because I don’t really spend every day working on it.  Sometimes 4 hours, sometimes 2 weeks later I start up again.  Something called work and family gets in the way 😉   Well, he’s the coated tubing, tubing installed and also a  BG400 fuel pump, filter and gauge I picked up thanks to Kendrick Automotive.  I also sprayed the down pipe with some “Flame Proof” spray paint, supposedly it’ll withstand 1200*.

     

    20150702_121401_resized 20150703_151959_resized 20150703_163921_resized 20150703_163953_resized 20150703_164006_resized 20150703_163909_resized