I've been documenting my build, so I figured I would put it on here too, since I think this site sees more action and there are more people that have the knowledge to help.
Basically to sum it up the best I can, as the title states I have an Iroc that now has a single turbo.

#ad

#ad

#ad

GMPP 350 HO crate engine that now has the original cam back in it, 212/222 @ .050 112.5 LSA.
Untouched iron vortec heads except for stronger valve springs.
Performer RPM intake, Mighty Demon 650 carb, cast pistons , powdered rods, cast crank, 4 bolt main block.
I've been running it for about 4 seasons and have racked up about 25k on it. Before I had any tuning figured out at all, it made 260rwhp on the dyno. At that tune it ran about 14.1 in the 1/4, @ 96. With some tuning, it ran consistent 13.1's at 103.
I pulled the engine apart and installed ARP head studs and MLS head gaskets. I checked the top ring end gaps and they were all around .018 so I opened them up to around .024. I had a Comp XE268 cam that I took out for the smaller one mentioned above.
#ad


I have a 700r4 trans I built with Dana's Pro Street Elite kit from probuiltautomatics- 700r4l60e.com . Running a 9.5 Vigilante converter that stalls at 3k.

I started the whole turbo deal a couple years ago starting with building and swapping the trans, then redoing the fuel system from mechanical pump to an Aeromotive Stealth 340 in tank electric. I ran -8 an teflon lines for feed and return to an aeromotive regulator. Single -6an line to the carb.
#ad

#ad

 

For the hot side, since I already had hooker ceramic coated shorty headers so I kept the drivers side one and ran the 2.5" crossover pipe under the oil pan and then up and forward above the K-member but below the motor mount. The passenger side header I made from 11ga mandrel bent mild steel from columbiarivermandrelbending.com. A saw-zall, a welder for tacking and a tape measure was all that was needed. I made the flange from 3/8 steel I milled at work using a gasket as a template.
#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

 

The turbo I have is a Holset H2E, at least I'm pretty sure that's what it is :hmm: which was not very easy to figure out. I had to search and search and cross reference and cross reference the numbers on the tag to finally figure this out. I was going to originally buy a garrett or master power but my friend had this Holset he bought off ebay a few years back to use on his 350 but it was never going to happen so I borrowed it for mockup. After finding out the specs and comparing them with what I figured I needed, it was a good enough match that I ended up using it. It was freshly remanufactured and still had fresh paint marks and fresh anti-sieze on the bolts. This was the only map I could find. Mine has a 19cm2 exhaust housing, and 66mm inducer wheel. Cold side inlet - 4", outlet - 3", hot side inlet - T4 devided (wider than standard holset bolt pattern), 4 - 4.5" holset specific V band outlet.
#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

 

Nice build.. I've always wanted a mullet maro... Just don't see as many nice ones like yours as you do of the bellybutton generation.

 

Awesome, this looks like a budget build that I will be following. Most of the times a turbo build is very costly. Its great seeing a economical build.

Is that one picture taken at BIR? If so is this your home track?

Hope to see you there!!!

 

Thanks, yeah I don't see a lot of nice third gen camaros, most are pretty junky. Good eye, yep that's at BIR a couple years ago. I go there on Wednesday nights a few times a year for their street legal drags. I hope to be up there more often this year.

To mount the 40lb turbo I made bracket that mounts to the cylinder head to support the weight, but also allow for some flex side to side.
#ad

#ad

#ad

I made a flange at work to join the two hot side pipes from each header together at the turbo itself.
#ad

I then had to get the two pipes to merge into the 2x3 rectangle tubing welded to the flange.
#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

 

It got pretty tricky down by the front passenger side corner of the oil pan. With transmission lines, oil drain bung, lower pipe with a v-band right there, dampener, steering center link, and lower radiator hose.
#ad

#ad

#ad

I then added a pipe teeing off the merge piece for the 50mm ebay wastegate.
#ad

#ad

#ad

Now that I had my turbo location figured out, it was time to start mocking up the 4" downpipe.
#ad

I designed my header to maximize room for the downpipe.
#ad

 

I figured a heat shield for the starter would be necessary so I made a simple one from aluminum sheet metal and attached it to the starter itself.
#ad

After some research and trying different V-bands, I found out that my Holset has a weird sized V-band flange for the downpipe connection. I found a thicker, wider V-band clamp w/flanges on ebay that looked like it might work so I took a chance and bought them. OBX racing is what the brand is. I then modified the turbine housing itself to match up with my V-band flange by milling it down some to make it thinner. Worked great!
If you go back up and look at the turbo is the other pictures you can probably tell the difference.
#ad

#ad

#ad

With the v-band figured out I could finally start building the downpipe.
#ad

It went super easy, I had it all tacked up in just a few hours. I tried to make it as parallel with the valve cover as I could. The tight spot is where it goes between the starter and the "frame" of the car. A 4" pipe is a wedge fit in that area. By putting another v-band flange right above the starter, my downpipe can be removed in 20 minutes. Man I love V-bands.
#ad

#ad

#ad


Then I just had to mount my WG and Y that into the DP.

 

The guy that TIG welded my header warped the flange really bad so I took an old cylinder head and with some heat I used washers to space the header away from the head and used the bolts to bend and draw the flange back straight. I got it pretty close, then welded beads around each port and sanded the whole thing flat on a big belt sander.
#ad

#ad

I wanted a way I could limit the mechanical timing advance so I tapped a 4-40 thread in the one plate to put a cap head screw that I tapered the head on. By turning the screw farther in it brings the wider part of the head in contact with the plate sooner limiting the throw.
#ad

#ad

#ad

I added an engine oil cooler too and bought an Earl's billet sandwich adapter with a built in 180 T-stat. -10an lines run to the oil cooler and back. The oil cooler is from anfittingsdirect.com and looks like a quality piece.
#ad




Next I moved on to the exhaust, and made the tricky piece that would fit alongside the starter. By flattening out the pipe some it fit nicely.

#ad

#ad

#ad

 

With the exhaust side done far enough, I was able to start on the cold side.
For the cold side, I bought a 25x12x3 intercooler off ebay for $104 shipped from CX racing. I see nothing wrong with it, and man it is cheap. 3" aluminum piping off ebay connects it all together. I bought a knock off HKS BOV that is in the tube right before the intercooler. With some slight grinding on the bracket going from the hood latch down to the bottom of the core support the I/C fit nicely. By tipping the bottom in so it was almost contacting the radiator is brought the height of the inlet and outlet down to just about perfect, while also bringing them far enough forward away from the radiator support. The black brackets that hold the front end on had to be trimmed too, along with the front end itself in the same areas. It was pretty tricky going from the turbo to the intercooler through the fender, but eventually I got it.
#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

Then I was able to start my engine for the first time with the turbo. Since I reused my old cam and lifters, no break in was required. With the addition of the oil cooler is now holds about 6 quarts of oil instead of 4 3/4. I primed the oil pump and prefilled the oil filter and ran it for a while with the drill to try to bleed the oil cooler of all its air. Then I put the distributor in and fired it up.
Here's a video.
http://youtu.be/6sT_CLvVHoQ

 

Figuring out the last pieces to meet up with the carb hat took me awhile, I kept putting it off and working on other things instead. Eventually I came up with the plan, the piece with the 45 degree bend just wasn't gonna work, so I used a straight piece and cut a section out of a 180 piece to make the correct bend. Where it meets the carb hat, it's at a slight angle, I don't think it will be a problem since the silicone piece has enough flex in it to compensate. I wouldn't mind getting one of those pieces with the bellows in it though so there is no strain on it whatsoever. Since it seems a lot of people with third gens with intercoolers are having cooling issues, I wanted to maximize airflow through my stock radiator as much as possible. I already had the lower air deflector on my car for a couple of years, which has worked excellent. I made it out of a piece of 1/4 lexan and then attached a cut in half Ford mudflap to extend it but allow for folding back when it bottoms out on the ground. The rubber has just the right amount of flex in it to do the job nicely. In case I ever hit something hard with it like a rabbit or whatever, I scored the lexan all the way across to give it a breaking point about an inch up from the rubber so it won't bend the bottom of my car up. I made all the air ducts from thin sheet aluminum. I also made a piece in my inner fender to keep road spray and rocks off my air filter a little better.
#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

 

The first time I drove it around went well. I didn't have the intercooler or any cold side piping done but I just wanted to make sure it ran ok and got the trans fluid level right and made sure I had no issues. I actually ran out of gas on my way into town! So I sat on the side of the road with my car broken down and only half together for 20 minutes. I sure was getting a lot of weird looks as people drove by.
#ad

Once I got the cold side done, I put my front end back on after a couple of short drives.
#ad

I bought a 6# spring for the W/G and it makes about 3psi at the manifold. I left my carb just as it was last year to see what the differences were in the A/F ratios. It was leaner nearly everywhere, especially at part throttle before and after the PV was opening. WOT it was way lean at around 13.5-14. I have my timing backed off to 25 degrees max so I think it's pretty safe for now. My jetting at the time was 64/84 with a 9.5 PV, PVCR's at .068 I think. I installed bigger secondary jets which I drilled out to .125 which according to the holley chart is equal to about a size 99 jet. The WOT went to about 11.8. Because I didn't have a manual boost controller yet, I swapped to the 12# WG spring that came with it. It then made about 7psi and the A/F went leaner to around 12.1-12.4. I then added vent extension to the carb. Do you think these will work?
#ad

Actually I used 5/16 fuel line. It fit snuggly over the vent lines on the carb, requiring no clamps. I'm not sure if there would be anything wrong with leaving them rubber instead of rigid tubing once I get the ends held in place so they can't move around.
#ad

After a test drive with the vent extensions on the 6# spring, the WOT went from 11.8 down to 9.9-10.3! Wow what a difference. I then tried the 12# spring and it ran 11.1-11.5 WOT. The part throttle drivability is still very lean but better. Although the days I was doing these tests the temperature was only about 40-50 degrees. I'm going to lean out the secondaries a little and add more PVCR and maybe even more main jet. My cruising is the same as last year. Right around 14.6-15.3.

 

I bought a muffler that I want to throw under the car, as I'd like to have it as quiet as I can. It's a flowmaster which I'm not a huge fan of but it was the only 4" in/out that I could find with small enough dimensions where the inlet and outlet are both on the same side of the muffler. For now my exhaust is as shown. My plan when I get the muffler mounted is to dump the exhaust out right in front of the rear tire. I have an extra v-band flange so I can easily swap from the straight pipe to the muffler setup by undoing a single clamp.
#ad

#ad




Here's a few more pictures of the mostly finished product.

#ad

#ad

#ad

 

Some pics didn't worker my phone won't load them but I'm definitely following this thread since I have an 84 Z28 with a big block I'm planning to turbo soon. Would love pics of the wind deflector for the radiator.

 

Well done!!!

 

great build

 

Time for an update if anyone cares.... I was on vacation and also had my compressor and wastegate cap out to a guy from work for powder coating so I haven't done much in the past couple weeks. I did get my hood mounted yesterday, and I have my fuel pressure gauge hooked up now too, since it's mounted in the hood. I installed a manual boost controller and put the 6 lb spring back in. I have been slowly cranking up the MBC and am up to about 6 lbs reading at the manifold. The A/F's are still extremely rich as I have yet to lean out the secondary jets, and I'm gonna try richening up primaries. Timing is 8 degrees base, 26 max right now. With the vacuum advance connected I am seeing as high as 46 degrees during cruise conditions. With the boost referenced fuel pressure gauge I can now see how much the carb hat is pressurizing. It will build pressure very easily even under as little as 1/4 throttle, but since my vacuum/boost gauge is reading under the throttle blades in the manifold it will still read vacuum untill I really get on it. In the condition (as in 1/4 throttle) when the top of the carb is seeing boost but the throttle is barely open, it is leaning out big time -like as high as 17-18 which is making part throttle driveability annoying. It's like there is not enough airflow to pull enough fuel through the main jets. But it's dependent on carb hat pressure being there for it to go lean. The first couple seconds when going from idle to 1/4 throttle before the turbo starts spooling the mixture is fine (13-14) then it goes lean. I have a 9.5 power valve but I wish it was more like a 12.5 if they made one. So I'm gonna try going richer with the main jets and hope it doesn't effect my cruising A/F ratio too much because it is good where it's at now.
My fuel pressure gauge or regulator is kind of acting up, it will sometimes read 6psi, and then sometimes read only 2psi. But if I crank up the regulator at all it will go right up to as high as I set it. I did find that over 7psi on the gauge will overpower the needle and seat on the primary bowl and flood the carb. I compared fuel pressure gauge readings with my little cheapo gauge and it will say 10 psi when my autometer will say 6. So who knows what's going on there, as long as I have some pressure I'm ok for now. I was worried about the underside of the hood getting super hot but it actually doesn't get that hot at all. Next I'm going to disconnect my BOV and see if the sound changes at all when I let off under boost. I don't know if it would make a single pshh sound or multiple which is what I'm hearing now. I don't know what turbo flutter versus a bouncy (if they even do that) BOV sounds like. What do you guys think?

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

#ad

 

Well the little inline vacuum "filter" that came with the BOV blew apart yesterday so for a test I disconnected the BOV and ran it today to compare. It seemed no different, still got the turbo surge when closing the throttle. Then I connected it without the little filter thing which I think was restricting the vacuum signal like a flow control. That made a difference, I could hear it actually venting for the first time. It would be one high pitched sheesh and then little bit of slight compressor flutter after that. I changed jetting from 64/99 to 69/84. It cured the part throttle lean condition and cleaned up the WOT, maybe a little too much. WOT A/F was running in the low to mid 12's. I think I'm going to drill out some jets to get the secondaries closer to a size 90 jet. I borrowed my brothers GoPro and took a couple videos. Here they are:

http://youtu.be/M5DYibXs0Wg

http://youtu.be/4IT2oSpXKV4

 

Looks like it runs pretty good. If you don't mind me asking, which GoPro is that one? Is it the HD one?

 

Man, I wish I could figure out how to load pics from my iPhone. Show u how similar our two camaros are!!! My turbo kit looks almost identical!! You have a clean build keep it up!