All the regret - 81 Trans Am

[wretched73]

It is in shambles, art imitates life

[Blackbirdws6]

Originally Posted by LTb1ow

Updates?

Happy to provide updates in person

[ThoR294]

Originally Posted by Blackbirdws6

Happy to provide updates in person

Good conversation for duke island meet?!

[Blackbirdws6]

Originally Posted by ThoR294

Good conversation for duke island meet?!

Been waiting years for you to organize one but sure!

[ThoR294]

Originally Posted by Blackbirdws6

Been waiting years for you to organize one but sure!

okok ill try this year!

[Blackbirdws6]

Bringing folks up to speed, I decided to turbo the car given I don't seem to like money, needed a winter project, a pal was upgrading his turbo, sold the Caddy and had a very willing friend ready to cut/weld with me. The work kicked off towards the end of the year and been working on it progressively almost every weekend.

The turbo is on and the car runs which is all quite nice. I plan to take a maiden voyage soon once some more keyboard work is done plus install of the boost controller this coming Saturday. A number of things were learned along the way.

1. Just because you think you have room doesn't mean you have room for more things.
2. Brick and mortar is entirely useless for small items that they used to stock
3. Cutting/grinding metal makes a lot of mess
4. I'm pretty good at making braided lines

Turbo location was the obvious tricky thing on this car. As I said there is room but also no room so we decided the best position would be on the passenger side and in front of the manifold flange. This would provide good height to allow for the oil drain to do its thing while giving a path for the downpipe. We needed to move the radiator as far forward as possible even with this placement given as I said, lack of room. A new radiator was purchased to give as much clearance as possible.








Hooker manifolds were used and overall were nice pieces however the crossover pipe they sell could have lined up on the flanges a touch better. The crossover does fit as tight as possible between the trans and engine. After many pie cuts, the downpipe was welded up and the only path was to feed it in the pocket between the k-member and lower control arm. The pipe then shoots back to the aftermarket exhaust that was on the car. The passenger side pipe was cut and then joined to the drivers side for a pseudo y-pipe.






Up front, the largest intercooler that would fit reasonably was installed with some custom bracketry. From there, a good bit of silicone couplers and aluminum tubing got the cold side knocked out. I purchase a bead roller from amazon which actually worked pretty well on the aluminum tubing. Timing cover came off to weld in a -10AN fitting for the turbo drain. New timing cover seal and water pump seals went on thereafter along with a new crank bolt. A Summit wastegate will chooch to atmosphere and a Summit BOV will hopefully make fun noises.






Not pictured yet are turbo snuggie, new fuel rails, regulator, and braided lines as the prior system I cobbled together used a C5 regulator/filter, push lock hose, stock LS1 injectors etc. I didn't go crazy with the new stuff but my hope is it supports around 500rwhp. The injectors are Deka 80lb sticks but still running a 255/340 pump.


Video below was running off the original tune with the prior fuel system. Intent was to see if it had any issues and confirm no leaks etc.

https://hosting.photobucket.com/imag..._205743061.mp4

Fan shroud is being made up by a friend so should have that within a couple weeks.

Car is way quieter than it was before which is actually kind of nice. It had way more bark than bite previously so having that toned down a bit is ideal.

Can't thank Chris (wretched73) enough for all the hours he put in and his welding skills. He also had to put up with me which was probably the biggest challenge.

More to come but that should be good for now.

[LTb1ow]

Can that turbo even make 500hp?

[Blackbirdws6]

Originally Posted by LTb1ow

Can that turbo even make 500hp?

Yea. Guy that sold it to me wouldn't lie.

[ThoR294]

I agree a turbo instead of a muffler to quiet it down was def the play. Nice work!

[Blackbirdws6]

Drove from the shop, down the street and into the garage. I'll take it.

Originally Posted by ThoR294

I agree a turbo instead of a muffler to quiet it down was def the play. Nice work!

Thanks

[sweetbmxrider]

[wretched73]

That hood is never going back on #different

[ThoR294]

Cut hole in hood for alternator? or does the hood actually fit? lol

[Blackbirdws6]

Alternator hasn't moved so not a clearance issue

[IROCZman15]

this is awesome.
that thing is going to haul !
using the bead-roller is a nice way to do it
fab work looks great too, exhaust, and all the other tricky mounting areas under the hood

[Blackbirdws6]

Originally Posted by IROCZman15

this is awesome.
that thing is going to haul !
using the bead-roller is a nice way to do it
fab work looks great too, exhaust, and all the other tricky mounting areas under the hood

Thanks Dave. We'll see how it all works with some miles which may prompt the need for some changes but this aligns with the current goal.

More work was done yesterday and a throwback to Pals wrenching on a car while critiquing everything down to the music being played in the shop (pepper for full OCD unfiltered BLS comments when we work on your stuff).

The goal was to install the boost controller and tune for boost. What ended up happening was we swiftly found out the 255lph Amazon jammy external pump would drop pressure under boost. Smash did a good job with setting up the safeties in the Termi system to kill ignition if that happened. Peak boost was 3.5 psi before ignition cut hit. Goal was around 8 psi. After a bunch of phone calls we identified Hobbytown in Toms River has a decently extensive speed shop however their only external pumps were expensive Holley 1600hp bois. After getting back to shop, I took the car down the street to see if maybe cooling off made a difference. It did but was short lived.

So from there the custom rad shroud was installed and Smash/Adam wired in a 2-step controlled by Holley and a momentary switch. Beverages may have been involved. The hood is back on after a lot of old car fiddling but need to check a few things before latching it down. A new external pump was ordered and should be here this week from Summit. It will be easy to toss in and I'll see if that solves the issue. In hindsight, I should have just had a better pump on hand that could be returned if not needed but it's been a busy few weeks....

More to come

[LTb1ow]

I just hope both teams had fun.

[LS1ow]

Originally Posted by ThoR294

does the hood actually fit? lol

Eh.

[Blackbirdws6]

Originally Posted by LS1ow

Eh.

Actually hood closes fine after you guys got the gaps back in line.

[townsend]

oh this is cool af

[Blackbirdws6]

Quick update: New higher volume pump was installed and took the car for a ride. The fuel pressure was better and I was able to go WOT but at the very top the RPM FP dropped and hit the set safety. AFR looked fine on quick glance so progress but not where it needs to be.

Plan is to drop the tank to check on any restrictions from maybe a dirty sock as line size should support what I'm going for. I'm going to install a hotwire kit regardless as while that's probably not the problem, I have one on hand its cheap/easy enough to do.

Plan is to do this on Friday so maybe this weekend we will see some good results.

[LTb1ow]

[Blackbirdws6]

[LTb1ow]

Updates?

[Blackbirdws6]

Little light on media for the update but pretty good progress made. Here are the highlights.

Fuel pressure was still an issue under boost so after some deliberation and Pal discussion, decided to drop the tank which identified a semi unhappy looking sending sock. I wouldn't say it was clogged but seemed like it needed some love. I bought a new tank since they are generally inexpensive and got that swapped with Chris while ripping off the old sock (left the open pipe) while adding a new inline pre-pump filter (external).

Fuel pressure was better but still not where I wanted it. Chris recommended a good sock so I went that route and also grabbed a new sending unit. I got that installed last week, removed the external pre-pump filter and installed a hot wire kit I had on hand because why not. Fuel pressure was up from before and the entire system seems plenty happy now. Huzzah!

Prior to this, I was back and forth on how to address the front of the car simply sitting too low. It was low before the turbo but now with an exhaust pipe running under the front of the car in the pocket between the K and lower A-arm, it just has no clearance. I spoke with Customworks in CA who sold the complete suspension setup and they recommended going with a front coil over set from Viking. I wasn't keen on spending the money but needed to make the car more functional as I was concerned about every single dip or bump in the road.

Chris and I had fun putting those in but it solved the issue completely and rides half decent to boot. Car hits 4lbs of boost very easily and with a few more clicks, I'll be looking to see 8 at the peak. I may look to do that in a more controlled environment given my backgrounds while open and clear....not looking to piss all my neighbors off just yet or put myself into a tree.





Lunch ride to Wawa


Gotta let em know! Thanks Undergrounds!