Project Mr. Green Jeans (now 5.3 LS turbo build!)

[rajincajintj]

Originally Posted by bnoon

Runs and drives wahoooooo!!!

congrats man, i know that feeling, especially after some adversity.

good luck steering with that raging boner!!

[bnoon]

I couldn't wait until tomorrow. I went out and vacuum bled the brakes and took it for a test drive for real! Wahoooo! Now I can concentrate on the tune and fans tomorrow.

[Dieselwrencher]

That's awesome you got it fihured out and were able to take it out on a drive!

[bnoon]

Still need to work on the tune badly. Idle is OK, but startup and driving are still messed up. My VE tables are nowhere near where they need to be and I'm still wiring up things left and right and need to wire loom everything. Thinking of farming out the tune to Lund out in Adel, but I'd hate to give it up for a few days and lose out on the time on other parts of the build. I hate it when a timeline shrinks too fast!!! And I have to change the power steering pump out now because I didn't notice before that the shaft on this one is bent and makes the pulley wobble. That will cause the belt to wear prematurely and may kick off at higher revs. Uggggggggh!!!

On the good side, the 90's Areostar van electric fans are mounted up.

[bnoon]

Tuned it some last night and it's running better, still a ways to go though. I have one fan trigger that's not working and the wire itself tests good and the spare pcm tests the same way. For now, both fan relays are triggered at the same time from fan 2 lead. Going to double check the pin out for that wire for fan1 since there's no ground when triggered now.

[Dieselwrencher]

Brad, are you trying to get it done to take it on power tour next week?

[bnoon]

Originally Posted by Dieselwrencher

Brad, are you trying to get it done to take it on power tour next week?

Yes sir! Mostly ready right now. I have a few issue remaining that are intermittent (lifter tick and warm restart). Both come and go. I've ordered adjustable rockers to see if I'm having a net lash issue like many have reported and I will have those tomorrow. Easy to install. If that goes well, the truck will be going. If not, it may have to wait for next year. The warm start issue isn't bad enough to keep me from going, just embarrassing when it pops and bangs really loud, then starts fine as if nothing had happened.

[bnoon]

I've been driving back and forth to work this week and no issues yet that would keep me from going on Power Tour. Working on the tune and cleaning a few other little things up like wiring/etc. tonight after work. We leave in the morning for Madison, WI!!! VIP baby!!!

[Dieselwrencher]

Have fun on the trip and good luck as well!

[bnoon]

I ended up not taking it on Power Tour this year. We looked at the weather predictions for the stops along the way, and combined with a slight stumble that developed in my tune, we made the decision to drive my Mustang instead. Worked out fine though. I got to auto-x the Track Pack and see just how good I was compared to the rest of the crowd. I did a 24.2 seconds as my best and that was a second and a half better than this kid in a 4th gen LS1 Camaro that had RE11 tires, upgraded suspension (sways, panhard rod, camber plates), harnesses, and full cage... His jaw dropped after my final run when I was just starting to get used to the layout. Heheheheh!

Now, back to Green Jeans... Tuned out the stumble by smoothing out the transition areas of my VE tables (between part throttle and coasting/idle, I had too big of a jump in air) and also calmed down my idle surge by limiting the RPM adder spark and RPM error limits. Now, to get the 80# injectors installed and switch to E85, then go after WOT fuel/spark on a dyno!

Turbo ordered today. I ended up going with a GT45 88mm Billet wheels .96 ar with a T4 flange. Up to 1000 horse, though I will settle somewhere in the 600-700 area. Installation and fabrication coming soon.

[Dieselwrencher]

Sorry to hear you didn't take the truck, but at least you had the stang to take and have fun in still! That turbo should more than get the job done!

[bnoon]

Well, I'm so glad I didn't try to take the truck on Power Tour now. I'm having a low oil pressure at idle issue when warm. Even driving down the slower areas of the interstate seems to drop pressure and start to knock and/or tick. Pop it into neutral and a few revs and it's fine again for a while. This blows. I'm hoping/thinking it's the oil pump bypass or the o-ring on the pickup tube and not the plastic barbell near the rear of the engine. Time will tell. New high pressure pump ordered today and should be here next week. Feeling lame. I think I'll order a few Mustang parts to help me feel better.

[bnoon]

Over the last couple of nights, got the front of the engine torn down and pulled the pan loose. Pan had to fully be dropped loose, but I couldn't quite get it all the way off, so I had to fish out the bolt with a spring mounted magnet. I tried to use fine project wire to hold the bolt, but it slipped out and dropped down in. Otherwise, it was a fairly easy remove and replace. New pump is on and awaiting the rest of the reassembly.

[bnoon]

Everything is back together and driving again. I have GREAT oil pressure now from the Melling pump. Shoots to 60+ when revved and holds a steady 45 at hot idle in P/N.

80# injectors are in a tune adjusted, running E85 and speed density tune has been tested, but I will wait to get deep into the speed density tuning once the turbo is fabbed up and installed. No need to tune things that I will have to tune again you know...

I've been making video updates on youtube too. I'll add the link to my sig as well. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1T...X-j1iEBEKix5Wg

[gmachinz]

Hey, Brad! Just been reading through your build thread-your sign language makes me laugh every time I see it! How do ya really feel? Lol

[bnoon]

Originally Posted by gmachinz

Hey, Brad! Just been reading through your build thread-your sign language makes me laugh every time I see it! How do ya really feel? Lol

LOL, hey bud... Ya, I can get worked up a bit. At least I haven't thrown any tools or punched anything in about a year. Just fyi, a stack of pallets does NOT make a good punching bag!!! Sounded like squishing a stack of saltine crackers and the wood made some noise too.

[mattcrp1]

Glad to hear you got the oil pressure issue figured out.

[gmachinz]

I'm gonna have to stop over and check this thing out....I have a pretty stout 383/TH400 all fresh ready for my 80 Monte project but I'm hesitating because I'm leaning towards a 5.3 install for less weight....isn't that LS9 a blower cam? Is your turbo a custom build? Area Diesel in Pleasant Hill builds custom compressor/exhaust housings, impellars, etc. if you need a source-talk to Manny over there!

[bnoon]

Originally Posted by gmachinz

I'm gonna have to stop over and check this thing out....I have a pretty stout 383/TH400 all fresh ready for my 80 Monte project but I'm hesitating because I'm leaning towards a 5.3 install for less weight....isn't that LS9 a blower cam? Is your turbo a custom build? Area Diesel in Pleasant Hill builds custom compressor/exhaust housings, impellars, etc. if you need a source-talk to Manny over there!

Yes, the LS9 cam is the ZR1 camshaft. It was only like 105 dollars plus shipping from GM Parts Direct, PN 12638427 (just checked, it's $104.20). I'm running it with 1.8 Scorpion aluminum rockers, and the cam change requires the LS2/LS7/LS9 front engine cover and cam sensor PN 12586481 and 12591720. The LS9 cam has been shown to add quite a bit even N/A, though it's obviously meant for boost. A couple of people are showing 50+ HP/TQ over the stock 5.3 cam. The longer duration of the exhaust side will help turbo spool and since it's a boost cam, has very little overlap to keep the boost from blowing on through during intake/exhaust transition. Very cheap for a boost cam. Not really hoping for more power out of it once the boost is applied, just better boost manners.

The turbo is a custom unit of the ultra cheap variety from VS Racing. 88mm .96ar T4 flange. I was kind of leery of the China-chargers, but Sloppy Mechanics has made some REALLY good power with several of them, so I'm going to give one a try. It hasn't shown up yet, but it could be any day. They said 2-3 weeks, which I'm sure means 4-6 instead, but you never know. The turbo should be good for 1000 horsepower, but I'll keep it between 600-700 (500-550 whp) as a starting point and save the rest for later when I add better brakes and suspension. Thanks for the recommendation on the local source though, always good to have them if something should go wrong with the turbo itself.

[bnoon]

So look what finally showed up last weekend. Mmmmmm turbo!!!

[Hankster]

Ohhh, sh!t just got real!

[bnoon]

Rust free fender picked up this weekend. Rust cure soon...

[68Timber]

I've never read what all it takes to make a turbo work on the LS. Aside from the hard parts, what manages the additional air and fuel? Is it just a matter of changing the tune?

[bnoon]

A 2 or 3 bar map sensor must be used and the tune is file will need to be licensed to expand the VE table resolution for the higher kpa zone values. Then, you either dyno tune with a wide band, or buy a wide band o2 setup and tune wot.

[68Timber]

Originally Posted by bnoon

A 2 or 3 bar map sensor must be used and the tune is file will need to be licensed to expand the VE table resolution for the higher kpa zone values. Then, you either dyno tune with a wide band, or buy a wide band o2 setup and tune wot.

See that's a different language to me.