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Hello everybody. Just thought I should post a build thread on my Turbocharged 2001 Camaro V6 , since I couldn't manage to find any help along the way for myself.
So for starters the car started off as the Tom Henry Rs. The top end was completely gone through. Custom heads , cam , ported heads ect. The list goes on. All said and done whilst NA it produced 230hp to the tires. Not to shabby considering. The suspension has been completely gone through aswell. Global west torque arm and pan hard bar. Qa1 coil overs (two way adjustable) solid bushings front to back , and some lightweight Fikse wheels.
When I bought the car it was decent. Not great , just decent. The tune was a little on the soft side , and the suspension setup was far from where it should be. So I daily drove the car 100 miles a day. On my free time I would hit the canyons and get a feel for it. I eventually got irritated enough with the back end coming out on me , I decided to make s ok me changes.
The issue I was having is exiting a corner. It was on ice! It hated coming out of a turn. God help me if I hit a bump mid turn. So with my basic knowledge I concluded a few things. The car has no give in the rear what so ever. So I adjusted the shocks accordingly. It got better .... but still was a handful. When I bought the car , the gentleman gave me a room full of spare parts. Great guy I must say. After doing some digging I found the extra set of rear springs. What was on the car were a set of custom made global west springs. I have no idea what the spring rates were. Anyways, I put the ebiachs I had on the car. Not only are they a softer spring , they lowered the car about 20mm. Double bonus ! So I lowered the front coilovers and nosed it down slightly. Now that I have a softer spring I'm able to let the shocks do their job. I went on a spirited drive and thought eureka!! Its so much better .... but it can be better . So after some trial and error and a few hours I dialed in the shocks. One good run up mullholand with the final setting and I couldn't belive it. I went from hating this car to ... omg this thing handles better than my M3. Who would have thought?!!
After I finally dialed in the suspension I was thrilled. I started hurting some Miata feelings. It was fantastic, I really must say. I love it when a car exceeds my expectations. And then I found the week link. Any other apponent with a decent level of power meant I was pushing the camaro to the absolute limit. One hard run and my oil temps would be knocking on the door of 300. Wayyyyy to high. So it got HOT! coolant wasnt an issue , intake air temps are damn near ambient. So I have to fix that. What els..... it's under powered. Even with the many upgrades it just cant hold a candle. So what now??? Engine swap , no.... it's to much fun winning with a v6 , so maybe supercharger ??? No that wont fix the heat issue ,itll just make it worse. So while I was surfing through ebay , I came across a trubo kit. CLICK , I bought it. Just a basic kit. China turbo and wastegate , with some decent looking headers and up pipe.
A few days later the kit arrived. I was skeptical from the moment the money left my account. But I have to say ,I was very pleased. The china turbo is a weak link for sure . It will break. But that's okay. I'll just upgrade it later. The headers are worth every penny of the kit. Welds are nice. Clean finish. Good flanges. Itll work.
I got into tearing the car down asap. Started with a mock up to check fittment. No major cutting or modifications needed. So I installed the turbo. Next was the intercooler. After much trail and error. I removed the front bumper support and put the intercooler in place of it. It fit perfectly. Just another $40 ebay intercooler. Buy hey, itll work. I know the flow behind the grill isnt optimal. But I really like the slp grill and the fact it hides the intercooler. Mostly. I'm going to out some fans on it anyways. Next was the Oil cooler. Locating a spot was a challenge. I didnt want to block flow to the radiator or the intercooler. Also o was running out of space with the turbo kit. So I got creative. I cut out the under panel in front of the right front wheel just behind the diffuser , and faced it down. With the fog lights removed it allows for plenty of airflow. Especially with the massive fan on it. I used a sandwitch plate adapter from summit at the oil filter and ran lines along the frame. A nice clean fittment. I was very proud once it was all done :-D. Next was the down pipe. The clarence from the turbo to the throttle body is very tight. So I managed to create a drastic enough bend to clear it , without disrupting flow. Installed a slender muffler and a turn down. The exit comes out in front of the left front wheel. I tried every way possible to get the exhaust out the back. Theres no way to get a 3 inch pipe around the engine with this setup. Some heat wrap finished it up. I clearenced the throttle body a little just to avoid any contact heat transfer.
As of right now the car is 99% complete. I need to finish the oil feed and return for the turbo. The vacuum block. And the battery relocation.
Here's a list of weight reduction. I'm expecting it to be at ,if not just below 3k lbs. It's a slick top car with cloth interior and factory rear defrost delete. Before touching the car it weighed in at 3200
CAT BACK EXHAUST
A/C AND HVAC
FOG LIGHTS
AIR BAGS
CONDESOR
MISC BRACKETS UP FRONT
WINDSHIELD WASHER SYSTEM
FRONT BUMPER SUPPORT
So for starters the car started off as the Tom Henry Rs. The top end was completely gone through. Custom heads , cam , ported heads ect. The list goes on. All said and done whilst NA it produced 230hp to the tires. Not to shabby considering. The suspension has been completely gone through aswell. Global west torque arm and pan hard bar. Qa1 coil overs (two way adjustable) solid bushings front to back , and some lightweight Fikse wheels.
When I bought the car it was decent. Not great , just decent. The tune was a little on the soft side , and the suspension setup was far from where it should be. So I daily drove the car 100 miles a day. On my free time I would hit the canyons and get a feel for it. I eventually got irritated enough with the back end coming out on me , I decided to make s ok me changes.
The issue I was having is exiting a corner. It was on ice! It hated coming out of a turn. God help me if I hit a bump mid turn. So with my basic knowledge I concluded a few things. The car has no give in the rear what so ever. So I adjusted the shocks accordingly. It got better .... but still was a handful. When I bought the car , the gentleman gave me a room full of spare parts. Great guy I must say. After doing some digging I found the extra set of rear springs. What was on the car were a set of custom made global west springs. I have no idea what the spring rates were. Anyways, I put the ebiachs I had on the car. Not only are they a softer spring , they lowered the car about 20mm. Double bonus ! So I lowered the front coilovers and nosed it down slightly. Now that I have a softer spring I'm able to let the shocks do their job. I went on a spirited drive and thought eureka!! Its so much better .... but it can be better . So after some trial and error and a few hours I dialed in the shocks. One good run up mullholand with the final setting and I couldn't belive it. I went from hating this car to ... omg this thing handles better than my M3. Who would have thought?!!
After I finally dialed in the suspension I was thrilled. I started hurting some Miata feelings. It was fantastic, I really must say. I love it when a car exceeds my expectations. And then I found the week link. Any other apponent with a decent level of power meant I was pushing the camaro to the absolute limit. One hard run and my oil temps would be knocking on the door of 300. Wayyyyy to high. So it got HOT! coolant wasnt an issue , intake air temps are damn near ambient. So I have to fix that. What els..... it's under powered. Even with the many upgrades it just cant hold a candle. So what now??? Engine swap , no.... it's to much fun winning with a v6 , so maybe supercharger ??? No that wont fix the heat issue ,itll just make it worse. So while I was surfing through ebay , I came across a trubo kit. CLICK , I bought it. Just a basic kit. China turbo and wastegate , with some decent looking headers and up pipe.
A few days later the kit arrived. I was skeptical from the moment the money left my account. But I have to say ,I was very pleased. The china turbo is a weak link for sure . It will break. But that's okay. I'll just upgrade it later. The headers are worth every penny of the kit. Welds are nice. Clean finish. Good flanges. Itll work.
I got into tearing the car down asap. Started with a mock up to check fittment. No major cutting or modifications needed. So I installed the turbo. Next was the intercooler. After much trail and error. I removed the front bumper support and put the intercooler in place of it. It fit perfectly. Just another $40 ebay intercooler. Buy hey, itll work. I know the flow behind the grill isnt optimal. But I really like the slp grill and the fact it hides the intercooler. Mostly. I'm going to out some fans on it anyways. Next was the Oil cooler. Locating a spot was a challenge. I didnt want to block flow to the radiator or the intercooler. Also o was running out of space with the turbo kit. So I got creative. I cut out the under panel in front of the right front wheel just behind the diffuser , and faced it down. With the fog lights removed it allows for plenty of airflow. Especially with the massive fan on it. I used a sandwitch plate adapter from summit at the oil filter and ran lines along the frame. A nice clean fittment. I was very proud once it was all done :-D. Next was the down pipe. The clarence from the turbo to the throttle body is very tight. So I managed to create a drastic enough bend to clear it , without disrupting flow. Installed a slender muffler and a turn down. The exit comes out in front of the left front wheel. I tried every way possible to get the exhaust out the back. Theres no way to get a 3 inch pipe around the engine with this setup. Some heat wrap finished it up. I clearenced the throttle body a little just to avoid any contact heat transfer.
As of right now the car is 99% complete. I need to finish the oil feed and return for the turbo. The vacuum block. And the battery relocation.
Here's a list of weight reduction. I'm expecting it to be at ,if not just below 3k lbs. It's a slick top car with cloth interior and factory rear defrost delete. Before touching the car it weighed in at 3200
CAT BACK EXHAUST
A/C AND HVAC
FOG LIGHTS
AIR BAGS
CONDESOR
MISC BRACKETS UP FRONT
WINDSHIELD WASHER SYSTEM
FRONT BUMPER SUPPORT
Attached Files
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