Single Turbo C5 FRC Build Thread
03-14-2016, 04:38 PM
#1
Single Turbo C5 FRC Build Thread
I decided to make this thread now as my car is nearing completion.
In a time span of less than 2 years, I bought a perfect condition C5 FRC, ran the dog **** out of it, motor swapped and supercharged it, dogged the **** out of it some more, and now I'm going big turbo. I think I have a problem.
Here she is.
I bought it off craigslist from a seller in VA. The car was immaculate with 114k miles on the clock and garage kept. I picked it up for $13,000. It was a steal in my book.
I did all the typical bolt-ons (BB Bullets, Kooks headers, Blackwing intake). If I could go back and give my younger self some advice it would be that bolt ons are a stupid waste of money. If you really want power, keep your car stock until you can afford to go FI. Around 130k miles, the car started burning a lot of oil. I drove it hard.
I didn’t have the money for the dream LSX 454 swap so I started researching alternatives. I settled on a used 5.3L L33 out of a GMC Sierra. I did Headstuds, Hardened pushrods, springs and retainers, trunion conversion, Brian Tooley cam, but kept the stock rotating assembly.
I ordered a 1500 kit from ECS as well. As a sidenote, I will never do business with ECS again. It took over 2 months to get the kit, never got a tracking number, and the kit was missing some cosmetic pieces. Fast forward about 6 months, I’m selling the ECS kit and had to order an idler from them to replace the one I was still using on the car. Took almost 3 months just to get their fixed idler kit. Forewarning, do not do business with them.
I got the car back, motor swapped and supercharged, putting down a conservative 600whp on about 10 psi. Drove it hard another 3-4k miles. During that time, the car was a beast, however I don’t believe ECS means for their kits to be daily driven. That kit puts a lot of strain on the pulleys, I had to replace my waterpump and alternator, something I had already done when I first bought the car as preventative measure. One day the belt snapped and I had to tow my car home. That was it for me. It broke my power steering bracket and sheered off my new waterpump’s pulley and got coolant everywhere.
From there, I decided that I did not want a FI system that relied on belts and pullies. I looked at the UPP and Hinson turbo kits, but neither appeared to be complete without headaches or pretty major alterations of the engine compartment. To do something right, you have to go custom.
I decided to trust a family friend over the winter to build my turbo setup and here it is.
Manifolds
Went with a Borg Warner S400sx374
Intercooler
4 inch wide Ebay special
There’s a good mix of name brand and ebay parts:
Tial Blow off
Precision 66mm wastegate
manual boost controller
coil relocation kit
alky methanol kit
AEM afr/boost failsafe gauge
intercooler is from ebay
FIC 1100 Injectors
Fore Inovations lvl2 twin pump fuel system
Any questions feel free to ask. Yes, I am keeping A/C. Ill keep this updated in the coming weeks.
Also if anyone wants an ECS 1500 kit let me know. I'm selling it minus injectors and boost a pump.
In a time span of less than 2 years, I bought a perfect condition C5 FRC, ran the dog **** out of it, motor swapped and supercharged it, dogged the **** out of it some more, and now I'm going big turbo. I think I have a problem.
Here she is.
I bought it off craigslist from a seller in VA. The car was immaculate with 114k miles on the clock and garage kept. I picked it up for $13,000. It was a steal in my book.
I did all the typical bolt-ons (BB Bullets, Kooks headers, Blackwing intake). If I could go back and give my younger self some advice it would be that bolt ons are a stupid waste of money. If you really want power, keep your car stock until you can afford to go FI. Around 130k miles, the car started burning a lot of oil. I drove it hard.
I didn’t have the money for the dream LSX 454 swap so I started researching alternatives. I settled on a used 5.3L L33 out of a GMC Sierra. I did Headstuds, Hardened pushrods, springs and retainers, trunion conversion, Brian Tooley cam, but kept the stock rotating assembly.
I ordered a 1500 kit from ECS as well. As a sidenote, I will never do business with ECS again. It took over 2 months to get the kit, never got a tracking number, and the kit was missing some cosmetic pieces. Fast forward about 6 months, I’m selling the ECS kit and had to order an idler from them to replace the one I was still using on the car. Took almost 3 months just to get their fixed idler kit. Forewarning, do not do business with them.
I got the car back, motor swapped and supercharged, putting down a conservative 600whp on about 10 psi. Drove it hard another 3-4k miles. During that time, the car was a beast, however I don’t believe ECS means for their kits to be daily driven. That kit puts a lot of strain on the pulleys, I had to replace my waterpump and alternator, something I had already done when I first bought the car as preventative measure. One day the belt snapped and I had to tow my car home. That was it for me. It broke my power steering bracket and sheered off my new waterpump’s pulley and got coolant everywhere.
From there, I decided that I did not want a FI system that relied on belts and pullies. I looked at the UPP and Hinson turbo kits, but neither appeared to be complete without headaches or pretty major alterations of the engine compartment. To do something right, you have to go custom.
I decided to trust a family friend over the winter to build my turbo setup and here it is.
Manifolds
Went with a Borg Warner S400sx374
Intercooler
4 inch wide Ebay special
There’s a good mix of name brand and ebay parts:
Tial Blow off
Precision 66mm wastegate
manual boost controller
coil relocation kit
alky methanol kit
AEM afr/boost failsafe gauge
intercooler is from ebay
FIC 1100 Injectors
Fore Inovations lvl2 twin pump fuel system
Any questions feel free to ask. Yes, I am keeping A/C. Ill keep this updated in the coming weeks.
Also if anyone wants an ECS 1500 kit let me know. I'm selling it minus injectors and boost a pump.
03-14-2016, 07:18 PM
#3
Melting Slicks
Member Since: Jan 2008
Location: Nathalie VA
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St. Jude Donor '15-'16-'17-'18
Not trying to stir the pot, but the early C5 PS bracket breaking and plastic PS pulley giving up the ghost is a common c5 issue. Hence the reason many go to 03-up C5 PS bracket (has extra bracing) and C6 PS pulley (it's metal).
I don't know if you used GM parts when you replaced the water pump and alternator, but if you didn't, some parts are based off remanufactured components and not held to the QC standards that their GM counterparts are. Don't take this the wrong way but the car had 130k on it. Stuff's going to happen when you double the power output. (I'm sure you know this stuff, and I'm not trying to be condescending.)
That being said. This looks like a great project. Look forward to the results. Good luck! It's awesome to see more and more people going the custom route!
I don't know if you used GM parts when you replaced the water pump and alternator, but if you didn't, some parts are based off remanufactured components and not held to the QC standards that their GM counterparts are. Don't take this the wrong way but the car had 130k on it. Stuff's going to happen when you double the power output. (I'm sure you know this stuff, and I'm not trying to be condescending.)
That being said. This looks like a great project. Look forward to the results. Good luck! It's awesome to see more and more people going the custom route!
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ajrothm (03-14-2016)
03-15-2016, 01:58 AM
#4
Melting Slicks
Member Since: Jan 2008
Location: Nathalie VA
Posts: 2,590
Likes: 0
Received 47 Likes
on
45 Posts
St. Jude Donor '15-'16-'17-'18
I looked on Fore Innovations site a few days ago after looking at another guys build and didn't see anything about pre-03 fuel systems. Did you just contact them about a setup? Or am I refrigerator blind? (Means I can't find the mayo when it's on the front center of the top shelf.)
03-15-2016, 10:15 AM
#5
Melting Slicks
I looked on Fore Innovations site a few days ago after looking at another guys build and didn't see anything about pre-03 fuel systems. Did you just contact them about a setup? Or am I refrigerator blind? (Means I can't find the mayo when it's on the front center of the top shelf.)
03-17-2016, 12:18 AM
#6
That's correct. They don't make a kit for the Pre-03 corvette. Fortunately, fuel tanks from the C6 fit in the C5, so I found a set of them for 50 buck on ebay.
More progress:
More progress:
03-17-2016, 06:59 PM
#7
Safety Car
Lol, awesome response and I like the setup. Please keep updates/pics coming. Where do you plan on exhaust exiting, if I missed that part?
03-18-2016, 06:14 AM
#12
a round pipe fits past the starter. You have to bend the AC lines out of the way and wrap the starter wires in heat wrap. The coolant tank may have to be shaved a tad, but we'll see.
03-18-2016, 10:09 PM
#15
03-19-2016, 03:33 AM
#16
Burning Brakes
From there, I decided that I did not want a FI system that relied on belts and pullies. I looked at the UPP and Hinson turbo kits, but neither appeared to be complete without headaches or pretty major alterations of the engine compartment. To do something right, you have to go custom.
I decided to trust a family friend over the winter to build my turbo setup and here it is.
I decided to trust a family friend over the winter to build my turbo setup and here it is.
If not, pick the good one.
Not that your particular combination is somehow challenging, but it is always nice to have a perfect tune.
I wouldn't trust a family friend to make a perfect tune - unless he/she is closely related to Lingenfelter. :-)
03-19-2016, 09:21 AM
#17
Oh, I agree!
Do you already have tuner?
If not, pick the good one.
Not that your particular combination is somehow challenging, but it is always nice to have a perfect tune.
I wouldn't trust a family friend to make a perfect tune - unless he/she is closely related to Lingenfelter. :-)
Do you already have tuner?
If not, pick the good one.
Not that your particular combination is somehow challenging, but it is always nice to have a perfect tune.
I wouldn't trust a family friend to make a perfect tune - unless he/she is closely related to Lingenfelter. :-)
My other options are Frank Smith from Tuning Tech in Crofton or Fran from RPMotorsports in Delaware.
03-27-2016, 04:40 PM
#18
Hotside, minus the downpipe complete.
66mm Wastegate from Precision. Everything in the pic weighs around 60 lbs.
How it looks in the car... You can see the -12an oil return as well as the start of heat wrap on some hoses and wires.
66mm Wastegate from Precision. Everything in the pic weighs around 60 lbs.
How it looks in the car... You can see the -12an oil return as well as the start of heat wrap on some hoses and wires.
03-28-2016, 10:16 PM
#20
Well I'm sticking with a 2 bar map sensor because my driveline is stock with an LS7 clutch. It's staying that way for awhile. Im limited to 15 psi. So hopefully in the ballpark of 650-700. Then I'll crank it up after I do the driveline to 1000. Im more concerned about reliability and just having a solid build.