1967 Camaro LS build from Australia

[TanMan]

That charge pipe pie-cut fabrication is slick! Love the build.

[Ausssie Nick]

Had a productive weekend on the Camaro. After reviewing the pie cut charge pipe and thermo fan setup I decided to change the design. I was running a single thermo fan that interfered with the charge piping hence the pie cut design. After measuring this was not the best option. It would not leave enough clearance for the Wegner accessory drive kit and the lower mandrel bends in the charge system looked a bit out of place with the pie cut top pipe.

I decided to get a new radiator shroud build so I could run 2 thermo fans which has given more clearance in the center where the main charge pipe enters the throttle body. This extra clearance has allowed me to use a 4 inch mandrel bend opposed to the pie cut bend. This design also gives me adequate clearance to run the Wegner accessory drive. While the pie cut did look racy I am happy with the updated design which flows better and has symmetry in the engine bay.

[Ausssie Nick]

Started mounting turbos now. I have the passenger side header all tacked together and turbo clamped in place. Surprisingly it fits in the inner fender really neatly. There is plenty of room for the exhaust to exit the turbo without interfering with anything. Now to start on the drivers side which will be a little more tricky.

[Ausssie Nick]

Progress continued on the turbo mounting today. Both turbos are now mounted. I was pretty good at removing an reinstalling the headers by the end of the exercise! There was alot of trial and error to get the angles correct where the pie cuts meet the headers. I am happy with how it turned out. If I did it again I would have ordered mirror image turbos to satisfy my OCD but not to worry. Next step is to mount wastegates and build the dump pipes. I ordered some ICT billet remote coil mounts today. I would like to mount the coils to the engine block behind the engine mounts but am concerned regarding the heat from the dump pipe that will be running right past. I will mock it up and see how close the pipe comes.

[andrewb70]

Are the turbos supported by anything other than the headers?

[Ausssie Nick]

Are the turbos supported by anything other than the headers?

I am going to support the turbos from the radiator support panel to the compressor housing. This will be hidden in the inner fender. I am yet to figure the design of the support out as it will need to allow some movement.

[Vimes]

What you did looks pretty sharp and really well made, but I think a set of shorty headers would probably be better here. Shorties would give you additional room to allow the use of stainless flex pipe between the exhaust manifold and the turbo, which would allow you to hard mount the turbos while allowing for engine movement.

[TANKMASTERJ]

What you did looks pretty sharp and really well made, but I think a set of shorty headers would probably be better here. Shorties would give you additional room to allow the use of stainless flex pipe between the exhaust manifold and the turbo, which would allow you to hard mount the turbos while allowing for engine movement.

Aussie Nick
Such an awesome job your doing on the piping fab. Support for those turbos will definitely be paramount. I know in some heavy equipment applications I've used some stainless flex pipe like bellows style as well as stainless braid styles.
Keep Rocking
Jaaon

[Motown 454]

Nice job Nick, it really looks neat a mirror image.

[Ausssie Nick]

Hi All,

I haven't updated the thread for a while. Here are some pics of the turbo pluming layout finally complete. I just need to weld it off now. Hopefully I can do that on the weekend. after looking at the pie cut design I decided to start again and go with mandrel bends. I have decided I am going to ceramic coat all of the pipe work in black. I thought the pie cut design would look strange in black as it would lose the coloured effect pie cut exhausts get from the heat. Anyway long story short I am happy with the plumbing layout.

I have added some pics of the radiator support panel. I started modifying this on the weekend to add some clearance around the turbo turbine housing for heat management. I have completed the drivers side and will now do the passenger side. Using a mild steel mandrel ben did the job perfectly.

A few other things I have done since the last update: Built a new set of stronger engine mounts, installed ridetech tru turn up front, started developing a wiring strategy for the dominator.

[TANKMASTERJ]

Rock on Aussie Nick.
Great progress on the turbos and cooler. Looks fantastic. I opted for the Wegner WAK033 on my build and it's a piece of art. It did consume some room on the front of my accessories drive to my C and R Radiator bjt it's all in.
Keep on
Jason

[Ausssie Nick]

Hi All,

This is a bit of a long post but thought I would provide an update as its been more than 2 years since I lasted posted progress and im finally getting the camaro build underway again.

Shortly after my last post we decided to buy another house. We weren't planning on doing this but a place came up in an area Me and my Wife have always wanted to live so we bought the house. The only issue is there was no garage or vehicle storage so the Camaro, Elcamino and all my tools, parts etc went into storage at my parents and friends' places. The house we bought was on 1 acre so plenty of room to build a nice big shed, the only problem is it on a 17 degree slope which meant the civils and construction was quite a challenge.

The block was overgrown with trees and scrub and had not been maintained for a really long time. We brought excavators, bobcat, rollers etc and started clearing. we removed over 70 trees, imported more than 1,000 tonne of crushed quarry material to build driveway and shed foundation, more than 3,000 split face stone retaining wall blocks and over 200m3 of concrete to complete the shed, driveway and retaining walls ( im still finishing the final level of retaining wall).

I did all of the works myself expect for placing the concrete. Being a carpenter by trade helped. In short all my spare time over the past 2 years has been spent building the shed, building retaining walls, completing the civils, epoxying the shed floor etc. Then we decided to have our first child to throw a bit more chaos into the mix.

Now that the works are nearing completion it's time to get back onto the cars. I decided to pull the motor, and box out of the Elcamino to give the engine and engine bay a cosmetic clean up. I also made a 3inch mandrel bent stainless system for it while it was out.

I'm now back onto the Camaro with renewed motivation. I have fitted the PWR intercooler to check fitment, finished tacking together the charge piping and started test fitting panels for gap and alignment before sending back to the paint shop for color. I will fit the doors, boot lid and hood this weekend. I'll then start stripping it down to send to the paint shop.

Ive included a heap of pics of what I've been up to since the last post. Everything from her on in the thread will be Camaro related.

[68Formula]

Nice fab work! Needs these between the turbos and the headers to allow some flex for the engine movement relative to the body.