Banks Project, Starting Final Assembly on Accel DFI and pressure chamber.

[threestar40]

Howdy from Texas, I am building a Banks twin turbo truck, It is a '91 GMC Full Size 1/2 ton regular cab, I have installed a S&W racecars backhalf on the thing with a Strange Ford 9".

Well, I'm obviously new here and I have purchased a Banks Twin Turbo System from Jason at Banks.

I was really happy to find a forum where I could share info. and learn from other people that are installing the same parts.

The goal for me is to put the thing together and drive it on the street and race it occasionally, maybe even power tour it...a street/strip venture.

When I purchased the system, I also bought the Accel DFI system...as the project goes, the parts flow is good and final assembly is imminent.

I don't really have any questions for anyone, but I can share some info., so here goes.

To begin, if any one is going to use the Accel throttle body with the banks pressure chamber, it has been my experience that the lever that opens the butterfly's will not clear the bottom of the pressure chamber...I must stipulate that I believe there is more than one accel throttle body that might work a little better. Luckily for me, I had a perfect 5+" piece of metal in my collection that helped me out with this issue.

You can also see where I tapped the back of the intake with 1/2" NPT for the bypass valve...Gale was serious about this little issue of relieving the boost pressure when you let off...serious hardware in the pressure chamber to say the least...I wanted to call it the plenum or intake plenum because I also have a ZR1 and that's what we call it on the Corvette Forum, I don't know, Jason calls it the Pressure Chamber, so I can buy that. The last pic is in my garage at my house, the Banks project truck lives above the vette. Hope this helps someone in the world, I will continue to post progress here.

Rick

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[67Sally]

Welcome to the forum Rick.

Sounds like a cool project.

W.

[907rs]

Welcome aboard Rick, and thanks for the info.

[XcYZ]

Welcome, Rick. Looking forward to seeing your project coming together. :yes:

[chuntington]

looking very good mate. any chance of the specs of the engine your putting it on?

thnaks Chris.

[slow4dr]

It's coming together nicely Rick. I can't wait to see the I/C & piping. ;)


BTW: Sweet fabric on the couch. :_paranoid

[threestar40]

BTW: Sweet fabric on the couch. :_paranoid

That's just how clean my parts are. :unibrow:

As far as the spec's on the motor it is a 400 block with a 327 crank.

That is 4.165" bore and 3.25" stroke...Iron Block...Iron Heads :(
The GN's get away with those iron heads, so if buick saw fit to do it, I am sticking to the same strategy. I may pay, but I am working very hard to intercool this thing. Crank is 4340 non-twist forging, Rods are Lunati Pro-Mod 6.125"...It works out to be a 354 with long rods. I am waiting on JE spherical dished custom pistons...aluminum is being cut as I write this.

Comp hydraulic roller valve train. The weak link is definitely the heads, but hey, I got two turbos :willy: . My 400 is .040" over and this will be this block's last hurrah for sure.

Tranny is a 4l80e with compushift.

The only things I am still scared of are the down pipes and the intake plumbing, everything else I've got pretty much sorted out.

Oh yeah, brakes are already done, factory in the front and wilwood disc's out back with hydroboost master cylinder.

I will try to build the rest of it out in the garage instead of on my couch in my office(it's an old couch) ;)

Rick =)

[DRJDVM's '69]

So the Accel DFI and intake that Banks sells has to me modified to get it to work with the rest of the system ??

I would hope that the stuff they sell would work together without the buyer having to make a bunch of changes.....

[slow4dr]

So the Accel DFI and intake that Banks sells has to me modified to get it to work with the rest of the system ??

I would hope that the stuff they sell would work together without the buyer having to make a bunch of changes.....


There was a change made by Accel to a few throttle body's they sent us that we were not aware of. It was a small change in the height of the Throttle body which made fitment a problem. We have addressed the problem and we now make a new spacer that was a .400" taller to clear the throttle linkage and allow the boost tubes to properly align.

[LIL QIK]

Hey Streetstar40.....

Just wanted to let you know about this other site..........it'll help you out with some truck info as well.

I'm doing the same thing........I had my twin turbo in my 68 Camaro.......but have decided to put it into my 94 chevy truck...........build a sport truck with the twin turbo and leave the 68 a big block........anyway........just wanted to let you know about it if you didn't already.

Also........we need to get together sometime........I'm just right down the road in Houston. Let me know.

Here's the truck site.....

http://www.performancetrucks.net

[threestar40]

Thanks...pre-assembly continues on the long-rod 350 today.
Can you post any pics of your camaro here for us?

When did you build it?
Who did the downpipes and exhaust for you?
Is it intercooled?

Aluminum heads?

I grew up in Houston.

Rick :patriot: :cool:

[LIL QIK]

My Camaro's a long long way from being completed. It's more or less fresh off the trailer. I'm in the process of getting it all apart now and getting up to Tomball to get dipped so I can have a fresh start on it.

As far as my engine.....I built it over the past 5 years long before Banks came out with the new kit? I searched and found the manifolds from their old kit and coicidentally ran the same Pro Ram intake that comes with the new kit.

Mines a 383 and it's got twin Air/Water intercoolers. I'm running Brodix Track 1 heads and I designed a custom air box that I'm just waiting for the guy to tig it all up for me.

I haven't had the down pipes done yet because I've been beating myself left and right over which one to put the engine in. I've had it sitting in both......you really don't have to worry about the down pipes in either.....there seems to be plenty of room.

But once I come to a decision on what to put it in....lol......the same guy that's doing my tig work, and the cage will be doing my down pipes for me. My turbo's have 3" exits off the back of them........what size did the Banks kit come with?

I really want my motor in my 68.......just afraid it's going to take me too long to get it there. If I knew how to post pics......I'd show you the 68. But when I hit insert pic......it wants a text string.....not sure what to do there.

[threestar40]

If you e mail me some pics, I can host them for you. You just have to tell me which ones you want me to post for the world to see. Took me a while to figure out how to do that as well and I obviously still haven't mastered it.

They show up too big in the forum.

Got 1 and 2 pistons installed today in preassembly, also set up the degree wheel...The most excitng thing for me today was putting the wire-locks in to retain the piston pin. I've never done that before. The JE's are sweet. I should have excellent quench ;)

Hopefully, I will get to degree the cam tomorrow.

Things are going well so far in pre assembly. I am nervous about cleaning the block when that time comes, I hate using water on cast iron due to the flash rusting...it has already been vatted ( is that a word? )

But you definitely gotta clean again for final assembly.

Ordered some High Temp Paint for the heads. That's about it.

More to come.

Rick :patriot: :thumbsup: :morepower

[LIL QIK]

Hey Rick.......I noticed that in your pics that the block looks to only be a 2 bolt. Are you not worried about the power output of the twin turbo? I'm assuming that your hoping for a minimum of 550-600.......which I would feel a little unsafe on a 2 bolt main.

I was outside today looking at the truck again. I'm pretty sure I'm going to put the engine in the truck.........and the big block into the Camaro. May build the big block into a twin turbo for the Camaro now that I'm a little more knowledgeable on turbo's. There's no sense in posting a pic of my 68......it would be a flat out embarrassment compared to the other guys on here.

I'm going to go the oposite route for the Camaro........think I'll finish the car first and then build the power where as last time I built the power and then searched for something to put it in........lol

But I think I'll have more fun building the 68 than I ever did building my twin turbo.........lol..........and it'll probably be cheaper. I'll shoot you some pics of the condition of the Camaro.........you'll see why I want to take my time on it.

[threestar40]

Hey Rick.......I noticed that in your pics that the block looks to only be a 2 bolt. Are you not worried about the power output of the twin turbo? I'm assuming that your hoping for a minimum of 550-600.......which I would feel a little unsafe on a 2 bolt main.

Well, let me quote from Lingenfelters book on modifying small block chevy's...
If serious performance is planned with a production 400 block, I recommend the 2-bolt main block. If for no other reason, the 2-bolts make it easier to machine the two outer bolts. The factory 4-bolt blocks also sacrificed the some material around the main webs that make the 2-bolt blocks actually stronger. It has been my experiance that many knowlegable circle track racers prefer the 2-bolt 400 blocks.

Now let me go on to say that I researched doing the splayed center billet main caps and decided against it. I just bought ARP studs for my crappy old two bolt block and called it a day. I don't know studs pull about 20% more clamping force than the bolts and I think that will be OK for my purposes as this is a street/strip application. If I ever go full racecar, maybe. Jeg's sells the kit and believe me I still think about it, but for now I will stick with the stock maincaps studded.

I was outside today looking at the truck again. I'm pretty sure I'm going to put the engine in the truck.........and the big block into the Camaro. May build the big block into a twin turbo for the Camaro now that I'm a little more knowledgeable on turbo's. There's no sense in posting a pic of my 68......it would be a flat out embarrassment compared to the other guys on here.

The camaro is going to take a lot of bucks, I wouldn't be embarrassed about it though, the car is almost 40 years old. Cheers to you for keeping it alive.
I think a big block would be an Ok choice, but it's a small car, I don't know, it's up to you of course. The thing is, I am building a twin turbo small block and I am running out of room in a full size truck :eek: I am also running air/water intercoolers, there is room but not much left over. I am also running a 4l80e with a mid mount motor plate to help handle the torque of the drive train on itself and on the chassis. Getting the down pipes around that motor plate is going to be a serious chore...and I have a tig welder and a mig. It's not easy at all. I will get there though.

I'm going to go the oposite route for the Camaro........think I'll finish the car first and then build the power where as last time I built the power and then searched for something to put it in........lol

But I think I'll have more fun building the 68 than I ever did building my twin turbo.........lol..........and it'll probably be cheaper. I'll shoot you some pics of the condition of the Camaro.........you'll see why I want to take my time on it.

Rock on,

Rick :patriot: :morepower :lateral:

[slow4dr]

BTW: I went to the perf trucks link and tried to register. Only I had a PM. :eek:

Am I :beathorse if I ask if that was converted from LS1.com?

[LIL QIK]

Yea.........from what I understand it was a truck section on LS1.com that they decided to make it's own forum after LS1.com was having some troubles. I could be wrong.........but I think that's the way it was explained to me.....

So you tried to register......and already had a pm........that's pretty funny.

[slow4dr]

So you tried to register......and already had a pm........that's pretty funny.

It kinda freaked me out. :D When I saw that I had another PM I recognized from LS1.com I figured that's what happened.