Fuel Gauge

Our fuel gauge was purchased on Amazon. We also bought a matching GPS Speedometer and Tach to go with it.

Pre Filter, Pump, Corvette Filter/Regulator

We really like this inexpensive fuel filter from Amazon. It’s rebuildable and made of metal mesh (won’t dissolve in e85), and comes with a variety of fittings you can use in other projects.

Other fuel system parts we used:

–Walbro GSL392 External Fuel Pump
–Corvette Filter Regulator You can also buy these as complete kits with all the fittings at Speedway, Summit Racing, or any of your favorite parts places.
–Aeroquip -6 Fuel line we purchased from Summit. All our fittings (summit twist-tite swivel hose ends) were purchased there too.

Helpful Resources

NHRA Rule Book
NHRA list of accepted products

The post Complete Ls Swap Fuel System on Our 2nd Gen Camaro appeared first on blvckflagd.

Swapping an LS into your older, carbureted muscle car can be a challenge, particularly when it comes to fuel systems.

On older car like a Chevelle or Camaro needs the entire fuel system upgraded to withstand the pressure and demands of fuel injection.

In the video above, we cover 2 options for building you LS Swap fuel system on a reasonable budget.

We also cover things like internal pumps, external pumps, and the corvette filter/regulator.

LS Swap Fuel Components

Below is a list of items mentioned in the video with links to where you can find them. We typically source from multiple vendors (Summit Racing, Jegs, eBay, and Amazon) to get the best deal.

1. Aeroquip AQP Socketless Hose -6
2. Aeroquip AQP Socketless Hose -10
3. Walbro 450 internal Fuel Pump
4. Billet Aluminum Cleanable Fuel Filter
5. 3/8 GM Fuel Rail Fitting
6. 5/16 GM Fuel Rail Fitting
7. Walbro GSL392 External Fuel Pump
8. Fuel Pump Mounting Bracket
9. Corvette Filter Regulator
10. Quick Connect Fitting (for Corvette regulator)
11. -6 AN Cap
12. Rubber Mounts

*Some of the links above are affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, we will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

The post 2 LS Swap Fuel Systems YOU can build on the cheap appeared first on blvckflagd.

Introducing Our LS Swap Camaro Project

How did the LS Swap Camaro project come to be? Earlier this year, we decided to tackle our first build-and-flip project. We wanted to find a car that would maximize our profit, but also be a build that wouldn’t take too long.

Our project car criteria:

• Something in demand but not overpriced. A lot of 60’s muscle cars are getting higher in price. Late 2nd gen Camaros are generally priced well, but still have good emotional appeal.
• It has to be nice. No rust buckets or anything that needs major bodywork.
• It has to be a good value. Many times a roller or former race car has had a lot of work done or money put into it.

When we found a 1978 z28 Camaro roller that fit all the criteria, we jumped on it.

Why LS Swap the Camaro?

Haters on the internet love to say how common or boring an LS Swap is. They’ll say everyone is doing it, and you should do something different.

That may have some truth to it, but what you see in the real world is different than the internet. We’re still seeing traditional small blocks and big blocks more than LS swaps when we go to the track or a show.

Besides, LS swapped cars are in demand, and we want to deliver the most value to the person that eventually buys this Camaro. An LS Swap means they can hop in, turn the key, and drive it every day. They’ll get good gas mileage, and have around 400ish horsepower plus great reliability.

It also helps that we just happened to have a 5.3 and 4l60e transmission sitting in the shed. We even had a big cam and spring kit to go with it.

What’s Next for this 2nd Gen Camaro?

We’re taking this opportunity to create an LS Swap 101 series. We’ve already filmed the cam and spring swap, a Transgo Shift Kit install, fabbing up engine mounts, and more.

To follow along with the build and swap, subscribe to Blvckflagd on YouTube.

The post 2nd Gen Camaro LS Swap Project Start appeared first on blvckflagd.

Buying Our Dream Muscle Car

In our opinion, the 1970 LS6 Chevelle SS is the peak of GM’s muscle car production. It made 450 horsepower (the highest factory rating at the time) and ran sub-14 second ETs at over 100 mph.

Today if you can even find an LS6 Chevelle, you may be paying 6 figures for it.

Our 1971 Chevelle is the farthest thing from that legendary car. Depending on who you ask, it’s not even really a muscle car. It has a 250ci inline 6 making 145 horsepower (sadly the base 307 v-8 only made 140) and a 2 speed powerglide transmission.

How Do You Make the Cheapest Chevelle More Fun?

The inline 6 and rusty body didn’t keep us from having fun with our Chevelle. We replaced the transmission lines, put new wheel cylinders all around, slapped a pontiac 301 turbo setup on top, and then put on some of biggest wheels and tires we could fit and cruised. You’ll see more about all this in future videos on youtube (please subscribe!).

We’ve taken our Chevelle everywhere too. In the time we’ve had it we have:

1. Entered in the $3k hooptie challenge at Roadkill Zip Tie drags
2. Bought lots of parts that we’ve never put on (new floors and sheet metal…someday we’ll get around to fixing all the rust).
3. Took it drag racing (it’s really slow).
4. Drove over 3,000 miles round trip to make the long haul on Hot Rod Power Tour in 2019, and we’re planning on doing it again.
5. Drove it on track at Martinsville Speedway (where the youtube thumbnail was taken).
6. Actually won an award at a car show (it was kind of a participation trophy, but still…)

So how much did our Chevelle actually cost? You’ll have to watch the whole video to find out.

The post Cheap Muscle Cars: How Much Did Our Chevy Chevelle Cost? appeared first on blvckflagd.

Who doesn’t love a good burnout?

Do you love burnouts? We do too. There’s no story here, no point other than just some slow motion burnouts.

Making Burnouts Classy

As a bonus, to keep it classy, make you smarter, and help you be more productive, we’ve put all these burnouts to classical music. You’re gonna feel cultured and entertained at the same time.

Where did all these burnouts come from?

We had a bunch of footage from the burnout pit at Roadkill Zip Tie Drags. We figured it would be a shame for it all to just sit on a hard drive somewhere.

If you’re interested in the music, here’s what’s playing in the background:

1. Flower Duet by Leo Delibes
2. Waltz of the Flowers by Tchaikovsky

Enjoy your classy burnouts!

The post Cars Doing Burnouts in Slow Motion appeared first on blvckflagd.

Curing Winter Blues with Zip Ties

In the midwest, its seems all car and hot rod related activities shut down for the winter. Everyone locks themselves in their garages with a ‘winter project’ that won’t be seen until it warms up and all the salt is off the roads.

We decided to cure our winter time blues with a trip to the southwest to Roadkill’s Zip Tie Drags.

What is Roakill Zip Tie Drags?

Roadkill Zip Tie drags is like a big meet-up, camping, party, car show, and drag racing all rolled into a 2 day event.

Zip Tie drags is hosted by Roadkill’s David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan, along with many other MotorTrend show hosts.

Zip Tie Drags Main Event: The $3k Hooptie Challenge

The main event of Zip Tie Drags is the $3000 Hooptie Challenge. A few years back our 1971 Chevelle made it into the event and may have been the slowest car there.

At the Hooptie Challenge, you enter a car that is supposed to be worth less than $3000. The hosts entertain the crowd by making fun of all the entrants, and ultimately deciding if the are in or out by purely whimsical subjective criteria.

Our Zip Tie Drags Plan B

We scrambled to get our turbo Miata Kart ready for the event and then made the journey out west.

Unfortunately, we blew up our $3k hooptie challenge car in the desert the night before, so we really didn’t have anything to enter.

To make the best of the situation, we decided to race our tow vehicle, my wifes 2007 Yukon Denali, during test and tune.

Turns out it’s pretty quick for a 6,000 lb luxury SUV.

The post Roadkill Zip Tie Drags 2020 in Tucson, AZ appeared first on blvckflagd.

“Sending a rod through the side of the block is on my list of things I’ve always wanted to do…maybe not in this situation, but we can check that one off the bucket list.”

The Miata Kart’s Road Trip to Zip Tie Drags 2020

If you’re joining us for the first time, this is video 4 in our series about road-tripping our cheap turbo Miata kart across the country to Roadkill’s Zip Tie Drags.

We originally planned on making one or two videos, but so much happened that we’ve been able to make 5.

Check out the previous videos here:

1. Fabricating a roll cage in time for Zip Tie Drags
2. Installing a cheap Ebay turbo in the Miata Kart
3. 1000 mile road trip to Zip Tie Drags

Will the Turbo Miata Kart Make it to Tucson?

Our journey started early in the morning in Coachella, CA. with a trip to Irwindale Speedway. After that we started the trip through the desert back to Tucson, AZ.

We don’t want to give any spoilers without having you watch the full video above.

If you haven’t already, we’d love for you to subscribe to our Youtube channel, and don’t forget to get your free sticker.

The post STRANDED in the desert in the Miata Kart appeared first on blvckflagd.

Our Epic Roadtrip to Zip Tie Drags 2020

If you’re not familiar with Zip Tie Drags, it’s an event put on by Roadkill, the popular automotive themed internet show. Zip Tie Drags events usually attract unique, low buck, built-not-bought style hot rods.

The main event is the $3000 hoopty challenge, where contestants convince Roadkill hosts David Freiburger and Mike Finnegan that their car is worth less than $3k.

The cars that pass the $3000 test drag race head-to-head until the fastest car is left. The winner usually gets bragging rights and a trophy made from scrap car parts.

Miata Kart: Our 2020 Zip Tie Drags Build

We pulled an all nighter adding a cheap Ebay turbo and putting the finishing touches on the Miata Kart. Then we left St. Louis and drove straight through to Tucson.

Once we arrived, we finished putting the Miata together in an Autozone parking lot, parked the trailer at Tucson Dragway (where the Roadkill Zip Tie drags event was scheduled to begin the next day), and left in the rain.

Will we Make it to Irwindale Speedway for the Zip Tie Drags Cruise?

You’ll have to watch the video to find out.

If you haven’t already, subscribe to Blvckflagd on YouTube. You can even get a free Ratty Chevelle sticker by following the instructions here.

The post Roadkill Zip Tie Drags 2020: 1000 Mile Miata Kart Roadtrip appeared first on blvckflagd.

Are cheap Ebay turbos a good idea?

If you’ve been around the internet on any car related page, you’ve surely heard about someone installing cheap ebay turbos. But is it really a good idea?

We’re not saying you should put a cheap turbo on your high end, high dollar build — do what’s appropriate, but for our $200 Miata, we couldn’t justify spending any more than the minimum. What’s the worst that could happen? We blow it up?

Mostly what you’ll hear is that your cheap ebay turbo will blow up your engine, or will only last as many miles as the dollar amount you spent. Spoiler alert…ours did blow up, but it was 100% user error and not the turbo’s fault.

How to choose the right turbo kit

The Turbo we chose was a maXpeeding rods T04E kit. Prices fluctuate and multiple sellers carry it, but it’s available on both Ebay and Amazon.

To go along with our turbo, we also purchased a cheap universal 12 piece intercooler kit. Prices also fluctuate on these, and again, you can find them on Ebay and Amazon.

Other Factors in Cheap Turbo Selection

Turbo Sizing

You’ll hear and read a lot of people saying “that turbo will be too laggy” or “that won’t make boost until a really high rpm” and we don’t actually think that’s a bad thing.

The internet (especially the Miata forums we were reading) will say you want small turbos that build boost at low rpm so it’s still fun to drive. They also say stuff like “You’re not doing it right unless you spend at least $3500” without any real reason except they probably spent that much.

There’s a school of thought that says if you bring in the boost higher in the rpm range, the combustion events are shorter which means less time (and less chance) to bend rods and break something. Because of this, we’d rather go slightly too big and be laggy, than too small.

Turbo format

We chose a cheap T04E turbo, but to make our fab work as simple as possible and not have extra expenses, we wanted 2 things,

1. A turbo with an integrated wastegate – these are arguably worse for performance, but we didn’t want the extra cost and complication of fabbing up an external wastegate.
2. A turbo with a v-band exhaust outlet – this would allow us to fabricate a simple downpipe and not buy any extra plates, flanges, or adapters.

Turbo Accessories

There were definitely cheaper turbos on ebay, but we specifically chose one that came with an oil line kit. We didn’t want the extra expense and hassle of chasing down all the extra fittings hoses needed to install it.

Cheap Intercoolers

You need an intercooler…just get one. Without it, your cheap ebay turbo will make your intake temps higher, you won’t be able to run as much timing, you’ll risk pinging and detonation (which destroys pistons), and ultimately your combo will make less power.

There are numerous cheap intercooler kits on ebay and they all seem to be about the same. They all come with silicone connectors and aluminum piping. They’re super convenient for building your cold side and come with all the clamps you need too.

We searched ebay until we found the cheapest kit with the most pieces in the color we wanted.

Don’t forget everything else

Obviously, this article isn’t everything you need to install your cheap turbo. You can’t forget things like:

• Fuel management
• Timing control
• Wideband 02 for monitoring AFR’s
• Boost gauge and a means to control boost.

But those topics are for a future article. You can check out the Miata Kart build and subsequent road trip to Zip Tie Drag in Tucson, AZ on the Blvckflagd Youtube channel.

The post Cheap Ebay Turbos: How to Choose One for Your Project Car appeared first on blvckflagd.

Today we’re taking you on a tour of every project car currently in the Blvckflagd fleet. We’re walking through every location with every car that’s being stored.

Here’s a list of the current vehicles in the stable:

1. Ratty Chevelle (71 Chevelle)
2. Hellcat (2018 Dodge Charger Hellcat)
3. Denali (2007 Yukon Denali)
4. Black Truck (64 Chevy Stepside)
5. Camaro (1978 z28 camaro)
6. Donor Truck (2001?? Suburban)
7. RV (91 Chevy 1 ton van/ RV)
8. Mustang (2002 Mustang GT
9. Onyx (OBS Chevy Short Bed)
10. Tracker (?? 2wd Tracker)
11. Ruby (91? OBS Chevy Short Bed)

Leave a comment below and let us know which project car is your favorite.

The post GARAGE TOUR: Every Current Blvckflagd Project Car appeared first on blvckflagd.