my supercharger install experience

[gordon vincent]

For those of you thinking of buying a supercharger i thought i would give you my feedback on last weekends install.

First off I would like to say some positive things. The additional power is great. It does not really kick in until 4k but screams up to redline. The PV muffler really starts to get that woosh sound like of lots of air being pushed out exhaust. I was surprised that the car is not much louder than stock with PV. The SC looks good sitting on top of the engine.

Ok, now the things that sucked. They kit was not complete and the lack of complete instructions required extra time to figure out how to assemble. I had to go buy some extra heater and vacuum hose. I also had to get a male/male barb to extend one hose. No mention of this in instructions. Had it mentioned would have just replaced hose but needless to say SC was bolted down and hose end was in middle of valley. No mention of the wiring harness needed to be split to get wires to reach new throttle body location. No mention of how to install throttle cable/bracket. No mention of proper vacuum hose routing. Fit and finish was lacking. So basically the instructions sucked. I did figure it out but was frustrated.

Now to quality of kit. I was less than impressed with the construction of brackets/fuel rail or anything else that was drilled or tapped. Many threads were not square with surface. Looked like all holes/threads were a rushed job. There was on striped bolt on egr pipe. I had to get a longer cap screw to fully engage tapped thread in thin wall Aluminum casting. Drivers side fuel rail holes that hold to intake were very elongated and after bolting down applied a weird angle and pressure to injectors(see note on fuel leak below). I had to grind down cruise cable end that had too much solider on the end to fit in throttle cam.

After about 10 hours(not including removal of intake, which took place 3 weeks earlier after i ordered kit) I drove 2 times and everything seemed fine. Then this morning I backed out of garage and smelled fuel. Got out and looked and one injector was dumping. I did replace some orings as they got cut going back in(lack of good chamfer on hole-note: quality of kit) But the rail is clamped down at a weird angle so it could be binding on injector as I think it applied too much clamp pressure because holes in rail are in wrong location. I will find out more tonight as I repair.

With all my frustration, im still glad I have a supercharger but install was less than enjoyable for an ASE master tech with lots of tools to make life a little easier.
;Dr;

Hey, a couple of questions, did you shave your pistons to drop the compression to compensate for the added boost? I recently spun a rod bearing. I was considering a super charger until I talked to a couple of local engine shops that are fimillar with the 6VE1 engine. Both shops warned me not to supercharge. They said the life of the heads and crank were reduced by a multiplier of 5. Having to pay 500 for a new crank and 400 bucks for head work discouraged me from supercharging. I still want to, but the complete engine rebuild has been a drag.
Greatest of luck with the extra boost. I am envious!

[Ldub]

gordon vincent...

I can't imagine a shop that could potentially benefit from a grenaded motor, would try to talk you out of a mod that would be bringing them extra jing...

My guess is: they don't wanna eff with it.

I've been S/C'd since 04 with very few issues...still pulls like a draft horse.

It WILL throw some codes at altitude, but with an Aeroforce Interceptor, you can check & clear CEL's on the fly.

No change in pistons/compression, spark plugs/injectors still OEM @ nearly 100k, ECU can easily handle up to 5lb boost...

The only problem new owners have, is actually getting a S/C kit...