20 October 2002

The Final


Updates at bottom.

Some of you have been following the developement of my quest for boost, but some have not. This page is intended to be read before any of my other pages. I'll detail all the specifics of the project the way it turned out(not the way I thought I'd do it). I suspect the other pages will be used for not much more than the images they hold, though I hope someone may be able to take some of my previous ideas and make them work on their projects.

The Begining
Parts/price list: Supercharger(from a early/mid 90s Ford Super Coupe) $200
Vortech Super Fuel Management Unit $200
Chrysler Turbo II injectors of the 33# variety $ 80 for 8 injectors
Blow Off Valve from 1st Gen DSM $ 35
Injector o-rings(only in packs of 8 rings) $ 10 for 2 sets
RTV gasketmaker $ 10 for 2 tubes
Various vacume lines $ 15
BOV extention hose $ 7
2.5in exaust piping for intake plumbing $ 15 for 3ft
2.5-3inch exaust adaptor $ 5
Steel sheet(16guage) $ 8
Pieces of 1/4in steel L-beam and stock $ 30 Various welding(pipes to sheet for super in/outlets) $ 30
90* Rubber elbows(from hardware store for now:-) $ 15 for 3 of them
Exaust Temp Guage $ 85
Air/Fuel ratio guage $ 50
Boost guage(0-30PSI) $ 40
Fuel Pressure guage and fitting(under hood) $ 40
Various bolts, screws, nuts, washers(all grade 8) $ 50
K&N cone filter(2.5in inlet) $ 40

Total: $875 if my math is correct. A far cry from the $3000-$4000 that one will pay for a kit. No kits are offered for my car or this motor type to the best of my knowledge and there is a very limited aftermarket.

The Building
Bracket pic one Bracket pic two The SuperCharger
Bracket is made of mostly L beam pieces bolted together, with pieces of 1/4in stock used to strenghten and connect various points. All pieces held together with nuts, bolts and washers(no welding access at this point in the project). BOV Pipe BOV was made with a piece of 2.5in stainless exaust pipe a piece of 1in pipe and a piece of 1/4 inch steel stock. Took the exaust pipe, punched a hole in it close to an inch in diameter in it and welded the 1in section of pipe to it. Took the 1/4in stock and cut it down to match the BOV mounting point and put a hole a bit less than 1inch in the center of it. Welded the plate to the small pipe and sprayed it all black. The Supercharger inlet was made from a 6inch piece of 2.5in exaust pipe that was modified so one end was oval(roughly the same size as the actual inlet on the blower) and the other side was still round. Took a piece of the sheet steel and cut an oval hole in it to match the inlet and the pipe, then drilled holes for the bolts. Welded the oval parts of both pieces together. The Supercharger outlet makes use of the 3inch to 2.5inch exaust reducer and another section of the sheet steel. I made a hole in the sheet steel 3inches wide and welded the large end of the pipe to the sheet, then drilled various holes for connectors. Some of the holes in this plate are lined up with the bracket and blower attachment points for added strenght.

The bracket makes use of the alternator mounting points and a couple predrilled/tapped holes on the drivers side of the rear cylender head. The alternator was moved to where the a/c used to be. Alternaotr bracketI made use of the a/c compressor's bracket and added a couple more pieces to adapt the alternator. My local autozone had alternators with the same partnumber but had the twin Vbelt pulley instead of the serpintine pulley and they were very willing to allow a swap for me. The wiring for the alternator was relitivly simple. I just unraveld the 10yr old crusty tape and wrapping and pulled the wires from the alternator away from the other wires. Re-wrapped the now two seperate bundles and rerouted the alternator wiring to the front of the motor. The onlything I had to change was where it ground out at, which was as simple as bolting the ground wire to the front head instead of the rear head.

Wiring and wire routing for the guages were mostly thru the firewall at the main wiring bundle grommet which is behind the clutch pedal. I tapped my boost guage from the plenum, but others could do it from the brake booster. My exaust temp guage was tapped aprox 1inch from the #1cyl. The A/F ratio guage was tapped from the oxygen sensor 6-10inches from the ECU. All lighting for the guages was tapped from the running lights(running lights on = guage lights on).

Final Assembly
Pic installed 1 Pic installed 2 Pic installed 3 The supercharger on the bracket is an incredibly tight fit between the plenum and the fire wall. I believe I came up with about 1/4 inch of clearance between the fire wall and bracket. I had already installed solid front and rear motor mounts so I dont have to worry about motor movement crushing the supercharger or firewall. The Air enters the supercharger from the drivers side of the engine compartment via the K&N filter goes thru the super and shoots down out the 3-2.5inch exaust reducer. The 5rib serpintine belt that used to turn the alternator and the power steering pump now turns the supercharger and the power steering unit. there is a V-rib belt that now turns the alternator. To fit the alternator I had to move the bottom of the radiator forward 2-3inches. To do this I just unbolted the radiator where it attaches near the top, lifted it, pushed the bottom portion twards the bumper then rebolted(rember I no longer have the a/c condensor infront of the rad). The FMU is attached to the passenger side strut tower and is situated directly above the fuel return hard line. The fuel pressure guage is on the inlet side of the fuel rail.

The Plumbing
The Blower blows down twards the rear exaust manifold into a 90* rubber elbow. This is then connected to the bov pipe. The bov is situated so it blows twards the firewall and there is a vacume line that runs from it to the plenum. The air then goes to another 90* rubber elbow and up thru a piece of 2.5in exaust pipe twards the throttle body. There is another 90* rubber elbow that attaches the pipe to the throttle body. I had to double clamp this connection because it kept blowing loose.

The End Result
4-5PSI boost, megga rich condition under boost thanks to the FMU, 14.9sec 1/4mile time slip, and more than enough power to smoke the tires in 1st, 2nd, and get a good chirp out of the final 3 gears. That is, if I dont smoke the clutch :-o

Future Plans
Limited Slip Diff
Ceramic Pucked Clutch
Intercooler from Ford Powerstroke or Saab 9000
Slicks
More boost(Tim Alen grunt grunt=)


The original write ups:
https://harvii.tripod.com/boost.html
https://harvii.tripod.com/sooper/sooper2.html

The picture pages:
https://harvii.tripod.com/sooper/sooper2.html
https://harvii.tripod.com/sooper/
https://harvii.tripod.com/sooper/runnin.html


Update(27 Oct '02)
Found a hole in my intake plumbing. Have replaced all hoses, with 'stick hose' for couplers and mandrel bent 2.5in pipe for the plumbing. The result is 3lbs at 2000rpm and 5.5lbs before 3000rpm. It's a helluva ride if I can get traction. Have been having troubles with blowing my exaust pipe off right after the cat. I think it's building to much pressure in the exaust before the rear axle and muffler that it just blows the pipes appart. Stock exaust sux, time to upgrade to 3inch pipes.

Update(29 Oct '02)
Exaust pipe keeps blowing loose right after the cat(too much exaust pressure). I've cranked the piss outta the clamp bolts and it still comes loose. Gonna try to get it spot welded this week so I can still hammer on it some until I can afford my 3in exaust. Also am in the works of getting a Ford Powerstroke intercooler for my project(hopefully around 200bux).