04/28/08 - Newest update! Viper camshaft is in!
03/18/08 - Second row of Viper seats! Page 4!

Each page shows changes that I have done/will do since purchasing my Durango.

Page 1: Procharger Supercharger
Page 2: V-10 engine swap
Page 3: Viper brake upgrade
Page 4: Misc. upgrades (viper seats, headlights, etc.)
Page 5: V-10 Progress

Stage 1.5: Upgrade from 4.70" to 4.30" pulley.
Wanted a little more oomph from the bottom end. Well this did it. Now I get 4psi at 3000rpm instead of 2psi. Really picks up fast from down low now. Just over 10psi at my 5000rpm shift point. Don't know peak boost because my gauge maxes out at 11psi. Still have to nail down my A/F ratio to free up some more HP. Always better to be safe than sorry when tuning boosted engines. Still have to get my baby to a dyno. I know, I know!!!!

Stage 1: Procharger supercharger installed.

My Durango R/T with a Procharger D1SC supercharger!

Believe it or not but the most difficult thing I had ever done before this was change the spark plugs. When purchasing their kits I highly recommend upgrading to the D-1SC. It allows more room to grow without the need of upgrading the supercharger later because of engine mods/swaps. Upgrading later costs alot more than buying it in the beginning. If you want your own kit go to Superchargers 4 Less and call Mike. He is very knowledgeable and you cannot find better prices anywhere! Tell him that Robert with the Durango sent you.

It took several nights to install the kit because it didn't fit as expected. Procharger's customer service is second to none. I sent them some pictures of my problems and the next day they mailed additional intercooler tubing so I could custom fit the system. Now that is service. Procharger has updated all of their information based on my truck so you won't have any problems. Their kits are designed to be a direct bolt-on without any permanent modifications to your vehicle. However, I decided to take a slightly different approach.

Here are some pictures of the modifications I made to reduce the number of turns the intercooler tubing had to make. This increases the efficiency of the system.

I ended up cutting a hole in the passenger side fender well. Not too difficult if you have the right tools (I didn't). This mod removed two 180 degree bends greatly improving flow! When stage 2 is completed the supercharger will be moved forward about four inches so I will most likely have to relocate the bypass valve.

Cutting my battery tray in half. This was required because my fuse box was several inches wider than normal and blocked the space needed for the 3" tubing. I decided that the battery was easier to relocate/replace than the fuse box. I removed the battery and tray and cut it in half with a reciprocating saw. The tray was a pain to remove because all of the equipment mounted to it (even a battery temp sensor)! My brother helped me with this mod, he does custom car audio work so he had all of the right tools and experience. That removed one 45 degree bend and shaved weight by removing the factory battery.

An Odyssey 925 battery is mounted on the tray now. And they work great! (Note: That extra "notch" on the left end of my fuse box. That is what stopped me from doing the install "by the book".) Also notice all of the Stinger Pro battery terminals, grounds, and power distribution blocks. Thanks to my brother, he had them just laying around and hooked me up!

This is an Aeromotive Fuel Management Unit (FMU)installed in my center console that controls the secondary fuel pump . The factory tray hides it perfectly to keep everything safe and out of sight. Each of those sliders represent the amount of additional fuel/pressure provided by the auxiliary pump. As you can see I haven't even hit 55% of it's capacity yet. During initial tuning I maxed the far right slider out (for the engine's safety) and the wideband would show a 6:1 AFR before giving me a TOO RICH error! Now if only my head gaskets could handle the additional boost.

The power difference is awesome! The supercharger picks up where the power tapered off before hand. Currently it is running 10psi of boost. Now it pushes you into the seat all the way to the rev limiter. The nearest AWD dynometer is 5 hours away so, once I decide to make that road trip I will post my dyno numbers.

Here is a close front end shot.

Yes, that is the intercooler down there. It is a 3-core one from Procharger's Chevy kit. I should be able to move it up some more once I have started Stage 2 of this project. The intercooler makes a big difference in the intake temperatures. I cannot afford all of the fancy test equipment so I used the "touch test". After running on boost for just a little while touch the tubing on the discharge side of the supercharger. OWWWWW!!! When you touch the side entering the engine after the intercooler. Nice and cool!!! Cool, dense air makes more power with less of a chance of detonation. The only people that have noticed the cooler down there is my brother and me. I was going to paint it black to make it less conspicuous but everything is working perfectly right now so I don't want to touch it. "If it ain't broke don't fix it" is what I am always told.

While I was installing my Vipr fan conversion I decided to rearrange my intercooler piping. I was able to eliminate an unnecessary 45 degree bend and moved the blow-off valve to the intake manifold side. My reasoning is that allowing the air to continue to flow keeps velocities up for when I open the throttle again. The only downside is heat soaking the intercooler. That would bother me more if I was running an air-water intercooler.