WINTER PROJECT 2006-07 : SUPERCHARGER

This project is dedicated to all those wonderful people who always answer a NA Horsepower question with " sell it and buy a turbo". Mind you, not bad advice but surely we can come up with an affordable alternative. So I am going to be busy this winter. I already have most of my parts. Now it's a matter of putting it togeather and figuring things out. I will just do the bolt ons and send it out to a dyno to do the tuning once finished. I will update as often as I can......wish me luck!!!

Here's the parts....

The Main Component... The Supercharger from Thomas Knight Turbos

A Ford Racing MAF and 4 inch Adapter....(still need a piggyback)

BOV ... (picture missing of BOV adapter)

Racing Adjustable Fuel Regulator

Say goodbye to troublesome and HEAVY Air Conditioning with this AC Delete Kit....


A 951 Turbo InterCooler will easily bolt in...

Plumbing and 4 Inch K&N Cone

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Work has started on the Supercharger.... Removed the A/C Compressor, AFM, Air Box, Alternator and jboot. Really was the easy part except for the removing all the pipes along the firewall. Slowed me down but I got a new cutting tool outta it...so I am good. BAD news...I lined everything up and the SC just would not fit with the AC Delete Bracket. It's too thick. I called Linsey Racing today and they are sending me their custom bracket. Let's hope it works or I will have to make a custom bracket. Dave at Lindsey is allowing me to return the AC bracket....(great customer service) Porsche genuine bracket is 2 inches thick. I went with it because it is much stronger than the custom one. Has to hold a lot of weight...Alternator. Supercharger and brackets....heavy. Let's hope the custom on is strong enough. Incidentally, if I would have kept the AC....it would have worked fit up top but would have been tight trying to fit a 4 inch MAF.

Here is the custom AC Delete bracket I will try... measurements look good but I have found, ya just never know until you hook it up...

Slowly making some head way as I had some free time over the holidays. I am waiting for a belt to come it as the AC Delete Belt was too small for this application. Had to make a few visits to the local machine shop for some modifications but I finally hace the Supercharger mounted. Had to make a lot of concessions on the location and the way it sits but...it's in.

Another piece of the puzzle. Apexi AFC Select Piggy back Airflow Converter.

UPDATE: Finally after lots of work, I finally have the car up and running. (well for a short time,) Let me explain, At this point, I decided to hold off on using the Intercooler and the Ford MAF. Just too many bugs to iron out at this point. So what I have done is, continue to use the stock AFM and pipe directly into it. Using the Select Apexi, I was able to alter the air values to get a smooth idle. The result? WOW! Immediate power response. The car accelated like a turbo and maybe even better because the boost started right away without lag instead of waiting for higher rpms. The whine from the Supercharger was loud. Many will consider this annoying. I like it because there is no mistake what's under the hood. Ok so as I kinda of eluded to...there is a bad part to this set up...no more pop up lights. There just isn't enough room for the rod to turn. Soooo, I will have to look for an alternative. I have heard nothing but bad things about GT Racing's option. People are saying, it takes a lot to hook up and the square headlight is a dated look. So for now, lights up, all the time. NOW for the reason why I have only 30 mins testing the new setup. On the way home from the tuner shop, the ceramic bearings failed. The teeth in the supercharger began to break off and I had to limp home. I shipped the item back to Thomas Knight Turbos for evaluation and repair. They felt that is was damaged during shipping when it was orginally sent out and have repaired the entire supercharger with a 4 bearing setup as opposed to 2. The work was done last week and is on it's way here. I will update this as soon as I have it back installed and I can further test. One last note, It seemed I had a small oil leak in the bottom of my case and now with the added prssure from the supercharger, the oil leak has become a bit more of an issue. This will be a major fix, so ensure your engine is sound before adding pressure. This the best advice I can offer. Will let you know how I make out with that.

Here is the finished look...

Here is a look at what happens when bearings fail...

UPDATE: JUNE 2007
Ok, Thanks to Geoff Knight at Thomas Knight Turbos, I have my Supercharger back and hooked up. At first I was a little worried because the fins still scaped along the inside when the belt was hooked up. It spins fine but as soon as you put a lot of tightness on the belt, the shaft must move a bit and the inside scapes along the walls of the housing. Solution...I went to only 1 bolt in the bracket which allowed less pressure on the shaft. So far, so good. I have been testing now for a couple of weeks and I have to say, things are smooth with the supercharger. The power response is amazing but I have no way to tell for sure until I can find a dyno. I am in the process of moving to TORONTO right now, so I am sure I will have no problem finding a dyno there. So as it stands for now, I am running the Supercharger with no intercooler, no AFR and no wideband sensor. The Apexi does a great job adjusting the air. Small issue with the boost gauge...it is detecting the vacumm but not the boost. I will have to try and find another place to tap into. Suggestions? Don't really want to drill into the intake manifold. I will be testing more in the next few days. I want to see what happens when the Supercharger gets really hot. Metal expanding may cause the fins to start scraping again. I will let you know. Try to keep this updated dispite my moving to the "Big Smoke".

ON ANOTHER NOTE:
While house shopping in Toronto someone in a Lambo parks nearby...It's amazing what $400,000 will buy you!...