1Willy1

A car dealer friend of mine gave me the info to a car that's for sale that I might be interested in, its a an 04 Z06 , fairly low mileage, and its supercharged already with a magnacharger.

The problem is the car is all the way in Manitoba, another province almost 10 hours away, and it has no paperwork in terms of who did the install and what exactly was done other then the obvious supercharger, but apparently its running very well and very strong.

He is in the process of sending me the cars vin# and history, so I will have that covered.

I have never owned a supercharged anything, so im a little clueless as to what to look , listen and pay attention too when I go examine this car.

so I have a few questions :

1. is there any way for me to tell if the engine is the stock original? Stampings, serial numbers etc...?
2. Anything I should be looking out for in terms of major issues? Noises? Sounds? smells?
3. Can the Z06 handle all of the power the supercharger is capable of ? Will ti tear up the tranny/drivetrain after a short while without supporting mods?
4, Any way for me to tell if the supercharger is actually working properly? I guess only a test drive will tell?

I know most of this is common sense stuff that needs to be seen in person, but basically im just looking for any info that might be important for me before I go check it out.

Thanks a lot in advance guys

donald4972

I'm not trying to be 'flip' here, but when you drive it, if you 'nail it', you'll know if the SuperCharger is working, or not...


Don't turn the Traction control off, in case it is working... until you're used to it. The available power is immensely more, than stock. Even with a mild tune.

Otherwise, you're kind of at the mercy of the word of the seller. And, at the mercy of whoever tuned the car. That, is such a big thing with SuperCharged C5's.

But, an 04 SuperCharged Z, should be a hoot to drive! If it's been cared for.

Good luck,
Don

1Willy1

Thanks man

that's what im worried about, being at the mercy of the seller and previous owner

But from my research these magnchargers aren't really the MOST powerful chargers on the market, they are pretty reliable and mild compared to the others am I right?

If the engine is running well, sounds well, and pulls strong.... would I be wrong to assume the car and charger are operating as they should?

Would installing this supercharger somehow put the engine at risk for a catastrophic failure?

The good news is I have owned a C5 for the past 2 years so I should be able to tell is it has all the extra power on tap.

Pls keep the info coming if at all possible guys, I might go see this in a few days

Thanks

TXGS507

Be leary my friend unless of course you can get documentation as well as perhaps speaking w previous owner. If you are dead set on a built FI C5Z... Pick up a high miler and build it yourself.... that way you KNOW what you have. just my .02.....

I once sold a nicely built 01 Firehawk to a guy from nova scotia.. Heads, cam, Yank 3600 stall, he and his wife flew into DFW, I picked em up and they drove 5 days back home.

Toque, is actually from the same area and he went and met the guy last time he was home visiting... You are really at the mercy of the previous owner being totally transparent w you...

nullpointer

1. Get a compression test done on the motor
2. Look at the pullies on the blower, use that determine boost levels
3. Does it have a wideband? If so go WOT and have someone look at what its running at. If not, take it to a performance shop and have them throw it on the dyno.
4. Is the stamping on the heads '243'? If so they could be stock or ported.

If you do buy it, I would take it to a performance shop for a tune. Peace of mind is worth it (if the shop is good).

1Willy1

Thanks guys

The car actually has a shady history but is being sold by a somewhat reputable guy

The prices around here are so high here for a Z and for all the supercharger pieces and install, that building one myself isn't an option, id be in for $40k right off the bat , and for that money I wouldn't even be interested in the slightest.

My worst case scenario here is that at the price im getting it, If the engine was wonky I could basically sell off the charger, and then sell the car as-is and at least make back most of my money, it is a very low mileage Z with a clean title, mint interior and that alone would have some value.

Also I just got word back that it comes with 1 hand held tuner, ill get you the exact specs, so im assuming he did his own tune.

I know that would mean the car is probably not tuned very well, but im hoping it means its just a very mild and basic tune, good enough to have the car running fairly well but not too aggressive.

Speaking to the previous owner is not an option, hes a ghost, nowhere to be found.

My plan was basically to just make sure the car is running well, not making any loud or scary noises, see if its blowing any sort of blue or white smoke, and then put it on a lift to check the undercarriage and give it a closer inspection.

If all that checks out then i would buy it, and my first stop would be to a local performance shop for them to give it a re-tune and to make sure all is well

nullpointer

If its not HPTuners or EFI Live they probably used the tuner to load a tune from another shop. It does *not* mean its self tuned.

TXGS507

Good Luck...

neutron82

how much are they asking for it?... if it's a good enough deal and the car is clean otherwise then it might be worth a shot... do you have hptuners or know someone that would let you borrow it?... you could use that to log the car and see if anything obvious is going on... you can just as easily screw the motor up on 2 pounds of boost as you could with 12 pounds if the tune is jacked... you're kinda in the same boat as far as the drivetrain goes too, other than a test drive there really isn't a way to tell what it has been through, what kind of condition it's in, or what has/hasn't been done... this is why I prefer buying a car stock and then modding it, it does cost more but you know exactly what you have... if you don't have the means to do it that way and have no idea about the cars history then you will be taking a risk, just use good judgement and hope for the best

Forcedvert

Maybe someone will chime in that knows for sure but I think I remember the magnacharger can come with a handheld tuner in the kit pre tuned for a stock motor, that could be what it has.

That kit is a little more plug and play than a centri. But I'm not an expert, this is all stuff I remember from looking into a sc years ago.

What hood does it have? It has to have a high rise hood with that kit.

Good luck

1Willy1

Thanks again guys

yes the car does come with a high rise hood, looks to be a perfect paint match (yellow) and installed properly with no gaps

It appears like the guy who did this, had the money to do it right, the charger kit looks brand new as well.

Car on the outer appearance doesn't appear to have been tracked, no signs of it anywhere.

The problem is the car went through the auction system, so im now separated from whoever this guy is, and its all taking a chance.

It comes with a hypertech tuner, ive heard these are pretty crappy.