L98 - installing the ProCharger
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 312
Likes: 0
From: Las Vegas / Scotland
L98 - installing the ProCharger
Has anyone done this?
I'm just about to buy the complete kit and want to do the job myself - I am kind of a 3 wrench mechanic (out of 5) so wonder if I have the competance to do the job myself and is there anything that is really difficult? My local competent Corvette mechanic charges $75 a hour but $100 if he's putting someone elses screw up right! So am I better getting him to do the whole job or can I tackle this myself?
Any advice would really be welcome
Steve
I'm just about to buy the complete kit and want to do the job myself - I am kind of a 3 wrench mechanic (out of 5) so wonder if I have the competance to do the job myself and is there anything that is really difficult? My local competent Corvette mechanic charges $75 a hour but $100 if he's putting someone elses screw up right! So am I better getting him to do the whole job or can I tackle this myself?
Any advice would really be welcome
Steve
Advanced
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 56
Likes: 0
From: MD
Take your time and think it out. also you better have a garage and this isn't your daily driver. On my 88 my problems were,
1) I started off puting an 8 rib system on so I had to make a spacer for the belt tentioner because the offset was wrong.
2) I started off with a mini ram and with that manifold the thermostat housing runs right into the pipe
3) After market heads , I have dart heads and the heads are shaved on the ends that the brackets mount to so I had to space the brackets.
other than that it was nothing more that unbolting and bolting.
Only problem I have had was the 1/2 aluminum bracket flex is hard to deal with .I am going to make a brace from the blower to a header bolt to stop it .
1) I started off puting an 8 rib system on so I had to make a spacer for the belt tentioner because the offset was wrong.
2) I started off with a mini ram and with that manifold the thermostat housing runs right into the pipe
3) After market heads , I have dart heads and the heads are shaved on the ends that the brackets mount to so I had to space the brackets.
other than that it was nothing more that unbolting and bolting.
Only problem I have had was the 1/2 aluminum bracket flex is hard to deal with .I am going to make a brace from the blower to a header bolt to stop it .
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 312
Likes: 0
From: Las Vegas / Scotland
Thanks
I have a 2 car garage and it's just my weekend fun car so that's not a problem. It's also 100% standard so hopefully won't hit the interference problems that you had.
Will the finished car run with the standard chip or does it need a dyno session(s) to tune it. I'm not after mega boost as the transmission is stock, just a healthy increase.
Steve
I have a 2 car garage and it's just my weekend fun car so that's not a problem. It's also 100% standard so hopefully won't hit the interference problems that you had.
Will the finished car run with the standard chip or does it need a dyno session(s) to tune it. I'm not after mega boost as the transmission is stock, just a healthy increase.
Steve
Drifting
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,937
Likes: 2
From: Arvada CO
you will be fine! also i know what really helped is go and clean the engine and degrease everything so the motor is nice and clean and while it is drying off read the manual from front to back and then go for it...it is very simple and it is about taking your time and not trying to short cut things! if you have to remove this to get to that bolt then do it...dont try to take the easy way out..
You will be fine!
You will be fine!
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 904
Likes: 36
From: Santa Cruz CA
My experience.
Well take this with a grain of salt since my kit is from late 1996 so I can only assume they must have made changes since then. First if you follow the intructions and take your time you should be fine. That being said there where areas where the kit flat didn't work right out of the box and I had to modifiy it. Your install may vary of course.
The first thing that stands out was the oil feed tube. They provided me with a small, about 3 inch, brass tube and a block fitting for the sensor and the oil feed line to reconnect to. The problem was that on the stock L98 I had at the time if you used the pipe and block they provided it stuck straight out of the moror and put the block section about 1 inch into the firewall. Easy fix was just to use a piece of steel braided line and just routed it at an angle. This is the kind of problems you are likely to have. Small stuff.
There is small triangle of sheetmetal that is supposed to fit to seal the intercooler area. It wasn't even close. Trimmed it worked fine. Same thing with some of the wire routing for the alternator extension harness, it needed to be cleaned up. If you can handle little things like that you are in business, take your time and it will be easy.
Big issues that kind of took me a bit to figure out was that my kit didn't come with a boost gauge and the car was a dog. I got a boost gauge and noticed 3lbs of boost. Bought a new tensioner that got me 6lbs, with a 12lb pulley. Next I moved the one alternator mounting hole and rotated the alternator so it put more tension on the belt. I did need to try a few different belts to get the tension pointer in the right spot. I finally got it to about 8 or 9lbs with the 12lbs pulley.
The last thing that was much worse as far as I was concerned was that with the routing of the intercooler tubes. The kit has the both running under the radiator on a 1987. On my car they hung low enough in the stock positions that they hit the ground a lot. I couldn't get out of my driveway at first. They have a rubber elbow on the drivers side bottom front that got torn every time I drove the car. I rebuilt the section with a solid piece of tubing with a skid plate. Since I custom made the tube this let me put it right against the bottom of the radiator mount. It has never scraped since. On the passenger side I just re routed the tube up over the top of the radiator. This worked much better and kind of looks neat also. It also puts the bypass in easy reach. I posted a picture of the setup on here long ago but I doubt it's still up. I would put up a picture but as I recall its a project to put pictures up here without a host for the pics. I called ATI back in 97 when I made the new tube and was complaining about the ground clearance issues and the engineer I talked to said that sounded like a good idea and to send him pictures. I didn't have any at the time and kind of let it slide assuming they would have to make some change. I have no idea if the later kits still have ground clearance issues. But be aware the first time you go to drive it that it can scrap and either rip the rubber or make a leak at a fitting and the car will run badly. Look for the tube leaks first and save yourself some grief.
Plus side was that the kit makes the stock vette hugely faster. I remember when I was talking to that engineer he said the L98 stock kit was the best increase they had from any stock kit. The L98 just came alive. I loved it. Have fun.
The first thing that stands out was the oil feed tube. They provided me with a small, about 3 inch, brass tube and a block fitting for the sensor and the oil feed line to reconnect to. The problem was that on the stock L98 I had at the time if you used the pipe and block they provided it stuck straight out of the moror and put the block section about 1 inch into the firewall. Easy fix was just to use a piece of steel braided line and just routed it at an angle. This is the kind of problems you are likely to have. Small stuff.
There is small triangle of sheetmetal that is supposed to fit to seal the intercooler area. It wasn't even close. Trimmed it worked fine. Same thing with some of the wire routing for the alternator extension harness, it needed to be cleaned up. If you can handle little things like that you are in business, take your time and it will be easy.
Big issues that kind of took me a bit to figure out was that my kit didn't come with a boost gauge and the car was a dog. I got a boost gauge and noticed 3lbs of boost. Bought a new tensioner that got me 6lbs, with a 12lb pulley. Next I moved the one alternator mounting hole and rotated the alternator so it put more tension on the belt. I did need to try a few different belts to get the tension pointer in the right spot. I finally got it to about 8 or 9lbs with the 12lbs pulley.
The last thing that was much worse as far as I was concerned was that with the routing of the intercooler tubes. The kit has the both running under the radiator on a 1987. On my car they hung low enough in the stock positions that they hit the ground a lot. I couldn't get out of my driveway at first. They have a rubber elbow on the drivers side bottom front that got torn every time I drove the car. I rebuilt the section with a solid piece of tubing with a skid plate. Since I custom made the tube this let me put it right against the bottom of the radiator mount. It has never scraped since. On the passenger side I just re routed the tube up over the top of the radiator. This worked much better and kind of looks neat also. It also puts the bypass in easy reach. I posted a picture of the setup on here long ago but I doubt it's still up. I would put up a picture but as I recall its a project to put pictures up here without a host for the pics. I called ATI back in 97 when I made the new tube and was complaining about the ground clearance issues and the engineer I talked to said that sounded like a good idea and to send him pictures. I didn't have any at the time and kind of let it slide assuming they would have to make some change. I have no idea if the later kits still have ground clearance issues. But be aware the first time you go to drive it that it can scrap and either rip the rubber or make a leak at a fitting and the car will run badly. Look for the tube leaks first and save yourself some grief.
Plus side was that the kit makes the stock vette hugely faster. I remember when I was talking to that engineer he said the L98 stock kit was the best increase they had from any stock kit. The L98 just came alive. I loved it. Have fun.
Last edited by Jaxian; Feb 9, 2005 at 02:37 AM.
Safety Car
Joined: Apr 2001
Posts: 3,525
Likes: 2
From: Houston TX
Originally Posted by Jaxian
The first thing that stands out was the oil feed tube. They provided me with a small, about 3 inch, brass tube and a block fitting for the sensor and the oil feed line to reconnect to. The problem was that on the stock L98 I had at the time if you used the pipe and block they provided it stuck straight out of the moror and put the block section about 1 inch into the firewall. Easy fix was just to use a piece of steel braided line and just routed it at an angle. This is the kind of problems you are likely to have. Small stuff.
There is small triangle of sheetmetal that is supposed to fit to seal the intercooler area. It wasn't even close. Trimmed it worked fine. Same thing with some of the wire routing for the alternator extension harness, it needed to be cleaned up. If you can handle little things like that you are in business, take your time and it will be easy.
Big issues that kind of took me a bit to figure out was that my kit didn't come with a boost gauge and the car was a dog. I got a boost gauge and noticed 3lbs of boost. Bought a new tensioner that got me 6lbs, with a 12lb pulley. Next I moved the one alternator mounting hole and rotated the alternator so it put more tension on the belt. I did need to try a few different belts to get the tension pointer in the right spot. I finally got it to about 8 or 9lbs with the 12lbs pulley.
The last thing that was much worse as far as I was concerned was that with the routing of the intercooler tubes. The kit has the both running under the radiator on a 1987. On my car they hung low enough in the stock positions that they hit the ground a lot. I couldn't get out of my driveway at first. They have a rubber elbow on the drivers side bottom front that got torn every time I drove the car. I rebuilt the section with a solid piece of tubing with a skid plate. Since I custom made the tube this let me put it right against the bottom of the radiator mount. It has never scraped since. On the passenger side I just re routed the tube up over the top of the radiator. This worked much better and kind of looks neat also. It also puts the bypass in easy reach. I posted a picture of the setup on here long ago but I doubt it's still up. I would put up a picture but as I recall its a project to put pictures up here without a host for the pics. I called ATI back in 97 when I made the new tube and was complaining about the ground clearance issues and the engineer I talked to said that sounded like a good idea and to send him pictures. I didn't have any at the time and kind of let it slide assuming they would have to make some change. I have no idea if the later kits still have ground clearance issues. But be aware the first time you go to drive it that it can scrap and either rip the rubber or make a leak at a fitting and the car will run badly. Look for the tube leaks first and save yourself some grief.
Plus side was that the kit makes the stock vette hugely faster. I remember when I was talking to that engineer he said the L98 stock kit was the best increase they had from any stock kit. The L98 just came alive. I loved it. Have fun.
There is small triangle of sheetmetal that is supposed to fit to seal the intercooler area. It wasn't even close. Trimmed it worked fine. Same thing with some of the wire routing for the alternator extension harness, it needed to be cleaned up. If you can handle little things like that you are in business, take your time and it will be easy.
Big issues that kind of took me a bit to figure out was that my kit didn't come with a boost gauge and the car was a dog. I got a boost gauge and noticed 3lbs of boost. Bought a new tensioner that got me 6lbs, with a 12lb pulley. Next I moved the one alternator mounting hole and rotated the alternator so it put more tension on the belt. I did need to try a few different belts to get the tension pointer in the right spot. I finally got it to about 8 or 9lbs with the 12lbs pulley.
The last thing that was much worse as far as I was concerned was that with the routing of the intercooler tubes. The kit has the both running under the radiator on a 1987. On my car they hung low enough in the stock positions that they hit the ground a lot. I couldn't get out of my driveway at first. They have a rubber elbow on the drivers side bottom front that got torn every time I drove the car. I rebuilt the section with a solid piece of tubing with a skid plate. Since I custom made the tube this let me put it right against the bottom of the radiator mount. It has never scraped since. On the passenger side I just re routed the tube up over the top of the radiator. This worked much better and kind of looks neat also. It also puts the bypass in easy reach. I posted a picture of the setup on here long ago but I doubt it's still up. I would put up a picture but as I recall its a project to put pictures up here without a host for the pics. I called ATI back in 97 when I made the new tube and was complaining about the ground clearance issues and the engineer I talked to said that sounded like a good idea and to send him pictures. I didn't have any at the time and kind of let it slide assuming they would have to make some change. I have no idea if the later kits still have ground clearance issues. But be aware the first time you go to drive it that it can scrap and either rip the rubber or make a leak at a fitting and the car will run badly. Look for the tube leaks first and save yourself some grief.
Plus side was that the kit makes the stock vette hugely faster. I remember when I was talking to that engineer he said the L98 stock kit was the best increase they had from any stock kit. The L98 just came alive. I loved it. Have fun.
As for ATI technical, they never told me "that sounds like a good idea", but instead advised me that their kits are designed for "stock" cars, and that is why I had fitment issues. Though they did request my CAD drawings for the D1R and the D2R mounts to the L-98 motor. They said after they looked at them, if they were something that they wished to pursue, then they would talk about design fees.
Anyways, I enjoy the ATI units, I just make my own components instead of buying a kit these days.
Aaron
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 312
Likes: 0
From: Las Vegas / Scotland
Aaron
Does that mean that you can make and supply the extra parts?
I'm about to order the kit and it would be nice to have the patterns or better still the parts themselves from someone who has done it before.
I assuming that the standard auto box wil handle the power - at least for a while. I'll budget for a rebuild/replacement but not all at the same time LOL
Steve
Does that mean that you can make and supply the extra parts?
I'm about to order the kit and it would be nice to have the patterns or better still the parts themselves from someone who has done it before.
I assuming that the standard auto box wil handle the power - at least for a while. I'll budget for a rebuild/replacement but not all at the same time LOL
Steve
