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2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
C5 of Year Winner (performance mods) 2019
I cut the center air dam in half to where the bottom matches the bottom of the side pieces and mounted it to the front of the cradle... a taller tire will give you some more clearance without having to raise the car back up... I went from a 30 to 35 series tire and that was enough for me, I don't really scrape it unless I am pulling the car up on ramps, really steep speed bumps, or dips in the road... I would not leave that center piece off though, you need it to help funnel air up to the radiator and also help keep the nose of the car down at high speeds
I cut the center air dam in half to where the bottom matches the bottom of the side pieces and mounted it to the front of the cradle... a taller tire will give you some more clearance without having to raise the car back up... I went from a 30 to 35 series tire and that was enough for me, I don't really scrape it unless I am pulling the car up on ramps, really steep speed bumps, or dips in the road... I would not leave that center piece off though, you need it to help funnel air up to the radiator and also help keep the nose of the car down at high speeds
I put some pictures in my last post. My center portion was already higher off the ground than the sides. IDK, something doesnt seem right. but I know i cant go back up with the radiator support. Guess I am gonna have to start trimming until it stops scraping.
I spent some time yesterday finishing up the install. I put the hood back on and the air dams and got it ready to drive.
So I try to go for a drive today and the air dams scrape on EVERYTHING. I mean just a high point in the road and they scrape.
By lowering the radiator support to make clearance for the intake to the supercharger, now the air dams are lower to the ground by about 1.75". Its annoying, so much so that I turned around and went home before ever getting out of the neighborhood.
I did not raise the center air dam with the relocation brackets that come with the A&A kit. My air dam wasnt like the ones that are in the instructions, so I just put it back in the stock place. However, it was higher off the ground than the outside air dams, so I thought I might still be ok.
But just to be sure, I took the center air dam off and went back out on the road. The sides still scrape everything, so even if I did raise the center up some, that wouldnt fix the sides.
What did everyone else do? Cut them down? Raise the front end up?
We typically use the air damn relocation brackets and I like to trim all three pieces shorter especially if the car is lowered too.
You are supposed to cut the springs off the stock air damn as per the instructions. "Carefully cut out the springs and take the metal brackets off the plastic air dam."
This one is not trimmed shorter yet, but you get the idea.
Last edited by Josh@AandASuperchargers; Jan 11, 2016 at 01:35 PM.
We typically use the air damn relocation brackets and I like to trim all three pieces shorter especially if the car is lowered too.
You are supposed to cut the springs off the stock air damn as per the instructions. "Carefully cut out the springs and take the metal brackets off the plastic air dam."
This one is not trimmed shorter yet, but you get the idea.
Thanks Josh. I have the relocation brackets purchased from A&A through Bret. I missed the part about cutting off the old brackets/spring - that's what I missed. I couldnt get it to work with the bracket/springs still in place. I will try it that way and relocate the air dam higher up. Then cut off the side ones to make them even. I was gonna start at 1" and see where that got me.
For a further update, I put it back up on jack stands to start dropping the back half for the clutch and diff upgrades. So here are my remaining tasks:
drop rear suspensions cradle/rear diff/tranny/torque tube
install new clutch, etc
install C6Z06 parts in my diff
install speed bleeder
install rear diff brace
re-install rear suspension cradle/rear diff/tranny/TT
Install new line and pump from alky control for meth injection
raise/modify air dams
finish install of gauge pods (figure out why WB gauge wont dim when lights are turned on, then drill the gauge pod and make permanent)
clean up inside/outside
more driving and datalogging for BlowBlueZ06
Find a source for methanol??? (VP racing wanted $130 to ship me 5 gallons of methanol)
Last edited by TX Z06 02; Jan 11, 2016 at 01:47 PM.
Installed the new meth pump and hose yesterday. Hope to finish most of these this weekend.
Remaining tasks:
drop rear suspensions cradle/rear diff/tranny/torque tube
install new clutch, etc
install C6Z06 parts in my diff
install speed bleeder
install rear diff brace
re-install rear suspension cradle/rear diff/tranny/TT
raise/modify air dams
finish install of gauge pods (figure out why WB gauge wont dim when lights are turned on, then drill the gauge pod and make permanent)
clean up inside/outside
more driving and datalogging for BlownBlueZ06
Find a source for methanol??? (VP racing wanted $130 to ship me 5 gallons of methanol)
Last edited by TX Z06 02; Jan 15, 2016 at 09:42 AM.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
C5 of Year Winner (performance mods) 2019
check any race shops around your area and even some hobby stores carry it... I wouldn't get hung up on only using vp branded meth, since you are not using it as a primary fuel it isn't as big of a deal... not sure where you are located but I usually buy mine at Smiley's in Mesquite, last time I was there I filled up a couple of 5 gallon jugs for about $35
check any race shops around your area and even some hobby stores carry it... I wouldn't get hung up on only using vp branded meth, since you are not using it as a primary fuel it isn't as big of a deal... not sure where you are located but I usually buy mine at Smiley's in Mesquite, last time I was there I filled up a couple of 5 gallon jugs for about $35
Yeah, I think there is a Smileys in Kennedale, which is about an hour from me.
I wonder if Motorsports Ranch in Cresson sells methanol? They are about 30 mins away.
So this week I got the center air dam mounted correctly with the relocation brackets. I also cut down the outside air dams about 1". They line up very closely to the center air dam, so hopefully that is high enough off the ground.
I figured out why the dimmer on the AFR gauge wasn't working. I figured out why the dimmer wasnt working on the afr gauge. I had tapped th purple wire instead of the brown one. Problem fixed. I mounted the pillar pod as well.
Got the rear cradle, transmission and TT removed today. Took me about 5 hours to get it completely out, but I was working slow and working on another vehicle at the same time changing oil and stuff.
I was contemplating changing rear main seal while I got it this far, but after looking, there isnt any sign of leaking. What do you guys think?
Here are some pictures of my broken bellview washers. Not good, but it was to be expected with the crappy stock ones and 100k miles. Clutches actually didnt look that bad, but i replaced them anyway since i already had new ones.
And then the highlight of my day, ready to reassemble and realized i was missing one retaining washer to put the short shaft back together. So now im on hold again waiting on a $7 washer.
Last edited by TX Z06 02; Jan 30, 2016 at 03:12 PM.
I also figured out why my clutch wasnt holding my NA power (396 rwhp). When i bought the car i was told it had an ls7 clutch. What i found was an ls6 clutch.
Yesterday, i installed my new b&m shifter on the TT while it was out and did the anti venom mod. That went well.
And then i went ahead and stabbed the tranny/torque tube. I figured it might be easier by myself to do just those so im wrestling less weight , then install the diff when im done with rebuilding it, and then the cradle.
Well i got it stabbed on my second attempt. Still a bitch working by your self, always needed 2 more hands. I left with bleeding knuckles, a bleeding nose and forehead and lots of cussing. The &^%$# c-clamp i was using to pull the TT to the bell housing fell and hit me in the face....twice.
So now my remaining tasks are:
finish rear diff upgrade and reassemble
put diff back onto transmission output shaft
install rear diff brace
re-install rear suspension cradle
more driving and datalogging for Bret (BlownBlueZ06)
Find methanol
Last edited by TX Z06 02; Jan 31, 2016 at 09:16 AM.
So yesterday was the day I had planned to go for a cruise. Prior to leaving, i checked everything and found the charge piping loose at the inlet to the intercooler. So I fixed that.
I also recalibrated my WB O2, the readings were "off" and I figured it must have been needing a cal.
So everything is good, I did some data logging on a cold start. Then I went for a drive, also datalogging.
I noticed after a while driving it "spiritedly" that I could never get positive boost pressure, so I pulled over and popped the hood. Sure enough, the coupler on the outlet of the intercooler had popped off.
So I drove it back home and tightened it back down. Started it back up, rev'd it a few times to see boost and it popped off again. So i tightened it some more. I hope this isnt a reoccurring problem.
I finished out the day by washing and detailing the car. It was covered in dust from all the work I had done to it. She needed to be cleaned!
Now i need to drive it again and beat on it some more.
Last edited by TX Z06 02; Feb 15, 2016 at 09:53 AM.
That's not a normal issue we ever deal with. Seems like you just need to ensure you have the clamp below the bead rolled lip.
I changed out clamps and everything seems to be good as far as holding boost, at least up to 4-5 psi.
But the list of bugs continues to grow:
The serp belt started coming apart after a 30+ minute drive yesterday. So now I need to get a laser alignment tool and figure out which one is the culprit.
Other bugs to work out:
Find out why MAP was showing grounded when green "tapped" wire was hooked up to alky control unit.
Get alky control to working properly after done with above.
Figure out if I am really hearing a groaning noise from the rear end at slow speeds.
Belt was removed and supercharger was bolted back on. Belt diagnostic tool (bought the Dayco) will be here today possibly.
PAC controller for Alky Control was proven to be bad. A new one is $190. UGH!
CV Joints are solid, makes no noise with the car up in the air and car in 1st/reverse.
I think my groaning noise from the rear is that the wheels weren't torqued down. OOOPS! I remember running them on with an impact driver which might be capable of 50 ft lbs. But I never torqued wheels down whenever i got the car off the jack stands.
Im gonna go ahead and grease the splines on the half shaft just to be sure thats not what im hearing.
Don't forget to review my sticky for some decent calibration ideas because that joke of a piece of paper they send aint gonna cut it.
You have my number. Don't hesitate to let me know if I can help.
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