infamous

So, now, I've skipped ahead to the air pump and hose section of the instructions and need to return to the radiator installation, lower radiator hose installation, and coolant fill sections. I can't work on these at the moment because I haven't positioned the radiator yet.

While waiting for a second set of hands, I start mocking up the air intake piping and marking minimum positions for clamps. I also enlarge two holes in the air pump bracket to accommodate the new mounting hardware (ProCharger sent larger diameter bolts than would fit otherwise).

infamous

Things had been moving slow since 1/7/17, but on 1/21/17 I was able to move forward with bending the AC line with help from a friend.

You need to bend this line almost straight and be sure to keep it from having interference on any of the surrounding items. We initially tried blocks of wood, padding, and C-clamps to bend the lines. The parts kept slipping and this wasn't working. After a while, we pulled out some plastic clamps with rubber pads and this style of clamp was efficient for manipulating the AC line. This took a long time due to the first clamp arrangement, but would take maybe 10 minutes if I did it today.

With the radiator somewhat in place now, I loosely installed the upper mount and fit the lower radiator hose. You have to cut a supplied hose and mate it to your original hose. There were some layout issues, so I kept the plastic sheathing on the hose and slipped it over the clamps.

infamous

Since I wasn't a fan of hooking up 2 hoses for my coolant, I went to all of the local car parts stores trying to find a single hose that was a similar shape. The best I could find was E71884, but I never ended up using it because I was distracted by the next major issue: the radiator did not fit without interference.

The radiator interference was a huge problem. It was so tight that I could not slip a piece of paper on either side between the radiator and the frame. One side had the hose in contact, which would only wear and cause fatigue around the bung; and the other side had the tank in hard contact with the frame. This allowed for zero thermal expansion and was guaranteeing radiator failure at some point. I spent a few days mocking it up, marking up the frame and radiator with chalk, and talking with ProCharger. After about 2 weeks of playing with it and making adjustments, I decided to go with a DeWitts unit.

John at DeWitts was great and met with me on the weekend to go over my issue. They were able to modify the tanks on their radiator to suit my needs. It was a real work of art and it's a shame it's all covered up and hiding in this car.

Anyway, this need for a radiator was a big issue for me because part of the decision to go with the ProCharger kit was that it didn't require to you buy a new radiator (or so I thought) and it was a minimally-invasive installation (leaving much of the stock car in tact). This also set the project back a few weeks as I tried my best to make the stock radiator work.

infamous

So, after I pulled the radiator, I moved on to the air pump until my DeWitts unit was ready. I had to mock up the driver side intercooler placement to see where the air pump could be relocated. Three 3/8" holes were drilled and I remounted the pump using additional fender washers. This part takes some consideration because you have to be aware of the placement of the air pump, intercooler, moving headlights, fascia, and the hoses coming off of the air pump. Again, I didn't want interference with any of the hoses. You also have to modify the hoses and hose placement for the air pump.

The ProCharger instructions aren't very clear on how/where to relocate the pump or how to arrange the hoses in my opinion.

infamous

Moving on to the horns, these get relocated to the center of the front bumper. There's a white plastic isolator they now mount to and additional wire length needs to be spliced in.

Finally, moving back to the engine, there is a tab on the thermostat housing that must be removed. I just cut it off and smoothed it out afterwards.

Along the way, I forgot there was a sensor still installed in the radiator shroud and went back to remove it.

This places the project at 2/26/17 and page 18 of the instruction manual, still pending the new radiator.

typeav

I thank you for all the details and time that took you to take pictures and post it here but since you are a professional with 3 degrees, I'm sure you have a very steady job. I would have pay the $2,500 and let the pros finished within 4 days instead of 4 months.

infamous

Next is the installation of the ProCharger bracket. This is mounted using the ProCharger-supplied hardware. The maximum torque should be 37 lb*ft based on other bolts the same size mounting to the head, and there was a socket head bolt that needed an 8mm hex.

Note that the supercharger bracket holds the belt tensioner.

Finally, around 3/9/17, the new radiator came in. Below are some comparison images between the stock and DeWitts units. The packaging was also very good, and the radiator arrived in great condition without bent fins.

Coolant temps on summer days stay below 210 deg F. for the most part, whereas they used to run around 230 deg F. before the supercharger.

GoFast88

I'm new to this forum and just saw your thread. I just had a procharger installed on my 02 C5 Z06. I live in Denver Colo. 5280ft above sea. My mechanic dynoed the car before and after. I'm making just under 600RWHP and 472 torque. I had custom mufflers installed and thats it. The thing is scary quick. I have a Sparco Pro2000 seat and an RJS 5pt racing harness to keep me in. This car is so fun to drive.. I also had the optional helical gear. It whines a little at idle not at all cruising. I still get great gas milage for a car of this sort.

infamous

There's no pride for me to have someone else perform the installation and I enjoy the satisfaction from this work. It took 4 months because of only being able to work on this a few hours a day and a few days a week, at best.

Looking back though, $2500 would have saved a lot of time.

infamous

I'm not sure what happened, but the project sat for a few weeks. 4/1/17 I was able to get the radiator in. The fan shroud needed some trimming to get it to fit in a slightly different location.

Up next was installing the drain line to the supercharger and then mounting it in the car. Getting the belt adjusted was a bit tricky, as you loosen up the tensioner bolts, tighten the belt to the second notch (spring loaded), then tighten the bolts up again to lock the position.

infamous

The intercoolers and air ducting were next. All of the clamps were tightened to 45 lb*in. The instructions were ok for this part, but with the thicker radiator it caused a lot of interference with the hoses. I ended up using some foam designed for these types of issues and I Tesa taped all of the hoses.

Also, ProCharger provided what seemed like the bare minimum in terms of pipe and hose length needed to assemble this. I am talking maybe 1/2" extra on every other piece and it wouldn't be a challenge to install. The next time I am working in the front of the car, I plan to replace a few pieces.

Putting all of this together and reinstalling the coolant hoses revealed many interference issues. The upper radiator hose hit 7 different items and was a durability issue waiting to happen. The same applied to other hoses now positioned differently than stock. I ended up getting a lot of sheathes for coolant lines and inserted them over any questionable coolant or vacuum lines. Some of the pictures below are before and during the installation of the sheathes and tape.

There's also a photo of how I routed the supercharger drain line. I ran it between the two radiator fans and secured to the fan shroud. It's pretty clean and readily accessible once you are under the car.

infamous

Here are some additional points and a few more photos:
-The hoses supplied to connect the final part of the air duct system came with a piece that did not fit the MAF. The photo in the instructions are a different style hose than was supplied, so maybe that version was pliable enough to fit over the MAF; but I tried to stretch this one over larger diameters for a few days with no success. I ended up buying new silicone hoses.
-I got a Racetronix fuel pump and harness, but haven't installed it. I'll see if I need it once I install my fuel pressure gage in the next few months.
-The PCV valve is deleted per the instructions, and a vacuum cap was needed that was not identified or provided with the kit. I also feel there should be a catch can, and will add one in a few weeks as well.
-The anti-surge system forces you to run a long hose from the brake booster area over by the supercharger. I Tesa taped this whole hose as well, since it has the opportunity to come in contact with many underhood items.
-The fuel injectors were easy to replace with zero conflicts.
-The car cranked and started on the first attempt, which I thought was amazing.
-The supercharger was ridiculously loud when first idling with the hood up. After about a half hour it quieted down to an acceptable level. There must be some break-in that still occurs after leaving the factory.

The car is a lot of fun, even if I don't get to drive it much. It's a great compliment to my SHO (which I can drive all year round) and the Jeep (which is a great daily driver).




I have some questions for anyone else with this kit:
-Do you have all of these interference issues with the hoses?
-Does your stock radiator contact the frame on one or both sides?
-Are you using the hose at the throttle body that came with the kit?
-Did you need to upgrade your fuel system?

I am curious how other installations have gone and if others have addressed the issues I ran into.

typeav

Is either Boost-A-Pump or bigger fuel pump
Injectors 60 lbs mandatory
Water / Methanol Injection kit, optional but cheap insurance

GoFast88

So far I do not have to run a bigger fuel pump my mechanic put 90lb injectors in but tuned to 60lb My dyno numbers at 5280ft above sealevel was just under 600RWHP and 475 tq. He gave me 90lb in case I do more mods.

typeav

you are absolutely right, good luck

Pete W

My radiator seems to be contacting on the inlet side just like yours was. I was wondering how much the DeWitts radiator cost and if there is a way to reference it to them to order one like it. Thanks.

infamous

I sent you a PM. The radiator was a good price, in my opinion. I'm not sure they can give you exactly what I asked for, but what I had them do was cut some width off the tanks and angle one of the bungs inboard very slightly. The new side tanks hold maybe an extra gallon or two of fluid, so I wasn't shy about trimming them down a bit. The guys at DeWitts were great to talk to and understood what I was asking for.

C5 Kirkland

Thanks for the write-up and all the pics. I can't wait to tackle this project in the fall.